Inscrutable Chemico-Philosophical Harmonies

And on the Alchemical Art.

...described The Latin text begins with the suffix "-dus," likely the end of a word like dictus (said) or descriptus (described) from the previous page. in the book on precious stones, which I will not include here. But it must be known that he understood that the celestial virtues and the seminalities of forms original: seminalitates formarum. In alchemical theory, these are the "seeds" or spiritual blueprints that dictate what a physical substance will become. use these waters; through the opposition of the Moon An astronomical alignment where the Moon is directly opposite the Sun, believed to be a period of peak cosmic influence for capturing "celestial virtues." during the month, they are captured in this way. It was touched upon in the general discourse how all natural things have their essence and substance from a double proportion—namely, of matter and of form. Matter proceeds from the elements, while form draws its origin from the celestial virtues, just as through the mediation of these virtues, form is drawn out from the matter of the elements.

Wherefore the Master of Ferrara Likely referring to Bonus of Ferrara, a 14th-century alchemist known for his work The Precious New Pearl, which synthesized many alchemical theories. says: the elements, or the matter proceeding from the elements, is as it were the instrument of nature and of the celestial virtues. And the more subtle such elemental matters are—into which the aforesaid virtues have placed themselves—the more powerfully these virtues work through them; and in Alchemy, this is called agitated matter. original: materia agilitata. This refers to matter that has been purified and "quickened" so that it is no longer heavy or "dead," but ready to receive spiritual influence.

These are spirits which are captured because of the virtues within them; and here we shall speak only of the Alchemy that transmutes metals into gold, excluding the natural properties of all other things. Therefore, we must know only the natural properties of gold and the virtues of the form of gold, and even their disadvantages, since from these two gold is procreated. Therefore, a specific discourse on the origin and being of metals follows.