Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Latin Page · Branch 65 of 204
Epilogue · Passage 7
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1606 pp. 146–148
Latin
Consilium meum non erat propter rationes in praefatione commemoratas hunc librum publicare, attamen vicit me de liberalibus et Philosophicis ingeniis promerendi cupiditas, ut iis qui me norunt, animum ostenderem bonum, simul illis, qui artem callent, manifestarem, me illis parem esse et socium, eorumque notitiam appetere. Non dubito, multos bonae conscientiae et voluntatis homines, illud donum Dei clanculum possidere: hi meo admoniti exemplo et meis periculis cautiores et providentiores facti, Harpocratis sibi commendatum habeant silentium: quotiescunque enim me magnatibus detegere volui, semper aut in damnum aut periculum mihi cessit. Hoc scripto me adeptis filiis Hermetis patefacio, et ignorantes ac errantes instruo ac in viam veram deduco. Credant scientiae haeredes, se nunquam habituros meliorem viam, cui insistant, quam quae ipsis hic demonstrata est: omnia enim aperte dixi: extractionem saltem nostri salis armoniaci vel Mercurii Philosophici, ex aqua nostra pontica, eiusque tantum usum non ita aperte revelavi, quia a magistro naturae non habui ulteriorem loquendi licentiam: et hoc solus Deus revelare debet, qui novit hominum corda et animos: quem si diligenter oraveris, per reiteratam huius libri lectionem, poterit tibi intellectum tuum aperire.
English
For the reasons mentioned in the preface, I had not intended to publish this book. Yet the desire to serve liberal and philosophical minds overcame me: I wished to show goodwill to those who know me, and at the same time to make clear to those versed in the art that I am their equal and companion and desire their acquaintance. I do not doubt that many people of good conscience and will secretly possess this gift of God. Warned by my example and made more cautious and provident by my dangers, let them value the silence of Harpocrates. Whenever I wished to disclose myself to the great, it always brought me loss or danger. Through this writing I reveal myself to the adept children of Hermes, instruct the ignorant and erring, and lead them onto the true path. Let the heirs of knowledge believe that they will never have a better path to follow than the one shown here, for I have said everything openly. Only the extraction of our armoniac salt, or philosophical Mercury, from our pontic water, and its use, have I not revealed so openly, because I had no further permission to speak from the master of nature. God alone must reveal this, for he knows human hearts and minds. If you pray earnestly to him, he can open your understanding through repeated reading of this book.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Epilogue · Epilogue · Passage 7
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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.