# The Sophic Hydrolith Water Stone of the Wise A new English translation from the German of 1619 With German text, annotations and study apparatus An anonymous work of 1619 Diotimos Editions 2026 With the three companion treatises of 1619 and two separately identified F.R.C. responses from 1661. ## Contents - [Edition Statement](#EDITION_STATEMENT) - [Introduction](#INTRODUCTION) - [Note on the Text and Translation](#note_on_text) - [The Water Stone of the Wise](#HYDROLITH) - [The Original Title Page](#HY_TITLE) - [A Brief Explanation of the Wonderfully Excellent Water Stone of the Wise, Otherwise Called Lapis Philosophorum](#HY_INTRO) - [Part One](#HY_P1) - [Part Two](#HY_P2) - [Part Three](#HY_P3) - [Part Four](#HY_P4) - [Conclusion](#HY_CONCLUSION) - [The Author’s Appendix](#HY_APPENDIX) - [Prayer](#HY_PRAYER) - [Closing Epigrams](#HY_EPIGRAM) - [Companion Treatises in the 1619 Volume](#COMPANIONS1619) - [Nature’s Demonstration to the Erring Alchemist](#APP_NATURE) - [A Short Treatise Called Philosophical Summary](#APP_SUMMARY) - [The Way of Truth](#APP_VIA) - [Later Appendices: The Responses of 1661](#RESPONSES1661) - [First Response](#APP_FRC1) - [Second Response](#APP_FRC2) - [Keyword Essays](#KEYWORDS) - [Short Glossary](#GLOSSARY) - [Contextual Lexicon](#LEXICON) - [Alchemical and Biblical Correspondences](#correspondence_01) - [Discussion Guide](#DISCUSSION) - [Selected Annotated Bibliography](#BIBLIOGRAPHY) - [Source and Editorial Credits](#source_credit) - [English Subject Index](#INDEX) ## Edition Statement Diotimos Editions · 2026 A new translation from the German first printing of 1619, with a German reading text and an annotated study apparatus. The three companion treatises printed in that volume are included in their original order. Two responses added in 1661 follow as separately sourced later appendices. Anonymous. Traditionally attributed to Johann Siebmacher. The underlying historical texts are in the public domain. New English translation and editorial contributions prepared for Diotimos Editions. ## Introduction ### The Stone and the Cornerstone The Sophic Hydrolith promises to make something perfect. Its material subject is the philosophers’ stone: a prepared substance whose tincture is said to perfect imperfect metals and to restore a diseased body. Its spiritual subject is the restoration of human beings through Jesus Christ. The connection receives sustained explanation. Dissolution, conjunction, purification, fermentation and fixation become terms for thinking about incarnation, suffering, regeneration and union with Christ. The reader is asked to follow the operations closely enough to understand why these particular comparisons matter. The force of the book lies in the claim that the work of the vessel can disclose a pattern of redemption.[^n1] The German title, Wasserstein der Weysen, joins water with stone and wisdom. The combination directs attention to a substance whose condition changes: what flows must acquire stability, and what is solid must first become capable of dissolution. “Sophic Hydrolith”, the title familiar from the later Latin and English transmission, preserves that compressed puzzle. The title page of 1619 is more expansive. It announces a chemical treatise in which the way is shown, the matter named and the process described, so that the high mystery of the universal tincture may be attained. That announcement makes the reader’s difficulty unusually sharp. A book promising disclosure can still demand that its audience learn how disclosure works. The opening explanation places the enterprise within the history of human mortality. Philosophers seek a remedy for the perishable body inherited from Adam; natural inquiry proceeds under divine providence; the desired secret remains a gift. The matter is consequently approached through several questions at once. What kind of substance could produce the promised effect? What knowledge allows its proper preparation? What sort of person can receive and rightly use that knowledge? The text repeatedly returns to the last question because it regards a corrupt recipient as a danger to the gift itself. Competence has a moral and religious dimension throughout the argument. This edition reads the book’s claims in their own stated relation. Its practical language deserves attention to substances, vessels, quantities, heat and visible changes. Its theology deserves equal attention to the historical Christ, the Holy Spirit, Scripture, faith, sin and the resurrection. An account which reduces every operation to a private psychological event loses much of the text’s specificity. An account concerned only with extracting a laboratory recipe also leaves its largest section unexplained. The author repeatedly makes the two kinds of work illuminate one another; the difficulty and ambition of that conjunction are central to the work. ### A Printed Book of 1619 The governing witness is the German volume published at Frankfurt by Lucas Jennis in 1619. Its title page supplies no author’s name. The copy digitised by e-rara belongs to the Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung in Zürich. This particular book, with its sequence of texts and its devotional ending, provides the historical limits of the edition. Choosing a definite witness matters because “the Hydrolith” has circulated in different languages and in collections whose surrounding texts differ. A title shared across editions does not establish that every passage, appendix and illustration is identical.[^n2] The original is also more than a single continuous treatise. A short explanation introduces four numbered parts. The fourth part is followed by a conclusion, an appendix, a prayer and an extended epigram. Three companion works follow: the Demonstration of Nature, the Philosophical Summary bearing Nicolas Flamel’s name, and Via veritatis. The title page advertises two attached books, naming Johann von Mehung and Via veritatis; the Summary is nevertheless present in the printed sequence between them. Recording what the volume actually contains is more informative than allowing the title’s abbreviated advertisement to determine its contents retrospectively.[^n3] These boundaries give a useful discipline to interpretation. The prayer belongs to the main treatise’s ending; it has a different status from a modern editor’s supplementary devotional material. The three companion works are original companions in the 1619 volume, yet each has its own beginning, voice and argument. The short section headed Appendix within the Hydrolith is another distinct unit. The same word can otherwise make it too easy to confuse an authorial afterpiece with the separate works that a publisher placed after a treatise. Here those units remain separately identifiable. The arrangement invites comparison without cancelling differences. A publisher’s claim of concordance asks the reader to recognise agreement among several witnesses to the art. It does not prove common authorship, a common date of composition or agreement on every detail. The reader can test the promised harmony: compare the Hydrolith’s ordered exposition with Nature’s confrontational dialogue, the Summary’s compressed account of metallic generation, and the direct counsel of Via veritatis. The collected form thus becomes part of the book’s instruction. It offers several occasions to revisit the question of how one learns to recognise true natural knowledge. ### An Anonymous Voice and an Attribution The name traditionally supplied for the anonymous author is Johann Ambrosius Siebmacher. It appears in brackets in the e-rara title record; brackets distinguish supplied information from the words of the title page. Modern research requires a further qualification. Mike A. Zuber’s 2017 study argues for Johann Siebmacher of Nuremberg, connecting the work with Introductio hominis and a separate manuscript transmission. He challenges the added name Ambrosius and distinguishes this writer from the similarly named engraver associated with heraldic books. These findings provide a serious attribution; they also show why a borrowed biography can misidentify the author. This edition retains the anonymity of the printed witness and discusses the attribution as an attribution.[^n4] The anonymous speaker supplies a literary identity of his own. In the conclusion he presents himself as a simple person whose instruction comes from the school of Nature and the great book of the created world. Such a declaration has a rhetorical purpose. It gives experiential and divine instruction priority over the prestige of learned status. It cannot, by itself, establish the author’s occupation, education or social position. Nor does the author’s repeated appeal to experience independently verify every result he reports. The declaration tells us how he wishes his account to be received and what kinds of authority he regards as sufficient.[^n5] For the reader, this distinction allows a closer encounter with the work. We can study its particular terms of self-presentation without filling the silence of its title page with an invented life. Its use of Scripture, account of practice, imagined audience and final prayer all supply evidence about the position articulated in the text. External documents can refine that evidence when their identity and relevance are established. The present introduction consequently gives the anonymous argument more space than biographical reconstruction, while making the pertinent research available in the bibliography. ### The Four Parts and Their Unequal Weight The work’s plan is explicit. Part I describes the entrance to the art and the preparation required of its student. Part II addresses the matter and the conduct of its preparation. Part III describes the benefits and powers attributed to the completed work. Part IV develops the spiritual allegory. Their unequal lengths are significant: the fourth part occupies by far the largest share of the main treatise. The author’s own architecture therefore gives little support to treating its Christian exposition as a passing ornament attached to a substantially different project.[^n6] Part I begins with the fear of the Lord and the need for prayer. Its practical consequence is to place a limit on acquisition. Determination, expenditure and a desire for success cannot compel the divine gift. The student must also be willing to learn and capable of receiving instruction. This opening establishes a recurring tension. The author teaches, exhorts and gives particulars, yet refuses to make those particulars sufficient apart from the recipient’s disposition. The reader is being prepared to understand a practice whose success the text will never describe as wholly autonomous. Part II turns to the elusive substance and its treatment. Its explanatory prose is interrupted and reinforced by riddles and verse. Those changes of form are part of its pedagogy. A prose direction can state an order; a riddle can draw together qualities whose relation the reader must discover. Part III then enlarges the prospect from making the stone to understanding its usefulness, including the further preparation through which its power is applied. The difference between obtaining a perfected thing and putting it effectively to work becomes especially important when the argument later concerns Christ and the believer. Part IV deliberately returns to processes already described. Incarnation and the union of natures, suffering and death, renewal and perfected life are considered through the language of the work. The reader’s earlier labour is thus made interpretively consequential. The sequence is not simply repeated with religious names substituted for substances. The spiritual exposition introduces its own distinctions about grace, faith, bodily life and divine agency. Its comparisons need to be examined locally: exactly which feature of an operation is being applied, and where does the author qualify the comparison? The four-part structure rewards a reader who remembers details while remaining alert to changes of subject. ### Matter, Names and the Work of Reading The promise to name the matter does not make the book’s vocabulary transparent. The stone is described through a crowd of names, analogies and changing conditions. Water, earth, spirit, soul and body can denote features of the material work as well as terms in an explanatory model. A reader must therefore resist the assumption that one English noun always identifies one stable modern substance. The task is to ask what a term does in its sentence: whether it names a starting material, a separated portion, a quality, an operative power or a state reached during preparation. The author himself explains why the matter can be called a stone. It has a mineral origin and an initial dryness and hardness; it can be broken and ground; after division and treatment it must become a stable, fusible product. The explanation joins provenance, handling and final properties. “Stone” consequently has a history within the work. The apparent contradiction between a stone and a water becomes a problem about transformation and the relation of the parts, rather than a licence to regard every description as interchangeable symbolism.[^n7] The recurring threefold language deserves similar care. Body, soul and spirit provide ways to discuss distinction and union within a substance. Their presence also makes the later Christian comparisons possible. Yet every occurrence does not establish an identical scheme, and a threefold expression cannot automatically be equated with the Trinity. The text’s more precise claims must govern the comparison. Where it treats union, separation or continued embodiment, the particular argument matters more than an editor’s desire to produce a tidy universal diagram. The work also assumes that names can protect knowledge as well as communicate it. This creates a difficult relation between explanation and secrecy. Multiple names may indicate aspects of one subject, but a modern editor cannot infer from that possibility that all apparent differences have been solved. The most useful annotation often describes the local alternatives and the author’s own constraints. That approach leaves room for the reader to follow the argument while preserving the uncertainty that actually remains. It also makes the book’s repeated insistence on understanding more intelligible: possession of a name is not yet possession of the art. ### A Process That Can Go Wrong The material work is presented as a sequence whose conditions matter. Dissolution prepares a conjunction; warmth must be suited to the material; changes of colour indicate developments that require judgment. The author does not describe success as the result of indiscriminate force. Too much of an otherwise necessary condition can spoil the work. In this respect the practical exposition teaches a kind of attention: the operator has to observe what is happening and relate that observation to an account of what the matter can bear.[^n8] The comparisons with nourishment, growth and generation serve that account. A substance is fed, a body receives a spirit, and a conjunction must mature. Such language can be figurative and physically consequential at the same time. It encourages an operator to imagine the work as a directed development, with appropriate provision and a suitable environment. The language does not allow an editor to supply a modern temperature, a chemical formula or an identification of an ingredient that the historical passage has not established. Its precision is the precision of its own procedural and natural-philosophical setting. Error has a conspicuous role. The text discusses failures and forms of recovery, then uses the possibility of spoiled work to illuminate spiritual danger. The theological treatment of correction is particularly revealing. Pride, despair and a failure to endure affliction can be described through the earlier language of disturbance and excess. The relation between the parts of the book is therefore more detailed than a general resemblance between purification and moral improvement. The practical discussion supplies distinctions that the spiritual exposition reuses and reorganises. For a historical reader, procedural detail is evidence about the author’s conception of action. It shows what he thinks can be controlled, what must be awaited and what depends on a gift beyond ordinary power. The same detail also sets limits on interpretation. An editor’s ability to paraphrase a sequence does not demonstrate that its promised transmutation occurred. Conversely, a modern judgment about that promise does not eliminate the historical importance of the way the sequence was explained. The reader can examine the work’s claimed efficacy and its intellectual construction separately, giving each the kind of scrutiny it requires. ### Christ, Regeneration and the Perfected Body The spiritual stone is identified with Jesus Christ. That identification gives the exposition a particular theological centre. The historical life, passion and resurrection of Christ are present alongside the believer’s inward renewal. When the text calls Christ a tincture or speaks of a heavenly medicine, those words carry the argument towards the removal of sin and participation in a renewed life. The comparison works because the material tincture is credited with a power to communicate perfection. The spiritual exposition extends and surpasses that claim by assigning saving efficacy to Christ. The author also distinguishes the accomplished work from its reception. A stone capable of transmuting metals must be brought into an effective relation with them. In the theological exposition, Christ’s perfection must become efficacious in his members. The language of fermentation and multiplication gives this relation a process and a direction. Romans 8, with Christ as firstborn among many brethren, helps the author explain how an exemplary and completed perfection can be communicated. The imagery is corporate as well as inward: members participate in a body, and the believer’s transformation belongs to a larger relation with Christ.[^n9] Suffering occupies a necessary place in this account. The author follows dissolution and death towards a renewed condition, and applies that movement to the old Adam, affliction and regeneration. He also gives attention to embodied life. Near the end of Part IV, the future union and glorification of body, soul and spirit is described with the language of fixation and indissolubility. This promised completion exceeds what can be visibly achieved in the present life. A reading concerned only with an inward mood would miss the work’s insistence on resurrection and perfected embodiment.[^n10] The analogy does not explain itself. Theological words and technical words may reinforce one another while carrying different assumptions about agency. Metals do not consent, repent or trust; the human addressee is repeatedly called to do so. God’s action also cannot simply be reduced to an operator’s manipulation. These differences are useful places to read carefully. The author’s comparisons seek to make divine things intelligible through nature, yet the spiritual exposition keeps returning to grace, prayer and revelation. Its most interesting passages often arise where a strongly asserted resemblance encounters the distinct demands of Christian belief and practice. ### Scripture as an Active Part of the Argument Biblical texts organise the reading before the detailed allegory begins. Part I invokes Psalm 25 and divine instruction of the person who fears God. Part II begins from Isaiah’s foundation stone in Zion. Part III invokes the limited human capacity to magnify the works of God in Sirach 43. Part IV opens with the language of parables and things hidden from the foundation of the world, linking Psalm 78 with Matthew 13. The sequence provides an interpretive progression: instruction, foundation, acknowledgment of hidden greatness, and permission to speak through likenesses.[^n11] Within the exposition, biblical phrases do several kinds of work. They can identify Christ, support a doctrine, shape an exhortation or provide words whose material imagery is especially suggestive. Gold tried by fire, cleansing, food, clothing, seed, birth and a living stone already belong to the Bible’s own language. Their alchemical application therefore works through particular verbal connections. An annotation should distinguish the scriptural context from the new use made of it. Recognising an allusion explains a passage’s construction; it does not establish that the author’s application is the only meaning of its source. Numbering and titles also require care. “Ecclesiasticus” and “Sirach” name the same book, while “Ecclesiastes” denotes a different one. Psalm verse numbers can differ between editions and traditions. The author may cite from memory, combine wording or apply a passage without quoting it exactly. The translation preserves the argument actually printed and identifies a biblical reference where the identification is secure. A familiar modern Bible wording should not silently replace the historical author’s phrasing or erase a significant difference.[^n12] Scriptural authority also defines the text’s religious boundaries. Its account of true knowledge includes judgments about false teaching, human inventions and those it places outside saving truth. Those passages belong to a historically particular Christian polemic. They need to be read with the same attention to speakers, objects and circumstances as its promises of renewal. Preserving the language makes the author’s position visible; commentary can identify its operation without adopting its judgments. The reader is thereby able to examine both the reach of the proposed correspondence and the exclusions through which the text protects it. ### The Ending and the Companion Works The devotional ending completes an argument about the use of knowledge. In the conclusion, the author again addresses the reader and explains his undertaking. The short Appendix then warns that a divinely granted gift can be lost through misconduct and disorder. The prayer changes the form of address: the reader who has been instructed now encounters speech directed to God. The epigram returns to verse and the question of goldmaking, judgment and conduct. These shifts preserve the relation between an asserted power and the obligations attached to it. Removing them would alter the work’s ending and the kind of reader it finally imagines.[^n13] The Demonstration of Nature adds a more combative form of instruction. Nature speaks to an erring alchemist and complains of sophists and foolish workers. The opening rebuke concerns wasted labour as well as ignorance: vessels break, fuel is spent and practice proceeds without an adequate knowledge of the subject. A dialogue gives error a speaking position, allowing claims to be challenged and revised. Its personification of Nature is a mode of argument within the tract. It should not be mistaken for evidence that an encounter with a speaking figure actually occurred.[^n14] The Philosophical Summary opens from metallic generation and the possibility of transmutation. Its attribution to Nicolas Flamel belongs to the printed transmission and is preserved in that form. Via veritatis, the Way of Truth, addresses the reader as a friend and brother and immediately confronts the bewilderment caused by misleading alchemical books. Both companions return attention to the problem of recognising a trustworthy account of nature. Their presence beside the Hydrolith broadens that problem: the reader must compare several texts while deciding how the promised concordance can be recognised in the differences of their language and form.[^n15] ### Languages, Editions and the Present Reading The work soon entered a larger Latin setting. The Musaeum hermeticum published by Jennis in 1625 includes Hydrolithus sophicus, seu Aquarium sapientum, followed by the Demonstration of Nature, the Philosophical Summary and Via veritatis. A later enlarged Latin Musaeum appeared at Frankfurt in 1678. These editions made the text available in a different language and within a broader collection. They belong to its reception and provide useful witnesses, while the present translation returns to the German printing of 1619.[^n16] English readers had access to a Water-stone of the Wise Men in 1659, in the volume titled Paracelsus his Aurora, & Treasure of the Philosophers, published by J. H. Oxon for Giles Calvert. Its prefatory address commends the Water-stone by referring to Jacob Böhme’s testimony in an epistle. That wording matters: the preface invokes Böhme’s approval; it does not identify the treatise as a translation of his letter. Some modern catalogue descriptions confuse these two relations. The old English volume itself supplies the evidence needed to distinguish them.[^n17] The 1893 Hermetic Museum is another influential stage. A. E. Waite’s preface explicitly assigns the translation to another, unnamed gentleman and describes his own role as reviser and editor. It also acknowledges reducing the original’s prolixity. That edition is therefore an important English reception witness, with editorial decisions of its own. It supplies neither the translation base nor a standard by which the completeness of the present German-based edition is measured. Earlier English versions make any unqualified claim of a first English translation inappropriate.[^n18] The 1661 German reissue supplied by Christoff le Blon has a further distinction: its title announces two added responses associated with F. R. C. These appear here as separately identified later appendices, transcribed and translated from the copy digitised by the Herzog August Bibliothek in Wolfenbüttel. They belong to the later reception of the work and have their own source pagination. The governing principle throughout this edition is consequently visible provenance. The original treatise, its original companions, later witnesses and new commentary each have a place from which the reader can assess them. That clarity permits a demanding old book to remain difficult where its difficulty is real, while removing obstacles caused by unidentified editorial intervention.[^n19] ## Note on the Text and Translation This edition is based on Wasserstein der Weysen (Frankfurt: Lucas Jennis, 1619), using the copy digitised on e-rara under DOI 10.3931/e-rara-8968. The main text comprises the opening explanation, four parts, conclusion, internal Appendix, prayer and epigram. The Demonstration of Nature, the Philosophical Summary attributed in print to Nicolas Flamel, and Via veritatis are presented as the original volume’s separately identified companion texts. This division distinguishes the Hydrolith’s own Appendix from the companions that follow its ending.[^n20] Two further appendices present the First Response and Second Response printed with the German reissue of 1661. Their source is the Herzog August Bibliothek’s digitised copy, qun-642-1s, pp. 200–206. They are later additions and are not represented as part of the 1619 printing. Their printed source-page numbers belong to the 1661 edition. These selected responses do not constitute a complete translation of all the new preliminary matter in that reissue. The German is presented as a reading text. Original vocabulary and historical spelling are retained; running titles, signatures and catchwords are omitted, and words divided only by a line ending are joined. The long s is represented by ordinary s. These decisions make continuous reading possible without converting the witness into modern German. A corrected reading is not a photographic facsimile: the original scan remains the authority for the printed appearance and for any disputed letter or sign. An unresolved reading is identified in the apparatus instead of being resolved by a silent guess. The English is newly translated from the German. Its aim is to preserve the substantive argument, examples, qualifications, repetitions, direct addresses and theological claims in readable present-day English. British spelling is used consistently. A change in sentence length may clarify a difficult construction, but the content and its sequence remain the responsibility of the translation. The older English versions and the Latin transmission are historical witnesses for comparison; their phrasing is not used as a substitute for translating the governing German passage. Technical words are translated according to context. “Spirit”, “soul”, “body”, “tincture”, “ferment”, “fixation” and related terms retain their historical scope where a modern equivalent would add an interpretation. Sulphur and mercury can name material principles as well as familiar substances; a note can distinguish the usage where the local evidence allows it. Alchemical names are not silently converted into modern chemical formulas. Quantities, ratios and directions are preserved as historical statements, with explanation of an uncertain unit or reading where needed. A modern numerical temperature is not supplied for a qualitative degree of heat. Latin phrases are translated or explained in context. A Latin word that remains significant to the argument can be retained beside its English sense. Biblical quotations are translated from the wording present in the German witness, rather than replaced wholesale with a modern Bible translation. References in the notes identify the likely scriptural source and record a significant mismatch when necessary. The name of a biblical book is clarified where its historical form might confuse modern readers; different traditions of verse numbering are taken into account. Verse, riddles, prayer and dialogue retain their identity as forms. The English verse prioritises intelligible content over a newly imposed rhyme scheme. Nature’s speeches and the alchemist’s replies in the Demonstration remain attributable to their respective speakers. Recurrent words are kept sufficiently consistent to make an author’s return to an earlier operation or image recognisable. Consistency does not require a single English rendering where the German plainly changes sense. Source-page locators accompany the translated units. A numbered source page can contain two section beginnings or the end of one section and the opening of another; the heading, as well as the number, establishes the boundary. New outlines, annotations and study material are editorial additions and are distinguished from the translated original. Their interpretations provide reasons and references where useful, and remain open to examination against the facing German and its source. Stable passage identifiers link the translation, notes and study apparatus. ER scan identifiers refer to the 1619 e-rara sequence, while HAB identifiers refer to the 1661 Wolfenbüttel sequence. These are image locators, not line numbers printed in the historical book. The bilingual text is arranged in aligned passages, with the German followed by English. The English-only EPUB retains the translated historical contents and omits the German reading text, new notes, outlines and study apparatus. ## The Water Stone of the Wise *Wasserstein der Weysen* ### The Original Title Page *Wasserstein der Weysen* **Chapter outline** - The title, publication claim and appended books. **HY_TITLES001** 1619 Original title page · scans ER005 **German** Wasserstein der Weysen / Das ist / Ein Chymisch Tractätlein / darin der weg gezeigt / die Materia genennet / vnd der Proceß beschrieben wird / zu dem hohen geheymnuß der Vniuersal Tinctur zukommen / vor diesem niemalen gesehen. Darbey auch zwey sehr nutzliche andere Büchlein der gleichformigkeit vnd Concordantz wegen angehenckt / Nemlich / 1. Iohan von Mesung. 2. Via veritatis der einigen wahrheit. Zum vorschub in offenen truck gefertigt. FRANCOFVRTI. Bey Lucas Jennis zu finden. Anno 1619. **English** Water Stone of the Wise. That is, a short chymical treatise in which the way is shown, the matter named and the process described for reaching the high secret of the universal tincture; never previously seen. With two other very useful little books appended because of their agreement and concordance, namely: 1. Johann von Meung. 2. Via veritatis, the one truth. Prepared for public printing to further the work. Frankfurt. Available from Lucas Jennis. 1619.[^n21] ### A Brief Explanation of the Wonderfully Excellent Water Stone of the Wise, Otherwise Called Lapis Philosophorum *Kurtze erklerung deß wunder fürtrefflichsten Wassersteins der Weisen / sonsten Lapis Philosophorum genant.* **Chapter outline** - The search for a universal restorative and the limit imposed by death. - Adamic transmission, deliberate concealment and the names of the philosophers. - A warning against fraud and the author’s four-part programme. **HY_INTROS001** 1619 pp 3–4 · scans ER007, ER008 **German** Es seindt von anbeginn der Welt hero / zu jeden zeiten viel vnd sonderbare / in GOTT hocherleuchte Leuth vnd erfahrne Philosophi vnd Weltweise Heyden gewesen vnd gefunden worden / welche die Natur vnnd Kräfften der vnderen Creaturen fleissig betrachtet vnd zu lernen sich bemühet haben / vnder welchen andern allen / sie mit grosser begierde vnnd arbeit gesucht / ob etwas in rerum natura zufinden sey / das den jrrdischen Leib deß Menschen vor der zerstörung vnd sterbligkeit / in einem steten leben vnd wolstandt præseruiren vnd erhalten möchte. Dann sie auß sonderlicher Göttlicher influentz, auch auß dem liecht der Natur gesehen vnd erkennet haben / das etwas geheimes / sonders vnd wunderbars in dieser Welt sein müsse / welches Gott der Allmechtige dem menschlichen geschlecht zu gutem geordnet / nemlich das alles / so in vnd auff dem gantzen Erdboden vnuollkommen / mangelhafft / vnd verderbt / widerumb durch solches sonderbare vnd geheime ding renouiert, ergentzt vnd vollkomlichen widerumb zu recht gebracht könte werden. **English** From the beginning of the world there have been, in every age, many remarkable people highly enlightened in God, experienced philosophers and wise pagans. They diligently considered the nature and powers of the lower creatures and strove to understand them. Among all the other things they investigated with great desire and labour, they sought to discover whether anything could be found in the realm of nature that might preserve and maintain the earthly human body against destruction and mortality, in lasting life and well-being. For through a special divine influence, and also through the light of nature, they saw and recognised that there must be something secret, extraordinary and wonderful in this world, ordained by Almighty God for the benefit of humankind: something through which everything imperfect, deficient and corrupted in and upon the whole earth could be renewed, restored and brought fully into good order again.[^n22] **HY_INTROS002** 1619 pp 4 · scans ER008 **German** Nach solchem eyffrigen vnd fleissigen nachforschen aber haben sie endtlich diß erkündiget vnnd erlernet / wie nemblich nichts in dieser Welt zufinden / das den zergenglichen Leib vom Todt erretten oder befreyen könte (als welcher vnsern ersten Eltern Adam vnd Eua zur straff vfferlegt were / der sich auch von allen jhren nachkommen nimmermehr scheyden liesse) allein diß einige dinge / so an jm selbsten von Naturen zerstörlich vnd von GOTT dem Menschen zu gutem verordnet / das die verderbung hinweg neme / alle vnuollkommene Cörper wider heilen könte / das alte reiniget / vnnd das kurtze Leben / wie in den alten Patriarchen erlängern thette. **English** After this eager and diligent investigation, however, they finally discovered and learned that nothing could be found in this world capable of rescuing or freeing the perishable body from death. Death had been imposed as a punishment upon our first parents, Adam and Eve, and could never be separated from any of their descendants. There was only this single thing, itself by nature destructible, ordained by God for human benefit, that could remove corruption, heal all imperfect bodies, cleanse what was old and prolong the short span of life, as in the ancient patriarchs.[^n23] **HY_INTROS003** 1619 pp 4–5 · scans ER008, ER009 **German** Solchen wunderbahren vnd geheimen dingen dann fromme erfahrne Philosophi mit fleiß nachgetracht / biß sie solches gefunden vnnd desselbigen nützlichen gebrauch / damit sie sich die zeit jhres lebens erlüstiget / vnnd erhalten / erlernet vnd bekommen haben / welches hohe geheimnus vnd wunder ding vor ihnen alle Heylige Patriarchen auch warhafftig gewust / vnd gehabt / vnd ohne zweiffel Adam dem grossen Vatter im anfang von Gott selbsten wirdt geoffenbahret vnd gewiesen worden sein / welches hernach alle alt Vätter von jhm ererbt / vnd auß desselben kräfften jhre leibs gesundtheit vnnd langes leben / auch grossen Reichthumb dadurch erlangt vnd bekommen haben. Solches Göttliche ding / ja wunder ding / haben vor ermelte Heyden (als sie dieses auch erlangt / für ein sonderbahre Gabe Gottes vnd für die allerhöchste vnd geheimlichste Kunst erkennet vnd gehalten) doch darneben gesehen / daß solche durch Gottes fürsehung dem wenigern theil der menschen geoffenbahret / vnd dem grössern theil dieser Welt verborgen sey / vnd bleiben werde / darumb sie auch dieselbe jederzeit / so viel sie gekönt / in grosser geheim gehalten. **English** Pious and experienced philosophers diligently pursued this wonderful and secret thing until they found it and acquired knowledge of its beneficial use, by which they refreshed and maintained themselves throughout their lives. All the holy patriarchs before them had truly known and possessed this high secret and marvellous thing. Without doubt it must originally have been revealed and shown by God himself to Adam, the great father. The ancient fathers afterwards inherited it from him and through its powers obtained bodily health, long life and great wealth. When the pagans already mentioned also acquired this divine and truly marvellous thing, they recognised and regarded it as a special gift of God and as the highest and most secret art. Yet they also saw that, through God’s providence, it had been revealed to the smaller part of humankind, while it was concealed, and would remain concealed, from the greater part of this world. They therefore always kept it as secret as they could.[^n24] **HY_INTROS004** 1619 pp 5–6 · scans ER009, ER010 **German** Damit aber solche gleich wol nach jrem abgang / nicht gar wider verloschen vnnd vergessen / sondern auff die nachkommen ferners geerbt vnd erhalten würde / haben sie dieselbige jhren Büchern einverleibt / vnd jhren getrewen schülern viel herrliche instructiones vnd lehren von solchen schrifften mitgetheilet / vnd hinderlassen / aber diß alles mit so verblümbten worten vermäntelt vnd verborgen / dz noch wenig heutiges tages deren gefunden werden / die einen satten vnd richtigen grund darauß schöpffen können / welches aber ohne sonderbares bedencken von jnen nit geschehe / damit die jenige / so diese weißheit hetten / Gott (in dessen Handt alles stehet) desto ehr darum preisten / vnd wann jnen solches geoffenbaret / jhme die Ehr allein dafür gaben / vnd dancken sollen / zu deme auch / dz nit die edlen Perlen dardurch vor die Säw geschüttet vnnd geworffen würden. Dann wann solches d’ gottlosen Welt eröffnet / sie wegen jres geitzes anders nichts / dann diß einige allein begehrn / vnd letztlich allen fleiß vnd arbeit fallen lassen / dardurch dann ein zerrüttetes vnd wüstes wesen folgen würde. **English** Yet so that the art would not wholly die out and be forgotten after their departure, but would be handed down and preserved for posterity, they incorporated it into their books and communicated and bequeathed many excellent instructions and teachings from these writings to their faithful pupils. They nevertheless veiled and concealed all this in such figurative language that even today few people can draw a sound and certain foundation from it. They did this with deliberate purpose: those who possessed this wisdom were to praise God, in whose hand everything rests, all the more for it; when it was revealed to them, they were to give him alone the honour and thanks. It also prevented these noble pearls from being poured out and cast before swine. For if the secret were disclosed to the godless world, people in their greed would desire this one thing alone and ultimately abandon all diligence and work. Disorder and desolation would follow.[^n25] **HY_INTROS005** 1619 pp 6–7 · scans ER010, ER011 **German** Vnd ob wol offt ermelte Philosophi von dieser hochfürtrefflichen kunst viel vnd mancherley disputiret / dieselbe auch vmb angeregter vrsach willen mit vielen vnterschiedlichen namen / parabeln / vnd wunderbarlichen frembden Sophistischen worten angedeutet / so haben sie doch alle einhelliglich mit solchẽ verwechselten reden / nur auff einen einigen scopum vnd eintzige materia die zu solcher Kunst gehörig weisen vnd zeigen wollen / welcher geheimen materien aber viel nachsucher dieser kunst offtmals gefehlet / vnd sich darein verstiegen haben. Dann zu jeden zeiten biß anhero / nicht allein gemeine / sondern auch viel hohe vnnd weitweise leuth sich gefunden / die derselben nachgestrebt / vnd die nicht allein mit allem fleiß / sondern auch mit grosser Mühe vnnd Kosten gesucht / vnd zu erlangen begehrt haben / aber niemals darzu kommen / viel weniger theilhafftig werden können / ja der mehrertheils an solcher offtmals noch darzu heßlich angelauffen / sich darneben nicht allein in vnwiderbringlichen Schaden gestürtzt / sondern auch letzlichen mit Hohn vnnd Spott ablassen vnnd sich derselben verziehen müssen / damit aber gleichwol niemandt an dieser geheimen Kunst gründtlicher gewißheit nicht zweiffeln könte / vnd sie der Gottlosen Welt gebrauch nach für ein gedicht / vnd blossen wahn halten / wil ich ausserhalb der jenigen / so in Heyliger Schrifft erwehnung geschicht / nur allein die fürnembsten authentischen Philosophen / neben andern jhrer successoren die solche Kunst warhafftig gewust / gehabt / vnd genossen allhier außgezogen vnd namhafftig machen / als da seind: **English** Although the philosophers repeatedly mentioned have discussed this supremely excellent art in many different ways, and for the reasons just given have indicated it by many different names, parables and strange, astonishing sophistical words, they have all unanimously intended these varied expressions to point towards one single aim and the one matter belonging to the art. Many seekers, however, have missed this secret matter and gone astray in their pursuit. In every age down to the present, not only ordinary people but many eminent and worldly-wise persons have striven after it. They have sought and desired to obtain it with the greatest diligence, labour and expense, yet never reached it, much less come to possess it. Indeed, most have suffered grievously through it: they have plunged themselves into irrecoverable loss and finally had to abandon and relinquish it amid ridicule and scorn. So that no one should nevertheless fall into fundamental doubt about this secret art, misunderstand it, or follow the godless world in taking it for a fiction and mere illusion, I shall name here the principal authoritative philosophers, together with some of their successors, who truly knew, possessed and enjoyed this art, apart from those mentioned in Holy Scripture. They are:[^n26] **HY_INTROS006** 1619 pp 8–9 · scans ER012, ER013 **German** Hermes Trismegistus, Pythagoras, Bened. Iesu. Alexander Magnus, Plato, Theophrastus, Auicenna, Galenus, Hippocrates, Lucianus, Longanus, Rasis, Archelaus, Rupescissa, autor rosarii maioris, Maria Prophetissa, Dionysius Zachar. Haly, Morienes, Calid, Constantius, Serapion, Albertus Magnus, Estrod, Arnoldus de villa noua, Geber, Reimundus Lullius, Rogerius Baco, Alanus, Tomas Aquinas, Marcellus Palingenius, vnd diese welche zu jetzigen vnd jüngern zeiten gelebt / als Bernardus, Treuisanus Comes, frater Basilius Valentinus, Philippus Theophrastus, vnd viel andere mehr / wie dann kein zweiffel / das noch heutiges tages deren etliche / so durch Gottes segen solches theilhafftig / vnnd wiewol in geheim still / derselben täglich geniessen / gefunden werden möchten. **English** Hermes Trismegistus, Pythagoras, Bened. Iesu, Alexander the Great, Plato, Theophrastus, Avicenna, Galen, Hippocrates, Lucianus, Longanus, Rasis, Archelaus, Rupescissa, the author of the Rosarium maius, Maria Prophetissa, Dionysius Zacharius, Haly, Morienus, Calid, Constantius, Serapion, Albertus Magnus, Estrod, Arnold of Villanova, Geber, Raymond Lull, Roger Bacon, Alanus, Thomas Aquinas and Marcellus Palingenius; and those who lived in present and more recent times, such as Bernardus, Count Trevisanus, Brother Basilius Valentinus, Philippus Theophrastus and many others. Nor is there any doubt that even today some could be found who, through God’s blessing, possess it and enjoy its benefits daily, although quietly and in secret.[^n27] **HY_INTROS007** 1619 pp 9 · scans ER013 **German** Vnd nachdem diese jetzt erzehlte Philosophi von diesem hohen magisterio warhafftig vnnd ohne falsch geschrieben / auch jren beweis / auß dem rechten Grundt vnd Brunquell der Natur geschöpfft vnd gelernet haben / so werden hingegen biß dato widerumb viel falsche Pseudo-Philosophi vnnd betrüger gefunden / die sich solcher Kunst wissenschafft fälschlich berühmen / vnnd gleicher gestalt von solcher zu thun sich vnderfangen / vnd der obgedachten Philosophen Schrifften zum deckel jhres betrugs fälschlich mißbrauchen / die Leuth nur darmit äffen / jnen das maul auffspretzen vnd einen blawen dunst für die augen machen / welche dann sowohl auch die jenigen die sich von jhnen auffsetzen lassen / folgende warnung wohl betrachten vnnd zu gemüth führen solten. **English** The philosophers just named wrote truthfully and without deception about this high magistery, drawing their proof and knowledge from the true foundation and wellspring of nature. By contrast, many false pseudo-philosophers and cheats are still to be found who falsely boast that they know this art and undertake to practise it. They fraudulently misuse the writings of those philosophers as a cover for their deception, merely fooling people, making them gape and throwing a blue mist before their eyes. Both these deceivers and the people who allow themselves to be drawn in by them should carefully consider and take to heart the following warning.[^n28] **HY_INTROS008** 1619 pp 10 · scans ER014 **German** Ihr Alchimisten mich verstehe / Im Grieschen Alphabeth / Ist ein Buchstab / jhr gleich Π also / Stehet sonsten auch anderwo / Gedencket stets an solchen fein / Betrieget nicht mit falschem schein / Durch ewer Kunst so manchen Mann / Fürwahr jhr werd sonst sterben dran. Item. Vor Goldtmachern vnd Alchimisten / Die das Geldt distillirn auß Beutel vnd Soll man sich hüten vnd zuschawẽ (Kisten /) Bey leib jhnen nicht zu viel vertrawen / Wann mann anders nicht will in schaden / Darzu in spott vnd rew thun baden. Folg denen / die da seind gerecht / Auffrichtig / fromm / einfältig / schlecht / Nicht ruhmrächtig / vnd doch was können / Mit solchen kanstu guts gern spinnen / Ja wo findet man aber diese: Suchs / gleichwol / sie seindt eben tewer. Vnd nicht gar wohl gerathen hewer. Auch gilt an solchen ein quintlein schwer Mehr dann der andern ein Centner. **English** You alchemists, understand me: In the Greek alphabet There is a letter, just like Π, Which also appears elsewhere. Keep it always well in mind. Do not deceive so many people With the false appearance of your art: Truly, otherwise you will die for it. Again: Beware of gold-makers and alchemists Who distil money out of purses and chests. Watch them closely, and for your life Do not put too much trust in them, Unless you wish to suffer loss And bathe as well in mockery and regret. Follow those who are just, Upright, devout, simple and plain, Who do not boast, yet know their craft: With such people you can readily spin something good. But where are these to be found? Seek them nevertheless: they are dear, And have not turned out very well this year. A single quint of these is worth more Than a hundredweight of the others.[^n29] **HY_INTROS009** 1619 pp 10–12 · scans ER014, ER015, ER016 **German** Dieweil aber noch trewe vnd fleissige Laboranten vnd schüler dieser geheimen Philosophischen Kunst / die gern einen richtigen vnd gewissen weg one weitern vmbschweyff zu solcher raisen vnnd wandern wolten / vieler orten gefunden werden / vnd aber durch erst besagte sophistische heillose buben / durch jr grosses gepler vnd nichtiges fürgeben / eins theils so pertubirt vnd jrre gemacht werden / dz mancher schier nit weiß / ob er in solcher ferner hinder sich oder für sich gehen solle. Also habe ich von dieser Kunst / auch etwas weniges / jedoch gründtliches vnd warhafftiges an tag zugeben vnd zuerklären nit vnderlassen wöllen: Vnd ob ich wol mich viel zu gering vnd auch vnwürdig / von solchem geheimnuß zuhandeln oder zuschreiben / billich erkenne / jedoch weil ich durch Gottes gnade ohne ruhm zumelden / so weit gelangt / dahin jrer wenig / ja viel vnzehlig tausent / so weit nicht kommen / vnd auch das pfund welches mir als einem vnwürdigen / von dem Allmechtigen Lehen Herrn gnedig verliehen worden / bey mir nit vergraben bleibe: So wil ich allen diesen liebhabern auß trewẽ hertzen (so viel mir gebürlich sein will) einen kurtzen summarischen begriff vnd erklerung dieser gantzen Kunst / beynebẽ auch / wie zu solcher zukommen / einen vnbetrieglichen / ja den allerrichtigsten Weg fürweisen / vnnd zeigen / ob vielleicht darmit durch Gottes verleihung etlichen die Augen einmal eroffnet / von jhrem falschen gefasten Wahn gewiesen / vnd auß der jrre auff die rechte Bahn geholffen / vnnd dann ferners auch Gottes wunderwerck dardurch offenbarlicher gemacht werden möchte. Dieses aber desto besser vnnd leichter zu verstehen vnd zufassen / soll solcher tractat in Vier Stück abgetheilet werden. **English** Yet faithful and diligent workers and pupils of this secret philosophical art are still to be found in many places. They would gladly travel towards it by a right and certain road, without further wandering. But the sophistical and worthless rogues already described so trouble and mislead some of them with their noisy bluster and empty claims that many scarcely know whether to go backwards or forwards in the art. I have therefore been unwilling to refrain from publishing and explaining something about it, however little, that is nevertheless sound and true. I rightly acknowledge myself far too insignificant and unworthy to discuss or write about such a secret. Yet by God’s grace I have advanced—without boasting—to a point reached by few, indeed not reached by countless thousands. So that the talent graciously entrusted to an unworthy person by the almighty lord who grants it should not remain buried with me, I shall in all sincerity show these lovers of the art, as far as is fitting for me, a brief, summary account and explanation of the whole art. I shall also indicate an unfailing and indeed the most certain road by which to reach it. Perhaps, if God permits, this may at last open some people’s eyes, turn them from their mistaken convictions and help them out of error onto the right path; and God’s marvellous work may thereby be made more manifest. To make this treatise easier to understand and grasp, it will be divided into four parts.[^n30] **HY_INTROS010** 1619 pp 12–13 · scans ER016, ER017 **German** In dem ersten will ich anzeigen den anfang vnnd eingangs weg dieser Kunst / wie man zu solcher sich schicken vnd bereiten möge. Im andern / Philosophischer beschreibung vnd andeutung nach soll angezeigt werden / wie dieser Kunst Materia beschaffen / vnd erkennet / auch ferners der gantzen præparation modus vnd regierung anzustellen sey / gewiesen werden. Im dritten von ihrem vberaußreichen nutz / hohen vnaußsprechlicher Krafft vnd Tugendt / so ihr zugeeignet vnnd gegeben / gleichsfals vermelden. Im vierdten soll folgen eine geistliche Allegoria, so mit diesem gantzen magisterio, daß dann durchauß ein recht contrefetisch vorbildt des wahren himmlischen auch ewigen vnd gebenedeiten Ecksteins des allerhöchsten ist / in allen sich vergleiche / darinnen auch die rechte darzu gehörige güldene Handgriff angedeutet vnd auff das kürtzest vnd einfeltigst (dann ich vielerley zierlichen vmbstandt nicht achte) alles beschrieben werden. **English** In the first I shall show the beginning and entrance to this art: how a person may fit and prepare themselves for it. In the second I shall follow the philosophers’ descriptions and indications to show the character of the matter of this art and how to recognise it; I shall also show how the manner and governance of its entire preparation should be undertaken. In the third I shall likewise report its exceedingly abundant usefulness and the high, inexpressible power and virtue bestowed upon it. In the fourth there will follow a spiritual allegory corresponding in every respect with this whole magistery, which is throughout a faithful image and prefiguration of the true, heavenly, eternal and blessed cornerstone of the Most High. In it the proper golden practical instructions belonging to the work will also be indicated and described as briefly and simply as possible, for I attach no importance to elaborate embellishment.[^n31] ### Part One *Der erste Theil* **Chapter outline** - The art as a divine gift and a holy mystery. - Prayer, gratitude, responsible use and secrecy. - Knowledge of nature, the regeneration of the worker and the beginning of manual labour. **HY_P1S001** 1619 pp 13 · scans ER017 **German** Psalm.25. Wer ist / der den Herrn förchtet / Er wirt jn vnderweisen den besten Weg. **English** Psalm25. Who is the person who fears the Lord? He will instruct them in the best way.[^n32] **HY_P1S002** 1619 pp 13–14 · scans ER017, ER018 **German** Erstlich soll ein jeglicher Gottliebender Chymist vnd solcher kunst Philosophus vor allen dingen diß in betrachtung nehmen / daß nemlich solch Arcanum nicht allein vor die gröste vnnd allerhöchste / sondern auch für ein heilige kunst (dieweil das allerhöchste himlische Gut / vnd das allerheiligste des Allmächtigen darinnen angebildet vnd abgemahlet wirdt) zu achten vnd zu halten ist. Darumb wer zu diesem hohen vnd vnaußsprechlichen geheimnuß gelangen oder kommen will / der soll wissen / das solche kunst nicht in gewalt deß Menschen / sondern in dem gnedigen willen Gottes sey / vnd beruhe / vnd nit das wollen oder verlangen / sondern das erbarmen deß Allmächtigen darzu helffe vnd fordere. Darumb du dann zu forderst Gottsförchtig sein / dein Hertz allein zu Gott erheben / vnnd mit einem rechten inbrünstigen vnd glaubigen Gebett / jn vmb solche Gab allein bitten / dann sie allein von jm gegeben werden vnd herkommen muß. **English** First, every chymist who loves God and every philosopher of this art should consider above all that this arcanum is to be esteemed and regarded not only as the greatest and highest art, but also as a holy art, because the highest heavenly good and the holiest mystery of the Almighty are represented and portrayed within it. Whoever wishes to reach this high and inexpressible secret should therefore know that the art is not subject to human power, but rests upon God’s gracious will. Neither willing nor desiring brings it forward: the mercy of the Almighty assists and furthers it. Before all else, then, you must fear God, lift your heart to God alone, and ask him alone for this gift in true, fervent and believing prayer, for it must be given by him alone and come from him.[^n33] **HY_P1S003** 1619 pp 14–15 · scans ER018, ER019 **German** Wann nun auff solches Gott der Allmechtige (der aller Hertzen ein erkündiger ist) bey dir ein rechtschaffenes / getrewes vnd vnbetrügliches gemüth sihet vnd findet / daß du nemblich solches zu keinem andern end / dann allein zu seinem lob / vnnd ehr / zuerforschen vnd zu erlernen begehrst / so wird er dich ohn allen zweiffel / seiner verheissung nach / erhören / vnd durch seinen H. Geist also führen vnd leiten / das du durch mittel zu einem anfang stätlich kommen vnd gelangen wirst / darauß du nimmermehr herauß gedencken dörffen / also das du in deinem Hertzen spüren vnnd sehen wirst / wie der gnedige GOTT dein Gebett erhöret / vnd zu einem glücklichen eingang dir allbereit gleichsamb eine eröffnung gethan / vnnd gewiesen habe. **English** If Almighty God, who searches all hearts, then sees and finds in you an upright, faithful and undeceitful disposition—namely, that you desire to investigate and learn this art for no other purpose than his praise and honour—he will without any doubt hear you according to his promise. Through his Holy Spirit he will lead and guide you so that, by the means provided, you will come steadily to a beginning from which you need never wish to depart. You will feel and see in your heart how the gracious God has heard your prayer and has already, as it were, opened and shown you a fortunate entrance. **HY_P1S004** 1619 pp 15 · scans ER019 **German** Nach diesem soltu als dann ferners mit einem demütigen Hertzen auff deine Knie fallen / vnd jhme für die erhörung deines Gebets vom Hertzen lob / ehr / vnd danck sagen / jn auch bitten / dz er solche angefangne gnade / so du schon in deinem Hertzen empfunden / ferners durch seinen H. Geist wolle pflantzen vnd fortsetzen / vnd dich also regiern / daß du solches hohe geheimnuß / wann es dir volends geoffenbahret / recht mögest gebrauchen / vnd darmit also vmbgehen / daß es allein zu lob vñ ehr seines Heyligen Nahmens / vnd dem dürfftigen nehesten zu nutz vnd besserung gereiche. **English** After this, with a humble heart, you should fall upon your knees and sincerely give him praise, honour and thanks for hearing your prayer. Ask him also to plant and continue through his Holy Spirit this beginning of grace that you have already felt in your heart, and so to govern you that, when the high secret is fully revealed, you may use it rightly and handle it in such a way that it serves solely the praise and honour of his holy name and the benefit and improvement of your neighbour in need. **HY_P1S005** 1619 pp 15–16 · scans ER019, ER020 **German** Zu demselben auch sollu bey dir solche gedanckẽ machẽ / vñ dieselbẽ wol erwegen / daß du bey leib / ja bey verlust deines heyls vnd seligkeit / solchs Geheimnuß keinem vnwürdigen od’ Gottlosen nicht offenbahren / viel weniger mittheilen oder geniessen lassen / In summá nicht mißbrauchen / allein / wie vorgemeldet / zu Gottes Ehr / vnd gar nicht / zu deinem selbsteigenem Ruhm anwenden wollst. Darneben auch gedencken / daß wann du solches nicht thest / sondern mit gefahr vberschrittest / du als dann von Gott vngestrafft nicht bleiben würdest / vnd es wol tausentmahl besser gewesen / daß du niemals etwas davon gewust oder erfahren hettest. **English** You must also form and carefully weigh this resolve: on your life—indeed, on pain of losing your salvation and blessedness—you will not reveal this secret to anyone unworthy or godless, still less communicate it to them or allow them to enjoy its benefits. In sum, you will not misuse it, but apply it solely to God’s honour, as already said, and in no way to your own glory. Remember also that if you fail to do this and rashly transgress, you will not escape God’s punishment. It would have been a thousand times better for you never to have known or learned anything of it. **HY_P1S006** 1619 pp 16–17 · scans ER020, ER021 **German** Wann du nun solches wohl betrachtet vnnd dich gleichsam gegen Gott (der seiner nicht spotten lest) in solchem verlobt / vnnd dich selbst als das Ziel gesteckt / vnd gesetzt hast: So fange als dann an / vnnd lerne erstlich wie Gott / der Drey einig / im anfang die allgemeine Natur verordnet / wer dieselbe sey / was sie vermöge vnd könne / auch wie dieselbe in allen dingen noch täglich vnd sichtbar wircke / vnd allein in dem Willen Gottes bestehe vnd jhre Wohnung habe / dann ohne wahre Erkäntnus der Natur solch Werck sehr mißlich vnnd gefehrlich dir anzufahen sein will. Der Natur qualitet vnd eigenschafft aber ist / daß sie einig / wahr / schlecht / vnd in jrem wesen vollkommẽ sey / vnd auch ein verborgener Geist in jhr verborgen vnnd verschlossen sey. Wiltu nuhn solche erkennen / so mustu auch eben also / wie die Natur ist / als warhafftig / schlecht / gedüldig vnd bestendig / ja Gottsförchtig / vnd dem nehesten vnschedtlich / in summá ein widergebohrner vnnd newe Mensch sein. Wann du dich nuhn also erkennest vnd befindest / so wirdt als dann die Natur zu der Natur sich bald schicken vnnd finden / darneben auch der vnaußsprechliche nutz an Leib vnd Seel sich ersprießlich bey dir sehen lassen. **English** When you have considered this well, pledged yourself in this matter to God, who will not be mocked, and set yourself this aim, begin. Learn first how God, the Three-in-One, ordained universal nature in the beginning: what nature is, what it can accomplish and do, how it still works visibly in all things every day, and how it exists and has its dwelling solely in God’s will. For without a true knowledge of nature, undertaking this work will be very uncertain and dangerous for you. The quality and character of nature is that it is one, true, simple and perfect in its being; a hidden spirit is also concealed and enclosed within it. If you wish to know nature, you too must be as nature is: truthful, simple, patient and steadfast, indeed God-fearing and harmless towards your neighbour—in sum, a regenerated and new person. When you recognise and find yourself to be such, nature will soon adapt and join itself to nature, and its inexpressible benefit for body and soul will fruitfully become evident in you.[^n34] **HY_P1S007** 1619 pp 17–18 · scans ER021, ER022 **German** Dann die erforschung vnd speculation dieser Kunst / wirdt dir so hoch nützlich vnnd ersprießlich sein / daß wann du die principia oder anfang deß dings darin recht erkennest / sie dich gleichsam mit gewalt in die erkänntnuß der wunderwerck Gottes führen vnd leiten werden / also daß du darüber alles das jenige was zierlich / vnd vor der Welt hoch vnd groß geachtet ist / gar geringschätzig halten vnd vernichten wirst. Hergegen aber / welcher da durch Reichthumb / vnd derselben zu dieser Welt hoffart vnd eytelkeit anzuwenden begehrt / vnd gedencket / erlangen will / darff nimmermehr hoffen / daß er in solchem zu einem gewünschten ende kommen werde. Darumb dann dein sinn vnnd gemüth gantz vnd gar von de’ jrrdischen abgewendet vnd gleichsam new geschaffen / auch allein Gott ergeben sein muß. Dann dieses ja wohl zumercken daß diese drey / Leib / seel / vnnd Geist / gantz vnnd gar gleichförmig / auch mit einander zugleich operiren vnd wircken müssen. Dann so deß Menschen Hertz vnd gemüth nicht auch ebenmessig / wie das gantze werck nach einander gearbeitet / also gereiniget würde / du mit der Kunst auch gantz vnnd gar mit einander aberriren vnd fehlen würdest. **English** The investigation and contemplation of this art will be so useful and fruitful to you that, once you rightly recognise the principles or beginnings of the thing within it, they will lead and guide you almost by force into knowledge of God’s marvellous works. In comparison, you will regard as insignificant and contemptible everything splendid and highly esteemed by the world. Conversely, whoever seeks and intends to obtain wealth through it for use in the pride and vanity of this world must never hope to bring the work to the desired end. Your thought and disposition must therefore be wholly turned away from earthly things and, as it were, created anew and devoted to God alone. Mark well that these three—body, soul and spirit—must be entirely in agreement and must operate and work together at the same time. For if the human heart and disposition are not likewise purified in correspondence with the successive working of the whole work, you and your art will go wholly astray and fail together.[^n35] **HY_P1S008** 1619 pp 18–19 · scans ER022, ER023 **German** Darumb du dich dann nach solchem in allem zurichten vnnd zuentschliessen wirst haben können. Dann der Artist thut hierzu nichts anderst / dann daß er nur säet / pflantzet vnd begeust / Gott aber ist allein / der das gedeyen darzu gibet. Darumb wim Gott entgegen ist / wider den setzt sich auch die gantze Natur: Wer aber Gott befreundet / dem müssen auch Himmel vnd Erden vnd alle Element behülfflich sein. Derhalben wann du nun solches wol betrachte / vnnd die erkännuß der wahren primæ materiæ bey handen hast (davon hernach soll geredt werden) so magstu dich als dann zur Handtarbeit schicken / vnd einen anfang darmit machen. Da du dann abermals den Allmächtigen vmb sein gnad vnd regierung in allem deinem vorhaben ersuchen mußt / darauff es dir nit allein schleunig fortgehen / sondern auch einen glückseligen außgang gewinnen wirdt. **English** You will therefore be able to order and determine all your conduct accordingly. The artist does nothing here except sow, plant and water; God alone gives the increase. Therefore the whole of nature also sets itself against anyone opposed by God. But heaven, earth and all the elements must assist the person who is God’s friend. When you have duly considered this and possess knowledge of the true first matter, which will be discussed below, you may prepare yourself for manual labour and begin the work. You must again ask the Almighty for his grace and guidance in everything you undertake. Then the work will not only advance swiftly for you, but reach a fortunate conclusion.[^n36] **HY_P1S009** 1619 pp 19 · scans ER023 **German** Ecclesiast.cap.11. Wer in Gottes furcht bleibt stetig Auch in sein Wort thut vben sich Vnd wartet seines beruffs mit fleiß Lest sich nit jrren Schwartz noch weiß Derselbig mensch kann nicht allein Auß Zinn / Stahl / Kupffer fein Goldt vnd Silber jhm genug machen Sondern er kan auch zu den sachen Zu vorauß wann jhm Gott bleibt hold Auß Laym vnd Koth jhm machen Gold. **English** Ecclesiasticus, chapter11. Whoever remains steadfast in the fear of God, Practises also in his word, And diligently attends to their calling, Letting neither black nor white lead them astray, Can make enough fine gold and silver For themselves from tin, steel and copper. Such a person can moreover, Above all if God remains favourable, Make gold for themselves from clay and dung.[^n37] ### Part Two *Das zweyte Theil* **Chapter outline** - The stone’s many names, elemental balance and three-in-one riddles. - Recognising the matter and completing the preliminary work. - The conjunction, governance of fire, colour stages and final fixation. - Signs of failure, remedial preparation, uncertain times and verse summaries. **HY_P2S001** 1619 pp 20 · scans ER024 **German** Esai.cap.28. Darumb spricht der HERR HErr / siehe ich lege in Sion einen Grundstein / einen bewehrten Stein / einen köstlichen Eckstein / der wol gegründet ist / Wer den hat / wirdt nit zu schanden werden. **English** Isaiah, chapter28. Therefore the Lord GOD says: Behold, I lay in Zion a foundation stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, firmly founded. Whoever has it will not be put to shame.[^n38] **HY_P2S002** 1619 pp 20–21 · scans ER024, ER025 **German** Diese offt erwehnte hohe / edle Kunst haben die Philosophi in jhren Schrifften vor vnd nach der perfection nicht hoch genug erheben / vnnd mit herrlichen hohen titulis extolliren können. Derowegen sie dieselbe also angedeutet / vnd in gemein den Lapidem Philosophorum, oder den vhralten / verborgenen / vnbekanten / natürlichen vnnd vnbegreifflichen / ja den Himmlisch / gebenedeiten vnnd gesägneten / auch den allgemeinen drey einigen vniuersal Stein der Weisen genent haben. Die vrsach aber / warumb sie solchen eben einen Stein genent / vnd dergleiche / ist diese vnter andern fürnemlich / dieweil die Materia desselben im anfang / als ein minera auß der Erden warhafftig ein Stein ist / darnach dieweil es hart vnnd trucken ist / daß da wie ein Stin zerstossen vnd zerrieben / sonderlich aber / wann es in sein drey theil (so die Natur selbst zusammen gesetzt) zertheilet / es als dann selbst in dieselben wider sammentlich gantz vnnd gar / nun vnd zu einem im Fewer beständig warflüssigen Stein Natur gemöß / künstlich digerirt werden muß. **English** In their writings the philosophers have been unable to praise this high and noble art sufficiently, either before or after its perfection, or to exalt it with sufficiently magnificent titles. They have therefore indicated it in this way and generally called it the Lapis Philosophorum, or the ancient, hidden, unknown, natural and incomprehensible stone; indeed, the heavenly, blessed and consecrated stone, and also the common, three-in-one universal Stone of the Wise. Among their reasons for calling it a stone, and comparing it to one, the principal reason is that at the beginning its matter, as a mineral from the earth, really is a stone. Afterwards, because it is hard and dry, it can be pounded and ground like a stone. Above all, when it has been divided into its three parts, which nature itself has put together, it must itself be digested artificially, in accordance with nature, wholly and entirely back into these same parts together, until it becomes one stone that remains stable in fire and flows like wax.[^n39] **HY_P2S003** 1619 pp 21–22 · scans ER025, ER026 **German** Wie hoch vnd sehr nothwendig an der erkantnuß der primæ, alias materiæ secundæ dieses geheimen Philosophischen Steins / denjenigen / die solche zu erlangen begehren / gelegen sey: Haben ermelte Philosophi dieselbe auch nicht gnugsam erinnern / vnnd in acht zu haben / vermahnen können / welche materia doch nur ein eintziges ding ist / darauß dieser Stein einig vnd allein / ohn allen frembde zusatz / ob sie schon mit tausent nahmen bennent / muß zugerichtet werden / der sein qualitet, arth vnd eigenschafft / sie auch wunderbarlich beschrieben / vnd vngefehrlich Summarischerweise / als folgender gestallt angedeutet haben. Nemblich das dieselbige im anfang von drey zusamen gesetzt vnd doch nuhr eins sey. Item auß einem / zweyen / dreyen / vieren vnd fünffen erzeugt vnd gemacht / auch zu einem vñ zweyen / so allenhalben ist / gefunden werden. Nennen dasselbig auch Magnesiam Catholicam oder Sperma mundi, den samen der gantzẽ Welt / auß welchem alle Natürliche ding jhren vrsprung haben / Item es sey einer wunder vnd sonderbahren Geburt vnd gestalt / habe ein vnzerstörliche vnd vnvergrünliche Natur vnd eigenschafft / sey also weder heyß noch trucken / wie das Fewer / vnd nicht Kalt noch feucht / wie das Wasser / auch weder Kalt noch trucken wie das Erdtreich / sondern aller Elementen eine geschickliche vollkommene vergleichnuß / sey auch eines vnzerstörten Leibs / der von keinem Element nicht kann angegriffen werden / welcher mit allen seinen eigenschafften gleich wie der Himmel vber die vier Element vnd vier qualiteten als ein vnzerstörliches vnnd quinta essentia in allem zuvergleichen. **English** The philosophers have repeatedly and emphatically reminded those who desire to obtain this secret philosophical stone how very necessary it is to know its first matter, otherwise called its second matter, and have urged them to heed this. Yet this matter is only one single thing, from which alone the stone must be prepared without any foreign addition, although it is called by a thousand names. They have also described its quality, kind and character wonderfully and have indicated it, in approximate summary, as follows. At the beginning it is composed of three, yet is only one. Again, it is generated and made from one, two, three, four and five; it is also found in one and two, and is everywhere. They call it Magnesia catholica, or Sperma mundi, the seed of the whole world, from which all natural things have their origin. It is of a wonderful and exceptional birth and form, with an indestructible and unfathomable nature and character. Thus it is neither hot nor dry like fire, neither cold nor moist like water, nor cold and dry like earth, but an appropriate, perfect balance of all the elements. It is also an uncorrupted body, which no element can attack. In all its properties it is to be compared to heaven, above the four elements and four qualities, as something indestructible and as the fifth essence.[^n40] **HY_P2S004** 1619 pp 22–23 · scans ER026, ER027 **German** Item es sey dem eusserlichen corporalischen ansehen / Figur / form vnd gestalt nach ein Stein / vnd doch kein Stein / sondern vergleiche sich mehr einem weissen gummi oder Wasser / nennens auch ein Wasser deß grossen Meers: ein Wasser deß Lebens / ja das aller reinß gesegnete Wasser / vnd sey doch auch kein Wasser der Wolcken / oder eines gemeinen Brunnenquels / sondern ein dickes bleibendes vnd Saltziges / auch nach vnterschiedlicher betrachtung ein trockenes / so die Handt nit naß macht / oder ein schmuziges Wasser / das von Saltziger fettigkeit der Erden entspringt. Item einen doppelten Mercurium vnd Azoth der von deß obersten vnd vndersten / Himmlischen vnd jrrdischen globi vapore, dunst vñ schwitz gespeiset / vnd ernehret wirdt / welcher auch in keinem Fewer verbrennt / dann er selbst ein vniuersal funcken Fewer deß Liechtes der Natur / darzu auch oder das einen Himmlischen Geist in jhm hat / der durch alles hindurch dringt / mit welchem er von Gott im anfang animirt vnd gesäliget worden / welchen Auicenna die Seel der Welt genennet / vnd gesagt / gleich wie die Seel in allen Glidern deß Menschen leibs sich befind / vnd bewege / also befinde vnd bewege sich dieser Geist auch in allen Elementarischen geschöpffen / der da auch ein vnscheidbare einigung des Leibs vnnd der seelen / darzu das reinste vnd edelste wesen / in welchem auch alle geheimnuß verborgen / vnnd aller wunderlicher krafft vnd tugent ist. **English** Again, in outward bodily appearance, figure, form and shape it is a stone, yet no stone, but resembles a white gum or water more closely. They also call it a water of the great sea, a water of life, indeed the purest blessed water. Yet it is neither water from the clouds nor water from an ordinary spring, but something thick, enduring and salty; from another point of view, it is a dry water that does not wet the hand, or a dirty water arising from the salty fatness of the earth. Again, it is a double mercury and azoth, fed and nourished by the vapour, mist and sweat of the uppermost and lowermost, heavenly and earthly globes. It burns in no fire, for it is itself a universal spark of the fire of the light of nature. It also is, or has within it, a heavenly spirit that penetrates everything, with which God originally animated and ensouled it. Avicenna called this the soul of the world and said that, just as the soul is present and moves in every member of the human body, so this spirit is present and moves in all elemental creatures. It is also an inseparable union of body and soul, and the purest and noblest being, in which all secrets lie hidden and all marvellous power and virtue reside.[^n41] **HY_P2S005** 1619 pp 24–25 · scans ER028, ER029 **German** Eignen jhm auch zu einen vnendtlichen gewalt / vnd eine Göttlich Krafft / sprechen es sey der Geist deß HErrn / der den Kreiß deß Erdtreichs erfüllet / vnnd im anfang auff dem Wasser geschwebet habe. Nennens dann auch ein Geist der wahrheit / der der Welt verborgen / vnnd ohne einsprechung deß Heyligen Geistes / oder vnterrichtung deren / die jhn kennen / nicht ergriffen oder erlangt werden kan: der doch in einem jeden ding vnd an jeder statt nach seiner macht: Aber in diesem einigen allein gantz vollkommen / gefunden werde. In summá ein solche Geistliche substantz, die weder Himmlisch noch Hellisch / sondern ein lüfftiges reines vnd herrliches corpus, so das gestelte mittel zwischen den höhsten vnd vndersten / auch das außer wehlteste vnd köstlichste vnder dem gantzen Himmel sey. Hinwiderumb aber / werde es auch von denen / so dessen kein Verstand haben / sehr gering angesehen / für das aller geringste vnd vnachtbarste / ja gleichsam für ein verworffen ding gehalten / vnd angesehen / welches doch von vielen verständigen gesucht / von wenigen aber gefunden / in der weite betrachtet vnd in der nähe genommen / darzu von meniglichen gesehen / vom wenigern theil aber erkant / wie dann solches in hie beygesetztem Teutschen carmine auch fein angedeutet wirdt. **English** They also attribute to it unlimited power and a divine force. They say it is the Spirit of the Lord, which has filled the circle of the earth, and that in the beginning it hovered over the waters. They also call it a spirit of truth, hidden from the world, which cannot be grasped or obtained without the inward prompting of the Holy Spirit or instruction from those who know it. It is nevertheless present according to its power in every thing and every place, but is found in its full perfection only in this one thing. In sum, it is a spiritual substance that is neither heavenly nor hellish, but an airy, pure and glorious body, appointed as the middle between highest and lowest and the most choice and precious thing beneath the whole heaven. Conversely, those who do not understand it regard it very poorly, as the least and most contemptible of things, indeed as something rejected. Yet it is sought by many who have understanding and found by few, contemplated from afar and taken close at hand, seen by everyone and recognised by the smaller number. This is also neatly indicated in the German verses placed here.[^n42] **HY_P2S006** 1619 pp 25 · scans ER029 **German** Man find ein Gut getheilt in drey Ist doch nur eins das glaub mir frey Ein ding das die Welt nicht hoch helt Ihm auch darumb nit fast nachstellt / Hats vor augen / offt bey der hand / Vnd doch vor blindheit solches nit kent Ja wirt bey dem diß nicht verstehn So gering geacht / daß sie drüber gehn / Welches doch ist der grösste werth Der hie mag sein auff gantzer Erde Wers kent vnd hat das mittel Wort Der kan reich werden hie vnd dort. **English** A good is found divided into three, Yet it is only one—believe me freely. A thing the world holds in no great esteem And therefore scarcely seeks. It has it before its eyes, often at hand, Yet in its blindness does not know it. Those who do not understand it Think so little of it that they walk over it. Yet it is the greatest treasure To be found upon the whole earth. Whoever knows it and has the mediating word Can become rich here and there.[^n43] **HY_P2S007** 1619 pp 25–26 · scans ER029, ER030 **German** Ænigma Philosophicum. Ein Philosophisch retzel / darinnen das primaterialische subiectum der weisen Kunst / Phænix philosophorum genãt / gantz vnd gar zertheilt / dreyfach drey mit nahmen zufinden sey. Wann ich dirs nenn vnd sags off frey Die zugehörigen stück all drey / Ey warumb wiltu dann viel klagen? Schaw / traw die warheit thu ich sagen. Ein greßlein genant Trifolium Mustu thun haben / schaw bitt Gott drum / Such eins in drey vnd drey in Ein Kanst fern wol tausent in geheim Leib / sel vnd Geist solchs nennen sie Saltz / schwefel vnd auch Mercuri Thue aber / traw mir / das greßlein sein Trifoli genant / verstehen allein Thastu den thon auch gesang verstan So bistu warlich ein weiser mann. **English** A Philosophical Riddle. In it the first-material subject of the wise art, called the philosophers’ phoenix, is to be found fully divided, three times three, by its names. If I name it and tell you openly All three parts belonging to it, Why then will you complain so much? Look, trust me: I speak the truth. You must have a little plant called trifolium; See to it—ask God for it. Seek one in three and three in one; You can go far, well a thousand, in secret. Body, soul and spirit they call it, Salt, sulphur and also mercury. But take care, trust me, to understand The little plant called trifolium alone. Once you have understood both the tone and song, You are truly a wise person.[^n44] **HY_P2S008** 1619 pp 26–27 · scans ER030, ER031 **German** Aliud multo explicatius. In dieser Welt ein ding ist schon Wirds allenthalben gefunden thon Vnd das geschieht ohn sondern fleiß Sein farb ist graw grün roth vnd weiß Kombt vnd fleust her bald wie Wasser Welches doch nit netzt / wiegt leicht vnd (schwer) Sein nahm woll ich 1000.nennen Aber aussen thun solches nicht kennen Dieweil es scheint so gar gering Vnd ist doch das köstlichste ding Wer solches kan in mitten frey Aufflösen / vnd darnach auch darbey Im dritten zuschliessen widerumb Der hat das recht Subiectum. **English** Another, Much More Explicit. There is a thing in this world To be found everywhere, And that without especial effort. Its colour is grey, green, red and white. It comes and flows readily like water, Yet does not wet; it weighs light and heavy. I could name it a thousand times, Yet outwardly people do not recognise it, Because it seems so very insignificant, Though it is the most precious thing. Whoever can freely dissolve it in the middle And then, in the third, Close it up again, Has the right subject.[^n45] ![Original inverted outline triangle printed beneath the philosophical riddle on page 27 of the 1619 edition.](data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAM0AAAC+CAIAAAAZaBxRAADqQElEQVR4nGz9Z5NlSZIliBm99BFnwSOS08rKYs2md3ZndhayKwIIgJ+Hn4CvEMEAK5gVrOz0TJPpqe6qymJZyTMiMiKDOXnkciOQo3qfpW8LvFOqIyPdn19ipqZ69Og58tP/1/8thDAMw0RfMcayKIaulzEabZxzMYZxHIZhKIqsqqoYoxAiy63Wqu/7tm2VUlmWexe01iEEa+12u62qapomKeV+vy/L0lrLPxhjbNu2aZqbN29mWdY0Tdu2ZVkul8sY4ziOeZ4XRdF1nVLKWtv3fQihpwsIIeR5fnx8LKVsmibGqLV2zgkhjDFZlgkhuq4bx7Gu6+Vy2ffjOI6LxWK/33ddNwzDjRs3hmHouq4oimmamqbJsuz09FQptdlsQgh1XccYrbXL5bLrOr6dEEKM0TnXtq1zzhhDt5z5GLq+z7Isz3Pn3H6/DwEPIcuyxWKx2+2UUjFGQ1/84X3fK6UuLi7GcXzvvfeurq6EENM04dO8599+fn4eY8yy7OrqqrDWai2lpP+Pm3XOhRCcc4vFYrlc7vd751yWZfz6tDVCCO+9lHK5XGqtm6bRWi8WC37LwzAo+hrHMYRQFIXF3eCSnHNaa2ttWZbTNI3jKKVMj5evU2mTFWVZLZQ24zh677XWSinvvTGGv7+qKqWUEKLve631NE2F1fhv0zTxr7fWps/1uCEfRMSzs3ZVFkbrPM+tNc7jVifnfAwmw/1LIUfnjBBGG22tNlYqLZT3IRqb5UXJb0IIobSyeW6zfH18fHV5VdWLKKSQYhgnm9m8KMuy9N4LpUyWWZv5ELu+U8oYE/H3Wo8Ot5QVRQi4NqGwLOq66nssRBdilGp0fnQ+ShmlvNputNZFVZ7eOMMnTDIvy6IsY9dZN9ks68dBSrlYLb3DQs/yzNg8CuWjkEpLbayRIQSpdBFl13fOeauU0jYGPGUpZaQv3hVCCCml1pofKd9OpNU2TVNVVV3XGWOWy6UQQmvNa8I5VxQFf09d10qpaZpwO94XRSEFPjEKOXlvrK3pb/AKvZdK54W1mRVSRXwXFvSAX1RnRRlCyIpSCNH2Q1VVvu+jlNViYW12fn4+TlNldJRxnMbJu6IslFJuclIrHY30zlqb5fm+2U/eTeMYhViVVV3VQcpxHHmz8RNIGyDPc76pLMtw5VKG4CfnELGmaUKIyjJjsEhjCNiISkkp8YuFUErmOaIFHqHSgdal8y5Gj93j/BR8jALbXgsplVRK4OmLEILSmv8xUvKTpWcRjbHaGG2MsXYcR/5+ZXSIccQjjiFE5z09YaO1EUoKxBIbYvS4Qm2N4lvCCpbKeY+3b4zNMinlOE0e6xwhpyxLKWWW503TCPzBKq2iiLg9rXuKlLhCk0nsaSOkHLDdo7UmRoF7E9LYTBsbhRiGQRuD4CxxO0LgNjm4SvpSSnFUxi+lSCPwDLF0eNnx33OExlahME+vJHCESK/K0A3R5wsf/DhOfItKqRDCOIzOY9HjUeMT6JUZoxwurx8GXv0ca7UxEjcpnA9COon3qybnAh1Z/PZ7OgLqUFd1FWLgyJ27nGOkEALPViksS48lxd8QY+QgxVsOjz2EaZp6CvZaacSjrussfTnnOFTi2QVpNP6AF6bGGIOUCi/eee+7tm3GEZs1y/DCAj4WT8cYw1FU0pLiL/71HPn5lfDhwht3miZrrfe+qiqO5E3TeFoxvD/4HngbZIim8yPm15NlWYyRz0p+Q/yLYowctDnS8EHT0penCMGfkK6TzxSRKWszIdQ0ebpBfIBzk1KSbg1nhzHWe+xDujREKX5i/LjTqTqOI18qf76iP/CW4NvE1hKC7zG9rWmaKFHBl1JqsVhEj4u8/v74Q/hh8n/iu+Bfga1rTZZjp2Hz0NcwDJeXl3mel2XJ/8pHZFEU+FjnhYxVVXHE4Tvii+ffxYcmb5gQwzAO0+SVwrP19MUZEX8bbx6+YJzjeDI4MBHAsixTSm232562fp7nSml6tviVPnh+4/TWcafDMFJKYSmoWC+x4T2OKWzl9MVPnwOp4pOP3gRfh3OurmveJXmepwyDHwE/en6InJ8JKYui4D3ET4TvhKM3Pw7OYPgXjeN4dHR0/Y3ycuQnwjlNesGHd4ZrPmwDZ610Dq+WHroWQtJzx+uWUgkRES5FkBLRaI719JUSTTw9Wv0ZhVjvPRJGOnHSfuOQw5uNz8q0boqi6Ckj5AjHm5bvJeV8fDv8pjjD0XRIcDrEYZIPNc5beLnzQ6NL8FqoyeG9N01TluVqtYoxNk3DVziOI29LXseTc1rMBx2vs7Sgr2dyfNcc0Tmc45VwSDPG1HVtjBmGwSiD3CgGEaVHzEaGIPFZOGt9DFFicSHqIhh4H/DIIwKyN/ijVLhd2vGIEDiikEDEEISMOFoVfYpAOjm1VVVODj82jMiI87yYX55SVItMznV0S0pKjdVgkI5gtTmvFFJmxFVloojT5KRCjFTa4Gigk9rQa8zyHEcO/pNWlALjfBwG7EhaJiazIooYXJZnucNeP5zFOgrhQ8DxqbGBsA3x2ZE2MyIbr4zr0aWqqhBC27YpIKUjkpc4R19+JRwJuErIc5xT/M1CyBAFEgRjhFQZ9jNlA1HQY9RSI+dFNhxwbQi6UYwTUmsfvKCLsza7eeu2ELLrBuemEGNBCTReo9JFnYfGS62lUnlRLFarZr/fbrdlWfITsFmGBEvKyA8TmxNnFEcyXn/8B/6vjvYiB/txREhCdODNx8+F89C2bSPyK+w5LFvcCPZIRMwcx8lhAeCyNJYhbhnfwEcJPwLKA2ykAOADriCEODn8bl4lvMzxOJB2BCFV03a4ksmVVY0M4BDYdImsQilN3xmRc1D8o5eqnBtDmGJEVBdSBh+cD8p5KgFzDg8+hEJrLN6i4Ni52WxQBKHUQkbiKa7w1zCMHim/spmdjwAlncfu0lQG8R6llSSt0ULk3qOsTjkKhxl+0JyjKPriQM7nER8gqVLjY30cRz4Q+SDmD8mLEuFTKU/PVmkTaaNi808UWhH/8M9E4URKvK9xmrMIHAWUPxwdHbdtS1UkcsSiKOl6ojHIU7XBd0aKlMgfpDSIiwZVJG1L6b3SOsMzn88oLid5R3HkoxoRqTbjDPwE6JazGAWiXMpj+DxCcUtLIe1ROvX0RFcvokBibvCw6Ojkc0dKgQorrXFUrPTntOT5zOLnm44MPMo85/jMj5h/ipMYjsl8XtAN43fxW+Ejkt8Nnw582+nMNUb3PYAJ3i0cM5xzSqmmaYYBNSa/b8ZE+DL4GXEGw9/Mp0A6oDmRdc7xIUnLGPGM0yz+M4c3vk5eW5pCF1dn/D28DtLu5wfC++d6XMyLYhzw2PlG+FTiS0q/iz9tTuwERWS65TzPvfe73a7ve045OPDwguAHy89NSmAW/PAZk+JUZBxHrkjSAT1NeBRFgTWQLpVfGW+bFMD4OvnZNk1jeN8zTMXbzlpb5IXEMczZJZYRoWioEqqqEjJqjYfOmRAdwDLPc37rnGaNhLmN47herxkc4ujCmTujLFwNrNfr/X4vJfJB/q/8QI3BtfF6RTJBgZMXPb82fmp8h5z4Z1lW1/Xhbcmua3ll88pLQSXLMr4XTowOQShKiSfAm5JXeVqIqeDifUXPCqtnGrEi+TVcT0N5gfJ/UvQy+Bzx3jOIxR/F72NeUod8Lp07KdTx5/NC58ebEv+UEnFcQQo44db4OvnW+AOttZwr81rnL0dQTp7bvh/yHEASpVmcSuJIKYpSyjkvzPMixr7t+qIYARccam3vHd0gnlhR4C44YSkKLAkOT4YRHQ4GvCNxHTEYDaBhnHoEPdxJjCIai/TIuclapBccADhzGqdJG01IGEpRRxkzyh+tHT3ckdJSpZUWJiBvw0Of3FRrHJR5kQspAGtFpHtYBJnNCEwBgEL3A7iE/sAZLm9Nxmn4bTHUWZbAjWIMRVESWGVpDSk6in2em6qqGRoQQlqLXUDR0SPB9E5lmZLA+UbvpaDdFmNmjbBGijiNo4hRK/ylcxOhJMVIJ6y1WVHMbxG5EaVW3ofJAeWaJjdO6WiTFsgI6owsBxAYhShKwJvbzabrsGHoXeAUQ14xnwMAjPjzlZSewi3iDcfdGKdhsIcTjXFy3htSSkZ2ZjSEDhaOBYiA9MBjlMBpBEEkIQ7DRGmtMjjZhHNeStTa1vrYdpTk+RDcOI1IB8cRj2sarDVZZqZpdG6i3yasNU2zH8cB6yCtet6IlDyNgo7Urm8PSIk2VguhgSCEOXHG+UF3gvc6ocLKqaTKKYkx+K2ZULRHvQsRz4uynyCk2DfNNE1d39u2FVJkFFZtRqcSVcuTc5IeBF+YpTOL00cup7Ms41yVQxqqM4rKfIzGyKAlMLBhGGmrIEAwkpnnBaEcHQUhnGAoLb0f+l7SfkM8CL7v0O3gBV1VlcRHOCmiknJEHoONQcCYQzph8BjnpBC/CEtKEB4kgSlq/IgQq/VRVVUcNcfJ5XmBwgu/kcIDgrayGY42WogOb5+wOqlUiHMqGUPou06gZ4M3Yo2lAjgYgiq994vFgpMtPsT5DE0wHi81zhC0QrkVY2BUwfvYdQguFL3wr5TzOIq5wBSBjIxD2OECPPAsg4IoCvpUPTmcjdgPSvdDVxZVXmRt1wI/4+SDDyN+xCFg/fJBQOf0EAJVaodv4wRWShyX9A0TB1LGrnjfcFTn8iqlR7yTEjLMORnX8NcLde5j8KLh7+Tfmy7p+vnCCRyfzrxfefF1HapU7kclXI0vic9xvl9OlbBY6e74SOW3koA6XtkJTWC4Do2CQ2eGH06ClH74TMYgxzk75rOY3zolRrh3xg74arlHxPeYStR0ttITMAoVDy5mxo/oH6WMqHEZTddxBpYujK+fU1K+Ts7CObgYLVer9dXV1YRFn/d9v9vtl8slAx8cFOlKkJlwbtMPwFA596d3OEOkw4hMKYpYFkh2OT1Ar2VRG+5/MWTKz4Ly3/mA5wfB+TjfMycB10EyXkApH0xZfKrby7LkvDIhjV3X8V/yGkqgF6/dlOKksK+U4tdQ1zUSREIBGKPid89hj9co30KqWDnn5cyJ3/ehUMB38rvkBW2s4daeMaZt27R8U1aeUn7+Tz74zWaTis30xbeffmmk3DFBoGnFp3WQbtA5vGm+Tv5Xhj84DqWvOcDxyXT4QvaGNl3Y73cZ5cr89DiR7/ueAfDj42Pu7aa7Mxo5N1ej11PelIpwusybBz9SZCjrqYBLhTMv67SrExzIJ8x6vUacp/5gzWU8P0etzLyWqSzgdicWwaHYwauixMXN0CK2SFpn/AR5Q8+n3uGL1y7fBqdZfInc8eAXdh1oTsgy74HUT+QYnGIn9+aFEKkOSEBoSgl4ifPHMhzNl8d1JbeectpUnAPxH/jFXy8hU+MIvfm+qxcLjrJCRG6IIG+jhqfWSgh+kkh/NIFEXddxwlQUBVddvLgTfJ+WToLleL1yKMJTx+GKHcWPkX87/2CIKG95YaXSh4OZc2673eZ5zv11PlLxIWp+oby+uffKCUA6gvgXzQBvno1jISVatyKKru9iGBlizTI8K+xwIFZoLdKvHhEIU8DnG+Pni1ji3ND3McaiKBAqQ5iGgdeWd05QosqHF56C1k2Lx4cUjTYTfyCnAl3XXd8lCd1OKCW/foYAEqwwDAOvGF4NjKozpM7fyQ86nVO8EPlJcSnHKy+hM9dDI2/EtPgSoJ+QgtQ1YnIHb9N0nRzgI7IlVQIxQHIZg6fUDYk1zhemTig6CjxqCK3l5LAl+L2mlaS17jpkiuldcK2dtlnqNOC5UerOSWQKpSniGmNOT06vtht+Drw3+GeLori6uuKzzBiz2+143YgomPyCM7dp8jw/OTnp+z7ldte7iNgY3iqp+R8BVAIllPc4UpXS/YRohcqMHlBm8xiQwOB+AoLt/noSwK+WNy7/mTEL/k3pOONnRE9ENG2XQnE68nhN8JGXYjI/RF5hfJrwsZsQu5RmlWWZGlAMB/C+59WcDik+iRIA1jRN6mfzS0qpjDGmKFABpIthIGPuvXJLnr54YfEBnWC5hDUw7MR3h1T6ELk5QvMNctnLhbylGOMcsuZDLTmnnqlvk/4+MX9SHzPtBzwfYEyEWNIa4msQmp4bDvSItgct3ATdEdKJNGq328UY+YIZgERoyNAB4jXHwAe/Bb7mlDjxY+Q74syBL4/DCp8efDSXZVnXNYdPZOd5LiTlFeM48tbnXASr6loY5zfHu5A/jrcd5zpppTMelgJ+AseXy2UqCw5hAFuHHwR/fsKTOKni2+77/vohlf6GXw9/Gp8mCbgqioIvg4MoP4sEgqSmdVmWCUPiF8w33rYtp7q8Xtu2DSHwN/MZyuc1v2/qVuFjN5vNfr/ngMo7KgF1vFwE48wUXbTWx/TFHRF+Txxg0hWmJcsflRYx90aZh5JOA+RhB6Saf+8wDlxq8OtLNQGT6mKMu90uvS9+IGldLpdL7/35+TkfILyBU+LBac9uv+cCOb1NIURRFNy05O/hqDSvUQb5rkPY/CxwFEo6t+kOscunKXg/1zXcVI5i6IcYg7DZJMFM4nBy/WThkMBd2HShHDgTXSmd+rzDOHtNGzqtv1QLJ8iUzwWOppwy85blpOc66YO/My1frvlTPEuoUmJb8OMbR2QVMcb1ep0qoZlCd0BErbGGyJ4CjWA8qHHo8YIp+u53O/wUcBDDfylE60NgUINjM2OzqVExJ8d0gPKF8TNMLyjFNn4o1/fbXDsDt8OyTkcHxy0+B7gCYAIcPyteMRw1+WzRWjNDsygKXi78ZjmLmMMQ0ZPyPOt7NEwZBCmKMssAPnRde3V1RUQwfHmPEDgzF/ghpi4TV8uR6gq8S5tJ6uA6/AKiL9JbxCVSk0oAmAXOzsUEb27kiXT1y+Wyoa/FYsGHWtM0dV3z4+anyTfML55vjBcHn7CcK3Ac5f/l/8pkE376q9WKSRkc+Rgo4dXGG5p/l3Pu+Pj48vIynR28cBFaLE6u7XbL0asoij3tXcaieB0wMZUDGJAnKRZVmWeZiEHGMPa95dJByWEgqi0XYtPI/Xc0Ven6OYxxtMjz/Orqivvu+/2eOcN8vqdamMFC3MgEyiHeV1pJhx4Gmn9IoAGVJ4ZSohgxa3exWHDNxJ9GIQ1Lk39d27a8Cfl1DMOw2+1OTk6AHdLmoUOjvLi4Yhpc2+Jp0zsKYDBgz0ilUApkdBwD4FWxyAu8LY7MiQgKSGwY3PBDdsxZCL+MlH4ypsWg3Gq9bgAT497HcWSKEec9vAN45fGHcPuMowUfebzKU86bCigOYwl65Y3Oue01bA8kAF4xu92Oqwc+QIdhWC6XKW/j4MF7lENmKqN4zRml9/v95eUlZ5lpx282m1evXpVlefPmTQ6feAhKAFbEeTRT0BgO5UWvteaD6XqNIrWqq7ob5tZLSn85kPAPpqOHzwTOTBhBOCBHxEijQMCPMfUf0eubRgmAGAd0CGG321lr0yrhJ8NpcWqq8rnG4Yr3c+rBW2uPjo7Sj8yg1YBzeblc8sNxztf1oqrQbyCGItpWdAsI0vQbCeRPzyixOhGfgvfTDCxdL+Z5i/Cf+YDDnouhqmutZiwgpfOcnG23W95b/Jr509JFp5d9/WhItEFeWNf/NWFsKcFKWS2nqFzPpwXEKB3naszy47eeUBJ+zelQTphTYmeM43h1dcXc/7RbUlWuaH0w4sovhs96UBRpEoIHHSLAOVuXpTZ63KE5zdUS3zijifxIucThk/Q6vJKKKg3OH7HqD5glQ05MO/Ux9MPgAscYxHXeq7ywOPxzfsIPCmRupEVzAs1AAf9GjvR1XafdPiPqZUnsKCOEqipEeursIXGgO8JlHNrBaFvFKPb7PcqfhKTPL1sKkOUIdMZvpcdEiRp62T74ru+wFqOY0MZCoO7bzuQ4+9PiSFTYlETznmDsmyNw4kEkeiBDDJy0pjInRTh+EPxf+UFcz2bS7008R17QKf3ixZR+kG888WmxSjIEsKOjIwaBeJ6FO06np6d8oKc+gZDo+WiLdl7btOjnEjkAv3Tk8ZGZ41/kORqYMaooug71FkcsRjW5ouLMgTFzpZDzMXMp7TreRTQlhJ0zRnRaE2ic6Cc44r3v2zlP5wXNhGzuwaf8JPVIOvwdzpnr0E9CzniNcrjlA0pp6z2WDtcNXDbxVwpGXCNyFyGEEfweXgEpRHNco54tmHN8n8F5SWHQUT3Y7Pd1XVMj2Z2cnNSL2nln0W2dQQFel5zo8O1xOc37L5FSOGdK6yOlUAlpu4ZUgVh8nWnDxzH4aRSx+MExDsJ0ZP51fBDwf+WmHm8qDreJdpYObv77f4HH8rbmwJNqQ2IQur7v3DROBBrFELwDst3HsLkS6/W6roo8wzcPHU43pfXg/Gp9XJblfr9PGSc/E74AbuzwybVcLlM8432SUAbemTNyoVTf9R21mxbrFQdmvru0AvhjucziIjedHpzpcuLP/8oJCX9+4nqlszWdufy+UhTgNJo/hEEoet2u79vlavFDvZkyHmyaqore73e7xEDigy/Lsv1+n26Vkwbm0hKgMyOivIfSKZPal/wHzirmmH+Io1ziDcPAOELKV65XhfOxTjliamvyccxpStr9CQRKFVlqnV2nxPFiSgurbXDM8bF4vSfLO5B/C78wWuXeT2Pf9VICyuYLToS5NJkyDMPV1RUR4iueYeEbZNgvTaQ1TbPf7zk9v95+uB5g+E451s7TUJQA5XnhnW/blqOIR296XojeozPGIxGJqJewwL7vUXZkuH3OCxNHnEFKhplSxpn6wpyfcYhNFPAEO1/Hn7U204QpmJn8mV4qz3I51DUA1Zyb8hzjVnwdBD6BVK0UAgmNZ+6atjk+ORF0PGcZIhMH2GHorTW7HbhlKZPloEJVAkaJUAzS1lP0BIkCxSU6+PgAU2iuBSQLvNZ5uINzwNTZ9JzwUeOINlNvLe4ckAolkZMDQ46QBSL0ES3Te7ybGAJFdWCSO9pX/PmLxYIT0ENGD876YrlQ8lDeexfpTBSSiOMUYrn6SdkhN2EdzcwdHx9ledF0uPGuRR+6rhbIk9AJwIcrKcH/OoDGPHWWGH78djKLZ0j/ioSBqd6YkDGGK0owe8A9xhqq6zrLss1ms91uUwPteiLOV+gdzve6rhN7ILVh+E0l1hr/VFVWYHtT3Ep4UAhhgf4bPgrrRGt/QDTrqsJvpjbGAZU5sFXPLy7c0I1g69uyBNw/DH3T7BjOzvIsIGNFn+Hi4pVSOsN05ZQZqZWYBjxZLUtC3sSiwrCJpG4/WoAzSVB6N2XWCqOUjErGjFLCzKDfRXxThP0ogghoCxoUd71DzQjaXSB6k1aEibsp+CAFsiVqvU3j0A+uQ/5EvUA3IexgHjQ3MphhaDJbgG7u4gRwQGqV2yzzxu47hKuiAAcOLFACNVCuerfb7ic/1VWtQNcReWG0qd00SByWWKlpYfE6y4u8p0+rF3VBX2VZDtOYZ5kUsd03Q9dWRdU1+7btqrrs224ae0pOkBhGGqEj/r7EO6NPVlJxbyQGT/Q/g2y+6xsw7fLM6hidUKKoin3XTmB5y6rGFBkHv9RJS90ajlhdO4ToMKmZ5dRLcyg1LPLFdLAmgjQmj2w+Eo2V0sEqUFspYggPwWIcB2c0WnDEGZQBY+d5bk1wXli0wzlVLPOiBXvKEc2HurMSAQN9c5o+qGpkP5gglqJpmyw3q9URstK2W5eFC6F349B0OsaiKoFfe1Bq8zx/dXmhlD09Pum6blHX/X536/i4afbPnj1jFkaLTg5NsylVoxovN5utG4eyRmiZ2hZDKXQSThPxXYUwMoqA8w4hAeRBVebWavn90+/XqyUzzrIobJ5V5WK7u1ot1o9fPR9kUy9KozNsiNGP3uULva6qcRh6tIB9kedDN0zjqGUsMiNjWC1qqSSNNGplFAj4YOTjAzJrmSMolaqXNf7WT7nMab5UWUwdh3EaXYPDa1GVRopx6GQM09D1fSuEckaOXeP9dPfuvc3mKiL6hrHvjlZLH2Jd1VGEcegsNgSmckTAxOw0DJnR3shp7CxIqUFLOfa9N0ZoU1R5ELLphsVylRdgxPAZx1nNbtcopU5Oz87PL5eLBbc+63q5Wh29ePHCGGRywUfvolbWTYFIAkTd86EPvfcI88Mw90U4TExDt1xUzmW4uqHLMLeet81Wa+V53omjPQP3TdP0Q+fHQcSZggby2mGu8HDESa+8MTrPLWZnDPYHH/b4TjoNmwYDYdViRYcAJY8uSsNJ2GiMdpNr2qbr+4AJQt9BQaF1fiqLMlAlGyK4TaChg6s5HxyczWhjpq4baEK6LBDVqerF6PM4Rrx+fGB/8fKirPKqXCxXKzchJLx48XK322lls8KWRaVNaW1UGr+uveyszQ3FS8QVZqsHud/uMROZAfwXKk4e/zcwJdWHYRgRZXDU0wAmsG9MyiyXK1sURmKo3U8geWYa8FLbtkVZegzt2TIvgF5FzC3v4l4K5UYXaWrJB8r5rJUet0yEmkXfMmcanBIcYVTe4GyZ4U8ML4FOmWfdgJFbEVWMbhgxnomwPwXnwJLl0zB4v6jr1XIZPDKw5RJATI/AD57BjpoZKfHnQ5OmdA1N4StOb5iuPQ6oDGxdF1nWOpRCRIpVWsqqKCJoweNM/+D8iUlIjM2I6DkRut7xTfQHrkHStOowTh2VXPsG0zJVVQYf+3HKQGe1k4/ItjBTrvtxIiKenYTYd30/TEKbIFU3ud6B5z1G4frBxW0/YSBHaTUF2Q9j7z2glnHKBWbaJh/7YcT0v80cCKu4jn7yCNY0j4WJ9SJ3Qe67vljU/ThFaV5eXDx78Wq1XBeL2mY8Tw+e/+TCdt/YIvA0HrE7YoZnRCTbAalARktNGjVgUmvKs0Ib60LHDFghia4NpruH7sYwFUXuaSh86PFMPC4YDPS2H7phdBHKDKMPSmg/OmlMpjPuagUh+nHSSnc9OmZBCG2zHDOVvRvGLC+k0n3bNahYQ045jHfYupkyQGhjkH4U0SldaNQxk5MCkb6wzX4U0eOmiPXatU2RZ20z+QmqCG7ExSJ1mYboJ6QHZYlb6AclrIA8gsffxGAAns1oOYp9SvETxZDGtHKjgB9xdx/IyDWyEwilNKguvVbeT3hulPpxbZ/al9fXGRcpXTu4INerEx/1vm0kNB8KLA4ancPezZADAVyYph66AaAmT5iyFaYoDUQuRp1DJ8Yag2gR48jcWgKOq8x6bCyHYQGPPRdo4foYO7TYiOFojYD+BiYY8rLEZJjCppqGadd2Fy8vbGFxNRCkqCK9xXZojTSL1YIqAVAsuGpCRCMyphvRw537DT4IE61A5HQ+6ohFmWelMZkQOgQscCmQ2wQcUqPWUGChIYyolOyHaRj2i2o5Dq6j1Kebm2kYvcSwITatxGpByMHzQU0zTTbnjJuAzCCGcaTmjjZZ7r2Dgg5o8Z3G9FDugW+OSjgldGZkpsww4CCtygrREXOQmCQw4GqroW0xhRr9bgs60GE+qETFs0CNwh1MCqhzWxn9j8yWhDEx3QsoUp5jMDcKJmjwX7oRjVQsvommmnOLSkTGMHToPNZl7r3xzkzTAHDocFwy5JEIg9cjHHUYPEb0tM6KogJGlU9Ypvge1ATXGDUuBmlkQaStYaAhF9yDjBEvJsdPRyiWCHDqadg1Oh/zPCuqytB6QgeTKQll7pxHp4UgZW01DR+gOLWZ9S6M47ReV1Go758///LzL+/cu7Osl6+/+VaZlyCF0nEWBGRCrDFFxd0CJ2PUUPFICgPgdyBViPOuU8oKwHNDVVSr1SrBbwyXJAQh8dgs1eld17VtRyf7HAaoZIvIvgntO4zIo3isqnKxWEoprzZbDG963zSNUjLLigHECvQ5sC5pRJlpq0brTiEOKR1yibZBRicpz8srGd00KBmRw7kxp9EN9K8ppb+6ulgukCJLa2SMbkR4w6wLFfMRzySzWgkk+I6KSIxiJKqOIGQx+jAQ7oNinLr1zOh009QOI34f/xhPpRP6IAwSB4uj9sAFmpkwBzpkQqoYXcTEthP7zVaRHJIUYru5QrW8wOwGqjGM7rRM6zB1Wddosfd9UEYaq1ASuRGFJAqSuamAs4jmPlBRCZAjqgLbCEkmdB4orE4jxC+IQo1MwU14oh6ggHPTsl7sNttnz5599tlnl5eXx8dHt2/eOjk5AU+TMosCFRaUjyY1Rhkdem2Y3RLBiRhyqzNVZBlxrHFVPgotc5PnJoQc0LRWVQke3zQGF70IESWw0VKgqYxqVGQap0GOAXjvM2sUKIqxLvO6qpAkIHL7CQIAYhoHq2vAvQ71R3DjgElgRyk4YCsQCzHygYS2a3as5zT1GBoKyHOCm0Y/dSJMhiQtdtiBqu9HHOs+TAT5VuVCCRC1iY7WaCV2O0xNp+HQYRhaEj04sC2wt1NDBSlm00JJ6Zq0By8JHg7g1wdEbJyH/5QkjDDtvKQRgnSP4NBaobeVoHnx/+9rnhPBISWn0TG1iMrmIIQf211RllJkAom1s9osF+gYioi6YRyoIS2swNLwQirvRhToh4YmRXKafNRATIQAYZX2lUD2ifGtKctzyklGEQ39L7AMEV3f7lzf/elPn2+3267Zvf7g3u2bZ1WRBYdDGVWDQC1Jk8/Y18bqxQJdJj9N2+1u6loREOy2F5AoQ8iHvA3IkBj7VzIgvQ44hOhX0j84O0CddtCBmbRAt88aEbxQwUixKAuFUfJARXOchn7oey0rEXyR2WnoiwxzlJjt03roABobmwsBZlFmqInux9wqB6WZyWj8bfTB6szaGvjZOLST6LvOVIUHa3AvBI57hfwuBwcySFES7qiUG8f99grtSynXyxqbw43TMNBQVhj7Fiepxy0YJbAVBPKHcXJTFP1BPGtuN3MUp0R/bjr3GKTjjC2z6IaBvHF9vIeCFpoeNstKU16nSl/vQqaO0GH6Q5VZ5gHhRD/itF3mWRfd7urCmhMZjBFFoWW1KI4W1dXV1O02Tdf1A7BEmWNlIqQjgAX8rwxDjyms1HqyRqrgwohDwMiQaVRMPUn82SKTcYpuEN4IpCaAPmR024tXv/nVJy9evHj7nfd+9N47H/3ox0WZDf0Uxk7rLESnI50SygI9MoCd/ThIg3g4Nrux69C803bsWylEmRtlcZgK4B4OLMq2Q58LSY9UMYCRx6OnE1hAOI2dkxbAngRCIAujC1N23eCnERWaglabEGFZFnpZt027i67KLKpTH6uqRPXgbVbkknpQZWF3m857WdeV07JxU55lxhrKbTzC39Btt5txaBEjjJ31ZiC9AQU6m5WTD6MfAzFyu2E6f/n8+ydP7969Sw2ahTGgOia6K68H6rgY78Hn5sYopnSLGbdn1J2bs9wmofGUuU9aFWVVVbvdzrmpaxpTZEgP/TRm1O6TlDEAd6DB8kS14KYQt6UTJ4R/mZKy3TfNuCW9CYL1RCirou93t26g/Tw2zdR1BJP63eWllCLPTFUebzZXID95Z4UosUaxjyDtoVScRhkCauAMJyyuPExaSDB9u64qy3V1ckUQS1FgDuB0vUa0HwZTlhkh5osyPzs5tlq9/87bb775+m633e+8MZYlJanlkdeLyubW0RiyH/sofd+6oeuDHxZ1Xlg1jaNRoshzNw65VhxvJjcNiD35alFNQyeEnCjLmUkfuTVGTpMO0SsRm81VeXrDGB0xF9m6aTo9Pn64eZhD3EMV1no3lVW2vRpv37zRd+3Qt1Kqrt3TpKREwh69jKB3VRj1xtwyHb8+BpWZHPjENFgp2n1XWHO0vDGMg1CmWOSmXPajg0Sa1Nt29B6g0q07i/12e/7yXAp1dHxy49bN/X7m27H0BIs4ceeN26ws4snZJ0BFSBEig+K2MsLBYYCDhyxpaonaMMRFGIdxFtZLbDggFD2COY0E44Ou806ZTMfsq0Qh5FLIaF0vixFgWBy7rgI9fBKoLQAX1YsleAF9d/7i5eQheLlar/04lpDnIIrLMOZGV9WCoDigmvj1Mbb7/Y6yY6KsAQOnuiYyKXegqWte6DQjPos+RsyA2OVi+eDBg/fff/+NN94ESO2m1WophLq4eHXjxq3dbkPCE+1isaqqIstyoD3axujyPMvzk4Kwcmrzqw7M4QjAMyvGyWkhMoK5cIgMaLNobeoaKieY4J+Z1ahIuIPfdl0RkS0AWySIv6wxGrhYLtfrtRDi+fPnxFTWwzjuG+gLMdkaJUhVAgLmvuSBl8YteRfCDoClU8pIbTJj+77t966qwfekmbUi08JrQI1+GuvFKtP26bNX0zjkRVUW2XJ15KaQZYWgMzFNoyWWA3czE78NZY3J9UEaLE3dzT3Qg5Ab2FB9V+ZgiV5dXVlji4wSFK6P0iwehz6uCZghyLPE6XfPOn2JNc+KBErqTJdZ1nfD6vioaZvV+ih4f35xkZf11eb8D3/61Cr905/99Oj49MXL50+efKe0zLN8nAYR1c2bZ2Wtun7UxiLftrnN5XB1tW2aYvJa5wbwkkSHSWUiQI5wdYQ2AmRtgkSqM/i27S7ON5BYIoWIo5PTO7dvL1fH3z15JISuF0scSYtlP0zaZhVE9UxZLYoycy5sdzsAHMR3wjaNwiHdUhqALkQkBxevXl1sm31VVXlZkDyiUZmWJtPgtOK4RvUR3Yh2i6qLuqiXWbX0Pgidt2MP7MOFp8/Pjc7KxcIWxeW2KYtCWYzvS5154RygQKmj1EJLnQmdA8HDJ0AEkOqBwQWhbOGp8SBNhuKuH5ar1aIomm7onJC6FNJ0k9vsm7YfsESzfNiAdHR5/n1m9Nl61Q3Dsq5NVRDDaBBS25yG+0UcHbVWlYxCjUTLthkrgIZqkRV1HSm1/xezGkm1CrRvCWYbD9guF0uIzaLvdviaNQEpg2MFDe7aMh86UdFT2yvxc/C5JbZs3/cvLs7Pd1vMVBmMCp7cvPvo6fOry83JjbsPHjw4unFLK3V0eleqTECkDuWSMebk5CTL8qury6pYANLOEMCzfGFsqTXNRwnV9zg2Y1RCITXJq0VAwRtMsdj3TmZlZQpFTBA6BZxQWedVaHuv8up44XXRDm11dMbXPyHr7V03QNxXG2krAPlKTUK3XauEA4OsWBSlRAtgmqzOTGkqUwA0lRI4prTRxiHEpsXJ6V2g5joEo7DL1dS5/UQ0kPXxutm1VVksV8dXV1ersu68DIPYd6OwVR/k5nJrcxt9GIPKbO51PkkrpR12mBGFeoMxWU4SrdT3BGJsjUcBhNNESNE6EacwBhOU3W37Zy+/++rrh5998fWz5y8C1zFB3Lp149bp0ccffvjmmzfGbn9+hbxltaogHkpAaxqdp9gGCQVBmRJT8PkoA9ELxzjTy2hIlmMh9KsO0gIH7aPj4+NFXcsozGpRNVK4cRgHTBOBKl6ilcT84NQRSwhtqgQTzZoIjXJSyi5XwRZHQTqPQdyrzXY3irZrr1pXrG+8+dbbJ6enXdd3+w59iWrtplFraUvM2DRDGPwUVO5V1k5jMw5OZoNXQRdRiMtmzLPCmFLETEnZdX3bOCewviEUsFwK43O0zjC2j5y62e+acb2um1EEo7LF8Xq1HsfhxeULfprM7JAyL/JC2LIdxs2uzX1hgJhEYyubQXjMT+h1ZqXyPR5/5/rzq91m+wIRneDTLQ52lFdt1ww9wJHMZvWivnFy5sV2aPtts+ub7s6Du1aasxunncjaPuyG/eMnj86Oz27dvTVu+3/61SePH36XF2g4KKMW1bKsoG2c0QkVkNJAe0cpTfy/yYD/XeVZ1vW9m8aT4+PFcvH8+fOH3z5qxikI/eL8/MWri92u6ceYLU+Q8AINGL97dn5+efXy4kpb8+MP33POr46Og0cLY/IBQn6ACQVgixBlgCoUVRIoWAH6I4F2ZoRSHy+yGRBhKQytoHBJE2KT1jy8yCVnkeWcnyGbNmYWMLPX5FL5fExVZ6Jt8X/i5HdyLmoz9KMVat/2zQgShDXZ01eby6tN3w8npzdzu3j07OJ8Nx2fnepivW/boRu9m6q8kFpvLrf7tl0uFyenp80QL3dD27TmYk9kiKCkaoHtTXlRsn7n1abZbrZFWSyXy7qqejHsep8F7Y3qJvn8Yvfo0aMXL18VZXVycrJaraSUJycn4zj+4Q9/4M4dSz2cnZ3dvHlTa/3kyZNvHn6zOFoEiWbivTt3j9bHlxeXF68uqqK6e+de07bfPHz48uWrfdc2XTc5x/jqvmnTE0ekEVB8AccOxWl0k9vtd8H7G4+/l0KhVBxRjlpjnj9/fnR0dP/B/aEfvvjyS2aSUaUWi7y0pPGck+gGziP0MIpZ2ws9So1hdiTdSLRv3rixWi6/e/L4uydPoENeLdt+HJ1X2uq8LGtQjcCzQqQdpHePvnv02z98eu/evakbLy43i0VJbF+m5s5U8h90SQ6DfYJSqclDLZHGI+ajMwUj7IHxBwZ8d5gbH/pehAghiUTwZaIIoNQMj4k7AdfHuRI2m6aTZ93UovCmuNjtf/Ob3/7yl7+cpnD33v3Li+1u1+RFPY5/1DpfrJaLalnV9Wq1Xi0XWowxjrnNRjd9/92TVxcXdVWd3Thzk9s3Td/1PjhJEw3ctNmhG4o2MGHr/W63M8as1quKWP/MUj86Osoye3l5+eTp06vt1vlpuVou6kViGH/zzTeb7eaYxA2dd6vl6uT0hKf9rjYbp4KL6AGfHZ+ul8vNdnvx6sIos1quxnG63GxCFPVyabLM+ThsN6Bhlej6K6NsqQymwDx6r1I1w6jxX2uD5kjmLaidl+dbai3SJFh5tJ3Ul9+9appmeXpnmgfJKO8OCl3T6O0Qu24g6UxvOrg4oAwi8pZSSLZoVNi/3KEZ0DatUqUyxatdm+dVuS6FQik9ouNS2iJvtlspbPCuG/zDx98/evzk9Tu3Fqu1UYGkxDNQ0aHFaYTUkw+VBvrtgkAvq+3yvMjLShGHmxP3NPUoccJ04zCC80DsfCZC8jdEqttmcnfS5ktQG+t+axJ9Ja4sVjbLhpHoErEuPbFwQT+z3TjBByDEx4+e9L1v20Fl5W7fqz4qk8U4Pt++iP6J1XZRQ9yCJGcRUaVW++2267s8y4snL5r9nuTJiSaAfZxL0kVyXgw41OaWP47XbtgPV1qjp4Zk2bl6UR8dHY3jsB+mrKyrPBvGYdMMo5uawWdFHnW+Or1ZVguRFQ7tfXW57Sa3gzRGucisziv0ss53zeWuz7Msr9bjOJ5vm6qqbt9/HdT4EAY3GaUWR8bY3Bj8CgFpCUsy6URAjdGCw+1tWXRelMsVOG46i1Qgsx775FDI5VnVXO5KmYGzYNGetqBfzH4UQutqVWUsgICXP5DOJuastJJgb05jUYGuMk6DqRYgJCpdGsC80G0FKoK+0TCAkon9EOKiqv/Nv/nvXrt94/T4aLkEtFssSovq1lBbV0hA4gCTZfTAJSCkihGm1Squ1ytw+vF6gEFNSLYw5zKMqmvBJrt14yZPvUuZVXWFFIlsNDBCi6ZyjNvd1kdRVzXILqQ5gjRFgzY4DABpYyAEXKjMFsAdfeg7LO0YkAMKLyy0ZsWP3ny9/e/+m19/8rt92xRFdXx66kxV1Oum6413Kky+3Y/jttkN3RBMXuQZsZy9MMVSZdkopClXbEtQZLghAGwx2jKvbOUlNbMhXKoKrZak+EUqyRA4YieXKaAwLOoVeK9Snh4fG6k3u030MauqW/Vq9GNmctnbMIWiLhb18tnzZ4t6oSEhiC1lrD1e+e1uiwZwZbSFKQTY0dRShK0Jpqgt9GDhpYEpfyDLYPNCM70sacLeTVIDiV+uj1n7DgdGif6KkOLoOOuGHrsLGdLJYn2Mnhc6E7OgQbkA3W/qh75rpUe7hfrcVT90Uom6OnLe9WNvw6xj6nGWSqEw7VcVkOoVMtaLSulss91ixSu961oVp3VWv3bn5lv3bta5yfBbexns6fF66PrRgRE3TtOirqIoauj+yaFrMTEeRXRjt9tlRSGio67w1O73Sooc7hytc+NysdRWu+BsbrVVQYblehF8bJp9WRVIM6m9M2vQ9dQeQCOahmapsYXOISm3YwAKIBB1kynC4X/BAxsmBfqEP1st/+1f/cVRXf3nf/ynl69ere68nhV168NVN8KwAK3o6ajSuq6GUTtB6kUjKmfIu4F5gVAN2gi5wRhSlIawbz/sml5gYKXQsKRAYwDK9MCrhnEarTbEm23ha0FYUNcPyuhxxIwQFzFdR2cN6RvwlPn5y5ebi8vdfpdpHTqseNZT4S3IvAMmXmttyqJAaMGkE5QNoSzowca1FtVxIPoGZR0Qh8JEyjiKEYyB6CEThJvKLYvNRop5VVlSDwHHLciAaDfh6Oz6rhDFarkqjdHeF1QcSHRXRW4htdc1O5vZRVUi144ogIj7bois66e+Aw9NWzd2TXcF9xabjf1+aLfvvvnaO6/de/3erWVllRukn4yKWnqj5H5CIUhzViPNzoQJ+pWhLFCP8PEHBEpGk5lJhP1ud3V1gaHzFeJgVZV5kYHOySIsfiZ5KyOFQn45jzwcENd5UoOe8ozQphbEde2MA65Bo8JDP04e/MQg/DTeODv5xc9/+u2TJ9//9nPo54DJPRn4AlnX9ovl4ic/evvO2VnbTpttQ9OdYM+R1ChKjYkcmcoi3+1328srTBPhpbdCSLrnOI1ds4esAen0oO9TFLosi3HAub1aLk+Oj8uqvLi4uNpuoBrppswYAYx+8g5UsKPavnH/VpZn3z1+fHFxKX1nJJQv+64rtDg6XjHjHu0YmrZ49fLlxeXlNA4CXUVE+qlrQL6IsigWbmxdi1Mez5cGJ8E0Ie0o592wwwojkA94Zl1geJgGtxGA+XmCB4eZjq6GoKmZdttpJ8bdRde2mbKCAHoocWL/KJ1pN/QXF7scI4DH0B+NoqoWSySR425zBYpLlJkRu31zfnlVlpUGrWGzqIoff/Thh2+9flRlyrWuHaXwGmRhfDhzvliKVinpcNqCkcEd95kaiR3hcoWCXSu1Wiy0MYvDODS3I7nL6TAuN0/QcH1BjSPCPLhjz7QW2v/Qw+HMlCuO61LkaQRynorDESELY6/azWbn86J44403vnp6vt9vM1UGgdFWiQFGefv23Z/+5Be3T9dTPyCcbLZKwHBJ0zpjubX1em2tvbq6urq8ZEHr3b4RaDmsowDJ6fLyMvhQVWWWgeh6tF6XZUnq2rEui/V6XRbF+dVV27UYSiL8j8kFWLBU99y8eRNqDO+/cXlx2TTNnTt3bty48fjx4+RBxhI7WYYasGma58+fX1xcMM+HWToXF5eXl5um7abODSA+TtbYvMgWNkNzS+jFcjFN/mp7hQZaKXe7/vLF896YqizBjhLkRSWhCYCsM4p9u7frk+WNs3JdknCafLbp2n4z7i+9D1SBqnbolFFlVa6qzDv35NtvJof5/tVyfZW94uNlnKCa68lKgZ6P7ftOBPfhBz9++63Xj5YLFfsyt5PPkE2HWbo7zSyl6Z7UBEpDtdwzIInYPtLgSZo9Y18LpupwhyaNM2oaHoY6PxhVeY6KlZRRkQuCRjGTaZOSyhw8D19JQZ02EK4EU25FTsVFvP/g/mv3n//dr3+/MrWwVZRhDEFHf3J8uj46GYe+NiKUqgiZpv4pSdeio2NAD4T86nFtz1Z3aLxKQcchBJ1nIYoOqj63tQFLwdGgwIqWBdg+SHsnIVyu3Y1Vbk5qbVHHOJz1eGogvbQtw8t1XeZ3jnc31qxkfv/+jdvH1YsXL54+fapLVZVqVVfwBlDy9Nb69nHVdbdhMhRC12L2jsbFsKtolAT1YZHny/WyqpcWIwVisVpGgdWjhbaF3W2b58+eX2FIQm0utybTVVHb3KwW637sRFSXV+dVUZ/eOMlsXtVlZrLzi8v9vg8H6U0h44uXL4ZxqJf1GsPM9sWri4ePvru4uGo2Fz3Q7NLkxejgitITLWe9RA9qGvv7925//KMPTlaLrtnp0FeLkvgCo9Ai9MHkeVFWOM8x9qEh3o7T1qLRLEBmDmgGYm4ZB2CIIASPhOV6EQzYgUYZByaLjZrmsRWUhAFQkNCpMRloddSWR0mI/wDfjXk8OE2EJ2kkbjolla+D/hbipQ+y68AeNkBZ/MnJyfvvv/