Magia Adamica

a stone; among the unlearned it is contemptible and incredible. Who would believe that a stone becomes water, and water a stone, when nothing is more different? Nevertheless it is truly so. For this very permanent water is the stone; while it is water, it is not a stone.” [Vaughan’s own English rendering:] “Among all great philosophers it is a masterly truth that our stone is no stone; among the ignorant it is ridiculous and incredible. Who will believe that water can become a stone, and a stone water, when nothing differs more than these two? Yet it is truly so. For this very permanent water is the stone; while it is water, it is no stone.” But the ancient Hermes abounds in this meaning, almost disclosing too much. [New translation of the Latin:] “Know, sons of the wise, that there is a division of the ancient philosophers' water that divides it into four other things.” [Vaughan’s own English rendering:] “Know, you children of the wise, that the ancient philosophers' separation was performed upon water, dividing it into four other substances.” A very learned author has written on this subject more openly than any we have cited. [New translation of the Latin:] “Just as the world owes its origin to the water over which the Spirit of the Lord brooded, all things heavenly and earthly proceeding from it, so this limbus arises from a water that is not common, neither from heavenly dew nor from air