How great the poison of a menstruating woman is.

You see this in the basilisk, which is itself a monster—indeed, the monster above all monsters, and the most to be feared, because it can kill any person merely by its look and sight. Its poison surpasses all poisons and has no equal anywhere in the world. It carries that poison in its eyes in the most hidden way; it is an imagined poison, not very unlike a menstruating woman, who also carries a hidden poison in her eyes, so that her mere look stains and infects a mirror. If she looks at a wound or ulcer, she similarly infects it and prevents its cure; with her breath as with her sight she infects, corrupts and weakens many things, and likewise with her touch. You see that if she handles wine during menstruation, it soon changes and becomes ropy; vinegar she handles is spoiled and useless; ardent wine likewise loses its strength. Civet, ambergris, musk and similar fragrant substances lose their scent when carried or touched by such women; gold and coral lose their colour, and many gems, like mirrors, become stained, and so forth. But to return to my intended account of the basilisk and the reason and manner in which it carries poison in its look and eyes: it must be understood that it receives this property and poison from impure women, as stated above. The basilisk is born and grows from the greatest female impurity, namely menstrual matter and the blood of sperm, if it is placed in a glass cucurbit and putrefied in the horse’s belly: in that putrefaction the basilisk is born. But who is so eager and bold as to make it, take it out and kill it again without first clothing and fortifying himself with mirrors? I would advise no one to do so; rather, I wish everyone warned to take care.

Monsters do not live long.

To continue the treatment of monsters: understand that monstrous animals born from other things rather than from their like seldom live long, especially if they try to live beside or among other animals. By innate nature and divine ordinance all monsters are hateful to properly born animals of their own kind, and so forth. Likewise human monsters born from humans seldom live long. The more extraordinary and remarkable they are, the sooner death overtakes them, so that hardly any survive beyond the third day among humans unless immediately carried to secret places and separated from all people. Furthermore, it must be understood that God recoils from such monsters and is displeased by them, and none can be saved, because they do not bear God’s likeness. Nothing else can therefore be inferred except that they were formed thus by the Devil and born for the Devil’s service rather than God’s: no good work has ever flowed from a monster, but rather every evil, every sin and every diabolical cunning. As an executioner marks his sons by cutting off their ears, gouging out their eyes, burning their cheeks and amputating fingers, hands and head, so the Devil marks his sons through the imagination of mothers, who draw it in at conception from evil desires, lusts and thoughts. Everyone who has an extra limb, lacks a limb or otherwise has a doubled member must therefore be shunned. This is an omen of the Devil and a most certain sign of the hidden wickedness and cunning which follows from them. Thus they seldom die without the executioner, or at least a mark from the executioner.

Monsters are born from the Devil.

Monsters must be shunned.

The artificial generation of the homunculus.

Nor must the generation of homunculi be forgotten. There is some truth in this, although it has long been kept deeply hidden and secret, and some ancient philosophers have debated and questioned at length whether nature and art could generate a human outside a woman’s body and a natural womb. I answer that it conflicts in no way with spagyric art or nature, but is entirely possible. To accomplish it, proceed as follows: let a man’s sperm putrefy by itself in a sealed cucurbit, in the utmost putrefaction of the horse’s belly, for forty days, or until it begins to live, move and stir, which can readily be seen. After this time it will in some manner resemble a human, yet be transparent and without a body. If it is then carefully and prudently nourished and fed every day with the arcanum of human blood and maintained for forty weeks in the continuous and even warmth of the horse’s belly, a true living infant will result, with all the members of a child born of a woman, but much smaller. We call this a homunculus. It must afterward be brought up like any other child, with the greatest diligence and care, until it matures and begins to understand and think. This is one of the greatest secrets God has disclosed to mortal humanity subject to sin: a miracle and mighty work of God, an arcanum above all arcana, rightly to be kept secret until the last times, when nothing will be hidden but everything made manifest. Though this has hitherto been unknown to humans, it was known long ago to woodland beings, nymphs and giants, for they too originated from it. When such homunculi reach manhood they become giants, pygmies and other great, extraordinary humans, instruments of great things who win great victories over their enemies and know every secret and hidden thing. Through art they obtain their life; through art they obtain body, flesh, bones and blood; through art they are born. Art is therefore embodied and innate in them. They need learn from no one, while others are compelled to learn from them, since they have arisen and exist through art, like a rose or flower in a garden. They are called the children of woodland beings and nymphs because in their force and power they resemble spirits rather than humans, and so forth.

Woodland beings, nymphs, giants and so forth arise from homunculi.

On the three principles: Mercury is spirit; Sulphur, soul; Salt, body.

We should also speak here about the generation of metals. Since we have written enough about them in the little book On the Generation of Metals, however, we shall treat the matter very briefly here and indicate only what we omitted there. Understand that all seven metals arise from a threefold material, namely Mercury, Sulphur and Salt, yet in distinct and particular colours. Hermes therefore spoke well when he said that all seven metals are born and composed from three substances, and likewise tinctures and the philosophers’ stone. He names those three substances spirit, soul and body, but did not explain how this is to be understood or what he meant. Perhaps he knew the three principles too, but he does not mention them. I therefore do not say he erred here, but merely kept silent. To understand those three substances—spirit, soul and body—clearly and correctly, know that they signify nothing but the three principles, Mercury, Sulphur and Salt, from which all seven metals are generated. Mercury is spirit, Sulphur soul and Salt body. What lies in the metal between spirit and body, of which Hermes also speaks, is soul, namely Sulphur, which unites those two contraries, body and spirit, and changes them into a single essence, and so forth.

Whether metals can be made by art through fire.