The Assembly of the Philosophers

Proposition III.

Every mineral that is not of the earth original: "cuius non sit terra" is foreign and hostile to this work. By this rule, all things originating from animals are excluded, such as hair, blood, flesh, dung, eggs, and the like; and also all animals themselves, such as turtles, beetles original: "caragdi"; likely referring to scarabs or specific insects, moles, frogs, bees, and similar creatures.

Proposition IIII.

Any animate thing proceeding from inanimate things is unsuitable for this greater art. By this proposition, all "superfluities" of animals are especially excluded, as well as all vegetable matter and anything derived from them—for instance: wine, burning water burning water: "aqua ardens," an early term for distilled alcohol or aqua vitae, oil, honey, urine, sperm, and things of this nature.

Proposition V.

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Everything which cannot be blackened, whitened, and reddened These colors—black, white, and red—represent the three primary stages of the alchemical transformation: Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo. by fire within one hour of a natural day natural day: a full twenty-four hour period, does not enter into the composition of this work in the role of the masculine principle masculine principle: the active, "sulfurous" agent in the chemical marriage, believed to provide the form and seed for the Stone.