Section I. Portion III. Part I. Book I.

...multipliable things, she rejoices to impart herself more abundantly and flowingly. In her lesser nature, however, she delights in the golden mass, in which her splendid glory—shining as if with rays of fire—is openly revealed to mortals. O, how eminent would that artist appear over his hearths who, having completed the act of AlchemyThe art of transmuting and perfecting substances and by the virtue of celestial fire, understands how to distinguish the parts of this animal queen's palace—both spiritual and corporeal—with just balances. For by the exact revelation of these hidden regions and the manifestation of the secret palace, he shall arrive at the perfect knowledge of himself and the vision of the internal man; he will visit the highest heaven in the microcosmThe "little world," referring to man as a reflection of the universe, that is, the most secret sanctuary of man, hidden in his lowest spirit, in which the Divine Presence, surrounded on all sides by intellectual rays, has its residence. By this sacred presence, man not only excels the other creatures of the world but also holds eternal dominion over them.

Similarly, what happiness and what joy shall be poured into that faithful operator who is so favored by fortune that he can, with a right and expert hand, well-uncover and anatomize that most friendly nurse among the vegetables according to the way of nature; in whose center the multiplicative gifts and influence of this queen abound so copiously, as if in her own vegetable temple. For here, as if in a universal Mirrororiginal: "Catoptro", he shall behold the secret mysteries of nature. And finally, with what riches and true happiness shall he be endowed whose fortunate birth and bright guiding star lead and conduct him to the various acts and ineffable effects of those well-polished and illuminated elements; which are the materials of that golden mineral castle in which royal nature has her residence. For by his art or science of this kind, he is able to redeem that flashing and spiritual gold, bound and captured in a dark prison, and restore it to its original liberty; he is powerful enough to uncover the divine glory of the first and most noble creature of nature, and to strip off and lay aside the garments of its obscurity, so that—its elementary coverings having been removed—it may be seen in its simple and naked disposition. Nature will then look kindly upon her faithful minister and great-souled soldier (who so faithfully freed her from her dark prison) with a celestial aspect and a pleasant gaze.

And truly, although I confess myself to be lacking in such exquisite art—or at least I do not publicly confess myself to be so knowledgeable as to understand those hidden mysteries of nature or the governance of that celestial fire, by whose help such glorious effects in nature are perceived—and consequently, entrance into so narrow a path leading to the vision of happiness is perhaps denied to me; although (I say) the bitter and severe punishment of PrometheusThe Titan who stole fire from the gods and was eternally punished has perhaps struck terror into my thoughts and rendered me timid and not at all daring enough to snatch this most noble fire from the heavens; and perhaps my ignorance or the unworthiness of my merit does not allow me to obtain such great grace from those above; or some piety, or despair, or at least the wrath of Jupiter bids and warns me not to attempt to snatch it violently and variously from the adamantine firmament by force, lest like the ambitious and daring Typhon, I be plunged by the impulse and stroke of a lightning bolt into the dark bowels of the earth, and for this my insolence and rebellion, I perpetually vomit out fiery sighs of torment: (for we are taught by the Holy Scriptures that it is not of him that willeth, nor of him that runneth, but of God that showeth mercy Romans 9:16).

Although (I say) these obstacles seem to meet me, by which I either do not possess such great faculty, or if I did, I would refuse to reveal it openly to the world; nevertheless, unlike the common and false Alchemist—that "fantastic ape" and superfluous imitator of nature—it is permitted for me in this place to aspire to plunge myself so deeply into the hidden parts and the obscure composition of that richest and incomparable vegetable (hidden from the common eye), and to penetrate as deeply as that super-celestial spark infused in me by the Creator shall direct me by the common way. For if the mystical way were known to me, it would not be lawful or right to publish and reveal it to the world. It shall suffice you, therefore, that I begin to reveal to you in plain words those things which I have learned by my own experience and inquiry into the nature of this vegetable thing. In this attempt to reveal nature and anatomize this vegetable, we use a terrestrial agent in place of the celestial one—that is, elementary fire or heat—by whose edge I have attempted to divide the elementary parts of this compound from one another.

And although the property of that ethereal and sublime heat (to whose proportion of action we have adapted the edge of this inferior fire in our anatomy) is to subtilize and spiritualize all those things which the biting cold has incorporated with its inclement and icy arms and gathered into a dark labyrinth to incorporate bright and active forms; nevertheless, since these inferior fires or terrestrial agents, both visible and invisible, are derived from that pure and essential light (for they are like the various offspring or infants of one father, according to the variety of the middle-fetal spirit in which they exist in a hidden way), I judged it a suitable thing to choose one of those inferior agents for this our purpose. By means of this agent, with the degrees of nature well-observed in it, I shall begin to uncover the naked nature of Nature (though not exactly in the manner of natural and supreme Alchemy) and to bring to light the internal spirit of this most excellent vegetable—namely, of wheat and bread—in which nature so greatly abounds. Therefore, this shall be the subject of our anatomy, concerning whose dignity and internal mysteries I have proposed to discourse in this my present treatise, which I have chosen to distinguish with the title of the Lesser Philosophical Key. For just as that Greater Key of Philosophy explains the exact and infallible reason for creating and disposing the world and the elements, and is said (to speak with Solomon) to express the mysteries of all things both hidden and manifest—inasmuch as its governance is guided by the virtue of Wisdom itself proceeding from the Most High, and consequently can never deceive or fail—for this is the highest mystery of all, from which (as the wise man testifies in Wisdom 7:17) certain knowledge was given of the constitution of the world, and the powers of the elements, and the beginning, end, and middle of times, and the changes of the solstices, and the varieties of seasons or tempests, and the circuit of years, and the positions of stars, and the natures of living creatures, and the tempers and rages of beasts, and the winds or spirits...