TO THE READER.

...entirely contrary to this excellent matter. Having bid such things be gone original: "ἐς κόρακας" (to the crows); a Greek idiom equivalent to "go to the dogs" or "be gone," used here to dismiss false chemical methods., you should finally embrace with both arms that matter which offers itself to you. It is clothed in a mournful garment This refers to the nigredo or "blackness," the initial stage of the alchemical process characterized by putrefaction and darkness., foul-smelling in its odor, soft to the touch and homogeneous Homogeneous: In alchemy, this refers to a substance that is of a single, pure kind, suggesting the "One Thing" from which the philosopher's stone is made. in its nature. Though it is unknown to many, it is sought by all and discovered by only a few. It greedily desires a little of its own water—its own, I say—so that it may quench its thirst; not indeed for its own sake, but so that once it is satisfied and refreshed with regained strength, it may be of service to you and your kin. It is Sacred Scripture that explains Sacred Scripture, and Philosophy that explains Philo- The text likely continues as "Philosophy," invoking the traditional scholarly rule that a difficult text or science should be interpreted by its own internal principles rather than external ones.