Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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English Page · Branch 122 of 204
Sulphur · Air · Passage 1
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1616 · sequence pages 17–19
Latin
DE ELEMENTO AERIS.
DE ELEMENTO AERIS.
Aer est elementum integrum dignissimum in sua qualitate, extra leve et invisibile, intus vero grave, visibile et fixum. Est calidum et humidum, temperatur igne, est dignius terra et aqua. Volatile quid est, sed fixatur: et quando fixum est, penetrabile reddit omne corpus. Ex eius purissima substantia creati sunt Spiritus vitales animalium; minus purum in aeris propriam Sphaeram elevatum est; residuum vero pars eius grossior remansit in aqua, quae cum aqua circulatur sicut ignis cum terra, quia amici sunt. Dignissimum est, ut diximus, et illud est verus locus seminis omnium rerum. In illo ita semen imaginatur sicut in viro, quod postea motu circulativo proiicitur in sperma suum. Habet hoc Elementum formam integritatis, ad distribuendum semen in matrices per sperma et menstruum mundi: in illo etiam est Spiritus vitalis omnis creaturae, per omnia viventis, penetrantis et constringentis semen aliis Elementis sicuti vir uxoribus. Ille nutrit ea, ille impraegnat, ille conservat ea; et docet hoc indies experientia, quod hoc Elemento non solum Mineralia, animalia vel vegetabilia, verum etiam alia Elementa vivunt. Videmus enim omnes aquas putrefieri, ac sordescere, si non habent recentem aerem: Ignis quoque extinguitur, si illi adimitur aer. Inde sciunt Alchymistae ignem per aerem distribuere in gradus, et secundum mensuram aeris registra sua ordinant. Terrae quoque pori conservantur aere. In summa tota structura mundi aere conservatur, etiam in animalibus. Homo necatur cui adimitur aer, et caetera. In orbe nihil cresceret, si non esset vis aeris penetrantis et alterantis, attrahentisque secum nutrimentum multiplicativum. In hoc Elemento est imaginatum semen virtute ignis, quod constringit menstruum mundi, illa vi occulta, ut in arboribus et herbis, cum per poros terrae ac spiritualis caloris exit sperma cum semine, et virtus aeris in proportione constringit illud, et congelat guttatim, et sic de die in diem, de gutta in guttam, crescendo arbores magnae eriguntur, sicut in libro 12 Tractatuum tractatum est.
English
On the Element of Air
On the Element of Air
Air is an integral element, most worthy in its quality, outwardly light and invisible, inwardly heavy, visible and fixed. It is hot and moist, tempered by fire, and worthier than earth and water. It is volatile, yet can be fixed. Once fixed, it renders every body penetrable. The vital spirits of animals were created from its purest substance. Its less pure part was raised into air's own sphere, while the remainder, its grosser part, remained in water and circulates with it as fire does with earth, for they are friends. As I have said, it is most worthy and is the true place of the seed of all things. Seed is imagined in it as in a male and afterwards, through circulating motion, is cast into its own sperm. This element possesses its integral form for distributing seed into wombs through the sperm and menstruum of the world. In it too is the vital spirit of every creature, living through all things, penetrating them and binding seed to the other elements as a husband to wives. It nourishes, impregnates and preserves them. Daily experience teaches that not only minerals, animals and plants, but the other elements too, live through it. We see all waters putrefy and grow foul if they lack fresh air. Fire too goes out if air is taken from it. Hence alchemists know how to distinguish degrees of fire by air and arrange their furnace vents according to the quantity of air. Earth's pores are also preserved by air. In sum, the whole world's structure, including animals, is preserved by it. A human being deprived of air is killed, and so forth. Nothing would grow in the world without air's power to penetrate, alter and draw along multiplying nourishment. In this element seed is imagined by fire's power, and through its hidden force it binds the menstruum of the world. In trees and plants, for example, sperm with seed comes out through earth's pores and spiritual heat; air's power binds it in proportion and congeals it drop by drop. Thus great trees rise, growing day after day, drop after drop, as was explained in the book of Twelve Treatises.
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Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Sulphur · Air · Sulphur · Air · Passage 1
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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.
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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.