Sal Lumen and Spiritus Mundi Philosophici

I foresee, then, that the same cause which debases them and makes them fall away from the glorious destiny of their birth might produce contempt for this labour of mine, because some ray of the chymical art is seen to sparkle in it, although that is not my aim. Rather, because I dare undertake to decipher what thrice-great Hermes taught so excellently in his Table, in which many outstanding minds have found themselves perplexed, I have wished in this preface to warn inquiring readers not to seek here the Golden Fleece or the apples of the Hesperides. They should seek only a plain description of the first principles of Nature, in whose rich bosom all the treasures of the world repose. These are truly priceless treasures, surpassing by an immense distance everything which ordinary people most admire and idolise.