vVk+fn++3yuDA2w20Modk1l1e7WgcjexPGOhMaKQLm3ljEa5o64YHv1VVGTCEITldYflmUoOPqQi3LusjRkRw6BQpKHJT3VgMFbNuh2TdC+Qq+et3QTHmWr6rKO7fZbsTk1nWGOso5MUVb6HVljhZnMYbSxtXZSvpu+0pUWVwUclHIoXcQnY6jieOqhNCxdz6XVi5QYisBV5emAaGPn1hZleTRoVGgBK+0yu6eGQ0ZH6Se771++fJCCPHi+YuyKou8FDLeuHGTjEsw1CMi+BFJVe6tB7ep/aG9D1A6x6q9H0WEKjnmAsNbrz/4yY/ev9zsvvrq2y+++GroINMvEDUwKzQ6GmHsmszojz/68M6tUyNFN3WarJTGsZMwqtL7plFw8SgZYTiMDYPWgE4aGbqRshp3bzGlltmcTdjIrCAqqcsC8t7o07H0gNJjGN0EIB2pIgzRrs1a8fTVPHdOsxIpP2NsNg2gsorYQXEELH7w+oYhs5nJjB8BCr/77jv/at/+v/+XvxnbrQy+qOpt5774/POzk6Off/B279ssjiirhJMec0SspHy+h41htaxsZra75uIS9K/10XFVr0FFnCYRgCP4KUgQFkReFwqaiV7KaEHzCtEP0UttCwcafKtj0HUhJWiiIoQyr6cYULWApYJO1mK1bPfdfnu5WixP1osP3nsnSpkZA9oguIeUhSOVB3VCiFCBamGlEG50EsQeW6EzTLLcBboXDNKCY6PiAvFaT1MQOfikBWbginWVVeTFeXFxvshVif7vplhV3C+HYDZah1NVlg6kV9kPDtRLESsr6sVidbQOZK4Dqo+Lb77+4M3XHhyvVp9+9nkzDjqv0UijIfW2baL3p2fHb7/xOlgLwhdWZkp7B55HboFhJGszpmBx6cMB5TrvMBke9h6MTjTl6DrRZuWhf0rOMIdLIYrlzA7eI2FWLklzoXw8D33vqUnH3XjOBA/HM66G02QG5UjZR5CLJWT3lTRBBKnVclG9+/Zb777x1cMnL15dXb31zrtHy+XDbx9+9vlXb929XdbQ7gcOBPjR4erAuwjLBcZQpYjjOHhPgmQKCukAOJTAWJsuML9DQRRIGgu70TAPMkzUsmVdV+iIy0HICqgUFpZcLWuB1412YBxanPtauziCrgp2Sd40e2vt8dHRq/NXES8A4dka7dFLDjSjK6hgxKcZsPgDaHNGBcp0hr53ihyJaMxtOePsXgq9WKBImqaeCJug5y/q3Mp4JUCxRPaIQUb0VEIMy8XSCdE0rRKAHrWQFUgSpXPji5cXm2GXWwFLUwwUgRmqY6iybFGjPBUTLCL7YahLzM86NyzL4sbp8bIuciutjMIqI0KYRgteZ9UNY3EQEkwKw0nTLxETWdmeX3fXttEDUElMDc9GaUKAdor5EqwCRvZZ8h2NUaE0CuwYDToVBpGPTBVYhSZJo3EnNYm6J9VtCnWTCiCQ26yCjryHgSZifQg3To7+9V/9+Y2vHv7zb3539er5zVv3lsvFi5evvn383Vt/8aF0e3yMJGHz2iDg7TYZcOeS2jMuSr08OtZAR10/gY0oAQpjdVI7GWO+LHXE3kdEYRHkj2GLqsY0kc1UhEHTcrFyAti2Mlo64CvoC2EMFfaa6+NjY42bvAatL5CpKtIimlUGixaZClESJufHCaWfzDGdBwot4D0wAS+vNmfgHmaTm5BzFrbvBqw0CfauNnq72+RlOY3DZrM9vXlWL1cZZv3xtPO8CCJY1Kq4NvjjUjWRgYAJAxrSAMiN9tvdxg1tkYOvivpAyZcvX/7zb373p8+/2neTqVZA2LWZxhFcoKr86MP33nvrdS2c8IMLk8QIqhwGX1fF6MasyE25CEqPzmk4x8Wm68jqFcMa5J6GjhPaQhKzK3BwExhfZWVEQYqLbHggncNwDJolwfmhrGqa0oITWT+MgKhYEgAPiIaR2ACFJuhnw5hkNJlknjnSHoTEZqEoA/GcoK0UyqJ9EVyV2wd3b9+7fWvs2l/++pM8y8oiv9g0v/ndHz5+9/7SgoMv8wpE/KyEqRVcFhWOYavw6I2TEkSrYYoaXBtC8hzscXzEW3cuSEVuJhitw/COg6+Y3OzbkUbZibYFUhqmhjqyjlM6K1FEke0crF2lMkW9xJCAVS6K7W6HySa0QsDjw2widZTd6BByqUcjjXFYCjjs4V+ptTRW2kzbHMAVZjeC8mIKoqhKOP/xSIjQ4xQUqCbl6KCPaYvSlhViGhEINXSczDgBKisqyHjTL1TOT2B0FTmCPcjU0hARC6nFfvfpp3/6zW9+u9m39fK0KMrGA9sc+64ui3ffeuPD9965e+NY4anh8LXwBCNRWK3bvsuVDSpIbeD8RwM84PKz1hroAaD8o00p8n4cTTCgNLIyBtoLoB6itMRsC0k/AdDBgS7BxiiBbpIrGZpZzvn9vjkohvppchoJNaIui68mcehkDZYC20FMJStKC9jSA/ywCCU8JQbuYZ2bmzdu/uu//MXzZ98/ffVydXrr6Hj9/Pzi959//aN3XrtZA/03WQzajEHU65PgHTA3KWyWB+mHEVwYxaMcxCPyEbOQhB6jBQIyFpYE4BhtbRBqlRcQ3Ns0y/UaA7e2UJi4g/oHJlZouhCDndTlNRbZ+gT0B2ty6KftnqzZ8xLRCyPMGIGxrLolRFmvOIWF81uAiy+ctVtwy05v3s6JeiqFaocenU6lbV7ZjJsHKi8XfdMuqvLmnTsBFj5TtVgqk4moXDf1oxPCW4+hOqj6ZyBmj0PfgMI+QCYCJxJWKUYGIT3kRi+++/77L776Okh1fHZLqhyUuBD7rvVD9+CNBz//+Ee3zo792OU5IHoNZQm9udoJJQE3a7vv+xIXiNyDtZWS7xbLYHE6zvjFnMRHxHsqRZEt0F6F+xaMy2n2ixqy8Kxo6IS15KiEY4KmXGb5GlpMDoIRIA/O7eok6JqgDUZc2AhHSpHZLAqILqFphbF7XDe6k5kxy0qG8Wc//uDi4uL//v/497vN5a3X3x2G4auHj+/evXPr7gID/FOP0kxnOkf4xZGJgfRhnAJh7gp8V8QyWEih7sCMP85uTuOEAIZkPGbIDQ3z+CAGUCbzaRylYtk3IWmYbbffZ0Eh4lK8R4WLkIyeIFYNHHkLGra2bb9nbVsi3FbDsO37oSxhpUraMFEaOWIkbBYdWq2PFFljxXGENAP5uAeAt2JyeMd5WUE0zoeqXsDZSHpjs34YLHIOnABEi6ANjKYVQmkQEimMh9wI2SkbHB+z9g6iyPnF1aurrcqKcrEenYRwrYRmQqbE3ds379+5rePUNr0hS3URvLWg8hZVhRWUZb7r9EEpMvlUJMIPl738onmRMZUXg6k4DKyOcLEvSmxCG8AohtoD+QNhUBDUMo5/qKPAJA4RchHg+UFgDzsR1mBEeUty3z9MvB1UvpNv7TROwE6wv0F51TrDyKvSVsoyU1cXL5al+Vd/8bO33njQtM12t1VZ9uTZy68efrftpmKxliafMN4Wt1sQA7mopbQUjUvOxEndJGIfETUIt0mGSNPk2rZH6eVj23YgRke5XCxgBJHnSijvaMptdGQ2q6YRWZk1KIy5e+bx6qIFMRXmX3VVLxerHM0WPIeyqKRQ4zC2bbfb7nbb3X7XdG0XMVXKhiC6KHA4kvTB3JJihyuywMI4O1hxcEMC0LjfN4wD0VIBqwqpHNGXSUy4zDHooSfn4EmKYz43WWmyMiCFiI7WXz9OIahudC8vrrZNN0UlTKEyEOmA4wd/68bp3ds3MZExdpkRMFpXwk2jkrKsqsVqFTGyDw4tQbuYriGgyw7DtNnuLq82bYcgjcWEaVZEoh6zBiHLQXNHLmFtWVc6y3DM40xBLoHRGgEf1SjkYrlcrFZse0VoGfh+pM5ykJvDRsTjhzg0axoybzY1DziiHuxtvDMBQ3WAf3KlMcI7DL1Gl2JSfrAy9M3maFX/9//mv90O/+nRy5fYfOP0uz9+enp2+ld/9gubFX1z1cUu+lGrMrMWKCJ2vMqzQmnb9ejvKnTcCMZBkxHTaUQrQIoAS43g+76rsiMZY25Nr1ESGqUC60PnOdWVOCAj0I1C4VjE1Cd/JnpNKGyRliJ42GxRwYuowNweUSJtJsqY5RjJhP2ktVVZDAqbAQpkVMZDA9gAa8wshLQyVPXzFNnQtpBCmiZjEVc326u26VarpSWpLxLnFqTOVNC8O44GiJwLCVZIlkfvmh6dIlAZirLtxucvnn321bdffPXQ5vXq+IYu6rbpN9tGCXe0rN595617d26K4JSMVV3lFiMfQCmlrBa1sZmD+ILPssLC0wl8GBq1xPammQPoYDNDltpNs2MV7Sjb9t0AqhlCGipQVkekRI2MpoUjRs9ytQIVFEPqSCgRD1nrFqws59ANPFg2rVYrrjSTdRfQrPU6EXyTCzMuFDT0ClUrCc7EMPVdW1t5sl72Qyuj+OjD97959urp3/5T1/dHdfX0+YtfffLJjZPjezdPUPd5DwGcaWwgkjhtdnvkWyEUZa0hMiUylAdqCh4ED7KZDl6AUog0FnBxZjSOFiwEYaX004h/Ad9wlPhmQD1KSkcOGGj8jKMSApPW1JnNofwTp76fhiE3psxztCaEAEsQiQQsF6l3SWOkNEPrHWZ0x9jDSU5hYtM4jeyKHJYzlFOkJmF1By25MdOgrOXUovZgmoxFVoDeQU6DwIRwwZjUg8qTkgPqiQBpMOylUWF21Q7Off3w0a8++f03j5+Nwdx+8LopVptm6AaHV6Dk22++8d5bb66XSxNGo7PCSvTLlQT5h8yfW+hLhn5yWYEkkkUMksUOg1Zp4DKNUXJbUhvdjYNEuky0iIN3IFdF6CRRkEZJzl42QIOhqCUnaOlAm27W7Au+68a22QMOWC6MNR2LOrOJD2m+Q1mZjBos8a5wkGmrMJBne0jogJkEPZCuKXTZdj3pR5hKZz/56MNB2K8fPd1vNkKpJ0+ffvb5Fyern50draQbVJyEwHIIkeSVoE8x0IQZ7KQw8aTkSFQzjcHv3GPOG8OLFJBUhomSkZUbjVFDD3UkBCPgZ4K1CXKL5Dr6mlSNR4CnUE2D2wMiJQZokQcA6NQ6z6B2BtQRc1ZQHcNxR5NkNFc7QK1Jya6FxmVW1+QKGOtFjcNoxKASsEptyyLHADSxUMahvxpGaIKdoE8wDJ2/wOA03GzQXWelV9At4VTSQ/sIT8CYoqykjJurzedffvnLf/r1N4+flovjW3fve1nsmn4YYz9iWOvu6clPPvrgzs0zZGNGZ2iUDw7XryDzRsHi6mpn2fczCiJ9zNKTyXKAFxaLEKSeEJ9pDtINs4PnDOMfePBJIV9TU4GRXh+8xUkEYAbDIOQDBUxiGPCodxB0UNC8I8QIBDc2k8AxTIQ0kGKQBvIK1NYIZE+A6oVXkaA+NI5wJ/3J2SkU6nfDu6/dvXPr9h+//OY//H//t41VMcivv3n04bvv3Tq7SfKhyPEKQPzCYNFWMZoe6unBWh0imsSASeHuSKQhbb3yVAog6tgsH4fBj+BKcMELxxfgSUiC6V/x/xG0YDCKG48AWrWVdsRwKqpC1PY4ggecjFUJyjzB3kKCWQrSnwwGxxBQB2AWKFtcWRbABeixAqxF+xWwCNJggdITQRHAiwDHizgpVUkucX6WBa4AOKF7gI4SwUXY0aDVYOpdABqFcPhXX3/7j//4q+++f1GUq+PT20Wxen6x23dBZ6Wb3HphPnz7wRu3T+pCdfstkJ0MwNDkx7IoLbqQVF4EoASrGgqDmFueHQ5B1GZBl/1+n8gTSWcP85vDgA0HzTMW3yBOJScnpOgO3jkNEoO+RfqSbAOAnopGXwV9RoK1URkhSqE6xSWSMg9PsuAxYX81HXYGTTYrmFQArESpDAbcJONkYZoCKkC1WNaLGs0BW8Gv102ZUrcWeXhw4+8LaAcs18vz8803D5+eHJ2eHFVZkbX7F4vCQjUsOiViWS2kkn3nrAFJLhC3M8tLawyl/hGcQylbmJ6KDDxOTHTO86vkSIoFB0mCACKUxa7N8qwfoTiiLXxJsWjJ9BgtVCHqFSZQGoTzMEGUCnYnKAkzmp0mvXvE/OAMkOpsu2+6fijKinvPwkMuBB6tKEGQTgXwzSDI4J3LiqLMS4zW92OMEt4OAqVGN/T1AgZFWKxob1BKHWNudISwDbb6tmu/ffjoV7/+3eMnz21en5ze0braN0MIKGX6scm0/uDtNz5+7/VCjWKMGnqVboRfrxxdzKWekM0iQYWjsgJ5GFEm2t0WBijskJS8p1K1x91Fjmezfwqb4xK0AdIbhMlGYgSRrxmG6qDXNGIFA3YIk2P6P02fBi9hcCgylBiGnXL5uJ1n9A6mnJN3ENojPaDhIIkApDjEaRradk9lr8QOAQ21utxsu35c2tyiwTzpqI8WpVGkrpNlysvPPvvyaLW+8Rc/i2IwtogKfTVaPzhGrMllYZT2NMwG6PiA5WDd4YloIkxzcQqwCz8oBNRi/4UJHzdVFotFst1Ig6g0gYjshbYVWr/UNgVRAGbws2QJCwFDcoZQ4VFEgJl8GZF8r9liG+nOnNaA5ccpNkY0re1JzilNWoCURl7bmFeDZipdKrY+Lrgsi65rqSaLX331zS9/9ZtvHj6JErP02lY+yu12z0J6WsrlavGj99+9c+tsai7DFKh3rfZ7NNOyrOBGJbXCwK5Mdqhp1jzRDbmnyY42rEObXC5nRz3oPB7mUwjPr4jZxecpASFoI1G3RRiSQjb/wg4ieVQl35PrhoH8a1iMPZ3fTFADu/2ac2pyBWBkhEWHeTCQf/Ctt94833dNsxMe40a/L8s7t27cvrku8jL4AepVNtNACkDfpe6UhEYgqNLIqdDThQZRz+P17AsRSYKL3S0ZWkxXklT4k6NAaubOlvUZSnocqlhEsx4OLVzi+mPOZdbwJlYm/h4MEzQOdOWr1dGamQ6z5v5AftNEBPfERgbgclD+5lw7GWgiChIzhl2q+ZKuWdmhvbPv2s+/+uarh9+NXiyOzm7culdUy5evLscBYTszECZe1nmmo1HKkGg3C4ezxG56v8lMMxknJKX3RP3ih8Z0YlSXNCHHP8vLLk0IJ8uHZIjLqBtneIeeuImORMKva6EfMrsfPG+S6jM/oGS/mgyRk3ciXxa/3RQ/WNeeBY84D8Caa5qf/vQnfRS//C+/ilIu1+uXr87/+Z8/+dd//Wc3byzGqYve5RmbjQQlJkKblTYFR+aDZj2g2wziCaCh0pWDmpq8TvI6T6s8aRClSjk52fD38xg6BPZmNUE4gh+kvZlpzCSZufKCpDfmx2e/t5QmH9Q0sXuvGxoF+gwWOUt/yQgR7OJovLkhO3bmnM6DbjJilHzyj588++bx036KxfLY1itTLgYvWvRPUTqUNrt943i9rMFdHoe6QPXXks7NarViCgb7MF93BeGXy1PjScc++e4k2kSyjE3bNQnmp85k8i7iRsJ1TX6g6iFgCybdPH5k9JM/eCTyYueuOUuXzwflNa/WFHv5BrhyYQuZ9IO8D9jbcBjG9fr4Rx++9/UXXz9+9Pz41snl+eb3v//jO2+/dXK8EjFnM2MVXZ4R3mvRg+OIkuS4gDATjc5S1sXhxxiynCKo+boYYIrQHAtZA5tHUOfpQAw8B1S0sz08+oDTxDYR7FcXveMTjCVxALB4THzNFndJyjUdNNeJooGNHcaxrioWoUC6dhhQ4zm/bkDWmPp7EJ/KsrYfHz/5/g9/+uLl5S6YwptyktkO4uNo7kYZ6yJ/+437r927c+P06PbpwqjZAORgrzRLFiRjg+Qmy1sijY4mq/FkG3/dgT756fIHJuvLg9E5ghF7GySODwc/biDNd8XPOn33MExak7joYQY9WTrwV3LW+ReitcmvhRf4rDBADQ1+zZsNVN0MWCvjvTu33nnnrc/+9NXl1SWoVIN/8fLiwf17x+sFSBXDfgoOvVpKHxUeH9EzD0GCPh+jxG2LepPLJfYSxd7IoJnNyz3lHJwhcAi57nty8G6ax1FJOTF3DnSBuSwFa4F81rDYaQEh+UDBhHEZPhBpMfEfcFRlUI5lso1OLvIAlWftCB5eTCqZ7BGYuizMepZSffvw4W9//6dvHj6dIqZghS10UU8RYryD833b3rtx/PGH7908WS2L7Pi4mvr9NM3KThB9pt4R5/hJaDJFljSNm1wv0t44iEjiXtJK5QMtCcVfN3xNihsc3pJxJzhm1DfDT/6gxnHIBNNxPsPZdOrxWcmnbzLypReGVY9SjvE68g1N1qdJKDBZ/FV12UAnI7z/3tt/f/yP49TX1ToG9flX36xWqw/fe2tZFiH2wB+mcXADtPOGycVeawyyzVkOxIVAHcCMBr08EiDDpZJNbs6KIel8Z7yHX3ySI+SVNE86oWWEpgKG5w46crNgLT2eH5wxaGQG0Brkj0k5hxZNiMBv8YgY6ybZb0dx67qfyGxCdXi72CQkwQXd+IMjIBVeetu0n3/+9VdfP2ymaPJK2DIrlyarpsl1PdRMyrK8ffPs7Kg+qjMVJgHTH7w+ToXbluTyYjw+PmZv3eRTm8xW0txvkrZIJrV8pLJlR3JIui4TlDg7bJ7Mttcc4Tgbgabafq+i+OHc5BzrcGwzKXI+j/myWP8s2WCxvRRPsSMqAJHHF8MnnKlwJsQ+82xjuyC1emXNZnO1321Xy/qN1+8/fvTCZiZ49cdPP5NCrpaL1+/fxA5H7kFGVGi3ZoqCQdoSqbXPm4la+/bk5IQPqeTUyetslvE9hPR0yid/e36vVK80ANIoAHOSwHknC5LxWiHxrh4a2aArzR6ofBxzMprWdIr61hjYc0SsgNkkimCC+XlCewp9nrTPaZWLFy8vvvv++13TmWIZNUhTGr0WOhZJnvjN1+68+caDIlN1gaWNX0D3yFGA5R2madrv96z/kF508sPkC05V4HXD+GSVmU48FpViq0n+ex5ATK46yfiGV+QcCH0giVT6SqKN1DcYwISiCZFUE133cU6F7sy2pYqD4yR7QLHFGBc7TAJOVvOwM2q7qshHH4QKf/6Ln+62/7jf9ev1zdV6/ejxk28fPblxdgySGAgZgPIhzVdkNl9xns0hk1oRom2BOyT/qKqqug5j0Eqp09PTAwSKKXDeZxwt2HA4lTUlJuRzSQeNEBGdIRobttaMI8alkuc1Rz5OdWkwasnpIP89P/GDIxEAhfV6zTeOsYlxhJzMwV88aZlTcxA/Xi1qzhf5d+12u9/85rfPnp/7qEHRM5kiTu8AFbrWjb0Og1VxtcAcrlUe6qkYhsUd8fLiDc8SUfv9ni+MMyV2ymE8bLvdHh0d5TlmiHgxCSF2u931t5+CC6/d1JJK38+mjmmshGMqU8CFh9bLfOImaW2Sh0RveL1e89BsstlOhu3phE3qVBM4luoH16C57Vp8//33HFEWiwWfqoCFiqKbRpxAIb7z1hsvXlz9x7/5+6YbVysUBJ/8/g83bx6///YDovkYSIGCswOcXGvsFU4tUV2CkTazo+hW8f64xp514Q6JarLJTpGMnzi5EuFR9n2/oAw9uYZTAYRAjmGJw2wE/TjAo7miEoL16mdPB3QPf7DYDjFOw9B2HWY3KPAn2IihwfTF2GRKV3gDP3r8+PMvv9zs27Obd1cnNzoX4EACTlSQYXR9e3qyfvedt+7evhH90DXDjZNVBuEEGbe7lEyzD0kIgXcdP4Qkqcf3yzo9yfubQ1T64oXBWzTlUYlTnYqeZCn+L0Z9oYfSN7OrbUog5tiIRgA+Gv6Hh0SeHxOneCmdTCH3wAj/wYUvFc989PBKnSsdIZSPVqphcotF9vabd3/9Sf346fnx2VlW5Y8eP/nqm8f37txcAJ7NRZyEwk4dxibP8Yw4yaDZKqAbyc2KniCUZlP2wHfLBm8JKmNPwgRY8OamQDIKGbSRUz+FYTa8RrvoAFXwSAU4thTjqtrDjuQw766MLjMAm9CRuNxfkOI42cnlyPaMmYYRSHhCsBJ4AfwXMHjyYeUj+8mTp5vdPi+r5fooy/LRD0Z6gemYcepaq8Lrd2++/ca9OrdXL19NYlpUmDSTFmywdMxd56VyJE4RiI/1ZMDKGQ7p7c/6KxzsE4oxb57DZEoyV037PD3zdOCCNanU9vIKhSgHgIReEqNjvd83vITZnJpRu+Rimfz6kkeiNUXTNLzv07boSE2YUdMEfzC6IX2ESqd3r55/X2Tmo4/e3UFvcr9YLZt9882j7+7dufHBW3cqDJZ2fvJoXJJSDpeWvAgKWAhglvqwYpxSsyplJOsaBmL4ROOFxQAPX1UIgdFjjl7kwT0vPiDm0LCdUeXr6zI9Sq5t2R0hQVPDMHRdt9lsZsZznq/XgHBB2Pd+3w2YyDvkLmk6d3Q44wY6E/gVbLfbR4++0yZbH59FqbcQFA4mM+At93vth9s3T99+8/6yKr0bpYDkcdPBniorf3iP11NVVhhOkYbPhJRJ862lkyq1m/i/8kpKVnz/IktOUkCzlNVhW6Z4NvuNJLkDXgrASKDhMZue8K9J8XbWPv6hFkOZSRRtZLVpsXK45oZx8q7nnAC1Z9tZAc5Mae3V5lVxtP7Rj979+tHj776/yMp6dXz04uXLP3z2xd07J2enJyHAOc95cOh4PhnsWdw3vzBByuIs3PXDHJjSgCibpkmjO3ym9yTawzJVnHGmV96PHTg5dL/sVELI2byb2WoeFjwQeajARtRyv9tnxSxwwZTP7XaLSWljTk9BHeBH1zQNNmqeX+13wEgY5eExIXpVNhAoQ4YNfE49efLku6cv+kkuVDZN4OrTqlFu6PU03Ds7+slH779256aJU0aCXCIgM8sL+J5whZgSjPQGOZNJQDrnNunhXBdQZzSErbev55HJoTG1qjhN4vDJ0SStMz5GBKW/YBSllcFHHlLptuP541RE8NZnQD8t51QMI5BQxVSWJYOEfCfMXeNLYcEBTiH5h42QtszWq6pYlbkwt2+fff/ish/avFo2+92zFy8vLrdvPriZZQsasx0F8Hd8OCMXcE0UbP6IDDL1fFLA4+SXi5J0gqSdygsidY6HAVPmglq8XGyxZxtcH0F0LXu4H207UPRgS7NaLZ2HgeQe0pI/pLYcM27dusWxiiFKQV9cFsCligt8igH8ag25YSSkCmJY5+cRM/yAP2YNShGHrtldXZS5/dE7b/75T35UFlbLUJW5N3K3gzpaXdphRHjm9ZpaW0m+rixhIphUjHl/phSea8F/kdqmQfHUtbt+biaMgluL/FH8lnm1WWtv3bqFXci3x6UB15g0WIGnkOTgU5zgTUBKNhxpWTvoh7yPs2BI9o0jxoHIKIkLtHS5UPMSWIWDG5Z1ZYpCSPnOu2999fDJxUVnbbVcrbtu/8WXX929fXy2LqTKMZlL+OJhCB76W8SVp1WOFxZJ7H6GZCHEtd2TqPbsvZqQRi4AsVoh/4kJF2KQ4tYcWDpcKJARfRyoUmRUXfU91hBlP3AVWq3Wi+UCjR7MBdGcBHJ9emFkQtq1kO5Zr9dIgAgEhg0vbRUkGJSnQpYBNBBC0aCqOSvSXV5e2SyrbJllBSkmCvR6x1648e79W+++/eDG6RppHbQ6AvE7JM14ok2UZI44UWZfG04PuBPIZAJeMYyrccyjFhN+W9o5yVg3Ha/Xk7bUW+MfScr/Kf4h/4MMhASugVxXQSt/v9/3bccdG3N4MbxH+W3RVTZFwUIjxAUXylo00RG0+qFvWhehmWGNHbt+9EOZF904RA8zgJza+H5ELBVaFXV5+fxSlsYGX+bFu2++/k+rX58//27qs2W1fn7Z/+mzL+7fuyXevF/mEr8E82kRTHcePyWmj8IAn6LYBgJJQwZxUcRl4M56JP9GQES82zBFMvn1erleVIKamCJgCjIvCx9C10P6heUE6Vlj/wxDz0mohS0S7IhIsx3m6JObbGYWdRUqiNkCqCHZCGiYlSW7n4TJDW7KQAHJWuAp0DWLIVZFVpXY4Var7WbjeNZIWR/dvp8eP3+56Yf66FRYC5OIri1pBnK1Xrzzzls3z05c3xY5+GrjMATnV4vV+mi92VzBXMxq5iBiRh9/HjAxhegl2EucYqclOXd0PvhwZL9lpHrwDcIXaxlrPQd4Xk+c53FRxax0/k8wta2rvgdWDxF+gFyoM8Zp7MDXcBhjB0AQxXqxVEIObUde6LmCUDkpSEMsYho81fZSOAgL4pzMUNzhvG+bdup6ZB54/GOQ+AXNvgG3cWowsGhsP+JxoPKCorHp2+aq2x7fOcMcaT+Wplhr+z/81V9unr+62lwEwEK27brHz85P7z4QeSnFGMYdBgdkHtyUlzkGAEQGTBWjKkpiYki/unjZTf00DSGKCkkJVhLgFKncYKLR9aKEA/E0GJvtdxveoOv1sm9cXlaZzftuD+8OKaH/eGClwyZjHHtIYISj9QpoCByZ8Hq6htyyQE7EjAbaixO2X6bMvh/r5cIo3badXdTff/+shw+4Zd06hMsRNhdx6G2EsFdh7RDjrpv+6XeffvHdC5MvVbXuHYZ1vRC7tq2sXtYVqcWwd2dwo49u0lBaj/22Udi/2DrwHnHj1eX5yclx1+5pXjxkVgc/5RlMzV48/54F6pnstNlcihgR5ER8+RJq0UKIi+1mtVrVyxWmk4Te7jB/aa1Zr5ewLaMvbn+T3CnOigXMu2r+7dvNFROiML/IKxeneARzCGEf477whJnzvQPsziq9QuB4ootDd6FtaXqMZBaD820DDglkz4eR9XfbtuXEBdR6tiemDtjR2ckIKXzfdv04TEXmTpZH777+2n//r/7yf/2bvxV+XCzq+6+9nlXV518//uC9t0/vHEUDfiBaTSpiwGkSk52k1kUGOU8C40gpF8KGRkDEK1RVDU1QBCh9fHwMx0uPUWwuRU9Ojtt9A9IRflQBoyNFXMYUU5skFWjaKPIxwSQAZKPbfrffJl4DLS8EWNY7gQiFtZgps6oqasZL49BnZV5ikwYNyhOapIUxA/0gDo1q9fT7b//5k0+izmy1ysr65OzWbnO5D+7Fq2fPm6uffvRBvahAftTKaEywUSQnTAYztxMMXAo0KozhnDWOMC8FP6WqsMOnaShLdJOQQgwjmFQ01AiPGEg3xhyi+pAogA3HNLb7nTLgvYKHB5QGI4mJH8CnJ7fpGChJ8j+MM2AYCPKzP7Db5krHeENSbTMFilkSXFKRYTSSx8PznyETdtRlTLwkFQVGNJJ2FR/VXITOvXb6fiV0mRcRjFM0XHlVl3nWDJPFTHP29OnTL7769pPf/PNf/+KDH711d1lmRpq8rGBhNLp+6MB0NTB7AyE4CtJfAfdaUIULWMRHyLBp8EUZQ2KBMvLInuXrp9ELFUc1cWqWEls+KVIrMBX2Cb2kZ41/iGOL6ooyCkz79UqWNGuuaW6o67rCViH6/eaycS5TMtfKWYMxuqIQTYPhrrLadf0nv/v9o0dPFkdnbHd0fnHeN010ITf2zmuv//nPf/HGa6+ZA0eBzq5UakPZNdUcSa46tQ232y3XQwm7HoaxbUDl1SAtzxBrwkG4VkCeR5R9eKhDcIE87KnO47A3ewYQ5scYb0rm5uTehxl2Y1Yf+1FI+LcvbaZ5OydEJNUmByAYZ0pquks791+52LkOs/G1pvFPcmGvwogeXJmXZYERQjSGu2Ycpg8//ODW3fv/z//5/7OF+8MIsZbSbnfbz7748nRdLV57IE2GkVoQVZEbT37oNg0oPVC7FCYvgoMQF06BCprmjIZDeUDKIkcDqm1bgr6APkwjympk5XCuGOGIdmCWpkjWE+Mg8Ss5W4VhoMTUQnqaNDwBO8cI9j12/ziiJeUcCWm7MTahLrPd1EeBfnlGokP01lVGyrqZtL/53Se/+e0fqmpdVkuw4o0Zul4EMfWDiOL1B68dHx9BN89rqMVZHMFkeQimGghy5FvGj5rVspIHqIA2DNTwAIJQW4lG1467diiryg24R7zNA7bFUYqYiCaSLTCMVidH4wozPjc3AAnO4K/rO5C5a4KW4wyGYW1SHYu1nNnFcgG/X6asCOCfDHDwBzFeYq3Jc9TbqbnORQ1bE/A3M3aVCHFcCed5XlUVzJPGPnoICuIfSpwXy3WESPqrcfTfP/veFmVWLVbL+uIcmnN9J4SqXAzn231mVFVmVa6Dd02zx9xbROBBwjJh/8FVOM9gBYhbyzCtyVFdGmKbj30/wLWH0gusFYwIMCyEjXEdhU4hIf3hoCpCpEo3jQOEMazWZc7CxFyS2/Pzc5yVSndNk2VZ126MWZRWlYuV1brZ7i4vLiLq1uOz23f6tvvtp5/+7d/9w8vzzdnd+1lV+yghbeAR/8e+I4tCjSqKCvZpnHQMpPvpEc0izOiCgGOPgvUjWl4o3TA4CEV0NAOpGhyIStPsdgyXMBg5tPPyCtRoYZAFUDZxVTpYQ3dY91RMgLLL5qGEuXB+xifV9YfGQMmM+KxWKx7WQx5H31RSmy9xYnkA5YBZ4BQ/sD1ncimOCTcxoaWuQW1lgm+ienMY43YCx0JqsGAifNZq81DzxoaUseuhGPU//U//7m/+7h8uNru8qk/PjkPwzXb/2dePV0enJ+ulUkEb5bxr+0ahU4SNTVMRGJ4zqAZxgAzw/yLp7iKPPvQ9oiO7eXLcxVURNHhwKGI0Dv+L1PXgonwNY5txDX6+NKkjY8+NHcUzUES959peTNMgBMT0opiKctH1Yre5KovcK9VcbR4+fPjq5cvlaq3z8lZWtlf7//if/+7Lh4+WR0fKWAzgmOzF9690iO1+d7xevv/uGx+8DR/RVZ0JP0I0kaLnzCKBRCpKXm3gQ5lYvqk72dBa994/f/48zUZst9uyrBkY4xdHIChcnWdFYxcE99wwrFBVNbBMjJbOggHYkGl0JZG2eQXzRDCLwZg09AuZJ96p3k8CPlrcEuYGPC8pyOY4HPypJz9bpMP5dpY55RUJ29EDcYhfTxLZmsk5Gp5/FHjoCOfjqe2nKBb18l/95V+eX179+//5f7na7N96952Tk6NhP37+xcOyXH30o3dv3lgVdT0N+/Zqk2eqKvIoPIwypYlR5VlJwoIKVg+sbIrsCe9+mjgRnJJgSRSgXuJGihwWZqSBykS6NCqSaNmp6cTvETkulDFwJsxhD2b16MTSyDpUqImoG3PkzmG9rIa+yWjWnhgx5vj45PjsxtmNm68uLz7/6utvHj6eglwvj0xRwTwq0hzK1cbI+P677/z5Lz6+dbpelLpvrqSflnVBe5Rosai9RO+AX2UyNwfpncQVQyVIcrJJcqCqKqDopL/YkdFgVVVwBBjHYomqpW2x4SfMrOcYAKe4pTCsiqnVRM1I2Via+uRQwtkbQ7WoBRmIw0eI9ByJ4ky6tfzsvMdWpiJ/brDwxqXaE+dO13QTBJyABXNriKsB7l0wApw4SexzCHkz2FTDTwhqK1rlUGqQDv6mbuiajz/60TePHv3p8y+HvlUqrxar3bZ7/urq/r47PVurLBs6pjSazGo/+GmYMpiO2apceI+nv2+6osC6J/duLHrOGBgyPalOoFYhkZIiyYC/wEITvZb5fcyiIQwWsHBquCVQmjLlHyYcr+fd/HbXa8jDSqwz2PIt68oPbURil60Wy0W9QsEZVDNOXz96+qtffwJRIwBA7uykboEjj2KYvn/y3e0bp7dPTw0GfvsJsoPc5eup1xS01BIjelMD8rcHAYm6zExY4qDACTtcS+jt8IYHRF8CuOfuEC6yB6JeVYB5U3p6aMoBNttsd81+Cye4oyOu87iVl+hAnDvxkcrXwH+ej4PVavXq5Us+X/sBuVtZUyMSiBwSPW4oGaNDQPDjXU4RkBKgPJv6tqoAGHBwZnr41dUVQ1As4z0MA++q3W43galRD8OwhzdPgc8HNOBgBxyD0fJoVf/FL352dXX5/ZNHx6e3lF4tVseX2/Z3f/js9HR1585pWS1yI5e11VBN9DGHJoDVVsLTeOqhi9TAP4Fa5l2D0FuWZdNYRyQtsqyDIfPJyQmURJYLdlJitYd0iPAByquNnzgj3d47OIujaIWoDAdIqVRdVDntfpCCoMWfQaB6msosh9qIkMPQPbh5s2m6oqy70T17dbFpN//57//hy4ffmWJx994DiWCGsxbaM0P/zpuv/dnHH7/52r3FwtZVZlWcXOj6Js80bD5IbIy9auq6jsS/YvFRJCZKL05ONptNS1jm2IMOWOAhNPBcUjpObo+CYMYKoMdDfeORcjviTa2gbEIHFC6JJFc4iCa4Z/bfpLjFPMeE6uN0JgLID/ZNgMZ4FIUEF6DPQ+vMOUkCeiwqGdgjNuV6s7lYREKWBhJTxZGYvokglHzaFaTXEM8JCCWGCRAhOCM7jAXEo+Xy1tmJlXJ3dVkW9frstOnl5W6bZeLl+eXxi+poBRMhlCIk64v4OlPfcdsQzqBYC6iMxqScc/v9fhgGVqFOPGE+Fq3JBugFkVw0JTfJ/pYjWVK4OdDQvZI6h+4aCcWSKzoqszwvTFFV1TD0eIaE1DimOI/9IsszVXtirIwwY7VFWf/2s68efvdk13bH1Tqv6qgy2LG1Qwxe+un23btvvnH/+Gih4qQiDL5FmAwG3C30PaA0UxKAgnY9M85ndiHdMkOb6V54iHwGQonB60KAdCO9MuYl0KDXzONIjcfUD4C6Edl8z+nWoQdlLdr5ifqVRiIgH5Hn88AcjgZC8/F9JF6CRGpm04OafBDzmNfigSjBZA28nWW55Nwryb2kEUVmKxwoFQR4whRoutpti9zCIIJYEMjtwDzGP1qEItNHi/rW2fF3ddk1e1vsg6qsNU3b/uaTT4Zh+6/+/Kc2r9t2uyxzJcMUR1LUhSAkhAcyC5AN3MyJjT4pkqv1+rjIZnCIdoRna6ZDgkV/OvSAr3ejU9GTqLnUHTGDg2ItZf0YyVZS5QVqC3T+yR1MH3K7YRhKY5b1AgRNKJyJqIXO828ff9dCrX2ls6wBN8mPoxvh3O2tn26dHd08WWnh+24nRqFqLqIhbskshjmNYcYX7YokiJ461PzwkwpsQiJKgF4DdemxpCjXpMVxABHHaYQKFcUYYP4eMpT8acMwNA06BEyzYBTtOr+I5UGllKdnZ/No68ywOIyiMIg601fQsfuBN8K5P300wttAATaEGWQ6SILNV5lm6Ri24CfOlB6N4siZHF6fbo+efEJEM6Ojc0PbFJn5+Y9/pEL49e8+v7w4X57l66Pl0O4fPnykpX/9/l2wr4YYMhUwsqsBwZBirdKRdIrxfNG8CwEoNg3hnZ2d7bdI/GMkST88QChxwM2etKJTUs+BmaGZtEd/mCJBoCIPYQLG6W8gnbzfwy4D7sfz8M/M+KPfqLabPZQay9LkuS3ql1eb755///TFy6j00cmpF6ZpWpshVIgY9turB8fLuzdPMyO6ZtO322BkmS9zq8dhisQeoAwp9v3gSGgRcWia9zmHnFS0Me+G30UaKJyhZgB/0FdkINpN8/wO1/DoVM6dEaxd71Ei8KPj7coLi6fw08E1j2XQ/CZkozkfJE+amTs/wuGRerb0OzBUT6cJhT00IngwM52MQFlcmPqZt3Sgcc/igMx5TGPQHBdNZgtj4zBEIv9D7EmyNQe0/jKdk8K/K0z20fvvV1l+fr758umlc31RZGZRBtddXGw++eQPdVHcv3WzHyIJhGRa4uDDbDfs6xkUmwfpcmxK8BSoDTzrB3K5wJsetXcGL1VIRh56JPwHLpw5PCShQ1Lr1gJKtiMVtjmKv7mhD3ERyJwZr4SEwslI4AiUsPvLy6tTKA4LLeTX3377n/7hnzabLRCuLA8ObW8iUPTR+UzpN994cPfOmRJOhKHMDVyytcCeiTgWERaEIgFJonyQUT1pgIBOwrhg9LgGtNSkgMIbDaIidKBP6Iau12S0w71Efnd7EnaYixuEahrRRzEBfkTXwoGUD0rG3ji1SGhZUnWgKf+ZqTvTbfmAmEfQSFGRBAfIfxP15swxSgxvbhAkABY5o0QoTrMx1ymXh6HIufXEf98PeBiQSYngymK9CQjQQzCcdHJB2dMwXL93G14eL/efvNpfFSXMQYuiGPr2m68f3jg+WZWLqrAQLTdWoSTwMTqkY1Qwp6IJzB8J0QQ6v3DSMaeVBQhmZhWUg35gcV4nRDG8PEsT0L0gbEOcWWIwefBupIIaGpGImt5h+Ar2YuA+jIlwlWl4fUZMX06Xz1/9+pPf/fNvPj+7dXR648yAl9HCMMqF7ebq6Ojk3R+9//OP3lqvKunHKrdFXkp4kuFNkKIs7CK98+hBQBhOIkOUUPIRJEDML4CdPTkpQn+FgBuQk9HGR+6fk58pBGNinEhjliHSOT/DHD3ZxAPIIPk0ohwn1lAaFE/aVXyz89SWBKEP38yNMGIczKPCjNuzewDd1PUpYmae4XNpSc1MNyVVYaHpkPzUOepyicuxjVckTwk4Ab2msoQfT9/uqcGCng2n3yIgLmTkNtc7n1n93jtv/f6b755+8W0/tIDdSBOlbfuvv/r25vHZ22+/nsFywYC0QNYdUXjauKAAse3GFIe6rlfrRZr2nltq+DAjoE0DhJa/eIWlwbsEWac1R0RbAZ9tyMlqCsVc0+QRY3YwE+GtyPL4EWAnpleq1aJDKwYp6NcPv/7iy6+1DmVdHx2fTfgQUDLbpvOTe+O1B3/913/52lkdu4sofFlBXA58Mz9CiFhRQkbXD+mqqHA6MVeDonjKWzg0cKRJ8SYNY0L+l8oyA802pE+R1gPjEbQPocIOQUk4RsKqB1XzNb2SRJ1NUg9psJxHAuZp88Tp9uiWsMSZhtMfjXgQAvhD5chLp6WvEBC9cIACBoNofFJeSCVbmufh38onDncMh6kHH426NEgvib6F4SWTGZOhFgGzaL/b76QQJ0dH926flVY2m3MZ/Wq1LIpqnMLT5xfPL7ZRZgKKPgYHhAgyOOkdxFj7bhpGS3J5UCADwQeUGNqO3KUlaVpqbUB4mSbSUvqfRtXTmDGLNhwSOODZODHpgMxhd4LCz5AQcFmVGRzNcXp7CMgNQ981lL6QkiE420++f3lx1Tx47Y28WnVQ2MWDnsZhGvr1onr93t2TVV0XVvhJw3bd4EjGtsBqJuXbmSotAPL1IyxX8dg5EeLwSXq3GI1Jc1z8dvhn2YsOg6W0SchNlefpEWV4AuQw6zoXRkPfj7RGedkkkndCaw/FH/IuKVVRVHkOfhtY6taavu+yIkNSQ7eUF1aMBGkKWIzEIPq2IcE6MqsbJxaFVvC4RT6PQ1qrcUKDebVa9WOPtCEE6Jk1TRDgEWQ55M1tBiwqxlAXuZZxAKmrzbO8XixJ6xb6BxCUmyaY9BldFblQYrGqfvHxh989/e7xk+eliRS8TNT2Yt/96auH777/Yb26GaIrbLauTBzVi2ffiahNtsrzCg0oMLTi9ury4vwlVg/OHS18hBGpc023J19zqHp1TXN0fFzkedcjmYMGnUdoxJM1xk9T27UkNQqFqaBF327hm1EXUOkNYz809HgFhqbcoK2siqrt94Mby7oYmm5y1Y0bN0YvPvv60T/96k/CrJ1c9r3wEHqZiry6vHjRbXY///jjdx7cWuc6DJ13Y5bbHnbjogQtIoMU9wCqBbynSFsEbhIAlyCU3o8AY7GGgJkPNL6Q+R1cl0kYhyO26MdRW3D069WKFMdp2lnrfdt1w1SvVhFFsVosFyAiEDqILFbJPCsRgoiGgXiUQf2PS0CgBWivQjRZWxhhk9AjuO+QrmThHaUlamn6XkiuQniMtOOJbUuyhlBJ4KMN24AHP4F5ziJssJsc4QCSKEaAXFFwUH8ags9IE8hqxVmU71ivBc38W2OncRJwDPYQZoMKIsZLhFL9OGZSvnbv1p/9+IOxa9v9lYD5CWRK/Rgeff/8t3/6bLVe3FgVKPT7QfvJOCjA45c7+JeOSOStd9O+wSzM+ngtROyHPi9hsAf7UgFhbHSrkWotRA4XGUVD5NlhjA9MCLZlDT5iwgp2Ps4NBdnnEq0KtG+r4fm63W/gDkYKkm3fKg3WZO2qfbMviuXz86t/+Mdfb/dTVhxLswSdVCD1kcj33f3bNz56/62b63qR6b7pAyjdyH2pOwdJBVDOtBHaw2RFK8jII9QBfooC1lKeRPzBO6Y4djADxaHBxwtx6wh00BBkLWnq8TBUgsFo4yzMmSe3o2nn8iBHRQxaj2MbbBSkudz95FQcWoXgXMTJeeLAISaGSJVHIr2gsiVXCx8g4MHMC85OWAA3ybok8SkeCUnrjEMon4+ggPd9Ijmm/8pwzmw4D6/WYrlcpqk7DAhlGeJmMl2cp/iHzJp33nrzxunJ9vJyv9taozBsWBT7rvv08y9fXVyRGqO63OyvtjsJn4mygntcdMFpoxYLeAmuVqDCFsWMMSbZAa25E4ycjD06WYoiFS5Jxamkr3kmFhgocklAP9SoY28Z2sY8TyY3V5uhH5SEq5dSJkh1uW8/+/KbP3z6WVbW9XKN/BohCoyeZrc1Sv7oR++/+85b7G1OpGUUXklZiJFOwP2gPCOcoDJDKGBdo7lGSbp03KnkAaI0FcddaVJJwvzg3KSm3Ibf9UGIfaYS8czs7FVCHh28KPcNxnx4hRxoY9zcnFNbLhbxDXCioCKWj21W4Zsmj2FhOtF5QTBta+6uHLC09CZSFZnafCx7Nk0Tl74JgeOmGyVqcyma0oVUvyTKVCo4FHHjFov63t3b3zx6yvBKZgubgV622W6fvXjx+t0bqpSTUDCwV9aDoKoCQmjQcMSxEmJp2DnMSCOBTkkGxjRVn+F8IYlZpMPclUtlQZoO4kname0IvEcRwEAr1MDWwIF44jNYJ7BEnCxgA5+3TVcvFjrTV+cXn3751eBhtbE6OkJLEvqkI4S1w3S0Wjy4f/foaDnt2xEi2fBaRKp/6B7+7ybaD6s/KQomcbE0A8xSOj8AWgd29OHuyGqD0jIkzUT8Z/YDi7LwoDivthmPPaj4pNfNqwJrkbznrrcQcBmc/FG3VpQlaQXPVy9gzGkz2IrJIEHxcjRACenRQPqhpHOnswIVL34xKErDMKFkYz4vsD9rXQijo+MPrTFogDddv1jUcM4qYFHDizXxIziHvT7nly46+lAW+fvvvrfZdZ/84YuL81fV+lSpWJT5OI2ffvZZYeQHb98/XSyEMXGC/Ct8AzwExmHbGPC4h3HIsrzbYw9kWW60nVwYR0j4kdMTzG5I58dRKoN0gvI56h15mJOCckfgO5FXlclzWmqAl8h+gMttIh4KgXibFxJ4SNzvWufFq8vt7z/74psnTxdHx8DKjBEYTEXjTJl45/atN+7fun3rBlyYJAFxSGng20VFGO9FPCgqYzFPmrio5DoAcYiqBKu7x/EHHeqhH7sOlitkbI+yl9AK7A68Xti4YlMxe4WjGsdy5mvUdb3fY2yMFTPJhGoe20Tkg6rm/07xhb2o0/AvFQfEiOSBPpoSRvMEVvMIyzgGWPIZnuRCqBBKcu/m4DSXFXhS4DIAiya5WnBDgbLAsYHY9kBuDFy4wfyJAoLFNaZY0XvgWHhdmKjvez4gUt3H4ZoJyibLHty/1/Tj1w+fPv36O6FsUa+y5aLZ7z//4oux3VsdT3/+47wox34f3IDtwB1lQizHaYTGeIbNSgcBTMrIMSmXgkcifFZiZBXpkp27GmQETVwmDzoF1PbpIMXKQgJBKvnY5XNvh63lYYIG8RJTlzUbGmtt923/6Vff/Or3fxy8OFksTbFueoh2dYMf+q5al++9+/aPP3jrxukxRGRKFCY4PYFq0UmEbIzsNJSClDBsNAEvJwoJV8EssQ5kCrLdZHhBmiCkWU0qwoeDCGsWetZzmDyMMEk+Z7kfP1NfCZLlbQ96yEH6dELGNVtXA8WAT8o8N5BgSK3V4J2CADT5vrDFKJj1cFZDts6tCf4xjqVJiCUNtqex93TqJWY6d3P5pTJcwtMfs2DnwRuB/5WDdoKpkkrlQSKUhnigqi9u37zx9tuvnx6vvBuUjGWRVVXZDcOjJ0++ffxkP7hJZV4XXufSZhgpOjAzMbNF2F7ylkc/ALcM+y0cHuRGmORJ0gWkW0uNwnlWgN0CYQ+oEHyox0KdRyjc5xmET02GD8/yql6sXl1sPvvym/NtUy7XOivq5Ypc6gaqVbq6yh7cu3X39o2qyDSJoCsZ4bNIcFJqqjIkeZ0VlwQuUxLyL0RiOZ9OkzWJ2MwvkQkpTO9hJZQVfZ2cnLDiWFEUp6enKeBdNxW4PiUwU0dJ9Pn6UMUcmLp+MNDBp6qK7C1aUsbjRcrdscSWnDsEhzM+jcnzd87r/aC3k0BwzniSOFYa1OYqgRWvoMpUoebnbJeXcmKgc+FGbeOwXi3/4s9+0fbukz98Po2dxShHhrO4756dn1/sWp3lUJTKpFCu205d2/kYq6LAUiMEMs8hJQ4pGRfgfudilqMVkBBOXmcJiuQUJE08HCalTQcNQMdlFbUXPdwwGG9zLqtqNgnc7xut7a7pP/n9p189+i6r11Jn0sDs0lh7eXkBp1QVjtZ1XWZhGhw+Bg1eShZ/oCtyXsELiMfc0xwD/2tZljwUzkuTv5/X2XUGQFous3IvfTKz9JiEfbCHm3UIeSFyvchCloz3VsS7TrMgLGfJ/5pCD/0INQ8OXXOV5QXxuBBsEaJpSoIKSoyVo2FMM7pcviIkBnBHWe0SUYI8PiJNlMBsW4iqnhUZqqrKJkRHbWxdL5yDfkdRgBG52Wxmp+yDAuCsQUeYddqXA6YkJriFKFXY4t6d2z//6ce7pv3m4ZNm59fHJ4tFuQ1u13RPnr/0UR6vlyrHVLGy+eD2dvJ0jT4vSpxBYrQWEygxgnwfAk5JY/Me1uoty07Bw0XpFRyKpHNNgCc1eADwn0UlLkPET4FBQGkt8DzgGOjnkjuF1xbwDI5mDbfGV5fb3/7+U6wwjJkvynqx2ezgtjn0Svn33nnrg3ff8W549fL5rePjoix0kWXajtO0b1oBAfwcJyBgDRKQ67q+QVmGwGawcChLRnRGzKYBAhilZ7kA7waJTUeu4hB1I5IOXItpCJ5lJfk18T5kDOG6eFEaDWFztES9IbI7GSZlGRkBMF1g1vHj1cmmi4hk6Mex0TrmpyMeOgay4TniPLkTUm6FBUnZCSkb4vfzK8FPweDc5kVZFKXzAcABubgVNMtkjIVnDJQE8KaHcSpLkIaPjo6YsJrnOctCc6LAYY8vN2mzoWUAq5EY4BTh7t259eMfvb9aFEO3cyPATCnldrf/DTqGv/v6EaSpG5BPs7JatP24b/u8rDXNZSAFJoNtR8IfVMB4AJ1Sbbc7tmSLUQzjBMtSZF7YXYyu0/wadmM/kAmDgTNfhB0hOMnw8GGFLwLTyaFSHJ2c1aujlxdXLy+2q+PTerVeHR3P3L5pop6R/+Cdtz98953Cmv12s99tyDEI+cYwTm3fRyEt9jANH1mLGkUq1uPjhDgvSqUNxBcgj0UQC5m2ZkVBt4yaAm8PY63A4oVURVXB75cYjnwC8kjH9bYNrxVeZ6mYTfgOz/xel3Uhds+c53BKBziMzzeOZ3A2BAJPuRuKKTSeCWRDBoOFSOYzcJ3FX5IRM0AdItBR0ARiqE2Wo83CeWjbdnlRVFVNIoOiXiwPo1fYQ8y9rOuaadN8YyxVPxMPDwKCiPzAMMDekRpSBzDksuKNB3cevnbnxcuXuw1Uhk5Ojpq2/90f/rBYPH76/fMy/2/PVjbXcXV8ev7iBSorpc5fvTo5WlclTPhgedd0sMVhA8Pg87zoun3fD6SIgXALbhZVpsQ4JV9coHR4N9j2Hj49QEqJmGnzPLN6IDERawsiudrB9VbpV5cXv/v0s6it1Nndew/6djo/v8wz2+33MobTo+Wt0+NVXZi4CN1uv90aIQpbSDPrw/NRngwqk7BZEtZkPSxOXXihp2lnPkAZFUt+5yzek+StuX/IaA5LsFzPlTmSpekmljSZSXWArbEGuD4ty0oS+z8lsizkg7SeRq+IJIThH6zo/X4/TWiE07mOmlIbCxMa5zVhehjfIQiDxq/RgYF9WN/7HnkVzLCpVkBhbECV7ghT5jtBDLDGh6lpZgg3LX+uqK+L8yb1eEuHBbIfAh0ESXjcOjt57+03Pvv8i+evLt++eeO9D9775tGT8/PLzXZ3cfH79bL6sx+/e3qyFNLUi7WfukcPH++3G+RlEaPSGCOlQ8+hGpBt39YlRlE4ZlMGPwOPFMc5T8L8HJFZYo/36qEvBIEt4OpUJemeuFmwIxsnnYFn9upq84///Os/ffnV2a1bWQFphctu23fd8er4xdXl0bp+54037t+57cbBT+OyrhUGz7R3YQyTUvBHZ6nvtMj4zaUWdZqMTDhlUkHkdca4a0rvuKhPwlUJxeSVmoR501D0dU8ZzgInGldhaBFzqIcygnVJUq9zxlDHsSB9GsMYhIccPQ1y5jni+eEdc+aU5pQSEsGbA6DUQfYsMYMTS46vIElA8h+wFvctcqNDQp0e2SFznHVpUlkErEi4Mof0DQdzH0FruX/31ofvvdM2v1svqxV5hy+XdZZXz569+PRPny9y/fGPPhj66XS1yLLKmKyq6yffP/3u4aMPP/zg5OzGcllHKbfbXds3TdNqGWEHxvoDFPb5rfCmT4V6It4RfRReLZBW0BbwDf6Av8+yYoQikApSffnNt7/8zSe993eOT7K82F5t9ghjYEEpEd59840ff/j+6dH65YtH09AerxY5zLFwpKALAsAfHJBUEh2ONh5zxEwX9/Ro7hjZ/TCMXY9MgJ45sJXDw8crgqgvJT3DONJQO9kvH3i5aQiSq7frSFga4EXJNWLCA0q8FeQOZhL1PL2LMiKtdTqLSXiLVaKChxim52Hd1WoaIKbFusZzekTnNyO8XCfzPbMULVMDUgrP38Axgykoaaqbq1HaUoiLyfSFb4lVjBMVOLFNDuAQKYcFr5Udu27Xdqu6/uu/+rnWcnDi6eOHr54/q4qyKKuT4+O+Hz77/Ouj9dHbb7w2TcEU+v6D1y7PX3Tt7tXVq4uL86woaighUCIM4g51NK/J+16XcUw6mgk1wNXiZcjtduPGQYvQ0xgSCiDkJQsn9b7tn7+6/OT3v3/+6tWNO3civRJYumJk1TebzWv37v7Fn/3stXu3rFYYM67rEn60UcNrG3YZnA5iWZPbOow50ShC0sz9JeQwMQKl/KH2nNq2oxiG4wiNYI34RAgb8rsM8DrZboAKASR2u90mBlFSs2JybJKKToQilePITq7WHZ22nOWToD14r7wzDx548GvHVDH8iJ2nA3KGTIPW/iC7mpYCRquJq5TGExKnKPnHJLsNDtFp4JGVRzl0s0rWomLBvbmrw5+D66YmCQfzpAuCvidRRWKI1hiBMZnBuyGzyw/efdtmxT/+8tef/unLaZxO1yeT91VZdm33+Omz8rd/uHf79qoqt9udDpA3v3nz5p2zm3lur64uR+gO1fWylkiakV9RdQkoh7tedBaQlts1HUNefISZwv4c4x7j1AUngofBJszN8fd1Xe/64fOvvvz9H/8opLp1514LTtcogyps1oybaXJ//ee/eP/tt5G5BHe0XCyqbBr63bYhiUirSwxPjBNyCQ4b/HYTBz+xfdLcEW/ORNFJYxkMg/Fu4ZfFN8g/zgUm/9TsJnPoZSemZ2KDjpjnQwAjHeN5Whg+GIQhp3kFvsLdbjdPmifviBLiEYrHSFI7Mmni8+1B7bHGaQJ1CRrnhAl5nvGkPF86Z5fcDGUohYeheXKQNRbJ3g7vL+GfKXXlIMqDSdd9M9h8L1CPkrhiYVFXBbz1NFAMEZ8+eWaUJEfiSZJWXp4XV9vdy/PLDEIbpfPx5OR0vTp68NqD9dFRwpsdsdD4nVERPZPwkqlF4tUlHdo5nMOqJVZltVgsygJCISWVV6gEnev6/nIDWZCLq83R6ZnNS9QQ6JnQgLoPRqr7d28jkinpIdoFjQ9QK2awIBYF6rWEXLLQLi+jObmGxA7Yzix3QvRBamBjfMsqOfsBIBIe6INp1oG1zVi+AK2OA3LBP8KHT0JGE88sGQkwIMyn2YHUjp7bbrdj+RJe9BcXF01DQsdKqbqq8wJHQNt34OoAlfghVs2MFGxuFIZYVbmBcbEWWsGMjQbINFX4uFXwQkjnkdNHMgQFoxCpD0cwDHLlRC4yMTC9BIPjTCcqCING2tf3hlYh3zY5BVLkB7DXW6z4Orf50HZT26uo3Rjb7XZfbpQCQyvLtFJFO4y/+s3vTo5P7pwe5cXy1tnq5bOnbd8pJdbH6zwvJx92u42EeBoGHpWlwgfGnVTNADBDwXvIPpHBknUGyFTY9mhiZmUOoTUlo8mMMHrqBy/ls2fPf/3Jbx89frJcH5+e3XRwYIaLNcb/EHHz+zdvHK/L81dPj1fVbvsq+kFFX5SY/nQhDG4o6oqaJWpCexnkPHJHVc4huBImjLk6MBwpmHCNYKSKOCxJn3KaZMb+iDzagp4FcEq8X9v1XRTw+uQlyF8AO69VCViC6ITOOsaYViesndsSZMw66x6QRQuUyIGzXCtZ5jSDuxeEZZPpK1FfE6sijRdD3hxmk20MriAHZjcOfduQsSuGF6UI49Dn6NcOIbj1asmezlrLIs/qqqyrchz7LDNVBQ0xyANQqYyDmxpQfY9sHCcvMd7QMGgaONby8H4UNi8Mmq0STZzl2iirhMZIX7V467X7v/jJe1qI7fm5FTGMHXhOeb6BOMqf/ulXn1zuehftdt+v1scmy0cH0ZNxGrIMylB5VmhthdQdJKuDzjKiBUyQgqMGCc9IFzmss8nZGzUvFKjAZO5piG7a7rf7tsWuz4qrfffZl9/87T/8ctcMd++/YbJ6GMLQh2kEfUvEeO/unX/3b/+b46P6/MWTJ999dXn+HPtWq3oBo3DY7ok4BCe1gnQtAQJ5kZd1qQ32p1ZiHHskD37CSAT0EDH0HNwY3QQM3bvgJvBysMnxW8cB17kEb7HtYWrcD2OPFUxNegKPoA65Wq/Bwa2qoizZfoomUFBkwGWX4H52+eA1dB3sZF0SbiTy4iuhkjkZA3/0+eBnbxhBdjeCeDgszM5kCotJdLhaeOe2W3iBQabGI2eEXgSRG3mOLFkRJg8oPpe5Vk0ZzzigZZRczXj5Jwstzgh52gChnnhUGiNC0PoxWuU5VNnBdnJTWRTvvfO2kPbsxs3f/+FP+92lslnf7tY3746TG5r25cXlvu1vn53sd+dmaYu8aNstUAmDxOXoaN11XpDV0DBEmLJjVh6S1Y5oLSCJUuqamhYsikkKnVYrbL8gRF5ASLbthl3T/eGzL//5N79run65Pjo6OhE6f/Hq++BUYfKp74du+95bD1arhXfDcln6qXvrjddX66XNsp7o21mWK+LLdAc/WgJLcT4I4lI7zLaQ6ClVuBmNz+BMl1oE1YLwviurKsuzru0kzT6yNB0umKQYN7RKKoAUsxxLsnTlQzk1EtPymPUTKMdgUJ3YBDO3GxllluMEmLAWOUGnATbSIOIsig/gVFGCS3UY9OVMS9B1FEU+jdDHT3ZxPOSDyVzMYM2JFONnnAxyhoFWCc2UDgPmQeDNs9taS/H/WuqTPPOS/9w8eDOPGOXeu/1uL0Vcr1eskkdEk6muyw/ef3d9fPzy1auvHz6q7JoEjnE6uME8f/Hi+2fP3n7tntQWfOI4uuBLgqCiCMvlarN5HqLQkyWegGn2+yI/QbtwmsYeaSJB/DPEQ+mEmCYwZIoMrFo0c+hM7YexHcbvX17+11/+8vOvH2XloqyXDtPU3W63xwFbLcI0WGuWy7ofujC5+3fv1iUsbeG5oc2wa2guw2SouCOaswc3TOYDsK4e0aETHDrDQNz+qupKGdgP7Ntmdaj+enLrTvkZQwHgeZISQgLS0vRlkrTmtQWt3aQ2JWUNhVOY44wTAs1hbhKpJbltkpw7v7I8t4Z0Q2dfSFryVVkK0pGboAX3w2AjEcpjUeTL5QKnJ4svaD0hFIOVJQUU2Hi2iFcVX+s0TXVdp3k7Tp85/QdJmc7KZBGaJut5f6ThIg5yXdvxWqewjN4wlxTOQzR/cp0tFrfv3HjzzQffv/i+2V+d3llJGQ3ZNLVt++VXX7/54N4b928J5QSkkBBLMd48tFW57FBEK505KYpmvx9HqHIweMZpNe4LVCbOhcGdJJtwFWF1GIssCzT36nzc7ptvHn777cPvTJafnNwo6nq32/fkYxSCf/ni2Z0bN/763/3rv/7Ln2sx7a6eOzc1zSDybBxjVpQRvSwzQhQHfCARPadXB4iLhBvpzErQEoXduV4xJnMxdEMfMa0Jb3XqZ2RXpInEc3VWm7zOrbE9CQungjRZUiTxda79ky49F+CrBehhPD5Nys9p7AjdMGSShx4DmhDowRMBx2hpjYLrNCmaYhhQotWbNFq5h8+cC5b25DWe5oGJxRvARj8ceUn+ioMlmwdwXzwRd9F0JzyG/z6V0KliT4cUv++mbTGEjYbeTOXFcwd5Rno8wKHvm+CH116/9+ab97t+23VXSgXkFZnJy+LJkyeffva5UBriCMrovFAaWh592yGttGZZ1asFTCrbtq3xBQ0wdk6paniOjCOAwCLPmPtSV1WZQ1yDuPlEgqL6ZrPdf/rZZ5MP9+6/dnRyYmyOIcvJLep66PoYprqw7739VpVnfdeURQFrc+IAscYdMl9j+qHf7rZd28AwmWfED1qZmvOcw9HBZGM+DciX3DZd+/zli8m7ermEXombQC/GyapICwzSqlpIP01EZkIuxG+EeUE8BH6drnLdrJNfboJCyqK8bsyQrClTz9TB2YO8/dIELBe67KhaVqX38fLqSkrJTmbeTV0HzbSCwm8KPERy9Cb+0PHgyJTMudkuOU29czuCz9NkqZdichKfuW5vw3keiZPNnBMacaMeSFWRklsvwcfopB9v3Tr+2ccfPnv2ZNt3+82lMCX2T1H0u+arbx8+fvbs1smyH1slpLa5IS6aimIFdrKa3FSUcE8ri8KhbkLGTeXSjN8ySkxJJ8YmmcbAyuptN0iT9b59+PjJo8fPQK0sq8nHbuxY6EXEfur7t998/daN4zxT7X7n/bha1X7w8KMQOpLbqLZwHyNtTQceIvUlQwRXTwhir0iCrNCBnp8b9H1IVx8WLWTreXR8nOVIlQ4cV+ySuoRrXbPfL5ZLWAEpnZdAiFar1Z78XDlvvv5yk0JvgpagdyznXipoBVVJDB0SkUetNtPK0wHlvJMuRE3+m8nslzrHABNDbEIEr5J/N0mQz14ETmMtogIlN8K59D0IIvMgA1vReu93ux17zzDKDEFaShdoayKRT+IoSWeAM1A+fxOqwll537fWAs8j5wNsGfzl0PsAVsWEB50XUr324M5f/NlPP/njFw+/f1KvbhiCObS13z97/h//9u/+x3/332WZrwvjMVWMYwVpgJK7ptk07entWydHR23TNOTE68bx5X7HIxGkPgYHAjqhZN91RsoS8Am+DY5MTffr3//x15/8USlbLo8mhxGjtulBXke47R7cu/V//T//H0+W1bLKYxgNBv3HqirdJFo4WogpukwWwat6UbE6h0BaohVLopKZrqQhTYpqM5SV4xpmW0s3DDbPTm6cdi1q5PViCSna7ZYXzTiOlxeXfYdys7DZ6elpZpB+XF1dNU1T1zVnXUw+ZXcRfkeM280Ok4TVchAB6y6B9nmRZQhYvCpSE4UngLEXuQ3LENzQw4uq6wd2IOQUD6tEA1lh9GUeD1HS0OSPZ4O6HHVvUgxlKL/v+6urKw6toEgcHLiTvHIyoU5sz5QrJBc+rcED4xONP3MiAYiywgRsXdeEX3Y+hszgz1ard99+43K7e/jkxdTvsupoAESUn283//BffvnOO299/PE72oZhGrf7tjImDK7ExPaQF6TXWpaadjAb9hxI8YxGkaywMYAbQ5Ak5UoVD86ly+9f/Zf/+uuvH718453X69URzdhr1Y2ZVE47k+mffvzxrbOj42XVtXujhDVq7NpVdSSiGaeh0DmAORrlqKpSBNd2PSRwr/mv8SGGuGAt8JE5owWqh80/DDjCNV7ERLZJ6/X65cuX4zjev3ffUBHgJ7fb7b796uu+72/fvl0tF/mievr992mS7Yf1dLAGSy90Xj2UHM8GmBijnNvwszrszBNDJsdCZnlmj9ZLwGAzuCyBkWgRu0GSNhc8JXjMicsN6oTihjn96qADTSxyYs0PI4I5d5w4wGqtj46O9vv9o0ePyrJcrVas9sg6e0Yj0WZSBneiONRtt1vWhD8+PuYB1CSilBzQQScBlogquKpq53zbXmY55nglVCSGush//vFHLui/+dv/UuflerWUMi+q6ttvv/3VJ7975/03SLdAZXmllajystlsp3Fcnp5qYsdP03R1eTGOUAVcr08CNQwI154iACswzqA/BZ4K9PSEUOfnV98+/G673y+PaqGM1KYdMHWB+yqKRVH87Gc/+cVPP6py02wvof+CAfzeaNG10L3mWXYBCSMsMqN0MBhj8QHLgmU+qcqfzbLQtEfpwFmEgwQ2WdhIY6eApIWlwS8uLua30Ozrory6vLLW3r9//87NW3Vdbzab5dF6P3Sr1YpX0osXL9br9XK5ZBCEG27J25XPq4kw89mDkDwbZuo1dRQxm0jdp81mwwESNNhhQFGaHN14WBTsDmLQpaYQzSpikbGgN+eJLPmHS0HF1HDhkQhxibHOg59t256fnys1i/jzYk3qYokKwZuGC1KOxj8MsZG8EQPThCNhGnbCJBeOgwJEN7pz6CBju4ulvHfr5M7ZcdtslLZFXU4jOICff/Pt3/79f/2//J/+D3HqysUqj2J38arIq7YbQJRAM5guGw01bGXIb8O0A0CGc1OR5+A9wiOCJv9CpIF8cX5x9dU3jza77sad++Vy3WLjYKOO8CLa3Tq7+cFbb965cTo1l1O/Q9VlVPA0GOMgEX96doIzq4e0EIubkHYfVoymk4TNGziB4SEixnQo3faCXjaeEuVZHBQGSMGTIQJ9947k07lHPlJkKcqyXixUDvuqEMLV1dXLly83m82tW7fQrzxw/K9rjR/UomepHnJ5ZzYeZtbBvsSwN1K9siyXy+UwAHsXPgesxR3xJMvG3BvwSw9zgixjrqQg2fLkkTindDR4FryLKONoWaS5AV4TJycnvFBYH3WxWBwfH3OxyQsuORNw0E5LM00msr4SRjwE2kI+2IFqCNAWsLOL2hDPGfrTQsaSJty64zqvc/H08TNpsrpeRyGqxXLXbP/m7//L+x+8d+/m0dIqF/3oo1GiqhaAHqgvhv3KsB84jIgf0P9tGof2f0ldRVRLQqpumF5ebJ4+f/nJHz//5vGTol5Wq6NumDCOQveMXsdu99b9O8erWkyt8IPwI7a8hqgnHYKYLeCAPWAakA3OEeIBksExb27MUK6cweEKI+l4TXO3Zug97HzA8YqSgvQsFQCoDK+VNDhItIeGLRQgmG4cuqEHjIuEYbZ1T6lCUhVO9WaaYy2LEpuj73e7HbTjoOZG6BodqsyTTfAnYxyAmdO4x2E8C6cwFhMJx/OFktgkohXRI0GERKQhVUSsBo1TfBoBeVyH+7jomKZpvV7z4chJYuJx/AuP4zSPxQfofr9PwrbAq/BeJUbeaH9CpQcVYihMVlXLCX48E+RLMzA7hqGXLhwtirP14sWyEGgK7FW+WB2t6/Xqy68+/w//6//2P/67f/36rbNCBkh7dMPR0THaLADZfyACkcQMdHOtzVmdh14nmiKkZu/60e+b9tPPv/jkj39sx3jntbcWR6cvz88NUC8MSwsfTo/W9+/cNjJ0+12dyzFO0UHKkTTGWJqg3Gw2eBGYB2V/8BEhSum8yqaAXIdcvQAwURcY/ZfkbDcg60I3Fl2Kcer7DW9UfqSzSQWtThYTnWV1vBsmdJAcpgfmSbuzs7NkPpeYF0l5atZEzjMRaAoBsm5OyHlGn4eEuSvAbh6IZMRbgZTq8dGKjnnI60RabcC4dTaCjTa3ICjOwZeQlsusmWNJ2g+5QgbFjmRM8S/mLmHS1rZY+94XRbFYLJxzFxcXJ8dwC0z17Cz/TLsq/U2iLAOYxZC/oTEQDMdSVzhOPijl8hwK1NPUTz7IQkaNGGW0unfj+K9+/uNbN+/+468/e/ny2e3X3wMrK8tX6/Vv//jHG2fH927+27yqA2if4GRDxAhLihjPZFPM229R1VVZ9utmmsaqLEQUMFvAKgyTj/0UXp5v+sFVq5OKtD/LJfxlRYhjsz85PvrZh+//4icfrcpMi8mAmDj0EF5ha9+oySqk7zH0YfTMRyVRS4is0FAHniQvNVAhBoRIaHzQuclOLhwL2AbZj15TN36WbaM/gFBFAiG4cFJYLOpq9E5bWxHABK1kGpTi3CkpPiVD6oQABMzeRp69I6WCeQSOFgN0TEB1oJ9laj5aW8Ng9vt9EluctzLRD1uUsjN7m1QVJq1V37XIUQ4eFByfQkStUBQLEAoOBW36NF6UiemfKHVpeGGuXA6E9IQ+8wTegbsrqMUKlRea0ME0D0vAISEQMHPJTO784EbQRawSq7Ieps3HP3rv5t3xs6+ffvv9I8JjKxditVr3Y/erX//mz3/y0fHi9YurzWm9ePXqQlsNzcWDNQKXckx5YUMPIkqQTA3MDUeT1f0wfv7l1w8fP83LxfHpjX50V+1VRAeiD27MRHzjtdc+/ujD2zdPu82lUgEawkqNgvz/2PAUrCrDgn/zehphpmkVkuOubaWG1vWsEMYDTlrDu5DEKHnUWxDARmSKckGAMxTQqT5N2x6CwuwTQv/wVASfiLy1rrtaJSorn3LXZa0wy36Ac9Xk+oMCPNh4FlAOEyQ5v+q61shYZRnys8TiSFSQ0YOZw6fzrLwCnWJMgigqa/EOkMkQx5oo9rQI5qFijm0pJ8uyDJLj9Ix4kA4J8txImGFArquT1TJnaRz/eZ3RM0JgI3oJibIFWChgfIwmpCWyHmuU8AjPeIzRjbbMqiL74P13vjtvnz99trqt87rOy+rG7TvnTx/+869+U2ojxx4K9eOwyGuKyzhYyB2BOLY0jNlgMAnSRilO++C1EJvN/quvv73a7m/ef02bbPCx7QZP5dI0ujt3bnz80Ydnx8fCub7Za+VXiyOjhClA90PaMfUmQ240TSirRSQsSojc4FQl00wHU8m5XwzcGDJ1oNZZRYj3ZrMhDRf01mjuo7AKAKMUCg0KfNq8pXlOTkGpgEiGSAh8lDB64uElLjC5B3rd+zwZN83hg4RkuXZEtQNpIMwfEN0DM7DggRBbgnuy/TCsytKcnJyCuQBWz6QNJiAU5I5Ebm20siCxOCT1wWcAnjVVN0gucsjEA3fgaqiHlsUYMdeJdie5z/hJATdH02YYtJJZifc0jkPbYEMAlxLSk0UGMG0M6UGOZnC9CMDEC8zRY8IKHzK6Cco/IDbyKooBKCuPqnN/g2TJsm50bbuX0gAB76exGz/+6KPvXm7+/X/4z06J2/dfX9WVlIVvd7/7/R/v3rj14ZtvXG42t85OFnUeXB+wfWZcG5Kv0P+DwEiNKXZACUYpC3a18NFvm51Q6uzW7dX6FDK5WbZeoRnV97Ht/BsPbv/4o/ez4FzXkCWK6vreCRilL5bLiuBuEGnKcne1zYoSa9rDfD3Dgnb9iO6wQT6E7Ur8JSbkRdjhxHh5uXn69GkO3aj86mqLvs4JMx9hADh2vYuhIJYjh8YZ8aeRE3Q58zLLTNe0sArBxBt67SwTGwI6JURdwdrg9cVbPjgkDIKiKQlezbk16LFKL5cLbbodMnhRY2IDKgLoGAkXyRI5GlD8YaqAIsj7KrfjCIzAahWmgFF8PzUdOBfQchFi6hGSQFUqqv1+NzaNUQpirE1T1XVFRJSWnDLOLy9x6IzD5X5/dnq6Pj5u9nvAeTQzOXa91QY2Dt5l2nTj1LUtxEKGQWGC11QYYBYOJRVaWE3bTUTQbbu+rhYQn2IJ3OB2+227U6vV8uTsBpIh7cYBSoJW+n/zr35x//XXPvndF7//4g+37z544/XXh3r97PGjv/mPf2eC/ctf/Pzq1fc6jrlyEK+Duphh7zYn4m63X6+X9XK13161+z2KbuheuK8fPvpP//WXD1+8WixvSpkdHx13o3vx4jn8kYft3Zvrn3z0phKtEKGqczdU+2YjvdBluVgfOXgXD9HB4/YYRk1aCVVmBZQMQ+gwUopYISWa01HqqqiXiyVVotgDlxeXQz/s9/vLi41S6uzsrF4eo8ZSMNkEK4+ElgWSfIejFQa0Nrh4ubt0zqFCDHKV1w3ctOR+v4WyZoYZR2N0WRVd1w5jZ9DOImdAI7oOuOtyuTY08MbF4rTbpRE1gspE3zVj31MCIrPcNrsWzqAF+Bqk2U8tKaUMT2gLLyD5URIjgM6OEEW7b0g0IGffmmT23rZd33UiBpykIgiIb6MvIaKHc6GIBYTohJeiBKnQKilKYDaVIirVLJAEOHtEJTVPvZMZOsM2EPwFIGlJg0REXFtu4TgOXZ0JrI1ZuR7FfsAwUQy5gZfgdrcLwqyqerk6Pjq5cbw+Ojk9/vSzL4ZmlylZ2OLycvcPv/yV1NnPP3zPyH2ZRWs0ZoAnx0OB2pgjdDzzENDRC66+PH81TeO+a3/5q0+++Obbo9O7R6c3pkk9ffrSTVAlluBk+599/P4bD25DTj4qPyBJXS5Xg9/v0R1H7rwoaswatp0IGDxxw7TpAPSQKCJSABIWsPtdQ+PA8uryksXGQHm1hdG2LOuiwGGyWi2p/oN2HYlIz6JRlBAhz6KO8x7YzWoNpN7FdgcrYEpHjaQeNE2OcM8UrX2DCl8MA5ZRiYnXiok8MEwjFRI2F0tHbWqJ8rE7uSFTGfSAFPoTc9KdDmOWlwFPmtC2efZBQZWE2+EJs0ip2MxYp049IgB1vhg7pva+XS6XzDzjhv1IHYj/X1dvwmvZdV4Hnnm685uKrCJLImWOkhK30zC607bTCQL4JxtpBEYHSWDHaSFuWdZgihRFimQV6013PPM5wVprn+/d+EkgisX37rt3n72//Q1rkPfFP7MfNIEQzRU0aPNgiPGEVbd+ssAFKtDEgSvL8kBUD5Ypz2ByU7Vhivvei4Jni0WUJGVVfvnbz8vDLo2Si4tVWTa73f7Xv/nsh++8PWaUlu9PTQO3IaLC/CKLj8fj3f6xrE4AqYCdVyTebN/0bx6qso6e0U5KvmyiuR+O+8uL4pOPPl4u5l3bzJKkRlgESyXOZg3tybV1RDJAakUlNid4mNA6CK0TfzHLgYxFCyrZH/a3379BPRSgJM9pzVRkeC7QKEG/A/ScyoPXJ7VhU/BAh8ZDOw9+P6ZXB4URjLm6uq0CCGOiZz5pf3LMOFVjk2mE0+BAuQZ9U7B/Bf5ZLpcmQy6GpSC1Nsh2PjtocVFHsoW+wdBSwZ/gQdfzNZKIGvdmqedUQBAFOQbF2rnS97x6NSUYiXCb7vckYelG6XpxKzu0eyT7Jv1Em36Kw6e1sELJ4LiTZsxIA+HMA84MU7LjcZ+OfjQM8Tg01W77cP/WOz9AAuGHp6r94g/f/PV//pt//b9/ski8ujwGgbdZLWCrva2aCqNPBFXWdF2axflifzj+0+//8HDcrq9Wox/tDsfy2MYx8ui62kf++IN339nAUuPkDe08TSOks2FVVzm7mlEQtA0oG01VlUfIjKUJbNdU+At4gw4OrevbFoIuPnSDIbgM4kzXoA4IkEt0cGPB+MCHdFIKeF4chg04mvKpIGoVWFSKH+JG8rxgsYBnPHP2KuiDKIG22Tm2VIRICQYI2GO9JyiyJc6R2HR6TKPznJBrzSn8JWISgZp43oTyYUvST069BpO/08hCMV+TLxtHoAYEN8HFGCmCmJP1uVeSQis2XAitLBMENFlunU7hBQSKMlqy6fgbXtekmsx3UX1gBJ40qRsYIQAjC0Bi6w0ILVfL2VsXy1999rnXPVtsLup6GIPheKx//pvfvvvuzXsvLvP5OkR5PnQ4a+1x9xBH4XyxyPLZkeAfP85++9U//e3/94vHfbd563ogS30cAcIDN6Jr33/vh//bT3+ahFHfVlkcdhh7dHmWVNWhaRxyFYjwrof9GddzuZhFgXcsT6T9UxYYfKXwsN/5ox+HftcAkfX2s2tJA3njcDrsERFIPINRIWItnicEb3wQgjwPvSTRxGk0gcS8wPwNeInHxxa9bsyDh4TVqw99Z471EhRh1akc+wFKeGD9QfwaBCKsrOs36eQrpTGnaKEjVdvqFkpiHBvECQdMowKHc27wgxotUDT6jU1laES1cBxyn+BpjGKwSxxaVz9ilEyz6TTELAgLEAN8ku86nz3oQMj2TMuqyb2BiCyk2yYzYr6indD0+/0Om4CqsUnkZ+jmR29fr//y3/1FeSwPu/tsvozTdBZmY9Tstw+//O3vV8vFTz9+GQzN/v77KA6Wq9lpvz3s99u+LRbLfgwDz98fTp99+Yc3u8NsfRUkRdN5aZLkMz8EmrRZzPKffvrxez98GflDmiRZ7FfHfde28LFLUUIPNU4zrogwmhdFQ7GIrsNJxsekLmQIdxIqioVBlmKhyuoUxX6WJ37ABYT6Ee6HLE86JLV92/Y4M+OArcJeBnrvhOpPElQdyAS4HzJZ6LEx0QwjnqZaSFPEckstnJgIH4a/D0MkZ8p2DBFow8Nz0b/JzwScUGdEJ9qT+dJrNxgv6tx38vz+Vi+urgFIGVHXOLkDAdTEfsnzXH1hBSdFQbiwh9jv+mymVmJYNL24urvmUGT2EQbgrKpqt0M9b9vX7JKBrvZh49GNg9eUUBf3uqCv50nwLz/98NV3r/6f//Q3v//i84u3388WF20QP+4Pv/v61eVm9c4771ytCuqhBuvVKotgSIEP0zSHerj97u6Lb17/+re/9+JisbnxwrhqyqDpkjRC89Xvnr/9/EfvvyySeOzLOI29EWGgb5pj3xfzOcQlMZMKvQH7MkvzAepH3X4HuBuqbPZjCRLuy/KEc47H3ke+B8UOToSRovswj0aTDVsMu0GTsiiOZvOlEnmI54KwAz1AtH6IVBU5YD5bJEk0jH3ZOHKQZjMKHCacVtfgggjTpU3DOx19O5sWaB+bwrWA9aaTp4eLDUN5PSc2iSsW3Y6hgEkjhqMO9giCFFI/w2eem5uCv4lsoslz/A5zkVVKKCiSEnZjsQt3b9HRplXniDf9uOEFzu187bLWKMZETcxcSEkf2g9MYjBBggkPyGWR32dh8G//4s9+/83rv/v5b9C1T6J5klbVuj7svvjqu3e//EP+0Xu+UN2YEFFOJwyr3ntzf//3v/r857/58vHUXj1/J50tygqCoE1Tj3142j52TXX1x5++8+xmaI9oYkPbuEPjLQj2u8coWtze3wdhvFwsoMDfD10D2tj5JXA6lvBLILuOHrvj7vFRKY6tJB45KcpwqppYbrPZbA6gNmptoqcAueFOwHgQ6k88mYwC4+GIIZDve8v5om5Bw9Q9oEReVG3TjnT2X5NgUZomWJapaFDqpieoRy/JAW04JEj92PswwexCdv98wtOiCAwR3Hp4ly6cTr5uo1rGNmSVcrvQZm0dap+ZGLMgSoJP7XY7UyTUNdp1IMvvYTKKXS+vWasS9NZNHfNcNVLB3KBR8mDTyOEJ44Q4n6IxGPgdVMY4vKbxXtd3Y9ZtVss/+9f/x+vH/ddvXuXrzf2hTrM8itbfvXn9s7//hyz2P/7h8yxoB1TuUT6bDaP/ePf4+vu7z7/8umz7xQbecocjNiK4v1HQ1KckC3/80SeffvR+4PdJGDWd11dtGHnD2Kcgzq/h/th1m+UmTbKHu4dZVuR5sd9uKbvkzxbF7d2b1XJZ1iVt6UHX2O4eAxAIpPqLthGQBP6QpFHbjIdjSbXiQHoqx9MhisMkAyA5DMPN5qLrgAPj1nSCZMfjMc9hDKCzihQlhf5w17YHPrXFYpEAoQRE/2KGjI4aigilQKhXVVBgBGf9C6f3NoGfJYEzm8H5GrIuPP9Ol0roH9E6wBH3vLZuBvY1DBpkxppGJDGhVOIIIBPDLMFtI2VaZQlBEW15i3OqAzzS5M9lI8xv0OBA+nsDqE3hs7bAptmUDpMkPBQ1q7IcxiGbFQOdNxEtBFuhkJY39rvtw8vnz3/88Ye/+eKvb998lxTLqjrg02f5d99//4t//NWzzXz5bF13AKWFSYD7o26/efV6dyxny4vZ5qoegu3+MAzjLM+O+1192H7y4Xt/8ed/+uEPXo5dBRvhRlhYtCXi1B/9sWqb5XIFTnIQXl1d18fT4+MWoH7f3z0+lEpkYUuGmRp7YaClpHEiqogmk12HY0n0WFagT/ZUlnUd9Q+Zy08aaahGnVXoVMLLiUfQWQYFxDDK2j1pwcJJfHr0YnzJnGSStnDP8UkCYhpVn6dYTtkKna6BqDfa0VV1JSk21zhl38ME6/X8rAIVrtWUc4in8zkXZgeIX9Jtm89h3GKiL1a6jiB/45p3Euj0UzcVpHMDL9tkisOKavoek7G1WlXpaskqFddFXXVNDfO9AFLnlIsJkn5sm3Z9cfMvfvLpf/lv//329tXzd9NlsWxaP14utm9e/fZ3v3txc7HMPl7kaNTD4LL3jk335n5fN30M/E6chUlZw5t8hHlL9+z64qeffvTB+y83i1lzOATj4KNRDTBmD8Uv3wuHbuiKOMEGavvZfH542D48PDy7vtzvdjBYpruF8H/xAMVQl1pwfIzisR+AIB6h8tP1WHDoGuYkGoUR8BjsybL8pQgyu5lBEPWdRklOUwvyfxF6eSNO4dg2h4h0GxNKEp/j3D3iXA/GD4BpMq6QQfDtcRg2jE8TD4bTpjTtKtoUNOAm0fuORQCFk7XVTDxSPGNJMJiZK+odDD0h/aDsSgdFe0tSH+doM7d1YBPxJOxmbbBzywsrSM0g23wwrSdnQDfNJ1yVwCsekWtovTFCYxpjVrQG4fTmB8CcdRAf/ct//2/++r/+7e7uu8u34jieD0OQwIq6/sWvfr2aZ59+8B7G137cB/13bx4fDyeIkXM+MYZ+keWBHxwey81y+cc/+aNPPnoffM76OEvjw+OuQwo8eCG2BYbPeItxHCXjGPQtJLbTNLtYb3zP+/7197MiwxAvziG/jVYF4LtUPvM6egTw8GOL4AKCpiTQb5SKxVQY2vKYoED9ZRxRh46jX5ZQAiTsjEQt3DPILtIk5+7R36BhL90dBQ7DI2rbGa/zyRYDIsEOA3vuiGjNKZNPU5IDDjkJDQA7I31znU/mAQnMQU1NyNJzcwtUx1VCQLznEdIYbhyWX2FTykQmF6idp+OSgEOaUrcI2aWGbmZOYB6XhuAwLTgVNSZgbjbeKjXs+wde6Ei3A0h+RVAbpVEDpjpJnGS3j4/5cvmX//7/brvmP/zHv/7689+srn+QFZvFYul15bevv//tF79/8fztfDYv5sXD8dVnX3z1uD8Vy00xm/VdX5aHMEgB6Rr6RTG7udqsFrk31PWxDJMMBpctzC7wSIIAHhixSswQc+hueDw9LGbzeZ5/84evQExarRBLAri08pzIxhU+BBDTZEgAJJ2JjmsOsD8GpTxay/RAF3P4Aw0XxNKmJsHbFeokuSNUwUazxn8COCgMxyRKqLgBVLpACXCDjZN9tWcUAEASl2YSIzlK4rZ3kUKP1faDHr1VEhpGYSuHETBUAk+rfHNRRz9MUbtzaxJ1p6zza3pJpKFACsZwutb+sDGRHJ+scY8+HlNI3bPyRrAOmbE4J76/Mye0gGqB1orwx8fH9XpdFJBXplbDse/b8tQ1TQWeI9YjHcOYrmbeMPoVKQXD0M/T6F988qP7N9/+/T9+vtvdh1GezRb90Ayjf7893G4Pb714p+q9L77+7rs392GcrtYbL0qqUw3RaHRJCeNJ4zSJAq8bugH3HegwMEqnOF40+kKKQRRgGLzj4dg3bVWWBeRk2jdvbjebzXw+l40fPAw0aNGckVvDKu6I3mpIpCa3RvA2uJVZOmA9cFZpqE1kHl2noTwcJBAH96uyzlLAgwlZxXKG1FjBzJJ3hdp1hmp0L0qhq0ljHzZuZntlDQF1PXXtmMoLlDLCqD6W8HeCDMikXxqQZheOzC7OkLvGFHfY86kFLyQ3+jgEuRuSXfFGdcA5nvsJZzYMnQjWk8W9pky2F891Vm3jit2uvS6qqhDhDw8PoLBOMs+n05FGzG0aRx2E7yCuHkdoaZJSEG/3++cv3r7fPdy+fnW5mv+7P/8/337+4j/93Wd3+wNQjd4Qx2nV9YeyOdX9N1/8/md//4vW8y6ur+Mk2Z/Kpm04wA5rsiIu1svNauF7I8RphtFHghrDJ8tDbtd46CxCTQuVY4gka/SKYjYO4+lUzueLm+srrUAPzZgAnqRth6OkwAwSFLYXcxko74HugayJuR/QNRiWDpD3i1MkXrAAY+augY3f914ch2maQeKKENg0wWkE0IrwVYUPu0wsLFkLSZsGA6imjmN05BD9ptampWhSThFoWz+FsTiFcKKmqTMwSjynX9cPnE0CxkRZVNflknIMzXLdVe15yIE0Fy9LtItEZrRYrZJH3Qfz5FJtyDM6VKdjBsvSsW1h+glQLj+wR7WSABwQ8jTgw0lAOvQDWIYNA1wiSUOHDyZvT8Vq9RUlj83470OvhmAnOAyP8J18a7H8/u5OezlGUyBfzDJIrz+2//H//e9B319eXg6ef2rqMQhuH7f/4x9++ct/+iIvis1ihRDQQcFl6MZTue/q5tnl6vnN1Xo598moRLaAiyzwAnLnMMdu0OJPAGPEIYG7QDcrMD8dx/H587frujqdQIbohz4H4M/fHfYJNNUwFuIkmk6EcNVznj80xPXHEbJF6GYTdMisF9uRSYtuC0Qy3wf2BLdZnFDSJ4ImEY2ZmDJCxw4THfbM9bBMjk9dCNLgEWtIXECvR+2GnpLNhBiLMe+8VwQB1+48HQ5e4EdVW3WHPi8yj0oteZGxcwh5X5WSRNU5Sg5eeYS7JwpvsrugZQ5CSnCqW9l6+iGa2mDC0FN+u31UnJvN5pwany6vLhHtMPkfcgDrgIDtmgqHCzkmZqVD16ZxRnkB0CQoFzJWNQjMSZr23ngi+iBtm9msWK4WN+019mtHokNbiasx9tBxiWFizin46di2Hfwq69NqMds/PjZVCQVGCNkNyzz7Vz9577Nf//L2/pBFV8OyyGbpvj3+j1/+w2+//EOYLGfzlR8kbX+C22lQjF3QlYd5Mn7w7sWHP3hrniVDU0IdN8uaqvHG/ticwijtxi4IwZ7yAKv3m/KYJmESpx68b8d8Bt5MVZ8A5wTyDOvWtfDxANOG3S08Vrj4pNDgwLip5UAhli0uTPikmE485tB3PqpPQHHkvDmMYwZ1AqAyx77JipxZbQXPKxCVccWnMHGO0aJHuINUioR2hnGMJWFH3XWQ76uqrVvADWtYoYJRnBd+SFx+XQ1dm4O776Uw34Tha9VULTxJiU8VELznPYY3SiUfSG4jyMMKmOMyOofge+CnO47ouzRt0/UoPLu+O5XQ88nF3OK0FBkKE8Wh60TZPpWnDguKZhYkJJDf1B1EEvZEe8bwzKOSWlc28LgjhrOlVwMcTXogOdMgFN0+zXOIT0EJsp/NZzQxRd8fHXzqIojfgAEM5sDA4wNBNJudDrs0jsvToWmqYBz9Gl4pYeQvM++TH938Q/XNab/1U0h6f/7lF/d3j4eyny0uoiSnEYIwNm1XdYvEf//F+o/euXp2sYDGJBgZaRClvYege6hPQVv7qG1neYpyEjYD8OMNfQ8ZahjRZrqHmB7YgnHcgIOEBHe+mEv4Dl0J9RSggttBKBOhUug89Pn7vkM9HMVpHMPADNqLKJFPJSQLmObCYaPuWqC0m94PwgYQjyGEECH8N4+HY7JaItvDhcHeAiVUKM5KJccALu/AkSHiDlVZj/2YJgkBYKSZDa7HNgkOe1mawhO+G0u8jT5L4mg2m2nEJMx7WWoWCQHYAFwPNTUgxhRSS4jlOXofo4dwLclx03vXHW9GCoKgSVbDOrTIq6DUivoIk97p1ksSogYYrgXFiRj90RTgiMIPowLYd7wCICu028DdxKJEPXSpUTCtGxvIQ7jLWm7nVKOKeDxa4Dd9vxSSXR24tsli4IZRS/r5sT3t4D/sby6epfGi69pTxYgYJUHnF0X6/ruXH//o6tnNRRqbKDXlsTFXDVKOcUAcj9DKCv2ghlQgeEGE/TgdNXGe/RAlolmZYh9QaxMqf+y7oiCsqxA1OMo6mByCue1BB6pBp0ntDcq7VvDmUy83Tej5Uu2Ph/VqxV4RTBh6BEYooQAX8/io2larpASLmqBs1CtLm4gjdJ/GFwSnCAkjhIx4DSnITyZxUOtk0QaaHHjyk9iYNQscnGNCaqjo05zLJvD2pZURHUjZmMZTUgSRO9jxeDQ9R+kADvG43e+qEwYssEXmLhRAIJs6sVRsc81D0Jx8GduAMXEOACG42ZHAlMS4rl7vKmIda1EXXRd6siTCrKYsmQL6ZdXESR7BxwRmGKS7j9AKzeCiifoRIpzBMMIox/PGzWb1wQc/+sG76/USSaoJuppC+eXlpWavATnPyu6xpTzXVbZOjVGSrPB37xydB+6eccQTa1tf2ALaISJ0TERGg2zho3V9VZ+kqAV6gRdCl61tkYzj2zCDAqubosG4WEhOUWfeqelQx3M2xxxPLtgTCtW1x8feKUTriGo/Ack9CVPAS4A0ZtTL9FlGEw+NcuhPACfn+Wq6gC/Jtw0LC8idwp0TGQO+H3K3lBwgwF8m2WmawbOoAnjfD8I0A4C4btpiFtAFEhoFMn3iW2cuR1zUQINSwVGQx1KGPss90tzR2Yd8aV37URzEScvDLffTJy8PFt8MYRT51VgM0zdZDmAjkYqDexh0mzgaxw4WJujSwaapLKvv39ymxezDj35yt6v//1/8pqm9pFh6HuRSDsf90I9pmjEaJChG0BaJLzbLOYaqjnBmhbnyUbXEhCQ4Ho/uEFCTgbFhqCpkHoI9wGIGAAZcKUkcdP0QgbSBj+o0s+ETitBOu9apAMc+pPnU1E2URhX0ZnqYvfNokYgM3Hnv+xFgakk0SBIGlCCAGfGbR+LU6drrgRYEa+UAKkz4dfolEDQBI2vo246sJ4La+AcZz8lHjPWaxFZwrSVQNvZRwagJghshlOVsQC46YxW6CTxzrHFowDEgVDspP1wTk4ED1lT2Rz2s89rR85MkRZOm7aoKtZXMSlmwjwnLbFPBVYskjCK0udH1ARnE3by0VerUhWf3WCBeB9gitcqUbOUfzH3WxrQ6pGMf7gANKsqqyoMC9E9tblZnZVkd9qUfFe998EHjDbePD9+8fmzRAUliJB5RN5Rlcxo7vwf9KlkskrffulouC9qROHNM4/Srvy3DaF3xAf8GkbhzK+wzSnGe7YeQfUHVPGD+CMg1REypoD1M6mLIHzhcgdwfkiEA7BA4qStugD8Qs2p4gCwX89Hzj4cDPi9M3MCM7FoMSdGrpZYA+xdVkWYl2GjstSap7m6oiNAkV5kApR7AEGZXOMLQ2LUhNBWUbRlW26yJcHToVIRXoDG6MzHV8EG9K+XyiurnVq9mkWfotLPpE7pZMnGxvq4gQGrJmDl8UYDRoP6P2Koajykz60hghIkxgwTVQXC7U/LQNQNh3QUVDCqMwvMZMVgIJbD3eINoWMON7eZRYj90PRhNEbMcF9ipJL3arLN8WZbts2fX/9ef/enf/O3Pf/3Zt8V8vpyvw8zvjvXxUEHoLsjjMN6s0uurZQJeTM+qyLVyjDtta2KO42VZ5Xlal5Xa7g47fwYJ1L/aP91fMmdAtzdOApliCw4oNBjppuqW6v+c6JZ9jyyladrtdgfvystruYORfVgFZ6AEPCzfk28AxqKUrR+6iUhMnWg1yfT9Cgcd2xr4e/QF4RA8ELbo+lkc5CB958mHGQ1TPYeB1pRAqZjgPWYLrHzI0IU2mbfOrb7f0hTjLEh2T4AfJ8jLvEHcllGuGROkXKLaOk8yC5JdF3k1qFc14rUZrZvWQ8fO8ZnRanE6+jp/MEdDu5zJBIp+5uB+EORFIduHNIRIdpImF5dXvZdXTTdf5p9+8kevv7v/7LNvquPJ64fZbDHC1xom5kPj1VUdrEGaxvA0/F9EAk0+08SOpIzS8+rMs1TDxHNZFK2JObkag4NiiEND+W30mdGCd2eH8gXgZcm+rUHvlNqizGY9z7+7vXt4eKBcMj7pnDqoKY834jyejpMykcK1XOFpz4BJl7NI71rslQnjbw4pAljoU9Psm5pwSpe1JfTRiACQZnnredAVgt6CijpWpTB6ogiD5WQjCA/ozwyktytIYJ7csx0sjbUIXZyWIhrSVjhVVdd2FxcgfomDtViutrttWdVQNIYvO/Z7GHkF0Jr48Oj74QbpcQqAWobsNHYHj7VwIDzxI+T+J5U5g3rWhJWao1tTkwLDpeSCwmwriEK4UiLPUxoA462h77M0L9soATO78gb/3edvvbi5/vzL29vbN4urfLNeHk/VoQVeeqiaNFotZ3BhA5F98gcxKRqDpehgtFPfPMFIJ2DyDgBBlCRFkty+eXMqS2iw49ZK0aziIA+0TUk8MIHhZgUTM8tzimtIJQPOKvTlxaZB8KibhAr8QRiuICm/lqOT4h8yerZnBRTDPcrf5bJAdFjCFBV90qHgJYzbtbW8tsYT6dE1IiogivH8kRuA1zmf45qG9AZgO+0APSVMBQ7HU4/beoyQ83PM6jFTQWZHD1HtHj6/NIyhxYIaG06AQUQdOR8u6sAQAwVaOWKS5w8xxSM7FuRpFA+eX9H0qm67q6ur3eGwOxzW6zV/EXZ9wlpJKOGO7HYdcZXJ4QC+cds0KdFzMYQXwRjABS0GzqTJLSSS5JEYR+H0hkXkGSBoHouG4tH3D4fjkUlCEmOEj4lyjEfbNq3vN1Hk/fDdF//y049vb39Wnfa337+abeZcUB/vqkgvNosiCSEt1/ctNXgN12RzZfOkabnPgB9MkmbsfZjtAeQTx/Hm4uLu/qFt2nkUJwBawqIV0z/uUJgAoRbiEB07A4LwYQjrDAzAYUSEdJsySjLlRoqWptl6c7HeXF5fXy+Xy91+fziefGpJg/kHWkLcw4msgXF2AvvsSX9q9Lu+anAFhVxtiCpASBAAJ+eUjXTUAX5QrFDogGMCGF3SZyIZPAi6jCOAvtvdLvS95WLh+hrn43cXfpgNnMtF2ZTznDyiOYOFVmUkevCC7Qsrqy6JUmMV4ewMhRIXYShGEjZHIT14ASK5soixQzqV+z509GhkJhwH6jgKEDPjQtdHnjEjuX2iHSQxJn3aiAEz2ZEaemgT8KsoijRLgxZtQpZDQ3k6zfKsSP0s8D/98P0vv/zus6++Pex2zdj2nYc27Ohfr1Yv3rpKQ6+iKBDn6A5frqGNqfc4nEXvrlQzSjLp59PphJDDd24EHw1qzW9Qprmeh5kV8e44/7MCefaphK88yJV0GieZwD0/6Z7gGCDGIDeXZxH+H4FklyGThrfV4XjMC0iw4qabBuNMKOUCA2yzMGSmcAMPIe5pwBOyDHeO0zxEpKWILIJrFMWz+TyJwquLC6WoMD0xopH1XdV0NXyi8gyTaxQWw0DVYgacm6WpZ2ZNVA28NQWnahcBJBTrm/IVvjIubU6+5cfme2kYZJCahzCYXtxyGt6SqNKVVjJHIVwY7wRch2iyDQXeZVKZRKkRBExaZmEEJ0pWDLhFw5BjbPhcdW9frz/+4OW3b15vTyc8x2wOgE/k/+DlzXsv314kXVMeyUJ9QmWaFdc5uWZ46j85rLNdr7vdbrUCQTzPc8FCxdzR+WQHIBoGv2k7jzU+6z7dy7hG4TXLCSMHBtSDiiP0V0loH4MQ0hQgGUUBZi2B38LSFhdnEKVZATPw6oh/k7vP6NVVVTM7Bxqeoq1OnBZcf9EOGnQSccMjO+L5xOxRKV0D9pS3XKHlCDuGNLuMIwCnmga3y+EIW3cZXBIegriqZpY0oDT2Rxh3LDVWiAR20zEUXk0FIOq4elSf8w90WmB3I8+LmjbQqnb3+4M06yYIErH/lJRQJ4Ize/xypoJ0nTnrDLNzzXY208+6xAMWPVgQy1kx6yP8sPpnakyxw4n+uaa8HLpXeCA4XE5feFZkQzvUh7Kvy/li+ZOPf/jm8e5nv/riWHdB5FXNKZ0ll5tikQOJnc2Lph2UoFgNbkxVC+E+37ME9I78WCy+4CFUbXcXF+DrRhEAtPI0p88umCNsnMLEXXFF5bxsN2ia3QXoRzJnIG6MaZlU0wawqpIYmMIExm9JVjRtA/MEz6+7HpqOURwiGocFRaw8cPVgXj5ZzeFxECICryUvYoOZDaB+8PIgyjBhjA4netFxNuUaEFMtbCSSoe/r0wl0PFIGmeCw+4X8DiQUnFIcQU7c4NyeFRMIhF0ituYA3IMT24AB+9RL8H22vHu0A5F9J3GGfYZ5WZbDoKqswDoJoQyN0O2AQMHYDzjQI+bN5UhHXFLIkLzqvrCajq7kILwMbMeo2GRe7DShMcVC1zJF/oKPw066O5Tw460ahPBNu4GYfhS33ZDESBZPh0MyBPB16KsfvHv558Gf3B7af/r6rmv6pi6zi2wxg6lrBDuZoh8AUjBqjHmPWvV9OkEk3rpFSHeIa9VVm6QnLHUUV3UDjDVao7j0eMpwkiGtTuMfwkB465H9P8kXANxBLQzaT6FnifVXctOh90vMh4TDkC0TbtuzvU7EtOcHEsJhUw8bACXggHgZhTHZeH1TQyhTntRV3bQVehUhgEPu7kK6xmcBEkqaoKaZ+hUdCBJ9iD4t+4fy8xId75ysZteo2Rb/M8V/XRBm8qM/K2MzExfdIPoG2DDOZg8PD5PWBorOCGUUpHLU4yCmyinCoYbhfCLhSFShIs+zKAqPhwOrk76pnLAbFn10JixRSMjAmXMUNijaXY6I5YcYB+1hBt9KETiHRA0E9OZ5loTesXrMxuzdFzfvvXz3y28PD6cqTaOry2WWeW1z8sZ0wBN1iYQmg+f7TLek/CiTyT7Grn4NytbrtW55mWhp/c37zY3dmAefSojl1HU9nwPjpe/k6FpcV27iMIZ+Xz/UdTt4AFiyLTJCXLgiKD+O6MgVDp6X4GIFOga92QFIcYRFCauzY5ckcdu0FXLCClJcTMQBWeWcTomWGHES+4EoWtsgiLZtFMfFrACeBBg3gK+e5DoMcnjODjcqi+wLDJNt4FvtsMVikWWAJFj+pP6kro/9fq90SqWGqIIteyJgFqBiQtsCMXbEgBnUNw+AVNyn2ChAYAmYNLU0cT9OXrBIL1wjY+LgH4+nYhaMbev5OGf2nrXXV6sVHmoCRGTN12m6bjaHDkY9jHEY11XX+2XfN+Vp52XR9eUGeu+7/bMfPX/nxTW0iHsAn6uy6jhasba2eVtb4an/mk3sWSWsTvnB9+fz+bffflsUhUDCBh62M4zTBdgSCzKyfzV6nzLCTnI76Du0pJAk6YC2gma56FkEgOHF0PHmCBKDBKH7kfoCEgPlPUwjHXNxACiNrXvP70cgqs4Iby5rV+Jvaj0agAKQUWCiIyEfAJsh79ihOZUg0wfGjXcOfq+WbI5Fh4yFTevOW/9u3DaVpRrhGStE/9QYQBmlSk69guKlAp7mLxELQL0mPgqb2mpamp81VxdzXE2cROpT44CUUiwKmkDD0A4kcwOcPbYDhLFkIzJASZmKDvzW/X5ft/V6tUYFSw3Prq3HPoO6Vhwetjt/rIp5PvrJ2Pc3F4sfvrUcm90nL28+fPn2euZnnh92/n5/6oMBDLVJj0kirPJZU5xTFZUxm9YiaA/JfAiWeBNqwbDEpn9TVdV8kTArpqrIelkU+dAPh/2OU0gOc4HhkS9MzXQNhoJQ2kZf3ue8nFjJHpgkesqBWyquLgujDqSEEYp5CFFkA4j6I1xJTGffMAhpKYsELgS2AGKxetbyo4iTeD6bh1HSj/3hWIJQxSiTRupmeIDSE6mBXiYXCIo0hLUxFk+dfeNLQunuCAWv1WplZCTEVhJE1f0y9If+62q1MuNzPQPohpJIjZ2Y4dbwhjFNkzYkMZ3j/jROiAVHn0k6/g3sXoSzgPDW5dXV4XCQUKpkpwf2D/E20DQmhTCNR580FlhaMa92/ANkE9EFrs4siQOaPKCrVLdlW7WRl0YzL44HPwm8aDPv/s2ffvjHH711c3P5YrPwxs4DFNrLZtkJUR4DNzUpaMkNYQHrBD2xLvjVtu1isTCzPU1HFORkkblcLnW3brfb+/v70dds0QthFliIX50PgjE3IfL+oIMgzADnWsR7MDx9xKGBDzo6HE/eGM0xg8Fnr06nWQH5uYfdFiQdtuijAA52PWgEsPM6HnanwzGC0Blm0cj/EA/wruI4oDt3wu6jH4ZKA6Am62OdseeiMFgu5mHgt10bh+hmnOoWZ0gxQ1Fnwom70kl/qQvLrh5LPhTtQdLnWVRuYfmQSLwCAknkSJmKNiJUmaYiXw0U4YjM+kRdErtweY04MzLhIBQD1Np2PQuWOwSAuC+9beMt6zvtI4hanCbQCYNtB2CMQJN6oYdP0vRBVykWvPv86qP3XyQxWsEP263v+cslVFe7sfJ9FJU6e9KhUNg2Olo8qXHpbn18fLy4uAjD8OHhQWYOqmMkdqxj8PDw8Lvf/c7zvGdvPyuKghn2iekT4h8hPaBkKjdXKwsVK4oq2Dx4kCpGLI+SBD+AtcOUh045WJv1ek3rNK+t65bPN0kS9fCMtFvkGdGsyDpGNhrYBMaYFRMUxh3sIRbvqxXU0yHBOXUQIPDNpCfwffR7ze/OnooIEaYOZEgEG6meD9T1zlRzmfCVrlfjqmi6t1gsbHJqHE9FSmfiMkk2KLcTLk3T9/1+P45u/De1+x1w19z8VLWYiow2pVUAMldUkGeBiddXX5TEJ3ShIOQJ+ya/74CQRpYz4P7K8jQv8rIsb+/u8K6KuTfCZxN+N+hVOS8c45bagNwU43omsjN4ceJ0yYJIvUnFsyiKttutqpmvvvrqm2++qev65uYG+lpsd/MM48RxAievJ1mFUGxT+I4ATW7Bb9wxY0+KwaJ59fp7KLgsVnoPV1cgvxhdUtBAY/0YH9tpI5B0jYfljWkWcj8jxVQqqdNiFhFW66gLqI4MzVoIOzEVK24aNFHFjrcCU+1cU1fTMdX7UGSSxIg2n8UPhSUT5RNeUnMYc5syjruILepYSmFZaTW/rYujEKIrzDS1m7VMYkBohcwCV5e+9qWRwJSqa3qh42tTeaLta4ANPEDbBkqIAdgB5jbrrH6oQrB90iyHHwoavB0NWeVUgnTWBOHNoVapakNefp7nFxcX5lglDMV2u5UkuSq43W731VdfRVH0/Pnzy8tL7hgRoZFiEP8Cr3s5ORtNVzRgMWsc9loaJSwXNVzWVb5er03JEKaty+X5ImhTBmGYyY6cfFnlxBDDAQANq11WiA6S6RRp3OAnxjZSPFLnGUrZxufUBlI+YcN8u1VNN8EgoPodtqWU9U+YPlTscQw0gfaWhD2Kovj+++8heljXOsfWqjjfDfav5jZMojz0fvT8OtR6biqCwJDDYtHqOHAGRZcXe5G/RZ9CAuba/SIn62kpWoOjBNwl7E8DHywg2sQmgR/GUTqk3mzhxRH8MbveS9IiTf29hxxLz/WpauHJtt0WThmINE3n8zktyTqwqoZht9tJYCtN07u7u6+//joMw48//thGVeT0uhdjUk+bQebXGvHxg+BaFIYEjxa+nbjij4Ah0Sgzz6+vI7ugdW9IaEiLoNimZRQUO59DitXtDeZ2KCGT+HgCPAIgfn5Sw/WYOMa5Sr/Oiet26XE6fXk+Y4UrXUCi8il+KDyo5Nalo78XVlHxTD9rsU05lnmlWwoih2GLgnqXdixUxirBP51O2+0W0UV8amZmJWyTnMeK0i+7tZXDyTzQiGKKLrolFc806tHZ4FHpI6BnO88DmWUUBIPrO9L4SHZGzKJgYdRSx1/z8vMDKYVAa6ElSbJer7U+u91OeaoCcM7joaCS5/nPfvYzRbL1ei2/UYYWOYJB+7NpgJ4gnhazJQTyoYLicwrOj/oeBBFWXobwpua+wcLMl1fJhgBLvu/v93t50Wmv0I1+rCqIbSdMXYgYofEVO0xx1M9mBYzPJwL6OI6LxcKMVKxq1kNs2Uh3/TOde5tdks3cnHcLzQrTBCMV9tTRsAw9jmOhzYRx0wNQ8isxI30kq86cNdDU1NX71kPSHarC6v4eLoW+h89zcXGhWD2fzye25pONuln1qBmtk2qyHfqGxWJhU2FzzR36IY2DBir3Xp4mMo4FPw/zEHziLC+Avhy9sqwR3/Ic3jwjslJDg9qZUffSDlXEM6DUME3T9Xo9GYniuGpi/fOf/7wsyx//+McqPF2oDmAk4nktDKa4yYijho4G4yRVlSDWgk4CxZRdcDp3ZMP4C5CZ8OLiMkkhN6EUaMZSQCtjMwyIM1LWBSDnScYRIuyE754wxIR4mSK0nr5FKEUBZerqf6mrhcaCRB9lmWsYS+GJbWCnDWfSw6aqMIHdkH5dXl4aN0FRMIoi9W+hd//woEZlURS73c6UJrUDJHog8K32gfp+SgeLonjvvfcAh+KkSE8o5q2tZ6xmCupi0OOQdWoU/UCFun/W+VPGoIXWY9aRQEEXFiNZlmmSBlGEsmryxsLIlQNQUM0grZzUTQ0uIG8T283qaGgRFLzpTLy3Z3DuZ6rtpcz4r/7qr3a7nW5SjdLVisuLTFuUJREuemvhMgFCxq2hYhwn7GtAwMyjTw3arSlmPKoD9OzUflLyHYbhq1evpGknMMgkxMxLA7gkZw3d1pBD05mHu0WayVpUOxViR9MKm5aZYhOfEUIPUquC4FLbhlwRci6msKRMXDfdZrN58eLFOQJbt/7hcFDeGobh8XhUoYu32Lbz+VyxLc9hzJamKTY466/VanV3d9c0zYsXL3Qja7fd3d2laTqfz3X58ll6EQx23DFyDFCibyMfc7eupooJyeBtVXeji4gKD8oIHV58apPe3NzIUxaVR111PHmSiH/cbiEtM2PI9KrN5mJo4UEL8gwZOq5FjsYm+hoqWpum0bCh67rXr19L+m+z2ejS+Pzzz589e8ZxBdZnEi3r7u7u6rperVabzebZs2c3Nzcq01AlPD5uLi5Xq9X9/X3XdbPZTONBgYG1PgSW4QSmrF6P++3AwxnHSTtlt4QJQWNgvV53nfOO9TxvvV7rGCwWi9evX/d9v1wuMYaG5YXzIreAh4x8ViRJztPn7l9dcUpSJb1ovSdhPKMYmcBTx193nN10QunodtMlpdOgrELpoUKC7gvTkrUmiLWpzPPMGmZSByrL8v7+3sRR1avTRlS4VhvTNY2o4jXw4jMVUiWt+lKNacL30qwXtfCfqVwdj8f7+/s0TbfbbZ7nk9ZkgMfVNl6J3YspzWSCBmq/DXNJwMnZ64HgymTkZkWMFcsGqer4IlZs6qV2u502q6rOly9fqqFNeIETHBFkpq5RMIYhLdtIzWWjG9NDiXuCHseOODOfEXPxETkrId5InV0yDXkRlwiZFLDSoXPBcqootJ4HRgzMEuRbjcEoVjhDf6fpgQb1zx+B+iDaHnr6yp4pM5oOQ+36GlZUTnXlk2iPKd5KTV6x1FQYLC9RUNVbV8plmEfTODVTAW128wvT5MoGzDId0wLZG2va7rjHs5G5oopc/eD5K7tdBQQlhxlnpZCNN25ubhTVjkfMQna0qd9s1vvdQ5Sko+edUKAAnY6eAiFJ2B8IXkDrg93e1v4IATFT/7bV01G24kuBfODJ3O/3KocNkaArMgiCly9fqn43QoqeetNCYZogdSBWILiZgC5CdBbwWZLeI/QJHLvAQzch4TNSAj21oohyOPOht2qxbVuZCOpRYqIPNwIICviZo4NICY12YoA8SpbIgfl4zNRgMgqSqa2LC41dZNW4SjZdsb4PcLc6WPP5nFj/ajabWUPLFsIm7koM1d3QVaU719J8xV7rulmiqpLt/v5ed5yuhrIEhVgOt/i2CbCqgyKjanVxbbBzrvmGLpiQDP/rl2Xlui8UlW2JIS5SzOqqrlFtseXLKu4JKEv2aIz2QX86lCScuT6ntTBsaqJC2zkV9Wg1393dbTYblT7KYpXHqH+mpbD94bpITqgV7/BU4k73PO9x+6jT6LqsFej7FECAeYUNuEC2iF0DASX5JKxiA2sdDF3rWlJnkdHg7vNJmnMcH6WxmCqATZ2mOTQT+Ao6SK6dy0epkKmPiSQBUBTfxbPzDpnimYUBnVEpZNsuMQCCflyppbPoZijSza1FV01gFavek+TQ9FM6UrqdLfjpRXQldW1bZNl6tepa+AzXZTX2EHATmiD0KQ7S9cjOQF8I4TsGRZMndUinNsc/fPfdd6pOpG1bFAXbFgcMjGGeAqhzpOYF6iFkfD3k1wffB8soz9C2qCE4MgkyTPLNJoNqGbEWLWKAURjWl7EMD4eDUgUH2JpQynqEQECB1ex6zEyST69ff79cLubz2Tj25OJGfZ+ASYreX+CHBtz149RpFSaJkIKIXpbeaGVmM9iH2aSH+g8YMkHH6kxjX1JOI3Y8q3NQFGgRz3vJxBilRSxkgI5NeSqjOCFuYnoSBgpqWzLUWYYcj0e10NS+1/u2jrPNpnQEdWsoFtpgcbvdzucQJjGkvDXnTO1Rp0FyfOv12rr56t9UJxJu8yxDgfKkEWkDFqc6zqigiULVNuGAK8+yEGvYKnLobSvx1zmBs+PQlHVbgzqP20k/kueIpiQEQQgoH9M49GdZ2vYwaCd11glEaD/pNtEwTZlWx4VS7m9jVktYxSW2cYUpdHZdN1/O6QB41BROT4f3SjFQDEWVozrycHMbhjxbjK4j6B6rDVihlEyLT+vda6+fA2oQJmrElCyDF7vSrzRG8kTgFr28R1DuVFOfo4jFXbUunSmtwHPYaMAmfa3QqnxG70apt3aYSagZlMo8wixEK0gYYEH6GopbhovUpEWNIm1ireP5OEsAEHIAybOuaj9zb11vUt98nsZa0HKIBv4ia1sr9ojJY5ed2j9hFLaIimRLxgmAW8xCOAlmWA8H9HD5TMgIR4Z0PFXgZ0+Sl06RdUIE2VsapjIryzLBNHRRmDCglvqclmeAKLkXh6EPg0HkvmB+8CLeQn4WLDr0+YCo7towgAYPLGkRsIdqGjgSF80bOXQwnHMHE8ciZpAzEIOuEVc39JB6QIIPsGCYpo7Ma9egJcqTl8WTKiPu/WGMKIUKfAgB4BjDSs4eQlSjP5/lSRxVVUlQXjEMw+PjIxXRGhiyMs4lSdp3sU/KXhT6y8XM93BrcGoNr6GmLtsmD4Os7wDzwmeDr1aEDg20wRKxNfWOtbFQ5CJlTqoSBLiuaWOpGnOXDwPw0GV5UveE7xlcprZv/QbLGqeJH4X3jw84agLWcWNS1C389ptvXr16dXV1NZ/NFvP57e1tz2bpar2h7U2QwaULz7iPwq5t4F4NZxUMvsDOYEuegk2RNwx+iMu0BZfFRU27KHEJjl4BLD2Ge3XV+9C3rurq5K+WWZ6F/PiB70E+CHYOkKIYqIDk2vd9GwBLjHx3z9RCRdKRIyxyBPF0CPls5rNZAEWqMo6ixWw+jq0enEthwft1+sBQEMvTIAygCFNXkIjP06oCBqRrGyj8+F6L5LULsBkmTdIgSAkGSvNUahg6QnZBoQcEaTAIHGJ9/JFqYMjR6bIIyw8QYsh5706ALZCA7o0thh4cMgZBSZNYfxzqE/pyaZrNMghCU7orHNrGo89reTi0dRWM6Wm/75rmuNs+f+tZkiS77bZr2j2hoZeXG39o0ySBzRtsOKNguQgimATiwWFzeLBE8MbIHyM4eqJXcGrbOEoXi3mRJWnMBvLQ7/aPUPQYujwo8hT/i2hlcjjuYZ00eIfH7UhGzMUHH6RBtNvvf/a3f/eLf/zHjz766F/9yZ9cXV/VxzJL07Fpd7e38+UcQKCuOwEhPY/DiCq07TAC+xAFYZEjE+djQ5jFL0PRMYS+d9rvlptNXdVt3WR5jr/2xuVi1rV1W1dJGHptG3leHPiX61UaBW1VgtDQtV0Dwant/Z2M1TK2dUDXk51sXfVNnUXhCAsRH7QLThypIBiVRzSuFrPlLFfRh/ZPJreKsUug+eihy4rnDB2xPvCKHAC+43Hr+f58NqvLav9wm2f5xZKD1xoI8vp0YCe2zqB+DKHPfvAiSPVQ1gl8TVeggGMKD+yGMmx+147V6Qjwge+FXtxSLTQKfSDY8izTvQT5J+YWKS2SJbUFH2po6gxdWyVJupgVFNfGvcZZxOCPPaSkpYaD6nuIcKVA4Dbwx+W8OByP1enYd81iPkvTZLvdHnbb2dV1wl/P2AkIOaruCaMSBl4MBgrYykkcen3keBohgHxOVsIf6VxDx5csTXMoHspMJI7iosi9DnDvliOauq12D4/Scvrogw/8Yby+uYFB56kKaRw7hu1AYXzIIQbQ24HJL2IoLxcw19EbU+dZXR4oWSqphX4ORuzQdeNQC/k8JIa9ENDT0Ycwop8m8fG422xWcRQdjseGFjA4UXUJkWzaKyMAeGOeJagw2gYybXCNFXFrACyQHx6XZ1FEROCoP8BLcOx6mBmM3rA/7ClqBOZ9AzdVLyuyBsKKIESDvQT5LWiYRoG3XMxCpC6N7/Xe0B32ezlF40RF0LpTSkcegA+6gZw/JqSFMNxREMDTw/dblJxNeQJ5FHpECOcwJQcx9fER6p7NBDimrFOtaKmLXPe0DKpAx33CVjwxFpUtKSFgNwgdDdxrGNkKEQlNPxYWuFQ9XzlT540QuwQBkbAT/CeCreuqaqTwqCEGBBwpuqq6lbwzKT6o8AEur66JWcQ/MOc4nlyBPQwHNsHTNP3gjz7YrDfuQykdQdinoQiSUXTfHCfsjJJp5mh6ERSPfIQkXzgwWRAgMZLgGUmB4Nb0vLmRI6dJh4KQ4Ah6ewkdicwX+BHkc+ZjpBKHXnRPlUHotBxlf8Giytmlw08JCXPXpFk8DF5Dj59isYC0L7qYvPWSxGNxgzYgjyrq+rKcz2Z4+uwlWR/eiDPWr9GvE9c6htE1FlxVqlh9JHXomubbJpQBTGwI2rqBpqMZ2hhB06TzX2OVlIEczdXHDKDO8ZLKUdQAU9Zl5jphiH9VPYzKwEMiCRmFEWU23gyQAWMJefYOpyTwT/3JTfTs906lQJqhuWrSvVAMbdq2bsIR+AVltZqtKSbVVCqwdqJhhwIsFz6gkhiTLHjKygkelm8NagvmKPSEg8ACvCPalrwQdFxhkSRF1gAtT410fUKbVH5mWbbdbpumub6+tvLc6RBOUE0BeBRBJ74J3ZunalFKlJoBUiuk7od2sZhjFsdqg+Ik6IM6PXyQ7eDXIdE4GTrBzoxfKvLUc3HTqjPxIm1xiESmudh7ts9oOw7C3QRdxl0kJUSiVwYCkR8eNOaz/aERh4EyrMmrtTaJf9ujam3b0N2o5+pSat21lfWmi2KWgIroUVkfbSq0XpB4Om4ZNGX7/oDZRduS+FXW1ej5sfCYEN6CDaECA5qi5Oa7UiJw1E640EM7ydsfwC5FiuL7dVXdP9ypL8QKGmgEqXhqtKyIZcYLVnE7wcRp2IePyStMkv1ECkEZMMHHdb1yHcJBEhjcE12DuxICJ9M0z5rewp5oSW2UMp/P9bs0hq9h54VGqDpXbim4Dqp22J71VquFz/dgMDhj7FGXhWdmAsZ5o6dpuoBxI7FPdmjdr2PZqA8vK6CpXT9Cr9tYXmqSw4zbV8MEhHU8X5giuI2vnWjt7POeoVn36HCbA/CZVYX7hskoGftMS6y5r5E3n4DUCLYOteH7CHJB2438A94oC2loQo8RtN/5e6ghiCkbR0tOZsbzXSTTFoGiseioaUKLOuyS/R5YQg15xGQB8RNnA70V5GOyYlDpM2mF6LOc28eqrQo0lSiDsEjihj6CZ960HXIR3qGa/CYxmiadRPbRFcE22m63piBk0Ab1OxwYf0J6Wp/PujyUuMSLkDCM72GpjtVhkwhQgIzKNH2DCtqbcDFPY2u468HyRk8HFPn94e7u7vLy8uLiQmNKTR3OWSDCh2rg6lH6T4oFhokCer4fqIrCMIlNz0Ys5RYHiNdMjq2G+dEQ8MkPmyma0kDNBM1t6twdx5q9+q8mi2yW2+egkWl223tEUCm5gbDGtBdFJFF+o9+C+RVktt0sFeqkfPxUFXXjW4GkYHcahl4cj2jm4/wITaAXESTBsAYa1atN+uTWxu1lHrSG+reRq8Hd0NiFXiVMZPphLAokOufeW4pPMaT8EH89z7u9vaVpIRJECRuKN3A4HAx2YB9HuBIFWlONpHmFlESp3x6gd2+OKJJYA+uVfXWdW8t5QkBxnYGu+yBx/NZbbwldrFRBUc0MygUO1RLBf8MLmmmTkZHpgIbqIE3NV0cHdm7GFEbkHJ5pgbX1DW9oPXRjKGisZGMsraPeijarten1XvUi1sO0Ryg4mHvlKaWzW1vDOGm6SqJXii8URMbg0hS+BSA2eNlE9hzR/GZ4UHImAIg2tMmrNE2jDAk6yHyiNnzTqM2IKgbMFKlJjU0TiTYYrdI+xSr9jVTpIk7AzFhSPBRFDuBwOAVRApdl2Ww2u7i4EFnmeDxqVsgk8kmfuqkbJNCTAJHRIKg8irtSQwI1xg0NpstHb8wqtr7vbm5uoii6vb01G2F13dWug6qShk44OVRLmNoCki4gddSZqujGVxTXBMJB5YSUNwavrlFLS5WjHNA5w5dhCiwVteCvebkuHUN467qxM63FJe6q8YKwH9qmrFer9WK5PBwOx7JSVotAUoPFBF03bDYog+DswoOtbAhpgn/XCNGhruvpGhSB7zkM5als6sYbIIsfeP5sVlTVqeuaxWJWliCsHo97NfzGMa3rcrmcx3FYIyJmSQb8o46KDYiEr9fBM4KQltIf0cvIodgAXeogRKRpGtwyvGRxmx+PJ39EQFJPexzH6+tr3/cfHx9931+tVtpkxvWa+PSIKAIKCGom5pwPCAlbDFDahxrhxDRzdwszRc79Gqf+p6Gc5qcuKtc1XcUcG1koPZHDdZxUBtmM0STAKaQ9hHGKC7oDNJpDIkx61A4LJk1ZXdDEoumWA8PPDRlsSmWoRv2NDVzNWlo/YqQB43HY7lTksIT6fIKuw4e6lyn/qUSQ8AOEa8h1T/6eBsCa7vEeE6R0rJs6ihHwDGpMuy10Ac30Sn8Oo3CzxFN88+aNQjJmyT7enjb9OI6HA4A6mptBIDh1orXmimV3qE3rLNehVYwQpFCu0z1ukcwEc6hV4Wk0bJmJ8jB9CnPlNVaB7nRTHtXfONcsIuHwg+omTCoQzss2FNQbz6RpARuW4RJwTEbxZ5+SNin4KstyvVg2JRDkKjA1hdN8XYWnzpsoDnGSLmJAynwfpaVaOYgudJIw3pQIaYo+Tv363HXMRpzGeFOucD7lVcyzBEUx7LwasETNDsE5MUbfVhRFeTjqbYEMwtpK17mbtGrhAkge+57XdF0izh/FDWDQZa6i/hPYsO/6GEb3UArwBrBtlV5I40PBXMwrK2uM8UBy/NM+O7dwNJ0p/VJT6IW3z9nVyY8NvZlpx0B3gtp3PrIlrup8PhNYSAtrNDPtAxO3Om8o2LnVIXLdACDIJ7DdNMnGJ/WTJEMXvvfhGd3zx2HDNGV+mNhqTjf9Cs6AUDRooRQOJJBhPR3jm1C2KICVCs+nKRsjvqDV7MoLdPWJ/kSY58lEGq7XMsaLIrZRYgyzdq4mZ1A+S9GmBo+rQI19dDgcFDPO+1VJEp94lLH0AB+g6+H1aI5Y+HQ68rTtwVXoHyFWSsgAgsQEDzEcDi1I/QQuz0T5EfKllF97y07nOeTOGoTnAEM7NibVro9gSaHLFugLBLzNpJ9I5UQHHoZYa+LnRa6aV89YCC2BvZxUIjeTEBMGI1BEsRvAIYXOAJs+nNKfYGSTFifd3LMMRFcfkBDd+yN1ys9NJgEVYG1ojRuVlnZB6WKxnohtgCTNIPrno2g1wq8aJAkM8Dhr7zoM+ij6gn4vLlYS0iyGWXtMDUPj9yomGUJSK6Vi5Fzh8ryde94aOEe2WYFNOBf6YYyX5BJTHNQsFzhmcY26uqkPZZnmhVyCJJCpxKVr21kxo67QgIsDdEvowUShq9rIwNtFUXwFPY49BfSTtoX4Y1HkoG+geT0sFsDay3vUeEr2ng3zYzAqzRLEV2haGFglKeaPzr1AKjXMjsdpWBJMsnuG4LDDCf1EIuttoSxGGrID2s3BdAb8wEThJZWm1h7NPjiEmh4cisF+eIJUgDjo0djridVsj9L2kzWTjchTFFC/YwOvSVJKpvFLUZBS3WNXunY9vQa1ek4M2skHW2DQlzaN8lnXoJvuViVGGo8oSOhA6M8W8/RtKghUT5jBjCOjet4csp1O8xxHecIOGThWolQy3mm6Ni1mxDgQvSg7N2ageIQ+hp367bjOaK0Q0Jah70EJUREuFZnFAs976qN2ux0usvV6bUAdC5AKYGolmgSQca56iNGFLY5Bl0/sdieuOTH7hRgdxEHsgFc5D/yaIerF9TdGQTUUl2106GmyDuAmdg0gLpHr7pL04aDYKsh0758IY7y+vkY3e0RVqxd38mFE99inMxq9XdkmbaQASSVh1ytReqAZjIDdEyIIPQF3ZtgSdmfUVGRt06jMNhCVKyJIYtPHtv6+XTrmEmrLPWFCHF37aQNRqwg9m8GrqrqHgSHur3NU8TnYGq2vLJ/PZ5QpdTWmwkAGmizELbuB1FzouLp2BkzjKKNXVZVKd1G2BKq22kUZLtoN67Umpyb4aw0zg2Gas6nDrE4+3S7dceusQQ1HI9SHivjwEH3Z9zKerBIyEz1wseEM9amN7qaCkBedGvHIU13SdjatcY+2nyYlSk/L48kNbzBIQJiH/HaDS8mB6Wk9c97Y0r8q4ijQ6v3QWNjlcFyfFqWVrkRWQsb/1ayshxVQFw+DE3C07WLAS604Z2FjQg1ibR0VQZqTCF9vcnzG0TXVTJ0YC7+WV2rEoI0oECUpuQgPgHyAdEG/HMf5wZQ9TFLqtMuCj2DUugaEJs970PAjOv/1rdfBaRD67Sn1bp2OyPX1tWasBuizdFvATJ40sMzHEehIOLnKsQtmSYjKdpvbRdCFkKKIg2j0XNe667uAv8IVSQ0cYRMCaz1veNxtzwXL5S4vDKrluBbGDE//1FPFxnKFGkbpDOTMIDH8oXQoPJa8YIzCeIB4PFsBUAZ1RFdRHFBx0+XT9zGuhcn6BL6w+1rhQDHMYjwmHGkWJUAHjWg5Aa+GgwSbC9BypClkl5+bmsS4VYGfUskgN2ANreA52tIGwfcb2CA4kXrI7/LccDjrEjLeVnCtGOCFQ+PZfgDtwU/Kupok0/G7T7CxhuOTFgXJb1UW+SyJwqZzaKKhhY4X9DgBWwmo2o6GmZx4hq5PojhM6ZE2qXfTJT6BWJIjBRE/hIjbeYMXJ3Ef9XEU77Y7aSlst1s4pimRH735bN7Wre9DndoPYw8AEEpqwOIT+SJTSc0mGNRdIQKrDSrTB0nmbNcAH5KFOb7NvZUWQrtRkhWgLQEV28jYNJx2GNLM0wmVMjy+gA+FO4znAWTNgyZxaxpnOeA7TUrBQ09BsGuBYmJiyu1CnCLUshDX4yiaM+t1ibJuldGH/CzOfzwOuNqh0Av4Jv7AGTsFb2kVByculrf0ZNHDxEaHxBqLD0CPRx+SJETISnRSaaj8UHwv+J/yq4rJYRBnfwAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==) The original inverted triangle. 1619, p. 27. Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung, Zürich · e-rara · DOI 10.3931/e-rara-8968 · Public Domain Mark. **HY_P2S009** 1619 pp 27 · scans ER031 **German** Ænigma. Dieses Steins geschlecht ist allenthalben Sein empfengnus geschicht in der helln Sein geburth hat er auff Erden (inn) Sein leben find er im Himmel Sein sterben verzicht er in der zeit Nach dem erlangt es die Seligkeit. **English** Riddle. The kindred of this stone is everywhere. Its conception takes place in hell. It has its birth upon the earth. It finds its life in heaven. It draws out its dying in time; Afterwards it attains blessedness.[^n46] **HY_P2S010** 1619 pp 27–28 · scans ER031, ER032 **German** Wann man nuhn solche angedeute vngemeine materiam (so zu theil Himlisch / zum theil auch jrrdisch / vnd im anfang eine rechte Confusion od’ ein vermischetes wesen / auch mit keiner gantz vernemlichen farb / an zumelden ist) bey der hande hat / zu dem auch recht vnd wol erkant / (welche erkanung dann die Philosophi zu jeden zeiten für das principal stück in diesem werck geachtet) müsse derselben jhr recht / als jr weiters gebühret vnd in jhrer præparation erfordert / mit fleiß geleistet vnd præstiret werden. Ehe aber vnd zuvor einige handarbeit mit solcher angefangen oder fürgenommen würde / soll nothwendigen der Gottesförchtiger Artista abermahls der vorgegebenen Lehr vnd ermanung gantz fleißig erinnert vnd ermahnet / benebẽ auch trewlich gewarnet sein / daß er sich mit solchem geheimen Werck vnd vnzerstörlichen Geist / so darinnen verborgen ist / doch ja nicht einlasse / er habe dann denselbigen in seinen tieffen ergrünten qualiteten vnd eigenschafften recht vnd wohl / zuvornhin Natur gemes erkennet vnd erlernet. **English** Once you have this exceptional matter at hand—partly heavenly and partly earthly, and at first properly a confusion or mingled being that cannot be described by any entirely discernible colour—and have also recognised it rightly and well, you must diligently give it its due, meeting what further belongs to it and is required in its preparation. The philosophers have always regarded this recognition as the principal element in the work. But before any manual labour is begun or undertaken with it, the God-fearing artist must again be diligently reminded and admonished to heed the foregoing teaching. He must also be faithfully warned not to engage with this secret work and the indestructible spirit concealed within it unless he has first rightly and thoroughly recognised and learned that spirit’s deeply grounded qualities and properties in accordance with nature.[^n47] **HY_P2S011** 1619 pp 28–29 · scans ER032, ER033 **German** Wie dann ein Philosophus warnet vnnd spricht: Mit diesem Geist soltu dich nicht einlassẽ / du habest dann zuvor gnugsamlich seine erkanung vnd wissenschafft. Dann Gott wunderbarlich in seinen Wercken / vnnd seine Weißheit hat keine zahl / welcher auch mit jhme nicht schertzen läßt / da dann solcher Exempla etliche könten erzehlet werden / wie sich mancher leichtfertiger weise solches hohen Wercks vnderfangen vnd ermassen / aber darmit angelauffen / das etliche wol eins theils todt bey solchem gar gefunden / oder sonsten durch vnglückhafftigen zustandt gefehrlich dadurch beschädiget worden seindt / sintemahl es nit so ein gering ding / wie etliche jnen trewmen lassen / vermeinen / weil die Philosophi solches einem Kinderspiel vnd Weiber arbeit verglichen / sie dasselbig auch so leicht vnd gering achten / welches aber die nit also gemeinet / sondern die nacharbeit in diesem werck / so an jhm selbst gar gering vnnd leicht / dadurch verstanden / vnd solche nur denjenigen die von Gott dazu gewürdiget / vnnd mit erkantnus desselben begabet / also schlecht vnd geringschätzig angedeutet haben. Darumb so schawe zu / daß du nicht vnbedächtlich mit solchem zu früh hierin außgehest / sondern alles dein vorhaben mit dem gebeth vnd hülff Gottes / wie im anfang erinnert / zuvor anfahest / so wirstu als dann nichts zu förchten / auch keiner gefahr dörffen gewertig seyn. **English** As one philosopher warns and says: “Do not engage with this spirit unless you first have sufficient knowledge and understanding of it.” For God is wonderful in his works and his wisdom is without number, and he will not allow himself to be trifled with. Some examples could be recounted of people who rashly undertook and presumed upon this high work and came to grief: some were even found dead at it, while others were seriously injured through unfortunate accidents. It is not such a trifling matter as some imagine in their dreams. Because the philosophers compared it to child’s play and women’s work, these people think the whole thing easy and insignificant. But the philosophers did not mean it in that way. They meant the subsequent work, which in itself is very simple and easy; they described it in such plain and modest terms only for those whom God had deemed worthy and gifted with knowledge of it. Take care, then, not to rush prematurely and thoughtlessly into it. Begin all your undertakings with prayer and God’s help, as urged at the outset; then you will have nothing to fear and need expect no danger.[^n48] **HY_P2S012** 1619 pp 29–30 · scans ER033, ER034 **German** Derohalben wann du dich nuhn in deinem oratorio mit ernst geübet / vnnd die Materi erkant auch bey handen hast / so magstu als dann hernach im Laboratorio deinen fleiß auch anwenden / vnd die darzu gehörige arbeit vnter die handt nehmen / vnnd einen anfang machen. **English** Therefore, when you have earnestly exercised yourself in your oratory, and have recognised the matter and have it at hand, you may afterwards apply your diligence in the laboratory, take up the labour belonging to it and make a beginning.[^n49] **HY_P2S013** 1619 pp 30–31 · scans ER034, ER035 **German** Erstlich mustu dieselbe offt ermelte materiam oder primum Ens, so die Philosophi auch das höchste gut der Natur genennet / vor allen dingen dissoluiren vñ aufflösen. Es von seiner aquositet vnd terrestreitet (dann es anfangs ein jrrdisches schweres Corpus, ein rauhes / zehes / schleimiges vñ nebel wässeriges Corpus anzusehen ist) purificirn vnd reinigen / auch seinen dunckeln dickenblickigen schatten / mit welchem es obumbrirt, jhme abnehmen / damit also nach solche durch fernere Sublimation, jhm sein Hertz vnd innerliche seel / so in jhm verborgen / auch auß jhm diuidirt vnd genommen / vnd in ein lieblich wesen gebracht werden möge. Solches aber alles durch das grosse Catholische Meerwasser / welches durch seinen schnellen gleichsfliessenden ab vnd zulauff den gantzen Erdkreiß befeuchtet vnd fruchtbar machet / vnd darzu auch so süß / schön klar / hell vnd fürleuchtend / daß es weit höher vnd schöner dann Goldt vnnd Silber / oder einem Carbunckel / diamant glantz mit verwunderung anzuschawen ist / geschehe / in welches gesegnete Wasser gemelte materia in jhr auch beschließlich vereiniget sey. **English** First and above all you must dissolve and open up the repeatedly mentioned matter, or first being, which the philosophers also called nature’s highest good. Purify and cleanse it of its wateriness and earthiness—for at first it appears as an earthly, heavy body, rough, tenacious, slimy and mistily watery. Remove also the dark, thick-looking shadow that overshadows it, so that afterwards, by further sublimation, its heart and inward soul, concealed within it, may also be separated and taken out of it and brought into a lovely state. All this is to be done through the great universal sea-water, which moistens and makes fruitful the whole earth with its swift, evenly flowing ebb and flood. It is also so sweet, beautifully clear, bright and shining that it is a far more exalted and beautiful marvel to behold than gold and silver or the gleam of a carbuncle or diamond. The said matter is to be enclosed and united within this blessed water.[^n50] **HY_P2S014** 1619 pp 31–32 · scans ER035, ER036 **German** Solch extrahirte Hertz / seel vnd Geist / mustu ferner mit seinem eigenen Saltz (welches vorgedäuter massen auch sonderlich inserirt, vnnd an seiner farb in seinem innern Blutroth / nach seiner zubereitung aber / weiß / hell / klar vnd durchscheinend ist / vnd dann von den Philosophis sal Sapientiæ genennet wirdt) widerumb distilliren, auch congeliren, daß es abermals ein einiges ding werde: Also daß durch solchen deinen bißher gehabten process (welches die vorarbeit genent) erstlich nur das reine vom rauhen separirt, vnd das sichtbar vnsichtbar / vnd dann hernach das vnsichtbare wider sichtbar vnd begreifflich gemacht hast / welches als dann nicht mehr so schwer / rauh / vnnd vnfreundlich / wie im anfang / sondern auff das lieblichste / auch wol geschmackt / an geruch / beissend auch scharpff / auff der Zungen zu prüfen / auch subtiler durchtringender vnnd flüssiger alß ist / also da es von dem lufft frey stünde / von sich selbs (so es doch an jhm selbst fix darinn ist) sich hinweg schwingen vnd verschwinden thet / geschicht vnnd gespüret wird / darumb es die weisen Aquam mercurialem oder Mercurium solis, auch jhren Mercurium genennet haben. In welcher angedeuteten gestalt / solch subiectum ohne ferner præparation dir also / wenn du es zu der medicin brauchen woltest / ein noch wenig behülffliches / sondern vielmehr ein schedlich gifft sein würde. Derowegen wann du seiner reichen gabe vnnd seligen nutzen geniessen wilt / mustu als dann weiteres procedirn vnnd fortfahren / vnnd durch andere sonderbahre mittel vnd arbeit ferner zubereiten wissen. **English** You must further distil this extracted heart, soul and spirit again with its own salt, and also congeal it, so that it becomes one single thing once more. This salt is also particularly incorporated in it in the manner already indicated. In colour it is blood-red inwardly, but after its preparation white, bright, clear and transparent; the philosophers then call it the salt of wisdom. Through the process you have performed so far, which is called the preliminary work, you have first separated only the pure from the rough, made the visible invisible, and then made the invisible visible and tangible again. It is then no longer so heavy, rough and unfriendly as at the beginning, but most delightful and agreeable to the taste and smell, biting and sharp upon the tongue, and also subtler, more penetrating and more fluid. It is found and perceived that, if freely exposed to the air, it would rise away and vanish of itself, although it is fixed in itself within the work. For this reason the wise called it mercurial water, mercury of the sun and also their mercury. In the form just described, however, this subject would still be of little help if you wished to use it as a medicine without further preparation: it would rather be a harmful poison. If you wish to enjoy its rich gift and blessed benefits, you must therefore proceed and advance further, knowing how to prepare it by other particular means and labour.[^n51] **HY_P2S015** 1619 pp 32–33 · scans ER036, ER037 **German** Hierzwischen soltu aber auch nothwendig darbey fleissig erinnert sein / daß du gute merckung gebest auff die werck / wie nemblich die Natur mit der zeit sich in ihrer operation verhalte / daß du dich derselben in allen dingen in diesem deinem laboriren auch ja richten thuest: Wann du solches weist / so nehme als dann der obgemeinen præparirten Wassermaterien 2.theil / auß demselbigen widerumb nacher vnterschiedlich 3.theil. Die 2.theil thue fleissig verwaren vnd auffhalten. Zu dem vorigen 3.theil mustu dann erst wider / eine andere materialische materien / welches dann auch das allerschönste vnd von Gott erschaffene höchste begabte Goldt Corpus (daß der primæ materiæ am nehesten verwandt vnd am ahnemblichsten ist) einen theil gegen dem zwölfften theil / zurechten / zu der ersten fermentation besetzen / vnd mit jhm vereinigen thuen / dann beyde als die vorigen gleichsam / Geistliche vnd Himmlische præparirte wasser Materia / vnnd diß jrrdische Corpus solis, zusammen coniungirt, vnd zu einem Leib gemacht werden müssen. **English** Before doing so, however, you must be diligently reminded to pay close attention to the works: observe how nature conducts its operation over time, and direct yourself by it in every aspect of your labour. Once you know this, take two parts of the prepared watery matter described above, and divide from it again three distinct parts. Carefully preserve and keep back the two parts. To the former third part you must first add another material matter: the most beautiful and most highly endowed body of gold created by God, which is most closely related and most acceptable to the first matter. Prepare one part against the twelfth part for the first fermentation, and unite it with the water. For the prepared watery matter, which is as it were spiritual and heavenly, and this earthly body of the sun must both be conjoined and made into one body.[^n52] **HY_P2S016** 1619 pp 33–35 · scans ER037, ER038, ER039 **German** Hirbey aber ist zumercken / daß das gemeine Goldt hierzu nicht füglich / sondern vndüchtig vnd gleichsam Todt zurechnẽ ist / vnd ob es wohl von Gott vor allen andern metallen für das allerschönste vnd köstlichste qualificirt vnd gewürdiget worden: so ist doch solches / weil es noch in den mineralien vnd Ertzgruben gewest / etlicher massen an seiner vollkommenheit zuwachsen verhindert worden. Zu deme auch wirt solches durch den langwirigen brauch an seinen innerlichen kräfften / daß ist / seinem habenden Schwefel (welches dann seine anima ist) gar zu sehr geschwechet / vnd auch noch immerdar / mit andern vnziemlichen Dingen / so jhme nicht bequem / vermenget vnd vereiniget / vnnd vngereiniget / dadurch es dann je lenger je mehr / vntauglicher zu solchem allhier gemacht wirt: Darumb so schaw / wie du ein pur vnd auch lebendig Geist habendes Goldt zuwegen bekommest / daß an seinem Schwefel / wie oben gemeld / noch vngeschwecht / vnnd auch mit einem betrug niemals gefelschet / sondern gantz vnd gar (wann es durch den Antimonium oder durch den Himmel vnd Sphæram Saturni gegangen / vnd sich alda von seinen sordib. depurirt) rein vnd pur befunden werde / sintemahl sonsten die ander materi mit jhrem Geist vnd krafft ihrer ingression in diß nit haben mag / dann diß werck allerdings einen reinen Leib erfordert vnnd haben will / auch durchauß / bey vnd neben jhm nichts vnreins oder vnziemliches leiden oder gedulden kan. **English** Note here, however, that common gold is unsuitable for this purpose and is to be reckoned unfit and, as it were, dead. Although God has qualified and honoured it above all the other metals as the most beautiful and precious, while it was still in the minerals and ore-pits it was to some extent prevented from growing to full perfection. Moreover, through prolonged use its inward powers—that is, the sulphur it contains, which is its soul—are greatly weakened. It is also continually mixed and united with other inappropriate things unsuited to it, and left unpurified, so that it becomes increasingly unfit for the present purpose. See therefore that you obtain gold that is pure and also possesses a living spirit, still unweakened in its sulphur, as stated above, and never fraudulently adulterated. It must be found wholly clean and pure after passing through antimony or through the heaven and sphere of Saturn, where it is cleansed of its impurities. Otherwise the other matter cannot enter it with its spirit and power. This work requires and demands an entirely pure body and can in no way endure or tolerate anything impure or inappropriate beside or within it.[^n53] **HY_P2S017** 1619 pp 35–36 · scans ER039, ER040 **German** Wann du nuhn also beyde Wasser vnnd Goldts vngleiche theil (so nicht allein der qualitet sondern auch der quantitet nach / grosse vngleichheit seindt / dann das erste wann es præparirt / leicht / lind / subtil vnd weich ist / das ander aber gar schwer / vest vnd hart ist) in eine soluir schalen zusammen gemacht vnd gleichsam zu einem truckenen liquori oder amalgama gemacht seindt: So laß solche erstlich 6. oder 7.tag in einer gar linden Wärm stehen / daß es nur lawlecht zu spüren ist / vnd als dann ferner von den zuvorgehalten 3.theilen Wassers / widerumb ein theil genommen / solches in ein rundes vnzerbrechliches gläsern Geschirr oder Faß / gleich einem phiol oder Ey: setz den temperirten liquorem mitten darein / laß es abermals 6. oder 7.tag also stehen / so wirdt der Corpus solis algemach durch dz Wasser dissoluirt vñ auffgelöset: da als dann die Coniunction dieser beyden angehet / vnd also eines in dem andern so lieblich vnd fein wie Eiβ in einem warmen Wasser sich vermischet. Welches die Philosophi auff mancherley arth angedeutet / vnnd einer gespons vnd jhrem Breutigam (wie auch Salomon in seinem hohen lied sagt) verglichen haben. **English** When you have thus brought together in a dissolving dish the unequal parts of water and gold—unequal not only in quality but also greatly in quantity, for the first, when prepared, is light, gentle, subtle and soft, while the other is very heavy, firm and hard—and made them, as it were, into a dry liquor or amalgam, let this stand first for six or seven days in very gentle warmth, just perceptibly lukewarm. Then take one part from the three parts of water previously kept back and put it into a round, unbreakable glass vessel or flask, shaped like a phial or egg. Place the tempered liquor in its midst and let it stand in this way for another six or seven days. The body of the sun will gradually be dissolved and opened by the water. Then the conjunction of these two begins, and one mingles so delicately and pleasantly in the other as ice in warm water. The philosophers have indicated this in many ways and compared it to a bride and her bridegroom, as Solomon also says in his Song of Songs.[^n54] **HY_P2S018** 1619 pp 36 · scans ER040 **German** Wann nuhn solches geschehen / so nehme als dann das erst außgezogne dritte theil solchens auch darzu / doch nicht zu einem oder auff einen tag / sondern zu vnterschiedlichen 7.mahlen / dann das eingesetzte Corpus sonstẽ gar zu feucht vnd vberschwembt / auch letztlich gar verderben werden möchte. Dann wie kein Samen / wann er in dz Erdreich gesetzet / vnnd im anfang zu viel Wasser / Regen oder nässe hat / nicht hervorkommen kan (sondern wie der Bawersman Saat ertrincken thut) also ist es auch mit diesem ebenner massen beschaffen. **English** When this has happened, take the third part first withdrawn and add that too, but not all at once or in one day: add it on seven separate occasions. Otherwise the body placed in the vessel might become much too wet, be flooded and finally be wholly spoiled. For just as a seed planted in the earth cannot sprout if at the beginning it has too much water, rain or moisture—the farmer’s seed drowns—so the case is exactly the same here.[^n55] **HY_P2S019** 1619 pp 36–37 · scans ER040, ER041 **German** Wann nuhn solches auch verrichtet / so sigillir vnd verlutir daß Glaß auffs fleissigste zu / damit das eingesetzte Compositum nit verzauche / oder hinweg fliehen thue: setze es als dann in deinen darzu gehörigen ofen / gib jhme eines grads hoch / gar ein lindes / vnd stetes / auch lüfftiges vnd dempffiges Fewer / dessen wärme gleich als wann ein Hänn vber jhren Eyern sitzt / zuvergleichen ist. **English** When this too has been done, seal and lute the glass with the greatest care, so that the compound placed within it cannot escape or fly away. Then place it in the appropriate furnace. Give it fire of the first degree: very gentle and steady, also airy and vaporous, with a warmth comparable to that of a hen sitting upon her eggs.[^n56] **HY_P2S020** 1619 pp 37–38 · scans ER041, ER042 **German** Nota. Die Philosophi haben viel von dem vaporischen Fewer geschrieben / welches sie ignem Sapientiæ genennt / darneben vermeldt es sey kein materialisch oder Elementarisch / sondern ein Essentialisch oder vbernatürlich Fewer / welches auch wohl ein Göttliches Fewer genennet wirdt / das ist aqua Mercurii, welches mit dem gemeinen Fewer durch hülff vnd Kunst angereitzet wirdt / jhne es anfangs stätiglichen miteinand’ digeriren vnd kochen: vnd gib fleissig achtung daß beyleib sich nichts darvon sublimire, oder wie die Philosophi paraboliren / das Weib den Mann nie vberherrsche / oder der Mann dem Weib zu gewaltig werde / etc. welches dann seinen proceß ferner nach einander ohne einige weitere darzu gehörige arbeit (ausgenommẽ die wartung des Fewers) von jme selbsten allein verrichten thut: als erstlich wie es das jrrdische zugeführte Corpus solis durchaus soluiert / zermalmet / zerstöret / vnnd erfaulet / auch aller seiner habenden kräfften beraubet / alda es dann anfenglich eine dunckele / hernach gar eine schwartze farb veruhrsachet / welches die Philosophi caput corui, oder jhr Raben haupt genannt / vnd gemeiniglich in40.tagen geschehen thut / also das letztlich in solchen seine anima auch außgezogen vnd jhm benommen / vnd in die höhe geführet / auch gantz vnd gar gescheiden wirdt: davon es eine zeitlang ohne alle krafft gantz erstorben am boden deß Glases wie ein Aschen liegen bleibe. **English** Note. The philosophers have written much about the vaporous fire, which they called the fire of wisdom. They also stated that it was not a material or elemental fire, but an essential or supernatural fire, which is also called a divine fire. This is mercurial water, stirred into action with the help of art by common fire. At the beginning, let the two digest and cook steadily together, and take diligent care that nothing whatever sublimes away from it. Or, as the philosophers put it in parables, the woman must never rule over the man, nor must the man become too violent towards the woman. The work then performs its process successively by itself, without any further labour beyond tending the fire. First it thoroughly dissolves, crushes, destroys and putrefies the earthly body of the sun that has been added, depriving it of all its powers. At first this produces a dark colour and afterwards an entirely black one, which the philosophers called caput corvi, or their raven’s head. This generally happens in forty days. In the end its soul is also drawn out, taken from it and carried upward, being wholly separated, so that for a time it lies at the bottom of the glass like ash, completely dead and devoid of all power.[^n57] **HY_P2S021** 1619 pp 38–39 · scans ER042, ER043 **German** Nach verschienener zeit aber / weil es mit dem Fewer eines grads weiter erhöhet / vnd vnuertrossen digerirt wirdt / gibt es sich auch gemach tropfflicht wider hernider / imbibirt, befeuchtet / trencket vnd erquicket also daß Corpus, daß es nicht gar verschmachte vnnd verbrennen thue: steiget darnach wider obersich / dann wider vndersich / vnn solches geschicht auch vngefähr zu7.mahlen: als dann das Fewer abermals eines grads stercker gerichtet werden muß / doch nicht der meynung / als wann du darmit eilen soltest. Dann das mittel vnd regiment deß Fewers / an welchem am meisten geles / durchaus fleissig gehalten wil werden. **English** After some time, however, as it is further raised with fire of one degree and steadily digested, it gradually returns downward in drops, imbibing, moistening, soaking and refreshing the body so that it does not wholly languish and burn. It then rises upward again and descends again. This happens approximately seven times. The fire must then be arranged one degree stronger, yet this does not mean that you should hurry it. The measure and governance of the fire, upon which most depends, must be maintained diligently throughout.[^n58] **HY_P2S022** 1619 pp 39–40 · scans ER043, ER044 **German** Hierzwischen aber werden im Glaß oder Faß mancherley zeichen vnnd farben / darauff dann wohl achtung zugeben / vnnd man sich auch darnach zurichten hat / erscheinen werden: wann man nu solche nach einander sihet / so ist es ein gut anzeigung / daß es zu einem glücklichen außgang kommen werde. Erstlich erzeigen sich körner / gleich wie Fisch augen / dann ein circkel vmb die Materi / so gleichsam rothlecht / dann einmal weißlecht / ferners wirdt es grün vnd gelb gleich einem Pfawen schwantz: hernach auff das allerschönste weiß / vndtlich gar Fewer vnd Blutroth / biß nach vergangener zeit / wann dem werck ein grösser Fewer vnd hitz geben / die Seel vnd Geist / mit seinem am boden ligenden Leib / widerumb vollkömlich in eine vnzertrennliche vnnd vnaußlößliche fixigkeit vereiniget worden ist / welche vereinigung dann wegen grosser vnaußsprechlicher verwunderung / auch ohne bestürtzung / forcht vnd schrecken nicht wol kan gesehen vnd betrachtet werden: als dann ein new aufferwecktes / lebendiges / vollkommenes vnd glorificirtes Corpus gesehen vnd gefunden wirt / welches dann die allerschönste purpurfabröthe gleich einem Scharlach in sich hat / dessen Tinctur hernach alle andere imperfecta corpora immutirt, tingirt vñ heilt / davon hernacher weiters anregung geschehen. **English** Meanwhile many signs and colours will appear in the glass or vessel. Observe them carefully and direct yourself accordingly. If you see them follow one another, this is a good indication that the work will reach a fortunate end. First there appear grains like fish-eyes, then a circle around the matter, somewhat reddish, and then at one point whitish. It next becomes green and yellow like a peacock’s tail, afterwards most beautifully white, and finally fiery and blood-red. After time has passed and greater fire and heat have been given to the work, the soul and spirit are fully reunited with their body lying at the bottom, in an inseparable and indissoluble fixed state. This union is such a great and inexpressible marvel that it can scarcely be seen and contemplated without astonishment, fear and trembling. Then a newly risen, living, perfect and glorified body is seen and found, containing the most beautiful purple-red colour, like scarlet. Its tincture afterwards changes, tinges and heals all other imperfect bodies, as will be discussed further below.[^n59] **HY_P2S023** 1619 pp 40 · scans ER044 **German** Wann dann das Werck mit Gottes hülff also zu einem glückseligen end gebracht / vnd der Weisen edler Phænix oder wunder Vogel erhohen / so wirstu als dann abermahl mit gebogenen Knien vnd Hertzen dem Allmächtigen / der dann der fürnembste regierer dieses gantzen Wercks gewesen ist / für seine erzeigte herrliche wolthat vnd gnade zudancken / ferner solches auch zu seinem lob vnd Ehr / vnd den dürfftigen almosen recht anlegen / vnd zu brauchen wissen. Also hastu hiemit wahrhafftig den rechten bericht deß gantzen proceß / mit welchem diese edle Kunst vnd hohes Werck / als dz Philosophische Ey vnd der Stein der Weisen / auffgeschlossen / zu / zubereitet vnd verfertiget werden kan. **English** When, with God’s help, the work has thus been brought to a fortunate end and the noble phoenix or wonder-bird of the wise has arisen, you must again, with knees and heart bowed, thank the Almighty, who has been the chief governor of this whole work, for his glorious benefit and grace. You must also know how to apply and use it rightly for his praise and honour and for alms to those in need. Here, then, you truly have the correct account of the whole process by which this noble art and high work—the philosophical egg and the Stone of the Wise—can be opened, prepared and completed.[^n60] **HY_P2S024** 1619 pp 41–42 · scans ER045, ER046 **German** Hierbey muß auch zum beschluß dieses theils ferner angezeigt werden / daß so vielleicht hierinnen / ein vngefehrlicher fehler oder ein mißgriff (wie dann bald geschehen / der doch zur perfection sehr hinderlich) mit vnterlieffe / vnd sich zutriege / wie solchem bey zeiten rath geschafft / oder abgeholffen werden möchte. Wann du nun erstlich sihest / daß vor der dissoluirung vnd schwertze sich etwas sublimirt vnd auffsteigt / oder aber gleichsam wie ein rothes öhl (welches dann gar ein böß zeichen ist) oben auff d’ Materien schwimmen thut. Zum andern wann es herneben auch vor od’ nach der weisse / zubald wolte beginnen roth zu werden. Zum dritten wann es am end sich nicht geben / vnnd recht coaguliren wolte lassen. Zum vierten / wann die Materi durch die Hitz also verendert vnd verkehrt worden wehre / daß sie / wann man es herauß nähme auff einem glüenden Eisen / nicht als bald / wie ein Wachs / schmeltzen vnd fliessen thut / vnd das Eisen tingirn vnd ferben / auch im Fewer hernach nicht bestehen vnd fix erfunden werden wolte. Solches seindt alles merckliche zeichen daran zu mercken / daß diß Werck nit recht angestellet / vnd geregiret / oder aber sonsten vnfleissig verwahrloset worden ist. **English** To conclude this part, it must further be shown how a chance error or mistake might be remedied or corrected in time if one should creep in or occur, as can easily happen, although it greatly hinders perfection. First, you may see something sublime and rise before the dissolution and blackness, or something like a red oil float on top of the matter: this is a very bad sign. Second, the matter may begin to turn red too soon, either before or after whiteness. Third, at the end it may refuse to yield and coagulate properly. Fourth, the matter may have been so altered and spoiled by the heat that, if taken out and placed upon a glowing iron, it does not immediately melt and flow like wax, tinge and colour the iron, or subsequently remain stable and be found fixed in the fire. All these are noteworthy signs that the work has not been properly begun and governed, or has otherwise been carelessly neglected.[^n61] **HY_P2S025** 1619 pp 42–43 · scans ER046, ER047 **German** Welchen mängel ob jretwegen / aber wann die nit oberhand genommen / vnnd bey zeiten darzu gethan wirt / wol zubegegnen / vñ sie noch wol zurecht gebracht werden können. Es erfordert aber grossen fleiß mit solchen hierin zu handeln / vnd gehören darzu künstliche handgriff vnd ordentliche mittel / die einem erfahrnen vnnd geübten Artisten wol sollen vnd werden bekant sein. Ich will aber vmb der angehenden vnnd dieser Kunst liebhabern der discipuln willen / dieselbige auch auffs kürtzeste vermelden vnd andeuten. Nemblich / daß wann diese oberzehlten mängel oder jrrthumb einer oder mehr sich zutruge / oder gespühret würde / so kanstu als dann das gantze eingesetzte compositum, widerumb auß dem Glaß nehmen / dasselbige widerumb von newem soluiren / vnnd mit vorgedachtem aqua Mercurii (welche die Philosophi auch lac virginis oder der primæ materiæ jhre Milch / Blut vnd schweiß: Item den vnzerstörlichen fontem oder aquam vitæ, dz Wasser deß Lebens / welches doch auch das gröste Gifft in sich hält / genennet haben) imbibirn / befeuchten vnd krefftig machen / als dann widerumb kochen / so lang / biß sich nichts mehr sublimirt od’ obersich begibt / vnnd die congelation od’ fixation an dem Werck sich vollkömlich / in massen vor diesem angedeutet worden / vnnd recht erzeigen thut. Von seiner nachfolgenden fermentation vnd multiplication, soll im dritten theil bey seinem nutz ferner anregung gescheh’n. **English** These defects can nevertheless be met and the work set right, provided they have not gained the upper hand and action is taken in time. Handling them requires great diligence, skilful practical measures and orderly means, which should and will be known to an experienced and practised artist. For beginners and pupils who love this art, however, I shall also mention and indicate them very briefly. If one or more of these defects or errors occurs or is perceived, you may take the entire compound out of the glass, dissolve it afresh, and imbibe, moisten and strengthen it with the mercurial water already described. The philosophers also called this the virgin’s milk, or the milk, blood and sweat of the first matter; again, the indestructible fountain or aqua vitae, the water of life, which nevertheless also contains the greatest poison. Then cook it again until nothing further sublimes or rises upward and the coagulation or fixation of the work appears fully and properly, in the manner described above. Its subsequent fermentation and multiplication will be discussed further in PartThree, in connection with its use.[^n62] **HY_P2S026** 1619 pp 43–44 · scans ER047, ER048 **German** Hier solte ich auch vmb der zeit / so darzu gehörig / wann vnd wie lang zu jeglichem Actu, solche verrichtung geschehe / etwas außführlicher anmelden / welches aber alß hier mit keinem gewissen Termin nicht wol beschrieben werden kan. Dann gemeldte Philosophi mit derselben auch gar vngleicher meinung seindt / Sintemahl wir auß jhren Schrifften zusehen / immer einer langsamer als der ander den effectum erlanget. Es ist aber vorhin erinnert vnd vermeldet worden / daß in solchem allen auff die Natur (wie sich dieselbe in andern dingen erzeige) gute achtung gegeben werde. Wann man nun solches thut / vnd demselbigen fleissig obseruirt, auch in allem vorgehen / daß rechte mittel helt / so kan man eh mit solchem Werck zur perfection gelangen. **English** I should also give a somewhat fuller account of the time required, when and for how long each action is to be performed. Yet no certain period can well be prescribed here. The philosophers mentioned differ greatly in their opinions about it, for their writings show that one always attains the result more slowly than another. It has already been urged and stated, however, that careful attention must be paid in all this to nature, as it reveals itself in other things. If one does so, diligently observes it and keeps the right mean in every undertaking, the work may reach perfection the sooner.[^n63] **HY_P2S027** 1619 pp 44–45 · scans ER048, ER049 **German** Ich warne vnd berichte dich aber hieinnen / daß du im anfang der andern oder der nacharbeit mit deiner rechnung nicht über diesen character X, mittel oder pũct schreiten / sondern solt just zu zertheilen wissen / vnnd dann ferner mit dem halben theil gemeltes Xaracters (das ist V) in der Composition dieses Wercks zurück weichen sollest. Wann solches geschehen / so kanstu als dann hernach / wann du es wider zusammen richtest / vnd ein XX.theil recht vberschlecht in derselben zahl oder zeit (so fern sonsten nichts verhinderlichs dazwischen einfel) mit deinem werck auch zum end gelangen. Mit solcher zeit laß dir gnügen / sintemal den Termin näher zusuchen sehr mißlich / vnd bald darmit gefehlet ist. Dann eine stunde dich einen gantzen monat hindan wirfft / oder so du es triffst / vmb ein solche zeit dich befördern thut. Doch habe acht / daß du nichts gar zu genau rechnest / oder wie vorgemelt / gar darüber kommest: Dann so das geschehe / du eine mißgeburt erheben würdest / darin mancher durch sein vermeintes eilen / oder vnbestendigkeit / auff seinen verhofften ELIXIR ein NIXIR erlangt vnd bekommen hatt. **English** I warn and instruct you, however, that at the beginning of the other or subsequent work your reckoning must not go beyond this character X, the middle or point. You must know how to divide it exactly, and then, in the composition of this work, step back with half of that character, namely V. When this has been done, put it together again and properly reckon a XX part: within that number or time, provided no other hindrance intervenes, you may bring the work to its end. Be content with that time, for seeking a more precise term is very uncertain and easily leads to error. A single hour can throw you back a whole month or, if you hit it correctly, advance you by the same amount of time. Take care nevertheless not to calculate too narrowly, nor, as already said, to go beyond it. If that happens you will produce a malformed birth. Many people, through their supposed haste or inconstancy, have obtained a NIXIR instead of the ELIXIR they hoped for.[^n64] **HY_P2S028** 1619 pp 45 · scans ER049 **German** Dieses habe ich (dieweil nicht das geringste an dieser magischen wissen schafft gelegen) den filiis Sapientiæ, solchs weitern betrachtung zu nehmen / nur ein wenig hierbey berühren vnd anmelden wollen. **English** Since this magical knowledge is of no small importance, I have wished only to touch upon and indicate it briefly here for the children of wisdom to consider further.[^n65] **HY_P2S029** 1619 pp 45–46 · scans ER049, ER050 **German** Ænigma. Sieben Statt vnd sieben Metall Auch sieben tag / vnd sieben zahl Sieben Buchstaben / vnd sieben wort Auch sieben zeit / vnd sieben orth Darzu ich sieben Kreuter mein Auch sieben Kunst vnd sieben Gestein Sieben vnd drey wirt abgezehlt Ein halbs hie niemandts vbereilt. Summa in dieser zahl so werth Ruhen alle ding auff gantzer Erdt. **English** Riddle. Seven cities and seven metals, Also seven days and seven numbers; Seven letters and seven words, Also seven times and seven places. I mean seven herbs as well, Also seven arts and seven stones. Seven and three are counted off; Let no one hurry a half here. In sum, within this precious number Rest all things upon the whole earth.[^n66] **HY_P2S030** 1619 pp 46 · scans ER050 **German** Proceß deß gantzen Wercks kurtz angezeigt. Die erste oder vorarbeit. Die Materi dissoluirt Darauff zur hand putreficirt Dieselb hernach auch distillirt So wirt das Wasser coagulirt. Die ander oder nacharbeit. Ferner zwey ding coniungirt Putreficirt vnd denigrirt Auff diß fleissig digerirt Biß es auffs schönste wirt dealbirt Vnd endlich gar hoch rubificirt Coagulirt vnd fixirt Wann diß weiter wirt fermentirt So ist das gantze Werck absoluirt Als dann ein solchs theil tingirt Das tausent wirt multiplicirt. **English** A Brief Account of the Process of the Whole Work. The first or preliminary work: Dissolve the matter, Then putrefy it forthwith, Afterwards distil it also; Thus the water is coagulated. The second or subsequent work: Then conjoin two things, Putrefy and blacken them, Afterwards digest them diligently Until they are most beautifully whitened, And finally deeply reddened, Coagulated and fixed. When this is further fermented, The whole work is completed. Then one such part tinges, And the thousand is multiplied.[^n67] **HY_P2S031** 1619 pp 46–47 · scans ER050, ER051 **German** Oder also / welches noch kürtzer. Such drey in einem ding allein Vnd widerumb Eins in dreyen frey Schleuß solches auff vnd wider zu Als dann die gantze Kunst hastu. **English** Or Thus, More Briefly Still. Seek three within one thing alone, And in turn one within three. Open it and close it again: Then you possess the whole art. **HY_P2S032** 1619 pp 47 · scans ER051 **German** Ænigma, in welchem der proceß auch angedeutet wirdt. Dem Leib wirt geben in der zeit Der Geist welcher die Seel erfrewt / Wann der Geist die Seel zu sich zeucht Vnd in dem keins vom andern weicht / So bleibens beysammen alle drey Biß der Leib auffgelößt wirt frey Fault vnd erstirbt / von jhm sich scheid Seel vnd Geist / jedoch nach der zeit Kompt alles in der letzten Hitz Wider zusammen / vnd behelt sein sitz Gantz in rechter vollkommenheit Glorificirt mit grosser frewd. **English** A Riddle in Which the Process Is Also Indicated. In time the body is given The spirit that gladdens the soul. When the spirit draws the soul to itself And neither departs from the other, All three remain together Until the body is freely dissolved, Putrefies and dies; soul and spirit Separate from it. Yet after a time, In the final heat, everything Comes together again and keeps its place, Entirely in true perfection, Glorified with great joy. **HY_P2S033** 1619 pp 47 · scans ER051 **German** Prouerb.23.cap. Gib mir / mein Sohn dein Hertz / vnd laß deinen Augen meine Wege gefallen / etc. **English** Proverbs, chapter23. My son, give me your heart, and let my ways please your eyes, and so forth.[^n68] ### Part Three *Das dritte Theil* **Chapter outline** - The praise of the stone and the philosophers’ account of its history - The moral conditions of receiving and using the gift - Medicine, knowledge of God and the promise of the spiritual comparison - Fermentation, augmentation and the claimed projection - Heavenly wisdom above temporal riches **HY_P3S001** 1619 pp 47–48 · scans ER051, ER052 **German** Das dritte Theil. Syrach. 43. Wer kan jhn so hoch preisen als er ist? wir sehen seiner Werck das wenigste. Dann viel grösser seindt vns noch verborgen, dann alles was da ist, das hat der HErr gemacht, vnd gibts den GOttsförchtigen zu wissen. **English** THE THIRD PART. Sirach 43. Who can praise him as highly as he is? We see the least part of his works, for much greater things are still hidden from us. Everything that exists was made by the Lord, and he makes it known to those who fear God.[^n69] **HY_P3S002** 1619 pp 48 · scans ER052 **German** Von dieser hoch vnd nun mehr offt erwehnten Kunst, oder tieffbegrifflichen Stein der Weisen, wann der ad optatum finem gebracht, haben die Philosophi von seinem lob, tugend vnnd krafft, auch vnaußsprechlichen nutzen nicht gnugsam schreiben vnnd herrlich gnug preisen können. Dann erstlich, haben sie dieses für die allerhöchste vnd gröste glücksälgkeit auff dieser Erden geachtet vnd gerühmet, ohne welches auch niemandt in dieser Welt zu vollkommenheit kommen oder gelangen mag. Dann Morienes sagt, Wer diesen Stein hat der hat alles, vnnd bedarff keines andern hülff. Dann in jhm ist alle zeitliche glücksälgkeit, leibliche gesundtheit vnd alles glück. **English** When this lofty and now frequently mentioned art, or the profound stone of the sages, has been brought to its desired end, the philosophers have been unable to write enough in praise of its virtue, power and unspeakable benefits, or to extol it sufficiently. First, they regarded and praised it as the highest and greatest happiness upon this earth, without which no one in this world can attain perfection. For Morienus says: whoever possesses this stone possesses everything and needs no other help. In it are all temporal happiness, bodily health and every good fortune.