Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition
Nine Books on the Nature of Things
A fresh translation from the early Latin text with annotations and study apparatus
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English Page · Branch 320 of 642
Book 7 · Transmutations · Passage 8
Source reference
- Latin witness
- 1605 pp. 231–232
Latin
Coagulatio est sextus gradus: Est autem duplex coagulatio, una per frigus, altera per calorem, hoc est, una aeris, altera ignis: & harum quaelibet iterum est duplex, ita ut sint quadruplices coagulationes, duae frigoris, & duae ignis. Ignis quidem coagulationes fixae sunt: reliquae frigoris non. Una quidem solummodo a communi aere fit, vel extra ignem: altera fit a superiori firmamento stellarum hyemalium, quae omnes aquas in nives & glacies coagulant. Ignis vero coagulatio, quae hic sola notanda est, fit per artificiosum & graduatum ignem Alchymistae, estque fixa & permanens. Nam quicquid talis ignis coagulat, id ita permanet. Altera coagulatio fit ab Aetnaeo & minerali igne in montibus, quem quidem Archeus terrae regit & graduat haud absimiliter Alchymistae, & quicquid per talem ignem coagulatur, etiam fixum est & constans, ut videtis in mineralibus & metallis, quae quidem initio mucilaginosa materia sunt, & ab Aetnaeo igne in montibus per Archeum terrae & laboratorem Naturae coagulantur in metalla, lapides, silices, salia, & alia corpora. Sciendum vero etiam est, ignem nullam aquam neque humiditatem coagulare, sed solum liquores & succos omnium rerum naturalium. Propterea etiam nullum phlegma coagulari potest, nisi in principio fuerit materia corporea, in quam quidem industria periti Alchymistae redire potest. Ita quaelibet mucilaginosa materia, vel spermaticus liquor per calorem ignis & in corpus & corporalem materiam coagulari, sed nequaquam in aquam iterum resolvi potest. Et sicut de coagulatione audivistis, ita etiam sciatis de Solutione, nempe quod nulla corporalis materia in aquam resolvi possit, nisi ab initio fuerit aqua, ita se res habet in omnibus rebus mineralibus.
English
Coagulation is the sixth stage. It is twofold: one through cold, the other through heat; one of air, the other of fire. Each is itself twofold, giving four coagulations, two of cold and two of fire. Coagulations by fire are fixed; those by cold are not. One occurs through common air alone, outside fire; the other through the upper firmament of winter stars, which coagulate all waters into snow and ice. Coagulation by fire, the kind of concern here, occurs through the alchemist’s artificial and graduated fire and is fixed and lasting: whatever such a fire coagulates remains so. The other occurs through the Etnean and mineral fire in mountains, which the Archaeus of earth governs and graduates much as an alchemist does. Whatever this fire coagulates is likewise fixed and stable, as you see in minerals and metals. Initially they are mucilaginous material, coagulated by the Etnean fire in mountains through the Archaeus of earth, nature’s worker, into metals, stones, flints, salts and other bodies. Fire coagulates no water or moisture, but only the liquors and juices of all natural things. No phlegm can therefore be coagulated unless it was originally corporeal material, to which an expert alchemist’s diligence can return it. Thus any mucilaginous material or spermatic liquor can be coagulated by fire’s heat into body and corporeal material, but cannot be resolved again into water. Understand of Solution what you have heard of Coagulation: no corporeal material can be resolved into water unless it was water at the beginning. So it is in all mineral things.
Socrates
Reading Nine Books on the Nature of Things · Book 7 · Transmutations · Book 7 · Transmutations · Passage 8
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Socrates will begin with this book and its sources.About This Reading Edition
The complete supplied Latin–English edition of the historical title, dedication and all nine books, with 363 separately labelled historical marginal notes, 117 modern annotations and the complete Diotimos study apparatus. The transmitted composite work is traditionally attributed to Paracelsus; individual authorship remains qualified.
Historical Text and Translation
The normalized Latin follows the complete 1605 Frankfurt Palthenian witness, volume six, printed pages 198–271, in SUB Göttingen PPN578052199, historical scans 182–255. Earlier textual tradition is German; the individual translator of the 1605 Latin text is not identified. The dedication’s 1537 date is transmitted text, not an established date for the composite work.
About Diotimos Editions
This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.
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The historical Latin text is in the public domain. The fresh English translation and editorial material were prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions in 2026 and are published with the site owner’s authorization.