A Chymical Dictionary

Vnitas Trithemii

Language number and measures · A Chymical Dictionary

At a Glance

The word. A numerical unity characterized as supernatural and spagyrical.

In the book. Spagiria is commonly equated with alchemy, and Spagirus is defined through distinguishing and separating.

A place to read. The historical definition below, 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 47; facsimile PDF page 375.

Historical Definition

Vnitas Trithemii is the reduction of the number three to a unity by casting away the number two; it is supernatural and spagyrical.

Meaning

The entry states a relation among three, two and one, then gives that reduction two qualifications. Supernatural and spagyrical both belong to the historical description. The arithmetic form is clear, while the particular objects represented by the numbers are not identified in this sentence.

Use in the Book

Spagiria is commonly equated with alchemy, and Spagirus is defined through distinguishing and separating. Those articles supply context for one of the qualifiers. They do not by themselves establish what the three or the two stand for here.

The compound headword attributes or associates the unity with Trithemius, but this definition gives no title, chapter or quotation from him. The attribution should therefore be reported at the level actually supplied by this witness. A fuller account of a particular work would require its own checked passage.

Places to Read

Spagiria. A name commonly used for alchemy.

Spagirus. The alchemical practitioner defined through discrimination and separation.

In This Edition

The entry remains a concise numerical formulation with an explanation of its limits. It has not been expanded into an assumed trinitarian scheme, a laboratory recipe or a doctrine attributed to Trithemius without a cited text.

Historical source: 1650 dictionary, unnumbered definition page 47; facsimile PDF page 375 — Facsimile

Sources. A Chymicall Dictionary (1650), s.v. Vnitas Trithemii; 1650 facsimile PDF p. 375; compare Spagiria, Spagirus

See also. Spagiria; Spagirus