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Anonymous

Candida Phoenix Philosophica

The White Philosophical Phoenix

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Candida Phoenix PhilosophicaPart II — Chapter 13: The Controversy Over Light

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Facing Pages · Branch 342 of 411

Part II — Chapter 13: The Controversy Over Light

Book Mode

German & Latin

218–219

Corpora superiora jam præteribo, de inferioribus tantum acturus, ubi sciendum, illa duabus ex partibus hisce Substantia nimirum & excrementis consistere, & hanc esse accidentalem, illam autem essentialem: Ideòque ad differentiam excrementorum dixi esse ens purum, quippe quod excrementa tota impura sint, quibus etiam malum corruptionis ex maledictione DEI propter peccatum primorum parentum nostrorum subsecutum adhæret, non autem Substantiæ, docente Domino de Nuysement. Substantia (in se ipsa considerata) pura est, inquam, nam licet excrementum in omni corpore inferiori Substantiam excedat, seque illi immisceat, ac ejus puritatem contaminet ac pervertat, tamen arte interveniente separari potest.

218–219

Candida Phoenix Philosophica: Part II — Chapter 13: The Controversy Over Light

218–219

I shall pass over the higher bodies and speak only of the lower. These consist of two parts: substance and residues. The latter part is accidental, the former essential. I called substance a pure being to distinguish it from the residues, which are wholly impure. According to de Nuysement, the evil of corruption that followed God’s curse for the sin of our first parents attaches to those residues, not to substance. Substance considered in itself is pure. Although in every lower body the residue exceeds the substance, mingles with it, and contaminates and distorts its purity, it can nevertheless be separated through the intervention of Art.

218–219

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.