Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 112 of 204
Sulphur · Water · Passage 3
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1616 · sequence pages 7–8
Latin
Sed ad propositum. Hoc Elementum esse menstruum Mundi, et trifariam divisum dicimus; nempe purum, purius, ac purissimum. Ex eius purissima substantia caeli creati sunt, purius etiam in aera resolutum est, purum aut simplex et grossum in sua sphaera remansit et ordinatione Divina, Natura operante, custodit omnem rem subtilem. Unum globum cum Terra efficit: habet etiam suum centrum in corde maris: unam axim polarem cum Terra habet, per quam omnes cursus et fontes aquarum exeunt, quae postea in magna flumina excrescunt. Per eiusmodi egressiones aquarum Terra conservatur a combustione, et cum hac humectatione deportatur semen universale per poros universae terrae, quod motus et calor faciunt.
English
But to return to our subject: I say this element is the menstruum of the world, divided threefold into pure, purer and purest. The heavens were created from its purest substance. The purer part was dissolved into air, while the pure, or simple and gross, remained in its own sphere. By divine ordinance, with nature working, it guards everything subtle. It makes one globe with earth and has its own centre in the heart of the sea. It shares earth's polar axis, through which all streams and springs issue, later growing into great rivers. By such outflows earth is protected against burning, and through this moistening the universal seed is carried through the pores of the whole earth. Motion and heat bring this about.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Sulphur · Water · Sulphur · Water · Passage 3
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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.