Preface.

of the Philosopher’s Stone original: "Lapidis Philosophorum", that it is no com-
mon spring- or rain-water,
but a chaotic, slimy,
waste, stinking, and misty
water, intolerable for human nature
to use; which, however,
is nonetheless the heavenly secret seed,
the seed of nature, and the
wondrous fire-essence of the great
God; and in which it The fire-essence or seed., as in
a vessel of nature, must be hatched
and made perfect like a chick
in its shell, by means
of putrefaction The alchemical stage of decay or fermentation, where the matter turns black; it is considered essential for the "rebirth" of the substance., without which it
never begins, nor can be made fit
for the high work. This
seed, which is hidden there in the water,
is the center where the
Sages agree that it is their
seed, which they sow in the sulphurous,
earthly, or salty field In alchemical allegory, the "field" or "soil" refers to the base material or "womb" into which the alchemical seed is placed to grow.,
and therein give birth again, in which a com-
pletely new fruit grows forth: This seed
now is the branch that is broken
off from its barren trunk
and is grafted onto a completely different one,
which then becomes one with the same, and
becomes a perfect tree, which