The Child-Bed of the Philosopher's Stone

which the artist In alchemical texts, "the Artist" refers specifically to the practitioner of the Hermetic art or alchemy. alone would never achieve the purpose
of his undertaking, were it not that the
mercy and goodness of God intervened,
according to the saying of St. James original: "St. Jacobi"; referring to James 1:17.: that all good
gifts come down from above, from the Father of
Light.

The Christian philosophers are at one
in this with the theologians whom God has called to the know-
ledge of this hidden and deep truth:
that among all the gifts of nature, without exception
of the academic sciences, and the peace-
able and just possession of kingdoms,
according to the use of reason, no gift exists
which equals this practice original: "Praxi" and knowledge of the hidden root of all
things. If you are therefore guided by a good
understanding and desire
to seek this root, to bring forth from it the wondrous
works and its marvelous effects,
of which the Sages have told us, then do not
believe that such is actually to be found upon the earth among the living,
and much less in the bowels
of the earth, even though your intention is to work in
metallic nature: seek, therefore,
this root in its own roots, and not in
its trunk, nor in its branches, in its leaves,
in its flowers, nor in its fruits, for
that would be to seek life among the dead, and the
sun in the darkness; much less in the shops
of the materialists In this period, "materialists" (Materialisten) referred to druggists or apothecaries who sold raw chemical substances. The author is warning that the "Philosopher's Stone" cannot be bought as a simple ingredient., for nature buys nothing
from them for the birth of metals, nor
other things.