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Anonymous

Candida Phoenix Philosophica

The White Philosophical Phoenix

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Candida Phoenix PhilosophicaPart II — Chapter 2: The Three Philosophical Principles

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German & Latin Page · Branch 120 of 411

Part II — Chapter 2: The Three Philosophical Principles

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German & Latin

85

Da man dann ebenmäßig fragen möchte / was die Philosophische Principia seyen? Worauff ich und zwar nicht auß blosser speculation, wie einer oder zween / so genannte neue Physici, die sich selbige zu definiren underfangen / und doch deren eigenen Geständnuß nach / ihr Lebtag keines gesehen / noch gewust / was eines oder das andere ist / sondern (Gott Lob) auß eigener Erfahrung / antworte / und sage: Daß gemelte Philosophische Principia, so von ihnen den Philosophis, Sal, Sulphur und Mercurius genennet werden / nichts anders seyen / als die Elementa;

Dann der Mercurius ist die Lufft / der Sulphur das Feuer / und das Saltz ist das Wasser / und auch zugleich die Erde / und der Leib der andern allen / wie hernach vermeldet werden wird.

85

Candida Phoenix Philosophica: Part II — Chapter 2: The Three Philosophical Principles

85

One may likewise ask what the philosophical principles are. My answer comes not from mere speculation, like that of one or two so-called new natural philosophers who undertake to define them although, by their own admission, they have never seen any of them or known what one or another is. Rather, God be praised, I answer from my own experience: the philosophical principles called Salt, Sulphur and Mercury by the philosophers are nothing other than the elements.

Mercury is air; Sulphur is fire; Salt is water, and at the same time earth and the body of all the others, as will be explained below.

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About This Reading Edition

An anonymous Hermetic treatise of 1680, presented in its original German and Latin with a new English translation, 279 explanatory notes, the historical phoenix frontispiece, an introduction, reading guide, outline, glossary, bibliography, and original registers.

Historical Text and Translation

Anonymous, Candida Phoenix philosophica. Frankfurt am Main: Christian Hermsdorff, 1680. The chosen witness is the Wellcome Library copy digitized as b32993456; German and Latin, with French, Greek, and Hebrew passages retained.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The 1680 source is identified as public domain by the Wellcome/Internet Archive record. The supplied 2026 transcription, English translation, introduction, notes, reading guide, outline, glossary, bibliography, and editorial arrangement are published with the site owner’s authorization. The frontispiece is retained from the supplied edition and credited to its historical witness.