[^n70] **HY_P3S003** 1619 pp 48–49 · scans ER052, ER053 **German** Sie haben jhn auch ferner also commendirt, daß sein Spiritus vnnd Krafft, so in jhm verborgen ligt, sey der Geist deß fünfften wesens, der vnder dem Circkel deß Mondscheins ist, ja er sey deß Himmels auffhalter, vnd deß Meers beweger. Er sey auch vor andern Himmlischen Geisten, ein außerleßner Geist, der aller Subtiliste, edlste, reineste, welchem die andere alle als ihrem König gehorsam seind, welcher auch den Menschen alle wolfarth gibt, er heilet alle Kranckheit, er gibt den frommen zeitliche Ehr vnd langes Leben, den bösen aber, die jhn mißbrauchen, die ewige straffe. Vnd in solchem allem sey er probiert, vollkommen vnnd vnbetrüglich erfunden. Darumb jhn Hermes vnnd Aristoteles den wahren ohne lügen, den Gewissen deß aller gewissesten, den gheimen aller Geheimnuß, eine Göttliche krafft, die den Narren verborgen ist. In Summa das letzte vnd höchste so vnder dem Himmel gesehen werden mag, vnd ein wunderbahrer beschluß vnd end aller Philosophischen werck, genennet haben. **English** They further commended it by saying that the spirit and power hidden within it is the spirit of the fifth essence beneath the circle of moonlight: indeed, the sustainer of heaven and mover of the sea. It is a spirit chosen above other heavenly spirits, the most subtle, noble and pure, to which all the others are obedient as to their king. It grants human beings every welfare, heals every illness, gives the pious temporal honour and long life, but brings eternal punishment to the wicked who misuse it. In all this it has been tried and found perfect and unfailing. Hermes and Aristotle therefore called it the true without falsehood, the certain of the most certain, the secret of all secrets, a divine power hidden from fools—in sum, the last and highest thing that can be seen beneath heaven, and the wondrous conclusion and end of all philosophical works.[^n71] **HY_P3S004** 1619 pp 49–50 · scans ER053, ER054 **German** Derowegen auch etliche Gottsälige Philosophi gentzlich dafür gehalten haben, daß Adamo dem ersten Menschen solches von oben herab geoffenbahret, so hernach von allen Heyligen altvättern mit sonderlichem verlangen begeret worden. Dann Noe, der seine Archen gebauwet, vnd Moses welcher den tabernackel, vnnd die güldene Geschirr darinnen, wie auch Salomon zur ehr Gottes den Tempel, vnnd viel andere schöne zierliche Werck, dergleichen auch alle Gerechte viel andre grosse thaten verrichtet, jhr langes leben vnd Reichthumb durch solches sollen bekommen haben. **English** Some godly philosophers therefore firmly held that this was revealed from above to Adam, the first human being, and was afterwards especially desired by all the holy patriarchs. Noah, who built his ark, Moses, who made the tabernacle and its golden vessels, and Solomon, who built the temple to God’s honour and many other beautiful and ornate works, are said to have obtained their long lives and wealth through it, as did all the righteous who accomplished many other great deeds.[^n72] **HY_P3S005** 1619 pp 50 · scans ER054 **German** Wie dann auch die Philosophi solches selbst bekennen, daß sie durch diß die sieben freyen Künst erfunden, auch jhre nahrung vnnd vnderhaltung dardurch erworben vnd gehabt, welches jhnen dann Gott zu einem vortheil verliehen, auff daß sie an jhrem Studieren vnd der Weißheit nachzutrachten, vmb armuth willen, nicht verhindert würden. Beneben auch von den Reichen vnd Gottlosen dieser Welt, jhnen zu heuchlen, oder solche Kunst vnnd heimlichkeit vmb Gelds willen zu offenbahren, sie vnd jhre weißheit bettelley halben verspottet vnd verachtet wurden. **English** The philosophers themselves also acknowledge that through it they discovered the seven liberal arts and acquired their food and livelihood. God granted them this advantage so that poverty would not hinder their studies and pursuit of wisdom. They would also be spared having to flatter the rich and godless of this world or reveal the art and secret for money, and having themselves and their wisdom mocked and despised on account of begging.[^n73] **HY_P3S006** 1619 pp 50–52 · scans ER054, ER055, ER056 **German** Vber daß haben sie auch viel andre grosse vnnd verborgene geheimnus der Göttlichen wunderwerck, auch den grossen reichthumb seiner Glori darauß erkennet, vnnd erlernet, dardurch dann etliche Hertzen von Gott erweckt vnnd angezündet, daß sie ferners zu seinem erkantnus deducirt vnd gebracht worden sein, dann sie durch diesen Schatz kein grossen Reichthumb, weltlichen oder zeitlichen wollust vnd Pracht gesucht haben, oder damit zu erlangen begert, sondern vielmehr jhre lust vnd frewd an dem wunder in den Creaturen zusehen vnd zuerkennen gehabt haben, welche herrliche Geschöpf vnd Werck deß Allmechtigen sie dann viel anderst betrachtet vnd angesehen haben, als leyder bey der jetzigen Welt geschicht, die dann dieselbige schier nicht anders als wie die Kühe vnd Kelber anzuschawen pflegt. Auch diese edle Kunst vmb jhres geitzes, Pracht vnd vnd zeitliche Ehr vnd wollüsten willen suchet vnd zu lernen begehret, mit welchen gedancken sie aber weit gefehlet. In deme Gott solche Gaben nicht den Gottlosen vnnd verächtern seines Worts, sondern nuhr den Frommen, sich in dieser bösen Welt erbahr vnnd geruhlich in stille mit jhrem leben hinzubringen, vnnd zuerhalten, auch jhren dürfftigen nechsten brüderliche hülffreichung vnnd beförderung zuerzeigen mitgetheilet. **English** Moreover, from it they learned and recognised many other great and hidden secrets of God’s wondrous works and the great riches of his glory. Through this God awakened and kindled certain hearts, leading them further into the knowledge of himself. They did not seek great riches, worldly or temporal pleasure and splendour through this treasure, or desire to obtain them by it. Their pleasure and joy lay rather in seeing and recognising the wonder in created things. They considered and regarded these glorious creations and works of the Almighty very differently from the present world, which, alas, generally looks at them scarcely otherwise than cows and calves do. The world also seeks and desires to learn this noble art for greed, splendour, temporal honour and pleasure, but with such thoughts it goes far astray. God has imparted these gifts to the pious alone, rather than to the godless and despisers of his Word, so that they may live and sustain themselves honourably, peacefully and quietly in this evil world, and give brotherly assistance and support to their needy neighbours. **HY_P3S007** 1619 pp 52 · scans ER056 **German** Den frommen wirt nur diese Kunst Durch die Göttliche gnade vnd gunst Gegeben, die mit keinem Geld Bezahlen mag die gantz Welt Darvon der gemeine Hauff zumahl Gar nichts soll wissen vberall Der Pöffel Gottloß vnd verzucht Den edlen Stein vergebens sucht Wer diesen hat in ruhe vnd stille, Der wohnet sicher wo er will, Kein fall noch vnglück jhn anficht Kein Dieb noch Rauber, forcht er nit Wenig seind der, jetz zu der stund Denen solche Gabe wirt vergund Gott dieselbe in seinen Händen helt, Gibts nur diesem, der jhm gefellt. **English** Only the pious receive this art Through divine grace and favour; The whole world cannot pay For it with any money. The common multitude Should know nothing of it at all. The godless and unruly rabble Seek the noble stone in vain. Whoever has it in peace and quiet Dwells safely wherever he wishes. No fall or misfortune assails him; He fears no thief or robber. Few there are at this present hour To whom such a gift is granted. God holds it in his hands And gives it only to one who pleases him. **HY_P3S008** 1619 pp 52–54 · scans ER056, ER057, ER058 **German** Vnd nach dem von dieser Kunst wircklicher tugend vnd nutz viel vnd mancherley geschrieben, vnnd durch andere weitleufftiger an tag gegeben worden, wie nehmlich dieser Stein, wann er præparirt vnd plusquam perfect gemacht worden, die höchste Medicina vnder allen artzeneyen sey, mit welchem nicht allein alle Kranckheiten, wie die sein mögen, als Podagra vnd Außsatz curirt vnd geheilet werden, sondern auch wann er von Alten verlebten Leuthen gebraucht, dieselbe wider verjüngert, vnd zu jhrer verlohrnen krafft vnnd sterck verhülfft, auch die halb todten wider erquicken vnnd zum leben bringen könne: So will ich doch solches an diesem orth in meinem tractatu, weiln ich kein Medicus, anstehen vnnd erweichen lassen, damit es nicht das ansehen haben möge, als wann ich denselben mit solchem hohen lob jhrer facultet einen eingriff zuthuen mich vnderstehen wolte. Sondern wer solchen durch Gottes gnaden hat, vnnd den zugebrauchen weiß, vnnd sein auch geneust, deme will ich das iudicium vnnd seinen ruhm selber hiemit heimgestelt haben. Es soll aber gleichwohl von seinen andern qualiteten vnnd nutzbareichen gebrauch, auß täglicher vnnd augenscheinlicher erfahrung (deren ich selbst durch Gottes verleyhung zumtheil genossen vnnd theilhafftig worden bin) ein wenig vermeldet vnd angezeigt werden. **English** Much and variously has been written about this art’s effective virtue and benefit, and others have described it more fully: namely, that the stone, when prepared and made more than perfect, is the highest medicine among all remedies. It is said not only to cure and heal every illness, whatever it may be, including gout and leprosy, but also, when used by old and worn-out people, to rejuvenate them, restore their lost power and strength, and even revive the half-dead and bring them back to life. Nevertheless, since I am no physician, I will leave this aside and refrain from it here in my treatise, lest such high praise appear an attempt to encroach upon the physicians’ profession. I leave the judgment and praise of it to anyone who possesses it through God’s grace, knows how to use it and enjoys its benefits. I will, however, say and indicate a little about its other qualities and useful applications, from daily and visible experience in which, through God’s gift, I have myself to some extent shared.[^n74] **HY_P3S009** 1619 pp 54–55 · scans ER058, ER059 **German** Erstlich, was die erkantnus GOttes, wie auch die wunderwercke in der Natur, die durch solche Kunst offenbahrlich gemacht worden, anlangen thuet, kan ich hiervon (seiner hohen würden nach) nicht gnugsam beschreiben oder außsprechen, dann hierinnen der Mensch das Bild der Heyligen drey Einigkeit in einem Göttlichen vnd vnzertrenlichen wesen, auch wie dieselbe vnderschieden, vnd doch nuhr ein einiger Gott sey, Beneben auch in der andern Persohn in der Gottheit, als von seiner Menschwerdung, Geburth, leiden vnd sterben, vnd Aufferstehung, auch seine erhöhung, vnd vns Creatürlichen Menschen erworbene Säligkeit. Ferners auch von der reinigung der Erbsünd, so durch mittel erlangt werden müssen, ohne welches aller Menschen thuen vnd lassen, vnd alle Wercke sonsten vergebens vnd nichts seind. In Summa alle Articuln vnsers Christlichen Glaubens, vnd den gantzen proceß den der Mensch durch diesen jammerthal hindurch verrichten müssen, biß er auch zu einem newen leben erstehet, artlich vnd schön, gleich als in einem Spiegl fürgestellt, oder sonst abgemahlet, zuersehen hat, darvon hernach im vierten theil etwas weiters gedacht werden soll. **English** First, concerning the knowledge of God and the wonders in Nature which this art reveals, I cannot sufficiently describe or express their lofty worth. Here a person can see the image of the Holy Trinity in one divine and inseparable being: how its persons are distinct, yet it is only one God. One can also see, in the second person of the Godhead, his incarnation, birth, suffering, death and resurrection, his exaltation, and the salvation he has acquired for us created human beings. Further, one sees the purification of original sin, which must be obtained through means, without which all human conduct and all works are otherwise vain and nothing. In sum, all the articles of our Christian faith and the whole process a person must accomplish through this vale of tears until rising to a new life are aptly and beautifully presented as in a mirror, or otherwise depicted. Something further will be said of this in Part IV.[^n75] **HY_P3S010** 1619 pp 55 · scans ER059 **German** Zum andern, was den leiblichen vnnd natürlichen Nutz, so von solchem zuhaben herrühret, wie nemblich durch sein Tinctur alle vnvollkommene metallen perfect vnd zu klarem dichtem Gold immutirt, vnd verendert werden können, will ich hievorge thaner vertröstung nach, dasselbige jtzt auch kürtzlich vermelden vnnd anzeigen. Solcher offt erwehner Stein oder Elixir, wann er zu dem effect so weit gebracht, vnnd ferner zu erst gemeldtem gebrauch dienen, vnd tingiren solle: so muß derselbige noch weiter fermentirt vnnd augmentirt werden, dann er sonsten mit seiner Tinctur wegen seiner Subtiligkeit keine fügliche projection in den andern vnvollkommenen metallen vnd Corporibus nicht wol haben mag. **English** Second, concerning the bodily and natural benefit obtained from it—namely, how its tincture can perfect all imperfect metals, changing and transmuting them into clear, dense gold—I will now briefly state and indicate this, as previously promised. When the frequently mentioned stone or elixir has been brought this far in its effect and is to serve the use first mentioned and tinge, it must be further fermented and augmented. Otherwise, because of its subtlety, its tincture cannot properly make an effective projection into other imperfect metals and bodies.[^n76] **HY_P3S011** 1619 pp 55–56 · scans ER059, ER060 **German** Derowegen man dann erstlich einen theil der offtermelten medicin nehmen soll, zu diesem theil sollen drey theil am gewicht deß besten vnd fürnembsten Gold, daß durch den Antimonium getrieben, vnnd durchläutert worden, auch hernach dünnst so möglich geschlagen ist, genommen, vnd zusammen in ein schmeltz Tiegel gethan, vnd ins Fewer gesetzt werden, desselben wol schmeltzen vnnd fliessen lassen, in massen einem jeden artisten wie solches wohl zugericht, zunot wolwüsslig sein werden. Wann nun solches geschehen, so wird als dann das eingesetzte Compositum auch zu einer lautern vnd kräfftigen Tinctur, vnd kan man hernach mit einem solchen theil Tinctur auff schlechte vnnd geringe metallen 1000. theil tingiren vnnd zu pur lauterm Goldt machen. Merck aber je näher die Metallen der Materien verwand, vnd je reiner sie seind, je leichter es auch solche annimbt, vnd die Multiplication desto höher vnnd ersprießlicher sich erzeigen thut. Dann alles vnreines vnnd vngeschicktes, was sich allhie befindet, abgeschieden, vnd als ein Schlacken hinweg geworffen wirdt. **English** First take one part of the medicine already mentioned. To this part add three parts by weight of the best and finest gold, which has been refined and purified through antimony and afterwards beaten as thin as possible. Put them together in a melting crucible and set it in the fire, allowing them to melt and flow thoroughly. Every practitioner will doubtless know how to arrange this properly. Once this has been done, the compound placed within becomes a pure and powerful tincture. One part of this tincture can then tinge a thousand parts of base and inferior metals and make them pure, refined gold. Observe, however, that the more closely the metals are related to the matter and the purer they are, the more readily it receives them, and the higher and more productive the multiplication proves. Everything impure and unsuitable present here is separated and cast away as slag.[^n77] **HY_P3S012** 1619 pp 56–57 · scans ER060, ER061 **German** Ingleichem man auch mit den imperfecten Metallen, vnd mangelhafften Edelsteinen, auch eine hohe gradirung vnd transmutation zuwegen bringen, beneben einem Crystal solches tingiren kan, daß er den aller Edelsten gesteinen gleich gehalten wirt, Auch viel andere ding mehr, die der Gottlosen Welt nicht zu eröffnen sind, dardurch verrichtet werden können. Solche vnnd dergleichen wohl herrliche ding offt gemelte Philosophi, wie auch noch alle rechte Christen, die mit dieser Kunst vnd Kleinnoth von Gott begabet, für das schlechste vnd geringste in diesem Magisterio gehalten vnd geachtet haben, dann sie gegen der vorigen geachten herrlichen Erkantnus der himmlischen Ding all gantz vnd gar als nichts zu vergleichen seind. **English** Likewise, imperfect metals and defective precious stones can be brought to a high degree and transmuted, and crystal can be tinged so that it is held equal to the most precious stones. Many other things, which must not be disclosed to the godless world, can also be accomplished through it. The frequently mentioned philosophers, as well as all true Christians whom God has endowed with this art and jewel, have regarded these excellent things and others like them as the lowest and least part of this mastery. Compared with the glorious knowledge of heavenly things already discussed, they are altogether as nothing. **HY_P3S013** 1619 pp 57–58 · scans ER061, ER062 **German** Vnnd du solt in Warheit wissen, daß weme der Höchste solche Gabe verleihet, derselbige alles Geld vnnd Gut vnnd anders zeitlich auff dieser Erden, gegen den himmlischen Gütern, nichts anders als wie Koth auff der Gassen belieben thut. Dann sein Hertz vnnd verlangen sich nur dahin sehnet, daß er im ewigen Leben daßjenige, was er allhier jrdischer figürlicher weise oder gestalt gesehen, auch himlischer weiß in der That vnd Warheit schawen vnnd geniessen möge. Wie dann solches der hochweise König Salomon in libro Sapient. cap. 7, auch bezeuget, da er spricht: Ich hielte die Weißheit thewrer dann Königreich vnd Fürstenthumb vnnd Reichthumb hielte ich nichts gegen sie, wie geringer Sand vnd Silber ist wie Koth gegen sie zuachten. **English** You should know truly that anyone to whom the Most High grants this gift regards all money, possessions and other temporal things upon this earth as no more than mud in the street compared with heavenly goods. His heart and longing are directed only towards this: that in eternal life he may behold and enjoy in a heavenly manner, in deed and truth, what he has seen here in an earthly figure or form. The most wise King Solomon likewise testifies to this in the Book of Wisdom, chapter 7, saying: I prized wisdom above kingdom and principality, and accounted riches as nothing beside her, as mere sand; silver is to be regarded as mud beside her.[^n78] **HY_P3S014** 1619 pp 58–59 · scans ER062, ER063 **German** Derhalben diejenige, so diese Kunst anderer gestalt, als nur zur zeitlichen Ehr, Reichthumb vnd Wollust zu erlangen begehren, rechte Thoren zuhalten seind, als denen doch nimmermehr dieses, so sie mit grossem Kosten, Mühe vnd Arbeit so lang suchen, auch jr Hertz, Sinn vnd Gemüth damit quelen vnd betrüben, widerfahren mag. Darumb die Philosophi den zeitlichen Reichthumb, als Gut vnd Geldt (nicht daß es an jhm selbsten böß, dieweiln im ersten buch Moysis am 2. capit. vnnd anders wo mehr, für ein köstlich ding vnnd herrliche Gab Gottes gerühmet wirt) sondern vmb deß schändlichen Mißbrauchs halben so gar veracht vnd geringlich, auch verderblich gehalten haben, als welches nicht das Gute zu Gott, sondern ein solches Ding, das zu dem rechten vnd wahren Gut zukommen den Menschen grosse hindernus gebe, auch alles andere, so in dieser Welt sonst recht, in ein verkehrtes Wesen bringen thut, wie dann der weit berühmte Marcellus Palingenius Stellatus solches auch fein erkennt vnd in seinen nachfolgenden poematib. hertzlich angedeutet vnnd beschrieben, da er spricht: **English** Those who desire this art in any other fashion, merely to obtain temporal honour, riches and pleasure, must therefore be considered true fools. What they have sought so long at great cost, toil and labour, tormenting and grieving their hearts, senses and minds, can never come to them. The philosophers therefore held temporal riches—possessions and money—in contempt, regarded them as insignificant and even destructive. This was not because wealth is evil in itself, for Genesis 2 and other places praise it as precious and a glorious gift of God, but because of its shameful misuse. It does not bring good towards God; rather, it greatly obstructs a person’s attainment of the true and proper good, and turns everything else that is otherwise right in this world into a perverted condition. The widely celebrated Marcellus Palingenius Stellatus recognised this well and expressed it earnestly in the following verses, saying:[^n79] **HY_P3S015** 1619 pp 59 · scans ER063 **German** O du Geitz vnd vnreine Sucht Du schnöde lieb zum Gelt verrucht. reliqua vide in ipso Palingenio, sub signo Sagittarii fer. ad finem. **English** O greed and impure craving, You vile, accursed love of money! For the remainder, see Palingenius himself, Under Sagittarius, almost at the end.[^n80] **HY_P3S016** 1619 pp 59–61 · scans ER063, ER064, ER065 **German** Auß diesen kan man abnehmen, wie obgemelter hocherleuchter Mann, der dann auch diese Kunst warhafftig gehabt, wie auß seinem Zodiaco Naturæ zusehen, das zeitliche als Geld vnd Gold gegen der Tugendt nichts geachtet habe. Derhalben auch alle, wie vor gemeldet, der Weißheit vnd der Erkantnus der Himmlischen den jrdischen vnd vergänglichen Dingen weit vorgezogen vnnd in jhrem gantzen Leben mit allem jhrem Thun nur auff den Außgang vnd das Ende gesehen haben, vnd letzlich dahin getrachtet, wie sie nach jhrem Abschiedt dardurch ein vnvergänglich Lob vnd vnsterblichen Namen erlangen vnd bekommen möchten: wie dann diß der weise König Salomon Prov. 16. auch lehret, da er sagt: Nimb die Weißheit an, dann sie ist besser dann Gold, vnnd Verstandt haben ist besser dann Silber. Ferner auch am 22. cap. Ein guter Name vnd Gerücht ist köstlicher dann groß reichthumb, vnnd Kunst besser dann Gold vnnd Silber. Dergleichen auch der weise mann Syrach am 24. cap. vermahnet: Sihe daß du einen guten Namen behaltest, dann der bleibt gewisser dann tausent Schätze Golds. Vmb solcher vnd dergleichen tugenden willen, so auß solcher Philosophy des Lapidis herfliessen, haben sie denselben, wie vor diesem auch gemelt, nit hoch gnug erheben vnd preisen können. Deßwegen sein in jhren Schrifften allen Fleiß angewendet, damit solche Kunst weiters fortgepflantzet, die Weißheit angenommen vnnd derselben nach gelebet würde. Aber es ist den Vnweisen alles dunckel vnd finster vnnd schwer zuverstehen, wie dann Salomon in seinen Sprüchen vom Anfang biß zum 8. cap. durchauß solches auch klaget, vnd mit allem fleiß zu solcher sich zufinden ermahnen thut. Eccl. 3. c. Liebes Kind, bleibe gern im niedrigen stand, das ist besser dann alles, da die Welt nachtrachtet. Je höher du bist, je mehr demütige dich, so wirt dir der HErr hold sein. Dann der HERR ist der Allerhöchste, vnd thut grosse ding durch die demütigen. **English** From this one can judge how the highly enlightened man just mentioned—who truly possessed this art, as can be seen from his Zodiac of Nature—held temporal things such as money and gold as nothing beside virtue. Thus all of them, as stated before, greatly preferred wisdom and the knowledge of heavenly things to earthly and perishable things. Throughout their lives and in all their conduct, they looked solely to the outcome and end, finally striving to gain imperishable praise and an immortal name after their departure. The wise King Solomon teaches this in Proverbs 16: Take wisdom, for she is better than gold, and understanding is better than silver. Again, in chapter 22: A good name and reputation are more precious than great riches, and skill is better than gold and silver. Likewise the wise man Sirach admonishes in chapter 24: Take care to preserve a good name, for it endures more surely than a thousand treasures of gold. Because of these virtues and others like them which flow from this philosophy of the stone, they could never exalt and praise it highly enough, as already mentioned. They therefore applied every diligence in their writings so that the art might be further propagated, wisdom accepted and life conducted accordingly. To the unwise, however, all of it is obscure, dark and difficult to understand, as Solomon continually laments in his Proverbs from the beginning to chapter 8, diligently exhorting people to seek wisdom. Ecclesiasticus 3: Dear child, willingly remain in a lowly condition; that is better than everything the world pursues. The higher you are, the more humble yourself, and the Lord will favour you. For the Lord is the Most High and does great things through the humble.[^n81] ### Part Four *Der vierte Theil* **Chapter outline** - Scriptural figures and the earthly stone as an image of Christ - Knowledge of God and oneself; the Word in its two Testaments - The hidden and freely given cornerstone - The stone’s names, threefold constitution and Christ’s divine and human natures - The preparation of the earthly stone compared with Christ’s life, passion and resurrection - Its tincture compared with Christ’s redeeming blood - Christian regeneration, spiritual discipline and the resurrection of body, soul and spirit **HY_P4S001** 1619 pp 61 · scans ER065 **German** Psalm.78. Matth.13. Ich will meinen Mundt auffthun in Gleichnus/ vnd wil außsprechen die Heimligkeit von anfang der Welt. **English** Psalm 78; Matthew 13. I will open my mouth in a parable, and utter the mystery from the beginning of the world.[^n82] **HY_P4S002** 1619 pp 61–63 · scans ER065, ER066, ER067 **German** Wann der Allmächtige Gott durch seine Göttliche Stimme dem menschlichen Geschlechte etwas wichtiges vnd sonderliches von seinen wunder hohen himlischen Geheimnussen hat wollen offenbaren oder kundbar machen/ so hat er solches gemeiniglich in Gleichnussen oder Fürbildungen/ die vns in diesem jrdischen Leben bekant vnnd täglich vor augen seind/ vns vorgestellet vnd abgemahlet/ als zu einem Exempel da Gott im ersten Buch Moysi am3.capit. dem Adam im Paradeiß nach seinem Fall/ seine Straffe/ als die sterbigkeit vnd leiblichen Todt anzeigen wolte/ gab Er im dasselbig solcher gestalt zu verstehen/ dieweil die Erden für sich selbsten kein Leben hat/ vnd er von der Erden genommen war/ er auch widerumb derselben gleich werden solte. Item Gen.15.vnd22.cap. Da Gott dem Abraham die vermehrung seines Samens vnnd seines Geschlechts will zu verstehen geben/ heisset er jhnen die Stern am Himmel/ beneben den Sandt am Meer vnd den staub der Erden zu einem Vorbildt anschauen/ dergleichen viel vnnd mancherley liebliche vorbildungen hat auch Gott in den Propheten seinem volck Israel/ wann er etwas sonderlich mit jnen vorgehabt/ vormalen/ vertrawen vnd zeigen lassen: welches dann hernach in seinem Testament Christus als der Mundt vnd Grundt der Warheit solches auch gethan/ vnd alle Ding durch gleichnussen/ seine Lehr desto besser zu verstehen/ angezeigt vnd für augen gestelt als nemlich da er vns die höchste Seeligkeit/ sein Göttliches Wort das Euangelium angedeutet/ da brauchte er zum Vorbildt den guten vnd bösen Samen vnd Vnkraut so auff den Acker gesäet/ Item den verborgnen Schatz vnd Perlein/ das Weitzenkorn/ auch Senffkorn/ Sawerteig. Ferners da er vns das Himmelreich vormahlet/ gibt er vns dz gleichnus vom grossen Abendmahl vnd Hochzeit des Königs. Wie auch zum dritten die gantze Christliche Kirch/ vnd jhren Zustand vergleicht er dem Weinberg/ dem König der mit seinen Knechten rechnen wolte. Item er brauchte die Gleichnus von dem Edlen Herrn/ der seinen Knechten sein Gut außleyhet/ vom verlohrnen Schaff vnd Ochsen/ den verlohrnen Sohn/ vnd der Gleichnussen sehr viel. **English** Whenever Almighty God has wished, through his divine voice, to reveal or make known to the human race something important and particular concerning his wondrous, exalted heavenly mysteries, he has generally presented and depicted it for us in parables or figures familiar to us in this earthly life and daily before our eyes. For example, when God wished in the third chapter of the first book of Moses to declare to Adam in Paradise, after his fall, his punishment—mortality and bodily death—he made him understand it in this way: since the earth has no life in itself, and Adam had been taken from the earth, he too must become like it again. Likewise in Genesis 15 and 22, when God wishes to make Abraham understand the increase of his seed and his descendants, he tells him to consider, as a figure, the stars in heaven, together with the sand of the sea and the dust of the earth. God also had the prophets depict, disclose and show to his people Israel many such gracious figures of various kinds whenever he had something particular in store for them. Afterwards, in his Testament, Christ, as the mouth and foundation of truth, did the same, setting everything forth and before our eyes in parables so that his teaching might be better understood. Thus, when he signified to us the highest blessedness, his divine Word, the Gospel, he used as figures the good and bad seed and the weeds sown in the field; likewise the hidden treasure and the pearl, the grain of wheat, the mustard seed and the leaven. Further, when he depicts the kingdom of heaven, he gives us the parable of the great supper and the king’s wedding feast. Thirdly, he compares the whole Christian Church and its condition with the vineyard and with the king who wished to settle accounts with his servants. He also used the parables of the noble lord who lends his property to his servants, of the lost sheep and ox, of the prodigal son, and very many other parables.[^n83] **HY_P4S003** 1619 pp 63–65 · scans ER067, ER068, ER069 **German** Dieweil dann vns solche Exempel vnd Gleichnussen allein darumb gegeben/ damit wir das Jenige/ was himlisch/ vñ menschlicher schwachheit schwer zu begreiffen/ desto leichter verstehen vnnd besser imaginiren können/ wie viel mehr vnnd eher/ wirt der Ewige Gott das aller höchste Gut nemlich seinen Sohn Christum Iesum vnsern einigen Heylandt vnd Erlöser/ der daß gantze menschliche Geschlecht/ durch seinen gehorsam vnd Verdienst von dem ewigen Todt erlöset/ vnnd das Himmelreich erworben hat/ vns in einer leiblichen figur vorgestelt vñ außgebildet habe/ Sintemal solches das allerhöchste geheimnuß Gottes des Allmächtigen/ den Menschen am schwersten zufassen vnd zu begreiffen ist. Vnd ob vns wol solches im alten Testament/ sonsten auch in vorbildungen ist angedeutet worden/ als in Isaacs opfferung/ Jacobs Leiter/ Josephs verkauffung vnd wunderlichen Zustandt/ in der Ehrnen Schlangen/ im Samson/ Dauid vnnd Iona: So hat doch Gott der Allmächtige solche hohe/ vnnd himlische Gut zum vberfluß auch mit einem andern/ gleichswol wunderbarlichen vnnd geheimen ding vns Menschen auff Erden zu dem grossen Weltbuch der Natur/ vorgewiesen vnd an tag geben/ damit wir neben andern auch eine leibliche sichtbarliche vnnd greiffliche contrafactur solcher himlischen Gaben vnd Geschenck haben möchten. Welches jrdische vnd leibliche Ding Er vns dann selber in seinem Wort also vorgelegt/ da Er im Propheten Esa.am28.capit.also spricht: Siehe Ich lege in Sion einen Eckstein/ einen bewehrten Stein der wol gegründet ist/ wer glaubt/ der fleugt nicht. **English** Since these examples and parables are given to us solely so that we may more easily understand and better conceive what is heavenly and difficult for human weakness to grasp, how much more readily may we expect that the eternal God has presented and portrayed for us in a bodily figure the very highest good: his Son Jesus Christ, our only Saviour and Redeemer, who through his obedience and merit has redeemed the whole human race from eternal death and won the kingdom of heaven. For this highest mystery of Almighty God is the hardest of all for human beings to comprehend. Although it has already been signified to us in the Old Testament through figures—in the sacrifice of Isaac, Jacob’s ladder, Joseph’s sale and wondrous fortunes, the brazen serpent, Samson, David and Jonah—Almighty God has nevertheless, for greater abundance, also displayed and brought to light this exalted heavenly good for us human beings upon earth through another equally wonderful and secret thing, in addition to the great world-book of Nature. Thus, among other things, we might also possess a bodily, visible and tangible likeness of those heavenly gifts and endowments. He himself has set this earthly, bodily thing before us in his Word, saying through the prophet Isaiah, chapter 28: “Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone, a tried stone that is firmly founded; whoever believes shall not flee.”[^n84] **HY_P4S004** 1619 pp 65 · scans ER069 **German** Deßgleichen der Königliche Prophet Dauid durch den Geist Gottes spricht im118.Psalm: Der Stein den die Bawleut verworffen haben/ ist zum Eckstein worden/ das ist vom Herrn geschehen/ vnd ist wunder vor vnsern Augen. Wie dann diese Vorbildung der angedeute himlische Eckstein Christus selber auch auff sich zeugt/ da er spricht/ Matth.21.habt jhr nie gelesen in der Schrifft? Der Stein den die Bawleuth verworffen haben/ ist zum Eckstein worden/ von dem Herrn ist es geschehen/ vnd es ist wunderbarlich vor vnsern Augen/ vnnd wer auff diesen Stein fell/ der wirt zerschellen/ auff welchen er aber fell/ den wirt er zermalmen. Welches S.Peter Act.4.cap.vnd in seiner Epistel deßgleichen auch Paulus ad Rom.9.mit fast gleichen Worten widerholen vnd beschreiben. **English** Likewise the royal prophet David speaks through the Spirit of God in Psalm 118: “The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This has been done by the Lord, and is a marvel before our eyes.” Christ, the heavenly cornerstone here signified, himself applies this figure to his own person when he says in Matthew 21: “Have you never read in Scripture? The stone which the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; it has been done by the Lord, and it is wonderful before our eyes. Whoever falls upon this stone shall be broken; but upon whomever it falls, it shall grind him to powder.” Saint Peter in Acts 4 and in his epistle, and likewise Paul in Romans 9, repeat and describe this in almost the same words.[^n85] **HY_P4S005** 1619 pp 66 · scans ER070 **German** Auff diesen hochwerthen gesegneten vnd himlischen Stein Iesum Christum haben von Anfang der Welt/ alle Ertzvätter vnd heylige Patriarchen wie auch nach jhnen/ alle von Gott erleuchte Menschen mit grossem Verlangen gehoffet/ auch von Gott gebeten/ daß er jhnen/ solcher seiner Verheissung nach auch in leiblicher vnd sichtbarer gestalt mittheilen vnd sehen lassen wolte. Demnach wann sie solchen im Geist recht erkant vnd erlangt gehabt/ sie sich in jhrem gantzen Leben darmit erlustiget vnd erfrewet/ vnd in aller gefahr/ so jhnen begegnet biß an jhr End auffgehalten haben. **English** From the beginning of the world, all the forefathers and holy patriarchs, and after them all people enlightened by God, have awaited with great longing this precious, blessed, heavenly stone, Jesus Christ. They have also prayed to God that, according to his promise, he would impart him to them and let them behold him in bodily and visible form. When they had rightly known and attained him in the spirit, they took delight and joy in him throughout their lives and were sustained by him until their end amid every danger that befell them.[^n86] **HY_P4S006** 1619 pp 66–67 · scans ER070, ER071 **German** Vnd wiewol dieser himlische vnnd gesegnete Stein von Gott/ dem gantzen menschlichen Geschlecht/ Reichen vnnd Armen/ ohn allen Verdienst lauter vnnd vmb sonst geschenckt/ vnd in gemein gegeben worden: so haben jhn doch von Anbegin hero/ biß dato der weniger theil menschen in dieser Welt finden/ ergreiffen vnd fassen mögen/ ja dem mehrern theil ist er alle zeit verborgen/ vnnd ein schwerer Anstoß vnd Ergernus gewesen/ wie dann solches Esa.am8.c.zuvorhin auch geweissaget/ da er spricht: Er wirt sein ein Stein des Anstosses vnd ein Felß der Ergernus. Item ein Fall vnd Strick/ da jhrer viel sich daran stossen/ fallen/ zerbrechen/ verstrickt vnd gefangen werden/ welchen der Altvatter Simeon Luc.2.c.auch im Geist gesehen/ da er zu Maria des himlischen Ecksteins Mutter spricht: Siehe/ Siehe/ dieser wirt gesetzt zu einem Fall vnd Aufferstehung vieler in Israel/ vnnd zu einem Zeichen/ dem widersprochen wirt. Dergleichen solches auch S.Paulus ad Rom.9.bezeuget: Sie haben sich gestossen an dem Stein des Anlauffens vnd einen Felsen der Ergernus: dann wer an jhn glaubt der soll nicht zu schanden werden/ Item S.Petrus in seiner1.Epistel.2. Dieser Stein ist den Glaubigen köstlich/ den Vnglaubigen aber ist er ein Stein des Anstossens vnd ein Fels der Ergernus die sich stossen an dem Wort/ vnnd glauben nit daran darauff sie gesetzt seind. **English** Although God has bestowed and given this heavenly, blessed stone freely upon the whole human race, rich and poor, without any merit on their part, only the smaller number of people in this world, from the beginning until now, have been able to find, grasp and comprehend him. To the greater number he has always remained hidden, a grievous stumbling block and offence. Isaiah had already foretold this in chapter 8, saying: “He shall be a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence”; likewise a snare and a trap, upon which many shall stumble, fall, be broken, ensnared and taken captive. The aged father Simeon also beheld this in the spirit, Luke 2, when he said to Mary, the mother of the heavenly cornerstone: “Behold, behold, this one is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that shall be spoken against.” Saint Paul likewise testifies to this in Romans 9: “They have stumbled at the stone of stumbling and a rock of offence; for whoever believes in him shall not be put to shame.” Likewise Saint Peter in his first epistle, chapter 2: “This stone is precious to believers; but to unbelievers he is a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence: they stumble at the Word and do not believe in it, whereunto they are appointed.”[^n87] **HY_P4S007** 1619 pp 67–68 · scans ER071, ER072 **German** Wie nun dieser jetz gemelte köstliche gesegnete vnd himlische Stein mit dem zuvor offt erwehnten jrdischen vnd leiblichen Philosophischen Stein/ sich accordire/ vnnd durch auß fein vnd artlich vbereinstimme/ soll allhie solches gründlich/ vnd nach jrer beyder beschreibung nach/ dargethan/ vnd einer gegen dem andern gehalten vnd verglichen werden/ darauß dann vnwidersprechlich zu erkennen vnd zu sehen sein wirt/ wie das der jrdische Philosophische Stein ein wahre Harmonia/ contrafactur vnnd vorbildt des wahren geistlichen vnd himlischen Steins Iesu Christi seye/ in welchem er vns von Gott auch leiblicher weiß für gestellet vnd sichtbarlicher gestalt für gewiesen wirt. **English** How this precious, blessed, heavenly stone just mentioned accords with the earthly and bodily philosophers’ stone so often spoken of before, and how fittingly and exactly they agree in every respect, shall now be thoroughly demonstrated according to the descriptions of them both. One shall be placed beside the other and compared with it. From this it will be possible to recognise and see beyond dispute how the earthly philosophers’ stone is a true harmony, likeness and figure of the true spiritual and heavenly stone, Jesus Christ, in which God also presents him to us bodily and displays him in visible form.[^n88] **HY_P4S008** 1619 pp 68–69 · scans ER072, ER073 **German** 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. **English** 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.[^n89] **HY_P4S009** 1619 pp 69–71 · scans ER073, ER074, ER075 **German** Wo vnd wie aber solche Erkantnus dieses höchsten vnnd himlischen Guts zu finden/ oder zu erkennen sey oder zu lernen/ ist zu wissen/ dz dieselbige auch gleich dem jrdischen Philosophischen Stein/ so seiner Beschreibung nach in einem vnnd in zweyen so allenthalben gefunden/ nur in einem vnd doch zweyen so auch allenthalben ist/ gesucht/ vnd erzeuget soll vnd werden muß/ welches dann nichts anders/ als Gottes ewiges Wort/ vnnd die heylige Göttliche Schrifft das alte vnnd newe Testament ist/ in welchem der rechte himlische Grund vnd Eckstein/ einig vnd allein gesucht vnnd zu erforschen sein will. Wie dann Gott der Vatter in der Verklerung auff dem berg Thabor geschehen/ auch auff diß sein Wort zeiget/ da er spricht Marc.am9.Luc.am9. Diß ist mein Lieber Sohn/ den sollet jhr hören. Dergleichen auch Christus das wesentliche vnd ewige Wort Gottes selbst/ solches auff sich weiset/ da er spricht Johan.14.Ich bin der Weg/ die Warheit/ vnnd das Leben/ niemand kompt zum Vatter/ dann durch mich/ zu der heyligen Göttlichen Schrifft oder gründlichen Zeugnuß des Göttlichen Worts. Esa8.spricht Er/ Zum Gesetz vnd Zeugnuß. Vnd Christus gemeldter Eckstein selber Johan.5.solches auch zum theil erfordert vnnd haben will/ da er sagt/ forschet vnnd suchet in der Schrifft/ dann jhr meinet jhr habet dz Leben darinnen/ vnd sie ist es die von mir zeuget. Dahero Dauid im119.Psalm.solches lange zuvor auch bekandt/ da er spricht: Herr ich habe Lust an deinen Zeugnussen/ die seind meine Rahtsleuth/ dein Wort Herr ist meiner Füssen Leuchte/ vnnd ein Liecht auff meinem Wege/ Ich frewe mich des Wegs deiner Zeugnussen mehr/ als vber allerley Reichthumb. Item Ich betrachte meine Weg vnd kehre meine Füß zu deinen Zeugnussen. **English** As to where and how this knowledge of the highest heavenly good is to be found, recognised or learned, one must know that, like the earthly philosophers’ stone, which according to its description is found everywhere in one and in two, it must be sought and brought forth solely in one, yet in two, which is likewise everywhere. This is nothing other than God’s eternal Word and holy divine Scripture, the Old and New Testaments, in which alone the true heavenly foundation and cornerstone is to be sought and investigated. God the Father himself points to this Word at the transfiguration on Mount Tabor, saying in Mark 9 and Luke 9: “This is my beloved Son; him shall you hear.” Likewise Christ himself, God’s essential and eternal Word, points to himself when he says in John 14: “I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me”; and to holy divine Scripture, or the fundamental testimony of the divine Word. In Isaiah 8 he says: “To the law and to the testimony.” Christ himself, the cornerstone already mentioned, also partly requires and demands this in John 5 when he says: “Examine and search the Scriptures, for you think you have life in them, and they are what bear witness to me.” David had therefore acknowledged this long before in Psalm 119, saying: “Lord, I delight in your testimonies; they are my counsellors. Your Word, Lord, is a lamp to my feet and a light upon my path. I rejoice in the way of your testimonies more than in every kind of wealth.” Likewise: “I consider my ways and turn my feet towards your testimonies.”[^n90] **HY_P4S010** 1619 pp 71–74 · scans ER075, ER076, ER077, ER078 **German** Ferner wo vnd an welchem Orth in heiliger Schrifft dieses himlischen Steins seine prima materia oder wesen gegründet vnd gelegt werde/ ist solcher an vielen orthen/ hin vnd wider/ gründlich vnnd klärlich angedeutet vnd für Augen gestellet/ als sonderlich im Propheten Mich.am5.cap.siehe: dessen Außgang von Anfang vnnd von Ewigkeit her gewesen ist. Vnd er der himlische Eckstein selber bezeuget solches auch Johan.8.als jhn die Juden fragten/ Wer Er sey/ antwortet Er/ Erstlich der/ der ich mit euch rede/ vnd ferner spricht Er/ Warlich/ Warlich/ Ich sage euch/ ehe dann Abraham war/ bin ich. Auß welchen Zeugnussen dann vnwidersprechlich folget/ wie dz er keinen Anfang/ sondern von aller Ewigkeit her sein primum Ens gehabt/ vnd ohn alles End auch Ewigkeit bleiben wirt. Vnd wiewol solche Erkantnus sonsten anderstwo nirgends als in Gottes Wort/ altem vnd newem Testament stehet/ vnd darauß erlangt/ auch erzeuget werden kan: so will ich doch demjenigen/ so derselben nachsetzt/ anzeigen/ daß grosser Fleiß hierinnen anzuwenden sey. Dann im fall einer in solcher Erkantnus anfangs jrrete/ oder einen Mißgriff hierinnen begienge/ er als dann sein gantze nachfolgende Bemühung ferners vergeblich anlegen würde. Darumb sich dann ein jeder wol prüffen/ vnnd den rechten güldenen Grieff in vnderscheidung des Worts hierinnen recht erlernen/ die Augen (verstehe des Gemüths vnnd der Seelen) wol auff thun vnnd solches mit dem jnnerlichen Liecht (so Gott anfangs in vnser Natur vnd Hertz angezündet) beleuchten/ ersehen vnnd erkennen soll/ dann welcher es nur mit den eusserlichen vnnd leiblichen Augen (buchstäblicher weiß) ohne das innerliche Aug vnd Göttliche Liecht erlangen will/ kan derselbige so bald ein Saulum vor ein Paulum ersehen vnd an statt des rechten/ jhme einen jrrweg oder mißverstand daraus erwehlen vnd schöpffen. Dann gleich wie dieses in dem jrdischen Stein seiner Beschreibung nach/ vielen tausent Menschen begegnet ist: also auch in dieses himlischen notitia täglichs (leider Gott erbarms) an dem grössesten vnd mehrern theil sich erzeiget vnd ereugt/ welches aber gleichwol/ nit des Worts/ oder Buchstabens (dann dasselbe beiderseits wol gegründet) sondern viel mehr des Augs/ so in dem Menschen falsch/ allein die Schuld ist vnd demselben zugemessen werden soll. Wie dann Christus Luc.11.spricht/ Das Aug ist des Leibes Liecht/ so aber dein Aug ein Schalck ist/ oder sein wirt/ so ist auch dein Leib finster vnd mache das Liecht in dir finsternus sein. Item am17.cap.spricht er auch: Siehe das Reich Gottes ist jnwendig in euch/ auß welchem dann klerlich zu sehen/ das die Erkantnus des Liechts im Menschen/ erstlich von jnnen herauß/ vnd nicht von aussen hinein gebracht werden muß/ wie solches die H.Schrifft an vielen Orten hin vnd wider bezeugt. **English** Further, as to where and in what place in holy Scripture the first matter or being of this heavenly stone is grounded and established, it is thoroughly and clearly signified and set before our eyes in many places throughout. In particular, see the prophet Micah, chapter 5: “Whose going forth has been from the beginning and from eternity.” The heavenly cornerstone himself also testifies to this in John 8. When the Jews asked who he was, he answered: “First of all, he who speaks with you”; and further he says: “Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am.” From these testimonies it follows beyond dispute that he has no beginning, but has possessed his first being from all eternity, and will remain eternally without any end. Although this knowledge is nowhere to be found except in God’s Word, the Old and New Testaments, and can be attained and brought forth from them, I nevertheless wish to point out to anyone pursuing it that great diligence must be applied here. For if someone erred at the beginning of this knowledge or made a false move in it, all his subsequent exertions would be expended in vain. Everyone should therefore examine himself well and properly learn the true golden art of discerning the Word. He should open his eyes well—understand the eyes of the mind and soul—and illuminate, behold and know it through the inward light which God originally kindled in our nature and heart. Anyone who wishes to attain it with the outward bodily eyes alone, in a merely literal fashion, without the inward eye and divine light, may easily see a Saul in place of a Paul and choose and draw from it a wrong path or misunderstanding instead of the right one. Just as, according to its description, this has happened to many thousands in the case of the earthly stone, so in the knowledge of this heavenly stone it happens daily—alas, may God have mercy—to the greatest and larger part of humanity. The blame for this ought nevertheless to be assigned solely to the eye that is false within the person, rather than to the Word or letter, which in both cases is well founded. Christ says in Luke 11: “The eye is the light of the body; but if your eye is, or becomes, evil, your body too is dark, and the light in you becomes darkness.” Likewise in chapter 17 he says: “Behold, the kingdom of God is within you.” From this it can clearly be seen that knowledge of the light must first be brought from within the human being outwards, and not from outside inwards, as holy Scripture testifies in many places.[^n91] **HY_P4S011** 1619 pp 74–75 · scans ER078, ER079 **German** Daß daß eusserliche obiectum (wie mans zu reden pflegt) oder der Buchstabe/ welcher vmb vnserer schwachheit geschrieben/ dem jnnerlichen vnd Gott eingepflantzten vnd verliehenen gnaden Liecht/ nur für ein Zeugnuß Matth.24.Wie auch das mündlich gehörte Wort/ für ein anreitzung vnnd mittehülff/ oder befördernuß zu solchem zu achten vnd zu halten ist. Als zu einem Exempel wann dir ein weisse vnd schwartze Taffel wirt fürgelegt/ vnd würdest gefragt/ welche auß jhnen beiden für schwartz oder weiß zu halten sey. So die Erkantnus aber der zweyer vnderscheidlichen Farben nicht vor in dir were/ würdest du mit solcher dir fürgelegte Frage/ auß den blossen vnd stummen obiectis oder Taffeln jre ansehung nicht zu erörtern wissen/ Sintemal die Erkantnus nit auß den Taffeln (so stum vnd todt seind) auß sich selbst nie erkennen können/ sondern auß deinen dir angebornen vnnd täglich geübten wissenschafften herauß vnd fliesse. Die obiecta zwar/ (wie zuvor auch gedacht) mouirn die sensus/ vnnd verursachen sie zum erkennen/ daß Erkantnus aber geben sie mit nichten/ sondern muß von jnnen herauß/ auß dem erkennenden/ vnnd solcher Farben wissenschafften iudicante kommen vnd herfür gebracht werden. **English** The outward object, as it is commonly called, or the letter—which was written because of our weakness—is therefore to be regarded merely as a testimony to the inward light of grace planted and bestowed by God; Matthew 24. The Word heard orally is likewise to be regarded as a stimulus, assistance or furtherance towards it. For example, if a white and a black tablet were placed before you, and you were asked which of the two should be regarded as black and which as white, then unless knowledge of these two distinct colours were already within you, you would not know how to resolve the question put to you from the bare, silent objects or tablets by looking at them. Knowledge does not issue from the tablets, which are silent and dead and can never know anything of themselves, but proceeds and flows from the knowledge that is innate in you and exercised daily. The objects do indeed, as already stated, move the senses and induce them to perceive, but they by no means impart knowledge. This must come and be brought forth from within, from the knower and the judge who possesses knowledge of such colours.[^n92] **HY_P4S012** 1619 pp 75–77 · scans ER079, ER080, ER081 **German** Also auch wann man von dir ein materialisch vnnd eusserliches Fewer oder Liecht/ auß einem darzu gehörigen Fewerstein (in dem daß Fewer oder Liecht verborgen) zu haben begehrte/ mustu solch verborgenes vnnd heimlich Liecht/ nicht in dem Stein hinein/ sondern vielmehr/ durch einen darzugehörigen Stahl/ so nothwendig darbey sein/ vnd daß verborgene Fewer in dem Stein mouirn vnd erwecken muß/ auß dem Stein herauß bringen/ vnnd offenbarlich machen/ welches Fewer aber gleichwol auch vor allen dingen/ auch in einem guten vnd hierzu woll præparirten Zunder/ so fern es anders nicht wider verschwinden oder verleschen soll/ aufffangen/ vnd fleissig auffgeblasen werden muß: da du als dann hernach ein rechtschaffen jnneres vnd Fewerleuchtendes Liecht vberkommen/ vnd so lange es brennt/ vnnd erhalten wirt/ deinem gefallen nach darmit schaffen/ handeln vnnd wandeln wirst können. Wie dann auch in dem Menschen solch himlisch vnd Göttlich Liecht obenermassen verborgen/ vnnd auch wie vorgemeldet/ nicht von aussen hinein in den Menschen/ sondern von jnnen herauß kommen vnd gebracht werden muß: Welches so es anfenglich von Gott durch einen wahren Glauben/ vnnd dann ferner durch Mittel vnd Hülff/ durch das gelesen/ gehörte vnd gepredigte Wort/ hernach durch den H.Geist/ den vns Christus erworben vnnd zu geben versprochen hat/ in vnserm duncklen jedoch glaubenden Hertzen/ als in einem Zunder/ widerumb rechte auffgeblasen/ erzündet vnd scheinend gemacht werden kan/ in welchem vnserm Hertzen da Gott hernach als dann schaffen vnnd wircken/ Sintemal Er in den glaubigen Hertzen/ vnd in einem Liecht/ dahin niemand kommen kan/ seine Wohnung haben will. Dann obwol kein mensch mit den leiblichen eusserlichen augen Gott jemals gesehen oder sehen kan/ mag er doch mit den jnnerlichen Augen des Hertzens gesehen/ geoffenbart vñ erkannt werden: Vnd ob wol auch dasselbige bemelte helle Liecht/ in die gantze Welt geschienen/ vnnd alle Menschen die vnd jhe/ die noch täglich erleuchtet: so will gleichwol die Welt jhrer verstockten Arth nach/ dasselbige nicht recht sehen/ noch viel weniger erkennen. **English** Likewise, if someone asked you for a material, outward fire or light from a suitable flint in which fire or light lies hidden, you would have to bring that hidden, secret light out of the stone and make it manifest, rather than put it into the stone. You do this by means of the appropriate steel, which must necessarily be present to stir and awaken the fire hidden in the stone. Above all, however, this fire must also be caught in good tinder properly prepared for the purpose and diligently blown upon, if it is not to disappear or go out again. You will then obtain a proper inward light shining with fire; and as long as it burns and is maintained, you can work, act and go about with it as you please. So too, this heavenly, divine light lies hidden in the human being in the manner just described. As already said, it must come and be brought forth from within, rather than put into the human being from outside. Once it has first been bestowed by God through true faith, it can afterwards, through the means and assistance of the Word read, heard and preached, and then through the Holy Spirit whom Christ has obtained for us and promised to give, be rightly blown upon again, kindled and made to shine in our dark yet believing heart as in tinder. Thereafter God will work and act in this heart of ours, for he wishes to dwell in believing hearts and in a light to which no one can approach. Although no human being has ever seen or can see God with the outward bodily eyes, he may nevertheless be seen, revealed and known with the inward eyes of the heart. Although that bright light has shone into the whole world, and illuminates all human beings who have ever been and still daily illuminates them, the world, in its stubborn nature, refuses to see it rightly, much less to know it.[^n93] **HY_P4S013** 1619 pp 77–78 · scans ER081, ER082 **German** Darumben auch so mancherley jrrige vnd schädliche opiniones darvon gehört werden? welches dann hierinn wol zu betrachten vñ auch darbey vñ gleich wahr genommen vnd gemerckt werden solle. Nemblich daß Gott dem Menschen im höchsten thaill seines Leibs/ nit vngefehr oder vergeblich zwey Augen vnd Ohren mitgetheilet vnd geben hat/ darmit anzudeuten daß der Mensch bey jhm zweyerley sehen vnd gehör/ ein jnnerliches vnd eusserliches zu lehren vnd in acht zu nehmen hat. Also daß er mit dem innerlichen/ geistliche Sache richten/ vnnd das Geistliche dem Geistlichen/ das eusserliche aber/ auch seinen theil zueignen vnd geben soll. Welche vnderscheidung dann in dem Wort des Geistes/ vnnd auch ferners deß Buchstabens fleissig will obseruirt vnd gehalten werden/ vmb welches willen ich auch solches den Einfeltigen/ sie zu besserer vnnd schleuniger Erkantnus des rechten Dreynigen Steins/ an dem am meisten gelegen/ zu bringen vnd an zu führen/ ein wenig andeuten vnd gleichsam zu einer erinnerung hab berühren wollen. **English** Why, then, are so many diverse, erroneous and harmful opinions heard concerning it? The following point should be carefully considered here and rightly observed and remembered: God did not give the human being two eyes and ears in the highest part of the body by chance or in vain. By this he signified that a person must learn and take heed of two kinds of seeing and hearing within himself, an inward and an outward kind. With the inward he should judge spiritual things and assign the spiritual to the spiritual, while also giving the outward its own share. This distinction must be diligently observed and maintained in the Word of the Spirit and also in the letter. I have wished to intimate and briefly touch upon it, as a reminder, for the sake of simple readers, in order to bring and guide them to a better and speedier knowledge of the true three-in-one stone, upon which so much depends.[^n94] **HY_P4S014** 1619 pp 78–79 · scans ER082, ER083 **German** Gleich wie aber die Materia deß jrdischen Philosophischen Steins für der Vulgar gering vnnd vnwerth geachtet/ ja gleichsam für ein verworffen Ding angesehen vnd gehalten wirt: Also vnd ebener massen/ werde auch Christus das ewige Wort des Vatters/ das edle/ Geist vnd Lumen/ der himlische bewehrte Dreyeinige Stein von dem mehrern theil der Menschen in dieser Welt/ auch veracht vnd vernichtet/ vnd auß den Augen gesetzt/ vnnd also jetzo (in Warheit zu reden) schier nichts vnwerters vnnd geringschätzigers/ als eben Gottes säligmachendes Wort. **English** Just as the matter of the earthly philosophers’ stone is regarded by the common multitude as base and worthless, indeed looked upon and treated as a rejected thing, so too Christ, the Father’s eternal Word, the noble spirit and light, the tried, heavenly, three-in-one stone, is despised, treated as nothing and disregarded by the greater part of humanity in this world. Thus, to speak the truth, there is now scarcely anything considered more worthless and of less account than God’s saving Word.[^n95] **HY_P4S015** 1619 pp 79–80 · scans ER083, ER084 **German** Dahero es dann auch1.Cor.2.sonderlich den Weisen dieser Welt/ ein Thorheit genennt wirt/ ja es wirt nicht allein gering geschätzt vnnd verachtet/ sondern auch noch darzu als eine Ketzerey verdampt vnd verbannt/ welches woll einem Gottes Hertzen schmertzlich vnd erbarmlich zu vernehmen/ will geschweigen/ zu sehen/ oder zu erfahren sein solte. Aber wie dem allem so müssen die rechtglaubige dadurch probirt vnnd bewehrt/ wie auch die vor angezogne Zeugnussen rechtschaffens erfüllet werden. Welche auch Johan.am1.bezeuget/ da er spricht: Es war (verstehe das Wort) in der Welt/ vnd die Welt kante es nicht. Item er kam in sein Eigenthumb/ vnd die seinen namen jhn nicht auff. Ferners wie der leibliche vnd jrdische Wasserstein der Weisen/ dessen Krafft vnnd Tugend nicht zu ergründen neben seiner materia viel vnd mancherley namen von den Philosophis bekommen hat. Also vnnd ebener massen/ hat auch solches einiges Numen vnd Lumen dessen Krafft vnnd Allmacht auch nit zu erforschen in H.Göttlicher Schrifft/ viel vnd mancherley Titel vnnd Namen/ als die fürnembsten wir kürtzlich zu erzehlen. **English** It is therefore called foolishness, especially by the wise of this world, in 1 Corinthians 2. Indeed, it is not merely held in low esteem and despised, but also condemned and banished as heresy. It ought to be painful and grievous for a godly heart even to hear of this, let alone to see or experience it. Yet through all this the true believers must be tried and proved, and the testimonies quoted above must be properly fulfilled. John also bears witness to these in his first chapter, saying: “It”—understand the Word—“was in the world, and the world did not know it.” Likewise: “He came to his own, and his own did not receive him.” Further, just as the bodily, earthly water-stone of the wise, whose power and virtue cannot be fathomed, has received many and various names from the philosophers in addition to the name of its matter, so too that one divinity and light, whose power and omnipotence are likewise beyond investigation, has many and various titles and names in holy divine Scripture. We shall briefly recount the foremost of them.[^n96] **HY_P4S016** 1619 pp 80–81 · scans ER084, ER085 **German** Er wirt genennt Lapis philosoph. der vhralte verborgene oder vnbekante/ natürliche/ vnbegreiffliche/ himlische/ gebenedeite/ gesegnete Stein der Weisen. Er wirt genennt der wahre ohne lügen/ der gewisse des allergewissesten/ der geheime aller Geheimnuß/ ein Göttliche Krafft den Narren verborgen/ das höchste vnnd letzte so vnter dem Himmel zu ersehen/ ein wunderreiger Beschluß vnnd Ende aller Philosophischen Werck. Item er wirt genennt ein bequeme vollkommene vergleichung aller Elementen/ ein vnzerstörlicher Leib/ so von keinem Element mag angegriffen werden. Item das fünffte Wesen ein zweyfacher vnd doppelter/ lebendiger vnnd lebendig machender Mercurius/ so einen himlischen Geist in sich hat/ ein Heylung aller Krancken/ vnd imperfecten metallen/ ein ewiges Liecht/ die höchste medicin aller Kranckheiten/ der edle Phoenix/ der allerhöchste edleste Schatz/ oder das höchste Gut der Natur/ der allgemeine Dreyeinige vniuersal Stein/ von Natur/ auß Dreyen zusammen gesetzt/ vnnd doch nur einig ist: ja auch auß1.2.3.4.vnnd5.erzeuget vnd gemacht wirt. Item Magnesia Catholica/ oder sperma mundi ein Samen der gantzen Welt/ vnnd was dergleichen Namen vnd Tituln bey den Philosophis mehr zu finden/ welche alle nicht vnfüglich in der allerhöchsten vnnd vollkommensten Zahl Tausent genennt vnd begriffen werden können. **English** It is called Lapis philosophorum: the most ancient, hidden or unknown, natural, incomprehensible, heavenly, blessed and benedicted stone of the wise. It is called the true without falsehood, the certain of the most certain, the secret of all secrets, a divine power hidden from fools, the highest and last thing to be seen beneath heaven, a wonderful consummation and end of all philosophical works. It is also called a fitting, perfect accord of all the elements; an indestructible body which no element can assail; the fifth being; a twofold, double, living and life-giving Mercury containing a heavenly spirit; a healing of all sick persons and imperfect metals; an eternal light; the highest medicine of all diseases; the noble phoenix; the highest, noblest treasure, or the highest good of Nature; the common, three-in-one universal stone, compounded by Nature from three and yet only one, indeed produced and made from one, two, three, four and five. Likewise it is called universal magnesia, or the seed of the world, a seed of the whole world, and whatever other such names and titles are to be found among the philosophers. All these may fittingly be named and comprehended in the highest and most perfect number, a thousand.[^n97] **HY_P4S017** 1619 pp 81–83 · scans ER085, ER086, ER087 **German** Wie nun/ sag ich dieser jrdische Philosophische Stein/ neben seiner materia viel vnd mancherley namen/ ja woll tausent hat/ auch hin vnnd wider wunderbarlich genannt wirt. Also können diese vnnd dergleichen obgesetzte Titul vnd Namen viel mehr vnd ja in dem allerhöchsten Grad von Gott dem Allmächtigen Gut gesagt vnnd gesprochen werden/ Sintemal ja Gott/ ja Gottes Sohn/ sein ewiger Sohn der rechte/ ewige/ köstliche vnd bewehrte Eck vnnd Grundstein ist/ den die Bawleuth verworffen vnd in die acht gethan haben. Esa.28.Psal.118.Mat.21.Act.4.Rom.9.1.Pet.2. Er ist der rechte alte/ ja vhralte/ so vor der welt Grund gewesen vnnd von ewigkeit Dan.7.Ec.43.Psal.90. Er ist der rechte verborgen vnnd vnbekante Gott/ vbernatürlich/ vnd vnbegreifflich/ vnd himlisch/ gebenedeit vnnd hochgelobt Marc.16.Allein säligmachend/ ja ein Gott aller Götter Deut.10. Er ist der rechte wahrhafftige/ der da nicht lügen kan Num.23.Esa.53.Röm.3. Der allergewisseste zu thun vnnd zu schaffen was er will/ oder der allein mächtige/ Gen17.Ephes.3.Der geheimste vnd ewig/ in dem alle Erkantnus vnd Schatz der Weißheit verborgen liegen Röm.16.Colos.2. Die allein Göttliche Krafft vnnd Allmacht/ so den Narren der Weisen dieser Welt verborgen Psalm.147.Irem.10.Proverb.8.Matth.11.Ec.44.Der erste vnnd letzte im Himmel vnnd auff Erden. Er ist die rechte/ einige/ vollkommene vergleichnuß aller Elementen/ von dem vnd durch den vnd in dem alle Ding seind vnd herkommen/ Rom.11.Iacob.1. Eines vnzerstörlichen Wesens/ so da von keinem Element hat getrennt oder geschieden werden können Psalm.16.Act.2.13.Item Er ist das fünffte Wesen/ ja das Wesen aller Wesen/ vnd doch eigentlich kein Wesen. Er ist der rechte zwifache Mercurius oder Gigas geminæ substantiæ der Held auß zweyen Wesen bestehend/ wie der Hymnus von Christo lautet: Gott von Art vnd Mensch/ ein Held der einen himlischen Geist in sich hat/ so alle ding lebendig macht/ ja das Leben selbst ist Sap.7.Esa.42.Iohan.14. **English** Just as, I say, this earthly philosophers’ stone possesses many and various names besides that of its matter—indeed a thousand—and is wonderfully named in many places, so these titles and others like them may much more truly, and in the highest degree, be applied and spoken of God, the almighty good. For God—indeed God’s Son, his eternal Son—is the true, eternal, precious and tried cornerstone and foundation stone which the builders rejected and cast out: Isaiah 28; Psalm 118; Matthew 21; Acts 4; Romans 9; 1 Peter 2. He is the true ancient, indeed the most ancient, who existed before the foundation of the world and from eternity: Daniel 7; Ecclesiasticus 43; Psalm 90. He is the true hidden and unknown God, supernatural, incomprehensible, heavenly, blessed and highly praised: Mark 16; the sole bringer of salvation, indeed a God of all gods: Deuteronomy 10. He is the truly truthful one who cannot lie: Numbers 23; Isaiah 53; Romans 3. He is the most certain, able to do and accomplish whatever he wishes, or the only mighty one: Genesis 17; Ephesians 3. He is the most secret and eternal one, in whom all knowledge and treasures of wisdom lie hidden: Romans 16; Colossians 2. He is the sole divine power and omnipotence hidden from the fools, the wise of this world: Psalm 147; Jeremiah 10; Proverbs 8; Matthew 11; Ecclesiasticus 44. He is the first and last in heaven and upon earth. He is the true, single, perfect accord of all the elements, from whom and through whom and in whom all things are and originate: Romans 11; James 1. His being is indestructible and could not be separated or divided by any element: Psalm 16; Acts 2 and 13. He is the fifth being, indeed the being of all beings, and yet, properly speaking, no being. He is the true twofold Mercury, or Gigas geminae substantiae, the champion consisting of two substances, as the hymn concerning Christ puts it: “God by nature and man.” A champion containing a heavenly spirit which gives life to all things, indeed which is life itself: Wisdom 7; Isaiah 42; John 14.[^n98] **HY_P4S018** 1619 pp 83–84 · scans ER087, ER088 **German** Er ist der einige vollkommene Heylandt aller vnvollkommenen Cörper vnd Menschen/ ja der rechte himlische Seelenartzt/ das ewige Liecht/ so alle Menschen erleuchtet Esa.60.Iohann.1. Die höchste Medicin aller Krancken/ nemblich die rechte geistliche panacæa Sap.16. Der edle Phoenix/ so da seine/ durch die alte Schlang den Teuffel verwundte vnd getödte Jungen/ widerumb durch sein Blut erquicket vnnd lebendig macht/ ja der allerhöchste Schatz/ oder höchste Gut im Himmel vnnd auff Erden. Psalm.83.Sapient.7. Das Dreyeinige vniuersal wesen Iehoua genannt Deut.6.so da auch auß einem/ dem Göttlichen Wesen nach/ auß zweyen/ als Gott vnd Menschen/ auß dreyen nemlich Personen: auß vieren/ als drey Personen vnnd einem Göttlichen Wesen/ wie auch auß fünffen als dreyen Personen/ vnd zweyen Wesen/ Göttlich vnnd Menschlich erzeuget ist worden. Wie dann auch Er die rechte Magnesia Catholica vñ sperma mundi catholicum/ das ist der vniuersal Samen der gantzen Welt/ von dem/ durch den vnd in deme/ alle himlische vnd jrdische Creaturen jhr Wesen/ bewegung vnnd vrsprung haben Gen.1.Iohann.1.Act.17.Rom.11.Psal.1.In Summa das A vnnd ω der Anfang vnd das Endt/ spricht der Herr/ der da ist/ der da war/ vnd der da kompt/ der Allmächtige Apoc.1. **English** He is the single perfect Saviour of all imperfect bodies and human beings, indeed the true heavenly physician of souls; the eternal light which illuminates all human beings: Isaiah 60; John 1. He is the highest medicine of all the sick, namely the true spiritual panacea: Wisdom 16. He is the noble phoenix who revives and brings to life again through his blood his young, wounded and slain by the old serpent, the Devil; indeed the highest treasure, or highest good, in heaven and upon earth: Psalm 83; Wisdom 7. He is the three-in-one universal being called Jehovah: Deuteronomy 6, produced from one according to the divine being; from two as God and man; from three, namely persons; from four as three persons and one divine being; and also from five as three persons and two natures, divine and human. Likewise he is the true universal magnesia and universal seed of the world: that is, the universal seed of the whole world, from whom, through whom and in whom all heavenly and earthly creatures have their being, movement and origin: Genesis 1; John 1; Acts 17; Romans 11; Psalm 1. In sum: “The Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, ” says the Lord, “who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty”: Revelation 1.[^n99] **HY_P4S019** 1619 pp 84–86 · scans ER088, ER089, ER090 **German** Weiter wie es nun in dem obgerührten Philosophischen Werck noch nicht gnug ist/ die Erkantnus der Materia allein haben/ vnnd für ein Dreyeiniges Wesen dieselbe erkennen: auch jhre qualitet vnd eigene Eigenschafften erlernt haben: sondern auch nothwendig zu wissen sein will/ wie man solch zur Hand bringen/ vnd jhres Nutzen fähig werden möge/ welches dann auff keine andere weiß als wann/ wie oben gemelt worden/ solche drey Ding offtermal soluirt vnd putreficirt/ da jhm dann also sein dunckler Schatten vnnd rauhes Wesen/ mit dem es anfänglich obumbrirt vnd daher in einer vnfreundlichen Gestalt anzusehen gewesen/ dadurch abgezogen vnnd benommen wirt. Hernach durch ferner sublimation sein Hertz vnd jnnerliche Seel/ so in jhm verborgen/ durch das catholische/ süsse vñ Feuchtende Meer Wasser/ auß jhme deducirt vnd gezogen/ auch in ein leiblich Wesen gebracht ist worden. Also vnd noch viel weniger können wir dieses Dreyeinige Göttlich Wesen/ Iehoua genannt/ erkennen/ es sey dann/ das zuvor dasselbige (respectu nostri) auch gleichsam dissoluirt vnd purificirt/ vnd jhm die Decke Moysis vñ zornige Gestalt/ die vns alle von Natur hindert vnd schreckt/ abgezogen: auch durch fernere Göttliche erleuchtung sein Hertz vnnd jnnerliche Seel/ so in jhm verborgen/ das ist sein Sohn/ welcher ist Christus durch hülff vnnd beystand des heyligen Geists/ der da auch/ als ein reines Wasser vnsere Hertzen reiniget Ezech.36.Esa.44.ja als ein Göttliches Fewer erleuchtet Jerem.23.Matth.3.vnnd mit süssem lieblichen Trost erfüllet vnnd erquicket Iohan.16. Auß jhme gebracht vnd erleuchtet vnd zu einem freundlichen Gott sey gemacht worden. **English** Further, just as in the philosophical work already discussed it is not enough merely to know the matter, recognise it as a three-in-one being, and learn its qualities and particular properties, but one must also necessarily know how to bring it to hand and become capable of benefiting from it, so this can happen in no other way than by repeatedly dissolving and putrefying those three things, as stated above. Its dark shadow and rough being, with which it was originally overshadowed and which gave it an unfriendly appearance, are thereby stripped off and removed. Afterwards, through further sublimation, its heart and inward soul, hidden within it, are led and drawn out by the universal, sweet, moistening sea-water and brought into bodily being. So too, and still less readily, can we know this three-in-one divine being called Jehovah unless it has first, in relation to us, likewise been dissolved and purified, as it were, and the veil of Moses and wrathful appearance that naturally hinder and terrify us all have been stripped away. Through further divine illumination, his heart and inward soul hidden within him—that is, his Son, who is Christ—must be brought forth from him, illuminated and made a gracious God to us, through the aid and assistance of the Holy Spirit. For the Spirit cleanses our hearts like pure water, Ezekiel 36; Isaiah 44, enlightens like a divine fire, Jeremiah 23; Matthew 3, and fills and refreshes us with sweet, gracious consolation, John 16.[^n100] **HY_P4S020** 1619 pp 86–87 · scans ER090, ER091 **German** Gleich wie aber in dem Philosophischen Werck/ die materia/ nach dem sie in jhre drey theil oder principia dissoluirt vnd zerlegt/ als dann ferner mit jhren eigenen Saltz widerumb congelirt vnd inn ein einiges Wesen gebracht muß werden/ welches hernach das Saltz der Weißheit genant wirt: Also muß auch Gott vnd Gottes Hertz das ist der Sohn dem Vatter widerumb durch jhr eigen Saltz/ so Gott auch wesentlich eingepflantzet/ vereiniget vnd für einen Gott kund vnd erkannt vñ nicht für zwen oder drey Götter vnd Wesen gehalten vñ geglaubt werden: Vnd wann du also Gott durch seinen Sohn erkandt/ auch gleichsam zertheilt/ aber mit dem Geist der Göttlichen Weißheit vnnd Bandt der Liebe widerumb zusammen gesetzt/ vnnd vereinigt hast: Siehe so ist dir als dann der vnsichtbare vnd vnbekante Gott Esa.45.schon sichtbar vnd erkäntlich/ ja verständlich gemacht/ welcher dir auch nicht mehr/ wie zuvor/ zornig vñ vnfreundlich/ sondern auff das lieblichste vnnd freundlichste erscheint/ vnnd sich von dir fühlen/ sehen vnd hören lasset/ da doch Gott zuvor/ ehe Christus sein Sohn in vns formiret vnd gebildet worden Galat.4.vns viel mehr ein erschrecklicher Gott Dan.7.18.ja ein verzehrendes Fewer ist/ vnnd genennet wirt. Gleichwol aber solche Erkantnus des Dreyeinigen Göttlichen Wesens/ dir noch nicht aller dinge gnug vnd völlig zuvertrawen ist/ im fall du nit ferner in Erkantnus desselbigen (sonderlich seines Hertzens) fortfährest vnnd zunimst. **English** But just as in the philosophical work the matter, after being dissolved and divided into its three parts or principles, must then be coagulated again with its own salt and brought into a single being, afterwards called the salt of wisdom, so God and God’s heart—that is, the Son—must likewise be united again with the Father through their own salt, which is also essentially planted in God. He must be known and recognised as one God, and must not be held or believed to be two or three gods and beings. When you have thus known God through his Son and, as it were, divided him, but have then compounded and united him again through the spirit of divine wisdom and the bond of love, behold: the invisible and unknown God, Isaiah 45, has now been made visible and recognisable to you, indeed intelligible. He no longer appears wrathful and unfriendly as before, but most gracious and loving, allowing himself to be felt, seen and heard by you. Before Christ his Son was formed and fashioned in us, Galatians 4, God was rather a terrifying God to us, Daniel 7.18, indeed a consuming fire, and is so called. Nevertheless, even this knowledge of the three-in-one divine being is not yet wholly sufficient or something upon which you can fully rely unless you advance and increase further in knowledge of him, especially of his heart.[^n101] **HY_P4S021** 1619 pp 87–88 · scans ER091, ER092 **German** Dann gleich wie das obberührte vnnd bißher zubereitete Subiectum im Philosophischen Werck ohne ferner præparation/ zu der leiblichen Medicin/ dir viel mehr schedlich als nutzlich: Also auch Christus/ wann du jhn nicht besser vnd völliger erkennst zu der geistlichen medicin deiner Seelen/ dir noch wenig dienstlich/ ja viel mehr/ zur verdammnus gereichen würde. Darumb du dann im fall du anderst seine/ auch seiner himlischen Schätz vñ Güter frölich geniessen will/ in seiner persönlicher Erkantnus fürder fortfahren vnd jhn nicht/ als einen purlautern Gott dir fürstellen vnd einbilden/ sondern auff die Erfüllung der Zeit/ so von Gott darzu bestimmt Galat.4.In welcher er seinen Zusatz bekommen/ das ist/ zu gleich Gott vnd Mensch/ ja menschen Sohn worden ist/ achtung geben vnd haben must. **English** For just as the subject already described and thus far prepared in the philosophical work is, without further preparation, more harmful than useful to you as a bodily medicine, so too Christ, unless you know him better and more fully as the spiritual medicine of your soul, would be of little service to you, indeed would rather conduce to your condemnation. Therefore, if you wish to enjoy him and his heavenly treasures and goods with gladness, you must advance further in knowledge of his person. You must not represent or imagine him to yourself as God alone, but must attend to the fulfilment of the time appointed by God, Galatians 4, in which he received his addition: that is, became at once God and man, indeed the Son of Man.[^n102] **HY_P4S022** 1619 pp 88–89 · scans ER092, ER093 **German** Dann gleich wie in dem philosophischen Werck abermals vermeldet ist worden/ daß der primæ materiæ/ wann sie anders zu jhrem Effect gebracht/ vnd zu einer Tinctur/ die andern schlechten Metalln zu perficiren/ gemacht soll werden/ Ein ander metallisch Corpus/ so da von Gott vor allen andern Metalln zum höchsten gewürdiget/ vnd der ersten bemelten Materiæ am nehesten verwandt/ auch am annehmlichsten ist/ ferner muß beygesetzt/ mit jhr vereiniget vnnd zu einem Leib gemacht werden. Also auch die in dem Theologischen Werck der Göttlichen Natur des Sohns Gottes (haben wir anders derselben wollen geniessen vnd theilhafftig werden wollen) ein anders gleichsam Metallisch vnd jrdisch Corpus/ daß ist Fleisch vnd Blut/ die Menschheit oder die Menschliche Natur/ so auch der höchsten gewürdigten Creatur vnter allen geschöpffen Gottes auff Erden vnd der Göttlichen am nehesten vnd annehmlichsten/ auch daher daß zu jhrem Bild erschaffen ist/ hat beygefügt/ mit jhr vereiniget/ vnnd also beyde auch zu einem vnauflößlichen Corpus gemacht vnd vereinigt werden müssen. **English** For, as has again been stated in the philosophical work, if the first matter is to be brought to its effect and made into a tincture that perfects the other base metals, another metallic body must be added to it, united with it and made into one body. This is the body which God has most highly honoured above all other metals, which is most closely related and most acceptable to the first matter already mentioned. So too, in the theological work, if we are to enjoy and participate in it, another, as it were metallic and earthly body had to be added to the divine nature of God’s Son, united with it, and both made and united into one indissoluble body. This is flesh and blood, humanity or human nature, the most highly honoured creature among all God’s creatures upon earth, nearest and most acceptable to the divine nature, also because it was created in its image.[^n103] **HY_P4S023** 1619 pp 89–90 · scans ER093, ER094 **German** Gleich wie hierneben aber in dem fürgebildten Philosophischen Werck sonderlich auch notirt/ vnnd zu mercken eingeführt ist worden/ daß gleich wie nemblich diß gemeine Gold Corpus zu solchem Werck nicht tüglich/ sondern wegen seiner vnvollkommenheit/ vnnd mancherley mängel (so es an vnd in jhm hat) sehr vnmächtig vnd gleichsam todt zu achten sey: vnd demnach ein purlauteres (so da ohne alle vnreinigkeit vnd mängel vnnd mit einigem Betrug niemals gefelschet/ auch an seinem jnnerlichen Schwefel vnd Kräfften noch vngeschwechet ist) zu handen gebracht werden muß: Also auch viel weniger zu dem Göttlichen Wesen des Sohns Gottes/ seine allgemeine menschliche Natur/ als die da in Sünden empfangen/ mit der erbsünd durchgangen/ vnnd noch täglich mit wircklichen Sünden/ vnd vnnatürlichen schwachheiten (wie sonsten alle Menschen auff Erden in gemein seind) verunreiniget/ einverleibt müssen worden/ oder jhr anzunehmen gebühren mögen/ sondern ein purlauter/ sündloser vnd vollkommener menschheit. **English** Yet, as was particularly noted and set forth for consideration in the foregoing philosophical work, the common body of gold is not fit for this work. Because of its imperfection and the many defects it has upon and within itself, it is to be regarded as very powerless and, as it were, dead. Therefore a completely pure gold must be obtained, free from every impurity and defect, never adulterated by any fraud, and still unweakened in its inward sulphur and powers. So too, still less could the divine being of God’s Son have taken into itself or fittingly assumed ordinary human nature as it is conceived in sins, permeated with original sin and daily defiled with actual sins and unnatural infirmities, as human beings upon earth commonly are. It had to assume a wholly pure, sinless and perfect humanity.[^n104] **HY_P4S024** 1619 pp 90–91 · scans ER094, ER095 **German** Darumb dann dieser himlische vnnd ewige Grund vnd Eckstein Christus Iesus/ in massen der Philosophische auch also beschrieben worden/ seinen beyden Naturen nach/ auch einer sehr hoch wunder vnd sonderbaren Geburt vnd herkommens/ darzu einer vnergründlichen vnnd vnerforschlichen Natur vnd Eigenschafften ist vnd bleibet. Sintemal er ja seiner Gottheit nach von ewigkeit hero/ auß dem allein Göttlichen Wesen seines himlischen vnd ewigen Vatters/ wahrer Gott/ ja Gottes Sohn dessen Außgang (wie die Schrifft darvon sagt) von Anfangs vnd von Ewigkeit her gewesen ist: aber seiner Menschheit nach in erfüllung der Zeit on alle sündliche mängel vnd gebrechen Esa.53.Iohan.8.nach der Schrifft ein rechter vollkommener Mensch mit Leib vnnd Seel Mat.26.ist geborn worden/ der er nunmero ein vnzertrennlichs/ persönlichs vnd Gottmenschlichen Wesens/ dz ist/ beydes wahrer Gott vnd wahrer mensch/ in einer einigen vnd in alle ewigkeit vnauflößlichen Person ist/ vnd als ein Allmächtiger Gott dafür erkant/ auch geehret soll vnd werden muß. **English** Therefore this heavenly, eternal foundation and cornerstone, Christ Jesus, like the philosophical stone as it has also been described, is and remains, according to both his natures, of a supremely wondrous and extraordinary birth and origin, and of an unfathomable and unsearchable nature and properties. According to his divinity he is from eternity true God, born from the sole divine being of his heavenly and eternal Father, indeed God’s Son, whose going forth, as Scripture says of him, has been from the beginning and from eternity. According to his humanity, however, in the fullness of time he was born, without any sinful defects or infirmities, Isaiah 53; John 8, as a true, perfect human being with body and soul, Matthew 26, according to Scripture. He is now of an inseparable, personal, divine-and-human being: that is, both true God and true man in one person, indissoluble to all eternity; and he ought and must be recognised and honoured as Almighty God.[^n105] **HY_P4S025** 1619 pp 91–93 · scans ER095, ER096, ER097 **German** Allhie were zu wünschen dz dem grösten hauffen der vermeinten gelertren die Augen recht eröffnet vnnd jnen jhr finstere auffgesetzte brillen/ oder Sophistische Larven (so jnen fürgehengt) abgethan/ vnnd doch einmal sehend gemacht werden möchten. Insonderheit alle Aristotelische vnnd in Göttlichen werck blind süchtige sophiste bey denen sam vnseligen disputationes heutiges tags noch in Göttlichen Sachen vnd Christlich getrieben/ vnd des vielfältige distinguirens/ diuidirens vnnd permiscirens kein Ende nit ist/ noch sein wil von dem in H.Schrifft wol verfasseten hochheiligen articul de vnione naturarum & communicatione idiomatum in Christo wann sie Gott vnd seinem Wort sonst je keinen glauben geben wolten/ so könten vnd möchten sie/ auß deß offt gedachten Chimischen Wercks (wie oben vermeldet) geschehener Coniunction vnd vereinigung der zweyer Wasser Mercurien vnnd Solis Wesen lernen vnnd jhne gleichsam mit Fingern greiffen/ aber jhr hohe Schull Kunst der Heydnischen Philosophiæ/ vnnd in hailiger Schrifft oder Christlicher Theologia/ vngegründte ja nichts gedüntige fundamenta vnnd præcepta Aristotelica de substantia & accidentib.vnnd andere lassen sie zu solchem nit gelangen/ vnd betrachten darzu nicht/ daß der alte Tertullianus nicht vergebentlich geschrieben: Philosophos/ Patriarchas esse hæreticorum/ daß ist/ daß die natürliche weise heydnische Meister/ Ertzvätter seind aller Ketzern: aber hiervon weitläufftiger zu handeln/ woll mir nicht gebühren. **English** Here one might wish that the eyes of the great multitude of supposed learned men would be properly opened, that the dark spectacles they have put on, or the sophistical masks hung before their faces, would be removed, and that they might at last be made to see. This applies especially to all the Aristotelian sophists, purblind in divine matters, among whom such wretched disputations are still conducted today concerning divine and Christian things, with no end, nor any willingness to end, the manifold distinguishing, dividing and confounding of the most holy article well set forth in holy Scripture: the union of the natures and the communication of properties in Christ. Even if they refused to give any credence to God and his Word, they could and might learn from the conjunction and union already described in the chemical work—of the two waters, the mercurial water and the being of the sun—and grasp it, as it were, with their fingers. But their lofty academic art of heathen philosophy, and their Aristotelian foundations and precepts concerning substance and accidents and other matters, unfounded and indeed worthless in holy Scripture or Christian theology, prevent them from attaining it. Nor do they consider that the ancient Tertullian did not write in vain: “The philosophers are the patriarchs of heretics”; that is, the masters of natural heathen wisdom are the forefathers of all heretics. But it is not for me to treat this at greater length.[^n106] **HY_P4S026** 1619 pp 93–95 · scans ER097, ER098, ER099 **German** Aber daß noch weiter/ gleich wie in dem Philosophischen Werck/ das gemelte Compositum/ nach dem die zweyerley Wesen coniungirt/ vnd ferner in das Fewer gerichtet wirt/ vnnd eingesetzt/ dadurch verfault/ zerstöret/ zermalmet/ vnnd wol gekocht werden muß/ in welcher verfaulung vnd kochung dann/ mitter zeit (biß es plusquam perfectum wirt) sich mancherley actus mit jhme verlauffen/ vnd wie in Beschreibung des jrdischen Wercks nach lenge daselbst zu finden/ sich vielerley Farben erzeigen vnd sehen lassen: Also ist diese/ Gottmenschliche vñ mensch Göttliche person Christ Iesus in dieser Welt von Gott seinem himlischen Vatter/ also darzu verordnet/ in den Feweroffen der Trübsal/ auch versetzt vnnd wol darinnen gekocht/ daß Er in allerley Mühseligkeit/ Schmach/ Schande/ Creutz vnd Trübsal vmbgetrieben/ auch in mancherley gestalt verendert worden/ als Er hat hunger gelitten Mat.4.In dem als bald nach seiner empfangenen Tauff/ da er in sein Predigampt ist getretten/ auß antrib des H.Geists in die Wüsten loffen/ vnd deßwegen von dem leidigen Teuffel versucht vnd angefochten worden/ auch alda einen dreyfachen starcken Ritterkampff mit jhm hat halten müssen/ zum Zeugnuß allen getaufften Christen/ dz wann sie in jhr Christenthumb getretten vnd glaubens bekäntnuß von Christo thun/ vnnd schalln mündten lassen/ sie auch alsbald vom Teuffel müssen versucht werden/ vnd durch mancherley auffhetzung zum abfall widerumb getrieben wuren/ Item daß er auch müde ist worden Iohan.4.daß Er bitterlich geweinet Luc.19.gezittert vnd gezaget/ Luc.14.mit dem Todt gerungen/ blutigen Schweiß geschwitzet/ auch gefangen vnd gebunden Mat.26.von des hohen Priesters Knecht in das Angesicht geschlagen/ verspottet vnd verspeyet/ gegeisselt vnd gecrönet/ hin zum Todt verurtheilet/ vnd an das Creutz/ so er selber getragen Ioh.19.zwischen2.Mördern genagelt worden/ dz er mit Gall vnd Essig getrenckt Psal.69.mit lauter stim geschryen/ seine Geist auffgeben vnd am Creutz verschieden ist/ vnnd was dergleichen Angst vnd Trübsal/ Er in seinem Leben vnd Sterben/ davon bey den Euangelisten weiter vnd nach der lenge zu lesen/ mehr erlitten vnd angestanden hat. **English** Further, just as in the philosophical work the compound, after its two beings have been conjoined, is placed and set in the fire, where it must putrefy, be destroyed, ground down and thoroughly cooked, and during this putrefaction and cooking various actions take place within it in the course of time, until it becomes more than perfect, and various colours appear and show themselves—as is to be found at length in the description of the earthly work—so this divine-and-human, human-and-divine person, Christ Jesus, was also appointed to this by God his heavenly Father and placed in the fiery furnace of tribulation in this world. He was thoroughly cooked within it, driven about amid every kind of hardship, disgrace, shame, cross and tribulation, and changed into many forms. Thus he suffered hunger, Matthew 4. Immediately after receiving baptism, when he entered upon his preaching office, he went into the wilderness at the prompting of the Holy Spirit and was therefore tempted and assailed by the evil Devil. There he had to sustain a mighty threefold contest with him, as a testimony to all baptised Christians that, when they enter upon their Christianity and make and openly proclaim their confession of faith in Christ, they too must immediately be tempted by the Devil and driven towards apostasy again through diverse incitements. Likewise he grew weary, John 4; wept bitterly, Luke 19; trembled and was afraid, Luke 14; struggled with death, sweated bloody sweat, and was taken captive and bound, Matthew 26; was struck in the face by the high priest’s servant, mocked and spat upon, scourged and crowned, condemned to death and nailed between two murderers to the cross which he himself had carried, John 19. He was given gall and vinegar to drink, Psalm 69, cried out with a loud voice, yielded up his spirit and died upon the cross. He also suffered and endured all the other anguish and tribulation of this kind during his life and death which may be read more fully and at length in the Evangelists.[^n107] **HY_P4S027** 1619 pp 95–96 · scans ER099, ER100 **German** Vnd gleich wie die Philosophi melden/ daß solche kochung vnd verfaulung in obgedachtem jrdischen Werck gemeiniglich innerhalb40.Tag geschehe vnnd verrichtet werde: also vnnd gleicher gestalt seind auch durch solche Zahl in H.Schrifft viel vnd mancherley Wunder vnd Theoten von Gott beschrieben vñ auffgezeichnet worden/ als da fürnemlich vnd sonderlich seind: Daß die Kinder Israel in der Wüsten Ps.59.(40.jar) geblieben/ vnd das Elend haben bawen müssen Deut.8.Item daß Moses auff dem Berg Sinai Exod.34.Elias in der Flucht vor Achab1.Reg.19.Christus in der Wüsten40.Tag vnd nacht gefastet hat/ wie auch40.monat auff Erden gepredigt/ vnnd Wunder gethan/40.stund im Grab gelegen: auch40.Tag zwischen seiner Aufferstehung vnnd Himmelfart bey seinen Jüngern vnd Aposteln vmbgewandelt vnd sich von jhnen lebendig hat sehen lassen Act.1.Die Statt Jerusalem im40.Jahr/nach deß Herrn Himmelfart von den Römern ist geschleifft vnnd zerstöret worden. **English** And just as the philosophers report that this cooking and putrefaction in the earthly work described above generally takes place and is accomplished within forty days, so too holy Scripture records and describes many and various divine wonders and deeds through this number. Foremost and particular examples are that the children of Israel remained in the wilderness for forty years, Psalm 59, and had to endure their misery, Deuteronomy 8; that Moses upon Mount Sinai, Exodus 34, Elijah in his flight from Ahab, 1 Kings 19, and Christ in the wilderness fasted for forty days and nights; that Christ also preached and performed wonders upon earth for forty months, lay in the grave for forty hours, and walked among his disciples and apostles for forty days between his resurrection and ascension, allowing them to behold him alive, Acts 1; and that the city of Jerusalem was razed and destroyed by the Romans in the fortieth year after the Lord’s ascension.[^n108] **HY_P4S028** 1619 pp 96–97 · scans ER100, ER101 **German** Vnd ist auch sonderlich zu mercken daß die Philosophi solche putrefaction oder verfaulung wegen seiner schwartzen Farb/ deß caput corui/ genent haben. Dann also ist auch Christus einer gantzen heßlichen Gestalt gewesen/ vñ daß aller vngeachtst/ vnd vnwürdigste/ voller Schmertzen vnd Kranckheiten/ vnd zwar so veracht/ daß man das Angesicht vor jhm verborgen vnd seine nichts geachtet hat. Ja wie Er selbst im22.Ps.darüber klagt/ so ist er ein Wurm vnnd kein Mensch/ eine Spott der Leuth vnnd Verachtung des volcks gewesen. Wie dann dz auff Christum den Herrn sich nicht vnfüglich vergleichet/ daß solch verfault solis corpus ein zeitlang gleich einer Aschen am Boden deß Glases ohn alle Krafft erst sohnlang sich nach sterckung des Fewers seine Anima tropflicht algemach widerumb thut herunter lassen/ vnnd das verschmachte vñ gleichsam verstorbene corpus/ widerauff imbibirt/ befeucht vñ träncke vnd vor der gentzlichen zerstörung also erhalten thut bleiben. **English** It should also be particularly noted that the philosophers have called this putrefaction, because of its black colour, the raven’s head. So too Christ was of a wholly disfigured appearance, the most disregarded and unworthy of all, full of sorrows and sicknesses, and so despised that people hid their faces from him and held him of no account. Indeed, as he himself laments in Psalm 22, he was a worm and no man, a mockery to people and the contempt of the nation. The comparison with Christ the Lord is therefore not unfitting: the putrefied body of the sun lies for a time, like ashes, powerless at the bottom of the glass, until, after the fire has been strengthened, its soul gradually descends again in drops, imbibes, moistens and gives drink anew to the exhausted and, as it were, dead body, and thus keeps it preserved from utter destruction.[^n109] **HY_P4S029** 1619 pp 97–98 · scans ER101, ER102 **German** Sintemal auch solches Christo widerfahren/ in dem er am Ölberg vnnd Creutz/ durch daß Fewer Göttliches Zorns gebraten Matth.26.27.Sich gantz vnnd gar von seinm himlischen Vatter verlassen beklagt hat/ vnnd doch gleichwol auch immer (wie dem jrdischen Cörper/ durch stetige Labsal vnd erquickung auch geschicht) vnd gelabet vnd gesterckt Mat.4.Luc.22.Ioh.12.vnnd mit dem göttlichen Nectare gleichsam imbuirt/ befeucht vnd getränckt ist worden: ja da jm auch endlich in seinem heiligsten Leyden vnd Sterben/ mitten im Todt/ seine Krafft vnd Geist gantz außgezogen vnd entnommen/ auch gar in die vndersten vñ tieffsten Örter der Erden kommen ist Act.1.Ephes.4.1.Pet.3.ist doch gleichfals erhalten vnd erquicket/ vnnd durch Krafft vnnd Macht der ewigen Gottheit widerumb auffgerichtet/ lebendig vnnd herrlich gemacht Rom.14.da als dann Seel vnd Geist mit seinem im Grab verstorbenen Leibe/ erst rechte vollkommliche vnd vnaufflößliche fixation oder vnion gebracht/ auch durch die fröliche Aufferstehung vnnd Siegreiche Himmelfahrt zu einem Herrn vnd Christ Matth.28.vnnd zur rechten seines Vatters Marc.16.erhöhen worden/ mit dem er nunmehr durch Krafft des heiligen Geistes/ als wahrer Gott vnd Mensch in gleicher Macht vnd Glori vber alles regiert vnnd herschet Psalm.8.mit seinem kräfftigen Wort/ alles vehit vnnd trägt Hebr.1.ja alle Ding lebendig machet Act.17.welche wunderbarliche vereinigung dann/ wie auch Göttliche erhöhung von Engeln vnd Menschen/ im Himmel vnnd auff Erden vnd vnder der Erden Phil.2.1.Pet.1.ohn bestürtzung/ furcht vnd schrecken gleichfals nicht wol kan gesehen/ viel weniger betrachtet werden/ dessen Krafft/ Macht vnd Rosinfarbe Tinctur vns vnvollkommene vnnd sündhaffte Menschen/ nunmehr auch am Leib vnd Seel immutirn/ tingirn vnnd plusquam perfecte curirn vnd heilen kan/ wie davon bald hernacher/ weiter soll vermeldet werden. **English** This also befell Christ. Roasted by the fire of divine wrath upon the Mount of Olives and the cross, Matthew 26 and 27, he lamented that he was wholly abandoned by his heavenly Father. Nevertheless, he was continually refreshed and strengthened, Matthew 4; Luke 22; John 12, just as happens to the earthly body through constant refreshment and revival, and was, as it were, imbued, moistened and given drink with divine nectar. Indeed, when at last, in his most holy passion and death, amid death itself, his power and spirit were entirely drawn out and taken from him, and he came into the lowest and deepest places of the earth, Acts 1; Ephesians 4; 1 Peter 3, he was nevertheless likewise preserved and revived, raised again through the power and might of the eternal Godhead, and made living and glorious, Romans 14. Then soul and spirit were first brought into a truly complete and indissoluble fixation or union with his body that had died in the grave. Through his joyful resurrection and victorious ascension he was exalted as Lord and Christ, Matthew 28, and to the right hand of his Father, Mark 16. With the Father he now rules and reigns over all things in equal power and glory, through the power of the Holy Spirit, as true God and man, Psalm 8; bears and carries all things by his mighty Word, Hebrews 1; indeed gives life to all things, Acts 17. This wondrous union and divine exaltation cannot be beheld, much less contemplated, by angels and human beings in heaven, upon earth and beneath the earth, Philippians 2; 1 Peter 1, without astonishment, fear and awe. Its power, might and rose-coloured tincture can now also change and tinge us imperfect, sinful human beings in body and soul, and cure and heal us more than perfectly, as will shortly be described further.[^n110] **HY_P4S030** 1619 pp 99 · scans ER103 **German** Nachdem wir nun kürtzlich in Einfalt betrachtet haben den einigen himlischen Grund vnd Eckstein Christum Iesum/ wie derselbige mit dem jrdischen Philosophischen Stein der Weisen verglichen/ vnd vereinigen thut: dessen Materia vnnd præparation/ wie gehört/ ein schöner Typus vnd lebendige contrefactur der göttlichen Menschwerdung ist in Christo: So will dennoch auch ferner von nöthen sein/ desselben Krafft/ Tugendt/ vnnd Tinctur wie auch fermentation vñ multiplication in vns armen Krafft vnd Tugendblosen Menschen als vnvollkommenen metallen zu besehen vnd zu lernen. **English** Having now briefly and simply considered the one heavenly foundation and cornerstone, Christ Jesus, and how he compares and accords with the earthly philosophers’ stone of the wise, whose matter and preparation, as we have heard, are a beautiful type and living likeness of the divine Incarnation in Christ, it will nevertheless also be necessary to consider and learn further concerning his power, virtue and tincture, as well as his fermentation and multiplication within us poor human beings, devoid of power and virtue, as within imperfect metals.[^n111] **HY_P4S031** 1619 pp 99–100 · scans ER103, ER104 **German** Dann obwol Gott den Menschen im Anfang vor alle andern seiner Geschöpffen/ zu der hochedlesten vnd vollkommensten Creatur/ ja zu seinem Ebenbild geschaffen vnd jhm einen lebendigen Athem/ auch vnsterbliche Seel eingeblasen. In ein vngestaltes widerwertiges vnd schadhaftes effigiem verkehrt vnnd verwandelt worden. Damit aber solche Edle Geschöpff widerumb zu recht gebracht vnnd zu seiner vorigen gestalt vnnd vollkommenheit verholffen würde/ hat Gott der Allmächtige auß lauter Barmhertzigkeit/ ein solches Mittel verordnet/ durch welches nun folgender gestalt also geschehen muß. **English** For although in the beginning God created the human being above all his other creatures as the noblest and most perfect creature, indeed in his own image, and breathed into him living breath and an immortal soul, he has been turned and changed into a deformed, contrary and damaged image. But so that this noble creature might be restored and helped back to its former form and perfection, Almighty God, out of pure mercy, ordained a means through which this must now take place in the following manner.[^n112] **HY_P4S032** 1619 pp 100–101 · scans ER104, ER105 **German** Nemlichen dz wie im Philosophischen Werck vermeldet ist worden/ der plusquam perfecte gemachte Stein oder Tinctur nach solcher seiner perfection aller erst soll vnd muß noch weiter fermentirt/ vnd augmentirt oder multiplicirt werden/ soll er anders ein viilsältigen Nutz bekommen/ vnd seine Krafft vnnd Wirckung ersprießlich sein: Also muß Christus der himlische vnnd gebenedeite Stein nach seiner Gottmenschlichen perfection vnn vollkommenheit mit vns seinen Gliedmassen/ als noch vnvollkommenen metallen/ auch noch weiter fermentirt/ multiplicirt/ das ist/ wir mit jhme durch seine Rosinfarbe vnd säligmachende Tinctur vereiniget vnnd vereiniget/ vnnd zu einem reinen vngeflewckten geistlichen Leib/ gemacht vnd verfertiget werden/ Sintemal Er wie S.Paulus spricht Rom.8.Der Erstgeborne vnter vielen Brüdern/ ja der erstgeborne vor allen Creaturen Coloss.1.durch den all ding im Himmel vnn auff Erden geschaffen/ vnd mit Gott versöhnet seind. Dann sollen wir/ die wir von Natur vnrein/ sterblich vñ vnvollkommen seind/ wider rein/ newgeboren/ vnsterblich vnnd vollkommen werden/ so muß solches durch kein ander Mittel dann einig vnd allein geschehen durch diesen einigen himlischen Grund vnd Eckstein Christum Iesum/ als den allein Heiligen/ ja Allerheiligsten Dan.9.newgebornen/ aufferstandenen vnd verklerten himlischen König/ so Gott vnd Mensch in einer Person ist/ vnd bleibet in Ewigkeit. **English** Namely, as was stated in the philosophical work, after the stone or tincture has been made more than perfect it still must be further fermented and increased or multiplied, if it is to yield manifold benefit and its power and working are to be fruitful. So too, after his divine-and-human perfection and completeness, Christ, the heavenly, blessed stone, must be further fermented and multiplied with us, his members, who are still imperfect metals. That is, through his rose-coloured, saving tincture we must be united and joined with him and fashioned into a pure, unspotted spiritual body. For, as Saint Paul says in Romans 8, he is the firstborn among many brethren; indeed the firstborn before all creatures, Colossians 1, through whom all things in heaven and upon earth were created and reconciled with God. If, then, we who are naturally unclean, mortal and imperfect are to become clean again, born anew, immortal and perfect, this can happen by no other means than solely through this one heavenly foundation and cornerstone, Christ Jesus, the only holy one, indeed the most holy, Daniel 9, the newly born, risen and glorified heavenly king, who is and remains to eternity God and man in one person.