The Sophic Hydrolith

Name: The Sophic Hydrolith
Author: Anonymous

Water Stone of the Wise

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The Sophic HydrolithPart Four

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English Page · Branch 93 of 287

Part Four

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German & Latin

1619 pp. 68–69 · scans ER072, ER073

Anfangs nun/ gleich wie an der wahren Erkantnus der primæ materiæ des vorerwehnten jrdischen Philosophischen Steins (so da für das principal stück vnd höchste verborgenheit zu halten) denen/ die solchen zu bereiten/ vnnd dadurch in diesem zeitlichen Leben/ zu aller glückseligkeit (so vns von Gott in ewigkeit bereitet worden) ererben vnnd erlangen wollen/ auch gleichfalls in erkantnus des himlischen ewigen Steins (das ist des rechten wahren vnd lebendigen Gottes/ Schöpffers/ Himmels vnd der Erden/ so ein vnzertrenliches Drey einiges Wesen) noch viel mehr vnd höher gelegen vnnd zu wissen von nöthen/ deßwegen dann auch droben im ersten Theil des eingangs Weg/ die allgemeine Natur sampt jhren Eigenschafften ohne welche dasselbige Werck sonsten vergeblich angefangen vnd angestellet wirt/ vor allen Dingen woll zu lernen/ vnd zu erkennen ist/ erinnert vnd vermahnet worden. Dann so der Mensch zu dem höchsten Gut kommen will/ muß er nothwendig vor allen dingen/ Erstlich Gott vnnd sich selbsten erkennen lernen. Sintemal Gott vnnd sich selbsten erkennen lernen (das ist wissen wer wir Menschen seindt/ woher wir rühren/ vnnd warzu wir erschaffen/ auch wie nahe wir mit Gott verwandte) für die höchste Weißheit ohne welche sonst sehr mißlich vnd schwer/ ja auch vnmüglich zu obgemelter glückseligkeit zu kommen/ billich gepriesen vnd gehalten werden solle.

The Sophic Hydrolith: Part Four

1619 pp. 68–69 · scans ER072, ER073

To begin, just as those who wish to prepare the earthly philosophers’ stone and thereby inherit and attain in this temporal life all the blessedness prepared for us by God from eternity must rightly know its first matter—which is to be regarded as its principal point and greatest secret—so it is still more important and necessary to know the heavenly, eternal stone: that is, the true and living God, creator of heaven and earth, who is an inseparable, three-in-one being. For this reason the beginning of the first part above also reminded and exhorted us that, before all else, we must thoroughly learn and understand universal Nature and its properties, without which that work is otherwise begun and undertaken in vain. For if a person wishes to reach the highest good, he must necessarily first learn, above all things, to know God and himself. Learning to know God and oneself—that is, knowing what we human beings are, whence we come, for what purpose we were created, and how closely we are related to God—ought rightly to be praised and regarded as the highest wisdom. Without it, reaching the blessedness mentioned above is exceedingly uncertain and difficult, indeed impossible.

About This Reading Edition

The anonymous Water Stone of the Wise of 1619, with German text, a new English translation, 240 annotations, three companion treatises from the original volume, two separately identified responses of 1661, and the complete supplied study apparatus.

Historical Text and Translation

Anonymous, Wasserstein der Weysen. Frankfurt: Lucas Jennis, 1619. The governing e-rara copy belongs to the Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung, Zürich (DOI 10.3931/e-rara-8968). The work is traditionally attributed to Johann Siebmacher; this remains an attribution, not a name printed in the anonymous witness. The separately sourced First and Second Responses use the 1661 Wolfenbüttel witness, qun-642-1s, pp. 200–206.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

Historical texts printed in 1619 and 1661 are in the public domain. The supplied 2026 German reading text, new English translation, introduction, notes and complete study apparatus are published with the site owner’s authorization. The original triangle is credited to the Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung, Zürich, and e-rara, Public Domain Mark.