Lumen de Lumine

Name: Lumen de Lumine
Author: Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes)

A New Magical Light · The Complete 1651 First Edition

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Lumen de LumineThe River of Pearl · Original

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Original English Page · Branch 127 of 200

The River of Pearl · Original

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Original English

But let us returne to our River of Pearl, and for our further information let us heare it describ’d by a most excellent Adeptus, and that in the very ἐξάνθησις, before the full moon appears. Hoc opus est (saith he) quod mihi aliquando ob oculos posuit unicus Exechedistes, magnas quippe fornaces, atque vitro easdem Varico redimitas ostendens. Vasa erant singula, in suis sedilibus habentia sedimenta, atque interius dispari dicatum, sacrumque Munus. Quid vero Rem tam Divinam celem diutius? Erat intus circumacta Moles quaedam, Mundi prae se ferens imaginem ipsissimi. Quippe ibi Terra videbatur in medio omnium consistens, aquisque circumfusa Limpidissimis, varios colles, salebrosasque rupes assurg[e]bat fructum ferens multiplicem, tanquam humentis Aeris imbribus irrigua. Vini etiam videbatur & olei, & lactis, atque pretiosorum omne genus lapidum, & Metallorum esse apprime ferax. Tum Aquae ipsae instar Aequoris, sale quodam pellucido, albo interdum, interdum quoque rubeo & fulvo, & rubro, multisque praeterea variegato coloribus inlita, inque superficiem ipsam aestuabant. Igne autem haec omnia suo, sed impercepto quidem, atque aethereo movebantur. Id vero unum prae caeteris incredibilem me rapiebat in admirationem, Rem hanc tam multa unicam, tam diversa, tamque in suo genere integra singula, parvo etiam imbecillique adminiculo producere: quo facto paulatim robustiore, redirent tandem, atque coalescerent in unum omnia, confidenter asseverabat. Hic equidem observavi fusilis illam salis speciem nihil ab Aphrolitho degenerantem, atque argentum illud vivum, cui Mercurii nomen ab hujusce Disciplinae priscis authoribus inditum est, illam ipsam referens Lullianam Lunariam, adversa scandens aqua, noctuque relucens, atque interdiu glutinandi praeditum facultate.

Modern English

But let us return to our River of Pearl and, for further information, hear an excellent adept describe it in its very “flowering,” before the full moon appears. “This is the work that my singular Exechedistes once set before my eyes, showing me large furnaces crowned with bent glass. Each vessel had its deposits upon its own seats, and within was an offering dedicated and sacred to the odd number. But why conceal so divine a thing any longer? Within, a certain mass was being turned about, displaying the image of the world itself. Earth could be seen standing at the centre of everything, surrounded by the clearest waters, rising in varied hills and rugged rocks and bearing manifold fruit, as though watered by showers from moist air. It also seemed most fertile in wine, oil and milk, and every kind of precious stone and metal. Then the waters themselves, like the sea, were overlaid with a certain transparent salt—sometimes white, sometimes reddish, tawny and red, and variegated with many other colours—and surged to the very surface. All these things were moved by their own fire, though it was imperceptible and ethereal. One thing above all carried me into incredible wonder: this single thing produced so many things, so diverse and each so complete in its own kind, with only a small and feeble aid. As that aid was gradually strengthened, he confidently declared, everything would finally return and coalesce into one. Here I observed that fusible appearance of salt, in no way differing from foam-stone, and that quicksilver to which this discipline’s ancient authors gave the name Mercury: it resembled Lull’s very Lunaria, rising against the water, shining at night and endowed by day with a power of binding together.”

About This Reading Edition

The complete 1651 Lumen de Lumine, or A New Magical Light, by Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), with original and modern English, fresh translations of the Latin, Greek and Hebrew passages, the historical emblem and its inscriptions, all twelve Magical Aphorisms, 105 annotations and the complete supplied Diotimos study apparatus.

Historical Text and Translation

Thomas Vaughan (Eugenius Philalethes), Lumen de Lumine, or A New Magicall Light. London: H. Blunden, 1651. Governing witness: Wellcome Collection EPB/A/69096.4, digitisation b30340160, Wing V150, ESTC R146. Source credit: Wellcome Collection; Public Domain Mark.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The historical text and emblem are public domain. The supplied 2026 reading, translations and Diotimos editorial material are published with the site owner’s authorization.