Chemical Experiments on the Radical Dissolution of Bodies

Thus the metallic sulfur, as the soul of gold, unites with the phosphorus and leaves the golden body, or the golden earth. —— The spirit follows the soul. ——

Now the body becomes snow-white; —— to this white body, or the pure earth, its soul must be returned, for the spirit and body receive a new form after their reunion.

Wherever this white earth can be separated, the Stone—or the basis of metals, the metallic ground—has already been found, and one must now make this pure body alive again through its soul: this happens when one gives it its enlivening principle, or the phosphorus.

This phosphorus is the fire of corruption original: "Corruption." In an alchemical context, this refers to the necessary breakdown, decay, or "death" of a substance before it can be purified and reborn., and at the same time the fire of generation original: "Generation." The process of bringing forth new life or higher matter.. It corrupts the impure bodies and generates the pure bodies, bringing them to the highest perfection.

The phosphorus thus has the greatest affinity for the metallic earth: if this metallic earth is added to a metal in flux original: "im Fluß." Referring to the molten or liquid state of a substance during heating., then that which is potentially original: "potentialiter." A Latin philosophical term meaning that a quality exists as a possibility or hidden power within a substance, rather than being currently active. contain-