Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 68 of 204
Philosophical Enigma · Passage 2
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1606 pp. 151–152
Latin
Omnium rerum materiam secundam lucidissime descriptam habetis, sed hanc vobis commendo cautelam, quod si ad arcanum hoc pervenire volueritis, scitote, quod in primis Deus orandus, postea proximus amandus sit: denique nolite vobis res adeo subtiles imaginari, de quibus natura nil scit, sed manete, manete inquam in via naturae simplici, quia in simplicitate rem citius palpare, quam eandem in subtilitate videre poteritis: nolite in lectione meorum scriptorum semper inhaerere syllabis, sed legendo utique considerate naturam et eiusdem possibilitatem. Antequam vero ad opus vos accingatis, imaginamini diligenter quid quaeratis, et quis sit intentionis vestrae scopus ac finis: nam multo melius est cerebro et imaginatione prius discere, quam manu et sumptibus. Et hoc vobis dico, quod opus est rem quaerere aliquam, quae occulta est, ex qua fit (miro modo) talis humiditas quae aurum sine violentia seu strepitu solvit: imo ita suaviter et naturaliter, sicuti glacies aquae calidae beneficio liquescit: si hoc invenistis habetis rem, ex qua aurum a natura productum est. Et quamvis omnia metalla et res omnes ex illa ortum habeant, nil tamen ita amicatur ei, sicut aurum, nam aliis rebus adhaeret impuritas, auro autem nulla, propterea instar matris est ipsi.
English
You have the second matter of all things most clearly described. But I commend this caution to you: if you wish to attain this secret, know that first you must pray to God, and then love your neighbour. Finally, do not imagine things so subtle that nature knows nothing of them. Remain—remain, I say—on nature’s simple path. In simplicity you will be able to touch the thing sooner than you could see it in subtlety. In reading my writings, do not always cling to syllables; while reading, consider nature and what she can do. Before you gird yourselves for the work, carefully imagine what you seek and the aim and end of your intention. It is much better to learn first through thought and imagination than through hands and expense. I tell you this: you must seek a certain hidden thing from which, in a marvellous way, a moisture is made that dissolves gold without violence or noise—indeed as gently and naturally as ice melts with the help of warm water. If you have discovered this, you possess the thing from which gold was produced by nature. Although all metals and all things originate from it, nothing befriends it as gold does. Impurity adheres to other things, but none to gold; it is therefore like a mother to gold.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Philosophical Enigma · Philosophical Enigma · Passage 2
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete supplied Latin–English edition of the Twelve Treatises, Epilogue, Enigma, Parable, Dialogue of Mercury and Treatise of Sulphur, with original preliminaries, John French’s historical English address and its separately labelled modernisation, 101 annotations and the complete study apparatus.
Historical Text and Translation
The Twelve Treatises and their concluding texts follow the selected 1606 Herzog August Bibliothek witness. The Dialogue uses the 1607 Cologne printing; the author’s preface and Alsted epigram use Frankfurt 1611. Sulphur uses the 1616 Munich and Rome witnesses. John French’s 1650 address is separately identified as historical English reception.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
Rights
The historical Latin texts and John French’s 1650 English address are in the public domain. The new translation, modernisation and editorial apparatus were prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions in 2026 and are published with the site owner’s authorization.