To the Reader.

Christian should desire. Look up then
to Heaven, and when thou seest the
Celestial fires The stars and planets, believed in alchemy to exert physical influence on the earth. move in their swift and
glorious Circles, think also there are
here below some cold Natures Physical substances or minerals in their raw, "cold" state., which
they overlook, and about which they
move incessantly to heat, and concoct
them In alchemy, to 'concoct' means to refine, ripen, or mature a substance through the application of steady heat.. Consider again, that the Mid-
dle spirit, I mean the Air, is interposed
as a Refrigerator A cooling agent or medium used to temper heat., to temper and quali-
fy that Heat, which otherwise might
be too violent. If thou dost descend
lower, and fix thy Thoughts where thy
feet are, that thy wings may be like those
of Mercury, at thy Heels A reference to the winged sandals of the messenger god Mercury (Hermes), symbolizing the swiftness of thought or the volatile nature of the element mercury.; thou wilt
find the Earth surrounded with the wa-
ter, and that water heated, and stirred
by the Sun and his stars, abstracts from
the Earth the pure, subtle, saltish parts,
by which means the water is thickened,
and coagulated as with a Rennet Rennet is a substance used to curdle milk into cheese; here it serves as a metaphor for how nature solidifies liquid matter into solids.: out of
these two Nature generates all things.
Gold and Silver, Pearls and Diamonds
are nothing else but water, and salt of