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Anonymous

Candida Phoenix Philosophica

The White Philosophical Phoenix

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Candida Phoenix PhilosophicaPart II — Chapter 10: Requirements for the Art

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Facing Pages · Branch 294 of 411

Part II — Chapter 10: Requirements for the Art

Book Mode

German & Latin

192–193

Jedoch zuvorderst wieder ad propositum zu kommen / und gegenwärtiger quæstion und deren letzten membro vollend abzuhelffen / so berichte ich ferner / daß der jenige / so dieser Kunst nachtrachtet / mit andern Geschäfften nicht beladen / auch bey guten Mitteln seyn / und damit sparsam umbgehen muß / auff daß er vors Erste durch frembde Gedancken an seinen Meditationibus nicht gehindert / noch durch andere Geschäffte dem Werck obzuligen / abgehalten / oder aber auß Mangel der darzu benöthigten Unkosten / darvon unzeitig abzulassen / verursacht werde. Darumb auch Geber. test. Lucernâ Salis Philosophorum erinnert: Expedit etiam, inquit, ut suam pecuniam custodiat (Artifex) nec eam præsumptuosus vane distribuat, ne forte si jam propinquus fuerit veritati, non habeat ulterius unde laboret.

192–193

Candida Phoenix Philosophica: Part II — Chapter 10: Requirements for the Art

192–193

But first I return to the subject, to finish answering the present question and its last part. Anyone who pursues this Art must be free of other burdensome business. He must also have adequate means and use them sparingly, so that distracting thoughts do not hinder his meditations, other business does not prevent him from attending to the Work, and a lack of the money it requires does not force him to abandon it prematurely. Hence Geber, according to the Lamp of the Philosophers’ Salt, advises: “It is also fitting that the artist should preserve his money and not presumptuously squander it, lest, when he has already come close to the truth, he should no longer have the means to continue his labour.”

192–193

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.