Two Dialogues on Alchemy

...of harmful and fierce animals, such as the bear, the lion, and similar creatures. 7 +

61 ¶ Coagulating and fixing waters are two types of sulfur, designated by the names of Venus and Mars. original: "Veneris & Martis" — Alchemists used planetary names for metals. Venus refers to copper and Mars refers to iron. These "waters" are chemical agents used to solidify liquid substances.

62 ¶ By the name of "glass" in this art, sulfur is often understood.

3 63 ¶ There is a difference between the coagulation of the quintessence and the fixed Elixir. Indeed, they produce different effects. quinta essentia: The "fifth essence" or quintessence. This was thought to be a celestial substance beyond the four earthly elements of earth, air, fire, and water.

64 ¶ In drinkable medicine, an animal part is contained.

65 ¶ In every metal, the individual metals of the Philosophers are contained.

10 66 ¶ In this art it is necessary that the hidden be made manifest, and the manifest be hidden. + This is a foundational alchemical paradox. It refers to extracting the internal "spirit" of a substance so it becomes visible, while the physical "body" is broken down or disguised.

67 ¶ When it is commanded that bodies must be dissolved into water: species of sulfur are understood.

68 ¶ Apart from sulfur and quicksilver, there are no other metals of the Philosophers.

15 69 ¶ Art imitates nature in many things.

70 ¶ Red sulfur, like wine, when it turns black through calcination, it is said to be blacker than black. + calcination: The process of heating a substance to high temperatures in the presence of air to change its physical properties, usually resulting in a fine powder.

71 ¶ From the color black to whiteness, many and varied colors appear in the sulfur.

20 72 ¶ The Elixir first becomes black, secondly it is whitened, afterwards it takes on a yellow color, and finally red. + These colors represent the four major stages of the Great Work: nigredo (blackening), albedo (whitening), citrinitas (yellowing), and rubedo (reddening).

73 ¶ The Elixir is coagulated in the shape of an egg. This refers to the "Philosopher's Egg," the sealed glass vessel where the chemical transformation takes place.

74 ¶ The blackness lasts for forty days.

75 ¶ The ancients, under the veil of poetic fables, hid 25 this art.

76 ¶ Under the fable of Hercules and Antaeus, they hid the preparation of sulfur. In myth, the giant Antaeus regained strength by touching the earth. Hercules defeated him by lifting him into the air. Alchemists saw this as a metaphor for separating a substance from its "earthy" impurities.

77 ¶ The ancients said that Jupiter turned himself into a golden rain, hiding by this fable the distillation of philosophical gold.

30 78 ¶ Through the eyes of Argus, turned into a peacock's tail, they signified our sulfur, which changes from color to color. The "Peacock's Tail" (cauda pavonis) is a specific stage in alchemy where many colors appear in the flask, resembling the iridescent feathers of a peacock.

79 ¶ Under the fable of Orpheus, they hid the sweetness of the quintessence and of drinkable gold.

80 ¶ If we believe Empedocles, the ancients hid the whole...