Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Latin Page · Branch 170 of 204
On Sulphur · Passage 16
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1616 · sequence pages 72–74
Latin
Et sic Saturnus discessit. Alchimista vero fessum gravis sopor invasit, et apparuit illi visio talis. Vidit in illo nemore fontem aquae plenum, circa quem deambulabant Sal cum sulphure inter se altercando, donec ultimo coeperunt pugnare, et intulit sal sulphuri vulnus incurabile, ex quo vulnere loco sanguinis aqua quasi lac candidissimum effluxit, ac in magnum flumen crevit. Tunc ex illo nemore egressa est Diana virgo pulcherrima, quae coepit lavari in flumine illo; quam dum transiens Princeps quidam vir fortissimus, et maior suis servitoribus, videret, coepit admirari eius pulchritudinem, quodque esset naturae sibi similis, et eius amore captus est: quod cum illa videret, vicissim eius amore exarsit; quamobrem quasi in animi deliquium cadens, coepit mergi; quod videns Princeps ille, mandavit suis servitoribus ut illam adiuvarent: sed omnes timuerunt accedere ad flumen. Ad quos Princeps ille, quare, inquit, non adiuvatis Dianam virginem? Cui responderunt, Domine hoc flumen est quidem parvum quasi exsiccatum, sed periculosissimum. Quadam vice absque tuo scitu voluimus hoc tranare, et vix a periculo aeternae mortis evasimus; scimus etiam quod et alii nostri antecessores hic perierunt. Tunc Princeps ille deposito suo pallio grosso, ita ut erat armatus in flumen prosiluit, ut opem ferret Dianae pulcherrimae, porrexitque illi manum, quae volens se salvare, ipsum etiam Principem ad se traxit, atque ambo submersi sunt. Paulo post animae illorum ex flumine illo exiverunt, volitantes supra flumen, aiuntque, optime nobiscum actum est, aliter enim ab hisce corporibus liberari non potuissemus, quae polluta et maculata erant.
English
With this Saturn departed. A heavy sleep came upon the weary alchemist, and this vision appeared to him. He saw a spring full of water in that grove. Salt and sulphur walked around it disputing, until at last they began to fight. Salt gave sulphur an incurable wound. Instead of blood, a water like the whitest milk flowed from the wound and grew into a great river.
Then Diana, a most beautiful virgin, came out of the grove and began to bathe in that river. A certain prince passing by, a very strong man and greater than his servants, saw her. He marvelled at her beauty and that she possessed a nature like his own, and fell in love with her. When she saw this, she too burned with love for him. Falling as if into a swoon, she began to sink. The prince saw it and ordered his servants to help her, but all feared to approach the river. Why do you not help the virgin Diana? he asked them. They answered: Sir, this river is indeed small, almost dry, but exceedingly dangerous. Once, without your knowledge, we wanted to swim across it and barely escaped the danger of everlasting death. We also know that other predecessors of ours perished here. Then the prince put off his heavy cloak and leapt into the river just as he was, armed, to help the beautiful Diana. He reached out his hand. Wishing to save herself, she drew the prince towards her too, and both were submerged.
Shortly afterwards their souls came out of the river and flew above it. They said: It has gone very well for us. We could not otherwise have been freed from these bodies, which were polluted and stained.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · On Sulphur · On Sulphur · Passage 16
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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.