Lumen de Lumine

The Bodily Fermentation, is that which I properly call the Descent, and now we will speak of it. When thou hast made the stone, or Magicall Medicine, it is a liquid fierie, spirituall substance, shining like the Sun. In this Complexion if you would project, you could hardly find the just proportion, the vertue of the Medicine is so intensive and powerfull. The Philosophers therefore took one part of their stone, and did cast it upon ten parts of pure molten gold. This single small graine did bring all to the gold a bloudie powder, and on the contrary the grosse Body of the gold did abate the spirituall strength of the projected graine. This Descent or Incorporation some wise Authors have call’d a Bodily Fermentation, but the Philosophers did not use common Gold to make their stone as some scriblers have written, they us’d it only to qualifie the intensive power of it, when it is made, that they might the more easily find what Quantitie of base Metall, they should project upon. By this means they reduc’d their Medicine to a dust, and this dust is the Arabian-Elixir. This Elixir the Philosophers could carry about them, but the Medicine it self not so, for it is such a subtill moyst Fire, there is nothing but glasse that will hold it.