Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 148 of 204
Sulphur · The Three Principles · Passage 9
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1616 · sequence pages 47–49
Latin
Conclusive dicimus repetendo sulphur et Mercurium esse mineram nostri argenti vivi, coniuncta tamen, quod argentum vivum habet posse metalla solvere, occidere, et vivificare, quam potestatem accepit a sulphure acetoso suae propriae naturae.
Sed ut adhuc melius concipere possis, audi quae differentia est inter nostrum argentum vivum et Mercurium vulgi. Mercurius vulgi non solvit aurum nec argentum ut ab illis non separetur, argentum vero vivum nostrum solvit aurum et argentum et non separatur ab illis in aeternum, sicut aqua mixta aquae. Mercurius vulgi habet sulphur combustibile malum quod denigratur, nostrum argentum vivum habet in se sulphur incombustibile, fixum, bonum, albissimum et rubeum. Mercurius vulgi est frigidus, humidus: Mercurius noster est calidus, humidus. Mercurius vulgi corpora denigrat et inficit: Argentum vivum nostrum corpora dealbat usque ad crystallinam serenitatem. Mercurius vulgi vertitur per praecipitationem in pulverem citrinum, sulphur malum: Argentum vivum nostrum mediante calore vertitur in sulphur candidissimum, bonum fixum et fluxibile. Mercurius vulgi quo magis decoquitur, eo magis fluxibilis: argentum vivum nostrum quo magis decoquitur, eo magis inspissatur. Ex his igitur circumstantiis considerare poteris, quomodo differunt inter se Mercurius vulgi ab argento vivo Philosophorum. Si adhuc non intelligis, noli expectare, nullus mortalium dabit clariora sicut hic diximus, sed de virtutibus. Talis virtutis est argentum vivum nostrum, quod et per se sufficit, et tibi et sibi absque omni additione rei extraneae, sola decoctione naturali solvitur et congelatur: sed Philosophi propter abbreviationem addunt illi sulphur suum bene digestum et maturum, et sic operantur. Potuissemus quidem citare scripta Philosophorum sermonem nostrum confirmantia; sed quoniam clariora eorum scriptis scripsimus, non indigent comprobatione; is intelliget, qui in aliorum scriptis versatus est.
English
In conclusion, I repeat that sulphur and mercury, joined together, are the ore of our quicksilver. This quicksilver has the power to dissolve metals, kill them and restore them to life. It received that power from the sour sulphur of its own nature.
To help you understand still better, hear the difference between our quicksilver and common mercury. Common mercury does not dissolve gold or silver so as never to be separated from them. Our quicksilver, however, dissolves gold and silver and is never separated from them, like water mixed with water. Common mercury contains a bad, combustible sulphur that blackens. Our quicksilver contains an incombustible, fixed, good sulphur, very white and red. Common mercury is cold and moist; our mercury is hot and moist. Common mercury blackens and stains bodies; our quicksilver whitens them to crystalline clarity. Common mercury is turned by precipitation into a yellow powder, a bad sulphur; our quicksilver is turned through heat into a very white, good, fixed and fusible sulphur. The more common mercury is cooked, the more fusible it becomes; the more our quicksilver is cooked, the more it thickens.
From these circumstances you can consider how common mercury differs from the philosophers' quicksilver. If you still do not understand, do not expect more: no mortal will give clearer explanations than those I have given here—but concerning powers. Our quicksilver has such power that by itself it suffices for both you and itself. Without the addition of any foreign thing, it is dissolved and congealed by natural cooking alone. To shorten the work, however, philosophers add their own well-digested, ripe sulphur to it, and work in this way. I could have cited philosophers' writings to confirm my account. But since I have written more clearly than they did, it needs no corroboration. Whoever is familiar with their writings will understand.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Sulphur · The Three Principles · Sulphur · The Three Principles · Passage 9
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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.