Knots of Wisdom Untied

...they are. And what need is there to seek in a matter so hard when a soft one is found everywhere? original Latin: "Et quid est opus quærere in re tam dura cum mollis ubique inveniatur" say the Philosophers. Above all, let go of the perfect metals, as Salomon Trismosinus A legendary alchemist and alleged author of the famous Splendor Solis; he is often mythically cited as the teacher of Paracelsus. has faithfully warned his then-disciple Theophrastus Paracelsus, when he writes to him as follows:

You youth of Hohenheim! I hear that you undertake high things, and seek our Stone of the Wise in perfect metals—that is, in gold and silver—where it is nevertheless not to be found. You will surely know our Green Lion|A common alchemical symbol usually representing a potent solvent, such as vitriol or a specific state of antimony, which "devours" the metals.; seek after that, etc.

This mercurial water is also sought in vain in the imperfect metals. Above all, as many believe, in Venus The alchemical name for Copper. and Mars The alchemical name for Iron., for these have an impure Mercury and Sulfur, which is easily burned in the fire and flies away from it. It is impossible to fix that which is not fixed, and to cleanse the unclean, nor can anyone give what he does not have original Latin: "impossibile est non fixum figere & immundum mundare, nec quis dare potest, quod non habet", says Arnoldus de Villa Nova A celebrated 13th-century physician and alchemist.. In conclusion, mark this briefly, my son, that this our mercurial water and secret key must be sought in a mineral root which is still in its growing, ascending power; and in such a root which in itself, according to its inward essence, is pure and holds the fixed grain original Latin: "granum fixum" hidden within it. Draw that out alchemically original: "philiochymicè", a hybrid term suggesting an approach that is both philosophical and chemical. according to Nature; divide it into its three principles|Known as the 'Tria Principia' (Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt), these were the fundamental components of all matter in Paracelsian alchemy., then put the male and female seeds of one kind together in the Philosophical Egg|A sealed glass vessel used for the long process of heating and transformation. and furnace; cook it with gentle heat until it comes to its perfection, multiply and ferment it, and thus you have the treasure of all the world, as I shall further explain in The Riddle of Wisdom Solved original: "Ænigmate Sophico soluto". And with this, I bid you