The King Showing Himself to All the World

...than to destroy it.) Therefore, such mercury Mercurius: In alchemy, this refers to a refined, spiritualized essence rather than common quicksilver. is to be highly esteemed in its effect and regarded as a special gift of God original Latin: Donum Dei. However, how swiftly such a thing might be prepared, I leave to each person's own thoughts. All haste is of the devil original Latin: Omnis festinatio ex parte Diaboli est; therefore, everyone may test themselves to see whether they are suited for such work, and whether they have the time and patience to carry it out.

The first operation Operation: A specific step or laboratory procedure in the alchemical process. in this our philosophical work is sublimation Sublimation: While in modern chemistry this is a change from solid to gas, here it refers to the purification and "elevation" of a substance., which is to say, the destruction original Latin: Destruction or dismantling, which happens through putrefaction Putrefaction: The stage of breaking down a substance, often compared to the rotting of a seed in the ground before it can sprout.. Through this, the body original Latin: Corpus becomes like ashes, completely unsightly and dead, so that it lies there without motion; but as soon as one awakens it again, it will become far more suitable for a noble tincture Tincture: A highly concentrated alchemical preparation capable of transforming metals or healing the body. than the body itself, which remained undestroyed in its previous form.

This, the philosophers original Latin: Philosophi call their mercury of the wise original German: Mercurium der Weisen, a spiritual earth original Latin: Terram or soil that enters in and is to be brought to a tincture. For our sublimation original: sublimiren is nothing other than the making volatile of a thing, whereby all dregs Feces: The waste or impure sediment left over after a process. are separated and divided from it. As the philosophers, and specifically original Latin: in specie among them Hermes Hermes Trismegistus, the legendary father of alchemy and author of the Hermetic corpus., have taught: first to drive out all fixed bodies and make them volatile: