Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
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Facing Pages · Branch 41 of 204
Treatise VII · Passage 1
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1606 pp. 115–116
Latin
Caput VII. De virtute secundae materiae.
Sed ut facilius possis comprehendere qualis sit haec secunda materia, virtutes ex quibus illam cognosces, describam tibi: ac primum scias, quod natura in tria regna divisa est: duo sunt regna, quorum quodlibet per se stare potest, etsi alia duo non essent: est regnum minerale, vegetabile et animale: minerale per se subsistere potest, etsi nullus hominum in mundo esset, nec arbor vel herba: vegetabile itidem etiamsi nullum metallum nec animal esset per se stare potest, haec duo sunt ex uno per unum creata: tertium vero ex dictis duobus vitam habet, sine quibus esse non posset, et est nobilius ac praestantius, quam duo praedicta, sicuti etiam postremum est inter illa, et dominatur eis, quia semper in tertio virtus finitur, et in secundo multiplicatur. Viden in vegetabili regno: prima materia est herba vel arbor, quam tu creare nescis, natura solummodo hoc facit: in hoc regno secunda materia est semen, quod tu vides, in hoc multiplicatur herba vel arbor. In regno animali prima materia est bestia vel homo, quem tu creare nescis, sed secundam materiam, vel sperma tu nosti, in quo multiplicatur homo. In regno minerali metallum tu creare nescis, et si gloriaris vanus es et mendax, natura hoc fecit et quamvis haberes primam materiam secundum Philosophos, illud sal centrale tamen sine auro multiplicare impossibile tibi foret: semen autem metallorum, filii tantum doctrinae noverunt.
English
Treatise VII The Power of the Second Matter
To help you grasp more easily what this second matter is like, I shall describe the powers by which you will recognise it. First know that nature is divided into three kingdoms. Two are kingdoms each of which can stand by itself even if the other two did not exist. The kingdoms are mineral, vegetable, and animal. The mineral can subsist by itself even if there were no human being, tree, or herb in the world. The vegetable likewise can stand by itself even if there were no metal or animal. These two were created from one through one. The third lives from those two and could not exist without them. It is nobler and more excellent than the first two; it is also the last among them and rules them, for power always reaches its end in the third and is multiplied in the second. Look at the vegetable kingdom. The first matter is a herb or tree, which you do not know how to create; nature alone does this. In this kingdom the second matter is the seed that you see, in which the herb or tree multiplies. In the animal kingdom, the first matter is a beast or human being, which you do not know how to create; but you know the second matter, or sperm, in which humanity multiplies. In the mineral kingdom you do not know how to create a metal. If you boast that you do, you are vain and a liar: nature has done this. Even if you possessed the first matter according to the philosophers, it would still be impossible for you to multiply that central salt without gold. Only the children of learning know the seed of metals.
Socrates
Reading A New Light of Alchemy · Treatise VII · Treatise VII · 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.