Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
A New Light of Alchemy
With the Dialogue of Mercury and the Treatise of Sulphur
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Facing Pages · Branch 46 of 204
Treatise IX · Passage 1
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1606 pp. 120–121
Latin
Caput IX. De commixtione metallorum vel de eliciendo semine metallico.
Diximus de natura, de arte, de corpore et de spermate ac semine: iam ad praxin descendamus, quomodo videlicet metalla commisceri debeant, et qualis eorum sit inter se correspondentia: scias ergo mulierem non discrepare a viro, ex eodem semine, et in una matrice ambo nascuntur, nihil defuit praeter digestionem, et ut matrix purior est in sanguine et sale: sic Luna ex eodem semine cum Sole et eadem matrice: sed matrix magis habuit de aqua, quam de sanguine digesto, secundum tempus lunae coelestis. Ut vero eo facilius tibi imaginari possis, quomodo metalla coeant, ut emittant et recipiant semen, intuere coelum et planetarum sphaeras: vides quod Saturnus supremus sit, cui succedit Iupiter, huic Mars, postea Sol, quem sequitur Venus, hanc Mercurius, ultimo loco Luna statuitur: considera iam, quod planetarum virtutes non ascendant, sed descendant: dedit hoc et ipsa experientia, quod ex Venere non fit Mars, sed ex Marte fit Venus, utpote una sphaera inferior, sic etiam Iupiter facile transmutatur in Mercurium, quia Iupiter secundus a firmamento, et Mercurius secundus a terra: Saturnus primus a coelo, Luna prima a terra. Sol miscet se omnibus, sed nunquam per inferiores melioratur.
English
Treatise IX Mixing Metals or Drawing Out Metallic Seed
We have spoken of nature, art, body, sperm, and seed. Let us now descend to practice: how metals should be mixed, and what correspondence they have with one another. Know, then, that a woman does not differ from a man: both are born from the same seed and in one womb. Nothing was lacking except digestion and the womb’s greater purity in blood and salt. Likewise, Luna comes from the same seed and the same womb as Sol, but the womb had more water than digested blood, according to the season of the heavenly moon. To imagine more easily how metals come together to emit and receive seed, look at the heavens and the planetary spheres. You see Saturn highest, followed by Jupiter, then Mars, then Sol, followed by Venus, then Mercury, with Luna placed last. Consider now that the powers of the planets descend rather than ascend. Experience itself has shown that Mars is not made from Venus, but Venus is made from Mars, being one sphere lower. Jupiter likewise readily transmutes into Mercury, since Jupiter is second from the firmament and Mercury second from the earth. Saturn is first from heaven, and Luna first from earth. Sol mixes with all, but is never improved by the lower ones.
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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.