Preface.

short explanations of the content and un-
masked truths. No!
Rather, my ultimate purpose is to
assure the reader that I wish to lead him on the path
of sound reason, and that I intend to advise him
against those things toward which so
many false and dazzling
promises might lead him. Since
I share my true
opinion and way of thinking with him can-
didly—not out of enmity, or hatred, or
unfounded prejudice—and hereby assure him
that I will not deviate from my opinions
contained herein until
I am convinced otherwise; and so
long as that is not the case, I also ask once
more all those souls deeply immersed in alchemical original: "alchymistischen"
works to no longer
follow those deceptive labyrinths,
but rather to take to heart my warnings
(which truly are not without foundation
and experience original: "Experience"; in this period, the term implies both personal experience and practical laboratory experimentation). I
thus call out to them, most worthy novices original: "Tyrones"; from the Latin 'tiro,' meaning a recruit, beginner, or apprentice
and pseudo-philosophers original: "After Philosophi"; the German prefix 'After-' denotes something false, mock, or inferior, come
out from the depths of your pit! Good luck! original: "Glück auf!"; the traditional German miners' greeting, used here as a metaphor for those "digging" for the secrets of the earth
For the vapors original: "Schwaden"; specifically refers to hazardous fumes or "choke-damp" found in mines, here used metaphorically for the confusing rhetoric of false teachers of false teachers might
poison and stifle you; I repeat—