[^n113] **HY_P4S033** 1619 pp 101–102 · scans ER105, ER106 **German** Dann gleich wie der Philosophische Stein vnd Chimische König mit seiner tinctur den Nutz gibt/ auch diese Krafft vnd Tugend/ durch seinen vollkommenen proceß an vnd in sich hat daß er andere vnvollkommene vnd schlechte/ ja vngeachte metallen tingiren/ vnd zu reinem dichten Gold machen vnd immutiren kan. Also auch vnd noch vielmehr thut dieser himlische König/ ja Grund vnd Eckstein Iesus Christus mit seiner gebenedeiten Tinctur/ das ist mit seinem Rosinfarben Blut vns sündhaffte/ gebrechliche vnd vnvollkommene Menschen von vnsern angebornen Adamischen sordib.vnnd fæcibus einig vnd allein purificirn/ perficirn/ ja plusquam perfect heilen vnnd curiren. Iohann.1.Sintemal auch/ wie die Schrifft darvon redt/ sonsten kein ander Heil/ noch Mittel ist/ im Himmel vnd auff Erden/ dadurch wir könten selig/ fix vnd perfect werden/ dann allein in dem namen Iesu Act.4. **English** For just as the philosophers’ stone and chemical king bestows benefit through its tincture and, through its perfected process, possesses in and of itself this power and virtue: that it can tinge other imperfect and base, indeed disregarded metals, and change and make them into pure, solid gold; so too, and much more, this heavenly king, foundation and cornerstone, Jesus Christ, alone purifies and perfects us sinful, frail and imperfect human beings from our inborn Adamic filth and dregs through his blessed tincture—that is, his rose-coloured blood—healing and curing us more than perfectly: 1 John 1. For, as Scripture says of this, there is no other salvation or means in heaven and upon earth by which we could become saved, fixed and perfect, except in the name of Jesus alone: Acts 4.[^n114] **HY_P4S034** 1619 pp 102–103 · scans ER106, ER107 **German** Dann obgleich die Tolle vnd blinde welt durch betrug vñ blendung deß argen Thymisten vnd bösen feindes/ viel vnd mancherley mittel/ weg vnd weise/ die seligkeit vnd perfection zu erlangen gesuchet/ vnnd sich hefftig darinnen bemühet hat/ vnnd noch bemühen thut/ so ist vnd bleibet doch nur ein einiger Heilandt vnd Mittler Iesus Christus in vnd durch welchen/ wir allein für Gott gerecht vnd selig seind/ vnd von vnserm geistlichen Außsatz der Sünden gereiniget werden. Gleich wie da auch nur ein einiger jrdischer heiland vnnd Chymischer König/ durch den alle imperfecta metalla/ jhre perfection vnñ vollkommenheit erlangen vnd bekommen/ auch alle Kranckheiten/ insonders der vnheilsame leibliche Außsatz geheilet werden/ gefunden wirt/ vnd seind alle andere mittel vnd selbst erwehlte menschen fündlin/ so da von Türcken/ Juden/ Heyden vnd andern Ketzern auff die bahn gebracht vñ für nothwendige mittel darzu defendirt werden vielmehr vnnd eigentlich davon zu reden/ eine rechte Geistlose/ falsche vnnd Sophistische alchmisterei durch welche wir menschen nicht purificirt/ sondern impedirt/ nicht viuificirt/ sondern debilitirt/ ja endlich gantz vnnd gar mortificirt vnnd getödtet werden. In massen dann die falsch genannte Alchmisterey/ so vielmehr Archimia zu nennen ist/ viel vnd mancherley Tincturen vnnd Farben erfunden/ vnnd die Leuth dadurch belogen vnd betrogen/ ja vmb hauß vnnd gut/ auch leib vnnd leben/ wie solche die tägliche erfahrung/ leider mehr als zu viel bezeuget/ vnd außweiset/ offtermals gebracht werden. **English** For although the foolish and blind world, deceived and deluded by the wicked chemist and evil enemy, has sought and still seeks many and various means, ways and methods of attaining salvation and perfection, labouring strenuously in them, there is and remains only one Saviour and mediator, Jesus Christ, in and through whom alone we are righteous and saved before God and cleansed of our spiritual leprosy of sins. Likewise only one earthly saviour and chemical king is found, through whom all imperfect metals attain their perfection and completeness, and all diseases, especially the pernicious bodily leprosy, are healed. All other means and self-chosen human inventions advanced by Turks, Jews, heathens and other heretics and defended as necessary means to this end are rather, properly speaking, a truly spiritless, false and sophistical alchemy. Through them we human beings are not purified but impeded, not made alive but weakened, and finally wholly mortified and killed. In the same manner the falsely named alchemy, which ought rather to be called archimia, has invented many and various tinctures and colours and thereby lied to and deceived people, often depriving them of house and property, indeed of body and life, as daily experience, alas, only too abundantly testifies and demonstrates.[^n115] **HY_P4S035** 1619 pp 103–105 · scans ER107, ER108, ER109 **German** Sollten wir Menschen aber von vnsern vnreinen sordibus/ vnnd fæcib.als Adamischer Erbsünd/ durch welche im anfang die gantze menschliche Natur/ als durch ein schedliches Gifft (vnsern Ersten Eltern vom bösen feinde geblasen) vergifftet vnd verderbt/ vnd wir all darinnen empfangen vnd geboren Psalm.51.Ioh.15.gereiniget vnd gewaschen/ auch wider perfect vnd selig werden/ so muß solches durch ein newe vnnd widergeburt des H.Geistes/ durch Wasser vnnd Geist (In massen der Chymische König auch durch Wasser vnnd Geist gewaschen/ herrlich vnd perfect wirt) geschehen vnd verrichtet werden/ in welcher newen vnnd geistlichen Widergeburt/ so da von oben herab/ in der heyligen Tauff durch Wasser vnnd Geist geschehen muß/ wie gesagt/ mit Christi Blut gewaschen vnd gereiniget/ vnd also zu einem Leib mit jhm werden/ ja jhn als ein Kleidt/ wie S.Paul/zum Coloss.am3.spricht/ anziehen. Dann gleich wie der Philosophische Stein/ sich durch seine Tinctur hernacher mit den vnvollkommenen metallen verknüpffet vnd mit jhnen zu einem vollkommenen vnd vnaufflößlichen Corpori gemacht wirt/ also wirt Christus als vnser aller Haupt1.Corinth.4.mit vns seinen Gliedmassen durch sein Rosinfarbe Tinctur auch vereiniget vnnd zu einem vollkommenen Leib vnd Gebew Rom.12.1.Cor.12.Ephes.5.so nach Gott geschafft in rechtschaffener Gerechtigkeit vnd Heiligkeit Ephes.4.erbawet vnd verfertiget. **English** But if we human beings are to be cleansed and washed from our impure filth and dregs—that is, Adamic original sin, through which the whole of human nature was poisoned and corrupted at the beginning as by a harmful poison breathed into our first parents by the evil enemy, and in which we are all conceived and born, Psalm 51; John 15—and made perfect and saved again, this must take place and be accomplished through a new birth and regeneration of the Holy Spirit, through water and spirit. In the same manner the chemical king is also washed through water and spirit and made glorious and perfect. In this new and spiritual rebirth, which must take place from above in holy baptism through water and spirit, we are, as stated, washed and cleansed with Christ’s blood and thus become one body with him; indeed we put him on like a garment, as Saint Paul says in Colossians 3. For just as the philosophers’ stone afterwards joins itself through its tincture with the imperfect metals and with them is made into a perfect, indissoluble body, so Christ, the head of us all, 1 Corinthians 4, is also united with us, his members, through his rose-coloured tincture. We are built and fashioned into one perfect body and edifice, Romans 12; 1 Corinthians 12; Ephesians 5, created according to God in true righteousness and holiness, Ephesians 4.[^n116] **HY_P4S036** 1619 pp 105–106 · scans ER109, ER110 **German** Sintemal solche newe Widergeburt des Menschen/ so in der heyligen Tauff durch den Heiligen Geist verrichtet wirt/ eigentlich nichts anders ist/ als eine innerliche geistliche vernewerung des abgefallenen Menschen/ mit Gott vnd Christo/ also zwar/ das wir/ da wir zuvor der fleischlichen Geburt nach von Vatter vnd Mutter geschaffen/ Feinde Gottes/ ja Kinder des Zorns von Natur Eph.2.sein vnd heissen: nunmehr der andern geistlichen Geburt nach/ in der heyligen Tauff zu Freunden vnd Kindern/ ja Erben Gottes/ vnd mitgenossen Christi gemacht werden. Dann von deßwegen ist Christus gestorben/ auch aufferstanden/ vnd wider lebendig worden Rom.14.Auff daß er durch solchen seinen Proces/ das ist durch sein Leyden vnd Sterben/ auch Aufferstehen vnd Himmelfahrt/ in das heylige/ so nicht mit händen gemacht/ eingehen/ vnnd vns den weg zum ewigen Vatterland machte. Demnach wir auch als seine brüder vnd schwestern Matth.12.vnnd Psalm.22.jhme in seinem nachfolgen Mat.8.in der lieben demuth/ vnnd allen Christlichen tugenden wachsen vñ zunehmen/ ja seinem leib ähnlich vnd gleichförmig gemacht sollen vnd müssen werden: damit wir also auch/ die wir jhm alhie nachgefolget sein in der widergeburt/ ja die wir in jhme gestorben/ mit jhme auch leben/ vnd also zu seiner Herrligkeit eingehen mögen/ welche geistliche erinnerung vnd Christlich nachfolgung im leben vnd wandel vnsers himlischen Königs/ gleichwoll gar nicht/ auß vnser würdigkeit/ verdienst oder eigen wille (sintemal der natürliche Mensch mit allen seinen Kräfften in geistlichen sachen blind/ taub/ tod vnd erstorben ist) sondern einig vnd allein auß krafft vñ wirckung des H.Geists/ so in vns durch dz selige bad der widergeburt vnd tauff Kräfftig vñ thätig. **English** For this new birth of the human being, accomplished by the Holy Spirit in holy baptism, is properly nothing other than an inward spiritual renewal of fallen humanity with God and Christ. Whereas by our former fleshly birth from father and mother we were and were called enemies of God, indeed children of wrath by nature, Ephesians 2, by this second, spiritual birth in holy baptism we are now made God’s friends and children, indeed his heirs and fellow-partakers with Christ. For this reason Christ died, rose and became alive again, Romans 14: that through his process—that is, his suffering and death, resurrection and ascension—he might enter the holy place not made with hands and make for us the way to the eternal fatherland. Therefore, as his brothers and sisters, Matthew 12 and Psalm 22, we too should and must follow him in his way, Matthew 8, grow and increase in loving humility and all Christian virtues, indeed be made like and conformed to his body. Thus we who have followed him here in regeneration, indeed who have died in him, may also live with him and enter into his glory. Yet this spiritual remembrance and Christian following of the life and conduct of our heavenly king proceeds in no way from our worthiness, merit or our own will—for the natural person, with all his powers, is blind, deaf and dead in spiritual matters—but solely from the power and working of the Holy Spirit, who is powerful and active in us through the saving bath of regeneration and baptism.[^n117] **HY_P4S037** 1619 pp 106–108 · scans ER110, ER111, ER112 **German** In massen dann die minere vñ metalle so in sich selbst gleichsam erstorben vnd todt freylich seind/ vnd sich selbst reinigen noch verbessern können/ auch durch krafft vnnd hülff des spagirischen Geists gereiniget vñ vernewert/ solvirt vñ perficirt werden. Wann wir nun also/ wie gehöret/ durch wasser vnd Geist wider new geboren/ dz ist/ durch die selige tauff vnd rothe fluth vñ Christi blute gestercket/ Christo deß Herrn vnsern himlischen König einverleibt/ mit seinem blute von vnser erblichen sünden darin gewaschen vnd gereiniget vñ der reinigkeit des H.Geistes also fähig/ vñ theilhafftig worde seind: so müssen wir als dann anfenglich allgemach vnd fein sittsam nach dem spruch Petri/ mit vernünfftiger gelauterter milch als die jetzt geborne kindlein/ ja als junge kinder in Christo/ gespeiset vñ geträncket werden/ biß wir entlich/ als die erwachsene vnnd lebendige steine/ zum geistlichen hauß/ vnd zu hohem Priesterthumb erbawt vnd tüchtig gemacht werden zu opffern geistliche Opffer die Gott angenem sind durch Iesum Christum/ sintemal ein Christ durch wasser vnd Geist newgeborner Mensch/ nicht alles auff einmal fassen/ oder ergreiffen kan/ sondern allgemach von tag zu tag in erkantnuß Gottes vnnd Christi des Herrn wachsen vnd zunehmen muß. **English** In the same way, ores and metals, which are indeed as it were dead and lifeless in themselves and cannot purify or improve themselves, are also purified, renewed, dissolved and perfected through the power and assistance of the spagyric spirit. When, as we have heard, we have thus been born anew through water and spirit—that is, through holy baptism and the red flood, strengthened by Christ’s blood—incorporated into Christ the Lord, our heavenly king, washed and cleansed in his blood from our hereditary sins, and so made capable of and partakers in the purity of the Holy Spirit, we must at first be fed and given drink gradually and gently with pure rational milk, according to Peter’s saying, like newborn infants, indeed young children in Christ. At last, as grown and living stones, we are built into a spiritual house and a high priesthood and made fit to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. For a Christian, a person born anew through water and spirit, cannot grasp or comprehend everything at once, but must grow and increase gradually from day to day in knowledge of God and Christ the Lord.[^n118] **HY_P4S038** 1619 pp 108 · scans ER112 **German** Dann gleich wie abermals im Philosophischen Werck/ so bald die coniunction der zweyer Wesen nemlich des jrdischen Golds vnnd gleichsam himlisch præparirten wasser materien/ nach dem sie anfenglich in einer salien Gestalt zu einem gleichsam trocknen liquori oder amalgamati wie daselbst zulesen/ gemischt sein worden/ geschehen/ deme composito/ nicht alles/ vnnd auff einmal zugleich/ sondern ein theil nach dem andern/ vnnd zwar allgemach/ vnd zu gewissen vnd vnderschidlichen Zeiten/ zugegossen vnnd beygesetzt wirt: also auch vnd noch viel mehr soll vñ muß solches geschehen im Theologischen Werck. Daß so bald die coniunction vñ geistliche vereinigung des Menschen mit Christo/ in der heiligen Tauff geschehen/ vnd wir mit jhm also/ wie vor auch gemeldet/ ein Leib vnd Kuchen gemacht worden/ so bald muß auch ein solcher Mensch gemachsam den Christlichen Glauben zulernen/ vnd einen Articul nach dem andern zu fassen anfahen/ biß er endlich gar erstarcket/ vnd zu einer völligen Erkantnus gelanget. **English** For, again, in the philosophical work, once the conjunction of the two beings has taken place—namely earthly gold and the aqueous matter prepared, as it were, in a heavenly manner, after they have first been mixed in a saline form into what is, as it were, a dry liquor or amalgam, as may be read there—not everything is poured into and added to the compound all at once. Rather, one portion is added after another, gradually and at appointed, distinct times. So too, and still more, must it happen in the theological work. As soon as the conjunction and spiritual union of the human being with Christ has taken place in holy baptism, and we have thus, as already stated, been made one body and cake with him, that person must begin gradually to learn the Christian faith and comprehend one article after another until at last he is fully strengthened and attains complete knowledge.[^n119] **HY_P4S039** 1619 pp 109–110 · scans ER113, ER114 **German** Demnach dann auch der Christliche Glaub/ gleich der præparirten jrdischen Wasser materien (wie daselbst vnderschiedlich vermeldet worden) in12.Theil oder kleine Articul/ nach der Zahl der12.Aposteln/ hernacher aber widerumb in3.vnderschiedliche Hauptarticul/ als in dem/ von vnser erschaffung/ erlösung vnd Heyligung vnderschieden vnd abgetheilt wirt/ auß welchem/ wie gesagt/ der Mensch einen nach dem andern zu lernen vor sich muß nehmen vnd jhm gleichsam beysetzen/ doch allgemach vnd zu vnderschiedlichen Zeiten/ damit er nicht zu sehr vberladen/ vnnd mit lernen gleichsam vberschüttet werde/ darauß jhm leichtlich ein vberdruß entstehen vnd vom Glauben abwendig gemacht könte werden. Deßwegen dann auch der3.Hauptarticul von der Heyligung in7.vnderschiedliche membra oder stücklein (in mitrechnung des vnfehlbaren Amentlichen beschlusses) zerlegt vnd zertheilet/ vnnd dem Menschen zu vnderschiedlicher7.malen (nach gethanem bericht im jrdischen werck) beygefügt werden kan/ welches so es geschehen/ vnd der Mensch also den glauben von stuck zu stuck völlig gefasset/ jhm dann ferner hoch von nöthen sein will/ solche einmal durch Gottes gnade gefaste glaubens Erkantnus bey sich fleissig zu verwahren/ vnnd für felschung oder engstlichen verlierung derselben sich wol fürzusehen hat. **English** Accordingly, the Christian faith, like the prepared earthly aqueous matter, as variously described there, is divided into twelve parts or small articles, according to the number of the twelve apostles, and afterwards into three distinct chief articles, concerning our creation, redemption and sanctification. As stated, a person must undertake to learn these one after another and add them to himself, as it were, gradually and at different times, so that he is not overburdened and, as it were, inundated with learning. Otherwise he might easily become weary of it and be turned away from the faith. For this reason the third chief article, concerning sanctification, can also be divided into seven distinct members or small parts, counting the infallible concluding Amen, and imparted to the person on seven separate occasions, according to the account given in the earthly work. Once this has happened and the person has fully grasped the faith piece by piece, it is then further most necessary for him diligently to preserve within himself the knowledge of faith once received through God’s grace, and carefully guard against its falsification or grievous loss.[^n120] **HY_P4S040** 1619 pp 110–111 · scans ER114, ER115 **German** Vnd gleich wie im offt erwehnten Philosophischen werck hiebevor auch ist vermeld worden/ das nemblich zu solcher fermentation vnnd multiplication des einigen jrdischen Königs/ oder der purlautren tinctur3.einbare theil oder stück deß sein feinsten durchleutertsten golds/ so durch den Antimonium getrieben/ nicht zwar auß einigem mangel des steins oder vnvollkommenheit seiner tinctur sondern auß vnvermögen vnnd blödigkeit der metallen selbs erfordert/ dieselben genommen vnd damit projicirt muß werden. Vnd damit ichs klärlicher sage/ ob woll die Tinctur oder Stein an jhm selbsten vollkommlich zubereitet/ auffs höchst gebracht/ vnnd also plusquam perfect ist gemacht worden/ so können doch die groben vnd vnvollkommene metallen wegen jhrer natürlichen schwachheit vnnd vnvermögen solche des steins oder der Tinctur (also zu reden) engelische perfection vnnd subtiligkeit zu sich nicht ziehen oder ergreiffen/ es sey dann das obgemelte füegliche erforderung/ auch an die hand genommen/ damit sie desto fähiger darzu gemacht werden. **English** And just as it was also stated earlier in the often-mentioned philosophical work that, for this fermentation and multiplication of the one earthly king or completely pure tincture, three pure parts or pieces of its finest, most thoroughly purified gold, refined through antimony, are required, taken and projected with it—not because of any defect in the stone or imperfection in its tincture, but because of the incapacity and weakness of the metals themselves. To say it more clearly: although the tincture or stone has in itself been perfectly prepared, brought to the highest degree and thus made more than perfect, the coarse and imperfect metals, because of their natural weakness and incapacity, cannot draw to themselves or grasp the stone’s or tincture’s, so to speak, angelic perfection and subtlety unless the appropriate requirement mentioned above is also undertaken, in order to make them more capable of receiving it.[^n121] **HY_P4S041** 1619 pp 111–113 · scans ER115, ER116, ER117 **German** Wie nun dieses im Chymischen werck/ sage ich/ geschicht/ vnd geschehen muß: also auch allhie in vnserm Theologischen werck der geistlichen erneuwerung vnd himlischen widergeburt des menschens/ woll in acht muß genommen werden. Dann ob wol schon auch vnser himlischer König Iesus Christus vns durch seinen völligen gehorsam/ den er seinem himlischen Vatter an statt vnser geleistet/ von aller vnreinigkeit vollkomlich erlöst/ vnnd zu kindern vnnd erben Gottes gemacht hat: so können wir doch solche seine seligmachende vnnd gantz Göttliche Tinctur (wie auch andere seine himlische schätz vnd gütter) wegen vnser angebornen schwachheit vnd blödigkeit nit allerdings ergreiffen vñ abnehmen/ oder vns diese recht steiff vnd vesti applicirn vñ zueignen/ sondern müssen auch gleichfals (sollen wir anderst derselbigen fähig vnd theilhafftig werden) durch folgende/ benante/ von Gott selbst darzu erforderte heilsame Drey einbare theil oder stück darzu kommen vnnd gelangen. Als da seind vnnd heissen fürnemlich sein H.Wort/ so da rein vñ durchleutert ist/ als Gold vnnd Silber im jrdischen Tigel bewehret7.mal Ps.12.18.Ja vber viel1000.stück Golds zu lieben ist Psalm.119.Zum andern der seligmachende Glaub/ so da eine sonderliche Gab Gottes ist Iohan.6.2.Thess.3.vnd durch das Wort Gottes herkommt Rom.10.auch die Hertzen der Menschen vereiniget Act.5.vnd im Fewer der Trübsalen bewehret wirt. Vnd dann auch vors dritte/ die vngeferbte Lieb gegen Gott vnd den Nächsten/ so da auch ein Gabe Gottes/ vnd ein erfüllung des Gesetzes ist Rom.13.ja Gott selbst ist vnd genennet wirt1.Iohann.4.durch welche Drey einbare theil/ als da sind das Wort/ der Glaub vñ die Liebe/ wann sie recht/ ordentlicher weise/ geglaubt vnd gebraucht werden/ Christus der Herr/ als dann mit seiner Göttlichen Tinctur/ vnd himlischer salbung erst recht krefftig wircken/ vnnd seinen in vns schlechte vnnd vnvollkommene metallen der Menschen/ projection vnd seligmachenden einguß verrichten kan/ ohne welchen wir jhn sonsten schwerlich ergreiffen vñ seiner Tinctur recht theilhafftig werden können. **English** What happens and must happen in the chemical work, I say, must also be carefully observed here in our theological work of the human being’s spiritual renewal and heavenly rebirth. Although our heavenly king Jesus Christ, through the complete obedience he rendered to his heavenly Father in our place, has perfectly redeemed us from all impurity and made us God’s children and heirs, because of our inborn weakness and frailty we cannot wholly grasp and receive his saving, entirely divine tincture, or his other heavenly treasures and goods, nor firmly and securely apply and appropriate them to ourselves. If we are to become capable of and share in them, we must attain them through the following three pure parts or pieces required for this purpose by God himself. First and foremost is his holy Word, pure and refined like gold and silver tried seven times in the earthly crucible, Psalms 12 and 18, indeed to be loved above many thousands of pieces of gold, Psalm 119. Secondly, saving faith, a particular gift of God, John 6; 2 Thessalonians 3, which comes through God’s Word, Romans 10, unites human hearts, Acts 5, and is tried in the fire of tribulation. Thirdly, unfeigned love towards God and one’s neighbour, which is also a gift of God and a fulfilment of the law, Romans 13; indeed God himself is and is called love, 1 John 4. Through these three pure parts—the Word, faith and love—when they are rightly and in due order believed and used, Christ the Lord can first work with true power through his divine tincture and heavenly anointing, accomplishing his projection and saving infusion into us poor and imperfect metals, human beings. Without them we can otherwise scarcely grasp him and rightly partake of his tincture.[^n122] **HY_P4S042** 1619 pp 113–115 · scans ER117, ER118, ER119 **German** Dann da findet sich als bald der leidige Sathan vnnd lugenhafftige Alchimist/ der da den newen vnd widergebornen menschen/ vnd kinder Gottes/ sonderlich wann sie jhrem bund nach in der tauff mit Christo geschehen/ gemäß verhalten/ vnnd wie S.Paulus jhn gebeuth/ eine gutte Ritterschafft vben den glauben vnnd ein gut gewissen behalten/ täglich nachschleiche/ vnd durch seine getrewe mitgehülffen/ als da seind vnser sündlich fleisch vnd blut vnd die Gottlose verführische welt/ in seine schedliche strick vnd garnnetze zu stürtzen begeret/ auch leider offt vnd manchmal/ durch Gottes verhengnuß (wie dann der gerechte auch wol7.mahl fellet Pro.24.) zu fall bringt. Dann gleich wie er Christo dem Herrn als vnserm Haupt vnd Phirsten gethan vnnd jhnen als bald nach seinem Tauff im eintritt seines heyligen Predigampts/ hefftig angefochten vnd versuchet hat. Also vnnd gleicher gestalt/ beweist er seine archimische bubenstücklein/ list/ vnd renck noch allezeit auch an der Christlichen Kirchen/ die wolte er auch erstlich/ durch mangel/ angst vnd leiden dahin bewegen vnd treiben/ daß sie an Gottes wort vnd gnedige zusagung zweiffeln solte/ in massen er es dem Herrn Christo dahin will deuten/ Gott sey nicht sein freund/ weil er jhn so lang in der Wüsten lasse hunger vnd kummer leiden. Wenn nun solche anfechtung nicht will bey den Christen helffen/ so kombt er als dann auff der andern seiten gerollen/ vnd wolte gerne/ das die Leuth Gott mehr/ als jhnen in seinem Wort verheissen/ vertrawen/ wie er dann solches Christo auch anmuthet/ Er solle vom Tempel hinab fallen/ Gott werde jhn dannoch wol erhalten können. Da jhm aber auch solches nicht angehen will/ versucht ers wol auch zum dritten mahl/ mit Reichthumb/ daß er dann nemlich/ vmb Gelds vnd Guts willen/ von Gott vnd seinem Wort abtretten/ vnnd abgöttisch werden/ jhn anbeten/ vnnd als einen Gott verehren solle/ welcher gestalt er dann Christo solches frey anzumuthen/ sich auch nicht gescheuhet vnnd jhn also zu einem abfall hat bringen wollen/ welches gleichwoll der getrewe Gott vnnd Vatter im Himmel auß sonderlichen gnedigen Rath/ vnnd vrsachen vber die seinigen verhengt/ damit sie also im Glauben/ in der hoffnung/ gedult vnd rechtschaffenen anruffung Gottes auffwachsen vnnd zunehmen/ vnd durch solche Tyrocinia oder Creutz vbung zu dem künfftigen Kampf/ so dem alten Menschen zuwider fürsetzen/ bereiten/ jhnen den weg der ewigen frewden wider jhn zu halten/ wann sie alle seine griffe erlernet vnnd sonst/ wie demseiligen durch Gottes gnade zu begegnen sey/ wol verrichten. **English** For immediately the evil Satan, the lying alchemist, appears. He daily steals after the new and regenerated human beings and children of God, especially when they act according to the covenant made with Christ in baptism and, as Saint Paul commands, fight a good fight and retain faith and a good conscience. Through his faithful accomplices—our sinful flesh and blood and the godless, deceitful world—he seeks to cast them into his harmful snares and nets. Alas, often and repeatedly, by God’s permission, he brings them down; for even the righteous falls seven times, Proverbs 24. Just as he acted towards Christ the Lord, our head and prince, assailing and tempting him fiercely immediately after his baptism at the beginning of his holy preaching office, so he still practises his archimical knaveries, cunning and tricks against the Christian Church. First, through want, anguish and suffering, he seeks to move and drive it to doubt God’s Word and gracious promise, just as he tried to persuade Christ the Lord that God was not his friend because he allowed him to suffer hunger and distress so long in the wilderness. If such temptation does not succeed with Christians, he comes rolling in from the other side and would have people trust God beyond what he has promised them in his Word. Thus he also urged Christ to throw himself down from the Temple, for God could still preserve him. If this too fails, he tries a third time, with riches: for the sake of money and property the person should abandon God and his Word, become idolatrous, worship him and honour him as a god. He was not ashamed to propose this openly even to Christ and sought thereby to bring him into apostasy. Yet the faithful God and Father in heaven permits this to befall his own for particular gracious purposes and reasons, so that they may grow and increase in faith, hope, patience and true calling upon God. Through such preliminary exercises or schooling in the cross they are prepared for the coming struggle against the old Adam, learning all the enemy’s devices and how, through God’s grace, to meet him rightly and maintain against him the path of eternal joys.[^n123] **HY_P4S043** 1619 pp 115–117 · scans ER119, ER120, ER121 **German** Dann weil wir nicht mit Fleisch vnd Blut/ sondern wie S.Paulus spricht mit Fürsten vnd Gewaltigen/ nemblich mit den Herrn dieser welt/ die in der Finsternus dieser welt herrschen/ mit den bösen Geistern vnter dem Himel zu streiten vnnd zu kempffen haben/ so vermögen wir jhnen vnnd jhren geistlichen anfechtungen/ auß eigenen kräfften nit widerstand zuthun/ sondern da müssen wir dem Exempel vnsers vnfechters Iesu Christi nach/ zu geistlichen wehren vnd waffen greiffen vnnd solche vnßere geistliche feind mit dem Wort Gottes/ als mit dem schwert des Geistes/ Eph.6.im glauben schlagen vnnd vberwinden. Da vns dann von nöthen sein will/ das wir vns (dem befehl nach des Christlichen Rittersmanns des H.Apostels Pauli/ zum Eph.6.) in des heiligen Geistes rüstkamer/ verfügen/ vnnd alda den harnisch Gottes ergreiffen vnnd anziehen/ also das wir vmb vnßere Länden vmbgegürtet sehen mit wahrheit/ vnnd angezogen mit dem Krebs der Gerechtigkeit/ vnnd an beinen gestiefelt/ als fertig zu treiben das Euangelii des fridens/ vnd daß schwert des Geistes/ welches wie vorgemeldt/ ist daß wort Gottes/ vor allen dingen aber das wir ergreiffen den schild des Glaubens/ mit welchem wir außlöschen können alle fewrige Pfeil des Teufels. Dann der glaub an Iesum Christum ist der feste Schild durch welche der Teuffel kein loch machen/ noch das Hertz darmit verwunden kan. **English** For our struggle and battle is not against flesh and blood but, as Saint Paul says, against principalities and powers: the rulers of this world who reign in its darkness, the evil spirits beneath heaven. We cannot therefore resist them and their spiritual temptations by our own strength. Rather, following the example of our champion Jesus Christ, we must take up spiritual defences and weapons and strike and overcome our spiritual enemies in faith with God’s Word, the sword of the Spirit, Ephesians 6. We must therefore, according to the command of that Christian warrior, the holy Apostle Paul in Ephesians 6, enter the Holy Spirit’s armoury and take up and put on God’s armour: our loins girded with truth, clothed with the breastplate of righteousness, our feet shod in readiness to advance the Gospel of peace, and armed with the sword of the Spirit, which, as stated above, is God’s Word. Above all, we must take up the shield of faith, with which we can extinguish all the Devil’s fiery arrows. For faith in Jesus Christ is the firm shield through which the Devil can make no hole and with which he cannot wound the heart.[^n124] **HY_P4S044** 1619 pp 117–119 · scans ER121, ER122, ER123 **German** Weil dann auch die regierung des fewers im philosophischen werck durchauß fleissig gehalten/ vnnd demselben vnverdrossen (in kochung der materien) soll vnd muß abgewartet werden/ wie auch daselbsten von dem Philosophischen fewer (mit dem das gantze werck fürnemlich verrichtet muß werden) was es eigentlich sey vnnd geheissen werde/ als nemlich ein essentialisch/ vbernatürliches/ vnd auch Göttlichs fewer in dem composito verborgen liege/ deme mit dem jrdischen materialischen fewer hülff vnd anreitzung gethan vnnd gegeben werden muß/ kurtze meldung geschehen. Also ist auch sonderlich das reine Göttliche wort/ oder welches gleich eben so viel/ der Geist Gottes/ so da auch einem fewer Jerm.23.vergleichen vnd genennet wirt in vns Menschen verborgen/ als welches vns zwar von natur eingepflantzet durch verderbung aber derselben gedempffet vnnd verdunckelt worden/ dem da gleicher weise durch ein ander eusserliches Fewer/ das ist durch stetige vbung der Gottseligkeit vnnd Christlichen Tugenden/ in freud vnd leid/ wie auch durch stettige vbung vnd betrachtung des reinen Worts Gottes soll anreitz das innerliche Göttliche hertz gnaden liecht vnnd Geist Gottes in vns operiren vnnd nicht gar verleschen/ muß hülff vnnd beystand geschehen vnd darzu vnverdrossen vnd vnablesslich angeritzet/ erweckt vnnd auffgeblasen werden muß. Dann gleich wie es auch in jrdischen sachen zugesehen pfleget/ daß wann etwann ein Eisen/ an jhm selbst kalt ist/ sehr vnd offte feste das eisen durch den verzehrden motum oder bewegung gewaltig erwermet vnnd erhitzet wirt/ auch ein Liecht vnnd brennende Ampel/ der man nicht immerdar mit öel vnnd zugehöriger materie nach vnnd nach hülff vnd zuschrehet/ entlich abnimpt vnnd verleschet: Also auch ein Mensch in seinem innerlichen Fewer vnd Geist/ wann er Gottes Wort nicht immerdar vnd vnverdrossen/ wie gesagt vbet/ vnnd vor augen hat/ abgemach abnimpt vnd letzlich gantz vnnd gar desselbigen beraubt wirt. Darumb man dann (wie zum offtermal vermeldet/ vnd auch von nöthen sein will) Gottes Wort fleissig hören/ woll betrachten/ vnnd sich stetig darinnen vben soll vnnd muß. **English** Since, moreover, the governance of the fire in the philosophical work must be maintained diligently throughout, and it must be attended without weariness while the matter is cooked, a brief account has also been given there of the philosophical fire by which the whole work must principally be accomplished: what it properly is and is called, namely an essential, supernatural and also divine fire hidden in the compound, which must be assisted and stimulated by the earthly material fire. So too, the pure divine Word—or, what amounts to the same thing, the Spirit of God, likewise compared to and called a fire in Jeremiah 23—is hidden within us human beings. It was implanted in us by nature, but has been stifled and darkened through nature’s corruption. It must similarly be assisted by another outward fire: constant exercise of godliness and Christian virtues in joy and sorrow, and continual practice and consideration of God’s pure Word, so that the inward divine light of grace in the heart and God’s Spirit may work in us and not go out altogether. It must be tirelessly and unceasingly stimulated, awakened and blown upon. The same may be observed in earthly matters: iron, cold in itself, is powerfully warmed and heated by repeated vigorous motion; and a light or burning lamp, unless continually supplied with oil and the appropriate material little by little, eventually diminishes and goes out. So too, a person gradually declines in his inward fire and spirit and is at last wholly deprived of it unless he continually and unweariedly exercises and keeps God’s Word before his eyes, as stated. One ought and must therefore diligently hear God’s Word, consider it well and constantly exercise oneself in it, as has so often been said and must necessarily be said.[^n125] **HY_P4S045** 1619 pp 119–120 · scans ER123, ER124 **German** Was aber alhie vom hören desselben vermeldet wirt/ soll solches auch gleicher weiß/ wie zuvor hin/ von dem sehen/ daß da auch allein nicht mit den eusserlichen leiblichen/ sondern mit den jnnerlichen ein gemüthigen vñ eusserlichen/ soll verstanden werden. Ich rede aber (damit man mich recht verstehe) von dem rechten vnd reinen Wort Gottes vnnd nicht von menschlichen glossen/ oder der alten vnnd newen schrifftgelerten jhrem sawerteig/ welchen man jetz/ wie leider zu beklagen/ dem wahren wort Gottes fürziehet/ oder zum wenigsten wie meustreck vnder den Pfeffer mischet/ vor die Predigt Göttliches worts/ will gehört vnnd gehalten haben. Nein solches geschwetz vnnd nur Ohren füllende rede des menschen/ meine ich nicht/ sondern wie gesagt/ so rede ich von dem wahren durchleuterten Wort Gottes Psalm19.119.das durch den Mund Gottes gehet Deut.8.Matth.4.vnd noch durch den H.Geist geprediget wirt/ welches nit nur ein lediger hall vnnd blosser schall/ wie etliche schimpflich davon reden/ sondern Geist vnd leben/ ein seligmachende Krafft Gottes ist/ Iohann.6.allen denen/ die daran glauben/ von welchem hören auch der Königliche Prophet Dauid redet/ Ich will hören/ was der Herr in mir reden will. **English** What is said here of hearing it must be understood in the same way as the earlier account of seeing: not merely the outward bodily hearing, but also the inward hearing of the mind, together with the outward. To make myself rightly understood, I speak of God’s true and pure Word, not of human glosses or the leaven of old and new scribes. Lamentably, people now prefer these to God’s true Word, or at least mix them with it like mouse droppings among pepper, and want them heard and accepted as the preaching of the divine Word. No: I do not mean such human chatter, mere talk that fills the ears. As stated, I speak of God’s true, refined Word, Psalms 19 and 119, which proceeds from God’s mouth, Deuteronomy 8; Matthew 4, and is still preached through the Holy Spirit. It is not a bare echo and empty sound, as some speak of it contemptuously, but spirit and life, a saving power of God, John 6, to all who believe in it. The royal prophet David also speaks of this hearing: “I will hear what the Lord will speak within me.”[^n126] **HY_P4S046** 1619 pp 120–123 · scans ER124, ER125, ER126, ER127 **German** Auß welchem jnnerlichen vnnd Göttlichen gehör des Worts Gottes (als auß einer brunquelle) gewißlich dann auch ein rechter lebendiger glaube/ so durch die liebe thätig ist Galat.5.herkommt vnd entspringt. Sintemal wie Paulus spricht zum Rom.10.So kompt der glaub auß dem gehör/ das gehör aber durch das wort Gottes. Ist nun das wort Gottes rein vnnd lauter/ so kan auch das gehör rein vñ lauter sein/ vnnd demnach auch der glaub/ der auß solchem gehör komt/ rein vñ vnverfelscht/ vnnd durch die liebe thätig ist gegen Gott zwar in demütigem gehorsam seines heiligen gebots vnnd willens. Item im bethen/ loben vnnd dancken. Gegen dem nächsten aber in wolthätiger erzeigung allerley guter wercken: also daß die liebe nicht die kleinste/ sondern wie S.Paulus spricht/ die gröste tugend vnder allen ist. Wie dann zu solcher vbung der liebe/ vns der Herr Christus in seiner langen valet Predigt seines hingangs Ioh.13.selber auch mit allem fleiß ermahnet vnnd solches auch damals ernstlich eingebunden vnnd gleichsam zu der letze hinderlassen hat/ sprechend/ das ist mein gebot/ daß jhr euch vnter einander liebet gleich wie ich euch geliebt hab/ darbey dann jederman erkennen wirt/ dz jhr meine Jünger seyt. Item1.Ioh.2.wer da sagt/ er kenne Gott/ vnd helt seine gebot nicht/ der ist ein lügner vnnd in solchem ist keine wahrheit/ wer aber sein wort helt/ in solchem ist wahrlich die liebe Gottes vollkommen. Ferner1.Ioh.4.Gott ist die liebe/ vnnd wer in derselben bleibet/ der bleibet in Gott/ vnnd Gott in jhm. Auß welchem wir dann sehen/ wie daß die liebe das rechte band der vollkommenheit/ dadurch wir Gott mit Christo incorporiret/ vnnd einverleibet werden/ also das er in vns/ wie im himmel Er in seinem Vatter/ vnnd der Vatter in jhme ist vnd sein will/ welches Er vns an gemeldter ort ferner bezeugt/ da Er spricht Wer meine gebot helt/ jst der es/ der mich liebet/ vnnd ich werde jhn lieben/ vnd wir werden zu jhme kommen vnnd wohnung bey jhm machen.1.Ioh.5.spricht Er/ so jhr meine gebote haltet/ so bleibet jhr in meiner liebe: Welche liebe dann so ferners auff den nächsten reichet:1.Ioh.4.wirt auch schön hie von geschrieben: So jemand spricht er liebe Gott/ vnd hasset seinen Bruder ist ein Lügner. Dann wer seinen Bruder nicht liebet/ den er siehet/ wie kan er Gott lieben den er nicht sihet. Vnd diß gebot haben wir von jhme/ daß wer Gott liebet/ auch seinen Bruder liebe. Was aber solcher liebe art vnd eigenschafft ist/ beschreibet dieselbige S.Paul1.Cor.13.mit solchen worten: Die liebe ist langmüthig vnd freundlich/ die liebe eiffert nicht/ die liebe treibt nicht mutwill/ sie blähet sich nicht auff/ vnnd wirt nicht müde guts zuthun gegen dem nächsten. **English** From this inward and divine hearing of God’s Word, as from a spring, there certainly arises and flows true, living faith, active through love, Galatians 5. For, as Paul says in Romans 10: “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing through God’s Word.” If God’s Word is pure and clear, hearing too may be pure and clear, and consequently the faith arising from such hearing may be pure and unadulterated and active through love: towards God, in humble obedience to his holy commandment and will, and in prayer, praise and thanksgiving; towards one’s neighbour, in the beneficent practice of every kind of good work. Love is therefore not the least, but, as Saint Paul says, the greatest virtue of all. Christ the Lord himself diligently exhorts us to practise this love in the long farewell sermon at his departure, John 13, earnestly enjoining and leaving it to us as his last charge: “This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. By this everyone will know that you are my disciples.” Likewise 1 John 2: “Whoever says he knows God and does not keep his commandments is a liar, and there is no truth in him; but whoever keeps his Word, in him the love of God is truly perfected.” Further, 1 John 4: “God is love, and whoever abides in it abides in God, and God in him.” From this we see that love is the true bond of perfection through which we are incorporated into God with Christ, so that he is and wishes to be in us, just as in heaven he is in his Father and the Father in him. He testifies further to this in the place mentioned: “Whoever keeps my commandments is the one who loves me, and I will love him, and we will come to him and make our dwelling with him.” 1 John 5: “If you keep my commandments, you abide in my love.” This love extends further to one’s neighbour, as is also beautifully written in 1 John 4: “If someone says he loves God and hates his brother, he is a liar. For whoever does not love his brother whom he sees, how can he love God whom he does not see? And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God should also love his brother.” Saint Paul describes the character and properties of such love in 1 Corinthians 13 with these words: “Love is patient and kind; love is not jealous; love does not act wantonly; it is not puffed up, and does not grow weary of doing good to its neighbour.”[^n127] **HY_P4S047** 1619 pp 123 · scans ER127 **German** Darauß dann leichtlich zu sehen vnd abzunemmen ist/ wie das vnß kein rechte lieb sein könne/ so durch die Liebe mit guten wercken dem nächsten nicht dienet. Dessen sich doch sehr viel vnter den Christen gleichwol vergeblich rühmen. Wie dann auch diß hierauß wahr ist/ das die gute Wercke/ so Gott gefallen/ nicht vor dem Glauben sein vnnd hergehen/ sondern als ein frucht dem Stamm vnd Baum nachfolgen/ welcher so er gut/ auch gute früchte bringet/ vnnd demnach die werck nicht den glauben/ sondern der glaube die werck gut vnnd wolgefellig mache/ das wir also/ welches hierinnen das fürnembste/ einig vñ allein durch den glauben gerecht vnd selig werden. **English** From this it can readily be seen and understood that we can possess no true love if we do not through love serve our neighbour with good works. Yet very many among Christians boast of it in vain. It is also true from this that good works pleasing to God do not exist and precede faith, but follow it as fruit follows the trunk and tree. If the tree is good, it also brings forth good fruits. Consequently, works do not make faith good and pleasing, but faith makes works so. Thus—and this is the chief point here—we become righteous and saved solely through faith.[^n128] **HY_P4S048** 1619 pp 123–125 · scans ER127, ER128, ER129 **German** Wann sich nun ein newgeborner mensch obgehörter massen/ also Christlich vnnd Gottselig in seinem leben vñ wandel zeiget vnnd verhielt/ so kan es nicht ohne frucht abgehen/ ein solcher Mensch wirt gleich dem composito im jrdischen werck/ von Gott in den ofen der trübsall gesetzt vñ mit allerley Creutz/ leiden vnd widerwertigkeit besetzt/ so lang vnd viel/ biß er dem Alten Adam vnnd fleisch abgestorben/ vnd als ein recht newer der nach Gott geschaffen ist/ in rechtschaffener gerechtigkeit vnd Heyligkeit aufferstehet/ wie ad Rom.6.wir seind sampt Christo durch die Tauff begraben in den todt. Dann gleich wie Christus ist von den todten aufferwecket/ durch die herrligkeit des Vatters/ wir auch also in einem newen leben wandeln sollen/ welches wo nun es geschehen/ daß nemblich der Mensch den sünden täglich vrlaub gibt/ daß sie nicht mehr vber jhn herrschet/ so fahet als dann bey jhm an/ die im jrdischen werck deß zugegossenen golds corporis solution/ wie verzeichnet oben/ vnd die putrefaction/ daß er geistlicher weise gantz vnd gar wirt auffgelöset/ zermalmet/ zerstöret vnd erfaulet/ welche aufflösung/ vnnd verfaulung bey einem eher/ als bey dem andern geschicht/ doch in diesem zeitlichen leben noch geschehen muß/ daß ist ein solcher Mensch wirt in dem fewer der trübsal so wol digerirt/ gekocht vnnd mürb gemacht/ daß er an allem seinem vermögen vnd kräfften verzaget/ vnd einig vnd allein der gnaden Gottes vnd seiner Barmhertzigkeit sich tröstet/ in welchem wehrenden fewer oder Creutz ofen dann der Mensch (gleich dem jrdischen gold corpori) ein rechtes schwartzes raben haupt gewinnet/ das ist heßlich vñ vngestalt/ vnd vor der welt Sapient.5.nur verachtet vnd verlachet wirt/ nicht zwar nur40.tag vnd nacht/ oder Jahr/ sondern offtermals die zeit seines lebens/ also das er mehr leiden als frewden/ mehr trawrigkeit als hertzigkeit in seinem leben haben vnnd erfahren muß. **English** When a person born anew shows and conducts himself in this Christian and godly manner in his life and conduct, it cannot remain without fruit. Like the compound in the earthly work, such a person is placed by God in the furnace of tribulation and beset with every kind of cross, suffering and adversity, until he has died to the old Adam and the flesh and rises as a truly new person created according to God in true righteousness and holiness. As Romans 6 says, we are buried with Christ through baptism into death, so that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the Father’s glory, we too should walk in a new life. When this happens and a person daily bids farewell to sins so that they no longer rule over him, there begins within him the solution of the added body of gold, as described above in the earthly work, and the putrefaction: spiritually he is wholly dissolved, ground down, destroyed and putrefied. This solution and putrefaction happens earlier to one than another, yet must still take place in this temporal life. That is, such a person is so thoroughly digested, cooked and softened in the fire of tribulation that he despairs of all his own ability and powers and takes comfort solely in God’s grace and mercy. During this continuing fire or furnace of the cross, he acquires, like the earthly body of gold, a true black raven’s head: that is, he becomes ugly and disfigured, merely despised and mocked before the world, Wisdom 5, not merely for forty days and nights or years, but often for the length of his life. Thus he must possess and experience more suffering than joy, more sorrow than gladness in his life.[^n129] **HY_P4S049** 1619 pp 125–127 · scans ER129, ER130, ER131 **German** Da jhme dann auch endlich durch sein geistliches absterben seine anima gantz vnd gar außgezogen/ vnnd in die höhe gleichsam geführet wirt/ das ist/ zwar mit seinem leib noch auff erden ist/ vnnd walle mit seinem hertzen vnnd Geist (der nun nicht mehr der welt lebt/ sondern Gott lebt/ auch nicht an jrdischen sondern ja geistlichen seine frewd vnd wonne hat) sich sehne nach dem ewigen leben vñ Vaterland/ vnd seinen wandel also anstelt/ das derselbige nicht jrdisch/ sondern so viel jhm möglich/ vnnd in dieser zeit geschehen mag/ himlisch sey/ vnnd daß er auch nicht mehr nach dem fleisch/ sondern nach dem Geist/ nicht in vnfruchtbaren wercken der finsternus/ sondern als am tag/ in den wercken des liechts/ so da die Schand vnd Vhrb/ alles in Gott gethan/ erleiden vnd thun/ lebet: welche Scheydung leibs vnd der Seelen des menschen/ im geistlichen absterben/ wie gesagt/ der sünde geschicht/ vñ nicht im leiblichen absterben des sündlichen fleisch/ dann gleich wie so die solution oder aufflösung leibs vnd der seelen im newgebornen menschen vorgeht/ da leib vnd seel zwar gleichsam von einander geschieden im glaß abgezogen/ gleichwol nahe bey einander bleiben/ die Seel auch den leib stetigs erquicket/ vnd vor endlicher zerstörung also erhelt: diß auff die von Gott bestimmte zeit/ es nander noch vngescheiden bleiben/ also dz der verschmachte vnd gleich abgestorbene leib vnd corpus im menschen in solcher seiner Creutzschulen/ von der Seelen auch nicht gantz vñ gar verlassen/ sondern immerdar/ wo nit die hitz der trübsal zu groß sein wil durch den Geist von oben herab/ mit dem himlischen lab vñ Göttliche nectare befeuchtet vnnd geträncket/ getröstet vnd erhalten wirt/ welche himlische labsal vnd erquickung des abgestorbenen jrdischen corporis im menschen (Sintemal vnser zeitlicher tod/ so der sünden sold ist/ Rom.6.kein rechter tod/ sondern eine natürliche aufflösung des leibs vñ der seelen vnd viel mehr ein sanffter schlaff/ ja eine nunmehr vnauffhörbare vereinigung (verstehe in den Gottseligen) des Geistes Gottes vnd der seelen wahrhafftig ist vnd bleibet: sie auch mit der wunderbarlichen auff vnd nidersetzung im jrdischen werck/ so vngefährlich zum siebenden mahl geschicht/ der zahl nach füege vnd fein vergleichet. **English** At last, through his spiritual dying, his soul is wholly drawn out and, as it were, borne upwards. That is, while his body is still upon earth, his heart and spirit—which no longer live to the world but to God and delight in spiritual rather than earthly things—long for eternal life and the fatherland. He orders his conduct so that, as far as possible in this present time, it is heavenly rather than earthly. He lives no longer according to the flesh but according to the spirit, no longer in the unfruitful works of darkness but, as in daylight, in the works of light, doing and enduring all things, shame and honour, in God. As stated, this separation of a person’s body and soul takes place in the spiritual dying to sin, not in the bodily death of sinful flesh. For, as the solution or dissolution of body and soul proceeds in the person born anew, body and soul are, as it were, separated and drawn off from one another in the glass, yet remain close together. The soul continually refreshes the body and preserves it from final destruction until God’s appointed time; they remain inseparate from one another still. Thus the exhausted and, as it were, dead body of the person in this school of the cross is not wholly abandoned by the soul, but is continually moistened and given drink, comforted and preserved by the Spirit from above with heavenly refreshment and divine nectar whenever the heat of tribulation threatens to become too great. This heavenly refreshment and revival of the earthly body, deadened within the person, fittingly corresponds in number to the wondrous ascent and descent in the earthly work, which takes place about seven times. For our temporal death, the wages of sin, Romans 6, is not true death, but a natural dissolution of body and soul, indeed rather a gentle sleep; and the union of God’s Spirit and the soul—understand this of the godly—truly is and remains henceforth unceasing.[^n130] **HY_P4S050** 1619 pp 127–128 · scans ER131, ER132 **German** Dann da werden auch sechstausent jahr der Trübsal vñ zeitlichen mühe (so lang nemblich die welt stehn soll) gefunden. In welchem durch den Geist Gottes die trostlose Menschleute vnnd zu allen zeiten im Creutz vnd widerwertigkeit reichlich seind auffgerichtet/ getröstet vnnd gestercket worden/ welches Gott lob vnd danck/ noch täglich geschicht vnnd geschehen wirt/ biß der grosse algemeine sabbath vnnd ruhetag des siebentausenden jahrs herfür brechen vnnd angehen wirt/ da als dann solche Geistliche labsal vnd erquickung ein mahl auffhören/ vnd seine lang verhoffte endschafft haben vnnd an statt desselben (dieweil Gott alles in allen sein wirt) ein ewig wehrende frewde kommen vnnd angehen wirt. **English** For there are also found six thousand years of tribulation and temporal toil, the length of time the world is to endure. Throughout them, the Spirit of God has abundantly raised, comforted and strengthened comfortless human beings at all times amid cross and adversity. Thanks and praise be to God, this still happens daily and will continue until the great universal Sabbath and day of rest of the seven-thousandth year breaks forth and begins. Then this spiritual refreshment and revival will cease and reach its long-awaited conclusion, and in its place—since God will be all in all—everlasting joy will come and begin.[^n131] **HY_P4S051** 1619 pp 128–129 · scans ER132, ER133 **German** Hierzwischen aber wehrender digestion vnd kochung deß geistlichen abgestorbene Cörpers im menschen sich auch gleicher weisse (wie im jrdischen werck zusehen) viel vnd mancherley farbe vñ zeichen/ dz ist/ allerley creutz/ jammer vnnd trübsall (als da sonderlich seind/ die vorgemelte versuchung/ so vom teuffel/ der welt/ vnnd vnserm fleisch geschehen vnd verursachet werden) erzeigen vñ sehen werden lassen/ welche doch alle mit einander/ gutte anzeigung geben/ das es mit einem solchen wohlgeplagten menschen zu einem glückseligen außgang kommen werde/ in massen dann solches die H.Schrifft auch bezeuget/ dz alle die da Gottselig wollen leben in Christo Iesu müssen verfolgung leiden/ vnnd das wir durch viel trübsall eingehen müssen in das reich Gottes: wie dann S.Augustin auch spricht/ verwunder dich nicht/ bruder/ so dich (nach dem du ein Christ bist worden) allenthalben wol creutz vnd Trübsalen vexiren. Sintemal vnsers glaubens haupt Christus ist/ vnd wir seine Glieder. Derhalben wir jhme nicht allein/ sondern auch seinem leben nachfolgen sollen. Das leben Christi aber stehet für/ mit allerley Trübsal/ mit höchster Armuth vnnd hunger/ von den Schrifftgelertren vnnd Pharisern verspottet/ zu letzt vnd sonder den allerschmeichlichsten Tod vberliffert/ daher dann wol abzunehmen/ daß so dich Gott mit gleichem leben begabt/ vnd mit gleicher verfolgung züchtiget/ Er dich in seiner Außerwehlten zahl will setzen. Dann ohne dergleichen Trübsal mögen wir mit nichten zu Gott kommen/ Versuch/ alle die so in das Paradeiß zu gehen/ jhn willen haben/ die müssen durch fewer vnd wasser gehen. Es sey gleich Petrus/ dem gegeben seind die Schlüssel des Himmels: vñ Paulus das ausserwehlte faß oder Rüstzeug Gottes: oder Iohann/ dem entdeckt seind die geheimnus Gottes. Es ist von nöthen/ daß sie alle sage durch viel Trübsal müssen wir eingehen in das reich Gottes. Hucusque Augustin. **English** Meanwhile, during the digestion and cooking of the spiritually deadened body within a person, many and various colours and signs will appear, as may be seen in the earthly work: that is, every kind of cross, misery and tribulation, especially the temptations already mentioned that are caused by the Devil, the world and our flesh. Yet all these together give good indications that such a sorely afflicted person will reach a blessed outcome. Holy Scripture also testifies that all who wish to live godly lives in Christ Jesus must suffer persecution and that through much tribulation we must enter God’s kingdom. Saint Augustine likewise says: “Do not be surprised, brother, if, after you have become a Christian, crosses and tribulations vex you everywhere. For Christ is the head of our faith, and we are his members. We should therefore follow not only him but also his life. Yet Christ’s life stands before us filled with every tribulation, extreme poverty and hunger, mocked by scribes and Pharisees and finally handed over to the most shameful death. From this it can readily be understood that, if God bestows a similar life upon you and disciplines you with similar persecution, he wishes to place you among his elect. For without such tribulations we cannot come to God. Consider: all who intend to enter Paradise must pass through fire and water. Whether it be Peter, to whom the keys of heaven were given; Paul, God’s chosen vessel and instrument; or John, to whom God’s mysteries were revealed, they must all say: Through much tribulation we must enter God’s kingdom.” Thus far Augustine.[^n132] **HY_P4S052** 1619 pp 130–131 · scans ER134, ER135 **German** Vñ ist dieses hiebey auch wol zu mercken/ vnd in acht zunemmen/ dz die Chimische philosophi den Antimonium (durch den/ wie hiezu vor in der Chimischen præparation vermeldt) die nachfolgende fermentation geschehen muß/ ehe sie dem erlangten Elixir/ oder Chimischen König vorgelegt werden/ oder mit dem Alten grawen Saturno ein schweißbad halten vnnd außziehen/ eben mit diesem Character ♄ bezeichnet vnnd angedeutet haben/ welches dann nicht vngeschickt für ein wunder vnd geheimniß gleichsam zu halten vnnd anzuschawen ist. In massen dann solche form vñ gestalt bey vns Christen auch gleichfals zu finden/ vnnd fast in gleicher verborgenheit gebraucht vnnd fürgestellet wirt/ in dem so man dem höchsten haupt vnd regierer der gantzen Christenheit/ einen Reichsapffel/ oben mit einem Kreutzlein zugericht in die hand/ damit angedeutet wirt/ das solcher/ ehe er zu friedlicher vñ ruhiger possession gelanget/ zuvor dieser welt creutz vñ leide wol erfahre vnd dadurch getrieben/ versucht vñ approbirt werden muß/ welche vorbildung vñ bedeutung dann gedachte philosophi/ so vor vhralten jaren gelebt/ vielleicht mit solchem zeichen ♄ nit vngefähr oder vergeblich vnd eben zumal in dieser chimischen arbeit (die solchen proceß auch erfordert) haben andeuten wollen. Welches alles nicht vnfüglich auff die rechte creutzschul vnd trübsal der Christen (das sie nemblich auch/ vorhin/ ehe sie zur ewige freud vnd ruhe eingehe/ durch den beschwerlichen weltlauff/ oder mit dem feindseligen grawen Saturno das ist dem Alten Adam vnd Sathan ein Kampffschul vnd schweißbad halten müssen) gezogen vnd angedeutet werden. **English** It should also be carefully noted that the chemical philosophers designated and signified antimony—through which, as stated earlier in the chemical preparation, the ensuing fermentation must take place before it is presented to the obtained elixir or chemical king, or before taking and undergoing a sweating bath with old grey Saturn—by this very character, ♄. This may fittingly be regarded and contemplated as something wondrous and secret. A similar form and shape is also found among us Christians and is used and represented in almost the same hidden fashion: the supreme head and governor of the whole Christian commonwealth is given into his hand an imperial orb furnished with a little cross above it. This signifies that, before he attains peaceful and tranquil possession, he must first thoroughly experience this world’s cross and suffering and be driven, tested and proved through them. Perhaps those philosophers who lived in ancient years wished, neither by chance nor in vain, to signify this with the character ♄, precisely in this chemical labour, which also requires such a process. All this may fittingly be referred and applied to the true school of the cross and tribulation of Christians: before entering eternal joy and rest they too must first undergo a school of combat and sweating bath in the burdensome course of the world, with hostile grey Saturn—that is, the old Adam and Satan.[^n133] **HY_P4S053** 1619 pp 131–133 · scans ER135, ER136, ER137 **German** Dergleichen vñ zu diesem vorerwehnten trübsalen/ auch viel vnnd mancherley wunder vnd zeichen/ auch grosse verenderung hin vnd wider in der welt (auff welche auch gleichfals gut achtung zu haben) fleissig zu betrachten sein. Als daß man hören wirt krieg vñ kriegs geschrey/ rotten vñ secten/ Pestilentz vñ theure zeit/ welche alle vorbotten seind/ dz vnser erlösung nahe ist: in Summa wann die algemeine aufferstehung der todten geschehen wirt/ die menschen als dann erst durch des lambs blut vberwinden werden (Sintemal die vorige newe widergeburt/ so in der heiligen Tauff geschehen/ dieser andern rechten vnd allererst gantz vollkommenen newen Geburt im ewigen leben nur ein Anfang ist) auch zu einem newen vnvergenglichen Leben/ nach dem Seel vnnd Geist mit dem Leib wider vereiniget/ vnnd in eine vnzertrennliche vnnd ewig wehrende vnion oder fixation werden gebracht/ sein worden/ erweckt vnd erhaben werden/ also vnd der gestalt/ dz wir durch Krafft vnd wirckung vnsers Allmächtigen Himmels König Christi des Herrn (mit dem wir durch den Glauben realiter/ warhafftig/ leiblich vnnd wircklich/ wider aller Menschen vernunfft/ vereiniget worden) mit reiner geistlicher wunderlicher Krafft/ stärcke vnd behendigkeit/ glori vnnd herrligkeit verklert/ ja ewiglich vnnd herrlich vnd plusquam perfect selig sollen gemacht werden/ welche wunderbare vereinigung Leibs/ Seelen/ vnd Geistes/ auch Göttliche glorification vnnd erhöhung der Auß erwehlten (gleich wie im jrdischen werck) ohne bestürtzung in diesem Leben/ von vns auch nicht mag betrachtet/ will geschweigen/ gesehen werden. In massen sich dann auch die Engel darüber verwundern/ vñ sie solches zubeschawen sich gelüstet/ da wir dann mit Christo/ vnserm ewigen Himmels Fürsten/ sampt allen heiligen Engeln vnnd dienstgeistern in ewiger frewd vñ Mayestetischer Herrlichkeit/ vber alles herrschen vñ regieren werden in alle Ewigkeit Amen. **English** Alongside these tribulations already mentioned, many and various wonders and signs and great changes throughout the world must also be carefully considered and heeded. We shall hear of wars and rumours of wars, factions and sects, pestilence and dearth, all of which are heralds that our redemption is near. In sum, when the general resurrection of the dead takes place, human beings will then finally overcome through the Lamb’s blood. For the earlier rebirth in holy baptism is only a beginning of this second, true and at last wholly perfect new birth in eternal life. They will be awakened and exalted to a new, imperishable life after soul and spirit have been reunited with the body and brought into an inseparable, everlasting union or fixation. Through the power and working of our almighty heavenly king, Christ the Lord, with whom through faith we have been united really, truly, bodily and effectively, beyond all human reason, we shall thus be glorified with pure spiritual, wondrous power, strength, agility, glory and splendour, indeed made eternally, gloriously and more than perfectly blessed. This wondrous union of body, soul and spirit and this divine glorification and exaltation of the elect cannot be contemplated by us in this life without astonishment, much less seen, just as in the earthly work. Even the angels marvel at it and long to behold it. We shall then, with Christ our eternal prince of heaven, together with all holy angels and ministering spirits, rule and reign over all things in everlasting joy and majestic glory to all eternity. Amen.[^n134] **HY_P4S054** 1619 pp 133–135 · scans ER137, ER138, ER139 **German** Beschliesslich gleich wie im Chymischen Philosophischen ein kurtze vnd doch nothwendige Corection oder verbesserung des schadhafften vñ verwarlosten compositi/ wie nemblich demselben bey zeiten fügliche hülff möchte beygebracht werden/ als das sie oben da der proceß darmit samt den zugehörigen mitteln ordentlich zu finden also gleich zum anfang ist beygesetzt worden: also auch allhie in Theologischen werck eines armen sünders geistliche Corection vnd restitution/ vnnd wie sie fleissig in acht zu nehmen sein will/ dz sich auß der gedachten vñ mangel einer oder mehr/ an einem menschen wolte erregen/ in dz er etwan auß verhengnuß Gottes/ durch antrib des leidigen Sathans/ der Gottlosen welt/ vnnd seines fleisches in sünde geriete/ vnnd entweder durch hoffart vnd ehrgeitz/ von allem angeboren (vnd mit der schedlichen Sublimation/ oder zu frue zeitiger röthe/ als erstem vnnd andern mangel/ im jrdischen reich sich vergleichet) zu fall gebracht würde/ oder wegen begangener groben fleischlichen sünden/ an Gottes Barmhertzigkeit endlich verzweifflen/ oder aber wegen vielfältiger hitz der trübsalen wider Gott seinen schöpffer murren vñ vngedultig werden wolte/ (welche beide mängel mit dem dritten vnnd vierten irrthumb vberein kommen) als dann ein solcher armer schadhaffter mensch/ gleich dem eingesetzten/ jrdischen doch schadhafften Composito/ erstlich widerumb von newem soluirt/ das ist/ nach erkantnus seines jrrsals/ durch den lößschlüssel der heiligen Solution/ so offt er dessen bedürfftig/ von seinen sünden vnd täglichen gebrechen widerumb absoluirt vñ gereiniget. Hernach in dem H.Abentmahl mit der reinen geistlichen milch1.Cor.3.vnd rechten himlischen lambs schweiß/ als Blut vnd wasser/ ja wasser vnd brunnen des lebens: darzu auch von dem fetten mal von reinem wein vnd marck Esa.25.vnnd offne gnaden brunn Zach.13.So da doch auch gleich dem Mercurial wasser im Chymischen werck/ der vnwirdige vñ gottlosen deß grösseste gifft ist/ gespeiset vnd geträncket/ gelabet vnd gestercket werden muß/ biß er auch (gleich dem jrdischen Composito) zu endlicher Congelation vnd völliger fixation/ dz ist/ zu vollkommener bestendiger perfection der seligkeit kommen thue vnnd gelange/ welche beyde heilsame mittel der Cur vnnd sanation eines armen sünders (als nemblich die heilige Absolution vnnd Abentmahl) der getrewe vnd Barmhertzige Gott dem menschen zum besten verordnet vnd seiner lieben Kirchen/ dieselbe im nothfall außzuspenden/ vertrawet/ vñ befohlen hat. Dann da werden wir durch die jetz erwehnte Absolution/ dz wie man es auch nennet/ daß Ampt der schlüssel/ wann wir wahre buß thun/ ledig vnd loß gesprochen/ oder aber/ so wir vnbußfertig seind/ vnnd in sünden verharren/ durch den Christlichen bann vnd bindschlüssel/ so auch zu diesem ampt gehörig/ in vnsern sünden gebunden/ vnd dem Sathan zum verderben des fleisches1.Cor.5.damit der geist am tag des Herrn möge selig werden/ vbergeben. **English** Finally, just as a brief yet necessary correction or improvement of the damaged and neglected compound, explaining how appropriate help might be brought to it in time, was added at the beginning of the chemical-philosophical work, where the process and its requisite means may be found in due order, so here too the spiritual correction and restoration of a poor sinner must be diligently considered. One or more of the defects described may arise in a person if, by God’s permission and through the instigation of evil Satan, the godless world and his own flesh, he falls into sin. He may be brought down by pride and ambition, inborn in everyone, which correspond to harmful sublimation or premature redness, the first and second defects in the earthly realm; or he may finally despair of God’s mercy because of gross carnal sins committed; or, through the manifold heat of tribulations, murmur against God his creator and become impatient. These last two defects correspond to the third and fourth errors. Such a poor, damaged person, like the earthly compound set in the vessel but become defective, must first be dissolved anew. That is, upon recognising his error, he must, as often as he needs it, be absolved and cleansed again of his sins and daily failings through the releasing key of holy solution. Afterwards, in the holy Supper, he must be fed and given drink, refreshed and strengthened with pure spiritual milk, 1 Corinthians 3, and the true heavenly Lamb’s sweat, blood and water, indeed the water and fountain of life; also with the rich feast of pure wine and marrow, Isaiah 25, and the opened fountain of grace, Zechariah 13. Yet, like the mercurial water in the chemical work, this is the greatest poison to the unworthy and godless. He must thus be sustained until, like the earthly compound, he reaches final coagulation and complete fixation: that is, the full, enduring perfection of blessedness. These two wholesome means for curing and healing a poor sinner—holy absolution and the Supper—were ordained by the faithful, merciful God for humanity’s good and entrusted and commanded to his beloved Church to administer in need. For through the absolution just mentioned, also called the office of the keys, we are declared free and released when we truly repent. But if we are impenitent and persist in sins, through Christian excommunication and the binding key, which also belongs to this office, we are bound in our sins and handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, 1 Corinthians 5, so that the spirit may be saved on the day of the Lord.[^n135] ### Conclusion *Beschluß* **Chapter outline** - The author’s lay confession and the two stones - Knowledge of Nature and Christ as prerequisites - True natural art distinguished from necromancy and sophistical alchemy - The practitioner’s character and the progress of the work - False teachers, modest costs and the duty of secrecy **HY_CONCLUSIONS001** 1619 pp 136–138 · scans ER140, ER141, ER142 **German** Also hastu hiemit/ Günstiger Lieber leser/ eine kurtze vnnd einfeltige demonstration vnd erklärung auch vnfehlbare contrafactur vñ allegorische vergleichung beide des jrdischen vnd Chymischen/ vnd auch des rechten himlischen Steins/ Iesu Christi/ durch welchen du zur rechten glückseeligkeit vnd vollkommenheit/ nicht allein alhie/ in diesem zeitliche/ sondern auch im ewigen Leben gelangen vñ kommen magst. Vnnd ob wol beiderseits in dem nechst vorher gegangenen Theologischen werck/ solches alles richtiger vñ volliger hette können tractirt vnd gehandelt werden/ So wisse doch dz ich kein schrifftgelerter oder jetziger welt Aristotelischer Theologus/ sondern ein burger vnd Privatperson bin/ der ich solche mir von Gott verliehene scientiam auff keiner Vniversitet/ oder hochberühmten Academia studirt vnnd erlangt/ sondern auff der Allgemeinen schul der Natur/ vnnd auß dem grossen Wunderbuch (In welchem alle Gotsgelerte vor viel hundert jahrn gestudirt) erlernet vñ studirt habe. Darumb ich dann diese meine beschreibung nicht auff den zierlichen oder hohe buchstaben/ sondern wie gemeldet/ der einfalt nach gerichtet/ vnd gemacht habe. Wie es dann auch meiner profession vnd beruffs von Theologischen sachen weiter zuhandeln nicht geziemen will. Sondern wz ich da gethan/ hab ich meines theils/ den jenigen/ die vielleicht so weit noch nicht kommen/ eine kurtze andeutung thun wollen/ auch solchem weiter nachzudencken zu fleisse sein/ Sintemal einem jeden Liebhaber der Wahrheit gebüren will/ die wunder Gottes nit zu verschweigen/ sonder daß sie dieselbe sollen außbreiten/ rühmen vnd preisen. Vber das hab ich auch zugleich meine Confession/ wie ich von den Articuln Christlicher religion halte vnnd glaube/ offentlich hiemit erzeigen vnd scheinen hab wollen lassen. Dieweil es leider jetzunder also beschaffen/ daß mancher frommer Christ durch der lügenhafften Calumnianten vnzeitiges judiciren/ (wann man jhnen jhren reyen nicht will helffen singen) hinderwerts für ein Ketzer vnd Schwermer verleumbden vñ außschreyen/ ja auch angefeindet/ vnnd verdechtig gehalten wirt/ welch der Welt Gottloses calumniren vnd freventlichs judicirn/ gleichwol keinem rechten Christen (dem solches begegnet) beschwerlich sein solle. Sintemal der Teuffel vnnd dessen Schuppen die Weltkinder dieses zu jeder zeit im brauch gehabt/ auch solches Christo vnd allen seinen nachfolgern erwiesen/ vnnd noch täglich erweisen thun/ von welchen gleichwol allhie zu reden ich beruhen lasse vnd solches dem höchsten Richter aller Richtern/ der dann der rechte Grundt vnd prüffstein aller Hertzen ist beyderseits will heim gestellet vnd befohlen haben. **English** Thus, gracious and dear reader, you now have a brief and simple demonstration and explanation, a faithful likeness and allegorical comparison both of the earthly, chemical stone and of the true heavenly stone, Jesus Christ, through whom you may attain true blessedness and perfection, not only here in this temporal life but also in eternal life. Although all this might have been treated more accurately and fully on both sides in the theological work immediately preceding, know that I am neither a learned theologian nor an Aristotelian theologian of the present age, but a citizen and private person. I did not study and acquire the knowledge God has bestowed upon me at any university or highly renowned academy, but learned and studied it in the universal school of Nature and from the great book of wonders in which all those taught by God studied many hundreds of years ago. I have therefore composed and directed this account towards simplicity, as stated, rather than towards elegant or lofty language. Nor would it be fitting to my profession and calling to discuss theological matters further. In what I have done, I wished for my part to give a brief indication to those who may not yet have reached so far, and to encourage diligent further reflection upon it. For every lover of truth ought to proclaim, praise and extol God’s wonders rather than conceal them. I have also wished publicly to make known my confession concerning what I hold and believe about the articles of the Christian religion. For, lamentably, matters now stand so that many a devout Christian, when he refuses to join in another’s song, is slandered behind his back and denounced as a heretic and enthusiast through the untimely judgement of lying calumniators, indeed treated with hostility and suspicion. Yet such godless slander and presumptuous judgement by the world ought not to trouble any true Christian who experiences it. For the Devil and his hangers-on, the children of the world, have always practised this and inflicted it upon Christ and all his followers, as they still do daily. I shall leave further discussion of them aside and commit both sides to the highest Judge of all judges, the true ground and touchstone of every heart.[^n136] **HY_CONCLUSIONS002** 1619 pp 138–140 · scans ER142, ER143, ER144 **German** Ferner was die vorher gehende Tractation des nunmehr offt erwenten jrdischen steins belanget/ will ich hie in diesem beschluß den liebhabenden dieser kunst der Alchimiæ/ noch einmal zu vberfluß des anfenglichen berichts vnterweisung/ so ich gethan/ mit fleiß ernewert/ ermahnet vnd zu gemüth trewlich geführt haben. Dann gleich wie in einem schönen Gesang ein gute clausul mehr als zu einem mal repetirt wirt: also in diesem Puncten allhier von mir auch geschicht. Daß nemblich ein solcher sein vorhaben vnd Gedancken zu dem jrdischen philosophischen Stein nit eher haben/ oder darinnen mit laboriren einen anfang zu machen begehrn solle/ er habe dann zuvorhin/ den himlischen (vmb welches willen der jrdische von Gott gegeben) recht lernen erkennen/ jme zubereitet/ oder aber zum wenigsten/ beyde/ als geistlichen vnd leiblichen mit grossem ernst zugleich neben einand wircklich zu præpariren angefangen. Dann ich sonderlich in diesem stück wie nemblich ohn erkantnus der Natur solch hohes werck vergeblich angefangen/ vnd gearbeitet werde/ mit allen waren philosophen consentire/ ja auch/ wie nemblich ohn wahre erkantnus des himlischen Ecksteins Christi/ als in dem die gantze Natur vollkommlich bestehe/ der jrdische stein zu erlangen vñ zu vberkommen/ allein nit schwerlich sondern/ wie ich dafür halte/ fast vnmüglich sey/ für meine person noch mit allem fleiß hierbey vnder vnd bestreich/ darumb man dann diese puncte wol/ solte betrachten vnd nit (wie von vielen geschicht) so begierlich vnd vnbesonnen/ solche hohe Kunst/ da doch offt einer im wenigsten nichts darzu geschickt/ noch in offtgemelter erkantnus etwas rechts gewisses ist/ anzufangen gedencken/ wann man anders hierinnen nicht eines spöttlichen außgangs gewertig sein will. Dann wie es angefangen/ also auch sein endschafft bekommt/ wie leider der augenschein bey vielen täglich außweiset: welches aber alles/ des vnzeitigen vorhabens/ vnnd der erkantnus vnkündigkeit allein die schuld ist. **English** Further, concerning the preceding treatment of the earthly stone so often mentioned, in this conclusion I wish once again, beyond the initial instruction already given, diligently to renew the admonition and faithfully impress it upon lovers of the art of alchemy. Just as a good phrase in a beautiful song is repeated more than once, so I repeat this point here. A person should not direct his intentions and thoughts towards the earthly philosophers’ stone, or desire to begin labouring upon it, until he has first learned rightly to know the heavenly stone, for whose sake God gave the earthly one, and prepared it for himself; or at least begun earnestly and in practice to prepare both together, the spiritual and the bodily, side by side. On this particular point I agree with all true philosophers: such an exalted work is begun and laboured upon in vain without knowledge of Nature. For my own part I also most earnestly underline and emphasise that, without true knowledge of Christ, the heavenly cornerstone in whom all Nature perfectly subsists, attaining and obtaining the earthly stone is not merely difficult but, as I consider it, almost impossible. One should therefore ponder these points well and not begin such a lofty art eagerly and thoughtlessly, as many do, when often a person has not the least aptitude for it nor any sure and proper foundation in the knowledge so often mentioned, unless he wishes to expect a ludicrous outcome. For the work ends as it began, as visible experience, lamentably, demonstrates daily in many cases. The blame lies solely with the untimely undertaking and ignorance of the requisite knowledge.[^n137] **HY_CONCLUSIONS003** 1619 pp 140–141 · scans ER144, ER145 **German** Dessen sich noch mehr zuverwundern/ in dem etliche leuth gefunden/ die solcher hohen kunst nicht allein nachforschen sondern auch sich derselben wol vnderfahen dörffen vñ darbey (ob es eine natürliche oder recht magische/ oder aber eine vnnatürliche vnd nigremantische kunst/ als die nur durch geister vnd verbotten mittel zu wegen gebracht werde/ sey/ noch in zweiffel stehen. O nein lieber gesell/ der teuffel vñ alle gotlose haben ohne zulassung Gottes die macht nicht/ dz geringste vñ dieser kunst anzugreiffen/ will geschweigen in jhre gewalt zu bringen/ vnd darmit zu thuen vnd zu lassen/ was sie wöllen. Nein sage ich/ sie stehet allein in Gottes hand/ vnnd gewalt/ der gibt vnnd nimt sie wem er will. Sintemal zu solcher kunst/ so von vnd auß Gott jhren vrsprung hat/ keine voluptuarii oder weltlustige menschen/ vielweniger hellenputzige Geister/ sondern ein solcher Geist/ der da einfeltig/ schlecht/ wahr vnd standhafft auch eines reinen Gottseligen wesens/ welchen Geist aber die jetzige ruhlose welt nicht kent/ vnnd demnach von solchem seinem wesen vnd hohen geheimnus sehr wenig wissen thut. Derwegen jhnen dann auch/ so sie etwas darvon höret/ vnnd dasselb nicht als bald jhres gefasten sinnes ist/ solches eine thorheit heissen/ vnd wegen jhrer blindheit/ jeder zeit verborgen/ vnd entnommen sein vnd bleiben wirt. **English** It is still more astonishing that there are people who not only investigate this exalted art but dare to undertake it while still doubting whether it is a natural or rightly magical art, or an unnatural, necromantic art accomplished only through spirits and forbidden means. No, dear fellow: the Devil and all the godless have, without God’s permission, no power to undertake even the least part of this art, much less bring it under their control and do with it as they please. No, I say: it rests solely in God’s hand and power; he gives and takes it from whomever he wishes. For this art, which has its origin in and from God, requires neither pleasure-seekers and worldly people nor, still less, spirits tricked out for hell, but a spirit that is simple, plain, truthful and steadfast, and of a pure, godly character. The present restless world does not know such a spirit and consequently knows very little of its character and exalted mystery. When people of that world hear anything of it and it does not immediately fit their preconceived understanding, they call it foolishness; because of their blindness it is and remains hidden and withheld from them.[^n138] **HY_CONCLUSIONS004** 1619 pp 141–142 · scans ER145, ER146 **German** Damit ich aber mit diesem/ von meinem proposito mich nicht zu weit verrücke/ vnd dasselbe widerumb berühre vñ vollführe. Will ich den Gottliebenden Artifici dieses hiebey in acht noch einmal erinnert haben. Das/ nemblich wie er gegen Gott sein hertz vnnd gemueth/ ja wandel vnd leben anstellen vnd regiren thue: Er solches ebener massen an des steins vnterhabendes wercks fortgang/ alle tag/ auch alle stund mercklich zu sehen vñ zu spüren haben wirt. Welches ich dann selbst täglich mit fleiß/ vnd grosser andacht obseruirt/ vnd in der that also erfahren habe. Derowegen daß ein jeder seine sachen im anfang dahin richten vnd also sich zu bereiten haben wirt/ auff dz er hernach in beiden/ desto ein glückseligers end/ auch erreichen vnnd erlangen möge. **English** But so that I do not stray too far from my purpose and may return to and complete it, I wish once more to remind the God-loving practitioner to heed this: the manner in which he orders and governs his heart and mind, indeed his conduct and life, towards God will be distinctly visible and perceptible to him in the progress of the work he has undertaken upon the stone, every day and every hour. I myself have diligently observed this daily with great devotion and experienced it in practice. Everyone should therefore direct his affairs towards this from the beginning and prepare himself accordingly, so that afterwards he may attain a more blessed outcome in both.[^n139] **HY_CONCLUSIONS005** 1619 pp 142–143 · scans ER146, ER147 **German** Hier dörffte mir aber einer entgegen halten wie etliche seind vnd gefunden werden/ die diesen Philosophischen stein oder Tinctur/ mit dem sie zwar die schlechten metallen zu gold vnnd silber immutirt/ auch wahrhafftig gehabt/ vnnd doch nicht wie ich anzeige/ qualificirt gewesen seind vnnd doch den himlischen darbey nit eben also erkennt: Ja auch noch wol ein leichtfertiges leben darzu geführt hetten: denen aber antwort ich widerumb entgegen/ daß ich dieselben zwar in jhrem statu beruhen lasse/ vnd wo sie solche jhre Tinctur bekommen vnd zu wege gebracht/ an diesem orth nicht davon zu disputirn bedacht: das sie aber die rechte wahre Tinctur/ von welcher ich in diesem gantzen Tractat gehandelt/ selber gemacht vnd zubereitet sollen haben/ wirt mir dasselbige mit wahrheit niemand darthun/ noch viel weniger das zu glauben mich bereden werden können. Wie dann solcher leichtfertiger leuth Tragischer außgang/ den sie mit jhrer habenden Tinctur jhnen selbst auff den halß gezogen vñ verursachen/ solches zum offten mal bezeuget/ vnd noch täglich zum theil leider erweisen thut/ will geschweigen/ daß auch die Alchimey kunst/ sampt jhrem anhang vnderschiedlich vnd nicht einerley ist. Dann gleich wie man in andern faculteten vnderschiedene vnd wandelbare sectirer findet. Also auch in dieser kunst gleichfals geschicht/ welche zwar alle in gemein Alchimisten genennet werden/ aber nicht auff einerley intent gerichtet seind. **English** Someone might object that there are and have been people who truly possessed this philosophers’ stone or tincture and changed base metals into gold and silver with it, yet were not qualified as I describe, did not likewise know the heavenly stone, and indeed led dissolute lives. To this I reply that I leave such people in their own condition and do not intend to dispute here where they obtained and how they came by their tincture. But no one will truthfully demonstrate to me, much less persuade me to believe, that they themselves made and prepared the true tincture of which I have spoken throughout this treatise. The tragic end of such dissolute people, which they have brought and drawn upon themselves through their possession of the tincture, has often testified to this and, lamentably, still partly does so daily. Moreover, the art of alchemy and its adherents are various and not all alike. Just as in other disciplines one finds diverse and shifting sectarians, so it also happens in this art: all are commonly called alchemists, but they are not directed towards one and the same intention.[^n140] **HY_CONCLUSIONS006** 1619 pp 143–144 · scans ER147, ER148 **German** Ich rede aber hier nur allein von der wahrhafften natur gemeeß künstlichen Alchimia/ die da fürnemlich vnter andern/ wie das böse vnnd vnreine von dem guten vnnd reinen zu erkennen vnnd zu vnderscheiden sey/ lehret/ durch welches man als dann hernach der gebrechlichen vnnd schadhafften Natur zu hülff kommen/ vnnd rechte beförderung erzeigen kan: Die dann in augmentirung der metallen ebenmässig/ als wann du etwan einer frucht zur zeitigung/ so durch vnfall gar reiff zu werden verhindert worden/ hülff beweisen/ oder auß einem körnlein oder Saamen vielfeltige vermehrung zu vberkommen begehren woltest/ zu vergleichen ist/ welches alles mit schlechtem vnnd geringem Kosten gearbeitet/ vnnd verrichtet werden kan. Auff die andere Sophistische arg oder Alchimistische Kunst/ verstehe ich mich gar nichts/ begere sie auch nicht zu lernen. Dann mir jhre Meister gar zu viel krumme weg in derselben fürweisen/ vnd gantz güldene Berg/ die etwan gar zu weith entlegen seind/ vergeblich verheissen mögen: zu dem auch solche falsche Argchimisten Kunst nichts bestendiges giebt/ vnnd nur grosse Kosten/ vergebliche mühe/ vnd letzlichen auch wohl leib vnd Leben darauff gehen thut. **English** Here I speak solely of true, skilful alchemy according to Nature. Among other things, it chiefly teaches how to recognise and distinguish the bad and impure from the good and pure, so that afterwards one can assist weak and damaged Nature and give it proper furtherance. In the increase of metals this may be compared with helping a fruit to ripen when some accident has prevented it from becoming fully ripe, or seeking to obtain manifold increase from a little grain or seed. All this can be worked and accomplished at plain and modest expense. I understand nothing of the other sophistical arch- or alchemical art, nor do I wish to learn it. Its masters show me far too many crooked paths and vainly promise whole mountains of gold that may lie far too distant. Moreover, such false arch-alchemical art yields nothing lasting, while great expense, fruitless labour and at last perhaps body and life are consumed by it.[^n141] **HY_CONCLUSIONS007** 1619 pp 144–145 · scans ER148, ER149 **German** Derowegen dann/ so dir einer oder mehr solcher Alchimisten/ die sich der wahren natur gemessen kunst Alchimia rühmeten/ vnnd dieselbe vmb Gelds willen/ dich oder einen andern zu lehren begehren wolten: oder aber/ wie sie es dann an dem grossen Verlag vnd Kosten/ so darzu gehörig/ nicht vermöchten/ fürwendeten/ zuhanden kommen solten/ siehe so sey hiemit gewarnet/ vnnd trawe jhnen nicht/ dann es stecket gewiß ein Betrug vnd Falsch darhinder. **English** Therefore, if one or more such alchemists should come to you boasting of the true natural art of alchemy and wishing to teach it to you or another person for money, or alleging that they cannot afford the great investment and expenses required for it, take warning and do not trust them: deception and falsehood certainly lie behind it.[^n142] **HY_CONCLUSIONS008** 1619 pp 145 · scans ER149 **German** Wer die Kunst warhafftig thuen kan Deut sie keinem vmb Gelds willen an Ein jeder diß gedencken kan. **English** Who truly knows how to practise the art Offers it to no one for money. Everyone can consider this. **HY_CONCLUSIONS009** 1619 pp 145–146 · scans ER149, ER150 **German** Zu dem will ich dich auch mit warheit berichten daß der Kosten/ so vngefährlich in allem/ auff das gantze vniuersal Werck verlauffen möchte/ (außgenommen der täglichen Narung/ vnnd vnterhaltung des Feuwers) vber drey Floren nicht gestehen thut. Dann die Materia/ wie oben auch gehört/ zum theil vnachtsam vnnd gering/ vnd vberall/ der Notturfft nach genug/ ohne grosse Mühe zu bekommen. Die Arbeit ist leicht vnnd geringthätig. In Summa die gantze Kunst/ dem Frommen vnd von Gott darzu erwehlten auffs schlechtest/ vnd einfältigest/ dem Gottlosen aber vnd bösen/ auffs schwerst vnd vnmüglichst zufassen vnnd zu erforschen ist. **English** I will also truthfully inform you that the total expense which the whole universal work may approximately incur, apart from daily food and maintaining the fire, does not exceed three florins. For the matter, as already heard above, is in part disregarded and base and may everywhere be obtained in sufficient quantity for one’s need without great difficulty. The labour is easy and slight. In sum, the whole art is most plain and simple for the devout and those chosen by God for it, but hardest and most impossible to grasp and investigate for the godless and wicked.[^n143] **HY_CONCLUSIONS010** 1619 pp 146 · scans ER150 **German** Damit ich aber folgendts beschliesse/ so will ich dir noch zur letze/ auch diß/ als ein Zugab/ mit zugeschossen haben/ das nemblich/ wann dir der Allmächtige sein gnade (in offenbarung dieser Gottseligen vnd heiligen Kunst) mitgetheilt/ du als dann dieselbige recht gebrauchen/ vnnd darzu verschwiegen sein (auch deßwegen ein festes Schloß für deinen Mundt legen/ vnd schliessen/ damit dich etwan die lautprechtigkeit oder viel mehr hoffertigkeit beydes bey Gott vnnd den Menschen in gefahr vnnd schaden auch zeitliches vnnd ewiges verderben nicht bringen möge. Darumb du dich dann wohl fürzusehen hast. **English** To conclude, I wish finally to add this further counsel: when the Almighty has imparted his grace to you by revealing this godly and holy art, use it rightly and keep silence concerning it. For this reason place and fasten a firm lock before your mouth, lest talkativeness—or rather pride—bring you into danger and harm before both God and human beings, indeed into temporal and eternal ruin. You must therefore take good heed.[^n144] **HY_CONCLUSIONS011** 1619 pp 146 · scans ER150 **German** Wer durch die Kunst wil werden reich Der sey fromb/ schlecht/ still/ vnd auch schweig Wer aber daß nicht werd than Der macht sich selbst zum armen Mann. **English** Who wishes to grow rich through the art Should be devout, plain, quiet, and silent. Whoever will not do this Makes himself a poor man. **HY_CONCLUSIONS012** 1619 pp 147 · scans ER151 **German** Dieses alles hab ich dir lieber Leser/ beydes zu erinnerung vnd warnung zum Valete vnangemeldt nicht lassen wollen: verhoffe du werdest mich in allem (so fern dir Gott anderst nicht die Augen vnnd Ohren verhellt) gnugsamlich verstanden vnnd gemercket haben. Dann ich diß trewlicher vnd deutlicher (so viel mit gutem Gewissen zuthun) nicht fürweisen/ oder offenbahrlicher beschreiben können. Wann du es hierauß nicht verstehen oder lernen kanst/ trag ich sorg/ es werde dir schwerlich durch andere vnderweisung zu ergreiffen sein. **English** All this, dear reader, I have wished not to leave unmentioned at my farewell, both as a reminder and a warning. I hope that you have sufficiently understood and taken note of me in everything, unless God has withheld your eyes and ears. For I could not have set it forth more faithfully and clearly, or described it more openly, as far as may be done with a good conscience. If you cannot understand or learn it from this, I fear you will scarcely grasp it through other instruction.[^n145] ### The Author’s Appendix *Appendix* **Chapter outline** - The danger of pride and greed after receiving the gift. - A final summary and blessing. **HY_APPENDIXS001** 1619 pp 147–148 · scans ER151, ER152 **German** Im Fall du dich solcher dir von Gott hohen verliehenen Gabe / würdest vbernähmen vnd darmit stolzieren / oder aber den Geitz / im schein einer heußlichen fürsehung bey dir beherbrigen / vnd dadurch dich also allgemach von GOTT abwenden woltest / dir solche Kunst vnder den Händen mißlingen / zerrinnen / ja verschwinden würde / das du wohl selbst (wie dir geschehen) nicht wissen soltest: welches dann wol mehr als einem / solcher gestalt / wider alles verhoffen / widerfahren ist. **English** If you should presume upon this high gift granted to you by God and grow proud of it, or harbour greed under the appearance of prudent provision for your household and so gradually turn away from God, this art would fail in your hands, dissolve and indeed vanish, so that you yourself would not even know what had happened to you. This has happened in this way to more than one person, contrary to every expectation.[^n146] **HY_APPENDIXS002** 1619 pp 148 · scans ER152 **German** In Summa Summarum Wirstu Gottsförchtig sein vnd from Vnd folgest meiner Instruction Vnd wirst hernach auch nehmen thun Die Materi / darvon dann ich Zuvor hab vnterrichtet dich Auch sie bereiten wie offt gemelt So hastu den schatz dieser welt. **English** In the Sum of All Sums. If you are God-fearing and devout, And follow my instruction, And afterwards take The matter about which I have already instructed you, Preparing it also as often stated, Then you possess the treasure of this world. **HY_APPENDIXS003** 1619 pp 148 · scans ER152 **German** Zu welchem deinem vornehmen dann (wann es dir anderst ein rechter ernst) der Allmächtige Gott seine gnade vnnd Göttlichen segen verleihen wolle / welches ich dir von hertzen hiemit will gewünschet haben. Amen. **English** May Almighty God grant his grace and divine blessing to this undertaking of yours, provided you are truly in earnest. This is my heartfelt wish for you. Amen. ### Prayer *Gebet* **Chapter outline** - The descent and guidance of divine Wisdom. - The work completed through Christ, with thanksgiving for the fulfilled promise. **HY_PRAYERS001** 1619 pp 148–149 · scans ER152, ER153 **German** Allmechtiger Ewiger GOtt / der du bist ein Vatter des himlischen Liechts / von deme auch alle gute vnd vollkom̃ene gaben herab kommen: wir bitten deine grundlose Barmhertzigkeit / du wollest vns deine ewige Weißheit / die stets vmb deinen Thron ist / vnd durch welche alles geschaffen vnnd gemacht / auch noch regiert vnnd erhalten wirt / recht lassen erkennen / sende sie herab von deinem Heiligen Himmel / vnd auß dem Thron deiner Herrligkeit / daß sie mit vns sey / vnd mit vns arbeite / dieweil sie eine Meisterin ist aller Himlischen vnnd verborgenen Künsten / vnd auch alles weiß vnd verstehet. **English** Almighty and eternal God, Father of the heavenly light, from whom all good and perfect gifts descend: we beseech your boundless mercy to let us rightly know your eternal Wisdom, who is always about your throne, through whom all things were created and made and are still governed and preserved. Send her down from your holy heaven and from the throne of your glory, that she may be with us and work with us, for she is mistress of all heavenly and hidden arts and knows and understands all things.[^n147] **HY_PRAYERS002** 1619 pp 149–150 · scans ER153, ER154 **German** Lasse sie vns meßiglich leiten / in allen vnserm wercke / auff daß wir durch jren Geist / den rechten wahren verstand / vnnd vnfehlbaren proceß der hoch Edlen Kunst / daß ist / der weisen jhren Wunderstein / den du der Welt verborgen / vnnd nur deinen Außerwölten offenbaren thust / gewiß vnnd ohne jrrung erlernen vnnd also daß allerhöchste werck / so wir alhie zuverrichten / erstlich recht vnd wol anfahen / darinnen bestendiglichen fort arbeiten / letztlich auch seeliglich vollenden vñ dessen in ewigkeit mit frewd geniessen mögen / durch denselbigen deinen himlischen auch ewig gegründeten Eck vnnd Wunderstein Jesum Christum / der mit dir / O GOtt Vatter / sampt dem Heiligen Geist / wahrer GOtt in einem vnzertrenlichen Göttlichen wesen herschet vñ vnd regiret / ein drey Einiger Gott Hochgelobt in Ewigkeit / Amen. **English** Let her guide us with due measure in all our work, so that through her spirit we may certainly and without error learn the true and right understanding and the unfailing process of the supremely noble art: the wondrous stone of the wise, which you have hidden from the world and reveal only to your elect. Thus may we begin rightly and well this highest work that we undertake here, continue steadfastly in it, finally complete it blessedly, and enjoy it with gladness for eternity. We ask this through your heavenly and eternally founded cornerstone and wondrous stone, Jesus Christ, who with you, O God the Father, and with the Holy Spirit reigns and governs as true God in one inseparable divine being: one three-in-one God, highly praised for eternity. Amen.[^n148] **HY_PRAYERS003** 1619 pp 150–151 · scans ER154, ER155 **German** Iosue21.v.44.45. Also gab der Herr dem Israel / alles Land / das Er geschworen hatte jhren Vätern zugeben / vñ es fehle nichts / an allem gutem / daß der Herrn dem hauß Israel geredt hatte / es kam alles. Deut.32.v.3. Gebt vnserm Gott allein die Ehre. AMEN. **English** Joshua21:44–45. Thus the Lord gave Israel all the land he had sworn to give their fathers, and nothing failed of all the good that the Lord had spoken to the house of Israel: it all came to pass. Deuteronomy32:3. Give the honour to our God alone. AMEN.[^n149] ### Closing Epigrams *Epigramma* **Chapter outline** - The test of true gold-making: endurance and fixity. - True alchemy and theosophy, interpreted through an emblematic figure. - Wisdom, secrecy, steadfastness, contempt for fortune and the heavenly crown. **HY_EPIGRAMS001** 1619 pp 151–152 · scans ER155, ER156 **German** Die Kunst des goldmachens so werth Ist gar ein geringes thun auff Erd Man find manchen der solches fürwar Wol kan / vnd machts noch immerdar Wirt aber noch nicht reich mit gluck Daß macht / es fehlet noch ein stuck / Welches ligt in dieser kunst verborgen Viel leuthen nicht macht wenig sorgen Nemblich daß solches gelt nicht helt / Auch fix will bleiben / wann mans stell / Wol auff die Prob / sondern in eill So geschwind hinweg fleugt mitlerweil Wer aber diß kan / das es fix Vnd bestendig bleib / auff das jhm nichts Davon abgehe in allem gar / Der hat die rechte Kunst fürwar Vnd mag gar wol an diesem Endt Ein rechte Goldmacher davon genant. **English** The much-prized art of making gold Is quite a small undertaking upon earth. Many can indeed be found Who know it well and practise it continually, Yet still do not happily become rich. The reason is that one thing is still missing, Which lies hidden within this art And causes many people no little concern: Namely, that such gold does not hold firm, Nor remain fixed when put Properly to the test, but in haste Flies away so very swiftly meanwhile. Whoever can make it Remain fixed and constant, so that nothing Whatever departs from it, Truly possesses the right art, And on this account may well Be called a true gold-maker.[^n150] **HY_EPIGRAMS002** 1619 pp 152 · scans ER156 **German** Aliud. Die wahrhafftige Alchimey / Vnd die rechte Theosophey / Seind beyde also nahe verwandt Als dem Leib ist die rechte Handt Solches in diesem Bild zur frist / Gar schön dir fürgebildet ist. Nemlich / was sie allhie zumal Für bedeutung habe vberall Erstlich so schaw den Helmen an Mit zween Flügeln / darzu den Hahn / Das zeigt dir / daß sie tragt gunst Groß lieb / zur Edlen freyen Kunst / So wol auch / zu der Weißheit rein Die da leucht wie der Sonnenschein. **English** Another. True alchemy And right theosophy Are as closely related As the right hand is to the body. This is very beautifully represented For you in the present image. Here is what its features Signify throughout. First look at the helmet With two wings, and at the cock as well. These show that she bears goodwill And great love towards the noble free art, And also towards pure wisdom, Which shines like sunlight.