Mineral Stone, or the Highest Medicine

And that we may be able to investigate the hiding places of truth. original: "veri latebras"
Having heard such things, the Gods arrived, having been called upon,
And Phoebus Apollo, representing the Sun or the alchemical Gold. answered first: "O venerable offspring,
Worthy of heaven and the favor of the gods above, you half-gods,
Listen and store my words deep within your souls:
Seize this Arcadian youth original: "juvenem Arcadium." A reference to Mercury (Hermes), who was born in Arcadia. In alchemy, this represents Quicksilver., who is unfaithful and too fleeting,
And kill him by immersing him in Stygian waters. original: "Stygiis lymphis." Referring to the River Styx, here symbolizing a corrosive or transformative solvent.
Afterward, let the God whom the Lemnian land Vulcan, the god of fire and smithing, whose cult was centered on the island of Lemnos. worships receive him
When he is placed in the lap of Hyale One of Diana's nymphs; her name means "crystal" or "glass," suggesting a clear liquid or vessel., and let him fix the youth, raised up, upon a cross:
Then bury him in a warm womb and dissolve him until he is rotten:
The spirit departing from our body shall penetrate his dripping limbs,
And in a wondrous order, it shall gradually call him back
From the black shadows, though he was dead,
Clothed in a golden cloak and shining with silver:
Finally, cast him upon the burning coals; he shall be renewed as another
Like the Phoenix: and whatever bodies he touches, he will leave perfected,
Overcoming the laws and pacts of nature;
He will change appearances and put poverty to flight."
Phoebus fell silent after these words; the winged Cyllenian Another name for Mercury, referring to Mount Cyllene.
Nodded in agreement, and Diana The Moon, representing alchemical Silver., being present, approved the same.
Soon they all departed, flying to the vaults of heaven.
Then men, turning over the hidden oracles of the divine mind
In their wavering spirits, only after a long time,
Having experienced much and with no small expense,
Found that art, than which no art is more worthy,
The fashioning of the ethereal stone original: "lapidem æthereum." The Philosopher's Stone.: which the profane
Are by no means permitted to know, and the wicked commoners seek in vain.
He who possesses it is able to live decently wherever he wishes:
He fears neither the wrath of fortune nor the hands of thieves,
But the Gods deem only a few worthy of such a great gift.