The Sophic Nucleus: An Interpretation of the Tincture of the Physicists of Paracelsus

...[it follows] exactly the same manner that Moses maintains in his description of the creation of the Great World original: "grossen Welt"; the Macrocosm, or the universe as a whole.. For before Moses speaks of other Matter, he begins by recounting the Three Principles original: "Drey Principia"; in Paracelsian alchemy, these are Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt, the fundamental components of all material reality. which lay indistinctly original: "indistinctè"; mixed together in a chaotic or formless state. within it, but were distinctly original: "distinctè"; clearly separated and ordered. drawn out by God.

Thus also does Theophrastus Paracelsus: before he names the Matter of his work, he gives it to be understood that although it is a single thing, yet there are three others hidden within it. These must be drawn out through the art of Vulcan original: "Vulcani"; the Roman god of fire, used here as a metaphor for the alchemist's furnace and the transformative power of heat. or of Fire, and afterwards united again into one being and substance, according to the saying of the Philosopher:

He who cannot draw many things out of one thing, also cannot make one thing out of many.

But Theophrastus says: The Matter of the Tincture A potent alchemical substance, often synonymous with the Philosopher's Stone, capable of transmuting metals or healing. is a thing which, through the art of Vulcan, may rise and remain as one being out of three.

From this, the Consensus and Harmony original: "Consensus vnd Concordantia"; the traditional belief that all true alchemical masters across history are in secret agreement regarding the nature of the Stone. of all philosophers is initially to be seen. For what Theophrastus says here—that the Physical Matter original: "Materia Physica"; the starting material for the alchemical work. is a single thing—is also what Geber Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721–813), a foundational figure in alchemy whose Latinized works were highly influential in the Renaissance. says: It is a