[^n151] **HY_EPIGRAMS003** 1619 pp 152–153 · scans ER156, ER157 **German** Ihr Leib oben entblösset gar Zeuge / daß sie mit Lust immerdar Gelieber wir für Gold vnd Gut Wer sie nur einmal sehen thut Ja wann sie also bloß entdeckt / Erblicket wir / oder geschmeckt / So kan man sich jhrer zumall Schwerlich verzeihen vberall Vnd doch solch Liebe / wo man kan Verbirgt / daß zeige die Laruen an Ist gleichwol darbey gantz vnd gar Eins freyen Hertzens offenbar Ihr Wort vnd Red sind schlecht / geradt Dann sie kein Falschheit in jhr hat. Hat auch nun auffrichtigen Muth Daß jhr frischer stand zeigen thut / Vnd doch darbey auch gleichs in sicht Als were sie zum Fall gericht / Welches bedeutt / daß sie jeder zeit Von der Welt hat viel haß vnd neidt / Diese sucht vmb zustossen gar Jedoch sie sich stets immerdar Wider empor / bald hoch auffricht / Bleibt standhafftig vnd verschreckt nicht. Beyd gegen Menschen vnd auch Gott **English** Her body, wholly bare above, Shows that with enduring delight She is loved more than gold and goods By anyone who has seen her even once. Indeed, when she is thus uncovered, Glimpsed or tasted, It is very hard To do without her. Yet this love is concealed where possible, As the mask indicates. She is nevertheless entirely Open-hearted and free. Her words and speech are plain and direct, For she has no falsehood within her. She has an upright spirit too, As her vigorous posture shows, Though she also seems As if she were poised to fall. This means that at every moment She encounters much hatred and envy from the world, Which seeks to overthrow her completely. Yet she constantly Rises up again at once, Remains steadfast and does not yield, Both before people and before God.[^n152] **HY_EPIGRAMS004** 1619 pp 153–154 · scans ER157, ER158 **German** Ob schon manch Wort vnd viel spott Ihr angehenge wirt vberall Welches die Schellen ohne zahl An ihrem Kleidt anzeigen than Daß lest sie alles fürüber gahn Fragt nichts nach solchem allzeit Sondern helt sich zu der Weißheit Auff welche sie jhr Augen klar Allzeit thut richten gantz vnd gar Helt das für jhren besten theil In dem da sie hat allen jhr heil / Mit welchem sie in Frewden eben Ihr Zeit zubringt in diesem leben Achten der weltlichen Ehr allein Nicht hoch / lest jhren weg hin sein Viel weniger im andern lauff Der gantzen Welt vngunst zuhauff Die jhr darneben mit vnruhe Viel Creutz vnd Leyden füget zue Solches alles mit behertztem muth Sie gar gring vnd leicht tragen thut / Das macht / sie hat ein Schatz bey sich Der jhr gibt alles / was sie begehrt / **English** Though many a word and much mockery Are attached to her everywhere, As the countless bells Upon her clothing indicate, She lets it all pass by. She pays no heed to it, But holds to wisdom, Towards which she always turns Her clear eyes wholly and entirely. She regards it as her best portion, In which she has all her salvation, And with it joyfully Passes her time in this life. She sets little store By worldly honour, letting it go its way, And still less, in the contrary course, By the whole world’s gathered hostility, Which adds to her unrest Much affliction and suffering. All this she bears Very lightly and easily, with a courageous spirit, Because she has a treasure with her That gives her everything she desires.[^n153] **HY_EPIGRAMS005** 1619 pp 154–155 · scans ER158, ER159 **German** Lest doch dem Geitz bey jhr kein statt / Nicht finden / ob sie schon diß hat / Mit dem die Welt / sonst ist frölich Solches alles sie tritt vnder sich / Weil rund vnd waltzend ist das Glück Vnd offt gar bald beweist sein tück Derhalben sie offt mit vberdruß In Dorn vnd Disteln baden muß. Biß sie auß dieser Welt scheidt ab Vnd sich zu Ruhe legt in jhr Grab Als dann sich erst jhr rechter muth Hoch vber sich auffschwingen thut / Vnd mit Frewden die himmels Kron Empfangen wirt für jhren Lohn Darneben auch auff dieser Erdt Ihr Lob vnd guter Nam so werth Erst auch herfür wirt leuchten fein Hell gläntzend wie der Sonnenschein / Vnd vnvergänglich wol erkent Fest bleiben / biß an der Welt endt. Vnserm GOtt allein die Ehre. FINIS. **English** Yet she allows greed No place within her, even though she possesses That in which the world otherwise delights. All this she tramples beneath her, For fortune is round and rolling And often quickly shows its tricks. Therefore, to her frequent distress, She must bathe among thorns and thistles Until she departs this world And lies down to rest within her grave. Then her true spirit First soars high above, And she joyfully receives The crown of heaven as her reward. At the same time upon this earth Her praise and precious good name Will first shine forth clearly, Brightly gleaming like sunlight, And, imperishable and rightly recognised, Remain firm until the world’s end. To our God alone the honour. THE END.[^n154] ## Companion Treatises in the 1619 Volume ### Nature’s Demonstration to the Erring Alchemist *Beweiß der Natur / welchen sie den jrrenden Alchimisten thut* **Chapter outline** - Nature rebukes the furnace worker and distinguishes her matter - Mineral being, plant growth and animal sensation - First matter, privation, form and celestial influence - Planetary movements and the formation of sulphur and Mercury - The elemental qualities and the fifth being - Nature’s exclusive power and the limits of mechanical imitation - Gold, the Stone and claims of medicine - One matter, one vessel, one furnace and one regimen - Human generation and the partnership of art and Nature - Philosophical study, authorities and the cost of the work - The alchemist answers and questions Nature’s account - Matter, potentiality and the three visible colours - The fruit of natural generation and the failure of destroying gold - The impossibility of separating and recombining elemental proportions - Three effects of alchemy and the father and son analogy - Repentance, gratitude and commitment to follow Nature **APP_NATURES001** 1619 pp 156–158 · scans ER160, ER161, ER162 **German** Beweiß der Natur / welchen sie den jrrenden Alchimisten thut / in deme sie sich vber den Sophisten vnd thörichten Kolenblaser beschweret. Beschrieben durch Johann von Mehung. NATURA. Ach Gott wie bin ich so bekümmert / wenn ich das menschliche Geschlecht betrachte / welches Gott nach seinem Ebenbilde / zu einem vollkommenen Werck gemacht / das aber vber alle andere Creaturen / ohne rechten Gebrauch der Zeit vnnd Ration so weit von mir der Natura vnd meiner Ordnung abweichet. Ich rede mit dir phantastischen Narrn / der du dich einen Alchimischen Practicanten vnd guten Philosophum nennest / vnnd hast doch weder Kunst noch rechte Materi / weder Theoriam, noch Wissenschafft / oder meiner Erkentniß. Du grober Esell brichst Gläser / vnnd brennest Kolen / daß dich der Dampff im Kopff toll machet: du kochest Alaun / Saltz / Auripigment, siedest Schwartz / vnnd geust Metall / machest kleine vnnd grosse Ofen / vnnd brauchest viellerley Geschirr: vnnd dennoch schäme ich mich deiner Thorheit / auch welches mehr ist / kränckestu mich mit deinem stinckenden Schweffelrauch. Du vermeinest durch dein starck brennend Fewer das Argentum vivum zu figiren, da es doch nur das gemeine volatilische / vnnd nicht das jenige ist / darauß ich ein Metall mache. Vnnd richtest vff diesem Weg / wann du nicht einen andern gehest / nichts auß. Denn du gebrauchest meiner Weg nicht recht / vnnd verstehest mein Artificium nicht. Es were dir besser deines thuns zu warten / als so viel geschmieres dissolviren vnnd distilliren, darnach durch alembicos, cucurbitas, distillatoria vnnd pellicanos congeliren. Nimmermehr wirstu Argentum vivum also stehend machen. Du gebrauchest zu deiner vivation das reverberir Fewer / vnnd dasselbige so heiß / biß daß es alles im Fluß gehet / vnnd auff solche weise verrichtest du dein Werck / aber im Ende verderbest du dich vnnd einen andern mit dir. Nimmermehr wirst du solcher gestallt etwas finden / wovon du nicht in meine Schmiede gehest / in der ich in den innern der Erden ohne auffhören Metall schmiede. Denn in dieser wirstu die Matery / mit der ich arbeite / vnd die Art meiner Arbeit sehen. **English** Nature’s demonstration to the erring alchemist, in which she complains of the sophist and foolish charcoal blower. Written by Johann von Mehung. NATURE. Ah God, how troubled I am when I consider the human race, which God made in his own image as a perfect work, yet which, beyond all other creatures, departs so far from me, Nature, and my order, failing to use time and reason properly. I am speaking to you, fanciful fool, who call yourself a practising alchemist and a good philosopher, although you possess neither art nor the right matter, neither theory nor knowledge nor understanding of me. You coarse ass, you break glasses and burn charcoal until the fumes drive your head mad. You boil alum, salt and orpiment, seethe things black and cast metal; you make small and large furnaces and use all sorts of vessels. Yet I am ashamed of your folly; worse still, you sicken me with your stinking sulphurous smoke. You suppose that your fiercely burning fire will fix quicksilver, though it is only the common volatile kind and not that from which I make a metal. You accomplish nothing by this path unless you take another. For you do not use my ways rightly and do not understand my craft. You would do better to attend to your own affairs than dissolve and distil so much muck, then congeal it by means of alembics, cucurbits, stills and pelicans. You will never make quicksilver remain fixed in that way. For your vivification you use a reverberating fire, so hot that everything melts, and thus carry out your work; but in the end you ruin yourself and another person with you. You will never discover anything in this manner unless you go into my forge, where I ceaselessly forge metal in the earth’s interior. There you will see the matter with which I work and the manner of my working.[^n155], [^n156] **APP_NATURES002** 1619 pp 158–160 · scans ER162, ER163, ER164 **German** Gedencke nit / daß ich dir meine Heimligkeit entdecke / wenn du nicht suchest das wachsende Körnlein der Metallen / Animalien vñ Vegetabilien / die alle in meiner Gewalt / vnnd in der Erden behalten seyn. Eines so viel die generation, das andere / so viel die Nutrition betrifft. Die Metall haben nur das Esse, die vegetabilia haben das vivere vnd wachsen / die animalia haben die empfindligkeit / welche mehr ist denn das Wachsthumb. Die Metall / Stein vnnd Atramenta, mache ich aus den elementen / die ich in eine mixtion vnnd erste composition bringe im Bauch der Erden / vnd darffest sie an andern orten nicht suchen. Die vegetabilia haben jhren Saamen / jhre Gestalt in demselben zu enthalten. Ingleichen geben auch die animalia jhren Saamen / jhr gleiches zu gebehren. Vnnd kurtz zu melden / thut ein jegliches sein Ampt ohne falsch. Du lasterhafftiger Mensch aber / der du dich meines Ampts vnterstehest / weichest allein vnd mehres denn alle andere Creatur von mir Natura ab. Die Metall haben kein Leben noch einige Nahrung zu wachsen / grünen oder sich zu vermehren: dann sie haben keinen gebährenden Sahmen: darumb zeugen sie auch nicht jhres gleichen. Sie sein anfänglich aus der Substantz der vier Elementen geschaffen / vnnd von diesen laß ich sie werden. Sie vnnd die Gesteine haben nichts mehr als das Esse oder ein Wesen. Alle Gestein seyn brüchig / vnd alle Metall güssig: nach jhrer Fusion aber sollen sie fix seyn / vnnd zu Hammerschlag tüchtig. Eines theils als gold vñ silber nemen durch künstliche reinigung / groß Perfection an sich: die andern aber seyn desto vnreiner: dann jhr Argentum vivum ist zu rohe / vnnd jhr jrdischer Sulphur zu verbrennlich. Darumb kan dergleichen Metall nicht gereiniget werden / dieweil die Materia keine gute formam empfangen. Denn ich ordne alle meine Werck so wol / daß ein jedes seine gestalt herfür bringet / nach dem daß die materia rein ist. **English** Do not imagine that I will reveal my secret to you unless you seek the growing little grain of metals, animals and plants, all of which are kept under my power and within the earth: the one as regards generation, the other as regards nourishment. Metals have only being; plants have living and growth; animals have sensation, which is more than growth. I make metals, stones and atramenta from the elements, bringing them into a mixture and first composition within the belly of the earth; you need not seek them elsewhere. Plants have their seed to preserve their form within it. Animals likewise give their seed to beget their like. Briefly, each fulfils its office without falsehood. But you, vicious human being, who presume to undertake my office, alone depart from me, Nature, and do so more than every other creature. Metals have no life or nourishment by which to grow, flourish or multiply, for they have no generative seed; therefore they do not beget their like. They are originally created from the substance of the four elements, and from these I cause them to come into being. They and the stones have nothing beyond being, or existence. All stones are brittle and all metals fusible; after their fusion, however, metals should be fixed and fit to endure the hammer. Some, such as gold and silver, acquire great perfection through artificial purification. The others are all the more impure, for their quicksilver is too raw and their earthly sulphur too combustible. Such metals therefore cannot be purified, because the matter has received no good form. For I order all my works so well that each brings forth its form according to the purity of its matter.[^n157], [^n158] **APP_NATURES003** 1619 pp 160–161 · scans ER164, ER165 **German** Wann du nuhn wissen wilt / wo ich hierzu die Matri nehme: so sage ich dir / daß ich erstlich auffthue die Kammer meiner hohen / subtilen Geheimnüssen vnnd gehe suchen die rechte nechst materiam eine mineram zu machen: diese neme ich auß den Büchsen meiner vier Elementen / vnnd ist solche ein anfänglicher Samen / der eine wesentliche formam in sich hat / componirt in simplicitet, præpariret vnnd wol geordnet zum transmutiren die viere in eins / so ein genus generalissimum, oder allgemein Catholisch ding sey. Alßdann gebe ich jhme durch meine Gütigkeit vnnd Kunst metallische Krafft / darvon dann reine vnnd vnreine / harte vnd weiche Metall werden. Solche Materi ziehe ich auß den Elementen / ziehe sie mit meinen Himmeln / vnnd führe sie durch länge der Zeit von der ersten Materi / in die nechste vnnd eigne Materi / von der ich meine mineram mache: darnach gehen herauß sulphur vnd argentum vivum, welche sich in metalla verkehren: nicht aber ein solches argentum vivum vnd sulphur wie du sihest / welches allhier nichts soll: dann durch jhre widerwertige Qualiteten seyn sie von jhrer eignen Natur in eine andere transmutiret vnnd getrieben. Also gehet eine Materi durch die fäulung vnd tüchtige Coruption, vermittels der privation von jhrer ersten forma, vnnd ziehet eine newe an: vñ durch natürliche Wärme / welche die materia in sich hat / vnnd von dem Himmel erwecket wirdt / mit gelindem Fewer / so ich zu machen weiß / gebe ich endlich eine solche formam, welche die materia gerne annimmet / vnnd sie an sich ziehet. Vff solche weise seyn privatio, forma vnd materia meine verordnete vnnd von oben herab empfangene principia vnnd Anfäng. **English** If you now wish to know where I take the matter for this, I tell you that first I open the chamber of my high and subtle secrets and seek the right proximate matter for making an ore. I take this from the containers of my four elements. It is an original seed containing an essential form, composed in simplicity, prepared and well ordered for transmuting the four into one, so that it is a most general genus, or a common universal thing. Then, through my goodness and art, I give it metallic power, from which pure and impure, hard and soft metals arise. I draw this matter from the elements, draw it with my heavens, and over a long time lead it from first matter into the proximate matter proper to it, from which I make my ore. Afterwards sulphur and quicksilver emerge and turn into metals; but not a quicksilver and sulphur such as you see, which are of no use here. For through their contrary qualities they have been transmuted and driven from their own nature into another. Thus a matter passes through putrefaction and suitable corruption, by the privation of its first form, and puts on a new one. Through the natural warmth which the matter possesses within itself and which heaven awakens, with a gentle fire that I know how to make, I finally give a form which the matter willingly receives and draws to itself. In this way privation, form and matter are my ordained principles and beginnings, received from above.[^n159] **APP_NATURES004** 1619 pp 161–164 · scans ER165, ER166, ER167, ER168 **German** Vnnd mein Herr der Creator hat mir befohlen / daß ich als seine Magd von der universal materi die 4. Elementa durch meine Wirckung vñ Regiment transmutire vnd bringe vnter eine allgemeine oder universal forma alle mineralische gstallt. Ingleichen führe ich durch meine natürliche Kunst / die Sonne in 24. Stunden vmb den Erdenkreiß / welche niemals nachlesset durch jhre Bewegung in einem jedern Elemente eine Wärme zu erregen: gleicher gestalt thun auch die achte Sphæra, die sieben Planeten / vñ jr Vatter / das primum mobile, welches die andern sphæras alle mit sich herumb reisset. Es nimbt seinen lauff gegen Occident, die andern aber alle thun das Widerspiel / theils in langer / teils in kurtzer Zeit: als der Saturnus durchläuffet seine sphæram in 30. Jahren / der Jupiter in zwölff / der Mars in zweyen / die Sonne durchläuffet jhre Zeichen in einem Jahr vnd sechs Stunden / die Venus in 349. Tagen / der Mercurius in 339. Tagen / die Luna durchwandert die 12. Signa in 29. vnd einen halben Tag. Durch diesen vnderschiedlichen Lauff entstehet Sommer vnd Winter / Verenderungen in den Elementen / vnnd auff Erden der dingen gebährung. Vñ mag nichts / es sey empfindlich / sichtbarlich oder vnsichtbarlich ohne mich / die Himmel vnd Gott / seyn oder stat haben. Also wircken die Himmel alle ding / so vnter dem Mond beschlossen / vnd geben jre influentz in die Krafft der Materi: vnnd diese ist begierig gleich als ein Weib gegen dem Mann / die formam zu empfangen. Allen Sternen am Himmel / so vnzehlich / synd der Materien in vnderschiedlicher Zahl / vntergeben vnd vnterworffen: vnd seyn jhr eines theils klar / eins theils dunckel / welches alles ja wunderbarlich ding ist. Sie wircken also vnderschiedliche ding / nach dem sie einen vnderschiedlichen Lauff haben / erstlich oben am Himmel / darnach herunten nach jhrer Tugend in den Elementen: von dannen die species vnd individua werden. Wisse derhalben / daß so vielerley influentzen nicht vergebentlich herunter fliessen in das Element der Erden / wiewol sie vnsichtbarlich geschehen / vnd ehe sie herunter in die Erden kommen / so hat in sich selbsten beschlossen seyn / daß sie nach einander mit gewalt eingehen / vnd biß in das centrum durchdringen / in so vnderschiedlicher weise / als sie auch in der minera vnderschiedliche generationes durch vnderschiedliche impressiones machen / vnnd die vntern den obern ohne Jrrthumb vnnd Abwege folgen. Also ist nun die Erde mit den Himmeln vmbgeben vnd gezieret / vnd nimbt von derselben die influentz vnnd beste Substantz. Darumb auch eine jede sphæra jhre Tugend von sich zu geben / vnd biß in das Centrum zu dringen begeret. **English** And my lord the Creator has commanded me, as his handmaid, to transmute the four elements from universal matter through my operation and governance and to bring every mineral form under one common or universal form. Likewise, through my natural art I lead the Sun around the earth’s circuit in twenty-four hours. Through its movement it never ceases to arouse warmth in every element. The eighth sphere, the seven planets and their father, the first mover, which carries all the other spheres around with it, do the same. It takes its course towards the west, while all the others do the opposite, some in a long time and some in a short one: Saturn traverses its sphere in thirty years, Jupiter in twelve, Mars in two; the Sun traverses its signs in one year and six hours; Venus in 349 days; Mercury in 339 days; and the Moon passes through the twelve signs in twenty-nine and a half days. This differing course produces summer and winter, changes in the elements, and the generation of things upon earth. Nothing, whether capable of sensation, visible or invisible, can exist or have its place without me, the heavens and God. Thus the heavens work upon all things enclosed beneath the Moon and impart their influence to the power of matter. Matter desires to receive form as a woman desires a man. To all the countless stars in heaven, matters in their differing quantities are subject and subordinate; some of the stars are clear and others dark, all of which is indeed wondrous. Thus they produce different things according to their different courses, first above in heaven, then below according to their virtues within the elements, whence species and individuals arise. Know, therefore, that these many influences do not flow down into the element of earth in vain, although they occur invisibly. Before they descend into the earth, it has been determined within itself that they should enter successively with force and penetrate to the centre in as many different ways as they produce different generations in the ore through different impressions, and that the lower things should follow the upper without error or deviation. Thus the earth is surrounded and adorned by the heavens and receives their influence and best substance. Therefore every sphere desires to impart its virtue and penetrate as far as the centre.[^n160], [^n161] **APP_NATURES005** 1619 pp 164–166 · scans ER168, ER169, ER170 **German** Durch solche Bewegung vnd Hitze / werden in der Erden auffsteigende Dünste geboren / die primæ compositionis seyn. Der Dunst ist kalt vnd feuchte / auff daß er sich wider niderschlage / vnnd wirdt in der Erden behalten: wann er aber in ein Gewölcke gehet / so mag er auch wol feucht vnd warm seyn. Was davon jrdisch vnd in der Erden beschlossen bleibet / das bringe ich durch länge der Zeit in ein Schwefel / der das agens, vnnd in ein argentum vivum, so das patiens ist. Als dann ist dieses die andere mixtion, von der ersten Composition. Das gantze aber ist gezogen auß den vier Elementen / die ich in eine massam bringe / wie ich dir zuvor gesagt hab. Welches ich dir darumb so offt widerhole / auff daß du nicht jrrest / vnnd dich nicht zu frühe in die Practicam gebest. Nach der fäulung geschiehet die generation durch die jnnerliche vnverbrennliche Wärme / die Kälte deß argenti vivi darmit zu erhitzen / welches so viel leidet / daß es mit seinem sulphure eines wirdt. Diß alles ist in einem Geschirr begriffen / das Fewer die Lufft / vnd das Wasser / die ich nehme in jhrem jrdischen Gefäß / vnnd lasse sie seyn in einem eintzigen Ofen / als dann koche / dissolvire vnd sublimire ich sie ohne Hammer / Zangen oder Feylen / ohne Kohlen / Dampff / Fewer / oder Marienbad / vnd ohne der Sophisten Ofen. Denn ich habe mein himmlisches Fewer / welches erwecket das Elementalische / nach dem als die Materi eine gebürliche formam begeret. Also ziehe ich nun mein Argentum vivum auß den vier Elementen vnd jhrer Materi / diesem folget nach zugleich vnnd als es beydes eines were / sein sulphur, so es allgemach sanfft vnd nach seinem appetit erwärmet. Als denn wirdt das kalte warm / vnnd das truckene feucht vnctuosisch. Mercke aber / daß das feuchte nicht ohne sein truckenes / noch das truckene ohne sein feuchtes ist: dann eines wirdt von dem andern in seiner ersten Essentz behalten / welche in der essentia elementativa ist der spiritus vnd das fünffte Wesen / davon vnser Kind seine Geburt nimbt. Das Fewer gebieret vnnd ernehret es in der Lufft: zuvor aber fäulet es in der Jungfräwlichen Erden: darnach kömpt herfür das Wasser / so wir suchen müssen / welches die erste Materi ist / davon ich meine mineram anfange. Denn ein widerwertiges widersetzet dem andern widerwertigen mit Gewalt / vnd stärcket sich in solcher Gestalt / daß es von dem wirckenden nicht hinweg genommen wird. Als dann ist das leidende transmutiret, vñ seiner Form entblösset / durch begierde der Materi / welche stetiglich newe formam an sich ziehet. **English** Through such movement and heat, ascending vapours are born in the earth, belonging to the first composition. The vapour is cold and moist so that it may condense again, and it is retained within the earth. If it passes into a cloud, however, it may well be moist and warm. Whatever remains earthly and enclosed in the earth I bring, over a long time, into a sulphur, which is the agent, and into a quicksilver, which is the patient. This is then the second mixture from the first composition. Yet the whole is drawn from the four elements, which I bring into one mass, as I told you before. I repeat this so often so that you do not err or enter into practice too soon. After putrefaction, generation takes place through the inward incombustible warmth, heating the coldness of quicksilver, which undergoes so much that it becomes one with its sulphur. All this is contained in one vessel: fire, air and water, which I take in their earthly vessel and leave in a single furnace. Then I cook, dissolve and sublime them without hammer, tongs or file, without charcoal, smoke, fire or a water bath, and without the sophists’ furnaces. For I have my heavenly fire, which awakens the elemental fire as matter desires an appropriate form. Thus I draw my quicksilver from the four elements and their matter. Its sulphur follows it at the same time, as though the two were one, warming it gradually, gently and according to its appetite. Then the cold becomes warm and the dry becomes moist and unctuous. But observe that the moist is not without its dry, nor the dry without its moist, for each is preserved by the other in its first essence. In the elemental essence this is the spirit and fifth being from which our child takes its birth. Fire begets and nourishes it in the air; but first it putrefies in the virgin earth. Afterwards the water we must seek comes forth, the first matter from which I begin my ore. For one contrary forcibly opposes the other and strengthens itself so that it is not taken away by the agent. Then the patient is transmuted and stripped of its form through the desire of matter, which continually draws a new form to itself.[^n162], [^n163] **APP_NATURES006** 1619 pp 166–169 · scans ER170, ER171, ER172, ER173 **German** Ich regiere durch meine Weißheit das primum mobile: meine Hände seyn die achte sphæra, wie es mein Vatter verordnet hat: meine Hämmer seyn die sieben Planeten / mit denen ich so schöne Sachen schmiede. Die Materi / darvon ich mein Werck mache / als Gesteine / Metall / Bäume / Kräuter / vernünfftige vñ vnvernünfftige Thier / vnd in gemein alle Ding / die der Himmel beschleußt / nehme ich allein von den vier Elementen. Das Chaos oder Hyle ist die erst Materi: dies ist die Herrscherin / so den König / Königin vnnd alles Hoffgesinde führet. Der Ritter ist jederzeit in seinem Dienst bereit / vnd die Kammerjungfraw thäte zu jhr anbefohlenes. Je herzlicher die forma ist / je herzlicher ich mich darinnen erzeige. Vnd wisse / daß ich macht habe / allen essentien das Wesen zu geben / sie beständig zu erhalten / vnnd in den Materien eine formam zu erwecken. Mercke ferner wol die drey Theil / darein Gott im Anfang die erste Materi getheilet: von dem ersten vnd reinesten Theil hat er geschaffen Cherubin, Seraphin, Ertzengel vnnd alle Engel: von dem andern vnd nicht so reine Theil hat er geschaffen die Himmel vnd jhren Beschluß: von dem dritten aber vnd vnreinem Theil / die Element mit jhrer Eigenschafft: vnd erstlich das Fewer / so an Tugend den andern vorgehet / so er in die Höhe vnter den Mond gesetzet. Es hat keine Corruption, sondern den reinern Theil von der quinta essentia in sich. Nach diesem hat er die subtile Lufft gemacht / vnd von der quinta essentia auch darein / nicht aber so viel als in das Fewer gesetzt: denn nach dieser hat das sichtbarliche Element deß Wassers gefolget / welches so viel von dem fünfften Wesen hat / als es dessen bedarff: vnnd vff das Wasser endlich die Erde: solches alles aber vnd die gantze Natur / die ich die erste Creatur bin / hat er in einen augenblick geschaffen. Die Erde hat er dick vnd finster / doch fruchtbar / gemacht / vñ helt sie das wenigste Theil von dem fünfften Wesen in sich. Anfänglich seyn auch die Elementa nur schlecht vnnd simplicia in jhren sphæris gestanden. Also ist die Lufft propriè vnnd eigentlich nur feucht: appropriatè aber hülfet jhr das Fewer: das Wasser ist propriè kalt / appropriatè aber feuchte / welche Feuchtigkeit es von der Lufft annimmet: die Erde ist propriè trucken / appropriatè kalt / vñ nimmet die Kälte von dem Wasser wegen jhrer grossen Truckenheit aber nahet sie zu dem Fewer. Das Fewer aber ist das fürnembste Element / gibet das Leben / vnnd durch seine Wärme verursachet es das wachsen. Nun muß ich dir auch sagen / daß kein Element ist / so nicht in das andere wircke / also daß eines wirckend / das andere leidend sey: als das Fewr wircket in die Lufft / die Lufft in das Wasser / das Wasser wircket in die Lufft vnnd Erde / wenn das Fewer die Wirckung erreget. Die Erde ist eine Mutter vnd Ernährerin aller ding. Alles was vnter den Himmel in die fäulung gehen mag / vnnd jhr die Wärme ohn vnterlaß in jhren Bauch gibt / das erfähret sie nach der Geburt. So viel macht hat mir Gott gegeben / daß ich die vier Element widerumb zurück bringe in das fünffte Wesen / welches man als dann die erste Materi nennet / so in vnsern Element genericè vermischet ist. Durch meine Kunst reducire ich / dahero generationes entstehen / vnd seyn die species oder Gestalten / so herwider gebracht werden / in der reducirten massa begriffen. **English** Through my wisdom I govern the first mover. My hands are the eighth sphere, as my Father ordained; my hammers are the seven planets, with which I forge such beautiful things. The matter from which I make my work—stones, metals, trees, herbs, rational and irrational animals, and in general all things enclosed by heaven—I take solely from the four elements. Chaos, or hyle, is first matter. This is the ruler who leads the king, queen and entire household. The knight is always ready in service, and the chambermaid performs what is entrusted to her. The more noble the form, the more nobly I show myself within it. Know that I have power to give being to every essence, preserve it in constancy, and awaken a form within matters. Mark well, further, the three parts into which God divided first matter in the beginning. From the first and purest part he created cherubim, seraphim, archangels and all angels. From the second, less pure part he created the heavens and what they enclose; from the third and impure part, the elements with their properties. First came fire, surpassing the others in virtue, which he placed on high beneath the Moon. It has no corruption but contains the purer part of the quintessence. After it he made subtle air and placed quintessence within it too, although not as much as in fire. After this followed the visible element of water, which has as much of the fifth being as it needs, and after water, finally, earth. All this and the whole of Nature—I, who am the first creature—he created in an instant. He made earth thick and dark, yet fruitful; it contains the smallest share of the fifth being. In the beginning, too, the elements stood simply and unmixed in their spheres. Air is thus properly and in itself only moist, but by appropriation fire assists it. Water is properly cold but moist by appropriation, receiving that moisture from air. Earth is properly dry and cold by appropriation, receiving its coldness from water; because of its great dryness, however, it approaches fire. Fire is the foremost element: it gives life and causes growth through its warmth. I must also tell you that no element fails to act upon another, so that one is agent and the other patient. Fire acts upon air, air upon water, and water upon air and earth when fire arouses the operation. Earth is a mother and nourisher of all things. Whatever beneath heaven may enter putrefaction and gives her warmth continually into her belly, she experiences after birth. God has given me such power that I bring the four elements back into the fifth being, which is then called first matter and is generically mingled within our elements. Through my art I reduce them, whence generations arise; the species or forms brought back are contained within the reduced mass.[^n164], [^n165], [^n166] **APP_NATURES007** 1619 pp 170–172 · scans ER174, ER175, ER176 **German** Derwegen / da jhn einer schon die Mühe nehmen / vnd sich eben hart peinigen wolte / die Elementa also zu reduciren, der wird sie gewißlich ohne mich in primam materiam nit bringen: denn allein in mir ist die macht die Element vnd jhre Gestalten zu transmutiren, wer anders davon helt / der betreuget sich. Denn du würdest einer Substantz nimmermehr jre eigene influentz zueignen / noch die Elementa proportioniren oder in eine formam, wie es die Materia erfordert / zu geben wissen. Ich nur bin es / so die Creaturen formiret, vnd jhnen Natur / Eigenschafft / vnnd Materi gibet. Durch meine himmelische Geheimnüssen / mach ich vollkommene Werck / die nicht vnbillich für miracula gehalten werden / wie in dem Elixire, vnd dem so viel herrlich gutes fleußt / zu sehen / dessen Tugenden vnnd Qualiteten ich beschlossen habe: auch ist keine Kunst auff Erden / so da möge etwas vermehren vnd so fürtreffliche Werck verrichten / als ich. Mag derwegen ein jeder verständiger dafür halten / daß sich dergleichen Werck vnd Wissenschafften ohne Beystand vnser himmlischen Cörper zu ende bringen / oder ohne jre Krafft vollziehen lassen: alles andere ist Mißbrauch vnd Jrrthumb. Wer sich aber etwas dißfalls vnterstehen wolte / wo würde er seine influentz nehmen / solches Substantz zu geben? Wie würde er die Element recht vermischen vnd sie proportioniren mögen? keinem ist es müglich / wie Avicenna in seinem Buch de viribus cordis 2. cap. bezeuget / wann er auch zehen noch so langes Leben hette / hierzu zu kommen. Dann dieses Secretum ist allein mir vnd sonsten keinem Menschen gegeben: Ich mache durch meine Krafft das vnvolkommene vollkommen / es sey Metall oder Menschlicher Leib / so perficire ich es / vnnd mache es gesund. Ich gebe das Temperament, vnd dieweil ich die vier Element vnd widerwertige Ding vereinige ich / daß sie eines mahls vereiniget werden. Das ist die güldene Ketten / da ich ringßweise mit meinen himmlischen Tugenden vnd substantialischen formis gezieret. Ich versüße meine Werck so wol / daß sich in denselben alle meine Krafft an Tag gibet / vnd dieselbe so herrlich als sonsten ohne mich keinem Menschen / er sey so vernünfftig als er immer wolle / noch seiner Kunst müglich ist. So trit nun herfür / der du dich für kunstreich außgibst / vnnd vermeinest nach meiner Wissenschafft durch Kolenfewer vñ Marienbad in meinen Ofen das aurum potabile zu machen: wisse / daß ich mich vber deinen Jrrthum dem entsetze. Schämest du dich nicht / wann du meine Werck betrachtest / vnnd darneben dein sudlerisches kochen in deinen angefärbten Phiolen vnnd Geschirren darzu gehältest / dabey du Zeit vnd Vnkost verlierest? Ich weiß nicht / was du gedenckest: erbarme dich deiner selbst / ich bitte dich / vñ betrachte mich. Verstehe nun recht / was ich dir sage / dann ich dir in nichts liegen wil. Nimb in acht / wie das herrliche Gold seine schöne Gestalt genommen hat von dem Himmel / vnd seine gute Materi von der Erden. Ingleichen thut auch ein Edelgestein / als Rubin / Demant. **English** Therefore, even if someone undertook the trouble and tormented himself severely in order to reduce the elements in this way, he would certainly not bring them into first matter without me. For the power to transmute the elements and their forms resides in me alone; whoever thinks otherwise deceives himself. You would never know how to assign a substance its proper influence, proportion the elements, or give them the form required by matter. I alone form creatures and give them nature, property and matter. Through my heavenly secrets I make perfect works, rightly regarded as wonders, as can be seen in the elixir, from which so much splendid good flows and within which I have enclosed virtues and qualities. Nor is there any art on earth that can increase anything and perform such excellent works as I. Let every intelligent person therefore consider whether such works and sciences can be brought to completion without the assistance of our heavenly bodies or accomplished without their power. Everything else is misuse and error. If someone wished to attempt anything in this matter, where would he obtain the influence to give it substance? How could he mix and proportion the elements correctly? It is impossible for anyone to attain this even if he had ten lives of such length, as Avicenna attests in chapter two of his book On the Powers of the Heart. For this secret has been given to me alone and to no human being. By my power I make the imperfect perfect: whether metal or human body, I perfect it and make it healthy. I impart temperament, and since I join the four elements and contrary things, I unite them so that they become united at once. This is the golden chain, where I am adorned in a circle with my heavenly virtues and substantial forms. I sweeten my works so well that all my power is revealed within them, and so splendidly that without me it is impossible for any person, however rational, or for their art. Now come forward, you who profess skill and suppose that, according to my knowledge, you can make potable gold with charcoal fire and a water bath in my furnace. Know that I am appalled at your error. Are you not ashamed when you consider my works and compare them with your messy cooking in your stained phials and vessels, wasting time and money? I do not know what you are thinking. Have pity on yourself, I beg you, and consider me. Understand correctly what I tell you, for I will lie to you in nothing. Observe how splendid gold has received its beautiful form from heaven and its good matter from earth. A precious stone such as ruby or diamond does likewise.[^n167], [^n168], [^n169] **APP_NATURES008** 1619 pp 172–176 · scans ER176, ER177, ER178, ER179, ER180 **German** Als so viel die Materiam anlanget / kömmet auß den vier Elementen: so viel aber die formam betrifft: so informiret der Himmel die Qualitet, welche allbereit in dem Element begriffen ist / dadurch die forma in langer Zeit vnd durch die depuration edel wirdt: solches aber geschiehet alleine durch mich: ich bin die Werckmeisterin / vnd sonsten kein Mensch weiß den Weg. Denn wenn der Künstler gleich schon wüste / wie er den Sachen thun / wie er den Elementen Proportion geben / wie viel er von Fewer / Lufft / Wasser vnd Erden / vnnd wo er sie nehmen / auch wie er widerwertige ding / auff daß sie nit mehr als die Substantzen an sich haben / recht vermischen / vnd wie er jhren Essentiis oder Wesen die influentz geben solle: so wirdt er nicht nur allein kein Eisen oder Bley / sondern auch noch etwas geringers nicht machen können: wie soll er denn Gold machen / wann er mir meinen Schaz nicht abstilet? Es stehet nicht in seiner Handgriffe oder Kunst macht / sondern er muß meine Kunst wissen / welche natürlich ist / vnd von Menschen Händen nicht gemacht werden kan. Wo nun wol das Gold von aller Welt für das herrlichste gehalten wird / vnd jederman seinen Schatz darinnen suchet: so heilet es doch weder Kranckheit noch Vnreinigkeit der Metall / dann es transmutiret keine zu seinem Ende / so kan es auch das Glaß nicht so weich machen / daß es sich schmelzen liesse / wie sonsten wol des Philosophen Stein thun mag. Es ist nur allein vnter den Metallen das beste vnd vollkommenste. Weil du es haben nach meinem Exempel nicht kanst ein wenig Bley machen / oder kleine Körnlein / oder auß einem Kraut eine Frucht / oder noch weniger ein Eisen / wie woltest du denn das / so herrlicher ist / vnnd darauß man Duckaten vnd Rosenobel müntzet / machen? Sagestu / du wollest kein Gold / sondern nur etwas Alchimisches machen. So antworte ich dir / daß du noch törichter seyest als zuvor: Hastu nicht verstanden / daß ich gesagt habe / meine Geheimnüss seyn dir abgeschlagen: Denn was die Natur wircken solle / das lässet sich durch die Creatur nicht machen. Vnd was noch mehr ist / so ich das Gold vnter den sieben Metallen zu den vollkommensten gemacht hab / vnnd du solches mein Werck nicht verstehest / wie darffestu dich dann vnterstehen zu machen das / so vnvollkommenes perficiret, vnnd in das ich Kunst gelegt habe / zu transmutiren das gantze Wesen der Metallen in fein Gold / welches ich für meinen liebsten Schatz habe / den mir Gott gegeben hat? Was vnverständig bistu / wenn du nicht erkennest / daß dieses hohe Gut / so du suchest / so viel die Creatur anlanget / das hohe Geheimniß der Natur ist / es sey gleich in Metallen / Ertzen / Kräutern oder Thieren / welches von himmlischer Tugend herkömpt: dann es heilet den Menschen von allen Kranckheiten / vnnd nähret jhn: vnnd es machet vnvollkommene Metall perfect, durch seine grosse Krafft / die ich jhme auß meinem Schatz nach meiner Weißheit gebe. Wann es dann in sich selbsten so vollkommen ist / daß seines gleichen nicht gefunden wirdt / so sage mir nun / ob nicht noth wäre / die eine solche Scientz von hoher intelligentz bekanten / alldieweil sonsten niemand Gold machen kan / vnd dieses ein Schatz ist aller Schätze? Es ist ein vnwiderbringlicher Jrrthumb. Dann so du nit zehen Pfund tragen kanst / vnd wilt doch hundert tragen / so wirst du dich vnd das Leben dringen müssen. So wisse nun hierzu dein Vorhaben. **English** As far as matter is concerned, it comes from the four elements. As for form, heaven informs the quality already contained in the element; through this, over a long time and through purification, the form becomes noble. But this takes place through me alone: I am the mistress of the work, and no human being otherwise knows the way. For even if an artist already knew how to treat things, proportion the elements, how much fire, air, water and earth to use and where to obtain them, how rightly to mingle contrary things so that they possess nothing beyond their substances, and how to impart influence to their essences or beings, he would still be unable to make not merely iron or lead but even anything less. How then could he make gold unless he stole my treasure from me? It does not lie within the power of his handling or art: he must know my art, which is natural and cannot be made by human hands. Although the whole world regards gold as the most splendid thing and everyone seeks their treasure in it, it heals neither disease nor impurity in the metals, for it transmutes none to its own end. Nor can it soften glass so that it melts, as the philosophers’ Stone can otherwise do. It is only the best and most perfect among the metals. Since, following my example, you cannot make a little lead, little grains, a fruit from a plant, or even something less, such as iron, how could you make the more splendid thing from which ducats and rose nobles are coined? If you say you do not want to make gold but only something alchemical, I answer that you are even more foolish than before. Have you not understood my statement that my secrets have been denied you? What Nature is to perform cannot be made by the creature. Moreover, since I have made gold one of the most perfect among the seven metals, and you do not understand this work of mine, how dare you undertake to make that which perfects the imperfect, within which I have placed the art of transmuting the whole being of metals into fine gold, my dearest treasure given to me by God? How lacking in understanding you are if you do not recognise that this high good you seek, as far as the creature is concerned, is Nature’s high secret, whether in metals, ores, herbs or animals, proceeding from heavenly virtue! It heals a person of every disease and nourishes them, and makes imperfect metals perfect through its great power, which I give it from my treasure according to my wisdom. Since it is so perfect in itself that its like cannot be found, tell me whether it would not be necessary for those who claim such a science to know it through high intelligence, since otherwise no one can make gold and this is the treasure of all treasures. It is an error from which there is no recovery. For if you cannot carry ten pounds yet wish to carry a hundred, you must strain yourself and your life. Now consider your undertaking in that light.[^n170], [^n171] **APP_NATURES009** 1619 pp 176–179 · scans ER180, ER181, ER182, ER183 **German** Mein Sohn / alle meine Scientz, Krafft vnd Wissenschafft nehme ich gar schlecht vnd simpliciter vom Himmel / vnd darzu das schlechte von den Elementen: dieses ist eine anfängliche Essentz, vnd das fünffte Wesen in den Elementen / das ich mache durch die reductiones, die Zeit vnd circulationes, in deme ich verkehre das vntere in das obere / das kalt vnnd trucken / in feuchtes vnd warmes / vnd entlösete Stein vnd Metall in seiner natürlichen Feuchtigkeit. Das geschiehet durch die Bewegung der Himmel. Dann die element werden darvon regieret vnd sie gehorchen / durch eine zusammentrettung dieser influentz. Vnd je reiner meine Materi ist / je vollner Werck ich durch die Himmel führe. Meinestu nun / daß du in deinem Ofen darinnen du hast deine Erde vnnd Wasser / vnd daß du durch dein Fewr vnnd Hitze / durch deine weisse vnnd rothe Farb / ich nach deinem wolgefallen dich mit mir spielen lasse / zu deinem begeren zu kommen? Vermeynestu die Himmel zu bewegen / vnd jre influentz deinem Schmierwerck einzugiessen? Heltestu dafür / daß es sey eine Orgel / vnnd nicht mehr bedürffte als mit fingern darauff zu spielen? Du lässest dir selbst zu viel träumen. Wissest du denn nicht / daß in der bewegung der Himmel ein grosser Verstand ist / der herunterwerts seine intelligentz gibt / vnnd durch seine influentz allen dingen das Wesen verleyhet? Ich bitte dich doch / du wollest erkennen / daß hohe Sachen von der Höhe kommen / von mir vnd von Gott: vnd halte nicht dafür / daß künstliche Handarbeit so perfect sey als die natürliche: dann sie ist zu bloß / vnd will mir gleich als ein Affe alles nachthun. Vermeynestu / daß dein distilliren, dissolviren vnnd congeliren deiner Materien in deinem Geschirr / oder Wasser auß Oel ziehen / sey der rechte weg mir nachzureten? Nein mein Sohn / du verjrrest jhr: dann wenn du deine Zeit mit allerley vermischen vnnd scheidungen der Element deines Oels / Wassers vnnd Erden wirst zugebracht haben / so hastu dennoch nichts mehrers verrichtet. Wanne du fragest / Wilstu wissen warumb? Deine Materi würde nicht eine halbe Stunde deß Fewrs Hitze vertragen mögen / sondern alles im Rauch hinwege gehen / oder im Fewr verzehret werden. Vnd die Materi / darinnes ich arbeite / würde in aller Prob tüchtig erfunden / es sey das Fewer so groß als es immer woll: Ja sie wird im Fewer noch verbössert. Das Wasser kömmet von einem truckenen her / macht nicht naß / was es berühret / es verfleugt auch nicht / so fället es auch nicht zurück / vnnd sein Oel ist vnverbrennlich: also vollkommen seyn meine Element: mit den deinen aber ist es nicht also beschaffen: wiewol es auch nit deines Ampts ist / mein artificium zu führen. Zum Beschluß sage ich dir / daß du durch ein künstlich Fewer die himmlische Hitze nicht kanst angiessen: so wirstu auch von deinem Wasser / Oel / vnnd Erden keine Materi zuwegen bringen / die da könne eine influentz empfangen / welche jhr eine reine Substantz gebe. Es ist eine Gabe Gottes / geben auß den Himmeln den Elementen / je einem mehr als dem andern / vnnd wird behalten in einfältiger schlechter Essentz, deren niemand als ich eine Erkentniß hat / als allein der jenige / so mir verwand / vnnd ein rechter Philosophus ist. Mein Sohn / ich will dir noch ein wares Wort sagen / nemblich / daß das gantze Werck von einer eintzigen geringen schlechten mit jhr selbsten vermischten Materi / in einem eintzigen wol verschlossenen Geschirr / vnnd eintzigen Ofen gemacht wirdt. Sie hat in jhr alles / was sie zur Vollkommenheit bedarff / vnnd wird durch ein einiges Regiment des Fewrs außgearbeitet. **English** My son, I take all my science, power and knowledge quite simply from heaven, and with them the simple substance of the elements. This is an original essence and the fifth being within the elements, which I produce through reductions, time and circulations, turning the lower into the upper, the cold and dry into moist and warm, and dissolving stone and metal within its natural moisture. This happens through the movement of the heavens. The elements are governed by it and obey through a concurrence of these influences. The purer my matter, the more perfect the work I accomplish through the heavens. Do you think that, in your furnace containing your earth and water, through your fire and heat and your white and red colours, I will let you play with me at your pleasure to achieve your desire? Do you suppose you can move the heavens and pour their influence into your greasy work? Do you imagine it is an organ requiring nothing more than fingers playing upon it? You indulge yourself in too many dreams. Do you not know that a great understanding resides within the movement of the heavens, imparting its intelligence downwards and, through its influence, bestowing being upon all things? I beg you to recognise that high things come from on high, from me and from God. Do not suppose that artificial handiwork is as perfect as natural work, for it is too bare and, like an ape, seeks to imitate everything I do. Do you suppose that distilling, dissolving and congealing your materials in your vessel, or drawing water from oil, is the right way to follow me? No, my son, you go astray. When you have spent your time on all kinds of mixing and separations of the elements of your oil, water and earth, you have still accomplished no more. If you ask whether I will tell you why: your matter could not endure the fire’s heat for half an hour; everything would pass away in smoke or be consumed in the fire. But the matter in which I work would be found sound in every assay, however great the fire. Indeed, it is improved in the fire. The water comes from something dry, does not wet what it touches, does not fly away or fall back, and its oil is incombustible. So perfect are my elements. Yours are not of this kind; nor is it your office to carry on my craft. In conclusion, I tell you that you cannot pour heavenly heat into anything through an artificial fire. Nor will you bring forth from your water, oil and earth any matter capable of receiving an influence that gives it a pure substance. It is a gift of God given from the heavens to the elements, more to one than to another, and preserved in a simple, plain essence of which no one but I has knowledge, except the person related to me who is a true philosopher. My son, I will tell you another true word: the whole work is made from one single, humble, simple matter mingled with itself, in one single well-closed vessel and one single furnace. It contains within itself everything it needs for perfection and is worked out by a single regimen of fire.[^n172] **APP_NATURES010** 1619 pp 179–182 · scans ER183, ER184, ER185, ER186 **German** Betrachte nun die Gebährung des Menschen vnnd seine Vollkommenheit / auff den ich alle meine Weißheit / die mir Gott gibt / wenden thue: dann die menschliche Gestalt wirstu von einer Materi nicht machen. Ich formire nur allein den Cörper also subtill / daß weder Plato noch Aristoteles etwas weniges hiervon gewußt haben. Ich mache die Beine hart / vnnd die Zäne zum käwen / die Leber vnnd das Fleisch weich / die Nerven kalt / das Hirn feuchte / das Hertz / darein Gott das Leben gibt / warm / alle Adern fülle ich mit rohtem Blut. Auff daß ich alles kurtz melde / von einem eintzigen Argento vivo, vnd wircklichen manlichen Schwefel mache ich ein einiges mütterliches Geschirr / dessen Bauch der Ofen ist. War ist es / daß mir der Mensch durch seine Kunst sehr hülffet. Wann er durch eusserliche Hitze in die matricem oder Mutter die Materi eingeußt: etwas mehrers aber kan er darbey nicht thun. Also ist es nun vmb dein Werck beschaffen: dann wer die rechte Materi zu erwehlen weiß / dieselbe auch in wolverschlossenem Gefäß wol zu præpariren, vnnd alles in seinem Ofen wol zu beschicken / der darff das Werck nit lang mehr verziehen. Dann du vñ ich müssen es perficiren, in dem du das Fewer gibst / wie es die Philosophia erfordert. Dann wisse für gewiß / daß hieran alles liget. Darumb mustu allhier wol zusehen: gedencke auff das Fewer / so man nennet epsesin, pepsin, pepansin, vnnd aptesin, auch natürlich / widernatürlich / vnd vnnatürlich Fewer / vnd das nit brennet / Item vff warm vnnd trucken / feucht vnd kalt Fewer / vnd mache es recht. Ohne die rechte materiam vnnd eigenes Fewer wirst du nimmermehr zur Sach kommen. Die Materi geb ich dir: die formam mustu in die Ordnung setzen / vnd rede dir allhier nichts von substantialischer oder accidentalischer forma, sondern von rechter Gestalt oder grösse deines Gefäß / vnd daß du deinen Ofen recht machest. Handle vernünfftig / vnnd führe das Werck naturgemeß künstlich. Hilff mir / so will ich dir helffen: wie du mir thust / so will ich thun: gleich wie ich andern meinen Söhnen gethan habe / die ich mit begnügung belohnet / auß vrsachen / daß sie ohne tadel Vatter vnd Mutter gefolget / vnd meinen Gebotten gehorchet. Inmassen du sehen kanst in dem Romant Ioannis de Meung, welcher mich adprobiret, vñ die Sophisten reprobiret: also thun auch Villanovanus, vñ Reymundus, Morienus Romanus, Hermes, den man einen Vatter nennet / vnnd welchem kein anderer gleichet / Item Geber vnd andere / so von dieser Scientz geschrieben / vnd daß die Kunst warhafftig sey / im Werck erfunden haben. Wenn du nun mein Sohn das Werck angreiffen wilt / so ist dir so gar grosser Verlag darzu nicht von nöhten. Es ist gnug / daß du freyen ledigen Gemühts / vnnd an einem sichern Ort seyest / da niemand von deiner Arbeit wisse. Bereite wol deine einige Materi zu einem Puluer / im eintzigen Gefäß / sampt jhrem Wasser wol beschlossen / vnnd regiere sie mit sanffter Hitze / welche die Wirckung thun wirdt: die Kälte aber gibt putrefaction: Dann wegen grosser Kälte kan die Trockenheit dem wirckenden also nit widerstehen / daß das argentum vivum durch ordentliche commixtion vnnd connexion nicht werde ein gleichförmiges homogenisches subiectum, so in die erste Materi reduciret geht. **English** Consider now human generation and its perfection, upon which I employ all the wisdom God gives me; for you will not make the human form from one matter. I alone shape the body so subtly that neither Plato nor Aristotle knew even a little of this. I make the bones hard and the teeth for chewing, the liver and flesh soft, the nerves cold, the brain moist, and the heart, into which God gives life, warm. I fill all the veins with red blood. To put everything briefly: from a single quicksilver and an active masculine sulphur I make a single maternal vessel, whose belly is the furnace. It is true that the human being greatly assists me through art when he pours the matter into the matrix or mother through external heat; but he can do nothing further in it. So it is with your work. Whoever knows how to choose the right matter, prepare it well in a well-closed vessel and arrange everything properly in the furnace need not delay the work much longer. You and I must perfect it together, with you giving the fire as philosophy requires. Know for certain that everything depends on this. Therefore pay close attention here: consider the fire called epsesin, pepsin, pepansin and aptesin; also natural, contrary-to-nature and unnatural fire, and that which does not burn; likewise warm and dry, moist and cold fire, and get it right. Without the right matter and its proper fire you will never attain the thing. I give you the matter; you must arrange the form. Here I am not speaking of substantial or accidental form but of the right shape or size of your vessel and the proper construction of your furnace. Act rationally and carry out the work skilfully in accordance with Nature. Help me and I will help you; as you act towards me, so will I act, just as I have acted towards my other sons, whom I rewarded with satisfaction because they followed father and mother blamelessly and obeyed my commands. You can see this in the Romance of Jean de Meung, who approves me and rejects the sophists; Villanovanus, Raymond, Morienus the Roman and Hermes, called a father, whom no other equals, do likewise, as do Geber and others who have written of this science and found through work that the art is true. Now, my son, if you wish to undertake the work, you do not need such a very great outlay. It is enough to have a free, unburdened mind and a secure place where no one knows of your labour. Prepare your one matter well into a powder in a single vessel, well enclosed together with its water, and govern it with gentle heat, which will perform the operation. Cold, however, gives putrefaction. For because of great cold, dryness cannot resist the agent so as to prevent quicksilver, through orderly mingling and connection, from becoming a uniform, homogeneous subject returning into first matter.[^n173], [^n174], [^n175] **APP_NATURES011** 1619 pp 182–186 · scans ER186, ER187, ER188, ER189, ER190 **German** Es sey nun deine eigentliche intention deiner Mutter der Natur nachzufolgen / darbey dich die Ration erhalten / vnd die Philosophia deine Führerin seyn kan. Wenn du jhm also thust / so will ich dich vergewissern / daß du die Materi bekommen / vnnd zu rechtem Ende gelangen wirst. Sie gestehet nicht viel: sihe nur / daß du meine Anfänge recht treffest. Nimb in acht / wie ich arbeite: mercke was Aristoteles in 3. & 4. meteororum sagt: lerne die Physicam, vnnd liese das Buch de generatione & corruptione, Item / de cœlo, & mundo, darinnen du die Materi schön vnnd rein finden wirst. Dann wo du diese nicht erkennest / wirstu gewißlich allzeit verlieren. Besihe deßwegen den Albertum Magnum de mineralibus, welcher dieses Werck gemacht hat. Wann dir nun die Augen auffgethan seyn / so wirst du in den mineris meine Geheimnüssen finden vnnd sehen / daß alle Stein auß den Elementen wachsen. Lerne mich zuvor erkennen / ehe daß du dich einen Meister nennest. Folge mir nach / die ich eine Mutter bin aller Creaturen / die da seyn vnd eine Essentz haben / die ohne den Himmel vnnd die Elementativam nicht wachsen noch eine empfindliche Seele erlangen mögen. Dergleichen Sachen zu erkennen lernen / mustu fleissig in der Philosophia studieren / wachen / vnd arbeiten. Wenn du nun durch Vbung so viel lernest / daß du der Himmel Tugend vnnd grosse Wirckungen erkennest: auch der Elementen passiones weißt / vnnd warumb sie solche Wirckungen empfangen: welches die Mittel der Verkehrungen seyn: auch was deß faulens / gebährens / vnd ernährens Vrsach sey: vnd was der Elementen Essentz vnd Substantz: so wirstu der Kunst erkentniß haben. Wiewol es sonsten genug ist einen scharffsinnigen Verstand zur betrachtung meiner Werck zu haben. Diese Gabe Gottes aber haben nicht alle Weise von jhrer Wissenschafft vnnd eigenen Vernunfft gehabt: sondern die gutherzigen / so mir mit Vernunfft nachgefolget / haben sie nach langer Zeit / die ich verordne / vnd nach lang getragener Gedult erlanget. Thu derhalben wie ich dir sage / wenn du diesen Schatz bekommen wilt / welchen auch die wahren Physici vnd alten Philosophi gehabt haben. Es ist ein Schatz von solcher Tugend vnd Hoheit / dergleichen kein Mensch zwischen Himmel vnd Erden durch Kunst erlangen mag. Es ist ein Mittel Ding zwischen dem Mercurio vnd Metallo, welches ich nehme / darauß durch deine Kunst vnd meine Weißheit ein solches herrliches Wesen gefertigt wirdt. Es ist das feine vnd potabilische Gold / vnd wurtzelhafftig feuchtigkeit: Es ist die höchste Medicina, wie Salomon sie beschreibt Ecclesiast. cap. 38. Gott hat sie erschaffen: von der Erden wirdt sie genommen: vnnd der weise Mann verachtet sie nicht. Gott hat sie gesetzet vnter meine Geheimnüssen / vnd gibt sie den weisen vnd verständigen. Wiewol sie viel Oratores, vnnd die sich in Theologia vnd Philosophia grosse Doctores zu seyn achten / gantz vnnd gar verlachen. Ingleichen verachten vnnd verspotten die Medici die Alchimiam. Aber sie erkennen mich nicht / haben auch von der Kunst nichts erfahren / wie Avicenna vnd Villanovanus, vnnd viel andere grosse Physici vnd bewerte alte Medici. **English** Let your proper intention now be to follow your mother, Nature, so that reason may preserve you and philosophy may be your guide. If you do this, I assure you that you will obtain the matter and reach the right end. It costs little: see only that you grasp my beginnings correctly. Observe how I work; mark what Aristotle says in books three and four of the Meteorology. Learn natural philosophy and read On Generation and Corruption, and On Heaven and the World, where you will find the matter beautiful and pure. Unless you understand it, you will certainly always lose. Therefore consult Albertus Magnus On Minerals, who accomplished this work. When your eyes have opened, you will find my secrets in the ores and see that all stones grow from the elements. Learn to know me before calling yourself a master. Follow me, the mother of all creatures that exist and possess an essence, which cannot grow or attain a sensitive soul without heaven and the elemental power. To learn to understand such things, you must diligently study philosophy, keep watch and work. When through practice you learn enough to recognise the heavens’ virtue and great operations, know the elements’ affections and why they receive such operations—which are the means of transformations—and understand the cause of putrefaction, generation and nourishment, and the essence and substance of the elements, you will possess knowledge of the art. Although it is otherwise enough to have an acute understanding for contemplating my works, not all sages have possessed this gift of God through their knowledge and private reason. Rather, good-hearted people who followed me rationally obtained it after the long time I ordain and after long-endured patience. Do as I tell you if you wish to obtain this treasure which the true natural philosophers and ancient philosophers also possessed. It is a treasure of such virtue and sublimity that no person between heaven and earth can attain its like through art. It is an intermediate thing between Mercury and metal which I take, from which, through your art and my wisdom, such a splendid being is fashioned. It is fine and potable gold and radical moisture. It is the highest medicine, as Solomon describes it in Ecclesiast., chapter 38: God created it; it is taken from the earth, and the wise man does not despise it. God has placed it among my secrets and gives it to the wise and understanding. Yet many orators, and those who consider themselves great doctors in theology and philosophy, laugh it utterly to scorn. Physicians likewise despise and mock alchemy. But they do not know me and have experienced nothing of the art, as Avicenna, Villanovanus and many other great natural philosophers and tried ancient physicians have.[^n176], [^n177] **APP_NATURES012** 1619 pp 186–188 · scans ER190, ER191, ER192 **German** Es verspottet sie derwegen nur der vnweise / welcher den Weg der rechten Medicorum nie gespüret hat. Dann die Spötter haben nit Hirns genug eine solche Wurtzel vnd edle Medicin zu erkennen / welche alle Kranckheiten heilet. Glückselig ist der Mensch / welchem Gott die Zeit vnnd das Leben gibt / zu diesem hohen Wesen zu kommen / vnangesehen / daß er in der alt seyn. Dann Geber sagt / wiewol die Philosophi, so es gehabt / alt gewesen seyn / so haben sie sich doch in jhren alten Tagen darmit belustiget. Wer solches hat / der besitzet alle Güter vnnd grosse Reichthumb. Von einer Vntz / ja eine Gran kan er stetigs reich vnnd gesund seyn. Doch muß endlich die Creatur sterben / vnd sich an Gott vnnd der Natur begnügen. Es ist eine Hertzenstärck / vnd mehr dann güldene Tinctur. Es ist das Elixir, das Wasser deß Lebens / in welchem alle Werck vnnd Ding beschlossen. Es ist das Argentum vivum, sulphur, vnd in meinem Schatz verborgene Gold / das vnverbrennliche Oel / das weisse / beständige / vnd güssige Saltz / der Stein der Philosophen / welcher in keine ley weg / als durch natürliche Kunst vnnd menschliche Wissenschafft / so hierin hülffe thut / mag gefunden werden. Ich sage dir nun frey herauß / daß du Laborant ohne mich das Werck nicht vollführen kanst / vnd daß ich ohne dich meinen Diener darinnen auch nichts verrichten mag: durch mich aber vnnd dich wirstu das Werck in schlechter Zeit erlangen. Verlasse die Sophisten vnd jhre betrügerische Werck: laß seyn jhre vnderschiedlichen viel Ofen vnd Geschirr: laß jhren Roßmist vnd Kohlenfewer / so durchauß nichts nützen. Laß stehen die Metall vnd anders: verendere vielmehr die Element in eine verenderliche Gestalt / welche der Philosophen herrlichste Materia ist / so die vnwissende verwerffen. Sie ist nach der Substantz dem Golde gleich / nach der Essentz aber vngleich. Verkehre die Element / so wirstu finden / was du suchest. Ich meine / daß du das vnterste sublimiren, vnnd das oberste zum vntersten machen sollest. So nimm nun Argentum vivum, so mit seinem wirckenden Schwefel vermischet ist / thue es alles in ein eintziges wolverschlossenes Geschirr / in einen eintzigen Ofen / der zu dem dritten theil inhumiret sey: setze es vber das Fewer der Philosophen / vnd bewahre es / daß es nicht rauchend werde. Thue jhm also / vnd vertrawe mir: verlasse derhalben bitte ich dich mein Sohn / alle andere species, vñ nimb nicht die Materi / davon sich die Mineren anfangen. Mehr sage ich dir nicht: sondern ich schwere dir warhafftig / daß du mir der Natur nachfolgen mußt. **English** Only the unwise mock it, therefore, having never traced the path of true physicians. The mockers do not have brains enough to recognise such a root and noble medicine, which heals every disease. Happy is the person to whom God gives the time and life to reach this high being, even if they are old. For Geber says that although the philosophers who possessed it were old, they nevertheless delighted in it in their old age. Whoever possesses it possesses all goods and great riches. From an ounce, indeed from a grain, they may remain rich and healthy. Yet the creature must finally die and be content with God and Nature. It is a strengthening of the heart and more than a golden tincture. It is the elixir, the water of life, in which all works and things are enclosed. It is quicksilver, sulphur and the gold hidden in my treasure; the incombustible oil; the white, enduring, fusible salt; the philosophers’ Stone, which can be found in no way other than by natural art and human knowledge assisting it. I tell you openly that you, the worker, cannot complete the work without me, and that without you, my servant, I too can accomplish nothing in it. But through me and you, you will obtain the work in a short time. Abandon the sophists and their deceptive works. Leave their many different furnaces and vessels, their horse manure and charcoal fire, which are altogether useless. Leave the metals and other things aside. Rather, change the elements into a changeable form, the philosophers’ most splendid matter, which the ignorant reject. In substance it is like gold, but unlike it in essence. Turn the elements and you will find what you seek. I mean that you should sublime the lowest and make the highest into the lowest. Now take quicksilver mingled with its active sulphur, put it all in one single well-closed vessel in one single furnace, buried to the third part; set it above the philosophers’ fire and guard it from becoming smoky. Do this and trust me. Therefore, my son, I beg you to abandon all other species and not take the matter from which the ores begin. I will tell you no more, but I swear to you truly that you must follow me, Nature.[^n178], [^n179] **APP_NATURES013** 1619 pp 188–192 · scans ER192, ER193, ER194, ER195, ER196 **German** Gegenantwort deß Alchimisten / die er der Natur neben erdkennung seiner Fähl / mit abbitung vnd dancksagung thut. Alchimist. Meine liebe Mutter Natura vnnd nach den Engeln / die von Gott vollkommeneste erschaffene Creatur / ich gebe euch nun die Ehr vnnd den Ruhm / dann ich erkenne vnd bekenne / daß jhr eine Mutter vnnd Regiererin seyd der grossen Welt / so für den Menschen die kleine Welt erschaffen ist. Jhr seyd hoch gesetzt in das primum mobile, auff daß jhr mit ewren Händen herumb waltzet vnd mit den Füssen herunten transmutiret die Element / vnnd solches es geschehe in Lieb oder Widerwertigkeit / biß in das innerste der Erden: welches alles jhr thut auff Befelch ewres Herrn: die jhr ohne auffhören generiret, vnd so hohe Wirckungen verrichtet / durch ewre hohe intelligentias vnd vnzerstörliche Substantzen der Himmel / Sternen vnd Planeten: dahero so reine Ding formiret werden / daß jhr billich durch vnd durch für eine Mutter vnd Meisterin auffzuruffen vnnd zu lieben seyd. Ich bekenne / daß nichts lebendiges ohne Seele lebet / vnnd daß das jenige / so da ist vnd eine Essentz hat / von euch vnnd ewer Krafft / vermöge von Gott empfangener Gewalt vnnd Ordnung herkömmet. Ich erkenne / daß jhr die gantze massam regieret / vnnd die Materi der Element alle vnter ewerm Befelch führet: dann von jhnen nehmet jhr die erste Materi vnd auß den Himmeln die formam: wiewol diese Materi anfänglich vngleich vntereinander vermenget ist / biß daß sie qualificiret vnd von euch specificiret wirdt: als dann nimmet sie substantialische vnnd hernach auch sichtbarliche accidentalische formam an. Jhr seyd so weise / daß jhr alle ewre Werck durch himmlische Krafft vnnd ewre hochwirckliche formas so vollkommen vnnd in so guter Ordnung verrichtet / daß sie kein Mensch schelten kan. Ich sihe / daß Gott euch also begabet / daß er euch alles was Menschen können / vnter ewre Hände gegeben hat. Vier gradus hat er durch euch werden lassen: vnter welchen der erste nur allein das Esse vnd Wesen hat / als da seynd die Gesteine vnd Metall: der andere / seyn die vegetabilia, die da haben das wesen vnnd wachsen: der dritte hat die Empfindligkeit / als wilde Thier / Vögel / vnd Fische / welche also dreyerley Arte seyn: der vierdte ist der edelste vnd vnter den andern der vollkommenste / als es dann Gott gefallen hat: in welchem der Mensch stehet / in dem die andern drey gradus vollzogen werden: mehr aber als jhr hat Gott damahls gewircket / da er dem Menschen die vnsterbliche Seele / mit Vernunfft gezieret / ohne dimension gegeben / die da nicht vnterworffen ist den passionibus vnsers in gemässe maß gesetzten Leibes: sondern hat die Empfindligkeit vnnd sensualitatem zum bösen vnnd der Sünde tretten lassen / durch den Leib / welcher mit vnordentlicher Wollust behafftet ist. Dahero die Verdammnuß erfolget / wo Gnade / die von Gott kömmet / vnnd fürnehmlich vmb dieser ewigen Seele vnnd nicht eben deß Leibes willen wiederfähret / nicht erlanget wirdt. Derhalben kömmet die grosse perfection deß Menschen nicht von euch her: sondern wie jhr gesagt habt / vnangesehen jhr die Menschheit nicht gebet / so leget doch in dem menschlichen Gefäß niemand darzu die Hand an / als jhr / welches die vollkommeneste Essentz thut ewres Wercks vnd grossen Krafft. Es ist sich sehr zu verwundern / wenn mans recht betrachtet / wie vnser Leib getheilet vnd mit Gliedmassen versehen ist: dergestalt / daß durch ein obiectum oder Gegenwurff der Wille also bereit ist / daß er mag / wann er will / ein jedes Glied bewegen: wiewol der Wille nit von euch oder ewren zuthun ist: jedoch ist es ein grosses Wunder / daß der Leib als ein subiectum vmb der Seelen willen sich bemühet: vnd also muß es seyn: aber er wirdt offt hierinnen Meister / nicht vmb seiner Würdigkeit / sondern der Sünde willen / darauß die Seele verletzet würde. **English** The alchemist’s answer to Nature, acknowledging his errors, asking pardon and giving thanks. ALCHEMIST. My dear mother Nature, after the angels the most perfect creature created by God, I now give you honour and praise, for I recognise and confess that you are a mother and governor of the great world, created for the human being, the little world. You are set on high in the first mover so that with your hands you rule the circuit and with your feet below transmute the elements, whether through love or contrariety, to the earth’s innermost part. You do all this at your lord’s command, generating without ceasing and accomplishing such high operations through your high intelligences and the incorruptible substances of the heavens, stars and planets. From these such pure things are formed that you rightly deserve everywhere to be acclaimed and loved as mother and mistress. I confess that nothing living lives without a soul, and that whatever exists and has an essence proceeds from you and your power, according to the authority and order you received from God. I recognise that you govern the whole mass and bring all the matter of the elements under your command. From them you take first matter and from the heavens form. Although this matter is initially mingled unequally within itself, it is qualified and specified by you; then it assumes substantial form and afterwards visible accidental form as well. You are so wise that through heavenly power and your highly effective forms you accomplish all your works so perfectly and in such good order that no one can condemn them. I see that God has endowed you so that he has placed beneath your hands everything human beings can do. He has caused four degrees to arise through you. The first has being and existence alone, as stones and metals do. The second consists of plants, which have being and growth. The third has sensation, as wild animals, birds and fish do, these being three kinds. The fourth is the noblest and most perfect among the others, as God has pleased: here stands the human being, in whom the other three degrees are fulfilled. But God worked beyond you when he gave the human being an immortal soul, adorned with reason and without dimension, which is not subject to the affections of our proportionately formed body. But he allowed sensation and sensuality to turn towards evil and sin through the body, which is afflicted with disordered desire. From this damnation follows unless grace is obtained, grace which comes from God and is bestowed principally for the sake of this eternal soul, rather than of the body. Therefore the great perfection of the human being does not come from you. But, as you have said, although you do not bestow humanity, no one but you puts a hand to work within the human vessel: the most perfect essence of your work and great power does this. It is a matter for great wonder, rightly considered, how our body is divided and furnished with limbs, in such a way that through an object or something presented to it the will is ready to move any limb whenever it wishes. Although the will does not proceed from you or your assistance, it is nevertheless a great wonder that the body, as a subject, exerts itself for the soul’s sake. So it must be, yet the body often becomes master here, not through its worthiness but through sin, whereby the soul is injured.[^n180], [^n181] **APP_NATURES014** 1619 pp 192–194 · scans ER196, ER197, ER198 **German** Erfrewet euch derwegen nit so sehr vber die Vollkommenheit vnd schöne Zierde deß Menschen / der einer so edlen Form / als die Seele ist / zuwider strebet / vnd wider die Vernunfft so vielfaltig endert: Seyd bekümmert allein vmb ewre Werck / vnnd nicht vmb vnser Mängel vnd Laster: denn habt jhr nie vermeinet / ewer Werck wol angefangen vnd vollendet zu haben / da es doch im ende sich anders vnd als eine Mißgeburt erfunden? Ist solches ein mangel ewres Verstandes vnd Weißheit / oder habt jhr nicht anderst gekönnt? Ich bitte jhr wollet mir verzeihen / wenn ich vber ewer Scientz zu hart rede. Dann ich euch nicht zu tödten gedencke / sondern allein deß harten erinnerns / so jhr mir vber meiner Vnwissenheit gethan / empfinde. Es gehet keine Stunde fürüber / daß ich nicht an das hohe Ding gedächte / dessen jhr mich berichtet / vnnd solches je mehr vnnd mehr / wann ich betrachte / was für hohe Sachen jhr mir erkläret / vnd darbey meine Jrrthumb entdecket habt. Ich lige / gehe oder stehe / so ist mir solches für Augen: In summa / ich kan nicht alles gedencken / was für eine Materi vnd Form ich anfangs nehmen müsse. Jhr habt mich hart gescholten / daß ich nicht ewrem Weg nachfolge / vnd wisset doch wol / daß mein Verstand hierzu nicht gnugsam ist: dann ich kan in dieser Kunst nit anders als euch zuwider handlen / wo fern jhr mir nicht Krafft euwer Wissenschafft hülffe thut. Jhr saget zwar recht / daß ewere Geheimnüssen vnnd hohe Werck / dem Menschen zu wissen nicht gegeben seyn: wie werde ich in solcher Last fortkommen / vnnd mich selbsten leiten können / wo fern jhr mir nicht helffet? Ich solle / saget jhr / euch nachfolgen / vnd ich begere es zu thun: sagt mir aber / durch was für Mittel vnd Bücher? Eines sagt / nimb diß vnnd das / das andere sagt / lasse es: jhre Wort seyn vnterschiedlich verdrehet / vnnd in parabolische Sententz gesetzt. Letzlich sihe ich / daß ich darauß nichts lernen kan. Derwegen habe ich zu euch zuflucht / vñ bitte euch / mir zu rathen vnnd zu helffen / was ich in diesem wichtigen Werck thun solle. Ich frage vnnd bitte euch von grund meines Hertzens / mir bey ewrem Gewissen zu sagen / wie es müglich sey in die Tieffe der Erden zu kommen / vnd durch subtilen Fleiß den perfecten Mercurium der Metall zu suchen: wer nun diesen oder zum wenigsten nur deß Goldes Mercurium gefunden hette / der möchte jhn wol als einen Schatz behalten: Ich zweiffele aber / wann jhn schon einer hette / ob er ein Metall darauß machen könte: dann ich glaube nit / daß ein Mensch so vernünfftig vnnd kunstreich sey / Gold zu machen: es ist allein ewer Werck / wie es die Erfahrung gibt / vnd jhr solches / als jhr von deß Menschen gebährung geredet / erwiesen. **English** Do not therefore rejoice so greatly over human perfection and beautiful adornment, when the human being strives against a form as noble as the soul and changes so variously against reason. Concern yourself only with your works, not with our defects and vices. Have you never thought you had begun and completed your work well, when in the end it turned out otherwise, like a monstrosity? Is this a defect in your understanding and wisdom, or could you not do otherwise? I ask you to forgive me if I speak too harshly of your science. I do not intend to kill you; I merely feel the severity of the reminder you gave me concerning my ignorance. Not an hour passes without my thinking of the high thing of which you have informed me, and increasingly so when I consider the lofty things you have explained and the errors of mine you have exposed. Whether I lie down, walk or stand, it is before my eyes. In short, I cannot fully conceive what matter and form I must take at the beginning. You have scolded me severely for not following your path, yet you know well that my understanding is insufficient for this. In this art I can only act against you unless you assist me by the power of your knowledge. You say truly that your secrets and high works are not given to human beings to know. How shall I make progress under such a burden and guide myself unless you help me? You say I should follow you, and I desire to do so; but tell me by what means and books. One says to take this and that; another says to leave it. Their words are twisted in different ways and set in figurative sayings. In the end I see that I can learn nothing from them. Therefore I take refuge in you and ask you to advise and help me concerning what I should do in this weighty work. I ask and beg you from the bottom of my heart to tell me, upon your conscience, how it is possible to enter the earth’s depths and diligently seek the perfect Mercury of the metals. Anyone who found this, or at least the Mercury of gold alone, might well keep it as a treasure. Yet even if someone already possessed it, I doubt whether they could make a metal from it. I do not believe a person is so rational and skilful as to make gold. It is your work alone, as experience shows and as you demonstrated when speaking of human generation.[^n182] **APP_NATURES015** 1619 pp 195–197 · scans ER199, ER200, ER201 **German** Wir sehen wol / daß der kalte vnd feuchte Mercurius sein sulphur zur hülffe begere: das ist ein gleichförmiger Saamen oder sperma homogeneum, von deme die Creatur nach vollendeter Arbeit entstehet. Wann ich es alles erwege / so befinde ich / daß jhr nehmet die eigene Materi / eigenes Gefäß / eigne mineram, eigen Ort / vnnd eignes Fewer zu geben / die Form / Gestalt vnnd Farbe / das Leben / vnnd das wachsen dessen jedes Ding erfüllet ist. Jhr könnet als eine Werckmeisterin die würdigkeit der Materi / denn das wirckende nimbt keine Wirckung an sich / als allein im disponirten leidenden. Jhr wisset subtil zu vermischen das warme vnd kalte / das truckene vnd feuchte / vnd deß widerwertigen Qualitet anzuziehen / die jhr verendert die erste Form / auff daß die Materi eine newe Form annehme: denn das obiectum ist nach der Krafft vnd potentia ein subiectum, welches die Substantz stetigs in actu vnd der Wirckung erhelt / so zuvor nur in potentia gewesen. Ich habe euch wol hören von der Sachen reden / wann ich nur ewre Meynung recht erzehlen / vnd nach ewer Krafft eigentlich davon reden könte. Denn ich habe verstanden / daß jhr gesagt habt / wie sich das Elixir von den vier Elementen anfange / vnd widerwertige Ding sich vereinigen: vnd daß man die Element verkehren müsse. Welches gewißlich keines Menschen handarbeit ist. Dann wer will wissen / wie die jrdische Qualitet jhr Wesen nehme mit der Lufft / auch mit der Kälte vberein stimme / vnd sich in Feuchtigkeit / das ist / in sein widerwertiges verkehre? dann die Feuchtigkeit will von dem kalten vnd feuchten Element nicht weichen / wiewol sie von dem Fewer / so alle composita verbessert / mehrer Hülffe hat. So ist auch dieses ein natürlich Werck / daß es sich schwartz / weiß vñ roth macht / welche drey sichtbarliche Farben mit drey Elementen / dem Fewer / Wasser vnd Erden einstimmet / vnd die Lufft weiß diese zu durchsuchen. Darnach sagt jhr auch / daß dieses Werck gemacht werde von einem einigen Ding / in einem eintzigen Gefäß / von einer Substantz / dann vier geben nur eine Essentz: darinnen eines ist / so in effectu das Werck anfänget vnd vollendet: nichts mangelt jhm als eine kleine Wärme / so der Mensch administriret, vnd dadurch vermittelst euwer Weißheit vnnd Kunst herfür locket / was von nöthen ist: So ist alles das / so man bedarff / in dieser Materi in genugsamer Vollkommenheit zum anfang / mittel vñ ende. Gleich verhielte es sich darmit / als mit einem Menschen / Pferd / Korn oder Obst. Dann im menschlichen Saamen ist menschliche Gestalt begriffen / als Bein / Fleisch / Blut / Haar / etc. Also auch in jedem Saamen / sein gleiches vñ gestalt: von dem Menschen kömmet der Mensch / die Frucht von Frucht / ein Thier vom Thier: welche Ordnung in der gantzen runden Welt ist / vnd von Gottes Weißheit / der es also haben will vnnd euch gewalt darüber gegeben hat / herfleußt. **English** We see clearly that cold and moist Mercury desires the assistance of its sulphur. This is a uniform seed, or homogeneous semen, from which the creature arises when the work is completed. When I consider everything, I find that you take the proper matter, proper vessel, proper ore, proper place and proper fire to impart the form, shape and colour, life and growth with which each thing is filled. As a mistress of the work you know the worth of the matter, for the agent receives no operation within itself, but only in the disposed patient. You know subtly how to mingle warm and cold, dry and moist, and draw in the contrary quality by which you change the first form so that matter assumes a new one. For according to power and potentiality, the object is a subject that continually preserves in actuality and operation the substance that previously existed only potentially. I have indeed heard you speak of these things; if only I could recount your meaning rightly and speak of them properly according to your power. I have understood your statement that the elixir begins from the four elements, that contrary things unite, and that one must turn the elements. This is certainly no human handiwork. For who can know how the earthly quality takes its being with air, agrees also with cold, and changes into moisture, that is, its contrary? Moisture will not depart from the cold and moist element, although it receives greater assistance from fire, which improves all compounds. It is also a natural work that it makes itself black, white and red: these three visible colours accord with three elements, fire, water and earth, and air knows how to penetrate them. You also say that this work is made from one single thing, in one single vessel, from one substance, for four give only one essence. Within it is one thing that effectively begins and completes the work. It lacks nothing except a little warmth administered by a person, thereby drawing out what is needed through your wisdom and art. Thus everything required for beginning, middle and end exists within this matter in sufficient perfection. It is the same as with a human being, horse, grain or fruit. For the human form is contained within human seed: bones, flesh, blood, hair and so forth. Likewise each seed contains its like and form. A human comes from a human, fruit from fruit, an animal from an animal. This order exists throughout the whole round world and flows from God’s wisdom, which wills it so and has given you power over it.[^n183], [^n184] **APP_NATURES016** 1619 pp 197–199 · scans ER201, ER202, ER203 **German** Nun ich weiß / daß wann der Saamen in dem weiblichen Gefäß verschlossen / vnd solches nit mehr eröffnet wirdt / es keiner menschlichen Mühe mehr weder kleines noch grosses zuthuns oder hinwegnehmens bedarff / es bedarff keines eröffnens / beschliessens / oder berührens: dann es ist alles / so zur perfection von nöhten / darinnen. Gleichmässig sprecht jhr / verhalte es sich mit dem Stein der Philosophen / daß man nicht mehr als einer eintzigen zu Staub gemachten Materi bedörffe / welche in sich hab Lufft vnnd Wasser vnd die Hitze / vnnd alles so zu vollendung dieses Wercks von nöthen / auch sey es vnnötig es anzugreiffen / als allein ein klein Fewer hinzuzuthun / die jnnerliche Wärme zu erwecken: gleich wie ein Kind in Mutterleib in natürlicher wärme ligt. Ferner gebt jhr auch zu verstehen / daß diese Materi jhre perfection in sich habe: allein daß sie jhre Wirckung ohne menschliche Kunst vnd Hülffe nicht herfür geben möge: dieser Kunst hülffe verstehe ich von Philosophischer Scientz vnd Fürsichtigkeit / als durch Handgriffe die Materi zu præpariren, das vberflüssige darvon zu scheiden / diese als dann componirte schlechte Erde / so mit jhrem Wasser eins worden ist / in das Glaß oder Gefäß wol zu verschliessen / vnd in den gehörigen Ofen gelinder wärme zu setzen. Dieses halte ich für das gantze artificium: vnnd etwas anders kan der Mensch nicht darbey thun / er sage was er wolle. Wann jhr anfanget zu wircken / vnnd daß jhr in ein Staubwesen gegangen seyd / so dissolviret jhr nach verträgter præparation, vnd machet das trocken wässerig / solches führet jhr durch die sublimation biß in die Lufft mit grossem Verstand / vnnd machet endlich gantz alleine das / so andere vnvollkommene Ding perficiret. Darumb seyd jhr Natura die erste Gebährerin / wann jr die vier Element zusammen in eine Essentz vermischet / dessen kein Mensch als jr Erkentniß haben kan: also habe ich es verstanden / vnnd verhoffe / wann es Gott vnd euch gefällig ist / solches zu seiner Zeit zu sehn. **English** Now I know that when the seed is enclosed within the female vessel and it is not opened again, no further human effort is needed, neither the addition nor removal of anything small or great. It needs no opening, closing or touching, for everything required for perfection is within it. You say it is the same with the philosophers’ Stone: one needs no more than a single matter reduced to dust, containing air, water, heat and everything required to complete this work. Nor is it necessary to handle it, except to add a little fire to awaken the inner warmth, just as a child lies in its mother’s womb in natural warmth. You further indicate that this matter contains its perfection within itself, but cannot manifest its operation without human art and assistance. By that assistance of art I understand philosophical science and foresight: preparing the matter by handling it, separating what is superfluous, closing this compounded, simple earth—which has become one with its water—securely in the glass or vessel, and setting it in the appropriate furnace with gentle warmth. I consider this the whole craft; whatever anyone may say, a person can do nothing else in it. When you begin to work and have passed into a dust-like being, you dissolve after the preparation has been undergone and make the dry watery. You raise this through sublimation into the air with great understanding, and at last you alone make that which perfects other imperfect things. Therefore you, Nature, are the first begetter when you mingle the four elements into one essence, of which no human being but you can have knowledge. So I have understood it, and I hope, if it pleases God and you, to see it in due time.[^n185] **APP_NATURES017** 1619 pp 199–202 · scans ER203, ER204, ER205, ER206 **German** Ich lasse anjetzo die Terminos der Zeit bewenden: vnd verbleibe darbey / wie man die Materi haben / woher ich vnd gut sie sey / auch was grosse Tugend in perficirung der imperfecten Dinge sie gebe / recht verstehen vnd wissen könne. Daß nun das Gold das beste sey vnter den mineralibus, das ist mir bewust / doch hat es weder an der forma noch materia keine Krafft / seine perfection zu vberschreiten. Dann es hat keine so grosse wirckung / daß es etwas mehrers als sich selbsten perficiren könne / was auch der Mensch für Kunst darbey anwendet. Vnnd wann einer sagen wolte / daß man es müsse auffschliessen / vnnd in argentum vivum bringen / so ist er wie ein Thor vnd Vnweiser: dieweil er nichts auß dem Gold haben kan als darinnen ist. Was will nun der Mensch darinnen suchen / als zum wenigsten allein das / so darinnen ist / wann mehr darinnen nicht zu finden? Es ist vergebliches Wesen. Nichts desto weniger / auff daß die Thoren jhre Fantasey an den Tag geben / so sagen sie / daß durch jhre Kunst der Leib zurück in die erste Materi gebracht werden müsse: aber ich weiß auß ewer Vnterrichtung wol / daß die reduction nicht geschiehet durch Sachen / die zu einer gewissen Gestalt specie oder individuo gemacht / wo fern eine solche species nicht zuvor corrumpiret wird. Vnd dennoch geschiehet nach solcher corruption keine generation einer gleichen Gestalt / wo fern die species in jhr genus zuvor nicht zurück kömpt. Vnd sage noch mehres / daß destruïren der Weg nicht sey Gold zu machen: dann wirdt es einmal auß seiner Gestalt recht gebracht / so kan es der Mensch nicht mehr darein bringen. Es müste auch noch mit subtiler Kunst zugehen / wenn man es zu einem rechtschaffenen Puluer machen solte. Wer jhm aber fürsetzet / es also zu dissolviren, daß er sein compositum oder corpus, in die erste mixtion, die jhr von den Elementen gemacht / scheiden wolte / der wirdt es nimmermehr / er sage auch was er wolle / dahin bringen. Dann es leidet Hitz vnnd Frost / vnd wird im Fewer je länger je feiner: also perfect ist es in seiner Natur. Es ist eine nahende Creatur der Elementen / so keinen Saamen oder Korn hat / dadurch eine reduction nach der fäulung geschehe / wider zu kommen in seine vorige Gestalt: dann seine Materi ist zu süß: es ist todt / vnd der Todt ist sein Esse oder Wesen: darumb kan auß jhme kein ander Metall oder argentum vivum wachsen. Derumb kan man in gemein nicht sagen / daß ein jedes Ding seines gleichen gebähre. Dann solches ausserhalb der vegetabilien vnd empfindlicher Dingen / so viel es die mineralia betrifft / vbel geredt ist: dann jene empfangen Nahrung vnnd Leben / besamen vnd pflantzen sich: diese aber empfinden nichts / vnd seyn eben so groß im ersten als in dem letzten Jahr. Auß vnnd von den Elementen nehmen sie durch euch jr Wesen in der Erden / welches ohne sein pflantzen vnnd bawen zugehet. **English** For now I leave aside the terms of time and remain with the question of how one may rightly understand and know how to obtain the matter, whence it comes and how good it is, and what great virtue it imparts in perfecting imperfect things. I know that gold is the best among minerals, yet neither in its form nor its matter has it the power to exceed its perfection. Its operation is not so great that it can perfect anything beyond itself, whatever art a person applies to it. Anyone who said that one must open it and bring it into quicksilver would be a fool without understanding, for nothing can be obtained from gold beyond what is within it. What should a person seek within it except at least what is there, when nothing more can be found? It is a futile undertaking. Nevertheless, to reveal their fantasy, fools say that through their art the body must be brought back into first matter. But from your teaching I know that reduction does not take place through things made into a determinate form, species or individual, unless that species is first corrupted. Even after such corruption there is no generation of a like form unless the species first returns to its genus. I say further that destruction is not the way to make gold. Once it has truly been taken out of its form, a person cannot bring it back again. It would already require subtle art to make it into a proper powder. Whoever proposes to dissolve it so as to separate its compound or body into the first mixture you made from the elements will never bring it to that state, whatever they may say. For it endures heat and frost and grows finer the longer it remains in the fire: so perfect is it in its nature. It is a creature close to the elements, possessing no seed or grain through which reduction after putrefaction could return it to its former form, for its matter is too sweet. It is dead, and death is its being or existence; therefore no other metal or quicksilver can grow from it. Consequently one cannot say universally that every thing begets its like. Apart from plants and sentient things, this is ill said concerning minerals. The former receive nourishment and life, seed themselves and propagate; the latter sense nothing and are as large in the first year as in the last. From the elements, through you, they take their being within the earth, without sowing or cultivation.[^n186], [^n187] **APP_NATURES018** 1619 pp 202–204 · scans ER206, ER207, ER208 **German** Ich weiß auß ewer Lehre / daß man der alten Philosophen dictis auff practicantische weis nit nachgeben / sondern sich allein der wahren vnd wesentlichen theorica oder nachsinnenden practicirens halten solle / in der die wesentliche Natur ist: dann hierinnen bestehet alle Essentz / Materi / vnnd Substantz. Ich bin nun ingedenck / was mir ein Sophistischer Verführer / den man für einen grossen Philosophum hielte / einsmals sagte / daß man für die rechte Materi nichts anders nehmen dörffte als rein Quecksilber gantz rohe / vnd dasselbige fleissig mit dem Gold vermischen: dann von zweyen wol zusammen gefügen würde ein herrliches / vnnd machete eines das ander in der Zusammenfügung vollkommen: wann ich jhme / sagt er / also thäte / würde ich das Elixir erlangen. Zu förderst aber müsse man die vier vermischten Element von einander scheiden / vnd ein jedes sonderbar reinigen / sie darnach widerumb zusammen fügen / das grosse mit dem kleinen einigen / vnnd das subtile in das grobe bringen / vnnd also würde der Philosophen Stein gemacht. Aber ich weiß nunmehr / daß diese Fantasien betrügerey seyn: daß solchen Leuten am Verstand mangelt / vnnd daß sie sich selbsten vnnd andere damit betriegen / sie seyn gleich Philosophi oder Medici, so verstehen sie hierinnen nichts. Mir ist wol ingedenck / daß jhr gesagt habt / daß es Gott alleine als dem Höchsten zustehe / auß den Elementen etwas zu erschaffen: denn er hat die Natur herfür gebracht. Er weiß nach der Quantitet die Element zu vermischen / vnd die Qualitet recht zu proportioniren, die Element recht zusammen zuvereinigen vnd zuvermischen / wie es jhme gut bedüncket. Da ist kein Mensch / der solches zu thun oder zu verrichten vermöchte. Denn er ist allein der Erschaffer / vnnd alles guten Herfürbringer / in der Welt ist kein Ding / so ohne jhn gemacht were. Derhalben wollen alle ruhmrähtige Alchimische Sophisten stillschweigen / vnnd nicht verhoffen zu samblen / da sie nichts seen: die durch jhre falsche calcinationes, sublimationes, distillationes die spiritus im Rauch wegjagen / vnnd durch jhre Sophistische coagulationes vnnd congelationes den gemeinen Mann bereden / ja auch andere / so das Werck gemacht / fürgeben / daß deß Quecksilbers vnd Goldes Element rechtschaffen gescheiden seyn: welches doch alles im Ende nichts ist. Dann es ist wahr / daß alle Ding vnter dem Himmel von den vier Elementen gewachsen / vnd rechte Quantitet haben / auch nach jrer Art durch die Natur in rechter proportion vermischet seyn: doch nit / daß sie alle eigentlich so tieff vereiniget / sondern in Tugend vnterschieden seyn: insonderheit aber deß Philosophischen Steins materia. **English** From your teaching I know that one should not follow the ancient philosophers’ sayings in a merely practical manner, but hold solely to true and essential theory or reflective practice, in which essential Nature resides. Within this consist all essence, matter and substance. I now remember what a sophistical deceiver, regarded as a great philosopher, once told me: for the right matter, one need take nothing other than pure quicksilver entirely raw and diligently mix it with gold. From these two, well joined, a splendid thing would arise, and one would perfect the other in their conjunction. If I did as he said, I would obtain the elixir. First, however, one must separate the four mingled elements, purify each individually, then put them together again, unite the large with the small and bring the subtle into the gross; thus the philosophers’ Stone would be made. But now I know that these fantasies are deception, that such people lack understanding and deceive themselves and others. Whether philosophers or physicians, they understand nothing of this. I well remember your statement that it belongs to God alone, the highest, to create anything from the elements, for he brought Nature forth. He knows how to mingle the elements according to quantity and proportion their quality rightly, joining and mingling them correctly as seems good to him. No human being could do or accomplish this. For he alone is the Creator and bringer-forth of every good; nothing in the world was made without him. Let all boastful alchemical sophists therefore fall silent and not hope to reap where they have sown nothing. Through their false calcinations, sublimations and distillations they drive the spirits away in smoke, and through their sophistical coagulations and congelations persuade ordinary people—and even others who have done the work—to claim that the elements of quicksilver and gold have been truly separated. In the end all this is nothing. It is true that all things beneath heaven have grown from the four elements, possess the proper quantity and are mingled by Nature in the right proportion according to their kind. Yet they are not all intrinsically united to the same depth: they are distinguished in virtue, especially the matter of the philosophical Stone.