TO THE TRUE

SAGES, A DISCOURSE

Theoretically concerning

the composition of the

philosopher's stone. Philosopher's Stone: The legendary substance in alchemy capable of transmuting base metals into gold and granting eternal life or spiritual perfection.

FIRST SONG.

BY

BROTHER MARC-ANTONIO

Crassellame the Chinese. Marc-Antonio Crassellame was the pseudonym of the Marchese Marcantonio Carboniere. The epithet "the Chinese" was a common seventeenth-century literary trope used to suggest the author possessed ancient, far-off, or exotic wisdom.

Decorative woodcut initial 'E' intertwined with stylized leaves and branches.From nothingness had emerged
The dark Chaos, a shapeless
mass
At the first sound of the Almighty
Lip: original: "Omnipotente Labro." A poetic reference to the Divine Word or Logos that initiated creation.
It seemed that Disorder
Had given birth to it; or rather, that no Craftsman original: "Fabro." Literally a smith or metalworker; here it refers to a creator-deity or divine architect.
Had been its God; so formless was it.
All things remained
Inactive within it,