From a certain Manuscript of a Rosicrucian Philosopher

Excerpt.

Concerning the Philosophic MercuryA symbolic "liquid" or spirit sought by alchemists, not common quicksilver. and the menstrual Matteroriginal: "Maa [Materia] menstruali." In alchemy, a 'menstruum' is a solvent that can dissolve or 'animate' a solid body..

Whenever the Sun and Moon representing the gold/male and silver/female principles wrap themselves together in the final rays of Aries, Taurus, and Gemini, this mixture of celestial influences is named by the Philosophers as their "First Matter" or Mercury. If these influences are captured and condensed in the proper vessel in the required manner, and then poured over "Spanish virgin mercury," you will be able to extract a floating oil within a 48-hour period. This oil is separated from the "black Saturnine Earth" The dark, impure residue left over after heating, associated with the planet Saturn and the color black. by filtration. This oil is called by the philosophers their "Venus," the "Green Lion," and the "Moon." If it is joined in this way with gold that has been artfully and correctly prepared, it will quickly be dissolved into running quicksilver, just as ice melts in lukewarm water. This substance is the matter closest to gold—that "one thing" which all Philosophers seek and find, but which common chemists have never seen. — H.E.

The generation of metals. See the work on the Three Principles, book no. 9, volume 8, page 8.

This covering (namely, of the earth), while it still remains porous, allows pure quicksilver—which has been separated from water and earth through sublimationThe process of turning a solid into vapor and back to solid to purify it.—to enter into pores that are also pure and not at all defiled by waste-like earth or water. Because the substance is fixed there like a hermetically sealed glass vial, it becomes Gold (☉) through proper cooking the metaphorical 'digestion' of the material via steady heat. If the cooking is insufficient, it becomes Silver (☽). If the womb original: "matrix," referring to the place in the earth where metals "grow." is defiled by the numbing vapors of the stars, it becomes Lead (♄). If there is a mixture of numbing and life-giving influences, it becomes Tin (♃). If it consists of destructive, burning influences, it becomes Iron (♂). If it is a mixture of burning and numbing influences, it becomes Copper (♀). If it is a mixture of life-giving and burning influences, it becomes Antimony (♁)—or rather, it is the burning part of Antimony that causes the imperfection of the metals.