[^n188], [^n189] **APP_NATURES019** 1619 pp 205–207 · scans ER209, ER210, ER211 **German** Ich verstehe hier mit / daß in dem rohen argento vivo vnd perfectem Leib / so man die Sonne nennet / seyn vier Element / vnd ein jedes mit dem andern vnscheidenlich vereiniget / vnnd durch sonderbare Mittel vermischet / daß sie durch menschliche Kunst nit separiret werden können. Denn alle alte ware Philosophi haben geschrieben / daß das Fewer vnd die Lufft im Wasser vnd Erden eingeschlossen seyn / darinnen sie jhre Tugende erzeigen / vnd vnscheidentlich hefftig streiten: niemand dann Gott vnd jr die Natura mag dieses Band entlösen. Warhafftig mag ich solches sagen / vnnd Philosophisch erweisen / denn das Fewer ist vns vnsichtbarlich / vnnd die Lufft vnbegreifflich: vnnd wer da sagt / daß man ein jedes sonderlich sehen könne / der ist ein betrieger: Dann auß vnwidersprechlichen Gründen seyn die Elemente vnscheidentlich. Wiewol die Sophisten fürgeben vnd vergewissern wollen / daß sie das Gold vnd Quecksilber in die vier Element scheiden / so seyn sie doch Lügner. Denn so das Element Fewer vnd Lufft also gescheiden weren / müste jedes verschwinden. Sie sagen wol / daß sie solche behalten: wissen aber nicht wohin sie kommen: sintemal weder Lufft noch Fewer gesehen oder vernommen werden können. Wann sie auch schon jhrem fürgeben nach solche außgezogen haben / so machen sie doch das jenige / so sie berühren / nur naß / welches weder der Lufft vnd deß Fewers Eigenschafft ist. Ferner wie jhr Natura gesagt habt / vnd ich in Schrifte finde / so ist niemand / er sey so grosser Doctor als er wolle / der wissen könne / wie viel in einem jeden natürlichen Dinge von jedem Element billich seyn möge. Denn Gott hat es euch allein geben. Vnd ist kein Philosophus so weise / der da wüßte die Element zu componiren vnd zuvermischen / oder wie viel zu einem natürlichen Ding / es sey spiritualisch oder corporalisch / von jedem Element nothwendig were zu ordnen. Wann er nun sich vermisset / solche zu separiren, wie will er sie widerumb zusammen bringen / ein vereiniget compositum vnd wahres subiectum widerumb zu machen / demnach er die Quantitet vnd Qualitet der Elementen / auch die weise der rechten vereinigung nichts weiß? Es muß derhalben nicht voneinander gescheiden werden / wenn man es nicht weiß widerumb zusammen zu setzen. Man muß euch Natura machen lassen / die jhr die Kunst verstehet wol zu disponiren, den Stein der Philosophen zu componiren, vnnd rechte vermischung der Element ohne scheidung zu machen. Jhr habt mir gnug gesagt / daß scheidung der Element vnd jhre widerzusammenfügung nicht von nöhten ist: sintemal keine solche Kunst zu erlangen / vnnd es nur ein von Gott euch gegebenes vnd verordnetes Geheimniß ist. Ohne zweiffel aber wirdt der Stein oder Elixir allein von euch gemacht ohne scheidung der Element / jedoch nicht ohne ewer Instrument / noch ohne hülffe eines weisen vnd deß Wercks verständigen Menschen. Es sagt Aristoteles / wo der Physicus oder Naturkündiger auffhöret / da fange der Medicus an. Derhalben fängt auch die Alchimia an / wann sie der Natur vnnd jrer Scientz nachgehet. Welches ein jeder Philosophus vnd Medicus in acht nehmen soll. **English** By this I understand that four elements are present within raw quicksilver and the perfect body called the Sun. Each is inseparably united with the others and mingled by special means, so that they cannot be separated by human art. For all true ancient philosophers have written that fire and air are enclosed within water and earth, where they manifest their virtues and contend powerfully without separation. No one except God and you, Nature, can loosen this bond. I can say this truly and demonstrate it philosophically, for fire is invisible to us and air intangible. Whoever says that each can be seen separately is a deceiver: on indisputable grounds the elements are inseparable. Although sophists claim and wish to assure us that they separate gold and quicksilver into the four elements, they are liars. If the elements fire and air were thus separated, each would have to vanish. They say that they retain them, but do not know where they go, since neither air nor fire can be seen or perceived. Even when, according to their claim, they have drawn them out, they only wet whatever they touch, which is a property of neither air nor fire. Further, as you, Nature, have said and I find in writings, no one, however great a doctor, can know how much of each element should rightly be present within any natural thing. God has given this to you alone. No philosopher is so wise as to know how to compose and mingle the elements, or how much of each element must be ordered for a natural thing, whether spiritual or bodily. If someone presumes to separate them, how will they put them together again to remake a united compound and true subject, knowing nothing of the elements’ quantity and quality or the manner of right union? Therefore they should not be separated if one does not know how to put them together again. One must let you, Nature, act, for you understand the art of disposing things properly, composing the philosophers’ Stone and making the right mixture of the elements without separation. You have told me enough: separation of the elements and their rejoining are unnecessary, since no such art can be attained and it is a secret God has given and ordained for you alone. Without doubt the Stone or elixir is made by you alone without separating the elements, yet not without your instrument or the assistance of a wise person who understands the work. Aristotle says that where the natural philosopher ends, the physician begins. Alchemy therefore also begins when it follows Nature and her science. Every philosopher and physician should heed this.[^n190], [^n191] **APP_NATURES020** 1619 pp 208–211 · scans ER212, ER213, ER214, ER215 **German** Dann so man die Kunst Alchimiam recht führet / so wirdt sie die Natur herfür bringen. Vnnd auff daß man allhier nicht fähle / so ist alles das jenige / was die Natur gebieret vnnd herfür bringet / eine in die Alchimiam gehörige Materi. Inmassen jhr Natura, der ich mit Leib vnd Leben zu dienen begere / besser wisset als ich. Es ist auch zu wissen / daß die Alchimia drey Ding verrichtet: eins daß sie ein Metall vollkommen vnd lebendig machet / vñ seinen Geist dawet oder digeriret, vnnd wirdt daran nichts verlohren: wie dann solches die Erfahrung lehret. Zum andern kochet vnd digeriret sie die Materi im kleinen Gefäß also / daß sie ohne zuthuung eintzigen andern Dinges den Leib vnnd Geist in eines verkehret. Derwegen solle man von newem nichts darzu thun. Auch geschiehet keine mixtio, wann nicht die Anfänge der Natur solches administriren vnnd verschaffen: dann was sie hierzu gebäret vnnd vns hinderläßt / das nützet die Kunst zum Werck. Zum dritten probirt sie / daß realiter vnnd wircklich keine separation der vier Elementen geschehe in dem argento vivo vnnd Sole, so man das hohe rohte Gold nennet / den Stein zu machen. Dann solches zu gedäncken ist ein grosser Jrrthumb / der edlen Alchimie vnd gründlichen Philosophiæ gantz zuwider. Es ist gewiß vnnd wahr / daß jedes elementisch Ding auß den Elementen alimentiret vnnd gespeiset wirdt. Wann sie nun wol disponiret vñ in ein subiectum componiret, wie es die Natur herfür gegeben hat / wenn man sie als dann scheidet / so ist dasselbige subiectum corrumpiret vnd verderbt / vnnd sein herrliches Band / so die Element zusammen gehalten / zerrissen / vnnd ist da keine vermischung mehr / sondern wirdt das von den vier Elementen zu etwas gemachte Ding / durch das separiren zu nichts gemacht. Soll ein Vatter einen Sohn zeugen / so muß er zuvor nit destruiret werden / sondern ist gnug / daß mit dem Saamen der generirende spiritus außgehe / welchen der Weibssamen empfängt vnnd in der Wärme erhelt: vnd ein solcher spiritus zeuget das Kind vnd Gestalten seine Gliedmassen / davon Avicenna an seinem Ort meldet. Also verhellt es sich auch mit dem feinen Gold / so deß Philosophischen Steins wahre Materi ist: dann der Vatter ist / so alles instruiret vnd anrichtet / denselben muß man nicht destruïren oder verderben / noch von seinen Elementen separiren, sondern es ist gnug / daß die Sonne der Vatter / so seinen Geist erbläset / Krafft vnd Tugend durch den in Krafft vnd Tugend zerstrewten Geist (welcher der wahre Stein der Philosophen ist / den man auff der Erden nimmer) dem Sohn eingiesse: durch selben gebährenden Geist werde der Sohn substantialisch. Von euch der Natura hab ich nun so viel gelernt / daß die Kunst der Alchimia eine warhafftige Scientz ist / vnd sage / daß das hochrohte Gold / so man die Sonne nennet / deß Steins oder Elixiris wahrer Vatter sey / auß dem so grosse Schatz auffgehet: welcher etwas inseriret, figiret, digeriret vñ tingiret durch Kunst / sine diminution vnd einige corruption, daßselbige Gold / so der Vatter ist / von dem der Sohn so trefflich aufspriesset. Ist vns derhalben nicht müglich / auch nicht nothwendig / noch glaube / die Vermischung zu zerreissen / noch die Element zu scheiden / welche die Natur in dem argento vivo eusserlich vnd jnnerlich / vnnd gleicher gestalt in dem perfecten corpore der Sonnen / so wol in gebührlicher Quantitet, Complexion, vnnd Qualitet, proportioniret, zusammen gefügt vnd geordnet hat. Wissen wir nun nicht die Scientz der Natur / vnnd haben kein Erkentnuß der vier Elementen vermischungen / so werden wir in derselben separation gleichfalls vnwissend seyn. **English** For if the art of alchemy is rightly conducted, it will bring Nature forth. To avoid error here, everything that Nature begets and brings forth is matter belonging to alchemy, as you, Nature, whom I desire to serve with body and life, know better than I. One should also know that alchemy accomplishes three things. First, it makes a metal perfect and living and digests its spirit, losing nothing of it, as experience teaches. Second, it cooks and digests the matter in the little vessel so that, without adding any other thing, it changes body and spirit into one. Therefore nothing new should be added. Nor does any mixture occur unless Nature’s beginnings administer and provide it: what she begets and leaves us for this purpose, art employs for the work. Third, it demonstrates that no real, actual separation of the four elements takes place in quicksilver and the Sun, called the high red gold, in order to make the Stone. To imagine such separation is a great error, entirely contrary to noble alchemy and well-grounded philosophy. It is certain and true that every elemental thing is nourished and fed from the elements. When they are well disposed and composed into a subject, as Nature has brought it forth, separating them corrupts and destroys that subject. The splendid bond holding the elements together is torn; no mixture remains, and the thing made into something from the four elements is reduced to nothing by separation. If a father is to beget a son, he need not first be destroyed. It is enough that the generating spirit goes out with the seed, is received by the female seed and kept in warmth. Such a spirit begets the child and shapes its limbs, as Avicenna relates in the appropriate place. So it is also with fine gold, the true matter of the philosophical Stone. The father is what instructs and arranges everything; he must not be destroyed, spoiled or separated from his elements. It is enough that the Sun, the father who breathes forth his spirit, pours power and virtue into the son through the spirit diffused in power and virtue—which is the true philosophers’ Stone, never on earth [the printed clause is incomplete]. Through this generative spirit the son becomes substantial. From you, Nature, I have now learned that the art of alchemy is a true science. I say that the high red gold called the Sun is the true father of the Stone or elixir, from which so great a treasure springs. Through art it inserts, fixes, digests and tinges something, without diminution or any corruption of that gold, the father from whom the son springs so excellently. It is therefore neither possible for us nor necessary—nor do I believe it right—to tear apart the mixture or separate the elements which Nature has proportioned, joined and ordered, outwardly and inwardly in quicksilver and likewise in the Sun’s perfect body, in the proper quantity, complexion and quality. If we do not know Nature’s science and have no understanding of the four elements’ mixtures, we shall be equally ignorant in separating them.[^n192], [^n193], [^n194] **APP_NATURES021** 1619 pp 211–213 · scans ER215, ER216, ER217 **German** Ist derhalben hoch von nöthen / daß wir der Natur nachfolgen / vnd vns jhren Instrumenten / wie sie die Element machet / gebrauchen: ohne welche Administration wir sonsten in Eduction oder Außziehung dieses Steins Form / vnd ersuchung hierzu gehöriger Mittel / keine rechte Nachfolger seyn werden: durch welche Mittel man kömmet zu dem Instrument / dessen sich die Natur in den mineren, in deme sie dem argento vivo seine formam gibet / gebrauchet. Thun wir jhm nun anderst / so seyn wir Destructores vnnd Verderber deß jenigen / so die Natur auff das beste componiret vnd disponiret hat / indem wir die Vermischung wider ewren der Natura Befelch / so schendlich er weiß / separiren. Gleichwol wir / wie Aristoteles saget / die Elementa verkehren sollen / zu finden / was wir suchen. Also habt jhr Natura mich nun auff ewren Weg weißlich geleitet / dafür ich euch grossen Danck sage. Dann ich von euch so viel erlernet / daß alles mein Werck nichts tauget. Ich erkenne / daß es grosse Thorheit / vnnd im Ende das Verderben vñ Traurigkeit sey / sich in vielerley Ofen / Quecksilber / aquis fortibus, gemeinen dissolutionibus, allen mineralischen dingen / Roßmist vnnd Kohlenfewer zu bemühen: denn alles mit einander nichts nützet. Beschliesse derwegen / daß ich hinfüro fleissiger auff ewre Bücher achtung geben / vnd euch nach allem vermögen nachfolgen will: dann diß ist der sicherste Weg / den ein Mensch gehen mag: vnd ist gewiß / daß diese Kunst vns von euch herkömmet / wiewol es vmb dieses Schatzes würdigkeit vnnd Wunderwercks willen langsam mit zugehet. Auff daß ich aber die Zeit nit vergeblich verliere / so will ich das Werck nach ewren Befelch zeitlich vnnd gleich so mehr heute als morgen vnter die Hände nehmen: vnd erstlich nach der Materi trachten / welche mir vermittelst jhres wirckenden theils das schöne argentum vivum geben wirdt: solches will ich thun in ein wol verschlossen saubers Geschirr vnnd vnter einen Ofen / so mit einer Mawren vmbgeben ist / einsetzen: als dann werdet jhr Natura dem Werck / wie sichs gebühret / weiter zu thun wissen. Sage euch hiemit von allen meinen Kräfften / höchsten Danck / daß jhr mich gewürdiget / zu besuchen vnd eines solchen hohen Gutes einen Erben zu machen: dafür ich euch jezeit meines Lebens verbunden bin. Will derhalben ewer Lehre folgen / vnnd daß ich diese edle Tinctur von den Elementen / vermittelst göttlichen Willens vnd ewer Hülffe / erlangen möge / mich bemühen. **English** It is therefore most necessary that we follow Nature and employ her instruments as she makes the elements. Without such administration we shall not be true followers in bringing forth or drawing out the form of this Stone or in seeking its proper means: through these means one reaches the instrument Nature employs in the ores when she gives quicksilver its form. If we act otherwise, we are destroyers and corrupters of what Nature has composed and disposed in the best way, shamefully separating the mixture against your command, Nature. Nevertheless, as Aristotle says, we should turn the elements to find what we seek. Thus, Nature, you have wisely guided me upon your path, for which I give you great thanks. I have learned so much from you that all my work is worthless. I recognise the great folly, leading finally to ruin and sorrow, of labouring with many kinds of furnaces, quicksilver, strong waters, ordinary dissolutions, every kind of mineral thing, horse manure and charcoal fire. Taken together they are all useless. I therefore resolve henceforth to attend more diligently to your books and follow you with all my ability. This is the safest path a person may take; it is certain that this art comes to us from you, although it proceeds slowly because of the worthiness and wondrous operation of this treasure. But so that I do not waste time, I will promptly take the work in hand according to your command, today rather than tomorrow. First I will seek the matter which, through its active part, will give me the beautiful quicksilver. I will put it in a clean, well-closed vessel and place it beneath a furnace surrounded by a wall. Then you, Nature, will know how properly to proceed with the work. With all my powers I give you the highest thanks for deeming me worthy of your visit and making me heir to so high a good; for this I am bound to you throughout my life. Therefore I will follow your teaching and endeavour, through the divine will and your assistance, to obtain this noble tincture from the elements.[^n195], [^n196] ### A Short Treatise Called Philosophical Summary *Ein kurtzer Tractat genant Summarium Philosophicum, Nicolai Flamelli* **Chapter outline** - The metallic seeds and their four elementary constituents - Winged and wingless dragons and the flying lion - Mercury as mother of the metals and the problem of killing it - Fixed grains in lead ore and the fruit tree analogy - Living conjunction contrasted with the treatment of common metals - The philosophers’ garden and the nourishment of warmth and dew - The assistance of art and the royal Saturnian herb - One practice for white and red and the hatching of the chick - Prayer and the purpose of the summary **APP_SUMMARYS001** 1619 pp 214–215 · scans ER218, ER219 **German** Ein kurtzer Tractat genant Summarium Philosophicum, Nicolai Flamelli. Wer da will Erkentniß der Metallen / vñ gewisse wissenschafft / wie sie transmutiret vnd eins in das ander verkehret werde / erlangen / der muß vor allen dingen erkennen / worauß vnnd wie sie in jren mineren formiret werden. Also vnnd auff daß man nicht jrre / muß man auff die transmutationes, wie sie in den Adern der Erden allenthalben geschehen / sehen. Derentwegen können sie sich auch ausserhalb der mineren transmutiren, wann sie zuvor geistlich gemachet werden: nemblich daß sie in jhren Schwefel vnnd argentum vivum, so die Natur machet / kommen. Dann alle Metall seyn auß sulphure vnnd argento vivo formiret, die aller Metallen zwey spermata seyn: vnd ist das eine männlicher / das andere weiblicher Art vnd Complexion. Diese zwey spermata aber seyn auß den vier Elementen componiret: das erste männliche / so man sulphur nennet / ist nichts anders als Fewr vnd Lufft: vnnd ist ein vixer Schwefel / gleich dem Fewer / ohne verenderlicher vnd metallischer Natur: nit aber der gemeine Schwefel / dann solcher ist keiner metallischen Substantz. Das ander weibliche sperma, so argentum vivum genennet wirdt / ist nichts anders denn Wasser vnd Erde. **English** A short treatise called Philosophical Summary, by Nicolas Flamel. Anyone who wishes to attain knowledge of the metals and certain understanding of how they are transmuted and changed from one into another must first of all understand from what and how they are formed in their ores. Thus, to avoid error, one must observe the transmutations that take place everywhere in the veins of the earth. For this reason they can also be transmuted outside their ores, provided that they are first made spiritual: that is, brought into their sulphur and quicksilver, which Nature makes. For all metals are formed from sulphur and quicksilver, the two seeds of every metal; one is masculine and the other feminine in kind and complexion. These two seeds, however, are composed of the four elements. The first, masculine one, called sulphur, is nothing other than fire and air. It is a fixed sulphur, like fire, of an unchanging and metallic nature; it is not common sulphur, for that has no metallic substance. The other, feminine seed, called quicksilver, is nothing other than water and earth.[^n197], [^n198] **APP_SUMMARYS002** 1619 pp 215–216 · scans ER219, ER220 **German** Diese zwey spermata haben nun die alten Weisen figuriret durch zween Drachen oder Schlangen / deren einer Flügel / der ander keine Flügel hat. Der Drach ohne Flügel ist das sulphur, so nimmermehr vom Fewer entfleuget. Die Schlang so Flügel hat / ist das argentum vivum, so der Wind hinträgt / der weibliche Samen / gemacht von Wasser vnd Erde. Darumb fleugt es zu seiner Stunde von dem Fewer hinweg / vnd ist darinnen vnbeständig. Wann aber diese zwey vnderschiedliche vñ einander abgesonderte spermata widerumb zusammen gebracht / vñ durch eine triumphirende Natur / in dem Buch deß Mercurii, welcher das erste Metall vnd der Metallen Mutter ist / vereiniget werden / so nennen es die Philosophi den fliegenden Drachen: darumb daß ein Drach / so von seinem Fewr entzündet ist / in flug allgemach Fewer vnnd gifftigen Dampff in die Lufft außwirffet: also thut auch der Mercurius, wann er ober dem eussern Fewr an seinem Orth in einem Geschirr stehet / vnnd das Fewr recht geordnet ist / das jnnerliche natürliche / welches tieff verborgen ist / anzuzünden. Als dann kan man sehen / wie solches eusserliches Fewr / so das vegetabilische genennet wirdt / das natürliche deß Mercurii entzündet. Wer auch wachsam ist / der wird sehen in die Lufft schiessen vnd darinnen lauffen einen gifftigen Rauch oder Dampff / vbel riechend / schädlich / sehr bitter / entzündet / vnnd das ärgste Gifft / welches nichts anders ist / als eines Drachen Häupt / so schnell von Babylon / die zwo oder drey Meil vmbgeben / auffgehet. **English** The ancient sages represented these two seeds by two dragons or serpents, one with wings and the other without. The wingless dragon is sulphur, which never flies away from the fire. The winged serpent is quicksilver, carried off by the wind: the feminine seed made from water and earth. For this reason it flies away from the fire in its own time and is unstable within it. But when these two different seeds, separated from one another, are brought together again and united by a triumphant Nature in the book of Mercury, who is the first metal and the mother of the metals, the philosophers call it the flying dragon. A dragon kindled by its own fire gradually casts fire and poisonous vapour into the air as it flies. Mercury does the same when it stands in its proper place in a vessel above the external fire, and that fire is correctly ordered to kindle the inward natural fire hidden deep within it. Then one can see how this external fire, called the vegetable fire, kindles Mercury’s natural fire. Anyone who keeps watch will also see a poisonous smoke or vapour shoot into the air and move through it: foul smelling, harmful, very bitter, kindled, and the worst of poisons. This is nothing other than a dragon’s head, which rises swiftly from Babylon, encompassing two or three miles.[^n199] **APP_SUMMARYS003** 1619 pp 216–218 · scans ER220, ER221, ER222 **German** Andere Philosophi haben diesen Mercurium einem fliegenden Löwen verglichen / vnnd jhn also genennet / dieweil der Löwe vielerley Thier frisset vñ sich nach seinem Wollust darmit ersättiget / außgenommen die jenigen / die seinem Grimme mit Gewalt Widerstand thun können: dann also thut auch der Mercurius: der die Wirckung an sich hat / daß er ein jedes Metall / so jhme beygethan wirdt / alsbalden seiner Gestalt beraubt / es frisset vnnd verschlinget. Doch erinnere ich euch / daß zwey Metall seyn / als Gold vnd Silber / welche jhm zu begegnen wissen. Wiewol es auch bewußt ist / daß wann dieser Mercurius entzündet ist / er solche zwey Metall eben so wol verschlinget / vnnd in seinem Bauch verbirget: doch es gehe darein welches wolle / so verzehret er es nicht. Dann sie seyn in jhrer Natur perfect vnd mehrers erhärtet als er / so ein imperfect Metall / vnangesehen in jhm eine Substantz der perfection ist. Das gemeine Gold / so ein perfect Metall ist / auch das Silber vnd alle vnvollkommene Metall kommen auß dem Mercurio. Darumb nennen jn alle Philosophi eine Mutter der Metallen: vnd folget derwegen / weil er auch selbsten zu etwas formiret ist / daß doppelte metallische Substantz in jhme sey: vnnd erstlich die Substantz der vntern Luna, darnach ist der Sonnen / so ein Metall ist / deme andere nicht gleich. Von diesen zweyen substantiis ist der Mercurius formiret, welche geistlicher weise in seinem Leib seyn. So bald nun die Natur diesen Mercurium von gedachten zweyen spiritibus gestaltet hat / begehret er sie perfect zu formiren vnnd corporalisch zu machen / welches ohne ihn nicht geschehen kan. **English** Other philosophers have compared this Mercury to a flying lion and called it by that name because the lion eats many kinds of animal and satisfies its appetite with them, except for those able to resist its fury by force. Mercury does the same: it has the power to strip any metal added to it of its form at once, eating and swallowing it. Yet I remind you that there are two metals, gold and silver, which know how to confront it. It is also known, however, that when this Mercury is kindled, it swallows these two metals as well and hides them in its belly. Nevertheless, whichever of them enters it, it does not consume it. For they are perfect in their nature and more thoroughly hardened than Mercury, which is an imperfect metal, although a substance of perfection is present within it. Common gold, which is a perfect metal, silver also, and all the imperfect metals come from Mercury. All philosophers therefore call it a mother of the metals. And since it is itself formed into something, it follows that a twofold metallic substance is within it: first the substance of the lower Moon, and then that of the Sun, a metal which the others do not equal. Mercury is formed from these two substances, which are present spiritually within its body. As soon as Nature has shaped this Mercury from the two spirits mentioned, it desires to form them perfectly and make them bodily, which cannot take place without it.[^n200] **APP_SUMMARYS004** 1619 pp 218–219 · scans ER222, ER223 **German** Wann nun diese zwiene spiritus sich ermuntern / vnd die zwey spermata erwachen / so jhren eignen Leib anzunehmen begehren: als dann muß jhre Mutter der Mercurius sterben: wann er nun natürlich getödtet ist / so kan er sich nicht mehr so lebendig machen als er zuvor gewesen ist. Es sagen zwar ruhmrähtige Alchimisten / vnnd affirmiren mit tunckeln Worten / daß man die perfecten vnnd imperfecten corpora zu einem lauffenden Mercurio machen solle: aber es ist Betrug darhinder. Wahr ist es / daß der Mercurius ein imperfect Metall / als Bley oder Zinn verzehret: vnnd multipliciret es ohne Mühe in der Quantitet: aber hierdurch verlieret er seine perfection, daß er nicht mehr ein perfecter Mercurius ist: wann er aber durch Kunst getödtet würde / daß er sich nicht mehr widerumb lebendig machen köndte / so würde er zu einem andern Ding werden / als im Cinober oder Sublimat geschieht. Dann wenn man jhn durch Kunst congeliret, es geschehe solches geschwinde oder langsam / so nehmen seine zwey spermata kein fix corpus an / würden es auch nicht behalten / wie es sonsten geschiehet in den Gängen der Erden. **English** When these two spirits rouse themselves and the two seeds awaken, desiring to assume their own body, their mother Mercury must die. When it has thus been killed naturally, it can no longer make itself as living as it was before. Boastful alchemists indeed say and affirm in obscure words that the perfect and imperfect bodies should be made into a flowing Mercury; but there is deception behind this. It is true that Mercury consumes an imperfect metal such as lead or tin and multiplies it in quantity without difficulty. Through this, however, it loses its perfection, so that it is no longer a perfect Mercury. If it were killed by art so that it could no longer make itself living again, it would become a different thing, as happens in cinnabar or sublimate. For when it is congealed by art, whether quickly or slowly, its two seeds assume no fixed body and would not retain one, as otherwise happens in the veins of the earth.[^n201] **APP_SUMMARYS005** 1619 pp 219–221 · scans ER223, ER224, ER225 **German** Auff daß aber niemand dißfalls jrre / so kan er so wenig von der Natur vnter der Erden nicht congeliret werden / daß nicht bald ein fix granum komme / welchs von den zweyen spermatibus deß Mercurii nicht ein wahres germen herfür bringe: wie in den Bleygängen zu sehen. Dann es ist kein solcher Gang / daß nicht ein wahres fixes granum da sey / nemblich deß Goldes vnnd Silbers / in Substantz vnnd Nahrung. Die erste congelation deß Mercurii ist die minera deß Bleyes / vnnd ist jhme die bequemeste / jhn zur perfection zu bringen / daß er fix werde. Dann wie zuvor gesagt / so ist die minera deß Bleyes nicht ohne ein fixes granum deß Goldes vnd Silbers: welche grana die Natur dahin gibt: also kan er sich multipliciren zur Perfection vnnd völliger Krafft zu kommen / wie ich solches erfahren habe vnd für gewiß bestetigen kan. So lang als er in seinem Mercurio, das ist / von seiner minera nicht separirt, sondern wol verwahret ist (denn alles Metall / so in der minera noch ist / das ist noch ein Mercurius) kan er sich multipliciren, wann er nur von seinem Mercurio eine Substantz haben kan. Wann aber das fixe granum hinweg genommen / vnd von seinem Mercurio, welcher seine minera ist / geschieden / wirdt er seyn wie ein grünend vnzeitig Obst auff dem Baum / wenn die Blüt vergehet / so fänget die Frucht an sich zu formiren, vnd wird ein Apffel darauß. Wer aber die vnzeitige Frucht abbreche / würde jhre erste formation verderben: dann der Mensch hat nit die Wissenschafft zu geben eine Substantz oder die Zeitigung / wie die vntere Natur wol vermag / weil die Frucht noch am Baum ist / vnd jhre Substantz vnd Nahrung von der Natur haben kan. Solang man nun der Zeitigung erwartet / also lang nimmet die Frucht den Geschmack an / vnd ziehet steuges Safft an sich / sich vermehrend vnd ernehrend / biß daß sie gar zeitig vnd vollkommen wirdt. **English** But so that no one errs in this matter: Nature cannot congeal it beneath the earth, even to the smallest extent, without a fixed grain soon appearing, one that brings forth a true germ from Mercury’s two seeds, as may be seen in lead veins. For there is no such vein without a true fixed grain in it, namely of gold and silver, in substance and nourishment. Mercury’s first congelation is the ore of lead, and this is the most suitable for bringing it to perfection so that it becomes fixed. As said above, lead ore is not without a fixed grain of gold and silver; Nature places these grains there. Thus it can multiply and attain perfection and full strength, as I have experienced and can certainly affirm. As long as it remains within its Mercury—that is, is not separated from its ore but kept safely within it, for every metal still within the ore is still a Mercury—it can multiply, provided only that it can obtain substance from its Mercury. But when the fixed grain is taken away and separated from its Mercury, which is its ore, it will be like green, unripe fruit on the tree. When the blossom passes away, the fruit begins to form and becomes an apple. Anyone who plucked the unripe fruit would destroy its first formation, for a person does not have the knowledge to impart substance or ripening as lower Nature can while the fruit is still on the tree and can receive its substance and nourishment from Nature. As one waits for it to ripen, the fruit acquires its flavour and continually draws sap into itself, increasing and nourishing itself until it becomes fully ripe and perfect.[^n202] **APP_SUMMARYS006** 1619 pp 221–223 · scans ER225, ER226, ER227 **German** Gleicher Gestalt verhelt es sich mit dem Golde. Dann wann die Natur sein granum gemacht / vnnd zu einem Mercurio gebracht / so ernähret sie solches täglich früe vnd spat: vermehret es / vnd machet es in seinem Mercurio vollkommen / wie es ist: vnd muß erwartet werden / biß daß es eine Substantz von seinem Mercurio bekomme: gleich wie die Frücht am Baum auch thun. Denn wisset / daß der Mercurius ein Baum ist der perfecten vnd imperfecten Metallen: darumb können sie auch keine Nahrung haben als allein von jhrem Mercurio. Sage derhalben / wann jhr wollet Frucht samblen von dem Mercurio, der da ist die leuchtende Sonn vnd Mond / so es geschiehet / daß sie in jrgend einer weise weit / doch ohne langes verharren von einander seyn / so gedencket nicht / daß jhr sie wider zusammen / wie die Natur anfänglich gethan / werdet fügen können / sie wol zu multipliciren vnnd ohne Verenderung zu vermehren. Dann wann die Metall von jhrer minera gescheiden seyn / so findet jhr sie sonderbar gleich wie klein Obst / so man zu früe vnnd vnzeitig abgebrochen / welche nimmermehr groß werden. Es ist sonsten auch durch die Natur vnnd Experientz von den Früchten der Bäum / daß wann ein Apffel oder Birn von dem Baum abgenommen wird / es ein Thorheit ist / sie widerumb auff den Sprossen zu setzen / daß sie groß vnd zeitig werden. Denn man weiß / je mehr man sie in den Händen vmbwaltzet / je eher sie verwelcken. Also ist es auch mit den Metallen. Dann wer gemein metallisch Gold vnd Silber nehmen / vnd solche in einen Mercurium bringen wolte / der thäte närrisch. Dann hierzu würde keine subtile Kunst zu finden seyn / daß sich einer nicht selbst damit betriegen thäte: er gebrauchte gleich vielerley Wasser oder Cement / oder andere vnzehliche viel ding / so nicht alles zu erzehlen ist: stetiges würde es gefehlet seyn / vnnd jhme geschehen / als wie denen / so vnzeitige Frücht abbrechen vnnd sie auff den Stamm widerumb zu setzen gedencken. **English** The same holds for gold. When Nature has made its grain and brought it into a Mercury, she nourishes it daily, early and late, increases it and makes it perfect within its Mercury, as it is. One must wait until it receives substance from its Mercury, just as the fruit on a tree does. For know that Mercury is a tree of the perfect and imperfect metals; therefore they can receive nourishment only from their own Mercury. I say, then, that if you wish to gather fruit from Mercury, which is the shining Sun and Moon, and it happens that in some way they are far apart, even without remaining so for long, do not suppose that you will be able to join them together again as Nature originally did, in order to multiply them properly and increase them without alteration. For when metals have been separated from their ore, you find them each by itself, like little fruits plucked too early and unripe, which will never grow large. Nature and experience also teach us, concerning fruit on trees, that when an apple or pear has been taken from the tree, it is folly to put it back on the shoot so that it will grow large and ripe. We know that the more one rolls it about in one’s hands, the sooner it withers. So it is with metals. Anyone who took common metallic gold and silver and wished to bring them into a Mercury would act foolishly. No subtle art could be found for doing this without deceiving oneself, even if one employed many kinds of water or cement or countless other things, too numerous to relate. The effort would continually fail, and one would fare like those who pluck unripe fruit and think of putting it back on the trunk.[^n203] **APP_SUMMARYS007** 1619 pp 223–224 · scans ER227, ER228 **German** Wiewol etliche wahre Philosophi recht gesagt haben / wenn man die Sonn vnd den Mond / durch den rechten Mercurium zusammen füge / daß sie als dann alle vnvolkommene Metall vollkommen machen: darinnen aber der meiste theil Leute jrret / die kein ander Ding haben auff Erden / es seyn vegetabilia, animalia oder mineralia, als diese drey / so in einem Ding beysammen seyn. Dann sie nehmen nicht in acht / daß die Philosophi nicht von gemeinem Gold / Silber vnnd Mercurio reden / welche gantz todt seyn / vnnd keine Substantz mehr annehmen: sondern bleiben also / vnnd kan keines dem andern helffen / daß es perficiret würde. Sie seyn fürwar die Frücht / die man vor der Zeit vom Baum genommen / vnnd deßwegen nit achtet. Dann es wirdt in jhnen nit gefunden / was man suchet. Sie haben nicht mehr / als was sie selbsten bedürffen: derhalben soll man die Frucht auff dem Baum suchen / so zu jhnen noch führet / welche Frucht von Tag zu Tage sich ergrössert vnd vermehret / so lang als der Baum darzu gibe. Vnd diß Werck ist eine Frewde zu sehen. Durch diß Mittel kan man den Baum ohne samlung der Früchte anfangen vmbzupflantzen / vnd in andere fruchtbare bessere Erden zu versetzen / welche vielleicht in einem Tag der Frucht mehr Nahrung geben mag / als sie sonsten in hundert Jahren von anderer Erden nicht empfangen hette. **English** Some true philosophers have indeed rightly said that if the Sun and Moon are joined through the true Mercury, they then make all imperfect metals perfect. But most people err in this, having no other thing on earth—whether vegetable, animal or mineral—than these three, which are together in one thing. They fail to notice that the philosophers are not speaking of common gold, silver and Mercury, which are entirely dead and take in no further substance, but remain as they are. None of them can help another to become perfect. They truly are fruit taken from the tree before its time and therefore disregarded. What one seeks is not found within them. They have no more than they themselves require. One must therefore seek the fruit on the tree that still supplies it, fruit which grows larger and increases from day to day for as long as the tree supplies it. This work is a delight to behold. By this means one can begin to transplant the tree without gathering its fruit and set it in another, more fertile and better soil, which may give the fruit more nourishment in one day than it would otherwise have received from another soil in a hundred years. **APP_SUMMARYS008** 1619 pp 224–226 · scans ER228, ER229, ER230 **German** Hierdurch ist nun zu verstehen / daß man den Mercurium, so der hochgeehrte vnnd geehrte Baum ist / nehmen solle / welcher zugleich bey sich vnd vngescheiden beysammen hat die Sonn vnnd den Mond: als dann mag man jn vmbpflantzen in eine andere Erden / die der Sonnen näher ist / zu erlangen wunderbärlichen Nutzen / darzu das Taw gnugsam ist. Denn da er zuvor gepflantzet gewesen / hat jn der Wind vnnd die Kälte also geschlagen / daß wenig Frucht darvon zu hoffen war: daselbsten er lang geblieben / vnd nur kleine Früchte getragen. Es haben die Philosophi einen Garten / darinnen die Sonne früe vnd abend / Tag vnd Nacht jederzeit ohn auffhören ist / sampt einem lieblichen Taw / von dem sie wol angesprenget wird / vnd trägt die Erde Bäume vnd Früchte / die dahin gepflantzet seyn / welche gehörige Nahrung von angenehmer Weide empfangen. Diß geschiehet von Tag zu Tag / vnd sie werden allda starck vnd kräfftig ohne verwelcken / auffs wenigste in einem Jahr ohngefehr / als sie sonsten in tausend Jahren (also zu sagen) nicht gethan hetten an dem Ort da sie zuvor stunden / vnd die Kälte sie betraffe. Man muß sie nehmen / vnd sie vber das Fewer Tag vnd Nacht stetigs in Ofen halten. Es soll aber kein Holtz oder Kolenfewer seyn / sondern ein helles liechtes Fewr / nicht anders als die Sonne / welches niemals zu heiß oder brennend / sondern allezeit gleich warm seyn soll: dann der Dampff oder Dunst ist das Taw vnd Samen aller Metallen / so nicht muß alterirt werden. Du sihest an den wachsenden Früchten / wann sie zu viel Hitze haben ohne ein wenig Taw / daß sie trocken bleiben / vnd auff den Sprossen absterben / oder zu keiner vollkommenheit endlich kommen. Wann sie aber durch wärme vnd mittelmässige feuchtigkeit auff dem Baum ernähret werden / so werden sie schön vnd herzlich. Dann wärme vnd feuchtigkeit ist ein Nahrung aller ding auff Erden / als der animalien, vegetabilien, vnd mineralien. Holtz vnnd Kolenfewer ist jhnen nicht gut. Dann es seyn gewaltsame Fewer / so nicht ernähren / als das / so von der Sonnen kommet: welche wärme alle corporalische ding erhelt / darumb daß sie natürlich ist. **English** From this one is now to understand that one should take Mercury, the highly honoured and esteemed tree, which has the Sun and Moon together within itself, unseparated. Then one may transplant it into another soil nearer to the Sun, to obtain wonderful benefit; sufficient dew is available for this. For where it was planted before, wind and cold had beaten it so badly that little fruit could be hoped for. It remained there a long time and bore only small fruits. The philosophers have a garden in which the Sun is always present without ceasing, early and late, day and night, together with a lovely dew that thoroughly sprinkles it. The earth bears trees and fruits planted there, which receive their proper nourishment from pleasant pasture. This takes place from day to day, and they grow strong and vigorous there without withering, at least in about one year, as they would otherwise not have done in a thousand years, so to speak, in the place where they stood before and the cold struck them. One must take them and keep them constantly in the furnace over the fire, day and night. But it should not be a wood or charcoal fire, rather a clear, bright fire like the Sun, never too hot or burning, but always evenly warm. For the vapour or mist is the dew and seed of all metals, which must not be altered. You see in growing fruits that when they have too much heat without a little dew, they remain dry and die on the shoots or never attain any perfection. But when they are nourished on the tree by warmth and moderate moisture, they become beautiful and flourishing. For warmth and moisture nourish all things on earth: animals, plants and minerals. A wood or charcoal fire is not good for them. These are violent fires that do not nourish like the fire coming from the Sun, whose warmth preserves all bodily things because it is natural.[^n204] **APP_SUMMARYS009** 1619 pp 226–228 · scans ER230, ER231, ER232 **German** Derentwegen haben die wahren Philosophi kein ander Fewer für sie erwehlen wollen / als das natürliche / dem sie nachfolgen: nicht aber daß darumb der Philosophus mache / was die natur machet: dann die Natur alle ding / als vegetabilia, mineralia, vnnd animalia, ein jedes in seinem Grad / in dem es herrschet / geschaffen hat. So wil ich auch nit sagen / daß die menschen durch jre kunst natürliche ding machen. Wenn aber die natur solche ding außgewircket hat / so kan jhnen der Mensch durch kunst helffen / vnd sie perfecter als die natur gethan / machen. Auff diese weiß haben die alten Philosophi vns alle zu informiren anderst nicht gearbeitet / dann natürlich mit der Luna, vnnd der rechten Muter dem Mercurio, davon sie Mercurium Philosophorum gemacht / welcher in seiner Wirckung weit stärcker ist / als der natürliche Mercurius. Dann dieser ist nur gut zu den schlechten vollkommenen vnd vnvollkommenen / kalten oder erwarmeten Metallen: aber der Philosophische dienet auch für die mehr dann vollkommene vnnd vnvolkommene Metall / solche alle geschwind zu perficiren vnnd reficiren, ohne einiges vermindern / zuthun oder verendern. Wie sie die Natur gemacht / also lässet er sie seyn / vnnd lässet doch auch nichts auß. Jedoch wil ich auch nicht sagen / daß die Philosophi alle drey zusammen fügen / jhren Mercurium zu machen vnd zu perficiren, wie eins theils vnweise Leut vnd vngelehrte Alchimisten thun / die das gemeine Gold / Silber vnnd Mercurium nemen / vnd dieselben so vbel tractiren, biß sie im rauch hinweg gehen / vnnd also den Mercurium philosophorum zu machen vermeynen. Aber sie kommen zu diesem nicht / der da ist des Steins erste Materi vnd wahre minera. Wollen sie darzu kommen / vnnd etwas gutes finden / so müssen sie gehen auff den Berg der siben / da keine ebne ist / vñ von oben herab anschawen die sechste / die sie von ferne sehen werden: auff demselben hohen Berge werden sie erkennen / das triumphirende Regalische Kraut / welches etliche Philosophi mineralisch / etliche vegetabilisch genennet: vnd Saturnialisch heisset. Man muß aber das Gebein seyn lassen / vnd die Suppen / so davon kömmt / nehmen / gantz rein vnd sauber / davon kan der meiste theil des Wercks gemacht werden. Dieses ist der rechte subtile Mercurius Philosophorum, welchen du nehmen sollest. **English** For this reason the true philosophers have wished to choose no fire for them except the natural fire, which they follow. This does not mean that the philosopher makes what Nature makes, for Nature has created all things—plants, minerals and animals—each in its own degree in which it rules. Nor do I mean that human beings make natural things through their art. But when Nature has worked such things out, a person can assist them by art and make them more perfect than Nature has done. To instruct us all, the ancient philosophers worked in this way alone: naturally, with the Moon and the true mother, Mercury. From these they made the philosophers’ Mercury, which is far stronger in its operation than natural Mercury. The latter is good only for ordinary perfect and imperfect metals, cold or warmed; philosophical Mercury also serves for the more than perfect and imperfect metals, swiftly perfecting and restoring them all without any diminution, addition or alteration. It leaves them as Nature made them, and yet omits nothing. However, I do not mean that the philosophers put all three together to make and perfect their Mercury, as some foolish people and unlearned alchemists do. They take common gold, silver and Mercury and handle them so badly that they pass away in smoke, supposing that they are making the philosophers’ Mercury in this way. But they do not arrive at it, although it is the Stone’s first matter and true ore. If they wish to reach it and find something good, they must go to the mountain of the seven, where there is no level ground, and look down from above upon the sixth, which they will see from afar. On that high mountain they will recognise the triumphant royal herb, which some philosophers call mineral and others vegetable, and which is called Saturnian. But one must leave the bones and take the broth that comes from them, entirely pure and clean; from this the greater part of the work can be made. This is the true subtle philosophers’ Mercury which you should take.[^n205], [^n206] **APP_SUMMARYS010** 1619 pp 228–230 · scans ER232, ER233, ER234 **German** Erstlich wird er das Werck weiß / darnach auch roth machen / so du meine Rede recht verstehest. Dann beydes ist nicht mehr als eine Practik: die Sonne vnd der Monde werden auff einerley weg gemacht vnd zubereitet: dahero kommet weiß vnd roth in der Practik / welche so schlecht vnd leicht ist / daß sie ein Weib neben dem Rocken oder spinnen vngehindert verrichten kan / oder als wann sie der Hennen im Winter Eyer vnterlegt / sie außzubrüten / vnd dieselben nicht wäschet. Dann man wäschet die Eyer nicht / wenn man sie zum außbrüten vnterlegen wil / sondern wie sie seyn / also vnterleget man sie der Hennen: vnd thut nichts anders als daß man sie täglich vmbwendet / vnd vnter der Brüthennen vmbkehret / die junge Hünlein desto eher zu haben. Hiermit ich alles gnugsam erkläret. Das Exempel aber außzuführen / sollestu erstlich deinen Mercurium nicht waschen / sondern jhn nehmen / vnd mit seines gleichen / welches das Fewer ist / in die Aschen / so das Stroh ist / setzen / in ein einiges Glaß / so das Nest ist / ohne anders ding / in einen tüglichen Ofen / der das Hauß ist: so wird von dannen heraus gehen ein jung Hünlein / so durch sein Blut dich heilen wird von aller kranckheit / vnd von seinem Fleisch dich zur Speiß settigen wird: von seinen Federn wird es dich bekleiden / vnd für der Kälte bewahren. Darauff ich den höchsten Schöpffer bitte / daß er allen gutherzigen Alchimisten die Gnade verleyhen wolle / dieses Hünlein zu finden / daß sie sich davon erhalten vnd ernehren mögen. Gleich wie das wenige / so ich allhier erkläret / von oben herab von Gott dem Vatter empfangen / der mir es aus Lieb nach seiner Güte gegeben. Derenwegen ich euch dieses kleine Tractätlein gemacht / auff daß jhr mehrern Lust habt zu suchen / vnd den rechten Weg treffet: welchen Tractat ich in ein Summarium gefasset / auff daß jhr nach den dictis Philosophorum, die jhr hinführo mehrer verstehen werdet / das Werck besser ergreiffet. **English** First it will make the work white and afterwards red, if you understand my words correctly. For both are no more than one practice: the Sun and Moon are made and prepared by the same path. From this come white and red in the practice, which is so simple and easy that a woman can carry it out without hindrance beside the distaff or while spinning. It is like setting eggs under a hen in winter to hatch them without washing them. For one does not wash eggs when one wishes to set them for hatching; one puts them under the hen just as they are, doing nothing more than turning them daily and turning them over beneath the brooding hen, to obtain the young chicks sooner. With this I have sufficiently explained everything. But to carry the example through: first you should not wash your Mercury. Rather, take it and set it with its like, which is the fire, in the ashes, which are the straw, in a single glass, which is the nest, without anything else, in a suitable furnace, which is the house. From there a young chick will emerge which will heal you of every illness through its blood, satisfy you with its flesh for food, clothe you with its feathers and protect you from the cold. I therefore ask the highest Creator to grant all good-hearted alchemists the grace to find this chick, so that they may sustain and nourish themselves from it. For the little I have explained here I received from above, from God the Father, who gave it to me out of love according to his goodness. For this reason I have made this small treatise for you, so that you may have greater desire to seek and may find the right way. I have gathered the treatise into a summary so that, in accordance with the sayings of the philosophers, which you will henceforth understand more fully, you may grasp the work better.[^n207], [^n208] ### The Way of Truth *Via veritatis* **Chapter outline** - False operations and the imitation of Nature - One substance and the three natures - The hidden fire, moisture and the language of colours - The origin of the elements and essences - Coction, metallic perfection and the true way **APP_VIAS001** 1619 pp 231 · scans ER235 **German** VIA VERITATIS. Ein sehr Schönes, nützliches vnd herrliches Tractätlein. **English** THE WAY OF TRUTH. A very fine, useful and excellent little treatise. **APP_VIAS002** 1619 pp 231–232 · scans ER235, ER236 **German** Nachdem nun, Lieber Freund vnd Bruder, viel Verführungen biß anhero dem Einfeltigen, in der herrlichen Kunst Chimia sein vorgestellt durch viel falsche Alchimistische Scribenten, welcher schreiben doch nichts anders ist, dann eitel betrug vnnd Lügen, obs wol dem Einfeltigen bedüncket etwas herrlichs zu sein, vnnd also den Lügen grossen glauben zustellen, auch mit der arbeit fortfahren, aber sich dadurch in grosse mühe vnd Arbeit bringen, dann was auß vnverstand angefangen, kan zu keinem löblichen ende gebracht werden. Derwegen sihestu den meisten hauffen, so sich jetziger zeit in die herrliche Kunst Alchimia begeben, lauffen vnd jagen alß bald nach den falschen Alchimistischen Processen, vnd meinen, sie haben allda die rechte ware Kunst gefunden, die doch ohne Parabeln inn keinen Büchern beschrieben wirdt, sondern ein hauffen falscher ℞ find man gnugsam, so falsche Buben ertichtet, die selbst von der Warheit nichts gewust, derhalben sie auch nichts warhafftiges schreiben können, haben also beyde Leser vnd Schreiber gleich viel verstanden, was in die Natur gehöret, dann so die Schreiber die Natur gewust, hetten sie solche vngereimpte ordnungen vnd ℞ zu schreiben nicht vnterwunden, Ja auch dieselben mit jrer falschen Sublimation, Calcination, Distillation, Solution vnd Coagulation, die erdichtet Putrefaction vnd Coniunction: wie man das täglich bey den Vngeschickten sihet, daß sie all jhr Gut mit der falschen Sudlerey verschwenden, welches nur alles geschichet durch die falsche Bücher, die da lehren von falschen Regimenten, welche der Natur gar nicht gleichförmig sein. **English** Dear friend and brother, until now many false alchemical writers have led the simple astray in the noble art of chymistry. Their writings contain nothing but deceit and lies, although the simple suppose them to contain something excellent, put great faith in the lies and continue with the work. In this way, however, they involve themselves in great trouble and labour, for what is begun without understanding cannot be brought to a commendable end. You therefore see that most people who now take up the noble art of alchemy immediately run in pursuit of false alchemical processes. They imagine that they have found the true and proper art there, although it is never described in books without parables. Instead, there is an ample supply of false recipes invented by scoundrels who themselves knew nothing of the truth and therefore could write nothing true. Reader and writer have thus understood equally little of what belongs to Nature. If the writers had known Nature, they would not have ventured to write such absurd directions and recipes, with their false sublimation, calcination, distillation, solution and coagulation, their invented putrefaction and conjunction. We see every day how the unskilled squander all their possessions on this false bungling. All of this happens through false books which teach false regimens wholly inconsistent with Nature.[^n209] **APP_VIAS003** 1619 pp 232–234 · scans ER236, ER237, ER238 **German** Mit solchen vnnützen vnd vnnötigen Processen haben die rechten Chymici nichts zu schaffen, sondern sie gebrauchen sich der Ehrwirdigen Natur, wie die es in den Adern der Erden nach ihrer arth, weise, zu wegen bringet ohn Solution, Coagulation, Putrefaction, welche doch in sich gantz simpel vnd schlecht ist. Dann bedencke dich doch recht, lieber Freund, was für Instrumenta als Helmen, Kolben, was für Retorten, Circulirgläser, Sublimirgläser, oder mancherley Ofen, mancherley Fewr, auch mancherley Materien man findet in den Adern der Erden, da die Metallen grunen vnd wachsen, ob die Natur auch in den Adern der Erden so viel vnd mancherley Ofen oder Gläser, auch so mancherley Materien gebrauchet, als Vitriol, Saltz, Arsenicum, Mercurium, Schweffel, vnd anderm Lumpenwerck mehr, hie vnnötig zu erzehlen, wie heut die Alchimisten gebrauchen, damit sie jhr Gelt, vnd Zeit mit grossem vnverstand zubringen, mag sie auch billich vor Vnverständige schelten, dieweil sie sich täglich in Alchymia vben, aber doch in der grossen Sudlerey mit jhren Solutionibus, Coagulationibus, Distillationibus, Putrefactio: das doch nichts werth ist, verharren, vnd das Gelde vnd die Zeit vnnützlich verzehren, dieweil die Natur so schlecht ist, vnd jhre Arbeit so gar simpel vnd schlecht verbringet. Worzu dienet vns dann die grosse Sudlerey vnnd Mühe, die doch nichts als Thorheit von den wahren Künstlern gerechnet wird? **English** True chymists have nothing to do with such useless and unnecessary processes. They follow venerable Nature, which accomplishes the work in the veins of the earth according to its own manner, without solution, coagulation or putrefaction, and is itself entirely simple and plain. Consider carefully, dear friend, what instruments are found in the veins of the earth where metals flourish and grow: what alembic heads and cucurbits, what retorts, circulating vessels and subliming vessels, what assorted furnaces, fires and materials? Does Nature use so many different furnaces or glasses in the veins of the earth, and so many materials—vitriol, salt, arsenic, mercury, sulphur and other rubbish which need not be listed here—as alchemists use today, spending their money and time with such great ignorance? They may rightly be called ignorant, since they practise alchemy daily yet persist in their great bungling with solutions, coagulations, distillations and putrefaction, which are worth nothing, and uselessly consume money and time. Nature is plain, and accomplishes its work very simply and plainly. What use to us, then, is all this bungling and labour, which true practitioners regard as nothing but folly?[^n210] **APP_VIAS004** 1619 pp 234–235 · scans ER238, ER239 **German** Werden auch täglich von jhnen verspottet, daß sie die Augen nicht besser auffthun, sondern also in der Sophisterey bestecken bleiben (darinnen sie auch müssen verderben vnd verharren, dieweil sie nichts weiters wollen nachtrachten, dann was sie in jhren Sophistischen Büchern gelesen haben) denn all jr thun ist Sophistisch vnd nicht Philosophisch, darumb sie auch zu keiner Kunst oder Warheit kommen. Das sag ich aber fürwar, so lang du der Lügen vnd nicht der Philosophischen Kunst Liebhaber bist, wird dir die Warheit nit offenbaret werden, wiewol ich auch lange zeit in den Sophistischen Regimenten verharrte vnd gearbeitet, als Sublimiren, Distilliren, Calciniren, Jteriren, Ja auch mancher Substantzen, als Vrin, Saltz, Vitriol, Alaun, Boras, nicht verschont, Item, im Haar, im Blut, in Weinstein, auch in Bein hab ich gesucht mit mancherley arbeit, in Eyern, Knochen, vnd in allerhandt Kräutern hab ich mich bemühet, Arsenicum vñ den Mercurium cum sulph. hab ich versucht, alle Mineralia vnd Metalle hab ich probiert durch alle starcke Wasser vnnd Laugen hab ich sie angegriffen mit soluiren vnnd coaguliren, hab mich auch beflissen im amalgamiren, vnnd præcipitiren hat mich nicht erfrewet, den Quint Essentien het ich viel vertrawet, bin aber auch betrogen worden. **English** The true practitioners also ridicule them daily for failing to open their eyes and for remaining stuck in sophistry. There they must remain and perish, because they will consider nothing beyond what they have read in their sophistical books. All their conduct is sophistical rather than philosophical, and so they attain neither the art nor the truth. I tell you truly: as long as you love lies instead of the philosophical art, the truth will not be revealed to you. I too persisted and laboured for a long time in sophistical regimens: subliming, distilling, calcining and repeating operations. Nor did I spare many substances, such as urine, salt, vitriol, alum and borax. I searched in hair, blood, tartar and bone by many kinds of work; I laboured with eggs, bones and all sorts of herbs. I tried arsenic and mercury with sulphur. I tested every mineral and metal, attacking them with all manner of strong waters and lyes, dissolving and coagulating them. I also applied myself to amalgamation, and precipitation gave me no joy. I placed great trust in quintessences, but was deceived there too.[^n211] **APP_VIAS005** 1619 pp 235–236 · scans ER239, ER240 **German** Darum, lieber Bruder, ist mein ernstlich vermahnung vñ befehl, dz, so du in dieser herrlichen Kunst zu suchen dich wilt begeben, das du dich in das Sophistische vnordentliche regiment, d sublimirung deß sulphuris vñ mercurii oder d soluirung der Cörpern, auch d coagulirung der Spirituum nit wollest einlassen, auch mit jhren köstlichen Offen nichts zu schaffen haben (denn sie zur rechten Kunst nicht dienlich) Daneben auch, so lange du nicht dem warhafftigen wesen der Natur nachtrachtest, wirstu wol vngetröstet bleiben, das du auch endlich wirst vermeinen, die Kunst sey nichtig, vnd gar erdichtet vnd erlogen. **English** My earnest admonition and injunction, dear brother, is therefore this: if you intend to search in this noble art, do not involve yourself in the sophistical and disorderly regimen of subliming sulphur and mercury, dissolving bodies or coagulating spirits. Have nothing to do with their expensive furnaces, for these do not serve the true art. Moreover, as long as you fail to consider the true being of Nature, you will remain without comfort, until at last you suppose the art to be worthless, wholly invented and false. **APP_VIAS006** 1619 pp 236–238 · scans ER240, ER241, ER242 **German** Darumb so du vortheil begerest zu schaffen, mustu alle die Sublimation, Calcination, Solution vnd Coagulation mit der Putrefaction gantz vbergeben, vnd begehren Jünger zu sein vnd genant werden, den rechten wahren grund der Philosophiæ, welcher dir durch den rechten Verstand ein ander Solution, ein ander Coagulation, vnd ein ander Regiment, welches natürlich ist, wird weisen vnd lehren (vnd auch mit der Natur vberein kommen) Dann wie es die Natur in den Adern der Erden arbeitet, da die Metallen wachsen, also mustu der Natur bequemlich folgen. Du sihest ja, daß die Natur nicht mehr dann eine einige Substantz in jrem wesen gebraucht, vnd in derselben Substantia sihestu alle ding verborgen. Diese Substantia darff keiner andern Arbeit, denn allein eine warhafftige kochung, durch welche sie sich höher vnd höher gradirt, biß auff jhren höchsten Gradum. Aus dieser schlechten kochung vnd gradirung haben die spitzsinnigen Sophisten ein Solution, Coagulation, Calcination, Putrefaction, Sublimation, auch noch viel mehr phantastische Namen erdichtet, haben also von dem wahren schlechten wesen oder schlechten kochung ein gantz ander wesen gemacht vnnd erpintisirt, vnnd diese schlechte, wahrhafftige Kunst inn die gröste beschwernuß gebracht, gleich als ob so grosse mühe vnnd arbeit, so lange zeit, vnd so viel Vnkosten darzu gehöreten, daß sie doch fälschlich, auß haß vnd neid, haben erdichtet, damit sie die Nachfolger von der waren Kunst ableiteten, vnd in grosse Armut führeten, welches sie für Gott schwerlich mügen verantworten, in dem sie wenig betracht, das Gott spricht: Liebe deinen Nechsten als dich selber. Die warheit haben sie vnter die füsse getretten, vnd lügen an die stad gesetzt, welche sie herrlich geschmückt, vnd grosse Bücher davon geschrieben, gleich als wann es ein wichtige sache were, die metallische Natur zu verbessern, da es doch nichts anders ist, dann eine schlechte kochung. **English** If you wish to make progress, therefore, you must entirely abandon all this sublimation, calcination, solution and coagulation, together with putrefaction. Desire to be a disciple and to be called one, learning the true and proper foundation of philosophy. Through right understanding, that foundation will show and teach you a different solution, a different coagulation and a different regimen, which is natural and agrees with Nature. You must follow Nature fittingly, as it works in the veins of the earth where metals grow. You can see that Nature uses only one substance in its being, and that all things lie hidden in that substance. This substance needs no other labour than a true coction, through which it rises from degree to degree until it reaches its highest degree. Out of this plain coction and progression, the subtle sophists have invented solution, coagulation, calcination, putrefaction, sublimation and many more fanciful names. They have thus contrived something entirely different out of the true, plain being, or plain coction, and have burdened this plain and truthful art with the greatest difficulty, as though it required such enormous labour, such a long time and such great expense. They invented these things falsely, from hatred and envy, to lead their followers away from the true art and into great poverty. They will scarcely be able to answer for this before God, having given little heed to his command: Love your neighbour as yourself. They have trampled truth underfoot and put lies in its place, adorning those lies magnificently and writing great books about them, as though improving metallic Nature were a weighty undertaking, when it is nothing but a plain coction.[^n212] **APP_VIAS007** 1619 pp 238–240 · scans ER242, ER243, ER244 **German** Dann weil du kochest, so putrificirstu, die substantz gibt sich in eine faulung, gleicher weis wie das Korn, wenn es in die Erde gesäet, durch die wärme der Sonnen in der Erden erhalten wird, vnd durch den natürlichen regen erst muß vergehen vñ faulen, ehe etwas newes davon wachsen mag, dasselbe haben sie eine Putrefaction genant, auch ein Solution, also sublimirstu auch in der kochung, dann die verbesserung der substantz haben sie eine Sublimation vnd Multiplication die einfeltigen vnnd vnweisen denn damit zu verblenden gemeinet. Ebener massen so Coagulirstu: Als wenn die Feuchtigkeit in die Natur deß Fewers verändert wird, daß sie dem fewer widerstehen kan, noch hitzeret wird, oder verrauchet, nennen sie es Coagulation, in der kochung Circuliren die Philosophi, dann darin wird das Fewer mit dem wasser vereiniget, damit das Fewer nicht verbrennen kan, wie wir täglich sehen, daß das Wasser aller ding vor dem brand, so lang das Wasser darbey ist, beschirmet. Also auch nimpt sich dz wasser in der kochung deß Fewers an, vnnd vereiniget sich das Wasser mit dem Fewer, das es gantz ein lauter Fewer wird, vnd ist also von den Alten Circulatio oder Coniunctio geheissen. Also da sihstu, wie sie von der schlechten Kochung so viel namen erdichtet, vnd so viel falscher Regiment den Leuten zur verführung haben auffgerichtet. Aber die vielerley namen haben die Alten dieser einigen Substantz derhalben zugelegt, damit sich keiner köndt erinnern, was es doch sein möchte, darauß (durch die Krafft Gottes) so herrliche ding könten zu wege gebracht werden. Erstlich nennen sie es vnsern ☿m, dadurch sie nichts anders haben verstanden, als die feuchtigkeit, so sich ein wenig mit dem Fewer hat angefangen zu vereinigen, vnnd also dem ☿io ist vergleichet worden. Auch haben sie es vnsern Sulphur genendt, welcher doch nichts anders ist denn das Fewer, so in dem Wasser oder Feuchtigkeit verborgen ligt, vnnd von dem Wasser biß zu seinem höchsten gradu gekocht wird. Weiter ist es auch Hyle, id est, principium omnium rerum genennt worden, darumb, weil alle ding sich erst auß dem Wasser vnnd Fewer generiren. **English** While you cook, you putrefy: the substance passes into decay, just as grain sown in the earth is sustained there by the sun’s warmth and, through natural rain, must first perish and rot before anything new can grow from it. They called this putrefaction, and also solution. You also sublime while cooking, for they called the improvement of the substance sublimation and multiplication, intending thereby to blind the simple and unwise. In the same way you coagulate: when moisture is changed into the nature of fire, so that it can withstand fire and is neither scorched nor dispersed as vapour, they call this coagulation. The philosophers circulate in coction, for in it fire is united with water so that the fire cannot burn. We see every day that water protects all things from burning as long as the water is present. Thus in coction the water takes on fire and unites with it, becoming wholly pure fire; the ancients called this circulation or conjunction. You see, then, how they invented so many names for plain coction and established so many false regimens to mislead people. The ancients gave this one substance its many names so that no one could discover what it might be from which, through the power of God, such excellent things could be accomplished. First they call it our mercury, meaning nothing but the moisture which has begun to unite a little with fire and has therefore been likened to mercury. They also called it our sulphur, which is nothing other than the fire hidden in the water or moisture and cooked by that water to its highest degree. It was further named Hyle, that is, the beginning of all things, because all things are first generated from water and fire.[^n213] **APP_VIAS008** 1619 pp 240 · scans ER244 **German** Andere namen, als Auripigm: Arsen: Marcasita belangendt, sein nit von Philosophis, sondern von losen vnverständigen Buben vnd Sophisten, welche selbst die Warheit nicht gewust, erdichtet. Darumb wollestu dich hinfuro der Sophisten entschlagen, vnd nichts anders thun, als der Natur nachfolgen, welche nur eine schlechte kochung erfordert, so wirstu nicht betrogen. Wann du nun nicht so sehr verführet, vñ der Natur ein wenig nachtrachten wilt, wirstu dich ohn zweiffel bald können erinnern, was doch die Matery sey, darauß die Metallischen Creaturen progenerirt werden. Aber dennoch mustu von erst die Metallische Natur, warumb Sol, Luna, Venus, Mars, Iupiter, vnd Saturnus alle Metallen sein, was jhr vrsprung ist, daß sie Metallen geworden sein, recht lernen erkennen. **English** Other names, such as auripigment, arsenic and marcasite, were invented by worthless, ignorant scoundrels and sophists who themselves knew nothing of the truth, rather than by philosophers. Henceforth free yourself from the sophists and do nothing but follow Nature, which requires only plain coction; then you will not be deceived. If you are not too badly misled, and are willing to consider Nature a little, you will doubtless soon be able to discern the matter from which metallic creatures are generated. First, however, you must learn to understand metallic Nature correctly: why Sol, Luna, Venus, Mars, Jupiter and Saturn are all metals, and what their origin is, through which they have become metals.[^n214] **APP_VIAS009** 1619 pp 240–241 · scans ER244, ER245 **German** Auch mustu vngezweiffelt wissen, daß alle geschaffene ding, in drey Naturen getheilet sein, als Vegetabilische, Animalische vnnd Mineralische, vnd das in diesen dreyen alle ding begriffen sein, denn alle Kräuter, alles Holtz vnnd Bäume, was im Fewer verbrennet, vnd Flammen von sich gibt, wirt Vegetabilisch genant. Darnach alle Thier, die das Leben haben, oder was vnter Fleisch vnnd Blut begriffen, wirt Animalisch. Endlich alle Metallen vnd Stein, auch alle andere ding, so keine Flammen können von sich geben, sein Mineralisch, vnnd werden vnter die Mineralische Natur begriffen. Also sihestu nun, lieber Bruder, daß alle ding in drey vnderschiedliche Naturen getheilet vnd begrieffen sein. Demnach, ob sie schon in die drey vnderschiedene Naturen getheilet sein, haben sie doch alle nur einen Anfang oder Principium, davon sie gezeuget oder geboren werden, daß durch die vnterschiedene kochung verendert sich diese prima materia in dreyerley wege, darnach die kochung ist, durch diese einige vnnd gemeine Substantz vnterschiedener Naturen. **English** You must also know with certainty that all created things are divided into three natures: vegetable, animal and mineral, and that these three encompass everything. All herbs, all wood and trees—whatever burns in fire and gives off flames—are called vegetable. Next, all beasts that have life, or whatever is included under flesh and blood, are called animal. Finally, all metals and stones, and all other things that cannot give off flames, are mineral and are included under mineral Nature. You now see, dear brother, that all things are divided and included in three different natures. Although divided into these three different natures, they nevertheless all have one beginning or principle from which they are generated or born. Through different coctions this first matter changes in three ways, according to the coction, through this single and common substance of the different natures. **APP_VIAS010** 1619 pp 241–242 · scans ER245, ER246 **German** Derhalben raht ich dir (wie vor) daß du alle Sophistisch der Alchimisten Subl: Solut: Coagul: vnnd Putrefact: sampt allem Gauckelspiel, dessen sie sich noch heutiges Tags pflegen, verlassest, vnnd allein der schlechten natürlichen Kochung, der rechten vnd wahren Substantien, anhangest, welche dich Warlich vnd gewiß, zu der warhafftigen verwandlung der Naturen führen vnd leyten wird. Dann die Natur wird durch kein ander ding, noch durch keinerley wege erhöhet noch verbessert, dann allein durch die natürliche Kochung der Essentien. **English** I therefore advise you, as before, to abandon all the alchemists’ sophistical sublimation, solution, coagulation and putrefaction, together with all the jugglery they still practise today. Keep solely to the plain, natural coction of the true and proper substances. This will truly and certainly guide you to the real transformation of natures, for Nature is exalted or improved by no other thing and by no other means than the natural coction of essences. **APP_VIAS011** 1619 pp 242–243 · scans ER246, ER247 **German** Dann, lieber Bruder, die Essentia ist die fürnemste Sache, da die Warheit vnnd kunst ligt. Aber dennoch sein verführte Sophistische Alchymisten so plump vnnd vnverständig, daß sie diß nicht können ersinnen noch begreiffen, sondern zumartern sich von tag zu tag, mit so viel vnnd mancherley, der Natur gar wider, Substantien, die gar nicht dienlich zu der wahren Kunst, gleich als ich Horn, Holtz oder Stein seen wolt, vnnd darab natürlich Korn zu erndten verhoffte. Das es doch vnmüglich, das man auß allerhand Substantien, die man erdencken möchte, Sonn vnnd Monde machen köndte, sondern allein aus der natürlichen Essentia der Naturen, davon alle ding ihren anfang bekommen, vnd hernach durch die vnderschiedene kochung in vnderschiedene Substantzen sich außtheilen. Also hat ein jeglich natürlich Ding in den Naturen sein sonderliche kochung. Darumb müssen wir, so fern wir anders zu der wahren Kunst der Alchymia begehren zu kommen, arbeiten, als die Natur in den Adern der Erden ihre Arbeit vollbringet. **English** Dear brother, essence is the principal thing in which the truth and the art reside. Yet misled, sophistical alchemists are so clumsy and ignorant that they cannot discern or comprehend this. Instead they torment themselves day after day with so many different substances contrary to Nature, which are wholly unfit for the true art. It is as though I intended to sow horn, wood or stone and hoped to harvest natural grain from them. It is impossible to make Sol and Luna from every imaginable substance; they can be made only from the natural essence of the natures, from which all things receive their beginning and thereafter, through different coctions, divide into different substances. Every natural thing thus has its particular coction in the natures. If we wish to attain the true art of alchemy, we must therefore work as Nature accomplishes its work in the veins of the earth. **APP_VIAS012** 1619 pp 243–244 · scans ER247, ER248 **German** Es haben auch die Alten von vielen Farben meldung gethan, als erst schwartz, darnach weiß, Citrinfarb, letzlich roth, auch grün vnnd allerley Farben, welches auch nichts dann betrug ist, damit sie dich verleiten, daß du dich auff andere natürliche wege begebest, vnnd also im Vnverstand bleiben müssest. Dann die Alten sein sehr subtil gewesen, haben sich häfftig bemühet, daß sie ihre Rede vnnd Sprüche, mit so verdäckten Worten köndten schmücken vnd zieren, damit der gemeine Mann, was sie hierunder angedeutet hetten, nit möcht begreiffen. **English** The ancients also mentioned many colours: first black, then white, citrine and finally red, as well as green and every sort of colour. This too is nothing but deception, intended to mislead you into taking other natural paths and thus to keep you in ignorance. For the ancients were very subtle and took great pains to adorn their statements and sayings with such veiled words that ordinary people could not comprehend what they meant by them. **APP_VIAS013** 1619 pp 244 · scans ER248 **German** Darumb warne ich dich als ein guter Freund, daß du dich nicht lassest jrren oder verleiten, weil sie von schwartzer Farben sagen, du eine schwartze Substantz zu haben oder zu nemen vermeinest, oder das die Materia in der Arbeit schwartz, weiß vnd roth werde. Sondern darumb haben sie schwartzes gesagt, weil die Essentia im ersten anfang sich vermenget mit heissem corporalischem Feuwer, als denn scheidet sich der Liquor von der Essentia gleich einem schwartzen Rauch. Diesen schwartzen Rauch haben die Alten den schwartzen Raben, die Essentia aber den Rabenkopff oder Rabenhaupt genanndt. **English** As a good friend, I therefore warn you not to be confused or misled when they speak of a black colour. Do not suppose that you must possess or take a black substance, or that the matter becomes black, white and red during the work. They spoke of blackness because, at the first beginning, the essence mixes with hot corporeal fire, whereupon the liquor separates from the essence like black smoke. The ancients called this black smoke the black raven, but called the essence the raven’s head.[^n215] **APP_VIAS014** 1619 pp 244–245 · scans ER248, ER249 **German** Diese scheidung mustu nun gar wol betrachten, dann aus dieser scheidung seind die alten Weisen verursachet, daß sie den dreyen Naturen, als Vegetabilischen, Animalischen vnd Mineralischen, haben nach getrachtet, vnnd darauß befunden, das der vnderscheid der Naturen nichts anders, denn eine mangelung der kochung in der Natur gewesen. **English** You must consider this separation very carefully, for it gave the ancient sages occasion to investigate the three natures—vegetable, animal and mineral. From this they found that the difference between the natures was nothing but a deficiency of coction in Nature. **APP_VIAS015** 1619 pp 245–246 · scans ER249, ER250 **German** Haben auch darnach diesen dingen weiter nachgesonnen vnnd gedacht, wie man doch diesen Essentien, welche durch die Natur am schwächsten gekocht, möchte durch das gemeine Feuwer natürlich zu hülff kommen, damit die Essentien, welche jetzt verbrennlich sein, vnd ihre Liquores (die Alten aus mißgunst den Mercurium genannt) welche von der Essentien schwartz abscheiden, durch kunst möchten vollkommen gemacht werden, also, daß die Essentien durch den liquorem für der verbrennung verwahret bleibe, vnnd der Liquor sich von der Essentia nit könte abscheiden. Diß haben die Alten genannt vnsern Sulphur, denn nach dieser bereitung ist die Essentia nicht mehr Vegetabilisch noch Animalisch, sondern ist nun durch die kochung ein Mineralische Essentia geworden, darumb ist er Sulphur geheissen, dann die Essentia ist nichts anders dann ein Elementarisch Feuwer. Vnd sein liquor, welcher für der verbrennung verwahret wirdt, ist eine warhafftige Elementische Lufft, das ist also, weil die Lufft von Natur warm vnnd feucht, von den Abgünstigen Mercurius genennet wirdt. **English** They then reflected further on these things, considering how ordinary fire might naturally assist those essences which Nature had cooked least thoroughly. In this way the essences which are now combustible, together with their liquors—which the ancients enviously named mercury, and which separate from the essences as black smoke—might be perfected by art. The essences would then be protected by the liquor against burning, and the liquor would be unable to separate from the essence. The ancients called this our sulphur, for after this preparation the essence is no longer vegetable or animal; through coction it has become a mineral essence and is therefore called sulphur. The essence is nothing other than elemental fire. Its liquor, which is protected against burning, is true elemental air. Because air is naturally warm and moist, the envious call it mercury. **APP_VIAS016** 1619 pp 246 · scans ER250 **German** Dann die Lufft hat in sich die Natur deß Fewers, vnnd widerumb hat das Elementische Fewer an sich die Natur deß Luffts, also, das durch zuthuung ihres gleichen, ein warhafftige Coniunctio von diesen beyden muß beschehen. Das sind die Corporalischen Materien, als Fewer vnnd Wasser, die vns augenscheinlich seind, dieselben Corporalischen Elementen sein nichts anders, dann eine mithülff den Essentiis Elementorum, dadurch sie natürlich zu jhrem höchsten gradu mag gebracht werden. Diese graduirung ist nuhn die rechte wahre Alchymia, vnnd ausser dieser sonsten gar keine. **English** Air contains the nature of fire, and elemental fire in turn possesses the nature of air, so that adding their like must bring about a true conjunction between the two. The corporeal materials, namely fire and water, which are visible to us, are nothing but an aid to the essences of the elements, through which they can naturally be brought to their highest degree. This elevation through the degrees is the true and proper alchemy; apart from it there is none.[^n216] **APP_VIAS017** 1619 pp 246–247 · scans ER250, ER251 **German** Was aber heutiges tages die Sophisten handlen, ist nichts dann Geld vnnd die Zeit verliehren. Du solt auch nichts gedencken, daß du einen gründlichen Verstand aus der Philosophorum Sprüchen fassen werdest, denn sie sein solche gewesen, so dich auff das außwendige weisen, vnnd die wahre innerliche Essentia verbergen, ja sie geben dir die Kleyen, vnnd von dem außgebeutelten Mehl backen sie Brodt. Siehe nun was wirst du auß der groben Kleyen machen? Also thun sie mit jhren Sprüchen, weisen dich auff wege, die sie nimmermehr gedencken zu wandern. Darumb rathe ich dir, daß du bey zeiten abstehest von solchem verderbten Grundt, sonst wirstu die Apotheker reich machen, vnnd dich vnnd die deinen in Armut bringen, ja auch durch deine vergifftige schwartze Dämpfe des Schwefels vnnd Quecksilbers, vnnd der Stäncke der Marcasiter vnnd Salien, da du mit vnbeschreiblichen gefehrliche Kranckheiten auff dich laden, dann solche Sachen alle der waren Kunst zu wider sein. **English** What the sophists practise today is nothing but a loss of money and time. Do not imagine that you will acquire a thorough understanding from the philosophers’ sayings. These men directed you to the outward appearance while concealing the true inward essence. They give you the bran and bake bread from the sifted flour themselves. Consider what you will make from coarse bran! This is how they deal with you through their sayings: they direct you along paths they themselves never intend to tread. I therefore advise you to abandon such a corrupt foundation in good time. Otherwise you will enrich the apothecaries and bring yourself and your family into poverty. Moreover, through your poisonous black vapours of sulphur and quicksilver and the stench of marcasites and salts, you will burden yourself with indescribably dangerous illnesses, for all these things oppose the true art.[^n217] **APP_VIAS018** 1619 pp 247–250 · scans ER251, ER252, ER253, ER254 **German** Es ist auch höchlich zu verwundern, das alle die, so dieser hohen Gaben Gottes täglich nachtrachten, auch schwere Arbeit drumb thun, dennoch so verstockt bleiben, daß sie in der vnsinnigen Thorheit, da sie doch augenscheinlich sagen, das nichts mit außgerichtet wird, verharren. Dann schaw, was haben doch so viel tausent Menschen, die sich mit dem Sub. Solu. Coagul. Putre. Amalg. Circul. durch schmelzung der Salien gemartert, außgerichtet? Was haben sie mit jhren Wassern, aufflösung der Metallen, mit dem Weinstein, dem Blut, Haar, Eyern, Milch, Honig, Zucker, mancherley Kräutern, in verwandlung der Metallen, zu wege gebracht? dienstlich nichts, ja weniger denn nichts. Drumb so laß dir die vorigen ein Exempel sein, weil du sihest vnd hörest, daß sie von so viel Jahren her, mit ihrem Sophistischen Wesen, zu der rechten wahren Alchy: das zu verbesserung oder verhöhung deß Elementischen Fewers dienete, nicht haben können kommen: ohne welches durch sein eigenes Liecht od Liquor erhöhet vnd gebessert wird von dem ersten Gradu biß auff den letzten, dadurch denn auch die Imperfecten erhöhet werden, welchen denn nichts anders gebricht, als das jhr Elementisch Fewer nicht vollkommen durch seinen liquorem gekocht noch vereiniget ist, drumb kan noch mag das Elementische Fewer nicht bestehen, dann sein Liquor scheidet sich von seinem Elementischen Fewer, durch die Hitz des Gemeinen Fewers, vnnd verfleucht in einem weissen Rauch, aber das Elementisch kan nicht verfliegen, sondern bleibet bey der Erden, vnnd muß bey vnnd mit der Erden verbrennen, denn sein Beschirmer ist verflogen in einem weissen Rauch, vnnd das ist die Weisse, von welcher die Alten geschrieben, welche nach der schwärze kompt. Drumb haben sie gesprochen, du must erst schwärtzen, ehe du weissest, denn vom schwartzen müssen wir erst anfangen, vnd verwenden den schwartzen Rauch, nicht aber, das du den schwartzen Rauch für deine Materia solt nehmen, vnnd den weiß machen, das were auch betrug. Darumb sag ich dir, es sein der Philosophen Sprüche schwerlich von den jenigen zu verstehen, so dir in der natürlichen Wirckung der Naturen nit gründlich berichtet sein, vnnd auch so lang du in der Natur vnwissend bist, vnnd was der Metallen jhre Metalheit ist, nicht recht verstehen kanst, so wirst du zu der rechten wahren Alchimey nicht kommen können. **English** It is astonishing that all those who daily seek this lofty gift of God and labour hard for it remain so obstinate, persisting in senseless folly although they openly say that it achieves nothing. Consider what so many thousands have accomplished by tormenting themselves with sublimation, solution, coagulation, putrefaction, amalgamation and circulation, and with the melting of salts. What have they achieved towards the transmutation of metals with their waters and dissolution of metals, with tartar, blood, hair, eggs, milk, honey, sugar and assorted herbs? Nothing useful—indeed, less than nothing. Let your predecessors be an example to you. You see and hear that in all these years their sophistical conduct has not brought them to true alchemy, which serves to improve or exalt elemental fire. Through this, by its own light or liquor, elemental fire is exalted and improved from the first degree to the last; through this the imperfect things are also exalted. Their only deficiency is that their elemental fire has not been completely cooked and united through its liquor. Elemental fire therefore cannot endure: its liquor separates from it through the heat of ordinary fire and escapes in white smoke. The elemental fire itself cannot escape but remains with the earth and must burn beside and with it, because its protector has fled in white smoke. This is the whiteness of which the ancients wrote, which comes after blackness. Hence they said: you must first blacken before you whiten. We must begin from the black and transform the black smoke. This does not mean that you should take black smoke as your matter and make it white; that too would be deception. I therefore tell you that the philosophers’ sayings are difficult for those who have not been thoroughly instructed in the natural operation of the natures. As long as you remain ignorant of Nature and cannot properly understand what constitutes the metallic character of metals, you will be unable to attain true and proper alchemy.[^n218] **APP_VIAS019** 1619 pp 250 · scans ER254 **German** Weis auch wohl, Lieber Bruder, das ich dich durch mein Schreiben nicht erfrewen werde, sondern dein Hertz wird sich erschrecken, der Vrsachen, das ich das falsche Sophistische Regiment so gantz vnnd gar vnter die Füß trette, darinnen du so fast verwurtzelt bist, vnnd vermeinest nicht anders, du wissest ein grosse Sache, vnnd doch nichts, dann ein grosse Thorheit vnnd Narrenspiel ist, welches da nit dienet zur verbesserung der Metallischen Naturen, sondern dienet allein den Balbierern vnnd Badern, auch den Medicis, so laß nun dieselben damit spielen, denn jhnen kompt es bißweilen zu nutze. **English** I know well, dear brother, that my writing will bring you no joy. Instead, your heart will be alarmed because I so utterly trample underfoot the false sophistical regimen in which you are firmly rooted. You imagine that you know a great thing, yet it is nothing but great folly and foolery. It does not improve metallic natures; it serves only barbers, bathkeepers and physicians. Let them amuse themselves with it, for it is sometimes useful to them.[^n219] **APP_VIAS020** 1619 pp 250–252 · scans ER254, ER255, ER256 **German** Wie dann auch Adam von Bodenstein, der ein Meister ist gewesen in der Sophisterey, daher viel seltsame Bücher vnterm schein Theoph. abgemacht, vnd sich der Alchimy hoch gerühmet, gleich ob ers wohl gewust hette, das doch weit gefehlet, ein guter Sophist, bekenn ich, ist er gewesen, dann alle sein thun ist nichts, als mit Sophistischen Regimenten zu handeln, dadurch er etliche præparationes (aus Krafft des gemeinen Feuwers) hat erfunden, die jhme in seinem Handel, als in der Medicin, seind dienlich gewesen, welches doch der wahren Alchimy nicht angehet, sondern jhr gar zu wider ist, dennoch sein heutiges tages viel Menschen, die dem Bodenstein die wahre Alchimy zuschreiben, vnnd meinen er habe alle Heimligkeit gar wohl verstanden, da es jhme doch weit gefehlet, dem Vngelarten scheinet es krauß für den Augen, als ob ein mechtiger Verstand darinnen were, welches doch ein vngegründet ding ist für den verständigen, jedoch, wie man sagt, für den Blinden ist gut fechten, so wil ichs auch bey dem bleiben lassen, weil Adam von Bodenstein sein Person nicht vorhanden, wil ich jhn nicht viel lästern, nach deß Sprichwort: De absentibus nihil nisi bonum. Aber das sag ich, ein Artzt ist er gewesen, vnnd ein guter Sophist, aber die natürliche Kunst der Alchimy, oder die Secreta der Naturen, hat er nicht recht verstanden, nach Außweisung seiner eigen Schrifften, wiewol es mich nicht groß angehet, jemand hoch rühmen, sie werden mir keinen schaden damit thun, sondern Armen schlechten einfaltigen Menschen, die auff sie bawen, vnd dadurch in verderben geführt werden, denen schreib ich diß zu gute, daß sie mögen wissen, wofür sie sich hüten sollen, denn die verführung ist groß, aber die Warheit ist schlecht. **English** Adam von Bodenstein likewise was a master of sophistry. He produced many strange books under the appearance of Theophrastus’s authority, and boasted greatly of alchemy as though he understood it well, when he was far from doing so. I acknowledge that he was a good sophist, for his whole activity consisted of sophistical regimens. Through the power of ordinary fire he discovered certain preparations useful in his own occupation, namely medicine; these, however, have nothing to do with true alchemy and are entirely contrary to it. Nevertheless, many people today attribute true alchemy to Bodenstein and imagine that he understood all its secrets thoroughly, when he was far from doing so. To the unlearned it looks wonderfully intricate, as though it contained immense understanding, although an informed person sees that it is without foundation. Yet, as the saying goes, it is easy to fence before the blind. I shall leave it there: since Adam von Bodenstein is not present in person, I will not speak much ill of him, following the proverb, “Say nothing of the absent except good.” But I do say this: he was a physician and a good sophist, yet, as his own writings show, he did not properly understand the natural art of alchemy or the secrets of the natures. It matters little to me if someone praises him highly; that will not harm me. It will harm the poor, plain, simple people who rely on such men and are thereby led to ruin. I write this for their benefit, so that they may know what to guard against. The deception is great, but the truth is plain.[^n220] **APP_VIAS021** 1619 pp 252–254 · scans ER256, ER257, ER258 **German** So dir nun die Warheit beliebet, mustu die Sophisterey, mit aller ihrer Arbeit, die du biß auff den heutigen Tage gepflogen, verlassen, vnnd allein betrachten, was die Natur thut, auch wie sie ad Essentiam laboriret, so wirstu nicht fehlen noch irren, sondern was du begerest, sehen vnnd keine Mühe haben, Auch wenig Arbeit vnd Geldspendung bedürffen. Dann mit einer subtilen vnnd geringen Kochung wird die gantze Sach vollbracht, also, das durch die Kochung geschicht die Solutio vnd Coagulatio corporum, vnnd die Sublimation sampt der Putrefaction wirdt alle dadurch geendet, davon dann auch die Weisen geschrieben haben. Aber doch haben etliche an statt des wahren schlechten Wesens gar ein ander Wesen auffgerichtet, damit die gantze Welt verblendet, vñ manchen Menschen damit in grossen schaden geführet. Ob es nun recht gethan, stell ich Gott heim, der alles richten wird, dann es were viel besser, daß so viel nicht geschrieben würde, dadurch so mancher Mensch betrübt wirdt, die sich allein auff die Sophistische erdichtete Proceß verlassen, die sie in der Lüg büchlein lernen, vnnd also betrogen werden, dann were von der Alchimy nicht so viel, oder würde noch täglich von der Natur vnverständigen geschrieben, so were viel tausent Menschen heutiges tages, die die warhafftige Kunst gewüst hetten, vnd von sich selbst wolt hetten können begreiffen, da nun in viel Jahren kaum einer an die Warheit kommen kan, dieweil fast alle Liebhaber der Philosophey sich allein auff die Bücher vnnd Sophistische Arbeit verlassen, meinen, die Alten haben es auch also mit solcher grawsamen Arbeit zu wege gebracht, das ich öffentlich straffe, vnnd sage, das dem nicht so sey, denn die wahre Kunst darff der Hümplerey, derer sich die Laboranten heutiges tages gebrauchen, in keinem wege, die alten Weisen habens selbst also nicht gearbeitet, ob sie schon etwas weitleufftiger in jhren Büchern, die vnweisen damit zu verblenden, davon gelehret haben, daran sie dann gar wohl nicht gethan, dann auch die, so etwa auff dem rechten Wege weren, dadurch köndten in Irrthumb geführet werden, wofern sie nicht anders durch vivos Præceptores gelehret würden. **English** If you love the truth, abandon sophistry and all the operations you have practised until today. Consider only what Nature does and how it works upon the essence. Then you will neither fail nor err, but will see what you desire without difficulty, requiring little labour or expenditure. The whole affair is accomplished by a subtle and slight coction. Through it occur the solution and coagulation of bodies, and through it sublimation and putrefaction are all completed, as the sages have written. Some, however, have set up something entirely different in place of the true, plain being. In this way they have blinded the whole world and brought many people to great harm. Whether they have acted rightly I leave to God, who will judge everything. It would be much better if so much were not written, causing distress to those who rely solely on the sophistical, invented processes they learn in lying little books, and are thus deceived. If so much had not been written about alchemy, or were not still being written daily by those ignorant of Nature, many thousands today would have known the true art and could have understood it by themselves. As matters stand, scarcely one person reaches the truth in many years, because almost all lovers of philosophy rely solely on books and sophistical work. They suppose the ancients achieved it by the same dreadful labour. I openly rebuke this and say that it is false: the true art has no need whatever of the bungling used by workers today. The ancient sages did not work in that way themselves, although they taught about it at greater length in their books to blind the unwise. They did not act well in doing so, for even people who were perhaps on the right path could thereby be led into error unless living teachers instructed them otherwise.[^n221] **APP_VIAS022** 1619 pp 254–255 · scans ER258, ER259 **German** Weilen aber auch den lebendigen Meistern jhre Schrancken vorgeschrieben vnd Ziel gesetzt, wie weit vnnd weme sie solche geheime Kunst offenbahren sollen oder mögen, damit sie nicht verbrecher des Sigels göttliches geheimnus vnd dem Fluch aller philosophorum vnterwürffig befunden werden, ist es besser, hindan gesetzt alle Bücher vnnd menschliche Lehrmeister, die Natur allein anschauen, derselben wunderbare Wirckung, nit allein in herfürbringung der Metallen, sondern auch aller Erdgewächsen betrachten, jhr circulation in Winter vnnd Sommer, in Früling vnd Herbst, in Tag vnnd Nacht, in Hitze vnd Wärme, immerdar für Augen haben vnd derselben nachsinnen. Dann wann dir gründlich bewust, warauß vñ wie die Natur ein jedes in sein wachßung, blüte, frucht, vnd vollkommenheit bringet, wird dir auch hinfüro nicht schwerlich sein die Händt Naturgemäß anzulegen, vnnd auß der Materia welche die Natur in die Höllen der Erden zu vnderschiedenem Gewächsen gebrauchet, auch dein vorhaben ins werck zurichten, vnnd nach dem wuntsch zu vollbringen. **English** But living masters too have prescribed bounds and a fixed limit concerning how far, and to whom, they should or may disclose such a secret art, lest they be found to have broken the seal of divine mystery and incurred the curse of all philosophers. It is therefore better to set aside all books and human teachers and look at Nature alone. Consider its wonderful operation, both in producing metals and in bringing forth everything that grows from the earth. Always keep before your eyes its circulation in winter and summer, spring and autumn, day and night, heat and warmth, and reflect upon it. Once you thoroughly know from what and how Nature brings each thing to growth, blossom, fruit and perfection, it will no longer be difficult to set your hands to work in accordance with Nature. From the matter Nature uses in the earth’s hollows to produce different growths, you can put your own intention into effect and accomplish it as you wish.[^n222] **APP_VIAS023** 1619 pp 255–256 · scans ER259, ER260 **German** Drumb bitte ich dich, lieber Bruder, wollest mir nicht vor vngut auffnemen, sondern zum besten andeuten, daß ich deine vorige Arbeit, die du gethan, vnnd noch täglich thust in der Alchimy, so gantz vnnd gar verstosse vnd verachte, denn ich thu es dir warlich zum besten, weil ich weiß, daß kein Mensch in der gantzen Welt, so mit solcher Arbeit (darinnen du bist) procedirt, was guts außrichtet, oder zu der warhafftigen verwandlung der Metallen (da du nachtrachtest) kommen können. Derwegen sag ich dir noch zum vberfluß, das du solcher Arbeit müssest müssig gehen, vnd mir gehöre geben, denn ich schreibe dir die ware Warheit, die ich begehre für Gott zu verantworten, vnd nit mit ohnnot die Welt mit mehr Lügen anzufüllen, denn jhrer hinmehr als zu viel durch vnvorgeständige Leuth, die selbst in dem natürlichen Wercken der Natur blind gewesen, geschrieben sein, dieselben haben sich durch falsche Bücher verführen lassen, vnd an die Sophistische Arbeit so gegeben, damit sie Haab vnd Gut verthan, haben auch nichts zu der wahren Kunst dienlich damit können außrichten, sind darinnen gleich als im Labyrinth bestecken blieben, vnd an der Kunst Warheit gantz vnd gar verzweiffelt. **English** I therefore ask you, dear brother, not to take it amiss but to understand it for the best when I so entirely reject and despise your earlier work in alchemy, which you still practise daily. I truly do it for your benefit, because I know that no one in the whole world who proceeds with the kind of work in which you are engaged can achieve anything good or attain the genuine transmutation of metals you seek. To repeat myself, you must cease such work and give me a hearing. I write you the true truth, for which I am willing to answer before God, rather than needlessly fill the world with more lies. Far too many have already been written by ignorant people who were themselves blind to the natural works of Nature. They let themselves be misled by false books and became so devoted to sophistical work that they squandered their possessions. They achieved nothing useful for the true art, remained stuck as in a labyrinth, and utterly despaired of the art’s truth. **APP_VIAS024** 1619 pp 257–258 · scans ER261, ER262 **German** Dieselben Leut seynd hernach fort gefahren, vnnd angefangen zu schreiben, gleichsam, als ob sie die Sache wol verstanden, oder grossen Vortheil dadurch geschaffet hetten, dannenher sie auch zu armen Stümplern worden seyn. Denn sie haben so lange soluirt, biß all jhr Gelt vnd Guth zerschmoltzen vnd zergangen, Auch so lange sublimirt, daß Töpffe vnd Kessel zum Rauchfange hinauß geflogen, Vnnd so lange putrificirt, daß jhnen die Kleider vom Leibe abgefaulet, Auch haben sie so lang calcinirt, daß all jhr Holtz vnd Kohlen zu Aschen geworden. Das ist nun, lieber Bruder, jrer Nutz vnnd Vortheil, den sie durch jhre schwere Mühe vnd Arbeit erlanget haben, darumb laß sie dir nochmals ein Exempel seyn, vnd stehe ab von solcher Sophistischen Arbeit, denn es nit der rechte Weg zu der wahren Kunst der Alchimey, oder zu der wahren natürlichen Verwandlung der Metallen, sondern es ist nur, wie vor gesagt, ein Weg zu der Sophisterey, den Balbierern vnd Badern, jhre Medicamenta dadurch zu bereiten, wo von sie jhren gewinn können haben, dienlich. **English** Afterwards these same people went on to write as though they understood the matter well or had derived great advantage from it, whereas they had become poor bunglers. They dissolved for so long that all their money and possessions melted and vanished. They sublimed for so long that pots and kettles flew up the chimney. They putrefied for so long that the clothes rotted off their bodies, and calcined for so long that all their wood and charcoal turned to ashes. Such, dear brother, is the profit and advantage they gained through their hard toil and labour. Let them once again serve as an example, and abandon such sophistical work. It is not the right path to the true art of alchemy or to the true, natural transmutation of metals. As already stated, it is only a path to sophistry, useful to barbers and bathkeepers in preparing the medicines from which they can make their profit. **APP_VIAS025** 1619 pp 258–259 · scans ER262, ER263 **German** Auch spürestu, wie sich viel vnverständige Leute in die Alchimey begeben, als Schuster, Peltzer, Schneider, auch verdorbene Panckerotische Kauffleute vnnd Brawer, die sich mit Vnverstand etzlich Jahr in der Sudlerey martern, vnnd zu verwandlung der Metallen nichts dienstlichs finden, so wollen sie als bald grosse Ertzte seyn, machen viel Plapperey mit ruhmrähtigen, hochtrabenden Worten, vnterstehen sich vieler grossen Dinge, auch grosse Kranckheiten zu Curiren, deren sie doch keinen Verstand haben, geben vnverständlich Quid pro quo, Venena pro medicamentis, dadurch sie manchen Menschen vnter die Erden bringen, welches sie doch alles für Gott zu verantworten haben, der sie auch, wofern sie nicht davon abstehen, schwerlich drumb heimsuchen wirdt. Aber von diesem genug, weil mich die Sache nicht groß angehet, dann die weltliche Oberkeit wird solchem vnmassigen hochtrabenden Gesellen wol zu steuren wissen. Ich aber schreibe dir solchs nur zur Warnung, daß du sehest, wie vngeschickt sie in der Medicina handeln, deren sie keinen Verstand haben, daß sie also auch thun bey der herrlichen Kunst Alchimia, vnterstehen sich der Kunst nachzutrachten, vnd verstehen doch nicht das geringste Tröpflein oder Pünctlein, was die Metallen seyn, oder wovon vnnd worauß sie seyn, wie sollen doch die armen vnverständigen Leut was guts (den Sachen nützlich) außrichten, das doch vnmüglich ist. **English** You also notice how many ignorant people take up alchemy: cobblers, furriers, tailors, ruined and bankrupt merchants, and brewers. After tormenting themselves ignorantly for several years with bungling operations and finding nothing useful for transmuting metals, they immediately want to be great physicians. With boastful, high-flown words they make a great babble, undertake many great things and presume to cure serious illnesses of which they have no understanding. In their ignorance they give one thing for another, poisons instead of medicines, and thereby put many people into the ground. They must answer for all this before God, who will punish them severely for it unless they desist. But enough of this, since the matter is of little concern to me: the secular authorities will know how to restrain such immoderate, high-flown fellows. I write this only as a warning, so that you may see how incompetently they practise medicine without understanding it. They do the same in the noble art of alchemy. They undertake to pursue the art yet do not understand the smallest drop or point of what metals are, or of what and from what they exist. How can these poor ignorant people accomplish anything good or useful to the matter? It is impossible.