Hermes: A Journal in Occasional Issues

which nothing can live, the unstable being which is so little esteemed, and which yet no creature can do without—all this is One Being." Even man, says this writer Referring to Michael Sendivogius, the author being quoted., lives from the air:

"for in it is a hidden food of life original: "Lebensspeise." This refers to the vital principle or "universal spirit" that alchemists believed was carried in the air and deposited as dew., which we call dew by night and volatilized water by day, and whose invisible condensed spirit is better than the whole earth. Holy, wondrous nature, you who do not let the Sons of the Art original: "Söhne der Kunst." A traditional term for alchemists who have been initiated into the "Great Work." go astray, as you show daily in human life!" —

"This sea-water In this context, "sea-water" does not mean the ocean, but rather the "mercurial water" or "universal solvent" that serves as the base of the work. is condensed in gold and silver, and is extracted from the sun and moon The alchemical symbols for gold and silver, respectively. by means of our steel term: steel (Stahl) In alchemy, "steel" often refers to iron or a specific mineral catalyst used to "attract" the spirit of the air. in a marvelous way by a clever practitioner of the Art."

Sendivogius commands us to unite the air with the living gold, and

"to cook it so that it is water and afterwards no water: for whoever does not understand how to cook the air errs in the entire matter, because it is the subject of the ancient philosophers. It is not seen until it pleases the artist; it is