Letter to the Gold-Seeking Lovers of Chemistry and Alchemy

are necessary to know, so that the seeker original German: "Liebhaber"; literally a "lover" of the art, referring to a dedicated student or amateur of alchemy. does not approach things incorrectly, or search for a thing where it is not to be found.

9. The first difficulty lies in the recognition of the Matter, or the Subject, out of which one would like to make the Stone. How diversely the Authors have written about this will be best known by those who have read such books; however, one should let nothing hinder them, and remain by the above-stated principle of Article 7. By virtue of this, the Beginner original Latin: "Tyro" must seek his Matter original Latin: "Materiam" directly in the mineral kingdom. Indeed, many will say: it is easy to suggest the mineral kingdom, but this is so vast that one can easily lose one's way within it. It is not untrue that this kingdom is expansive and misleading; however, there one must take the best Authors for assistance, that they may offer him the Ariadne's thread A reference to the mythological thread used to navigate the Labyrinth; in alchemy, it refers to the guiding theory that keeps the chemist from getting lost in complex experiments.. These will say: Search for the roots of the Minerals original: "Mineren", both the simple and the composite; search for their seed; search for their origin—from what such things were generated; follow the trail of their maturation original: "Auskochung"; literally "boiling out," referring to the subterranean heat believed to "cook" or refine base metals into noble ones over time.; investigate why one is Lead original: "Bley", the