[^n223] **APP_VIAS026** 1619 pp 259–260 · scans ER263, ER264 **German** Derhalben sage ich dir fürwar, so lang du nit recht gründlich die Metallische Natur erkennest, so lang ist dir auch vnmüglich, daß du die wahre Kunst der Alchy: verstehest, oder zu der rechten wahren natürlichen Verwandlung kommest, denn der Verstand muß erst da seyn, ehe du die Sachen recht kanst erfahren, denn alles, was du ohn den Verstand in dem Weg zu der wahren Kunst ergreiffest, ist alles Betrug vnd Sophisterey, dafür ich dich trewlich gewarnet habe, vnnd gesagt, daß der Wege zu Verführung viel seyn, vnnd mancherly, aber zu der rechten wahren Kunst einsam vnd einig, da auch nit vieler Hand Arbeiten oder viel Mühe vonnöhten sey. Drumb, lieber Freund vnd Bruder, soltu dich befleissigen Tag vñ Nacht, daß du die Metallische Natur recht lernest erkennen, vnnd darinn nicht fehlest, so bistu schon tüchtig zu der wahren Kunst, denn erlernest von dir selber, was die Materia, auch was die rechte Arbeit sey, da du dich denn wol auff verlassen magst, als denn wirstu sehen, was viel vnnützer Arbeit du gethan hast, daß du dich gleichsam der grossen Blindheit, darinn du gesteckt, must verwundern. **English** I therefore tell you truly that as long as you lack a proper and thorough knowledge of metallic Nature, it is impossible for you to understand the true art of alchemy or attain true and proper natural transmutation. Understanding must come first, before you can experience these things correctly. Whatever you take up on the path to the true art without understanding is all deceit and sophistry. I have faithfully warned you against this and told you that the paths to deception are many and various, whereas the path to the true and proper art is one alone, requiring neither many kinds of manual operation nor great labour. Dear friend and brother, strive day and night to learn to understand metallic Nature correctly and without error. Then you will be fit for the true art, for you will discover for yourself what the matter is and what the proper work is, and can confidently rely on this. You will then see how much useless work you have done and will marvel at the great blindness in which you were trapped. **APP_VIAS027** 1619 pp 260–261 · scans ER264, ER265 **German** Allda betrachte nun mit fleiß, was die Metallisch Natur sey, auch auß was Vrsachen die Metallen seyn Metalle geworden, dann sie haben eben so wol jhren Anfang vnd Vrsprung als andere geschaffene Ding. Gleicher weise wie auß der Spermate deß Mannes in mütterlichem Leibe durch kochung ein Kind generiret, Auch auß dem Ey, durch die natürliche brütung der Hennen, ein junges Hünlein bereitet wirdt: Also haben die Metallen auch eine sichere Substantz, davon sie geboren seynd. **English** Consider carefully, then, what metallic Nature is and for what reasons metals have become metals. Like other created things, they have their own beginning and origin. Just as a child is generated by coction from a man’s seed in the mother’s womb, and a young chick is formed from an egg through the hen’s natural incubation, so metals too have a definite substance from which they are born. **APP_VIAS028** 1619 pp 261–262 · scans ER265, ER266 **German** Aber dennoch nit also, lieber Bruder, daß du solt verstehẽ oder in dem Argwohn bleiben, gleich wie dich die falschen Bösewichter haben gelehret, daß ☿ vnd sulphur die erste materia der Metallen seyn solte, denn man in den Adern der Erden, da die Metalle wachsen, weder ☿ noch sulphur findet, welchs sie schlecht zu einer Verführung erdichtet haben, vnd das wahre Elementische Fewer, genannt sulphur, vnnd den liquorem Mercurium. Ebenermassen haben sie das Elementische Fewer genannt vnser Solem, vnnd den liquorem vnser Lunam, damit sie die Leute verleitet haben. Auch haben sie es genennet Spiritum vnd Animam. Dem Elementischen Fewr haben sie den Namen geben Animæ, vnd den Elementischen liquorem Spiritum, darumb, daß die Elementischen Dinge vnsichtig seyn. In gleicher weise seynd also Seel vnnd Geist, denn die Seel ist ein vnsichtig Fewr, vnd der Geist ist eine vnsichtige Feuchtigkeit. Also haben sie dann das eusserliche wesentliche Fewer vnd Wasser genannt corpora, dieweil sie sichtiglich vnd greifflich seyn, darauff die Laboranten die Metallische corpora verstehen, vnnd einem dieselbe auffzulösen, welches doch falsch ist. Denn darumb haben sie es genannt corpora, daß diß augenscheinliche Wasser vnd Fewer fühlich vnd greifflich seyn, vnd das Elementische Wasser vnd Fewer geistlich vnnd vnsichtig. Darumb laß dich von den spitzsindigen Alten nicht verleiten noch verführen, denn sie seyn subtiel, so du dich dafür nicht hütest, führen sie dich in die Stricke, weisen dich auff die Metallischen corpora, vnd meinen allein die Metallische essentiam. **English** But do not understand this, dear brother, or remain under the suspicion, as the false villains taught you, that mercury and sulphur are the first matter of metals. Neither mercury nor sulphur is found in the veins of the earth where metals grow. They simply invented this to mislead people, calling true elemental fire sulphur and the liquor mercury. In the same way they called elemental fire our Sun and the liquor our Moon, misleading people thereby. They also called them spirit and soul. They gave elemental fire the name soul, and elemental liquor the name spirit, because elemental things are invisible. Soul and spirit are likewise invisible: the soul is an invisible fire, and the spirit an invisible moisture. They called outward, substantial fire and water bodies because they are visible and tangible. Workers understand this to mean metallic bodies, and suppose they are to dissolve them, which is false. They called these things bodies because visible water and fire are perceptible and tangible, whereas elemental water and fire are spiritual and invisible. Do not let the subtle ancients mislead or deceive you. They are ingenious, and unless you guard against them they lead you into snares, directing you to metallic bodies while meaning metallic essence alone.[^n224] **APP_VIAS029** 1619 pp 262–263 · scans ER266, ER267 **German** Sie lehren vnnd weisen zu vielerhand Materien vnd Substantien, da doch nit mehr dann ein einiger wahrer Weg zu der Warheit dienlich ist. Sie lehren dich vielerley solutiones, coagul. subl. calc. vnnd putrefact. die doch nichts werth seyn, vnnd auch die Natur in den Adern der Erden, da die Metallen wachsen, der jenigen nicht gebrauchet, dann die ehrwürdige Natur nichts anders thut, denn daß sie das Elementische Fewr kochet, welcher erhöhet vñ bestettiget wirdt durch seinen liquor, die es jetzt verendert von einer Natur in die ander, durch eine bestendige Kochung, wie ich dir zuvor gesagt habe, daß alle Ding in drey Naturen seyn getheilet worden, wiewol die drey Naturen Corporalisch vnterscheiden seyn, nemblich, Vegetabilisch, Animalisch vnd Mineralisch, so sind sie doch Elementisch, oder ins verborgen, auß einer einigen Substantz entsprossen, sie haben alle eine einige Wurtzel, da sie alle von grunen vnd wachsen, die von den Alten zu einer Verführung primarum materiarum oder Hyle ist genannt worden, dann es ist nichts anders, als das verborgene Elementische Fewer mit seinem liquor, welchs die Alten auch radicalem humorem genandt, daran sie recht geredt, dann der liquor ist ein Wurtzel aller erschaffenen Dingen. **English** They teach and direct you to many kinds of matter and substance, although only one true path leads to truth. They teach you many kinds of solution, coagulation, sublimation, calcination and putrefaction which are worthless and which Nature does not use in the veins of the earth where metals grow. Venerable Nature does nothing but cook elemental fire, which is exalted and established through its liquor, changing it from one nature into another by continuous coction. As I told you before, all things are divided into three natures. Although these three natures—vegetable, animal and mineral—differ corporeally, elementally, or in their hidden being, they have sprung from one substance. They all have one root from which they flourish and grow. To mislead people, the ancients called this first matter, or Hyle. It is nothing but hidden elemental fire with its liquor, which the ancients also called radical moisture. In this they spoke rightly, for the liquor is a root of all created things.[^n225] **APP_VIAS030** 1619 pp 263–266 · scans ER267, ER268, ER269, ER270 **German** Daß aber diese Feuchtigkeit sampt seinem Fewer in vnterschiedene Naturen getheilet wirdt, geschicht durch keine andere wege, dann allein, wie gesagt, durch vnterschiedene Kochung, die in der Natur geschehen, dann eine Natur ist mehr mit seinem Elementischen Fewer durch seine Feuchtigkeit gekocht, als die ander, darunter die vegetabilische Natur in der Kochung die geringste ist, darumb, daß ihre essentia leichtlich verbrennet, vnnd auch der liquor sich leichtlich von dem Elementischen Fewr (durch das schlechte Fewr) abscheidet. Die animalische Natur ist in der Kochung der vorigen schier gleich, dann ihre essentia verbrennet auch leichtlich, darumb ist die mineralische Natur in der Kochung die höchste, weil daß der metallische liquor mehr vñ besser durch die Kochung mit dem Elementischen Fewr ist voreiniget, als die ander zwey Naturen, so zuvor genennet seyn, derhalben auch die Metallen dem gemeinen Fewer besser widerstehen, als die andern Dinge, welche vnter die Vegetabilische vnnd Animalische Natur begriffen seyn, wie denn augenscheinlich zu ersehen, daß die Metallen, wenn sie ins Fewer gesetzet werden, nicht solche Flammen, als das Holtz, von sich geben, dann seine essentia nicht also mit dem liquor gekocht, wie die Metallische Feuchtigkeit mit der essentia gekocht ist, vnd auch die vereinigung deß liquoris mit der essentia nicht Metallisch, sondern schlecht Vegetabilisch, welche in einem schwartzen Rauch verzehret wirdt, gewesen. Aber nach deme die essentia durch die Natur ist in die Kochung gekommen, ist es nicht Vegetabilisch geblieben, sondern ist nu Metallisch geworden, vnnd wirdt nun vom gemeinen Fewer in einem weissen Rauche verzehret, gleicher weise wie du sihest, daß wenn die vnperfecten Metallen im Fewr geschmoltzen werden, geben sie einen weissen Rauch. Also, wie nu die Vegetabilische essentia durch die natürliche Kochung gereiniget, vnnd von dem schwartzen in einem weissen Rauch verändert, gleicher massen oder Vrsach halben haben die alten Weisen gesagt, Du must ehe schwärtzen ehe du weissest, darnach ehe weissen ehe du roth machest. Die Rothmachung aber ist zu verstehen, vollkommen vnnd perfect machen, gleich als ☉ vnnd ☽, die beyden herrlichen Metall durch die Kochung sein perfect worden, vnd jhre essentia ist mit dem liquore gantz vnnd gar voreiniget, vnd ist mit einander eitel Fewr worden, welchs von den Alten rothmachen wirdt geheissen. **English** This moisture, together with its fire, is divided into different natures in no other way than by the different coctions occurring in Nature, as already stated. One nature has been cooked more thoroughly with its elemental fire through its moisture than another. Vegetable Nature has the lowest degree of coction: its essence burns readily, and ordinary fire readily separates its liquor from its elemental fire. Animal Nature is nearly equal to the former in coction, for its essence also burns readily. Mineral Nature therefore has the highest coction, because metallic liquor has been united more fully and firmly with elemental fire through coction than in the other two natures just named. Metals consequently withstand ordinary fire better than things belonging to vegetable and animal Nature. We can plainly see that metals placed in fire do not give off flames as wood does, because wood’s essence has not been cooked with its liquor as metallic moisture has been cooked with essence. Its liquor’s union with essence was not metallic but simply vegetable, consumed in black smoke. Once the essence has entered Nature’s coction, however, it no longer remains vegetable but becomes metallic, and is then consumed by ordinary fire in white smoke, just as you see imperfect metals give off white smoke when melted in fire. Thus vegetable essence is purified through natural coction and changed from black smoke into white. For this same reason the ancient sages said: you must blacken before whitening, and then whiten before reddening. Reddening is to be understood as making complete and perfect, just as Sol and Luna, the two noble metals, have become perfect through coction. Their essence is wholly united with their liquor, and together they have become pure fire. This is what the ancients call reddening.[^n226] **APP_VIAS031** 1619 pp 266–267 · scans ER270, ER271 **German** Derwegen sag ich dir, lieber Freund vnnd Bruder, laß dich der alten Bücher, die so gar verderbt geschrieben, nicht jrren, sondern lerne schlecht die Metallische Natur erkennen gründlich, so wirstu der Alten Gespräch leichtlich verstehen, vnnd nicht mit andern Alchymisten hin vnnd her gaffen, die auß den Sprüchen der Alten verstehen, oder sich nur vberreden, daß man müsse eine substantiam nehmen, die putrificiren vnnd dissoluiren, biß die materia schwartz werde, darnach dieselbe so lang waschen, calciniren vnd arbeiten, biß die schwartze vergehe, vnnd anfange weiß zu werden, vnd dann das Fewer augiren, vnnd so lang calciniren oder arbeiten, biß die materia roth werde, welches alles falsch, vnd keine Philosophische, sondern eine rechte Sophistische Arbeit ist. Also werden nun alle der Alten Philosophen Sprüche in eine Sophistische Ordnung von den Vnverstendigen gedeuttet, welches die Alten zwar gar gerne gesehen, ja haben alle darumb also verdackt gesprochen, damit niemand recht köndte deutten oder verstehen, was sie gemeinet haben. Sie weisen wol allesampt auff die Metallen, vnnd gedencken offt vnnd viel deß Mercurii vnnd sulphur, aber doch alles zur verführung. **English** I therefore tell you, dear friend and brother: do not let the ancient books, written in such a corrupt manner, confuse you. Simply learn to understand metallic Nature thoroughly, and you will readily understand the ancients’ discourse. You will not gape this way and that with other alchemists who understand the ancients’ sayings—or merely persuade themselves—to mean that one must take a substance, putrefy and dissolve it until the matter becomes black, then wash, calcine and work it until the blackness passes away and it begins to whiten, and then increase the fire and continue calcining or working until the matter becomes red. All this is false. It is no philosophical work, but thoroughly sophistical work. In this way the ignorant interpret all the ancient philosophers’ sayings as a sophistical order of operations. The ancients were quite pleased to see this; indeed, they all spoke so obscurely precisely so that no one could correctly interpret or understand their meaning. They all direct attention to metals and make frequent mention of mercury and sulphur, but all of it is intended to mislead. **APP_VIAS032** 1619 pp 267–268 · scans ER271, ER272 **German** Wiewol dennoch die Metallische essentia die rechte materia ist, welche durch eine natürliche Kochung vom vntersten biß zum höchsten gradu muß erhöhet werden, daran haben sie für den Verstenndigen, die es recht verstehen, wol recht gesagt, aber dem Vnwissenden ist diß eine Verführung, weil sie vermeinen, vnnd auß der Alten Büchern errahten, daß es auß den Metallen muß genommen werden, vnnd sich als dann damit bemühen vnnd martern, biß es perfect werde, dasselbe ist Sophistisch, vnnd auff Vnwegen gewandert, denn die Metallische essentia ist von den perfecten Metallen ohn Schaden nicht zubringen, Vrsach, so man es durchs Fewer wolte scheiden, so verfleucht der liquor, vnd die essentia wird mit der Erden verbrannt. Auch so man wolte die essentiam der imperfecten Metallen durch starcke Wasser arsenicam, aquam vitæ, od durch Laugen abscheiden, so würde die essentia mit seine liquore durch eine frembde Feuchtigkeit, die es nit erleiden kan, corrumpirt, denn die Metallische Art begeret nichts frembdes, kan es auch nit vertragen, od so jrgend etwas frembdes mit dem Metallischen liquore sich vermenget, ist es schon auß seinem gradu gewichen, vnd auß dem Metallischen Wesen entrücket, vnd in die Sophistische Ordnung gestellet, dafür du dich hüten must. **English** Nevertheless, metallic essence is the proper matter which must be exalted by natural coction from the lowest degree to the highest. In this the ancients spoke correctly for the informed, who understand it rightly. For the ignorant it is misleading, because they suppose and infer from the old books that it must be taken from metals, and then toil and torment themselves with it until it becomes perfect. This is sophistry and a departure onto false paths. Metallic essence cannot be extracted from perfect metals without damage: if one tries to separate it by fire, the liquor escapes and the essence is burned with the earth. Likewise, if one tries to separate the essence of imperfect metals with strong waters, arsenical water, aqua vitae or lyes, the essence together with its liquor is corrupted by an alien moisture which it cannot tolerate. The metallic kind desires nothing foreign and cannot endure it. If anything foreign mixes with metallic liquor, it has already departed from its degree, been removed from metallic being and placed in the sophistical order. You must guard against this.[^n227] **APP_VIAS033** 1619 pp 268–269 · scans ER272, ER273 **German** Da du auch wollest die Metallische essentiam durch einige wege von den perfecten Metallen abscheiden, ist dir dasselbig eben wol vnmüglich, denn der liquor ist mit seinem Elementischen Fewr vollkommen gekocht, vnnd hat sich durch die Kochung mit der Erden also vereiniget, daß weder Fewer noch Wasser es scheiden mag. So du es aber durch Wassers fortes woltest scheiden, so soluirt sich doch die essentia mit der Erden vnnd coagulirt sich in derselbigen Gestalt darnach wider, was es zuvor ist gewesen, vnnd keine Feuchtigkeit kan sich mit der perfecten Metallen Feuchtigkeit oder liquor vermengen oder vereinigen, daß es dieselben corrumpiren oder beschädigen köndte, gleich als der imperfecten Metallen jhrem liquori geschicht. Darumb ist es vnnötig, daß du dich mit dem viel bekümmerst oder bemübest, ob schon die essentia mit jhrem liquore in keinem dinge der kochung näher als in den Metallen. **English** Even if you wished to separate metallic essence from perfect metals by any means, it would still be impossible. The liquor has been completely cooked with its elemental fire and through coction has become so united with the earth that neither fire nor water can separate it. If you attempted separation with strong waters, the essence would dissolve together with the earth and afterwards coagulate again in the same form as before. No moisture can mix or unite with the moisture or liquor of perfect metals so as to corrupt or damage it as happens to the liquor of imperfect metals. There is therefore no need to trouble or labour much over this, although essence together with its liquor is closer to coction in metals than in anything else. **APP_VIAS034** 1619 pp 269–270 · scans ER273, ER274 **German** Derhalben haben die Alten gesagt, es sey in keinen dingen lebendiger sulphur, dann in den Metallen. Also haben sie den Metallischen liquor lebendig Silber genannt, daran man sich nicht darff kehren, was sie ihm auch für namen geben, Es ist doch nichts als der außgespante Adler, oder das Elementische Fewer mit seinem Elementischen liquore, wie ich gesagt, der da muß vnnd soll mit seinem Fewer durch eine natürliche kochung vereiniget werden, biß so lange die beyden vnscheidlich seyn, deñ der liquor beschirmet das Fewer für der verbrennung, daß sie also beyde beständig bleibt, vnd in dem gemeinen Fewer verharren. Dieses haben nun die Alten ein Elixir genannt, das ist so viel als ein gekochtes Fewr, daran haben sie nun recht gesagt, vnd haben jhme den rechten Namen gegeben, dann durch die Kochung wird vollnbracht, vnnd gar gekocht, was zuvor roh vnnd vngekocht ist gewesen. Diß gar gekochte ist das jenige, welches die imperfecten Metallen zerbricht vnnd entblöset, drumb daß sie für dem Fewer nicht können bestehen bleiben. **English** The ancients therefore said that living sulphur is found in nothing but metals. They likewise called metallic liquor living silver. Do not be distracted by whatever names they give it: it is nothing but the eagle with wings outspread, or elemental fire with its elemental liquor, as I have said. This liquor must and should be united with its fire through natural coction until the two are inseparable. The liquor protects the fire from burning, so that both remain stable and endure in ordinary fire. The ancients called this an elixir, meaning a cooked fire. In this they spoke rightly and gave it its proper name, for coction completes and thoroughly cooks what was previously raw and uncooked. This thoroughly cooked thing breaks open and lays bare the imperfect metals, because they cannot remain steadfast against fire.[^n228] **APP_VIAS035** 1619 pp 270–271 · scans ER274, ER275 **German** Derhalben laß dich in der Kochung fleiß zu thun nit verdrüssen, weil alle Arbeit, da die Alchimisten so viel Sudlerey mit haben, allein durch diese schlechte Kochung vollnbracht wird, durch die Kochung reiniget es sich selber, erhöhet vnnd sublimirt sich selber, löset sich selber auff, alle Ding geschehen durch die Kochung. Derowegen ist dir zu rahten, so ist dir auch zu helffen, laß alle andere putrefact. sol. coagul. vnnd calc. oder sublimat. fahren, dann sie keinen Vortheil sondern Schaden bringen, führen auch dabeneben manchen Menschen ins Verderben, dafür du dich wol forthin wirst zu hüten wissen, weil ich dir auß einfältigem getrewen hertzen diesen Vnterricht vnd Meinung habe zugeschrieben, verhoffend du werdest diese meine Meinung, auch was du nehmen sollest, damit du das Werck vollbringen, vnd der Natur in der Kochung bequemlich folgen könnest, wol verstehen. Denn ich dir klärlicher vnd offenbahr die rechte, schlechte, warhafftige Warheit ohne einige Fabeln vnd Parabeln habe erkläret vnd beschrieben, vnnd meine es gut mit dir, so war mir Gott helffe. **English** Do not grow weary of applying yourself diligently to coction, for all the work over which alchemists bungle so much is accomplished by this plain coction alone. Through coction it purifies itself, exalts and sublimes itself, and dissolves itself; everything happens through coction. My advice, by which you can be helped, is therefore to abandon all other putrefaction, solution, coagulation, calcination and sublimation. They bring harm rather than advantage and lead many people to ruin. You will know how to guard against them in future, since I have written this instruction and opinion for you from a plain and faithful heart. I hope you will understand my meaning, and what you should take to accomplish the work and follow Nature fittingly in coction. For I have clearly and openly explained and described to you the proper, plain and genuine truth, without any fables or parables. I mean well by you, as surely as God helps me. **APP_VIAS036** 1619 pp 271–272 · scans ER275, ER276 **German** Aber dennoch mustu im lesen fleissig nachtrachten, vnd wol erwegen, was ich dir allhier geschrieben habe. Laß dich auch daneben nit wundern, daß ich dich von dem gemeinen bößlichem Wege gantz vnnd gar abweisen thu, denn du must dich gar auff einen andern Weg lencken, so du zur natürlichen Warheit begerest zukommen. Wollest derhalben Gott dem Allmechtigen embsig flehen vnd bitten, daß er dir einen wahren Philosophischen Geist verleihen vnnd gönnen wolle, der dich das Liecht der Natur recht lehre erkennen, dadurch du mögest zu dem Ende, darnach du so sehnlichen trachtest, kommen. ENDE. **English** Nevertheless, as you read you must reflect diligently and weigh carefully what I have written here. Do not be surprised that I turn you entirely away from the common, harmful path, for you must direct yourself onto a wholly different path if you wish to reach natural truth. Therefore earnestly entreat and ask Almighty God to grant you a true philosophical spirit, which will teach you to recognise the light of Nature correctly, so that you may reach the end you so ardently desire. END. ## Later Appendices: The Responses of 1661 ### First Response *Prima Responsio* **Chapter outline** - Desire for treasure and the worthiness of seekers - The mountain, the unseen guide and the trials of wind, earthquake and fire - The tincture, obligations of its recipient and admission to the fraternity **APP_FRC1S001** 1661 pp 200 · scans HAB00206 **German** PRIMA RESPONSIO. Deß F. R. C. an etliche ihnen zugethanen abgelassen. **English** FIRST RESPONSE. Issued by F. R. C. to certain persons devoted to them.[^n229] **APP_FRC1S002** 1661 pp 200 · scans HAB00206 **German** I. Ein Jeder begehret von Naturen grosse Gold- vnd Silberne Schätze, Edelgestein vnd Reichthumbe, damit für der Welt hoch vnd groß zu seyn. Gott hat diß alles auch darumb geschaffen, daß es der Mensch gebrauchen, vnd ein Herr darüber seyn soll, dabey seine Göttliche Gütigkeit vnd Allmacht zu erkennen, Ihn dafür zu ehren vnd zu dancken. **English** I. Everyone naturally desires great treasures of gold and silver, precious stones and riches, so as to be great and exalted before the world. God created all these things for human beings to use and have dominion over, recognising in them his divine goodness and omnipotence, and honouring and thanking him for them. **APP_FRC1S003** 1661 pp 200 · scans HAB00206 **German** II. Ein Jeder aber begehret dieselbe nur mit guten Tagen, wenig Mühe, ohne Gefahr vnd Arbeit an sich zu bringen, vnd wo sie Gott hingelegt hat, wo Er sie gesucht haben, vnd Er sie auch zu geben versprochen, alda will Niemand darnach graben oder suchen. **English** II. Yet everyone wishes to acquire them only in ease, with little trouble and without danger or labour. Where God has placed them, where he wishes them to be sought and has promised to give them, no one is willing to dig or search. **APP_FRC1S004** 1661 pp 200 · scans HAB00206 **German** III. Dergestalt, daß von wegen der Langen Zeit, der Ort vnd Weg dahin, den Menschen fast vnbekand worden, vnd dem mehreren Theyl verborgen ist, also daß dahin zu gelangen nunmehr schwer, mühesam vnd gefährlich, jedoch nicht gantz vnmöglich ist. **English** III. Thus, over the long passage of time, the place and the way to it have become almost unknown to humankind and hidden from the greater part, so that reaching it is now difficult, laborious and dangerous, though not altogether impossible. **APP_FRC1S005** 1661 pp 200–201 · scans HAB00206, HAB00207 **German** IV. Wann aber GOtt von seinem grossen Hauffen, nunmehr nichts verborgen, sondern in dieser letzten Zeit, ehe das Jüngste Gericht anbricht, den Würdigen geoffenbahret haben will. Wie Christus selbsten (wiewol sehr Dunckel, damit es nehmlich die Vnwürdigen nit verstünden) davon redet, da Er spricht: Da soll nichts verborgen bleiben: So sind wir durch den Geist Gottes angetrieben, diesen deß Herren Willen der Welt zu verkündigen, massen dann in vnderschiedlichen Spraachen allbereit von vns geschehen vnd publiciret ist. Es ist aber von dem grösten Hauffen, entweder übel auf vnd angenommen, oder gäntzlich verachtet, vnd ohne Gott von vns gesucht worden. Sie meynen, man werde sie das Gold auf Alchymistische Weyse lehren kochen oder ihnen geschwind mit grossen Schätzen zu Gemüht lauffen, vnd von den vnsern mittheylen, so viel sie dessen, zu jhrem Pracht, Hoffart, Krieg, Fressen, Sauffen, Vnzucht, Wucher vnd andere Sünden begierig, da sie doch von jenen ziehen mögten, da die fünff Thörichten, von den fünff Klugen Oehl begehrten, billich ein Exempel nehmen solten, daß es auf einen gantz andern Weg, vnd durch eines jedwedern eygenen Fleyß vnd Eyfer, durch vnd in Gott müsse erworben werden. **English** IV. But God now wills that nothing remain hidden from his great company, and that it be revealed to the worthy in this last age, before the Last Judgment begins. Christ himself speaks of this, although very obscurely so that the unworthy might not understand, when he says that nothing shall remain hidden. We have therefore been moved by the Spirit of God to proclaim this will of the Lord to the world, as we have already done and published in various languages. Most people, however, have either received it badly or utterly despised it, and have sought it from us without God. They imagine that we will teach them to cook gold in an alchemical fashion, or quickly come running to them with great treasures and share ours with them—as much as they desire for their splendour, pride, warfare, gluttony, drunkenness, fornication, usury and other sins. Instead, they should rightly learn from the five foolish virgins who asked the five wise for oil: it must be acquired by an entirely different path, through each person’s own diligence and zeal, through God and in God.[^n230] **APP_FRC1S006** 1661 pp 201 · scans HAB00207 **German** V. Wie wir dann solcher Gesellen Gemüht, auß Göttlicher Offenbahrung, vnd auß ihren eygenen Schrifften bald erkennen, daher vnsere Ohren, für ihrem blasen vnd schreyen nur nach vergänglichem Golde, gleich als mit einer Wolcken verstopffen, vnd sie vergeblich ruffen lassen, worauß dann viel scheltens vnd schmehends (davon jetzt nichts zu melden) gegen vns gehöret wird, welches Gott zu seiner Zeit schon wird wissen zu rächen. **English** V. We soon recognise the disposition of such fellows through divine revelation and their own writings. We therefore stop our ears, as with a cloud, against their blowing and shouting solely for perishable gold, and let them call in vain. Much abuse and slander is then heard against us—of which we will say nothing now—which God will know how to avenge in his own time. **APP_FRC1S007** 1661 pp 201–202 · scans HAB00207, HAB00208 **German** VI. Demnach wird dann ewer Beyder Fleyß vnd Eyfer, welche jhr auf das rechte Erkäntnuß Gottes vnd Lehre der heiligen Bibel wendet, schon längst (wiewol es euch verborgen) auß ewerem Schreiben vernommen, so haben wir auch euch für viel tausenden dieser Antwort würdigen sollen. Vnd vermelden euch demnach auß Göttlicher Zulassung, vnd deß heyligen Geistes Ermahnung, dieses: Da ligt inmitten der Erden, oder Centro Mundi, ein Berg, der ist klein vnd groß, mild vnd weich, auch über die massen festigt vnd hart, einem jeglichen nahe vnd ferne, aber auß Göttlichem Raht vnsichtbar. **English** VI. Your diligence and zeal, which you both devote to the true knowledge of God and the teaching of the Holy Bible, have long been perceived in your writings, although you did not know it. We have therefore chosen to deem you worthy of this answer before many thousands. With divine permission and at the Holy Spirit’s prompting, we tell you this: in the midst of the earth, or at the centre of the world, lies a mountain. It is small and great, gentle and soft, yet exceedingly firm and hard, near to everyone and far away, but invisible by divine counsel.[^n231] **APP_FRC1S008** 1661 pp 202 · scans HAB00208 **German** VII. In demselben ligen die grosseste Schätze, die die gantze Welt nit vermag zu bezahlen, verborgen. Allein er ist auß Neyd deß Teufels, der allezeit Gottes Ehr vnd deß Menschen Glückseligkeit verhindert, mit vielen grimmigen Thieren vnd Raubvögeln vmbringet vnd besetzet, welche den Weg, der ohne das sehr finster ist, vberauß gefährlich machen. Daher man biß annoch, weil die Zeit nit fürhanden gewest, denselben weder gesucht noch finden können, jetzt aber von den Würdigen, wiewol nit ohne eygenen Fleyß vnd Mühe, gefunden werden muß. **English** VII. Hidden within it are the greatest treasures, which the whole world cannot pay for. But through the envy of the devil, who always obstructs God’s honour and human happiness, it is surrounded and beset with many fierce beasts and birds of prey. They make the path, already very dark, exceedingly dangerous. Until now it could neither be sought nor found, because the time had not come; now, however, the worthy must find it, though not without their own diligence and labour. **APP_FRC1S009** 1661 pp 202 · scans HAB00208 **German** VIII. Zu diesem Berg müsset jhr gehen bey Nacht, vnd zwar wann sie am längsten vnd finstersten ist. Darumb machet euch dazu mit einem andächtigen Gebät fein gefast, von Hertzen gestärckt vnd fertig. Fraget nach dem Weg, wo der Berg außzuspüren vnd zu finden sey, keinen Menschen; Sondern folget getrost dem Ductorem oder Läytsmann, der sich bey euch befinden, vnd euch auf dem Weg begegnen wird, Wiewol jhr jhn nicht sehen werdet, der wird euch vngefähr in der Nacht, wann alles still vnd finster ist, dazu bringen. Aber jhr müsset euch mit einem Helden vnd Mannhafften Gemüht waffnen, damit jhr für den, der euch auf dem Weg begegnen wird, nicht erschröcket oder zurück weichet. Jedoch bedörffet jhr dazu keines leiblichen Schwerdes oder Waffen, nur ruffet Gott immer fleissig vnd andächtig an, sprecht die Wort, die euch der Ductor vorsagt, fleissig nach. **English** VIII. You must go to this mountain by night, when the night is longest and darkest. Prepare yourselves with devout prayer, strengthened at heart and ready. Ask no one for the way, or where the mountain can be traced and found. Follow confidently the guide or conductor who will be with you and meet you on the path, although you will not see him. He will bring you there at an unexpected moment in the night, when everything is still and dark. But arm yourselves with a heroic and courageous spirit, so that you do not take fright or turn back before the one who meets you on the way. You need no bodily sword or weapon: continually call upon God diligently and devoutly, and faithfully repeat the words the guide says to you.[^n232] **APP_FRC1S010** 1661 pp 203 · scans HAB00209 **German** IX. Wann jhr dann den Berg sehet, so ist diß das erste Wunderzeichen, das vorher gehen wird, ein starcker Wind, der den Berg sehr zerreissen, vnd die Felsen zerbrechen wird. Ferner werden euch Löwen vnd Drachen vnd andere abschewliche Thiere begegnen, vnd schröcklich vnd grausam gegen euch toben. Aber förchtet euch nicht, stehet fest vnd sehet nicht zurück, dann ewer Läytsmann, der euch dahin führt, wird euch kein Leyd wiederfahren lassen. Damit ist aber der Schatz noch nicht entblöset, wiewol er gantz nahe ist. **English** IX. When you see the mountain, the first wondrous sign to precede it will be a strong wind, which will tear the mountain apart and break the rocks. Lions, dragons and other abominable beasts will also meet you, raging terribly and fiercely against you. Do not fear: stand firm and do not look back. Your conductor, who leads you there, will let no harm befall you. The treasure, however, is not yet laid bare, although it is very near. **APP_FRC1S011** 1661 pp 203 · scans HAB00209 **German** X. Bald auf den Wind wird folgen ein grosses Erdbeben, welcher dann fallendes, was durch den Wind übergeblieben ist, wird richtig vnd eben machen. Aber sehet doch nicht zurück. **English** X. Soon after the wind a great earthquake will follow. By bringing down what the wind left standing, it will set everything straight and level. But do not look back. **APP_FRC1S012** 1661 pp 203 · scans HAB00209 **German** XI. Auf das Erdbeben wird dann folgen ein häfftiges Fewer, ein △ der Liebe, welches alle jrdische Materien fortan verzehren, vnd den Schatz entblössen wird, jedoch werdet jhr jhn noch nicht können sehen. **English** XI. After the earthquake a fierce fire will follow, a fire of love, which will consume all earthly materials and lay the treasure bare. Yet you will still be unable to see it.[^n233] **APP_FRC1S013** 1661 pp 203 · scans HAB00209 **German** XII. Aber nach diesem allem, vnd nahe bey dem Morgen, wird es gantz still vnd lieblich werden, auch bald der Morgenstern aufgehen, vnd die Morgenröhte heran brechen, darauf werdet jhr dann deß grossen Schatzes gewahr werden. Dabey das fürnehmste vnd gröste ist, eine sehr hohe Tinctur, womit die gantze Welt (wans möglich vnd es Gott gefällig, sie es auch würdig wären) köndte tingiret, vnd in das höchste Gold verändert werden. **English** XII. After all this, as morning approaches, everything will become still and lovely. The morning star will soon rise and dawn will break. You will then become aware of the great treasure. Its foremost and greatest part is a most exalted tincture, with which the whole world—if it were possible, pleasing to God and the world worthy of it—could be tinged and changed into the highest gold. **APP_FRC1S014** 1661 pp 203 · scans HAB00209 **German** XIII. Dieser Tinctur gebrauchet selbst, massen euch solches der Wegweiser lehren wird, selbige wird euch wieder gesund vnd Jung machen, dergestalt, daß jhr an keinem Gliede einige Kranckheit mehr empfinden werdet. **English** XIII. Use this tincture yourselves, as the guide will teach you. It will make you healthy and young again, so that you will no longer feel any illness in any member. **APP_FRC1S015** 1661 pp 203–204 · scans HAB00209, HAB00210 **German** XIV. Bey dieser Tinctur findet jhr alle Edelgesteine, die auf der Welt zu bedencken sind. Jhr sollet aber davon selbst nichts nehmen; Sondern allerdings zufrieden seyn mit denjenigen, das euch der Wegweiser davon mittheylen wird, jhme dafür allezeit hertzlich dancken, vnd euch fleissig hüten, damit für der Welt zu prangen, oder sonsten es anzuwenden, da es Gott zuwider wäre, hingegen aber wohl zu gebrauchen, vnd zu besitzen als hättet jhr nichts. Ferner seyd mäßig, still vnd eingezogen, vnd hütet euch, so viel jmer möglich ist, für allen Sünden, sonsten wird ewer Bruder, der Läytsmann, sich von euch wenden, vnd jhr werdet dieser Glückseligkeit wieder verlustig werden. Darum nützt dieses zu guter Ermahnung: Wer dieser Tinctur mißbraucht, für der Welt nicht Exemplarisch, vnd für Gott rein vnd aufrichtig lebet, derselbe verleuret sie, vnd hat wenig Hoffnung dieselbe wiederumb zu erwecken. **English** XIV. Beside this tincture you will find every precious stone imaginable in the world. Take none of them for yourselves, but be entirely content with what the guide gives you. Always thank him heartily, and take great care not to flaunt it before the world or use it in any way contrary to God. Use it well and possess it as though you possessed nothing. Be temperate, quiet and reserved, and guard yourselves as far as possible against all sins; otherwise your brother, the conductor, will turn away and you will lose this happiness again. Take this as a sound admonition: whoever misuses the tincture, failing to live as an example before the world and purely and uprightly before God, loses it and has little hope of awakening it again. **APP_FRC1S016** 1661 pp 204–205 · scans HAB00210, HAB00211 **German** XV. Wann jhr euch nun zu diesem Weg fertig macht, vnd eine starcke Triebe findet, so machet euch vngesäumt auf, es wird sich der, so dazu von vns erbäthen, vnd euch zu begleiten angeordnet ist, schon vnderwegs zu euch fügen. Deme müsset jhr ein Gelübt thun, euch zu der Fraternität zu verfügen, vnd beständig bey jhr zu verharren, solches keinem Vnwürdigen, ohne eweres Ductoris Bewilligung zu entdecken, jhme in alle Wege getrewlich nachzufolgen, auch das alles fleissig zu thun, was er euch lehret vnd saget, davon weder zur Rechten, noch zur Lincken abzuweichen: Sondern euch allerdings nach jhme zu richten. Dieses sollet vnd müsset jhr versuchen, dann ewer Gebät vnd sehnliches Verlangen zu Gott ist erhöret, vnd seyd sampt eweres gleichen dieses Schatzes theylhafftig zu werden von Gott gewürdiget. Seyd frölig vnd getrost, vnd überauß sorgfältig. Verlasset euch nicht auf euch selbst; Sondern auf ewren Läytsmann, haltet euch vnsträfflich gegen jhme, dann er ist eine würdige Person, thut nichts ausser jhme, sein Wissen oder Willen: Dann er wird euch, wo jhrs nur begehrt, beystehen, euch nicht verlassen, vnd wo vnser Convent anzutreffen, trewlich berichten, auch von vnsern Satzungen vnd Ordnungen, welche euch zu vnderhalten höchst vonnöhten, genugsam Vnderricht geben, euch auch gelayten, biß alles vollendet vnd offenbahret werde, der Löwe das Reichs einnehme, vnd der Welt-Lauff jhr Ziel vnd Endschafft erreiche. O! Glückselige, würdige vnd geliebte Brüder in vnserm einigen Sinn, dancket Gott Tag vnd Nacht für seine Gnade, seyd nicht sicher, sondern ehret ewren Ductorem vnd Dictatorem, folget jhme in allem das er euch lehren wird, vnd wir euch nicht schreiben können. Bedenckt wozu jhr kommen, auf daß jhr ewren Ductorem nicht betrübet, er sich von euch abwende, vnd ein böses Gerücht von euch anbringe. **English** XV. If you now prepare yourselves for this path and feel a strong impulse, set out without delay. The one whom we have requested and appointed to accompany you will join you on the way. You must vow to him to enter the fraternity and remain steadfastly with it; to disclose this to no unworthy person without your guide’s permission; to follow him faithfully in every way; and diligently to do everything he teaches and tells you. Turn aside neither to the right nor the left, but conform yourselves to him entirely. You should and must attempt this, for your prayer and ardent longing towards God have been heard, and God has deemed you, together with others like you, worthy to share this treasure. Be joyful and confident, and exceedingly careful. Rely not on yourselves but on your conductor. Behave blamelessly towards him, for he is a worthy person. Do nothing apart from him, his knowledge or his will. If you desire it, he will assist you and never abandon you. He will faithfully tell you where our assembly can be found and sufficiently instruct you in our statutes and ordinances, which you must most diligently observe. He will also guide you until everything is accomplished and revealed, the lion takes possession of the kingdom, and the world’s course reaches its goal and end. O fortunate, worthy and beloved brothers, united with us in one mind: thank God day and night for his grace. Do not grow complacent, but honour your guide and instructor. Follow him in everything he will teach you and which we cannot write to you. Consider what you have attained, lest you grieve your guide, cause him to turn away and bring a bad report of you.[^n234] **APP_FRC1S017** 1661 pp 205 · scans HAB00211 **German** Gott vnderhalte euch. E. D. F. O. C. R. Senior. **English** May God sustain you. E. D. F. O. C. R. Senior.[^n235] ### Second Response *Secunda Responsio* **Chapter outline** - The seven circles and the transformation of the speaking subject - Night, dawn and the birth of a new heaven and earth - The fraternity’s gift and the meeting on Christ’s day **APP_FRC2S001** 1661 pp 206 · scans HAB00212 **German** SECUNDA RESPONSIO. deß B[r?]. deß R. C. **English** SECOND RESPONSE. Of B[r?]. of R. C.[^n236] **APP_FRC2S002** 1661 pp 206 · scans HAB00212 **German** I. Ich trette in die sieben Circul deß Himmels, begreiffe mit meinen Gedancken den Obersten, vnd stehe mit meinen Füssen auf dem Vndersten Circul. **English** I. I step into the seven circles of heaven, comprehend the highest with my thoughts, and stand with my feet upon the lowest circle. **APP_FRC2S003** 1661 pp 206 · scans HAB00212 **German** II. Wann mir der Mondschein die Augen verblendet, ich darüber strauchle, falle, vnd ein Bein breche: So mache ich mir eine Steltze, vnd gehe langsam, das ist meinem innerlichen Saltz ein Balsam, welcher mich wiederumb heylet. Aber wann ich schwitze, so gehet ein süsses liebliches Wasser auß meinen Poris, wie Milch vnd Honig. Alsdann verbränne ich meine Steltze zu lauter Aschen. Wann die Asche glühet ohne Rauch, dann gibt deß Königs Fontain Gold-Flammen von sich, vnd alsdann fallen drey in die Fontain, vnd erwecken eine Finsternuß der Welt, biß der Mondschein wieder durchbricht vnd hell wird. **English** II. When moonlight dazzles my eyes and I stumble over it, fall and break a leg, I make myself a crutch and walk slowly. This is a balm to my inward salt, which heals me again. But when I sweat, a sweet and lovely water issues from my pores, like milk and honey. Then I burn my crutch entirely to ashes. When the ashes glow without smoke, the king’s fountain gives off golden flames. Three then fall into the fountain and bring darkness upon the world until the moonlight breaks through again and becomes bright.[^n237] **APP_FRC2S004** 1661 pp 206 · scans HAB00212 **German** III. Die Nacht ist vergangen, die Sonne gibt jhren Schein, die Tage deß Herren nahen herzu, der Himmel wird lauter Fewer, vnd zündet die gantze Welt an. **English** III. The night has passed; the sun gives its light. The days of the Lord draw near. Heaven becomes pure fire and sets the whole world alight. **APP_FRC2S005** 1661 pp 206 · scans HAB00212 **German** IV. Alle vier Elementen zerschmeltzen, vnd wird ein newer Himmel vnd Erden gebohren. **English** IV. All four elements melt, and a new heaven and earth are born.[^n238] **APP_FRC2S006** 1661 pp 206 · scans HAB00212 **German** V. In diesen kurtzen Worten ist der Schatz der Welt begriffen, womit ewere Begierde wird erfüllet. **English** V. These few words contain the treasure of the world, by which your desire will be fulfilled. **APP_FRC2S007** 1661 pp 206 · scans HAB00212 **German** VI. Diß hat vnser Bruderschafft, ohn alle Vergeltung euch mitgetheylet. Aber stellet euch auf Christag, bey St. Peter wieder in vnsern Orden eyn, so wird euch das B. T. auch folgen. ENDE. **English** VI. Our brotherhood has imparted this to you without any payment. But present yourselves again in our order at St Peter’s on Christ’s day, and B. T. will also follow you. END.[^n239] ## Keyword Essays ### Gift and Labour The Hydrolith makes the art depend on a gift while demanding considerable work from its recipient. These claims belong together in its account of agency. Part I says that willing and desiring do not bring the secret within human power: the Almighty’s mercy assists and advances it. The practitioner must nevertheless pray, investigate Nature, recognise the matter and prepare for manual labour. The sequence assigns different kinds of action to God and the artist. Its agricultural comparison makes the distinction explicit: the artist sows, plants and waters, while God gives the increase. The gifted character of the art therefore does not remove the requirement for attentive practice. See [the art as gift](#HY_P1S002) and [sowing and increase](#HY_P1S008). The qualification of the recipient is equally demanding. Truthfulness, simplicity, patience and steadfastness are qualities of Nature which the pupil must also acquire. In this account, moral disposition enables knowledge because the knowing person must become fitted to what is known. Part I’s warning that the heart must be purified alongside the work turns this requirement into an ongoing discipline. It is more than a preliminary oath taken before an otherwise independent operation. The artist’s successive actions and the transformation of the artist are expected to proceed together. This is the author’s proposed relation between character and success, rather than evidence that virtuous behaviour produces a particular material result. See [becoming like Nature](#HY_P1S006) and [the heart and the work](#HY_P1S007). The conclusion tests the claim against an awkward possibility: someone might possess the tincture without the required knowledge or disposition. The reply distinguishes acquiring a substance from understanding its preparation and right use. That distinction protects the author’s ideal from an easy counterexample, while also revealing what the ideal values. Possession alone is insufficient; the genuine practitioner must understand a natural work and govern its benefits. Readers can ask whether the argument offers a consistent account of expertise, or whether the appeal to divine favour makes unsuccessful attempts too easy to explain away. Both questions arise from the text’s own close connection of gift, understanding and conduct. See [the unqualified possessor](#HY_CONCLUSIONS005). ### Names, Riddles and Recognition The first matter is said to be one thing with a thousand names. Part II calls it a stone and no stone, water which does not wet, a fifth essence and the seed of the world. These descriptions accumulate rather than resolving into a single ordinary designation. Their variety teaches the reader to distinguish a thing’s identity from the names it receives through different properties, states or effects. Recognition is still required before manual work begins. Knowing a catalogue of names is therefore not the same as knowing the matter. This distinction is central to the author’s criticism of readers who repeat philosophical language without understanding its foundation. See [one matter and many names](#HY_P2S003), [paradoxical descriptions](#HY_P2S004) and [recognition before labour](#HY_P2S010). The riddles intensify the problem. Their sequences of colours, numbers and places offer apparent clues while withholding a straightforward identification. They also alter the pace of reading: a short verse may ask the reader to hold together several relationships that prose unfolds successively. The numerical expressions should be retained in this open condition unless the witness itself explains them. Treating every three as a single chemical recipe or every seven as a fixed timetable supplies a certainty the book has not supplied. Its warning about the proper time of the work stresses the need to observe Nature and allows that a small error can greatly delay success. See [the threefold riddle](#HY_P2S007), [the sevens](#HY_P2S029) and [the uncertainty of time](#HY_P2S026). The companion Via veritatis offers an instructive challenge to this practice. It attacks misleading names and says that descriptions of operations can conceal a simpler natural coction. Its polemic cannot simply be treated as a key which solves every name in the main treatise: it also disputes ways of reading colours and processes that the Hydrolith itself presents positively. The collected volume thus preserves a disagreement about disclosure. One voice elaborates names to teach recognition; another warns that readers become trapped by them. Comparing these voices allows a reader to examine how secrecy can serve instruction, protection, authority or evasion without deciding in advance that every obscure expression has one recoverable solution. See [Via on colours](#APP_VIAS012) and [outward appearance and concealed essence](#APP_VIAS017). ### Nature and the Artist Nature is presented as an ordered and active creation, dwelling in God’s will. The artist is told to learn what Nature is, what it can do and how it works daily in visible things. This gives inquiry a definite object and a practical standard: the practitioner must accommodate the work to a process already operating in the world. The book’s insistence on following Nature explains why patience and observation recur alongside prayer. The reader should attend to changes in the material rather than assume that a written schedule can replace judgement. Such claims describe the author’s natural philosophy; they do not establish that the promised transmutations occurred. See [Nature’s character](#HY_P1S006) and [observation of Nature’s work](#HY_P2S015). The relation between art and Nature is particularly visible in the management of fire. The Hydrolith distinguishes a philosophical fire within the compound from the ordinary fire which assists its activity. Once the compound has been properly arranged, the work is said to conduct its successive process with little further labour beyond tending the fire. Human agency is therefore concentrated in preparation, proportion, protection and sustained governance. Art provides conditions under which Nature is expected to accomplish a change. This division of roles also explains the warnings against haste: a practitioner may interfere with the very process that the intervention was intended to assist. See [the vessel and gentle fire](#HY_P2S019), [the inward and assisting fires](#HY_P2S020) and [governance of the fire](#HY_P2S021). The Summary and Via describe this relation in their own terms. The Summary considers metallic generation through seeds, nourishment and maturation; Via repeatedly reduces the artist’s task to a proper natural coction of metallic essence. Their accounts share an interest in generation while differing in vocabulary and emphasis. The modern reader should preserve that difference. “Nature” does not designate one fully uniform doctrine throughout the volume, and “natural” need not mean familiar or scientifically established. It often marks a disputed claim to legitimacy: this author follows the proper course of generation, while an opponent imposes violent or fruitless operations. Reading each claim in its immediate argument makes comparison more exact. See [growth and nourishment](#APP_SUMMARYS006) and [coction and the artist’s work](#APP_VIAS035). ### Body, Soul and Spirit Body, soul and spirit provide the Hydrolith with a language for describing material changes as well as human life. In Part II, the matter’s hidden heart, soul and spirit are to be drawn out and afterwards reunited with their own salt. The terms mark an account of separation and restored unity. They cannot safely be replaced throughout by a fixed list of modern substances. Their roles depend on the passage: what can rise, penetrate, nourish or remain below is described through a vocabulary of life and agency. The language makes the process intelligible to the author by treating its changing constituents as members of an organised living whole. See [drawing out the inward soul](#HY_P2S013) and [reunion with its own salt](#HY_P2S014). The same vocabulary gives Part I a demand addressed to the practitioner. Body, soul and spirit must agree and work together, while the heart is purified in correspondence with the work. Here the three terms describe the person’s integrity rather than a division of laboratory ingredients. Part IV then gives the language a more extended theological use. Its discussion of the risen Christ speaks of an indissoluble union of body, soul and spirit. The parallel is specific to an argument about perfection and permanence: the author takes a fixed material union as a likeness through which to contemplate resurrection. It does not follow that the three terms have exactly the same referents in human anthropology, Christology and the vessel. See [agreement within the practitioner](#HY_P1S007) and [resurrection and indissoluble union](#HY_P4S029). A particularly useful clarification comes in the description of spiritual dying. The soul’s ascent signifies a living person’s longing for eternal life and withdrawal from sin. The body remains on earth; the passage expressly distinguishes this separation from bodily death and describes continuing consolation between soul and body. That distinction limits an otherwise powerful image. A reader who treats every extraction or ascent as literal death would miss the author’s explanation of how the likeness operates. Attention to the local verb—separate, rise, nourish, unite—can be more helpful than constructing a universal dictionary of body, soul and spirit. The terms make relationships visible, but those relationships must be established afresh in each context. See [spiritual and bodily separation](#HY_P4S049). ### Inward Light and Outward Testimony The Hydrolith’s account of knowledge joins the outward reading of Scripture with an inward light of grace. Part IV locates knowledge of the heavenly stone in God’s eternal Word and the Old and New Testaments. It then warns that bodily eyes and literal reading alone can mistake the path. The fault is assigned to a reader’s darkened eye rather than to the testimony itself. In this argument, the truth of the witness does not guarantee the truth of every act of interpretation. Knowledge requires a receptive and discerning reader. See [the Word and the two Testaments](#HY_P4S009) and [the inward eye](#HY_P4S010). The examples are deliberately ordinary. Silent white and black tablets can stimulate the senses, but they cannot themselves judge their colours. Flint contains a concealed fire which must be brought out through a suitable encounter. These comparisons distinguish an object’s presence from a knower’s activity and a latent capacity from its manifestation. They also guard against imagining that inward knowledge makes outward means useless. The right instrument or testimony can awaken what would otherwise remain unmanifest. The examples do not provide a complete theory of perception, and their theological application should not erase their different material settings. They show how the author argues from familiar acts of seeing and kindling to a more difficult claim about spiritual understanding. See [the coloured tablets](#HY_P4S011) and [flint, steel and tinder](#HY_P4S012). Later, the treatment of hearing repeats the distinction while giving it an ethical result. Divine inward hearing is expected to issue in living faith active through love. Continual attention to the Word helps sustain the inward fire, just as a lamp requires a continuing supply. The sequence matters: inward illumination is not presented as a licence for whatever private assertion a reader wishes to make. It is bound to Scripture, perseverance, prayer, obedience and service to a neighbour. This reading follows the author’s stated connections; it does not resolve every tension between his confidence in inward knowledge and his appeal to outward authority. The tension itself is a productive subject for study. See [sustaining the inward fire](#HY_P4S044), [inward hearing](#HY_P4S045) and [faith active through love](#HY_P4S046). ### The Stone and the Cornerstone The fourth part develops a comparison already announced by the scriptural epigraphs: the philosophers’ stone is brought into relation with Christ, the rejected cornerstone. The author justifies this method by recalling biblical parables in which familiar created things help human beings conceive what is heavenly. The comparison therefore has a stated teaching purpose. Its movement is often from a material feature, through an explanation of that feature, to a more exalted application in theology. Attending to this movement is more useful than assuming that the material work and the Christian narrative are interchangeable. See [the foundation-stone epigraph](#HY_P2S001), [the teaching of parables](#HY_P4S002) and [the rejected cornerstone](#HY_P4S004). The extended catalogues of names make this hierarchy explicit. Qualities praised in the earthly stone are said to belong still more truly and in the highest degree to God and his Son. The text can therefore call Christ light, treasure, medicine and physician without proposing that those titles identify one ordinary material substance. Its account of conjunction likewise draws on an alchemical combination to speak about the Incarnation, while maintaining theological claims about Christ’s divinity, humanity and wondrous origin. The analogies carry the argument across different kinds of being. Their force depends on an asserted likeness, not on a demonstrated equality of mechanisms. See [names of the earthly stone](#HY_P4S016), [the higher application](#HY_P4S017), [Christ as medicine](#HY_P4S018) and [the two natures](#HY_P4S024). The pattern becomes especially vivid when the completed stone’s tincture is compared with Christ’s blood healing imperfect human beings. The work then turns from Christ’s own passion and glorification to his members’ regeneration. That turn extends the analogy into the reader’s life and explains why the fourth part is much longer than a compact list of correspondences would be. It unfolds consequences for baptism, instruction, temptation, love, suffering and the sacraments. A correspondence table can help readers recover this structure, but it should remain an aid to reading the sustained argument. The table cannot replace the distinctions and qualifications through which the author conducts each comparison. See [the turn to Christ’s members](#HY_P4S030), [fermentation and incorporation](#HY_P4S032) and [the saving tincture](#HY_P4S033). ### Death, Coction and Regeneration The blackened and apparently dead body at the bottom of the vessel is one of the Hydrolith’s central images of transformation. Part II describes the raven’s head after dissolution and deprivation of the body’s powers; later, the returning moisture preserves it and a renewed union produces a glorified body. The account links destruction to a claimed capacity for renewal. Death-language is therefore part of the process’s intelligibility, rather than a decorative name attached after the technical account is complete. The reader is nevertheless given an alchemical description, with its own vessel, heat and sequence of changes. See [the raven’s head](#HY_P2S020), [returning moisture](#HY_P2S021) and [the renewed body](#HY_P2S022). Part IV applies that pattern first to Christ’s passion and resurrection, then to Christian regeneration. These applications should be distinguished. Christ’s historical suffering and victory have a unique place in the argument. A believer’s spiritual dying concerns the old Adam and the rule of sin in a continuing earthly life. Baptism is explicitly named, and the furnace of tribulation brings a person to abandon confidence in personal power and seek comfort in mercy. The explanation of the soul’s ascent makes clear that the believer is still alive. A modern interpretation which treats the whole sequence simply as personal psychological integration would discard the text’s sacramental and doctrinal specificity. See [Christ and the blackened body](#HY_P4S028), [resurrection](#HY_P4S029), [baptism](#HY_P4S035) and [the furnace of tribulation](#HY_P4S048). The timing of the two works also diverges. The chemical account names forty days in describing one stage; the theological discussion collects several scriptural forties but says a believer’s suffering can endure throughout a lifetime. The six-thousand-year world and seven-thousandth-year Sabbath widen the comparison into an account of history’s consummation. These are historical interpretive claims, not a timetable to be recalculated as a present forecast. The variations show that the author does not mechanically assign one laboratory duration to each spiritual experience. Number gives the likeness order and resonance, while the exposition still allows different forms and scales of fulfilment. See [the scriptural forties](#HY_P4S027), [life under consolation](#HY_P4S049) and [the universal Sabbath](#HY_P4S050). ### Gold, Secrecy and the Common Good The promise of making gold sits beside repeated attacks on the desire for wealth. The author resolves the apparent conflict by asking what wealth is for and what place it holds in the possessor’s judgement. Part III says that the recipient regards temporal possessions as mud compared with heavenly goods. The art may provide material support for study and livelihood, yet success is supposed to loosen rather than intensify attachment to riches. This is a moral account of the proper use of a claimed power. It does not deny the material promise; it orders that promise beneath a more highly valued good. See [support for study](#HY_P3S005), [the relative worth of possessions](#HY_P3S013) and [the folly of greed](#HY_P3S014). Secrecy serves this ordering of benefits. Part I binds the practitioner not to reveal the secret to the unworthy or godless, and the conclusion repeats the injunction to keep silence. Such limits make access a matter of judgement and trust. They also give the author a way to explain why a book can claim to disclose the work while still restricting it. The reader should examine both functions. A rule can aim to protect recipients and neighbours, while also strengthening the authority of those who decide who is qualified. The printed circulation of a supposedly guarded knowledge makes that tension especially visible. See [the obligation of secrecy](#HY_P1S005) and [the seal of silence](#HY_CONCLUSIONS010). The conclusion’s warning against paid teachers gives the ethical argument a concrete economic edge. It rejects proposals to sell instruction or seek a large investment and claims that the universal work’s direct cost is no more than three florins, expressly excluding daily food and the maintenance of fire. The exclusions belong to the claim and should accompany it whenever quoted. Cheap materials are meant to distinguish the natural work from expensive imposture, while the gift’s value is declared beyond purchase. Readers can compare this ideal with Via’s attacks on failed tradespeople who become alchemical teachers. That polemic exposes anxieties about fraud and livelihood, but its insults should not be adopted as an editor’s social judgement. See [teachers and payment](#HY_CONCLUSIONS007), [the stated cost](#HY_CONCLUSIONS009) and [Via’s attack on new teachers](#APP_VIAS025). ## Short Glossary These definitions explain the terms as they function in this volume. German and Latin forms identify the source vocabulary. A shared word may have different senses in different works; the linked passages take precedence over a general definition. ### Absolution The release of a repentant sinner from sins, called holy solution in the German theological comparison. It answers to renewed dissolution of a damaged compound. The author connects it with the office of the keys, distinguishing a releasing key from the binding of the impenitent. [Part IV §54](#HY_P4S054). ### Adam, old Der alte Adam names fallen humanity as it persists in sin and resistance within a person. Spiritual regeneration must put this old Adam to death. The figure also enters the Saturn comparison, where the Christian’s contest with old Adam and Satan precedes final rest. [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048); [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052). ### Antimony Antimonium appears as an agent through which gold is refined before fermentation. Part IV also assigns it the character ♄, ordinarily Saturn’s sign, and develops the sign into a comparison with the cross. This edition retains that historical assignment rather than substituting a modern elemental identity. [Part III §11](#HY_P3S011); [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052). ### Arcanum Arcanum is a secret or mystery whose knowledge and use require a qualified recipient. The Hydrolith calls its art holy because it portrays a heavenly mystery. The term therefore bears a religious and ethical weight alongside its reference to concealed natural knowledge. [Part I §2](#HY_P1S002); [Part I §5](#HY_P1S005). ### Azoth Azoth is one of the names assigned to the first matter alongside double mercury and unusual kinds of water. The passage describes the subject through its nourishment, spirit and penetrating power. Its use here does not supply a secure modern chemical identification. [Part II §4](#HY_P2S004). ### Coagulation Coaguliren means bringing the separated or flowing material back into a united, graspable condition. In the preliminary work, the extracted inward constituents are reunited with their own salt. In Part IV, this restoration of unity also becomes a theological comparison concerning the divine being. [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Part IV §20](#HY_P4S020). ### Coction Cochen, digestion or coction denotes the sustained maturation attributed to appropriate heat. Via veritatis makes natural coction the central operation and says it accomplishes what other writers distribute among several named processes. This emphasis should be read within that companion’s argument rather than imposed uniformly on the volume. [Via veritatis §7](#APP_VIAS007); [Via veritatis §35](#APP_VIAS035). ### Compound Compositum is the joined material undergoing the subsequent work. Its enclosure and proportion matter because escape, excessive moisture or faulty heat may hinder the intended result. Part IV transfers the compound’s preparation and correction into comparisons concerning the regenerated person and the restoration of a sinner. [Part II §19](#HY_P2S019); [Part IV §54](#HY_P4S054). ### Conjunction Conjunction is the joining of the prepared aqueous matter and a suitable metallic body. The Hydrolith represents their relationship through marriage and the behaviour of husband and wife. Part IV uses the joined two beings as a likeness for contemplating Christ’s Incarnation and subsequent passion. [Part II §17](#HY_P2S017); [Part IV §22](#HY_P4S022); [Part IV §26](#HY_P4S026). ### Cornerstone Eckstein and Grundstein designate Christ as the heavenly foundation and cornerstone, drawing on biblical stone passages. The rejected cornerstone supplies the principal theological counterpart to the neglected philosophers’ stone. The author applies the comparison through knowledge, incarnation, suffering, resurrection and the regeneration of Christ’s members. [Part IV §4](#HY_P4S004); [Part IV §30](#HY_P4S030). ### Distillation Distilliren belongs to the preliminary preparation in which the inward constituents are separated and then reunited. The process poem gives distillation a place among dissolution, putrefaction and coagulation. The term should be followed in that particular sequence, without assuming every companion endorses the same named operations. [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Part II §30](#HY_P2S030). ### Dry water Trocken Wasser is a paradoxical designation for a water said not to wet the hand. It occurs among descriptions of the first matter, distinct from ordinary rain or spring water. The phrase asks the reader to recognise an unusual subject rather than simply select familiar liquid water. [Part II §4](#HY_P2S004). ### Elements The four Elementa are fire, air, water and earth, discussed through qualities, mixtures and natural generation. The main treatise describes its matter as a balance above their ordinary conflict. Nature’s Demonstration assigns their transformations to Nature’s governance and disputes the artist’s ability to reproduce them unaided. [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003); [Nature §7](#APP_NATURES007). ### Elixir Elixir names the achieved philosophical medicine or tincture. The author contrasts the hoped-for ELIXIR with a failed NIXIR, a pun on nothing. The joke accompanies a warning about haste and faulty reckoning, reminding the reader that a named goal does not guarantee a successful preparation. [Part II §27](#HY_P2S027); [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052). ### Essence Wesen and essentia can indicate a thing’s being or inward nature rather than its outward appearance. Via veritatis makes metallic essence the proper subject of transformation. The word’s scope depends on its local argument; it should not be treated throughout as the name of one extracted modern substance. [Via veritatis §11](#APP_VIAS011); [Via veritatis §32](#APP_VIAS032). ### Faith Glaube is true and living when it springs from inward hearing of God’s Word and acts through love. Part IV also discusses the articles of Christian faith as material for gradual instruction. These uses connect assent, understanding and conduct, rather than reducing faith to outward recitation. [Part IV §39](#HY_P4S039); [Part IV §46](#HY_P4S046). ### Fermentation Fermentiren is a further preparation by which the completed tincture is made capable of communicating its benefit to imperfect bodies. The text distinguishes this from repairing a defect in the stone itself. Its theological application concerns Christ’s union with members who remain weak and require his communicated perfection. [Part IV §32](#HY_P4S032); [Part IV §40](#HY_P4S040). ### Fifth essence Quinta essentia or fifth essence describes the matter’s claimed superiority to the conflicting properties of the four elements. Part III praises the spirit hidden within it in cosmological language. This is an assertion within the historical natural philosophy, not a designation authenticated by modern analytical chemistry. [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003); [Part III §3](#HY_P3S003). ### Fire, philosophical The philosophical or vaporous fire is said to be an inward, essential fire assisted by ordinary outward heat. The Hydrolith identifies it in context with mercurial water. Part IV compares this relation with the inward Word and Spirit sustained through outward practice and attention to Scripture. [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §44](#HY_P4S044). ### First matter Prima materia or erste Materia names the required starting subject whose recognition must precede labour. The Hydrolith also calls it second matter and describes it through many names. Companion discussions of original matter and proximate metallic matter require separate attention; they do not establish one uniform usage. [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003); [Nature §3](#APP_NATURES003). ### Fixation Fixiren means establishing a union which no longer flies away or falls apart. The material process reaches an indissoluble state of body, soul and spirit. Part IV uses that permanence to contemplate Christ’s risen body and the enduring blessedness towards which a restored sinner is directed. [Part II §22](#HY_P2S022); [Part IV §29](#HY_P4S029); [Part IV §54](#HY_P4S054). ### Gold Gold or Sol appears both as a highly honoured metal and as a body requiring qualification for the work. The author distinguishes common gold from the pure and suitable subject. Its later refining and use in fermentation should not be collapsed into the initial selection of matter. [Part II §16](#HY_P2S016); [Part III §11](#HY_P3S011). ### Inward light Innerliches Liecht is the divinely given light through which the reader must discern outward testimony rightly. The examples of coloured tablets and concealed fire distinguish stimulus from judgement. The author binds this inward knowledge to Scripture and godly practice, while criticising merely bodily or literal perception. [Part IV §10](#HY_P4S010); [Part IV §11](#HY_P4S011); [Part IV §12](#HY_P4S012). ### Keys, office of Schlüsselambt is the Church’s ministry of releasing and binding sins. Part IV names both holy absolution and Christian excommunication, linking their exercise to repentance or persistent sin. The office belongs to the text’s account of spiritual correction and should not disappear into a general metaphor of personal renewal. [Part IV §54](#HY_P4S054). ### Magnesia catholica Magnesia catholica is a Latin name placed beside Sperma mundi, seed of the world, in the catalogue of the matter’s titles. The description stresses unity and the origin of natural things. It does not justify identifying the phrase with a modern commercial substance called magnesia. [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003). ### Mercury Mercurius, mercury or quicksilver can function as an ordinary substance-name, a philosophical subject or a generative principle. The Summary describes a mother containing two seeds; Via rejects ordinary mercury as first matter. Determine the intended sense locally rather than substituting one meaning throughout all the collected works. [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Summary §2](#APP_SUMMARYS002); [Via veritatis §28](#APP_VIAS028). ### Multiplication Multipliciren is the increase or extension of the prepared tincture’s effective benefit. Part IV describes Christ’s multiplication with his members through incorporation into a pure spiritual body. The theological application concerns communicated perfection; it does not propose that Christ’s own completeness is deficient or needs material supplementation. [Part IV §30](#HY_P4S030); [Part IV §32](#HY_P4S032). ### Oratory and laboratory Oratorium and Laboratorium distinguish the place or exercise of prayer from manual work. The author orders the practitioner to begin with prayer and right recognition before applying diligence in the laboratory. Their sequence makes devotion part of the proposed practice, while retaining the distinct demand for physical labour. [Part II §12](#HY_P2S012); [Part I §8](#HY_P1S008). ### Panacea Panacea is an all-healing medicine in the praise of the stone and a spiritual title applied to Christ. The material and theological applications must be distinguished. The edition reports the work’s sweeping medicinal claims as historical assertions, while preserving the author’s higher application to the healing of souls. [Part III §8](#HY_P3S008); [Part IV §18](#HY_P4S018). ### Putrefaction Putrefaction or Fäulung is a stage of apparent corruption and loss of the body’s powers before renewal. Its black colour receives the name raven’s head. Part IV compares it first with Christ’s humiliation and then with a living Christian’s spiritual dying to the old Adam. [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §28](#HY_P4S028); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048). ### Raven’s head Caput corvi, the raven’s head, names the blackened appearance associated with putrefaction. The author connects this rejected and apparently powerless body with Christ’s humiliation and with the believer’s disfigurement before the world. It is a stage within an argued sequence, rather than a universal symbol with one timeless meaning. [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §28](#HY_P4S028). ### Regeneration Widergeburt is the new birth of the fallen human being through water and the Holy Spirit. Part IV expressly locates it in holy baptism and describes it as inward spiritual renewal with God and Christ. Subsequent growth, instruction, struggle and good works belong to its unfolding consequences. [Part IV §35](#HY_P4S035); [Part IV §36](#HY_P4S036); [Part IV §37](#HY_P4S037). ### Salt of wisdom Saltz der Weißheit names the subject after the extracted inward constituents have been distilled and reunited with their own salt. The description includes colour, taste, penetration and volatility. In the theological comparison, the language of its own salt also helps articulate inseparable unity within the divine being. [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Part IV §20](#HY_P4S020). ### Saturn Saturnus, old grey Saturn, enters a comparison involving refining, the sign ♄, a sweating bath and the cross. Part IV extends the figure to old Adam and Satan, with whom Christians contend. Preserve these local associations without assuming that every occurrence of Saturn simply denotes ordinary lead. [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052). ### Secrecy Geheimnuß refers both to the concealed art and to the practitioner’s obligation to restrict its disclosure. The promise to withhold it from unworthy recipients is reinforced by threats of divine punishment. The conclusion makes silence part of right use after the gift has been received. [Part I §5](#HY_P1S005); [Conclusion §10](#HY_CONCLUSIONS010). ### Sophist Sophist is a hostile term for a writer, teacher or practitioner accused of misleading appearances and false knowledge. Its target varies between sections: the opening attacks pseudo-philosophers, while Via denounces familiar operations. The word records the author’s judgement and should not be adopted uncritically as the editor’s classification. [Opening explanation §7](#HY_INTROS007); [Via veritatis §5](#APP_VIAS005). ### Spagyric spirit Spagirischer Geist is the active assistance through which ores and metals are said to be purified, renewed, dissolved and perfected. Part IV compares their inability to improve themselves with fallen humanity’s need for the Holy Spirit. The passage supplies a relation of dependence, not a secure modern identification. [Part IV §37](#HY_P4S037). ### Sulphur Schwefel or sulphur appears as an agent, seed or fixed constituent in accounts of metallic generation. The Summary’s wingless dragon represents sulphur, while Nature’s Demonstration pairs it with a receptive quicksilver. Via disputes taking ordinary sulphur as first matter, requiring attention to differences between these witnesses. [Summary §2](#APP_SUMMARYS002); [Nature §5](#APP_NATURES005); [Via veritatis §28](#APP_VIAS028). ### Tincture Tinctur is the perfected stone’s power to tinge, heal or perfect other imperfect bodies. Part III describes its claimed metallic application. Part IV calls Christ’s blood the saving tincture by which fallen human beings are cleansed. The shared term carries an analogy across distinct material and theological claims. [Part III §10](#HY_P3S010); [Part IV §33](#HY_P4S033). ### Universal Nature Universale Natur is the comprehensive order whose properties the practitioner must learn before beginning. The Hydrolith places it within God’s will and calls it one, true, simple and perfect. The companion dialogue personifies Nature as a governing teacher who rebukes the artist’s presumptuous attempts to rival her. [Part I §6](#HY_P1S006); [Nature §1](#APP_NATURES001). ## Contextual Lexicon These articles follow terms through the main Hydrolith and the separately identified companion treatises. Exact quotations link to stable English passage labels. The articles distinguish meanings, disagreements and changes of register rather than assuming that every writer uses the same word in the same way. ### Alchemy Alchemy names a disciplined inquiry into transformation whose scope exceeds the production of precious metal. The Hydrolith calls it a holy art because divine mysteries are represented within its earthly work. Moral preparation, knowledge of Nature, practical attention and the interpretation of Scripture consequently belong together in the author’s programme. These connections explain why the book begins with the seeker’s disposition rather than an inventory of equipment. Its companion treatises share a concern with true and false practice, but they do not speak with one voice about every operation or material. The Way of Truth rejects procedures that the Hydrolith describes positively. Reading alchemy contextually therefore requires attention to the speaker, the particular treatise and the distinction each makes between a genuine action and its merely imitative appearance. Passage [HY_P1S002](#HY_P1S002): “the art is not subject to human power, but rests upon God’s gracious will” Source forms: Alchimia; Kunst; arcanum. See also: [Art and Nature](#LEX_ART_NATURE), [Wisdom](#LEX_WISDOM), [Grace](#LEX_GRACE). Read with: [APP_VIAS005](#APP_VIAS005), [HY_CONCLUSIONS006](#HY_CONCLUSIONS006). ### Art and Nature Art is the practitioner’s ordered assistance to a process Nature already makes possible. In Nature’s Demonstration the personified speaker repeatedly denies that the worker can manufacture her elementary powers. Yet she also says that neither partner accomplishes the work alone. The apparent tension defines the partnership: human preparation and care are necessary, while the inward capacity to generate remains hers. The Hydrolith expresses a comparable limit through the image of sowing, planting and watering while God gives increase. This does not make handling irrelevant; it prevents handling from becoming the entire explanation. The distinction also supports the polemic against the sophist, whose visible equipment and strenuous activity fail to establish that the right matter has been recognised or that Nature’s own order is being followed. Passage [APP_NATURES005](#APP_NATURES005): “I have my heavenly fire, which awakens the elemental fire” Source forms: Kunst; Natur; Artificium. See also: [Fire](#LEX_FIRE), [Generation](#LEX_GENERATION), [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN). Read with: [HY_P1S008](#HY_P1S008), [APP_NATURES013](#APP_NATURES013). ### Body and Spirit Body and spirit are relational terms within the work, not a fixed opposition between worthless matter and valuable immateriality. The Hydrolith describes extraction, renewed distillation and reunion with the matter’s own salt. The aim is an effective unity rather than the permanent abandonment of the body. Its vocabulary of heart, soul and spirit makes the material process available for the theological comparisons developed later. Part Four distinguishes Christ’s person and the believer’s renewal while returning repeatedly to this language of conjunction. The movement between these registers should remain visible: an account of a compound is not automatically an account of a human soul. Nature’s Demonstration likewise uses agent, patient, seed and bodily formation to explain how an inward principle can become manifest without treating every spirit as the same substance. Passage [HY_P2S014](#HY_P2S014): “it becomes one single thing once more” Source forms: Leib; Geist; Seel; corpus; spiritus. See also: [Separation](#LEX_SEPARATION), [Matter](#LEX_MATTER), [Rebirth](#LEX_REBIRTH). Read with: [HY_P4S019](#HY_P4S019), [HY_P4S020](#HY_P4S020), [APP_NATURES014](#APP_NATURES014). ### Charity Charity gives the promised treasure its authorised direction. The seeker is instructed to ask that success serve God’s honour and the neighbour’s need, rather than private display. This requirement precedes possession of the secret and remains binding after the phoenix has arisen. Thus generosity is not an optional embellishment attached to an otherwise complete technical achievement. Part Four extends the same demand through living faith active in love. The author asks how professed love can be true when it does not issue in service to others. This also sharpens the book’s criticism of greed: the wrong end distorts the undertaking even when the language of piety remains in place. A reader should therefore distinguish the author’s account of charitable use from the merely instrumental hope that benevolence will purchase success. Passage [HY_P1S004](#HY_P1S004): “the benefit and improvement of your neighbour in need” Source forms: Nächster; Almosen; Liebe; gute Werck. See also: [Faith](#LEX_FAITH), [Humility](#LEX_HUMILITY), [Perfection](#LEX_PERFECTION). Read with: [HY_P2S023](#HY_P2S023), [HY_P4S046](#HY_P4S046), [HY_P4S047](#HY_P4S047). ### Christ the Heavenly Stone Christ is explicitly named as the heavenly Stone around which the Hydrolith’s final and largest comparison is organised. The designation connects scriptural foundation and cornerstone language with the earthly Stone’s hiddenness, rejection, preparation and beneficial power. The author does not leave this figure available for an unnamed universal spiritual principle: he identifies the Saviour and develops the comparison through incarnation, suffering and redemption. The relation remains an allegorical comparison between two orders. Calling the earthly work a likeness does not make its every detail interchangeable with Christian doctrine. Part Four also changes its immediate subject, moving from Christ to the believer’s renewal. Attending to that transition prevents a single process diagram from erasing the distinction between the perfection attributed to Christ and the transformation still required of the human being. Passage [HY_CONCLUSIONS001](#HY_CONCLUSIONS001): “the true heavenly stone, Jesus Christ” Source forms: Christus; himmlischer Stein; Eckstein. See also: [Parable](#LEX_PARABLE), [Rebirth](#LEX_REBIRTH), [Perfection](#LEX_PERFECTION). Read with: [HY_P4S007](#HY_P4S007), [HY_P4S024](#HY_P4S024), [HY_P4S030](#HY_P4S030). ### Coction Coction is the sustained cooking through which a natural capacity is brought to fuller effect. The Way of Truth gives the term particular force, reducing the many named operations of the sophists to a plain process that purifies, exalts, dissolves and sublimes itself. Its argument is therefore about causal priority as much as simplicity: the inward nature performs what an operator might mistakenly attribute to a succession of independent manipulations. This companion’s formulation should not be imposed unchanged upon the Hydrolith. The main work names distinct preparatory actions and carefully staged additions, whereas the companion attacks the multiplication of procedures. Their shared appeal to Nature permits comparison, but their different descriptions remain evidence. Coction is consequently most useful when read with its local account of substance, moisture and degree of completion. Passage [APP_VIAS035](#APP_VIAS035): “everything happens through coction” Source forms: Kochung; coctio; kochen. See also: [Digestion](#LEX_DIGESTION), [Art and Nature](#LEX_ART_NATURE), [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN). Read with: [APP_VIAS007](#APP_VIAS007), [APP_VIAS030](#APP_VIAS030), [HY_P2S013](#HY_P2S013). ### Colours Colours are signs to be observed within the Hydrolith’s governed work. Their appearance connects elapsed process with the practitioner’s judgment, and Part Four subsequently employs visible changes to interpret tribulation and renewal. The raven’s head is a particularly explicit name for blackness associated with putrefaction. Colour thus participates in both an account of material change and a scriptural comparison, without making those accounts identical. The Way of Truth offers a striking counterpoint. It warns readers not to assume that the subject must literally become black, white and red, and criticises colour lists as devices of confusion. The volume therefore preserves disagreement about how such language should be understood. A contextual reading asks which treatise is speaking and whether a colour denotes the chosen substance, an observed stage or a figurative description. Passage [HY_P2S022](#HY_P2S022): “many signs and colours will appear in the glass or vessel” Source forms: Farben; Zeichen; schwartz; weiß; roth. See also: [Putrefaction](#LEX_PUTREFACTION), [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN), [Parable](#LEX_PARABLE). Read with: [HY_P4S028](#HY_P4S028), [HY_P4S051](#HY_P4S051), [APP_VIAS012](#APP_VIAS012), [APP_VIAS013](#APP_VIAS013). ### Corruption Corruption can mean the loss of an existing form through which another becomes possible. In Nature’s account this belongs to generation: a matter passes through putrefaction, loses its first form and receives another. The term therefore need not indicate an accidental failure. Its force depends upon the relation between the subject’s present constitution and the form sought. Elsewhere the same volume condemns destructive treatment that deprives a compound of the bond Nature has established. Such corruption does not automatically generate a superior body. The alchemist’s reply insists that destroying gold is not the same as making the Stone. The theological comparison adds another register, in which fallen human nature requires renewal through Christ. These uses should be connected carefully rather than collapsed into a rule that all destruction is productive. Passage [APP_NATURES003](#APP_NATURES003): “by the privation of its first form” Source forms: Corruption; corruptio; privatio; verderben. See also: [Form](#LEX_FORM), [Putrefaction](#LEX_PUTREFACTION), [Generation](#LEX_GENERATION). Read with: [APP_NATURES017](#APP_NATURES017), [HY_P4S031](#HY_P4S031), [HY_P4S035](#HY_P4S035). ### Death Death establishes a limit within a book that makes extravagant claims for medicine and renewal. The introduction denies that any worldly thing can finally free the perishable body from the mortality inherited from Adam and Eve. Nature’s Demonstration likewise allows claims of long health while insisting that the creature must eventually die. Longevity and bodily assistance are therefore distinguished from the abolition of death. Other passages speak of a metal as dead or of a compound undergoing death. These are uses within accounts of fixity, loss of activity or transformation, not identical biological descriptions. Part Four then treats Christ’s suffering and the believer’s dying to the old Adam. The reader must follow the subject at each point: bodily mortality, a material state and spiritual dying carry related but different argumentative work. Passage [HY_INTROS002](#HY_INTROS002): “nothing could be found in this world capable of rescuing or freeing the perishable body from death” Source forms: Todt; sterben; Absterbung. See also: [Rebirth](#LEX_REBIRTH), [Body and Spirit](#LEX_BODY_SPIRIT), [Perfection](#LEX_PERFECTION). Read with: [APP_NATURES012](#APP_NATURES012), [HY_P4S026](#HY_P4S026), [HY_P4S048](#HY_P4S048). ### Dew Dew belongs to the Philosophical Summary’s extended garden and fruit-tree comparison. It supplies the moisture through which warmth can nourish rather than merely dry or destroy. The Sun, better soil, transplanting and continual refreshment work together in this image. The term therefore names a relation within the treatise’s account of sustenance before it supplies an identifiable material for the reader to collect. The image also makes duration meaningful: a tree may receive more nourishment under favourable conditions than it received in a long interval elsewhere. Those comparisons do not authorise an unstated temperature or modern apparatus. The Hydrolith’s rising and descending drops offer a useful parallel, but a parallel remains something to examine. Dew should be read with its local distinction between beneficial warmth, violent fire and the continuity of nourishment. Passage [APP_SUMMARYS008](#APP_SUMMARYS008): “the vapour or mist is the dew and seed of all metals” Source forms: Taw; Dunst; Dampff. See also: [Seed](#LEX_SEED), [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN), [Sun and Moon](#LEX_SUN_MOON). Read with: [APP_SUMMARYS007](#APP_SUMMARYS007), [HY_P2S021](#HY_P2S021). ### Digestion Digestion describes sustained inward working under an appropriate governance of warmth. It belongs to a vocabulary of cooking, maturation and nourishment rather than referring only to an animal stomach. The Hydrolith uses the word while explaining why attendance to the fire must continue throughout the work. Its force includes duration and the subject’s capacity to undergo change. Part Four makes this process available for a comparison with the spiritual life, where a person’s renewal is tested through continuing affliction. That comparison does not erase the physical sense of the earlier account. The Philosophical Summary’s fruit and chick images supply related models of development: warmth must support the subject rather than consume it. Digestion is therefore best understood alongside the text’s distinctions between gentle assistance, violent heat and a premature attempt to force completion. Passage [HY_P4S044](#HY_P4S044): “while the matter is cooked” Source forms: digestion; digeriren; kochen. See also: [Coction](#LEX_COCTION), [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN), [Patience](#LEX_PATIENCE). Read with: [HY_P4S051](#HY_P4S051), [APP_SUMMARYS008](#APP_SUMMARYS008), [APP_SUMMARYS010](#APP_SUMMARYS010). ### Elements The elements are fire, air, water and earth within the book’s inherited account of natural composition. They are distinguished by qualities and powers and are repeatedly brought into relation with celestial movement. They do not simply name four visible samples that a practitioner can isolate and then recombine at will. Nature claims knowledge of their proper proportions as part of her creative office. This matters especially in the companion dialogue’s attack on elemental separation. A wet product labelled fire or air does not, for the speaker, establish that an element has been extracted. The proper bond is deeper than an operator’s naming. The text nevertheless speaks of turning the elements. Its distinction is between transformation governed by Nature and the destruction of a compound whose original unity the worker cannot restore. Passage [APP_NATURES003](#APP_NATURES003): “I take this from the containers of my four elements” Source forms: Element; Elementa; Fewer; Lufft; Wasser; Erde. See also: [Essence](#LEX_ESSENCE), [Form](#LEX_FORM), [Separation](#LEX_SEPARATION). Read with: [APP_NATURES018](#APP_NATURES018), [APP_NATURES020](#APP_NATURES020). ### Essence Essence identifies the inward ground upon which a thing’s nature and effective transformation depend. The Way of Truth opposes this understanding to the sophists’ reliance upon names, surface changes and multiplied procedures. Its claim is not merely that a hidden ingredient has been overlooked; the reader has failed to understand what makes the subject the kind of thing it is. Elsewhere Wesen can name being or a constituted thing, while Essentz can belong to an account of elements and their fifth being. Context consequently determines whether an English passage concerns existence, constitution or operative capacity. Reading every occurrence as a modern chemical constituent would flatten these distinctions. The term is especially productive when followed through the companion’s account of differing degrees of coction and the inseparability of a perfected metallic constitution. Passage [APP_VIAS011](#APP_VIAS011): “essence is the principal thing in which the truth and the art reside” Source forms: Essentz; Wesen; essentia. See also: [Matter](#LEX_MATTER), [Coction](#LEX_COCTION), [Elements](#LEX_ELEMENTS). Read with: [APP_VIAS030](#APP_VIAS030), [APP_VIAS033](#APP_VIAS033), [APP_NATURES006](#APP_NATURES006). ### Faith Faith is an active relation to God that arises through hearing the divine Word and becomes visible through love. In Part Four the author distinguishes outward hearing from inward reception, then connects clear hearing with unadulterated faith. This is not merely intellectual assent to the possibility of transmutation. The argument concerns the believer’s renewal and the conduct that follows from it. Its activity also prevents a separation of spiritual profession from the neighbour’s needs. The next passage questions those who claim love while withholding service. Faith therefore belongs within the book’s account of charity, prayer and obedience. When the author divides it into articles corresponding to creation, redemption and sanctification, he extends the work’s numerical comparisons, yet the doctrinal content remains explicitly Christian rather than an interchangeable code for a material operation. Passage [HY_P4S046](#HY_P4S046): “true, living faith, active through love” Source forms: Glaube; Glauben; Liebe. See also: [Charity](#LEX_CHARITY), [Grace](#LEX_GRACE), [Rebirth](#LEX_REBIRTH). Read with: [HY_P4S039](#HY_P4S039), [HY_P4S045](#HY_P4S045), [HY_P4S047](#HY_P4S047). ### Fire Fire has several distinct functions in this volume. It can be the operator’s external heat, an elemental principle, an inward natural power or the divine Word within a theological comparison. The texts themselves mark these differences. Nature opposes her heavenly fire to the sophist’s charcoal furnace, while the Hydrolith describes material heat as assistance to an inward fire. The distinction makes mere intensity an inadequate guide. Violent burning may destroy what gentle warmth is meant to nourish; conversely, an inward principle does not remove the need for attendance. The Philosophical Summary develops this through its garden and hatching images. Readers should therefore identify whose fire is under discussion and what relation it has to the subject. A single modern temperature cannot be inferred from the repeated word alone. Passage [APP_NATURES005](#APP_NATURES005): “I have my heavenly fire, which awakens the elemental fire” Source forms: Fewer; Feuer; ignis; natürliches Fewer. See also: [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN), [Digestion](#LEX_DIGESTION), [Art and Nature](#LEX_ART_NATURE). Read with: [HY_P4S044](#HY_P4S044), [APP_SUMMARYS008](#APP_SUMMARYS008), [APP_NATURES010](#APP_NATURES010). ### Fixation and Volatility Fixation is the capacity to remain under the conditions that would otherwise carry a subject away. Its opposite, volatility, supplies the winged serpent’s mobility in the Philosophical Summary. The distinction is therefore relational: what remains, what rises and what is lost must be understood within a particular account of fire and compound. The closing epigram makes constancy under testing the missing feature of an otherwise celebrated gold-making art. This shifts attention from an impressive appearance to a durable result. Nature’s Demonstration likewise rebukes the worker who expects fierce burning to fix ordinary quicksilver. The text’s own figures explain why fixed and volatile are useful paired terms, but they do not identify every wingless image with the same material or make all resistance to fire proof that the Stone has been obtained. Passage [APP_SUMMARYS002](#APP_SUMMARYS002): “The wingless dragon is sulphur, which never flies away from the fire.” Source forms: fix; figiren; beständig; volatilisch. See also: [Sulphur](#LEX_SULPHUR), [Mercury](#LEX_MERCURY), [Perfection](#LEX_PERFECTION). Read with: [HY_EPIGRAMS001](#HY_EPIGRAMS001), [APP_NATURES001](#APP_NATURES001). ### Form Form is what makes matter a determinate thing within the account of generation. Nature describes the loss of an initial form and the reception of another, while celestial influence helps explain the order under which that change occurs. Form in this sense is not simply outward outline or colour: it concerns the constitution and kind of the subject. The dialogue also deliberately uses the same word differently. When advising the practitioner about a vessel, Nature says that she is speaking neither of substantial nor accidental form but of its proper shape or size. That explicit distinction is a valuable guide for the whole book. A reader must ask whether form names an essential determination, a visible appearance, an arrangement of equipment or a likeness used to make another subject intelligible. Passage [APP_NATURES003](#APP_NATURES003): “the matter willingly receives and draws to itself” Source forms: Form; Gestalt; forma. See also: [Matter](#LEX_MATTER), [Corruption](#LEX_CORRUPTION), [Vessel](#LEX_VESSEL). Read with: [APP_NATURES010](#APP_NATURES010), [APP_NATURES014](#APP_NATURES014), [HY_P4S007](#HY_P4S007). ### Generation Generation names the coming into being of a determinate subject, but the volume does not assign one identical reproductive mechanism to every natural kingdom. Nature distinguishes mineral being, plant growth and animal sensation. The alchemist’s answer then questions a universal application of the claim that like begets like, especially when metals lack the seed and nourishment attributed to living things. Human generation supplies a particularly detailed comparison because it joins bodily formation with a power the operator cannot simply manufacture. Yet the dialogue distinguishes the human soul’s divine gift from Nature’s organisation of the body. These qualifications matter when generation is transferred into an alchemical argument. The term relates mineral formation, fruit, seed and gestation without requiring the reader to treat them as literal instances of one biological process. Passage [APP_NATURES002](#APP_NATURES002): “Metals have only being; plants have living and growth; animals have sensation” Source forms: generation; Gebährung; zeugen. See also: [Seed](#LEX_SEED), [Corruption](#LEX_CORRUPTION), [Mother](#LEX_MOTHER). Read with: [APP_NATURES017](#APP_NATURES017), [APP_NATURES013](#APP_NATURES013), [APP_NATURES010](#APP_NATURES010). ### Gold Gold occupies several positions that must be distinguished. It is the admired precious metal, a naturally perfected mineral body, a possible ferment or associated body in a described preparation, and the Sun within figurative language. The Hydrolith also warns that common gold is unfit for a particular stage. The reader cannot safely substitute one use for another whenever the word returns. Nature’s Demonstration stresses that ordinary gold does not heal other metals merely by being gold. The alchemist’s later father-and-son comparison nevertheless calls high red gold the Stone’s father. These formulations create an interpretive problem rather than permission to erase either passage. The Philosophical Summary adds the image of unripe fruit severed from its tree. Across these contexts the decisive questions concern state, relation and capacity, not monetary value alone. Passage [APP_NATURES008](#APP_NATURES008): “It is only the best and most perfect among the metals.” Source forms: Gold; Sol; Sonne; aurum. See also: [Perfection](#LEX_PERFECTION), [Sun and Moon](#LEX_SUN_MOON), [Fixation and Volatility](#LEX_FIXATION). Read with: [HY_P2S016](#HY_P2S016), [APP_NATURES020](#APP_NATURES020), [APP_SUMMARYS006](#APP_SUMMARYS006). ### Grace Grace names the divine initiative upon which the Hydrolith makes genuine attainment depend. It is not presented as a reward automatically generated by a correct sequence of operations. The opening ethical instruction directs the seeker towards God’s mercy, and the concluding prayer asks for wisdom that can guide the work without error. These requests belong to the book’s explanation of knowledge itself. Grace also establishes the limit of Nature in the companion dialogue’s discussion of human life. Bodily organisation does not by itself account for the immortal soul or deliverance from sin. In Part Four, hearing, faith and renewal similarly depend upon divine action while calling for a transformed response. A reader should therefore resist treating grace as a decorative synonym for luck or as a concealed name for a laboratory ingredient. Passage [HY_PRAYERS001](#HY_PRAYERS001): “from whom all good and perfect gifts descend” Source forms: Gnade; Gabe; göttlicher Wille. See also: [Prayer](#LEX_PRAYER), [Faith](#LEX_FAITH), [Humility](#LEX_HUMILITY). Read with: [HY_P1S002](#HY_P1S002), [APP_NATURES013](#APP_NATURES013), [HY_P4S036](#HY_P4S036). ### Humility Humility restrains the desire to make possession of the secret into a public claim of superiority. The conclusion’s image of a lock before the mouth connects discretion with the danger of pride. The point is more than protection from an inconvenient audience: speech can disclose a mistaken relation to the gift and expose its possessor to spiritual as well as temporal harm. This restraint begins before success. The seeker must acknowledge dependence upon divine mercy and learn from Nature rather than assume mastery through equipment or expenditure. The companion dialogue dramatises the lesson through rebuke, objection and eventual thanks. Humility therefore does not require the suppression of every question; the alchemist’s sustained questioning is preserved. It asks instead that inquiry cease pretending to possess the power whose conditions it has not understood. Passage [HY_CONCLUSIONS010](#HY_CONCLUSIONS010): “a firm lock before your mouth” Source forms: Demuth; Hochmuth; stillschweigen. See also: [Charity](#LEX_CHARITY), [Grace](#LEX_GRACE), [Philosophers](#LEX_PHILOSOPHERS). Read with: [HY_P1S004](#HY_P1S004), [APP_NATURES014](#APP_NATURES014), [APP_NATURES021](#APP_NATURES021). ### Light of Nature The light of nature supplies an account of how human beings can recognise something of the order and powers of created things. The introduction places it beside special divine influence when explaining the sages’ investigation. It is therefore a mode of access within a world grounded in God, rather than an announcement that natural inquiry has severed all relation to theology. The book also distinguishes the scope of natural recognition from the inward light of grace discussed in Part Four. The two registers can illuminate one another without becoming synonymous. This distinction helps explain why insight into a bodily process does not itself constitute spiritual perfection. Reading by the light of nature involves attentive consideration of creatures, their beginnings and their powers; it is not equivalent to assigning a modern experimental theory to every inherited term. Passage [HY_INTROS001](#HY_INTROS001): “through the light of nature” Source forms: Licht der Natur; göttlicher Einfluß; Erkentniß. See also: [Wisdom](#LEX_WISDOM), [Art and Nature](#LEX_ART_NATURE), [Grace](#LEX_GRACE). Read with: [HY_P4S011](#HY_P4S011), [HY_P1S006](#HY_P1S006), [HY_P3S009](#HY_P3S009). ### Matter Matter is what the work must first recognise correctly, yet the texts give it many names and discuss it at different degrees of preparation. The Hydrolith even calls its first matter otherwise a second matter, warning the reader that a familiar ordinal does not establish a universal starting point. The multiplicity of names is meant to refer towards a unity, while also concealing that unity from an unprepared audience. The companions complicate this further by distinguishing universal matter, proximate matter and a constituted metallic subject. These are positions in an account of generation, not necessarily interchangeable specimens. Recognition must consequently precede the interpretation of operations. The repeated claim of one matter governs questions of addition and conjunction, but should not be used to delete the book’s own distinctions among stages and associated bodies. Passage [HY_P2S003](#HY_P2S003): “one single thing, from which alone the stone must be prepared without any foreign addition” Source forms: Materi; materia; erste Materi; andere Materi. See also: [Form](#LEX_FORM), [Essence](#LEX_ESSENCE), [Vessel](#LEX_VESSEL). Read with: [APP_NATURES003](#APP_NATURES003), [APP_NATURES010](#APP_NATURES010), [APP_SUMMARYS001](#APP_SUMMARYS001). ### Mercury Mercury can name common quicksilver, a metallic principle, a mother of metals or the philosophers’ Mercury, depending upon the passage. The Philosophical Summary first describes it as a feminine seed associated with water and earth, then develops its power to receive and conceal metals. The mother image is therefore part of a causal argument about generation, not merely an ornamental alternative name. Nature’s Demonstration repeatedly distinguishes its subject from the ordinary volatile material handled by the unsuccessful worker. The Way of Truth goes further in rejecting mercury and sulphur as the first matter of metals. These differences should remain legible across the volume. Translating every occurrence as a single modern substance would remove distinctions on which the arguments depend. The relevant questions are which Mercury is meant, how it is constituted and what it can receive or sustain. Passage [APP_SUMMARYS003](#APP_SUMMARYS003): “All philosophers therefore call it a mother of the metals.” Source forms: Mercurius; argentum vivum; Quecksilber. See also: [Sulphur](#LEX_SULPHUR), [Mother](#LEX_MOTHER), [Sun and Moon](#LEX_SUN_MOON). Read with: [APP_SUMMARYS001](#APP_SUMMARYS001), [APP_NATURES001](#APP_NATURES001), [APP_VIAS028](#APP_VIAS028). ### Mother Motherhood names a relation of reception, formation, nourishment and governance in these texts. Nature is addressed as mother because creatures depend upon her ordered activity; Mercury is called mother in the account of metallic generation; the maternal vessel supplies an image for an enclosed process in which human intervention remains limited. These uses converge around dependence without making their subjects identical. The alchemist’s address also retains the hierarchy under which Nature acts. She is not the highest uncreated power: she receives authority and order from God. When the dialogue treats the human soul, it distinguishes that divine gift from her bodily work. The mother figure thus has an explanatory range and a stated limit. It should not be replaced by a single psychological archetype that obscures the concrete claims about body, matter, nourishment and creation. Passage [APP_NATURES013](#APP_NATURES013): “a mother and governor of the great world” Source forms: Mutter; Natura; matrix; Bauch. See also: [Generation](#LEX_GENERATION), [Mercury](#LEX_MERCURY), [Vessel](#LEX_VESSEL). Read with: [APP_SUMMARYS003](#APP_SUMMARYS003), [APP_NATURES010](#APP_NATURES010), [APP_NATURES014](#APP_NATURES014). ### Parable and Likeness Parable establishes the method of Part Four: an earthly work and a heavenly subject are placed beside one another so that their agreement can be examined. Familiar figures make high mysteries accessible while allowing a relation that is neither literal identity nor arbitrary resemblance. The author explicitly names this procedure before extending it through incarnation, suffering, redemption and renewal. The same volume also complains that figurative language can confuse a seeker who lacks the foundation needed to read it. Thus the presence of an image is not by itself an explanation. Its role must be established through the local argument and the distinctions the speaker preserves. A close reading asks where a comparison begins and ends, which features are transferred, and when the subject changes from Christ to the believer or back to a material compound. Passage [HY_P4S007](#HY_P4S007): “One shall be placed beside the other and compared with it.” Source forms: Gleichniß; parabolische Rede; Figur. See also: [Christ the Heavenly Stone](#LEX_CHRIST), [Colours](#LEX_COLOURS), [Philosophers](#LEX_PHILOSOPHERS). Read with: [HY_P4S002](#HY_P4S002), [HY_P4S030](#HY_P4S030), [HY_INTROS004](#HY_INTROS004). ### Patience Patience is the disposition required when the process cannot be forced by expenditure, boastfulness or stronger fire. Nature connects attainment with a duration she ordains, while the Hydrolith warns that an exact period cannot simply be prescribed for every action. The demand is therefore practical as well as ethical: premature intervention may express a failure to understand what the subject is doing. Part Four develops an associated account of endurance through tribulation. The believer’s renewal cannot be reduced to an instant declaration that removes every further trial. The two contexts remain distinct, but both oppose haste that mistakes a beginning for completion. Patience is not presented as passive inattention. Watching, studying, maintaining the regimen and responding to signs still require effort. Its discipline is to sustain appropriate assistance while resisting the impulse to substitute force for knowledge. Passage [APP_NATURES011](#APP_NATURES011): “after the long time I ordain and after long-endured patience” Source forms: Gedult; Zeit; verharren. See also: [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN), [Digestion](#LEX_DIGESTION), [Humility](#LEX_HUMILITY). Read with: [HY_P2S026](#HY_P2S026), [HY_P4S048](#HY_P4S048), [APP_SUMMARYS005](#APP_SUMMARYS005). ### Perfection Perfection is relative to the subject and its intended power. A metal may possess the perfection proper to its own nature without thereby having the capacity to perfect other metals. The Stone’s claimed power is described as more than perfect, while the Philosophical Summary allows art to assist a naturally formed thing towards an enhanced effect. The term consequently does more work than saying that something is finished. The theological comparison adds another distinction. Christ’s perfection is not the same as the believer’s continuing renewal, even though the latter depends upon the former. Reading these claims together requires attention to their different subjects and orders. The contrast between imperfect, perfect and more than perfect is part of the book’s argumentative architecture, not a numerical scale the reader can transfer without qualification into every passage. Passage [APP_SUMMARYS009](#APP_SUMMARYS009): “make them more perfect than Nature has done” Source forms: Perfection; vollkommen; perfect; übervollkommen. See also: [Gold](#LEX_GOLD), [Fixation and Volatility](#LEX_FIXATION), [Christ the Heavenly Stone](#LEX_CHRIST). Read with: [APP_NATURES008](#APP_NATURES008), [HY_P3S008](#HY_P3S008), [HY_P4S032](#HY_P4S032). ### Philosophers The philosophers are presented as a community of authoritative knowers whose varied expressions converge upon the art’s hidden subject. Lists of names establish continuity, while quotations, riddles and allusions invite the reader into an inherited discourse. Yet the book does not claim that a list of authorities can replace recognition of Nature or careful understanding of a passage. The distinction from sophists is consequently essential. A person may claim the philosopher’s title while merely repeating operations or producing persuasive appearances. The companions intensify this criticism, sometimes challenging the reliability of whole bodies of writing. A contextual reading distinguishes the authority claimed within the historical text from an independently authenticated attribution. It also follows the author’s criterion of understanding through work, rather than treating the recurrence of a celebrated name as proof that every cited writing agrees. Passage [APP_NATURES010](#APP_NATURES010): “found through work that the art is true” Source forms: Philosophi; Weisen; Sophisten. See also: [Wisdom](#LEX_WISDOM), [Alchemy](#LEX_ALCHEMY), [Humility](#LEX_HUMILITY). Read with: [HY_INTROS006](#HY_INTROS006), [HY_INTROS007](#HY_INTROS007), [APP_VIAS017](#APP_VIAS017). ### Prayer Prayer frames the work as a petition for guidance that the practitioner cannot confer upon themselves. The final prayer asks that divine Wisdom descend, accompany the workers and govern their undertaking. Its first-person plural gathers the reader into the request, joining knowledge of the process with the right use of its promised benefit. The conclusion is thus a performed act of devotion as well as an explanatory ending. The opening preparation and the thanksgiving after success establish the same pattern. Petition, conduct and gratitude are not separate ceremonial stages surrounding a self-sufficient mechanism. They express the author’s understanding of the art’s dependence upon divine gift. Prayer also directs attention beyond private acquisition: the desired outcome belongs with God’s honour and the neighbour’s need, so its ethical consequence remains part of what is requested. Passage [HY_PRAYERS001](#HY_PRAYERS001): “Send her down from your holy heaven and from the throne of your glory” Source forms: Gebet; bitten; Lob; Dancksagung. See also: [Grace](#LEX_GRACE), [Wisdom](#LEX_WISDOM), [Charity](#LEX_CHARITY). Read with: [HY_P1S004](#HY_P1S004), [HY_P2S023](#HY_P2S023), [HY_PRAYERS002](#HY_PRAYERS002). ### Putrefaction Putrefaction is an initial undoing or decay through which a new condition becomes possible. Grain in the earth provides one recurring model: what is sown must perish in a certain respect before new growth appears. Within the Hydrolith this belongs to the process later compared with suffering, burial and renewal, while blackness supplies the name raven’s head. The Way of Truth sharply rejects the sophists’ independent procedures but then explains that cooking itself is called putrefaction and solution. This is not necessarily a rejection of every event named decay. It is a dispute over how the action occurs and how language misleads. The reader should therefore distinguish a causal process, an operation claimed by an operator and a figurative name. Their overlap is meaningful, but treating them as identical would suppress the companion’s central criticism. Passage [APP_VIAS007](#APP_VIAS007): “While you cook, you putrefy” Source forms: Fäulung; putrefactio; putrefaction. See also: [Corruption](#LEX_CORRUPTION), [Colours](#LEX_COLOURS), [Generation](#LEX_GENERATION). Read with: [HY_P4S027](#HY_P4S027), [HY_P4S028](#HY_P4S028), [APP_VIAS006](#APP_VIAS006). ### Quintessence Quintessence, or the fifth being, places the elements within an account of a subtler common principle. Nature’s Demonstration connects it with the spirit from which the child of the work takes its birth, and later describes differing shares within fire, air, water and earth. The fifth is consequently not introduced as merely another visible element added alongside the four. The term also appears in the Hydrolith’s praise of the prepared Stone’s power beneath the lunar sphere. Its cosmological reach helps explain why a material subject can carry claims about celestial influence and universal benefit. Those claims should remain historically legible without being converted into an unidentified modern energy. The useful questions are how the fifth being relates to elemental constitution, what mediation the heavens provide and what kind of perfection the particular passage attributes to it. Passage [APP_NATURES005](#APP_NATURES005): “the spirit and fifth being from which our child takes its birth” Source forms: quinta essentia; fünffte Wesen; spiritus. See also: [Elements](#LEX_ELEMENTS), [Essence](#LEX_ESSENCE), [Generation](#LEX_GENERATION). Read with: [APP_NATURES006](#APP_NATURES006), [HY_P3S003](#HY_P3S003). ### Rebirth Rebirth is the renewal of fallen humanity through water and the Holy Spirit, explicitly associated with baptism in Part Four. The author distinguishes it from the former fleshly birth and develops its consequences for identity, conduct and relation to God. The vocabulary is therefore doctrinal and scriptural, not simply a metaphor for any beneficial change of mood or outlook. The material comparison supplies an account of purification and conjunction, but the believer’s renewal is not exhausted by that resemblance. Subsequent temptation, hearing, living faith, love and endurance remain necessary themes. The movement from Christ’s accomplished perfection to the person’s continuing transformation is especially important. A reader should ask who is being renewed at each stage and avoid transferring an attribute of the heavenly Stone directly to the still-troubled human subject without the mediation the text describes. Passage [HY_P4S036](#HY_P4S036): “an inward spiritual renewal of fallen humanity with God and Christ” Source forms: Wiedergeburt; newe Geburt; Ernewerung. See also: [Christ the Heavenly Stone](#LEX_CHRIST), [Faith](#LEX_FAITH), [Body and Spirit](#LEX_BODY_SPIRIT). Read with: [HY_P4S030](#HY_P4S030), [HY_P4S037](#HY_P4S037), [HY_P4S048](#HY_P4S048). ### Regimen Regimen is the ordered governance of the work, especially the maintenance and adjustment of fire in relation to the subject’s condition. It is broader than a single action and more specific than an appeal to patience alone. The Hydrolith connects it with observation of signs, stages and possible defects; the companions use it to distinguish proper assistance from the multiplication of misleading operations. The insistence upon one regimen does not mean that every text gives an identical sequence or that all subjects require an interchangeable degree of warmth. Its point is coherence under the appropriate natural order. Theological comparisons extend governance into the life of the believer, where instruction and continuing attention have their own subjects and ends. Regimen therefore joins duration, judgment and responsibility rather than naming an automatic programme that can replace the practitioner’s understanding. Passage [APP_NATURES009](#APP_NATURES009): “worked out by a single regimen of fire” Source forms: Regiment; regieren; Ordnung. See also: [Fire](#LEX_FIRE), [Patience](#LEX_PATIENCE), [Digestion](#LEX_DIGESTION). Read with: [HY_P2S022](#HY_P2S022), [HY_P2S024](#HY_P2S024), [HY_P4S044](#HY_P4S044). ### Seed Seed is a model of effective origin and ordered development. The Philosophical Summary calls sulphur and Mercury two seeds and then speaks of a fixed grain producing a true germ. Fruit and nourishment show why this vocabulary matters: a developed form depends upon a sustaining relation to its matrix rather than on external resemblance alone. The same volume nevertheless denies ordinary metals the generative seed by which animals and plants reproduce their like. This qualification prevents the word from becoming a uniform biological explanation of mineral growth. Sometimes seed names a reproductive source, sometimes a formative principle, and sometimes the small grain through which an analogy is developed. The reader should preserve those differences. Its usefulness lies in connecting origin, potentiality and development while keeping the text’s stated limits on propagation visible. Passage [APP_SUMMARYS005](#APP_SUMMARYS005): “a true germ from Mercury’s two seeds” Source forms: Saamen; Korn; granum; sperma; germen. See also: [Generation](#LEX_GENERATION), [Mother](#LEX_MOTHER), [Sulphur](#LEX_SULPHUR). Read with: [APP_SUMMARYS001](#APP_SUMMARYS001), [APP_SUMMARYS006](#APP_SUMMARYS006), [APP_NATURES002](#APP_NATURES002). ### Separation Separation is one of the volume’s most contested terms. The Hydrolith describes purification, extraction and subsequent reunion, whereas the companion dialogue attacks the claim that human art can divide the true elements and later restore their proper proportions. The disagreement cannot be resolved merely by replacing one word with another; each account identifies different objects and grounds of operation. Nature’s opponent argues that a person ignorant of the original union cannot guarantee its reconstruction after destruction. The Way of Truth similarly questions the sophists’ names for what they collect. These criticisms distinguish a visible product from a demonstrated elemental division. A contextual reading therefore asks what has been separated, which bond is claimed to have broken and whether reunion is described as human recombination or as Nature’s own inward work. Passage [APP_NATURES019](#APP_NATURES019): “they should not be separated if one does not know how to put them together again” Source forms: Scheidung; separatio; trennen. See also: [Elements](#LEX_ELEMENTS), [Body and Spirit](#LEX_BODY_SPIRIT), [Corruption](#LEX_CORRUPTION). Read with: [HY_P2S013](#HY_P2S013), [HY_P2S014](#HY_P2S014), [APP_VIAS014](#APP_VIAS014). ### Sulphur Sulphur is presented in the Philosophical Summary as the masculine seed, associated with fire and air and distinguished from common sulphur. Its wingless dragon image marks its relation to fixity under fire. In Nature’s Demonstration it also functions as the active partner whose relation to the patient principle makes generation intelligible. The companion Way of Truth warns against taking mercury and sulphur as the first matter of metals, while later reusing names for living sulphur and metallic liquor. This internal difference is a reason to read the term through the argument rather than impose a single definition upon the whole volume. The spelling sulphur remains useful for the historical vocabulary, but it does not by itself settle whether the passage names an ordinary handled material, an operative principle or a figurative subject. Passage [APP_SUMMARYS001](#APP_SUMMARYS001): “The first, masculine one, called sulphur, is nothing other than fire and air.” Source forms: Schwefel; sulphur; sulphure. See also: [Mercury](#LEX_MERCURY), [Fixation and Volatility](#LEX_FIXATION), [Seed](#LEX_SEED). Read with: [APP_SUMMARYS002](#APP_SUMMARYS002), [APP_NATURES005](#APP_NATURES005), [APP_VIAS028](#APP_VIAS028), [APP_VIAS034](#APP_VIAS034). ### Sun and Moon Sun and Moon join celestial and metallic language. They can indicate the luminaries within a cosmological order or name gold and silver in an account of metallic relations. The Philosophical Summary uses the pair within its discussion of conjunction, then incorporates the Sun into a garden where continuous warmth supports growth. The context determines which work the image is doing. The distinction between ordinary bodies and their formative principles remains decisive. The same treatise denies that combining common gold, silver and Mercury is enough to recover a severed natural generation. Nature’s Demonstration later makes the Sun a father in its son-producing analogy. These images should be compared without assigning a single hidden ingredient to every recurrence. Their shared vocabulary establishes relations of activity, reception and nourishment, not an independently supplied chemical identification. Passage [APP_SUMMARYS007](#APP_SUMMARYS007): “the Sun and Moon are joined through the true Mercury” Source forms: Sonne; Sol; Mond; Luna. See also: [Gold](#LEX_GOLD), [Mercury](#LEX_MERCURY), [Dew](#LEX_DEW). Read with: [APP_SUMMARYS006](#APP_SUMMARYS006), [APP_SUMMARYS008](#APP_SUMMARYS008), [APP_NATURES020](#APP_NATURES020). ### Vessel The vessel is both a practical enclosure and a recurring model of organised reception. The Hydrolith describes forms of glass and the need for secure closure; the companions compare vessel, womb, nest and the earth’s interior. These figures make containment intelligible as part of generation, where the subject requires conditions that preserve rather than disperse its inward operation. Nature explicitly distinguishes the vessel’s shape and size from substantial or accidental form. That reminder prevents every description of equipment from becoming a metaphysical assertion. Conversely, the maternal comparison should not be reduced to a disguised technical drawing. The repeated insistence upon one vessel supports the work’s unity, while particular stages and preparations retain their own descriptions. Reading vessel contextually means asking what is enclosed, what must be retained and which agent is said to perform the change within it. Passage [APP_NATURES010](#APP_NATURES010): “the right shape or size of your vessel” Source forms: Gefäß; Geschirr; Glaß; matrix. See also: [Mother](#LEX_MOTHER), [Regimen](#LEX_REGIMEN), [Body and Spirit](#LEX_BODY_SPIRIT). Read with: [HY_P2S017](#HY_P2S017), [HY_P2S019](#HY_P2S019), [APP_SUMMARYS010](#APP_SUMMARYS010). ### Wisdom Wisdom is the power of right recognition and order upon which the book’s proposed knowledge depends. The concluding prayer personifies divine Wisdom as present with God, involved in creation and capable of accompanying the workers. Knowledge is consequently not represented as an accumulation of procedures alone. It requires orientation towards the source and proper end of the art. The phrase children of wisdom also defines an intended readership able to consider difficult signs without treating secrecy as a licence for arbitrary invention. Throughout the volume, true wisdom is distinguished from learned titles, empty boasting and sophistical appearances. Yet the texts still direct readers towards books, reasoning and observation. Wisdom does not abolish those means; it orders their use and gives the reader grounds for asking whether a claimed mastery has understood Nature or only repeated its vocabulary. Passage [HY_PRAYERS001](#HY_PRAYERS001): “she is mistress of all heavenly and hidden arts” Source forms: Weißheit; Weisheit; Sapientia. See also: [Prayer](#LEX_PRAYER), [Light of Nature](#LEX_LIGHT_NATURE), [Alchemy](#LEX_ALCHEMY). Read with: [HY_P2S028](#HY_P2S028), [APP_NATURES011](#APP_NATURES011), [HY_CONCLUSIONS006](#HY_CONCLUSIONS006). ## Alchemical and Biblical Correspondences The following correspondences follow comparisons made by the main treatise. The right-hand terms describe its theological exposition; they do not establish a common physical mechanism or turn its material claims into demonstrated facts. Read the linked passages for the qualifications surrounding each likeness. **Fourteen comparisons in the main treatise** | Alchemical term or action | Theological application | Scope and qualification | Primary passages | | --- | --- | --- | --- | | Knowledge of the first matter | Knowledge of God and oneself | The author makes prior knowledge necessary in both works; recognising a material subject and knowing the Creator remain different acts. | [Part II: recognition](#HY_P2S010); [Part IV: God and self](#HY_P4S008) | | One matter, encountered under more than one form | One divine Word witnessed in two Testaments | The comparison concerns unity and access. It does not identify Scripture with a physical first matter. | [Part II: the one matter](#HY_P2S003); [Part IV: the Word](#HY_P4S009) | | The neglected and rejected matter | Christ as the rejected cornerstone | Disregard by the multitude supplies a likeness of reception; the text does not make rejection itself a proof of truth. | [Part II: contempt for the matter](#HY_P2S005); [Part IV: Christ rejected](#HY_P4S014) | | The stone’s many exalted names | The divine and healing titles of Christ | Part IV expressly applies these titles more truly and in the highest degree to God and his Son, preserving an ascending comparison. | [Names of the stone](#HY_P4S016); [The higher application](#HY_P4S017); [Christ as physician](#HY_P4S018) | | Conjunction with the chosen metallic body | The Incarnation and Christ’s two natures | The author compares conjunction and birth while maintaining the claim that Christ is true God and true human being. This is theological likeness, not a chemical explanation of the Incarnation. | [The selected gold](#HY_P2S016); [The conjunction](#HY_P4S022); [The two natures](#HY_P4S024) | | Cooking and putrefaction; the raven’s head | Christ’s humiliation and passion | Blackening and loss of visible power furnish figures for suffering. The comparison depends on a narrative sequence, not a rule that all darkness is redemptive. | [Putrefaction](#HY_P2S020); [The passion](#HY_P4S026); [The raven’s head](#HY_P4S028) | | Descending moisture refreshes the exhausted body | Christ strengthened amid suffering | The text draws an analogy of preservation through apparent abandonment. The material drops and the divine strengthening are not treated as identical agents. | [Returning moisture](#HY_P2S021); [Strengthening and revival](#HY_P4S029) | | Reunion and enduring fixation of body, soul and spirit | Resurrection and glorification | Permanent union supplies the shared pattern. The theological account concerns the risen Christ’s lordship as well as the overcoming of death. | [The fixed body](#HY_P2S022); [Resurrection and union](#HY_P4S029) | | The tincture perfects imperfect metallic bodies | Christ’s blood cleanses fallen human beings | The author identifies the heavenly tincture with Christ’s blood. This historical claim should not be turned into a recommendation for a material medicine. | [Metallic benefit](#HY_P3S010); [The saving tincture](#HY_P4S033) | | Fermentation and multiplication extend the tincture’s effects | Christ united with his members | The comparison moves from the completed stone to its communicated benefit, then from Christ’s perfection to the regeneration of others. | [Fermentation](#HY_P3S011); [The turn to the members](#HY_P4S030); [Incorporation](#HY_P4S032) | | A withheld portion is added on seven occasions | Gradual instruction in the articles of faith | The likeness is pedagogical: gradual addition avoids overwhelming the recipient. Twelve, three and seven belong to the author’s particular division of the Creed. | [Seven additions](#HY_P2S018); [Instruction in the faith](#HY_P4S039) | | An inward philosophical fire assisted by outward fire | The inward Word and Spirit sustained by godly practice | The author distinguishes the internal source of action from the outward assistance in each case. He does not erase the need to hear and consider Scripture. | [The two fires](#HY_P2S020); [The inward fire of grace](#HY_P4S044) | | Solution, blackening and repeated ascent and descent | Spiritual dying and consolation during earthly life | Part IV expressly distinguishes this dying from bodily death. It also allows a lifetime of suffering, preventing a simple equation with a laboratory timetable. | [The body in the vessel](#HY_P2S020); [The old Adam](#HY_P4S048); [Spiritual dying](#HY_P4S049) | | Correction of a damaged compound before fixation | Absolution and the Supper restore the repentant sinner | The remedies are compared through dissolution, nourishment and restoration. The theological passage retains repentance, the Church’s ministry and a warning concerning unworthy reception. | [Correction of defects](#HY_P2S025); [Spiritual restoration](#HY_P4S054) | These are the author’s comparisons. Their presence does not establish a shared mechanism or erase the distinctions made in the linked passages. ## Discussion Guide ### Session 1 — Preparing the Reader Readings: [Opening explanation: the reader’s difficulty](#HY_INTROS009); [the four-part plan](#HY_INTROS010); [gift and prayer](#HY_P1S002); [Nature and character](#HY_P1S006); [purifying the heart](#HY_P1S007); [the unqualified possessor](#HY_CONCLUSIONS005). Trace the sequence by which a prospective practitioner is made fit for the art. Distinguish a claim about a recipient’s character from a claim about what the work materially accomplishes. 1. What kind of difficulty does the opening explanation identify, and how is the promised plan meant to remedy it? 2. How does the language of divine gift alter the meaning of labour, study and skill? 3. Why should the artist resemble Nature in truthfulness and patience? Which steps of that argument does the author state, and which must a reader supply? 4. Does the conclusion’s reply about an unqualified possessor strengthen or weaken Part I’s account of a genuine practitioner? ### Session 2 — Reading Matter and Process Readings: [the one matter](#HY_P2S003); [stone and water](#HY_P2S004); [a philosophical riddle](#HY_P2S007); [the prepared intermediate](#HY_P2S014); [fire and putrefaction](#HY_P2S020); [colours and fixation](#HY_P2S022); [time and judgement](#HY_P2S026). Make a descriptive map of the sequence using only claims made in the text. Mark where an ordinary name, an analogy or an unexplained term prevents exact identification. 1. What reasons does the text give for one thing’s many names? Which descriptions state properties and which chiefly make the reader pause? 2. How does the warning that an intermediate is poisonous qualify the language of universal medicine? 3. What must the artist do, and what is the compound said to do by itself? 4. How does the author balance numerical descriptions with his insistence that time depends on observing Nature? ### Session 3 — Scripture, Knowledge and the Cornerstone Readings: [biblical parables](#HY_P4S002); [God and oneself](#HY_P4S008); [Word and Scripture](#HY_P4S009); [inward knowledge](#HY_P4S010); [the tablets](#HY_P4S011); [the kindled fire](#HY_P4S012); [the higher titles](#HY_P4S017). Follow the author’s justification for analogy before evaluating particular correspondences. Attend to the hierarchy implied when an earthly title is applied “more truly” to Christ. 1. What authorises the move from a created thing to a heavenly mystery within the author’s argument? 2. How do outward testimony and inward judgement cooperate in the examples of tablets and flint? 3. What prevents inward illumination, on the author’s account, from becoming an unrestricted private interpretation? 4. Choose one title shared by the stone and Christ. What is preserved in the transfer, and what changes? ### Session 4 — From the Passion to a Christian Life Readings: [the scriptural forties](#HY_P4S027); [resurrection and union](#HY_P4S029); [Christ and his members](#HY_P4S032); [regeneration and grace](#HY_P4S036); [faith and love](#HY_P4S046); [tribulation](#HY_P4S048); [spiritual dying](#HY_P4S049); [restoration](#HY_P4S054). Separate the stages concerning Christ from those concerning the believer. Notice the roles of baptism, the neighbour, the Church and the Supper in the latter account. 1. Why does the argument turn from Christ’s perfection to fermentation and multiplication among his members? 2. Where does the text expressly limit a likeness—for example, by distinguishing spiritual dying from bodily death? 3. How does the discussion of love change the practical meaning of inward faith and hearing? 4. How do repentance, absolution and the Supper complicate an interpretation concerned only with individual inward transformation? ### Session 5 — A Collected Volume and Its Disagreements Readings: [the worth of temporal goods](#HY_P3S013); [paid teaching](#HY_CONCLUSIONS007); [the cost claim](#HY_CONCLUSIONS009); [silence](#HY_CONCLUSIONS010); [the two seeds](#APP_SUMMARYS002); [natural fire](#APP_SUMMARYS009); [abandoning the usual operations](#APP_VIAS006); [Via’s critique of colours](#APP_VIAS012); [Via on mercury and sulphur](#APP_VIAS028). Read the companion works as distinct arguments. Make a list of agreements and disagreements with the Hydrolith rather than assuming that the publisher’s collection proves a single doctrine. 1. How does the condemnation of greed coexist with the promise of gold and the claim of a small direct cost? 2. What ethical purposes might secrecy serve, and what authority does it give to the person deciding who is worthy? 3. Compare the Summary’s seeds with Via’s rejection of ordinary mercury and sulphur as first matter. What remains uncertain about their agreement? 4. How does Via’s treatment of colours challenge the main treatise? What would be lost by silently harmonising the two? ## Selected Annotated Bibliography ### Governing source Anonymous [traditionally attributed to Johann Ambrosius Siebmacher; see B07]. Wasserstein der Weysen, das ist ein chymisch Tractätlein. Francofurti: bey Lucas Jennis, 1619. Governing German printing, including its devotional ending and the three companion tracts. The e-rara copy is held by the Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung, Zürich; the record identifies VD17 39:116545E and 272 numbered pages. The title-page author is anonymous. https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968 https://www.e-rara.ch/cgj/content/titleinfo/2580882 https://www.e-rara.ch/cgj/content/structure/2580882 ### Latin transmission Musaeum hermeticum. Francofurti: sumptibus Lucae Jennisii, 1625. The NLM record lists Hydrolithus sophicus, seu Aquarium sapientum and the three companions among the contents. It establishes the Latin publication of 1625 and the work’s place in an expanding collection. It should not be described as a German Musaeum edition. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/100899371 ### Early English transmission Paracelsus his Aurora, & Treasure of the Philosophers. As also the Water-stone of the Wise Men. Published by J. H. Oxon. London: printed for Giles Calvert, 1659. Early English witness with the Water-stone beginning at p. 77. Its prefatory address invokes Böhme’s testimony. The Oxford Text Archive supplies the EEBO-TCP transcription A28633. The two Wellcome records describe the relation to Böhme differently; the original preface should govern that particular claim. The initials of the printed attribution are retained here. https://ota.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repository/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.12024/A28633/A28633.html?isAllowed=y&sequence=5 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pkt2sx56 https://catalog.folger.edu/record/142829 ### Later German transmission Wasserstein der Weysen oder Chymisches Tractätlein. New edition with two responses associated with F. R. C. Franckfurt am Mäyn: bey Christoff le Blon, 1661. The NLM record establishes the German reissue and its announced addition of two responses. The HAB digitised copy supplies the governing text of the present later appendices: Prima Responsio, pp. 200–205, and Secunda Responsio, p. 206. Their enigmatic journeys and collective address give these additions a distinct literary form. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/101466694 https://diglib.hab.de/drucke/qun-642-1s/start.htm https://diglib.hab.de/drucke/qun-642-1s/start.htm?image=00206 https://diglib.hab.de/drucke/qun-642-1s/start.htm?image=00212 ### Later Latin transmission Musaeum hermeticum reformatum et amplificatum. Francofurti: apud Hermannum a Sande, 1678. Enlarged Latin collection. Wellcome records 863 pages and notes an added engraved title dated 1677. The Science History Institute provides selected title pages and plates, rather than a complete digitisation of the textual volume. Its partial image set should not be mistaken for a full text witness. https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x2rpernn https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/5t34sk63f ### English reception The Hermetic Museum, Restored and Enlarged. 2 vols. London: James Elliott and Co., 1893. Revised and edited by A. E. Waite; translation by an unnamed translator. Influential English collection based on the 1678 Latin edition. Waite’s own preface disclaims the translator’s role, identifies his work as revision and acknowledges shortening. It is useful for the history of reception; it is not the translation base of this edition. https://archive.org/details/b24927363_0001 https://wellcomecollection.org/works/qj63vmz7 ### Research on authorship Zuber, Mike A. Spiritual Alchemy from the Age of Jacob Boehme to Mary Anne Atwood, 1600–1900. PhD thesis, Universiteit van Amsterdam, 2017. Chapter 2, “Johann Siebmacher and His Wasserstein der Weysen (1607; 1st ed. 1619)”, pp. 75–95. Research on attribution, manuscript transmission and spiritual rebirth. Consult especially the evidence distinguishing the writer from the heraldic engraver and challenging the middle name Ambrosius. This edition reports the argument briefly and retains the printed witness’s anonymity. https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/13086025/01.pdf ### Documented early circulation Koopstra, Anna, with appendix by Thomas Fusenig. “New Insights into Hendrik van Steenwijck the Younger’s Working Methods and Milieu.” Journal of Historians of Netherlandish Art 11, no. 1 (Winter 2019). https://doi.org/10.5092/jhna.2019.11.1.3. Fusenig’s appendix publishes and discusses a 1632 letter naming the Wasserstein among texts sent to the painter. It documents circulation in a network interested in alchemy and Böhme. The letter is evidence of exchange; it does not establish the book’s authorship. https://jhna.org/articles/new-insights-into-hendrik-van-steenwijck-the-youngers-working-methods-and-milieu/ https://jhna.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/JHNA_11.1.3_Koopstra.pdf ### A historical terminology aid Ruland, Martin, the Younger. Lexicon alchemiae sive Dictionarium alchemisticum. Frankfurt: Zacharias Palthenius, 1612. Contemporary Latin dictionary with German equivalents and numerous alchemical names. The Frankfurt University Library exhibition identifies its copy and publication details. It can contextualise a term but cannot establish that the Hydrolith uses every term with Ruland’s meaning. https://merian-alchemie.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/ausstellung/i-merian-und-die-tradition-der-alchemica-illustrata-in-frankfurt/ruland-lexicon-alchemiae-sive-dictionarivm-alchemisticvm-1612/ https://books.google.com/books?id=a-NEOmbzlgoC ### A surviving English copy Moravian Archives, Bethlehem. “Digital Collections Spotlight #25: Alchemy.” 28 October 2021. An institution’s account of its own holdings. It identifies a 1659 English copy, documents its presence in the congregational library by 1752 and discusses a separate German copy of 1704. Useful evidence of circulation and preservation; its biographical assertions are not adopted independently here. https://www.moravianchurcharchives.org/digital-access/digital-collections-spotlight-25-alchemy/ ## Source and Editorial Credits Source of the German text and original illustrations: Wasserstein der Weysen (Francofurti: bey Lucas Jennis, 1619), copy of the Stiftung der Werke von C. G. Jung, Zürich, digitised on e-rara, https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. The supplying record designates the reproduction with the Public Domain Mark. Its requested scholarly credit identifies the work, holding institution and persistent source.[^n240] Source of the two later responses: Wasserstein der Weysen oder Chymisches Tractätlein (Franckfurt am Mäyn: Christoff le Blon, 1661), copy digitised by the Herzog August Bibliothek, Wolfenbüttel, digital identifier qun-642-1s, pp. 200–206, https://diglib.hab.de/drucke/qun-642-1s/start.htm. Their German reading texts and English translations were newly prepared from the displayed historical pages. English translation and new introduction, notes and study apparatus prepared for Diotimos Editions, 2026. Earlier editions are cited as historical sources and reception witnesses. No modern translation or introduction has been adopted as the wording of this edition. The public-domain source text remains distinct from these newly prepared contributions. The unnamed 1619 work is traditionally attributed to Johann Siebmacher; that attribution remains qualified. New translation and editorial work prepared with AI assistance for Diotimos Editions. No claim of human-only translation, a first English translation, or a critical collation of every surviving witness is made. ## English Subject Index References lead to translated primary passages by work and numbered segment. Entries group subjects semantically, including comparisons whose two sides occur in different sections. The index does not imply that the companion works agree in every use of a term. ### Absolution and spiritual restoration [Part IV §54](#HY_P4S054); [Part IV §35](#HY_P4S035). ### Adam and the Fall [Part IV §31](#HY_P4S031); [Part IV §35](#HY_P4S035); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048). ### Allegory and parable [Part IV §1](#HY_P4S001); [Part IV §2](#HY_P4S002); [Conclusion §1](#HY_CONCLUSIONS001). ### Angels and divine mysteries [Part IV §29](#HY_P4S029); [Nature §13](#APP_NATURES013). ### Antimony and refining [Part III §11](#HY_P3S011); [Part IV §40](#HY_P4S040); [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052). ### Art and natural agency [Part I §8](#HY_P1S008); [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Via veritatis §35](#APP_VIAS035). ### Articles of faith [Part IV §39](#HY_P4S039); [Part IV §41](#HY_P4S041). ### Authority and interpretation [Opening explanation §6](#HY_INTROS006); [Part IV §10](#HY_P4S010); [Via veritatis §17](#APP_VIAS017). ### Baptism and regeneration [Part IV §35](#HY_P4S035); [Part IV §36](#HY_P4S036); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048). ### Blackness and the raven’s head [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §28](#HY_P4S028); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048). ### Blood and the saving tincture [Part IV §29](#HY_P4S029); [Part IV §33](#HY_P4S033); [Part IV §37](#HY_P4S037). ### Body, soul and spirit [Part I §7](#HY_P1S007); [Part II §22](#HY_P2S022); [Part IV §29](#HY_P4S029). ### Charity and the neighbour [Part IV §46](#HY_P4S046); [Part IV §47](#HY_P4S047). ### Christ as cornerstone [Part IV §4](#HY_P4S004); [Part IV §17](#HY_P4S017); [Part IV §30](#HY_P4S030). ### Christ as physician [Part IV §18](#HY_P4S018); [Part IV §33](#HY_P4S033). ### Church and its ministry [Part IV §39](#HY_P4S039); [Part IV §54](#HY_P4S054). ### Coagulation and restored unity [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Part IV §20](#HY_P4S020). ### Coction and maturation [Summary §6](#APP_SUMMARYS006); [Via veritatis §7](#APP_VIAS007); [Via veritatis §35](#APP_VIAS035). ### Colours and signs [Part II §22](#HY_P2S022); [Part IV §51](#HY_P4S051); [Via veritatis §12](#APP_VIAS012). ### Conjunction and marriage [Part II §17](#HY_P2S017); [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §22](#HY_P4S022). ### Consolation and refreshment [Part II §21](#HY_P2S021); [Part IV §29](#HY_P4S029); [Part IV §49](#HY_P4S049). ### Cost and livelihood [Part III §5](#HY_P3S005); [Conclusion §9](#HY_CONCLUSIONS009). ### Creation and divine order [Part I §6](#HY_P1S006); [Part IV §31](#HY_P4S031); [Nature §4](#APP_NATURES004). ### Creed, gradual instruction in [Part IV §37](#HY_P4S037); [Part IV §39](#HY_P4S039). ### Cross and tribulation [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048); [Part IV §51](#HY_P4S051); [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052); [Epigram §4](#HY_EPIGRAMS004). ### Death, bodily and spiritual [Opening explanation §2](#HY_INTROS002); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048); [Part IV §49](#HY_P4S049). ### Disclosure and concealment [Opening explanation §4](#HY_INTROS004); [Part I §5](#HY_P1S005); [Via veritatis §22](#APP_VIAS022). ### Distillation and separation [Part II §13](#HY_P2S013); [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Part II §30](#HY_P2S030). ### Elements and their governance [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003); [Nature §7](#APP_NATURES007); [Nature §19](#APP_NATURES019). ### Elixir and failure [Part II §27](#HY_P2S027); [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052). ### Essence and outward appearance [Via veritatis §11](#APP_VIAS011); [Via veritatis §17](#APP_VIAS017); [Via veritatis §32](#APP_VIAS032). ### Faith and hearing [Part IV §39](#HY_P4S039); [Part IV §45](#HY_P4S045); [Part IV §46](#HY_P4S046). ### Fermentation and communication of benefit [Part III §11](#HY_P3S011); [Part IV §32](#HY_P4S032); [Part IV §40](#HY_P4S040). ### Fire, inward and outward [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §44](#HY_P4S044); [Via veritatis §16](#APP_VIAS016). ### First matter and recognition [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003); [Part II §10](#HY_P2S010); [Nature §3](#APP_NATURES003). ### Fixation and permanence [Part II §22](#HY_P2S022); [Part IV §29](#HY_P4S029); [Part IV §54](#HY_P4S054); [Epigram §1](#HY_EPIGRAMS001). ### Forty, scriptural number [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §27](#HY_P4S027); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048). ### Fraud and paid teaching [Opening explanation §7](#HY_INTROS007); [Conclusion §7](#HY_CONCLUSIONS007); [Via veritatis §25](#APP_VIAS025). ### Gift and divine grace [Part I §2](#HY_P1S002); [Part I §3](#HY_P1S003); [Part IV §36](#HY_P4S036); [Prayer §1](#HY_PRAYERS001). ### Gold, common and qualified [Part II §16](#HY_P2S016); [Part III §11](#HY_P3S011); [Part IV §23](#HY_P4S023). ### Greed and temporal riches [Part I §7](#HY_P1S007); [Part III §14](#HY_P3S014); [Conclusion §11](#HY_CONCLUSIONS011); [Appendix §1](#HY_APPENDIXS001). ### Hearing, inward and outward [Part IV §44](#HY_P4S044); [Part IV §45](#HY_P4S045); [Part IV §46](#HY_P4S046). ### Holy Spirit and renewal [Part IV §35](#HY_P4S035); [Part IV §36](#HY_P4S036); [Part IV §44](#HY_P4S044). ### Incarnation and two natures [Part IV §22](#HY_P4S022); [Part IV §24](#HY_P4S024). ### Knowledge of God and oneself [Part I §7](#HY_P1S007); [Part IV §8](#HY_P4S008); [Part IV §10](#HY_P4S010). ### Labour and patience [Part I §6](#HY_P1S006); [Part II §15](#HY_P2S015); [Via veritatis §35](#APP_VIAS035). ### Light and judgement [Part IV §10](#HY_P4S010); [Part IV §11](#HY_P4S011); [Part IV §12](#HY_P4S012). ### Love and good works [Part IV §46](#HY_P4S046); [Part IV §47](#HY_P4S047). ### Medicine and poison [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Part III §8](#HY_P3S008); [Part IV §21](#HY_P4S021). ### Mercury and metallic generation [Summary §2](#APP_SUMMARYS002); [Summary §4](#APP_SUMMARYS004); [Via veritatis §28](#APP_VIAS028). ### Multiplication and Christ’s members [Part IV §30](#HY_P4S030); [Part IV §32](#HY_P4S032); [Part IV §40](#HY_P4S040). ### Names and riddles [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003); [Part II §7](#HY_P2S007); [Part II §29](#HY_P2S029). ### Nature as teacher [Part I §6](#HY_P1S006); [Nature §1](#APP_NATURES001); [Nature §11](#APP_NATURES011). ### Oratory and laboratory [Part I §8](#HY_P1S008); [Part II §12](#HY_P2S012). ### Passion and resurrection [Part IV §26](#HY_P4S026); [Part IV §28](#HY_P4S028); [Part IV §29](#HY_P4S029). ### Prayer and preparation [Part I §2](#HY_P1S002); [Part I §4](#HY_P1S004); [Part II §23](#HY_P2S023); [Prayer §1](#HY_PRAYERS001); [Prayer §2](#HY_PRAYERS002). ### Putrefaction and renewal [Part II §20](#HY_P2S020); [Part IV §28](#HY_P4S028); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048). ### Salt and reunion [Part II §14](#HY_P2S014); [Part IV §20](#HY_P4S020). ### Saturn, sign and cross [Part IV §52](#HY_P4S052); [Part IV §48](#HY_P4S048). ### Scripture and inward illumination [Part IV §9](#HY_P4S009); [Part IV §10](#HY_P4S010); [Part IV §44](#HY_P4S044). ### Secrecy and right use [Part I §5](#HY_P1S005); [Conclusion §10](#HY_CONCLUSIONS010); [Via veritatis §22](#APP_VIAS022); [Epigram §3](#HY_EPIGRAMS003). ### Seeds and metallic generation [Nature §5](#APP_NATURES005); [Summary §2](#APP_SUMMARYS002); [Summary §5](#APP_SUMMARYS005). ### Seven and the rhythm of the work [Part II §18](#HY_P2S018); [Part II §21](#HY_P2S021); [Part IV §39](#HY_P4S039); [Part IV §49](#HY_P4S049). ### Sulphur and mercury [Nature §5](#APP_NATURES005); [Summary §2](#APP_SUMMARYS002); [Via veritatis §28](#APP_VIAS028). ### Temptation and spiritual combat [Part IV §42](#HY_P4S042); [Part IV §43](#HY_P4S043); [Part IV §51](#HY_P4S051). ### Time and uncertainty [Part II §26](#HY_P2S026); [Part II §27](#HY_P2S027); [Part IV §50](#HY_P4S050). ### Tincture and communicated perfection [Part III §10](#HY_P3S010); [Part IV §32](#HY_P4S032); [Part IV §33](#HY_P4S033). ### Trinity and three-in-one [Part II §3](#HY_P2S003); [Part IV §8](#HY_P4S008); [Part IV §20](#HY_P4S020); [Prayer §2](#HY_PRAYERS002). ### Vessel and enclosure [Part II §19](#HY_P2S019); [Nature §16](#APP_NATURES016); [Part IV §38](#HY_P4S038). ### Word, inward and testified [Part IV §9](#HY_P4S009); [Part IV §11](#HY_P4S011); [Part IV §44](#HY_P4S044). ## Annotations [^n1]: The account in this introduction is an editorial reading of the 1619 primary text. The opening explanation begins on p. 3; the four-part plan is stated before Part I on p. 13. References to numbered pages throughout this introduction refer to that printing. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n2]: Imprint, holding institution and persistent identifier: e-rara record for VD17 39:116545E. The original title page is scan 5 in the e-rara sequence. Sources: https://www.e-rara.ch/cgj/content/titleinfo/2580882. [^n3]: The structural record gives the main ending at pp. 136, 147, 148 and 151, and the companions beginning at pp. 156, 214 and 231. The title page itself lists Johann von Mehung and Via veritatis as the two advertised companions. Sources: https://www.e-rara.ch/cgj/content/structure/2580882; https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n4]: Zuber, Spiritual Alchemy (2017), chapter 2, pp. 75–95, especially the authorship discussion on pp. 75–84. The attribution is reported here without extending its reconstructed biography. Sources: https://pure.uva.nl/ws/files/13086025/01.pdf. [^n5]: See the opening of the Beschluss, 1619, p. 136. Its contrast between learned standing and the school of Nature is part of the speaker’s self-presentation. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n6]: The primary plan appears on pp. 12–13. Part headings begin on pp. 13, 20, 47 and 61. Some headings occur partway down a page, so a numbered page can contain the end of one section and the beginning of another. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968; https://www.e-rara.ch/cgj/content/structure/2580882. [^n7]: The explanation of the name “stone” opens Part II, 1619, pp. 20–21. Later technical usages should be read in their immediate contexts rather than resolved by this opening explanation alone. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n8]: Part II contains the principal procedural exposition. The renewed discussion of correction near the end of Part IV explicitly recalls faults in the earthly work. The interpretation here concerns that relation within the 1619 text; it makes no claim to reconstruct a successfully performed transmutation. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n9]: Compare Part IV’s treatment of fermentation, multiplication and Romans 8 around pp. 100–104. References identify the author’s application, rather than asserting that Romans itself teaches an alchemical doctrine. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n10]: See 1619, especially pp. 127–135, for death, renewal, the body and final glorification; p. 132 expressly distinguishes the future completion from what is available to observation in this life. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n11]: Primary headings: 1619, pp. 13, 20, 47–48 and 61. Biblical contexts: Psalm 25:12; Isaiah 28:16; Sirach 43:28–33, with verse divisions varying; Psalm 78:2; Matthew 13:35. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n12]: One example is the purification image from Psalm 12:6 in many English Bibles, Psalm 12:7 in other numbering. References should be checked against the actual quoted words as well as the printed chapter and verse. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n13]: The internal Appendix begins partway through p. 147, the prayer partway through p. 148, and the Epigramma partway through p. 151. Their full texts belong to the main work’s ending. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n14]: Opening of Beweiß der Natur, 1619, p. 156. Its printed heading attributes it to Johann von Mehung. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n15]: Companion openings: Summarium philosophicum, p. 214; Via veritatis, p. 231. Catalogue attributions are not treated as independent proof that the historical persons named composed the works. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968. [^n16]: NLM 100899371 records the Latin language, Frankfurt/Jennis imprint of 1625, and contents. For the enlarged 1678 Latin edition see the Wellcome record and Science History Institute collection. Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/100899371; https://wellcomecollection.org/works/x2rpernn; https://digital.sciencehistory.org/works/5t34sk63f. [^n17]: See the unnumbered prefatory address “Reader” in the 1659 volume, available through the Oxford Text Archive. The Wellcome physical-copy record pkt2sx56 identifies the Water-stone as Wasserstein der weisen, whereas the electronic record tbquys5z repeats the epistle identification. Sources: https://ota.bodleian.ox.ac.uk/repository/xmlui/bitstream/handle/20.500.12024/A28633/A28633.html?isAllowed=y&sequence=5; https://wellcomecollection.org/works/pkt2sx56; https://wellcomecollection.org/works/tbquys5z. [^n18]: Waite, “Preface to the English Edition”, The Hermetic Museum (1893), vol. I. The preface distinguishes the unnamed translator from the revising editor. Sources: https://archive.org/details/b24927363_0001. [^n19]: The 1661 title explicitly announces the added responses. The governing later copy is HAB digital copy qun-642-1s: Prima Responsio, pp. 200–205 (images 00206–00211); Secunda Responsio, p. 206 (image 00212). Sources: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/101466694; https://diglib.hab.de/drucke/qun-642-1s/start.htm?image=00007; https://diglib.hab.de/drucke/qun-642-1s/start.htm?image=00206; https://diglib.hab.de/drucke/qun-642-1s/start.htm?image=00212. [^n20]: The governing volume and its structural record are available through e-rara. The digital PDF includes an added service cover; source scan numbers refer to the e-rara sequence, not an unqualified PDF page count. Sources: https://doi.org/10.3931/e-rara-8968; https://www.e-rara.ch/cgj/content/structure/2580882. [^n21]: The title announces two appended books, although the surviving volume also contains the separately headed Summarium philosophicum between the Meung dialogue and Via veritatis. This edition retains all three in the order printed. “Chymical” preserves the early modern continuity between laboratory chemistry and alchemy. The publication claim “never previously seen” belongs to the 1619 title, not to this edition. [^n22]: The “lower creatures” are created beings in the sublunary or earthly realm. The light of nature is an inward and created capacity for recognising natural order; it is distinguished from, though coordinated with, divine illumination. [^n23]: The limit matters: the author claims prolongation and restoration, not bodily exemption from the death imposed after the Fall. The source explicitly calls the material remedy destructible. [^n24]: This Adamic transmission is the author’s sacred genealogy of the art. It is a claim within the work, not independent evidence that the biblical patriarchs practised alchemy. [^n25]: The pearls and swine recall Matthew7:6. Secrecy here serves both a theological purpose—gratitude to the giver—and a social argument about labour and greed. [^n26]: Scopus is the intended aim or target of the authors’ varied names. The passage insists upon agreement of referent, rather than identity of every word used by different writers. [^n27]: This is an early modern alchemical canon, not a verified list of historical adepts. Many alchemical works circulated under ancient or prestigious names. Philippus Theophrastus is Paracelsus, while the earlier Theophrastus appears separately. The abbreviated Bened. Iesu and the form Estrod are retained without a conjectural identification; the punctuation also leaves Bernardus and Count Trevisanus looking separate, although the alchemical Bernard of Treviso is ordinarily intended by those names. [^n28]: Magisterium denotes the perfected work or mastery and, by extension, its preparation. “A blue mist” is an idiom for deceptive appearances; it does not name a vapour generated in the work. [^n29]: The Greek capital pi resembles a gallows: the verse threatens fraudulent practitioners with hanging. Its wording is retained rather than expanded into an execution scene. A quint or quintlein is a small weight; the hundredweight comparison expresses the rarity and value of honest practitioners. Tewer means dear or costly, with scarcity implied; hewer is a historical form of heuer, “this year”. The rhyme likens the scarce honest practitioners to a crop that has not turned out well. [^n30]: The entrusted and buried talent alludes to Matthew25:14–30. Lehen Herr literally means a lord who grants a fief: the author casts knowledge as a grant for which its holder remains answerable, rather than as an unrestricted private possession. [^n31]: The four-part programme joins natural preparation, claimed medicinal and metallic effects, and an explicitly Christian allegory. Contrefetisch means a likeness or portrait, not a fraudulent counterfeit. Handgriff denotes a practical skill or decisive instruction; “golden” also anticipates spiritual wisdom. [^n32]: Psalm25:12. The scriptural epigraphs are translated from the wording of this German witness rather than silently replaced with a modern Bible version. [^n33]: Arcanum is a secret or hidden efficacy, here the secret of the whole art. The primacy of mercy over human willing echoes Romans9:16; the author does not present moral preparation as a technique that compels divine disclosure. [^n34]: Schlecht here means simple, plain or without duplicity. The historically unfamiliar vnsetzlich is rendered “harmless” from its immediate ethical relation to the neighbour. “Nature joins nature” states an affinity between the worker and the work, developed through regeneration in PartFour. [^n35]: Principia are beginnings or foundational constituents. The threefold body–soul–spirit language relates the human worker to the work, without specifying that each member is a single modern chemical substance. [^n36]: The planting and watering adapt 1Corinthians3:6–7. Artist here means a practitioner of the art. The text places manual labour after ethical preparation and knowledge of the matter, rather than dispensing with practical work. [^n37]: The heading’s Ecclesiast. refers to Ecclesiasticus or Sirach11, whose exhortation to remain in one’s calling (11:20–21) is freely extended into alchemical verse. The claims about metals, clay and dung are the author’s additions, not a biblical quotation. Black and white also anticipate the work’s colour stages. [^n38]: Isaiah28:16, with the wording of the 1619 German witness. The cornerstone introduced here becomes the explicit Christological counterpart of the material stone in PartFour. [^n39]: The stone is both material and a name for the perfected art. “Flows like wax” renders warflüssig, the period form of wax-like fusibility; it does not supply a temperature. Digestion is sustained gentle maturation or heating. Mineral matter, its three parts and the final stone are distinguished as phases of one work. [^n40]: The source itself alternates prima and secunda materia; the edition preserves that qualification rather than resolving it into one fixed modern substance. Magnesia catholica is “universal magnesia,” not automatically modern magnesium oxide. The sequence runs from one through five and then says “in one and two”; it remains a cryptic description, without a supplied chemical identification. The four qualities are hot, cold, moist and dry; the fifth essence belongs to the author’s comparison with heavenly incorruptibility. [^n41]: The series supplies overlapping philosophical names and paradoxes rather than a modern chemical specification. Azoth names a mercurial or universal principle in such literature; the “double mercury” should not be silently identified with a particular laboratory product. The world-soul attribution to Avicenna is reported as the author’s, without supplying an unverified work or quotation. [^n42]: Hovering over the waters recalls Genesis 1:2, filling the world Wisdom 1:7, and the spirit of truth John 14:17. These scriptural transfers are the author’s way of describing natural spirit, and anticipate Part Four’s explicit theological comparison. The printed phrase is “the Spirit of the Lord”. [^n43]: Mittel Wort, literally “middle” or “mediating word,” belongs to the riddle and is not replaced with an invented ingredient. “Here and there” allows the text’s material and spiritual registers to remain open. [^n44]: Trifolium is three-leaved clover or trefoil, used here to express the three-in-one riddle. The poem places three sets of names alongside one another: trefoil; body, soul and spirit; salt, sulphur and mercury. The elliptical line about a thousand is retained without turning it into a precise multiplication ratio. [^n45]: The inverted triangle is printed beneath the riddle. It is preserved in its original position and reproduced as a figure; it conventionally signifies water, while also visually continuing the threefold theme. No additional ingredient is inferred from the sign. [^n46]: The verse runs between cosmological places and the stages of a life. The Christian narrative it evokes is made explicit later in the treatise; the word hell is retained rather than reduced to an apparatus name. [^n47]: The restriction concerns knowledge of the matter before manipulation. Confusion means an undifferentiated mixture, not merely a confused state of mind; the mixed heavenly and earthly description is retained as the author’s cosmology. [^n48]: The author reports real danger and deaths while qualifying the familiar alchemical phrases “child’s play” and “women’s work.” His religious assurance at the end belongs to the historical argument; it does not cancel the preceding account of practical hazards. [^n49]: The oratorium is a place of prayer; the laboratorium a place of work. Their order is explicit. The paired Latin words sharpen the author’s conjunction of devotional and practical preparation. [^n50]: Primum ens means “first being.” The first purification is described as removal of obscuring qualities, followed by separation of an inward soul. Sublimation is an elevation or refinement of the material in the work. The great universal sea-water is called blessed; no modern solvent is supplied. [^n51]: The salt’s inner redness and prepared whiteness are distinct descriptions and are both retained. The claim about tasting belongs to the historical text. The author explicitly says that the intermediate material is poisonous and cannot yet function as the promised medicine; its favourable sensory descriptions must be read with that qualification. The phrase “subtiler durchtringender vnnd flüssiger alß ist” ends in an incomplete comparison (“than is”); the English gives the three stated properties without inventing a missing object of comparison. [^n52]: The printed sequence begins with “two parts” but then divides into three, reserving two and using the third. That inconsistency is preserved; it is not silently repaired into a modern recipe. The following “one part against the twelfth part” is likewise retained in the source’s form. Corpus solis, “body of the sun,” names gold. Fermentation is the action of a ferment on the prepared matter. [^n53]: The distinction is between ordinary circulating gold and gold prepared for the work. Saturn conventionally names lead; the text’s “heaven and sphere” preserves its planetary language. Ingression is penetration or entry. The translation reports the claimed purification without treating it as a validated process. [^n54]: The source now says “three parts” of water kept back, whereas the preceding instruction reserved two. Both readings are preserved. The word for the comparison is read as ice, Eiβ, in the Fraktur print; no added chemical significance is attached to it. The wedding metaphor connects material conjunction with the Song of Songs. [^n55]: The seven additions are consecutive and distinguished from the earlier periods of six or seven days. The seed analogy explains the need for proportion and timing without licensing a guessed amount for each addition. [^n56]: Luting means sealing a vessel with an applied sealing material. The source gives a comparison with the brooding hen, not a measured temperature. Its “first degree” should therefore remain a historical heat regime rather than a numerical conversion. [^n57]: The note distinguishes the essential “fire” of the mercurial water from the common fire that activates it. The instruction against subliming away concerns loss or separation during the union; it is not silently equated with the earlier preparatory sublimation. Caput corvi, the raven’s head, names the black stage. [^n58]: Imbibition is the repeated moistening of the body by its returning liquid. The cyclical movement supplies the natural counterpart to the soul’s descent and return in the later allegory. The text gives approximate recurrence, not a licence to force the process. [^n59]: The sequence of colours is retained in full, including the preliminary reddish and whitish appearances before the peacock’s tail. Fixity is the stability of the perfected body. Resurrection and glorification are already present in this laboratory account, before the explicit Christian exposition. [^n60]: The phoenix expresses renewal from death rather than a separate ingredient. The paragraph returns the completed work to the obligations of gratitude and charity announced in PartOne. [^n61]: The source groups four signs of failure: sublimation or red oil before dissolution and blackness, premature redness, failure to coagulate, and failure to melt like wax, colour the iron and remain fixed in fire. The fourth test belongs to the work’s historical account of its product. [^n62]: The opening conditional is difficult in the print; the sense is intervention before the defects become dominant. The list of names for mercurial water is preserved alongside the warning that it contains poison. Multiplication is an increase in the prepared tincture’s claimed efficacy, distinguished from the first preparation. [^n63]: Actus is an action or stage of the work. The author expressly refuses a universal fixed schedule, which qualifies both the earlier day counts and the numerical riddle that follows. [^n64]: The character X is called a middle or point; pũct abbreviates punct. The instruction forbids going beyond it, then calls for exact division and a retreat with its half, V. The later XX is retained without solving the riddle into an asserted number of days. Nixir plays on German nix/nichts, “nothing”: a failed “nothing-ixir.” [^n65]: Filii sapientiae are the children or sons of wisdom, the initiated or properly instructed readers. “Magical” here characterises concealed natural and numerical knowledge within the author’s philosophy, rather than identifying a newly supplied ritual. [^n66]: The repeated seven is not expanded into an invented list of cities, herbs or stones. Statt is rendered cities and orth places to retain the distinction made by the verse. The “half” continues the preceding numerical riddle. [^n67]: The verbal sequence is retained: dissolution, putrefaction, distillation and coagulation in the first work; conjunction, putrefaction, blackening, digestion, whitening, reddening, coagulation, fixation and fermentation in the second. The final two lines give a multiplication claim in verse, with its precise application discussed in PartThree. [^n68]: Proverbs23:26. This biblical close links the practical process back to the seeker’s inward disposition. [^n69]: Sirach, also called Ecclesiasticus, is distinct from Ecclesiastes. The passage corresponds to the closing verses of Sirach 43, with verse divisions varying by edition. The preceding riddle and Proverbs 23 quotation on p. 47 belong to Part II. [^n70]: Ad optatum finem means “to the desired end”. Morienes is the authority generally called Morienus in Latin alchemical literature; the attributed saying is translated as it appears here. [^n71]: The “fifth essence” is quintessence. The circle of moonlight places the description within the world below the Moon. The sequence “true without falsehood” and “most certain” recalls the opening of the Emerald Tablet, attributed to Hermes; the attribution to Aristotle remains the author’s statement. [^n72]: The stone’s revelation to Adam and use by the patriarchs are claims of the author’s alchemical history. They are not stated by the biblical narratives of the ark, tabernacle or temple. [^n73]: The second sentence in the German has compressed and uneven syntax. Its series concerns the humiliations and pressures from which a livelihood supplied by the stone would free the philosophers. The seven liberal arts are the traditional grammar, rhetoric, dialectic, arithmetic, geometry, music and astronomy. [^n74]: Plusquam perfect means “more than perfect”: a perfection credited with the capacity to communicate perfection to another body. The medicinal claims are reported as part of the historical work; the author expressly declines to act as a physician. [^n75]: “Through means” preserves the author’s wording. The passage announces the detailed spiritual comparison to follow; it should not be reduced to a general claim that all chemical operations are interchangeable with Christian doctrines. [^n76]: Projection is the application of the perfected tincture to a further metallic body. “Dense” translates dichtem, part of the text’s description of the resulting gold. [^n77]: The proportions are those printed: one part medicine to three parts gold by weight, followed by a claimed capacity to tinge 1,000 parts. The passage reports a historical procedure and claimed result; no modern chemical identity for the medicine is supplied. [^n78]: The quotation corresponds to Wisdom 7:8–9. The German has a compressed comparison with sand and silver; the English follows its argument without inserting the fuller wording of a modern Bible. [^n79]: The opening German construction “anderer gestalt, als nur” is awkward; the following argument clearly rejects a merely worldly motive for seeking the art. Genesis 2:11–12 describes the gold of Havilah and calls it good. [^n80]: The Latin direction points to the Sagittarius section of Palingenius’s poem. The following German paragraph calls the work Zodiaco Naturae; the well-attested title is Zodiacus vitae. The supplied couplet and the author’s claim of alchemical possession are preserved as his reception of Palingenius. [^n81]: The citations include Proverbs 16:16 and 22:1. The good-name saying attributed here to Sirach 24 corresponds to Sirach 41:12 in the common English numbering; the printed reference is retained. The final quotation is from Sirach/Ecclesiasticus 3, especially 3:17–20, rather than Ecclesiastes. “Zodiac of Nature” translates the title as printed; see the preceding note on Zodiacus vitae. [^n82]: The epigraph combines Psalm 78:2 with Matthew 13:35. “Mystery” translates the singular Heimligkeit of this printing; the text associates scriptural interpretation with disclosure through natural images. [^n83]: The German prints “lost sheep and ox” (verlohrnen Schaff vnd Ochsen). The familiar Gospel pair is the lost sheep and lost coin, Luke 15:3–10, but Ochsen is retained rather than silently corrected. The biblical catalogue is not a precise one-to-one concordance: its margin lists Luke 8, Matthew 13 and 23, Luke 19, Matthew 20 and 18, Luke 16 and 18, Mark 12 and Luke 10. [^n84]: Contrafactur means a likeness, portrait or representation, rather than a counterfeit intended to deceive. This paragraph establishes the work’s governing claim: the earthly stone is a material figure through which Christ’s saving work can be contemplated. The margin adds Ephesians 3, Colossians 1 and Isaiah 45 (“Rain down, O heavens”; Isaiah 45:8). “Shall not flee” preserves the German wording of Isaiah 28:16. [^n85]: The principal citations are Psalm 118:22–23, Matthew 21:42–44, Acts 4:11, 1 Peter 2:6–8 and Romans 9:32–33. The comparison is the author’s scriptural argument, not an assertion that all these passages use identical wording. [^n86]: The marginal references are Luke 10:23–24 and Romans 10:12–13. The pronoun such a stone remains personal in this passage because the author identifies the heavenly stone with Christ. [^n87]: The successive passages are Isaiah 8:14–15, Luke 2:34, Romans 9:32–33 and 1 Peter 2:7–8. The author’s account combines the universality of the freely offered gift with the minority who receive it, preparing the parallel with the common yet hidden material of the philosophers. “Whereunto they are appointed” retains the difficult final clause of the German quotation without resolving its doctrinal implications. [^n88]: Harmonia here denotes a structured correspondence. The comparison does not remove the distinction between the earthly bodily stone and the spiritual heavenly stone; its force depends on the relationship between the two. The margin supplies 1 Corinthians 3. [^n89]: Prima materia, “first matter, ” is carried from the alchemical discussion into the theological comparison; it does not mean that the author regards God as an ordinary physical substance. The margins cite 1 Corinthians 2 (“We speak of hidden…”), Romans 11 (“O what a depth”) and Acts 17 (“For in him we live”). These support mystery, the limits of human knowledge, and dependence upon God. [^n90]: The “one, yet two” is explicitly interpreted as one Scripture in two Testaments. The references include Mark 9:7, Luke 9:35, John 14:6, Isaiah 8:20, John 5:39 and Psalm 119:24, 105, 14, 59. “Mount Tabor” is the author’s traditional identification of the transfiguration mountain; the Gospel passages do not name it. The unusual syntax around John 14 and Scripture is preserved in sense rather than turned into an additional quotation from John. [^n91]: Micah 5:2, John 8:25, 58 and Luke 11:34–35; 17:21 are the principal quotations. The author’s “First of all…” follows an early German rendering of the difficult John 8:25 rather than a modern English Bible. Primum Ens is “first being”; its use here concerns the eternal existence of Christ. Saul/Paul invokes the conversion of the persecutor Saul and warns against mistaking an unregenerate for an enlightened understanding. [^n92]: The distinction is between an external object or written sign and the inward capacity to recognise and judge it. The argument does not discard Scripture: the preceding paragraph calls it well founded and indispensable, while this paragraph distinguishes testimony from the light by which testimony is understood. The margin quotes 1 John 2:26, “I have written these things to you concerning those who lead you astray.” [^n93]: The flint, steel and tinder analogy distinguishes the source of light, the occasion that awakens it, and the receptive heart that sustains it. The author then explicitly adds faith, the preached Word and the Holy Spirit; the passage should not be reduced to an assertion of unaided self-sufficiency. The imagery draws upon John 1:9–11, John 14 and 1 Timothy 6:16. [^n94]: The closing argument draws on 1 Corinthians 2:13–14, especially the comparison of spiritual things with spiritual things. Dreynigen translates literally as “three-in-one”; the parallel encompasses both the philosophers’ threefold stone and the Christian Trinity without treating the two as identical substances. [^n95]: The comparison turns on rejected or despised matter rather than identifying its chemical composition. Spirit and lumen, “light, ” are among the transferable names whose extended catalogue follows. [^n96]: John 1:10–11 supplies the quotations. Numen means divinity or divine power; lumen means light. Here the two Latin terms designate the heavenly stone, rather than constituting names of two independent beings. [^n97]: This catalogue describes the earthly stone and then provides the vocabulary for its heavenly counterpart. Catholica means universal, not an assertion of Roman Catholic affiliation. The number thousand marks comprehensiveness or perfection in the author’s symbolic account; the passage gives no count of a thousand individually enumerated names. The fifth being is the quintessence. [^n98]: The name-catalogue intentionally transfers alchemical titles to Christ. Its claim that God is “the being of all beings” yet “no being” is retained as the author’s apophatic formulation, not normalised into a modern metaphysical proposition. Gigas geminæ substantiæ means “giant of twofold substance” and invokes the hymn tradition of Christ’s two natures. The biblical references are reproduced as cited, without supplying unprinted verses or silently repairing debatable associations. [^n99]: The phoenix’s revival of its young is the image in this printing. It is retained despite its proximity to the more familiar Christian image of the pelican feeding or reviving its young with blood. The sequence one through five is an explicit theological numerology: one divine being, two natures, three persons, and combinations of these. Wesen can mean being, essence or nature; the last pair is translated as “natures” because the author expressly distinguishes divine and human. [^n100]: Respectu nostri, “in relation to us, ” is essential to the comparison. The author speaks of God becoming known as gracious rather than of an actual chemical purification of the divine essence. Moses’ veil invokes 2 Corinthians 3:13–16. The sea-water belongs to the preceding alchemical vocabulary, while the Spirit’s water and fire images are grounded in the biblical passages cited. [^n101]: The salt of wisdom and bond of love complete the analogy of separation and reunion; the passage expressly insists on one God. The printing gives “Dan.7.18.” Its punctuation does not establish a distinct chapter 18. The “consuming fire” wording can also be compared with Deuteronomy 4:24 and Hebrews 12:29, but neither is silently substituted for the printed reference. [^n102]: The “addition” is the assumption of human nature in the Incarnation. The comparison is not an instruction to take the alchemical subject as medicine; the author explicitly calls the incompletely prepared subject harmful. Galatians 4:4 concerns the fullness of time and the sending of the Son. [^n103]: The ensuing paragraph explicitly identifies the metallic body as gold. In the theological half, “as it were” qualifies “metallic”; the comparison concerns Christ’s assumption of flesh and blood, not a literal metallic human body. [^n104]: The comparison requires the purity of Christ’s assumed human nature. The margin specifies that this means humanity as it was before the Fall: an earthly Adam, whereas the only-begotten Son of God possesses the heavenly Adam. Those marginal qualifications belong to the author’s account and should not be silently collapsed into a modern doctrinal formula. [^n105]: The argument concerns one person in two natures. The margin supplies Micah 5, Psalm 2, Matthew 16 and Colossians 4; those references are retained as printed in the source rather than treated as an editorially verified verse-by-verse proof. [^n106]: De unione naturarum et communicatione idiomatum in Christo concerns the union of Christ’s divine and human natures and the attribution of their properties to his one person. The author attacks scholastic distinctions through an alchemical analogy; the translation preserves that polemic without endorsing its historical judgement. The printing gives no work or chapter for the Tertullian quotation. [^n107]: The source’s Luke 14 citation for Christ’s trembling and fear is retained; compare the Gethsemane narrative in Luke 22:39–44. The crown is not further specified in the German sentence. Plusquam perfectum, “more than perfect, ” is the author’s alchemical term carried into the comparison, rather than a grammatical tense. [^n108]: The chain of forties is reproduced in full, including the author’s forty months of ministry, forty hours in the grave, and forty-year interval before Jerusalem’s destruction. These belong to his numerical typology and chronology, rather than editorially established exact durations. Psalm 59 is the reference printed here; the forty-year wilderness passage is more readily compared with Psalm 95:10. [^n109]: Caput corvi is “raven’s head, ” an alchemical designation of the black stage. The suffering-servant description draws upon Isaiah 53, as the source’s margin indicates, followed by Psalm 22:6. Solis corpus, “body of the sun, ” carries the established association of sun and gold. [^n110]: The source prints Act.1 at the descent into the lower places; the associated passage commonly invoked in Christian accounts of descent is Ephesians 4:9, which it also cites. The alchemical fixation describes a stable reunion of body, soul and spirit. The note neither resolves the author’s Christology nor imports a modern chemical account into his theological comparison. [^n111]: The argument now turns from the person and work of Christ to their effect in believers. Fermentation and multiplication retain the vocabulary of the philosophical work rather than substituting a modern psychological account. [^n112]: The German sentence is grammatically broken after the account of creation; its implied human subject is supplied in English, while both the creation and corruption clauses are retained. Effigiem means image or likeness. [^n113]: The analogy applies “multiplication” to the union of Christ and his members; it does not describe an increase in divine perfection. The source repeats vereiniget, “united, ” and the translation gives its emphatic repetition as “united and joined.” Romans 8:29 and Colossians 1:15–20 underpin the firstborn and reconciliation language. [^n114]: Sordes and fæces are filth and dregs, borrowed from material purification. The source prints Iohann.1; the blood that cleanses from sin corresponds to 1 John 1:7. “Saved, fixed and perfect” intentionally combines theological and alchemical terms. [^n115]: This is the author’s exclusionary Christian polemic: his catalogue of religious opponents belongs to its historical context and is not an editorial classification. Archimia is used here as a derogatory name for deceptive or sophistical alchemy. The parallel depends on the asserted uniqueness of the heavenly mediator and earthly tincture. [^n116]: The author connects the imagery explicitly with baptismal rebirth, rather than with a purely private alchemical initiation. The margin cites John 3, 1 Peter 3 and Ephesians 5. The printed 1 Corinthians 4 reference attached to Christ as head is retained; the body-and-members comparison is developed in 1 Corinthians 12, also cited here. Colossians 3:10 speaks of putting on the new person; compare also Galatians 3:27 for putting on Christ. [^n117]: The paragraph insists that regeneration is a divine gift and not the product of human merit. The German prints erinnerung, rendered here as “remembrance”; inward renewal is the surrounding context, but the unusual wording has not been silently replaced in the reading text. Its final clause says that the Holy Spirit works powerfully and actively in us through the bath of regeneration and baptism. [^n118]: The source invokes 1 Peter 2:2–5 for pure milk, living stones, the spiritual house and priesthood, and 1 Corinthians 3 for infancy in Christ. Spagyric spirit is the author’s transforming agent in the alchemical half; its nature is not supplied with an invented modern chemical identity. The German’s unstable syntax around the red flood, strengthening and incorporation has been clarified without omitting either image. [^n119]: The unusual “dry liquor” and “one body and cake” are retained. Cake is a material image of a united mass, not an editorial reference to a specific sacramental bread. The marginal Song of Songs 3 phrase, “When I had passed a little from them, ” supports the author’s emphasis on ordered progress. [^n120]: The twelve articles refer to the Apostles’ Creed, reorganised into the three chief articles of creation, redemption and sanctification. The author explicitly includes the concluding Amen in his count of seven divisions within the third article. The numbers serve his comparison with the successive additions described in the alchemical work. [^n121]: The author stresses that the addition is required by the receiving metals’ weakness, not by a defect in the already perfected tincture. The ensuing theological parallel depends upon this qualification. Antimony refining is mentioned as an existing preparation of the gold; no modern identity, temperature or refinement of the historical process is supplied. [^n122]: The three corresponding additions are expressly named: Word, faith and love. The source prints Acts 5 for the uniting or purification of hearts; Acts 15:9 is the more direct parallel for hearts purified by faith, but the printed citation is not silently changed. Psalm 12:6 supplies sevenfold refined silver; Psalm 119:72 concerns thousands of gold and silver pieces. [^n123]: The three temptations follow Matthew 4:1–11: distrust under want, presumptuous testing of God, and idolatry for riches. Tyrocinia are a novice’s training or first exercises. The difficult final German sentence describes preparation through repeated trials; the translation retains its practical sequence without presenting Satan as an ordinary laboratory operator. [^n124]: The armour is drawn from Ephesians 6:11–17. Krebs here is the armourer’s breastplate, not the disease cancer or the animal crab. The German characterises Christ as Vnfechter in its military comparison; “champion” captures that role without recasting the struggle as physical violence against human opponents. [^n125]: The essential fire and outward assisting fire remain distinct in the comparison. The author applies the distinction to inward grace sustained through the outward exercise of Scripture and virtue. The difficult iron sentence has been rendered by its stated example of repeated motion warming cold iron, without supplying an absent tool or modern mechanism. [^n126]: The German hearing sentence is syntactically rough; the contrast with merely outward perception and the inclusion of inward hearing are clear. The last quotation corresponds to Psalm 85:8, though the margin here prints Psal.64. The author’s mouse-droppings comparison is retained as part of his polemical register. [^n127]: The “If you keep my commandments…” quotation is assigned here to 1 John 5, while its wording corresponds to John 15:10. The farewell-discourse quotations combine John 13:34–35; 14:21, 23; 15:12. The final love catalogue is an abbreviated paraphrase, not a complete rendering of 1 Corinthians 13. [^n128]: The author places good works after faith as its fruit while making service to the neighbour a test of genuine love. The emphatic “solely through faith” is retained with the surrounding argument, rather than isolated from its insistence on charity. [^n129]: The death is explicitly a spiritual dying to sin and the old Adam; the author distinguishes it from bodily death below. The duration is deliberately expanded beyond the alchemical forty days to an entire life. The margin includes Ephesians 4, 1 Peter 4, 2 Corinthians 4 and Job 30. [^n130]: The syntax of the original’s long parenthesis is re-ordered for clarity while retaining its claims: spiritual dying differs from bodily death; body and soul remain sustained together until the appointed time; the godly soul’s union with God’s Spirit endures. The approximately seven ascents and descents belong to the alchemical analogy. The translation does not turn this account into a claim of seven literal departures of a living person’s soul. [^n131]: The six-thousand-year world and seventh-millennium Sabbath are the author’s eschatological scheme, not a date supplied or endorsed by this edition. The final “all in all” recalls 1 Corinthians 15:28; the margin also supplies 2 Timothy 4. [^n132]: The source attributes this extended exhortation to Augustine but identifies no work or section; its authorship is therefore reported as the source’s attribution. The surrounding scriptural claims recall 2 Timothy 3:12 and Acts 14:22, while the source margin prints 2 Timothy 3 and Acts 4. [^n133]: The sign printed here and repeated on the following page is Saturn’s character, ♄, applied within the source’s antimony comparison. It is retained instead of silently substituting a modern antimony symbol. The orb with cross supplies the political and Christian counterpart; the text does not name a particular officeholder. [^n134]: The author distinguishes baptism as the beginning of rebirth from its completion in the general resurrection. Realiter is reinforced by wahrhafftig, leiblich and wircklich; all four emphases are retained. The scriptural imagery includes Matthew 24, Revelation 12:11, 1 Peter 1:12 and the resurrection language of Isaiah 26, which the margin cites. [^n135]: The final comparison maps four alchemical faults onto spiritual dangers, followed by two remedies: absolution and the Lord’s Supper. The “releasing key of holy solution” deliberately joins chemical dissolution with the ecclesial power to absolve; the corresponding binding key is not omitted. The passage’s warning concerning the unworthy is the author’s sacramental claim, not an editorial assertion of literal chemical toxicity. “Lamb’s sweat” is retained as the source’s unusual image. [^n136]: The author describes himself only as a citizen and private person; this is internal self-presentation, not independent proof of a particular Siebmacher biography. Scientia means knowledge. Schwermer is the polemical religious term “enthusiast, ” directed at a person alleged to claim unauthorised spiritual illumination. The image of refusing to “join in another’s song” preserves the original’s idiom for refusing partisan conformity. [^n137]: The repetition of prerequisites is intentional and is retained. The author distinguishes a completed preparation of the heavenly stone from the alternative of seriously beginning both preparations together; the condition is not reduced to a general moral exhortation. “Almost impossible” preserves fast vnmüglich rather than making the claim absolute. [^n138]: The source distinguishes lawful natural or magical art from necromancy through spirits and prohibited means. “Magical” is not silently changed to “scientific.” Voluptuarii are seekers of pleasure; hellenputzige is a disparaging expression for beings adorned or equipped for hell. The final claim is the author’s explanation of disbelief, not independent evidence for the art’s success. [^n139]: Artifex is the skilled practitioner or artist. The paragraph asserts the author’s own experience; it is translated as his first-person testimony rather than treated as externally verified experimental evidence. Both refers to the spiritual and earthly works. [^n140]: The objection is not omitted. The reply distinguishes possession from self-preparation of the tincture and then distinguishes varieties of alchemy. It should not be paraphrased as a claim that no morally unqualified person could ever possess a tincture. [^n141]: The distinction is made by the author: assistance to Nature and modest costs on one side, deceptive and ruinous promises on the other. “Mountains of gold” is his figurative image for extravagant promises rather than a claim about an actual location. [^n142]: Verlag here is the money or capital laid out for an undertaking. The warning identifies two claims: selling instruction and soliciting finance for supposedly costly work. [^n143]: The amount is three florins, with the expressly stated exclusions of daily subsistence and maintaining the fire. No modern monetary equivalent is invented. This is the author’s cost claim, not a contemporary estimate or an undertaking that the proposed transmutation works. [^n144]: The counsel to secrecy completes the ethical conditions of the art and is explicitly directed against boastful disclosure. The margin recalls Ecclesiasticus 23:1 for a guard or lock upon the mouth. [^n145]: Valete is a Latin farewell. The last qualification, “as far as may be done with a good conscience, ” preserves the author’s stated limit on disclosure rather than promising an entirely explicit laboratory manual. [^n146]: The appendix returns to the danger of the recipient’s corruption. It distinguishes the possession of the art from any assurance that it will remain available regardless of how its holder lives. Heußliche Fürsehung means provision or prudent care for one’s household: the warning concerns greed disguising itself as responsible provision. [^n147]: The opening combines James1:17 with Wisdom9:4,9–11. Wisdom is addressed in the feminine form of the German text, including her mastery of hidden arts. “Boundless” renders grundlos, literally without a bottom or ground. [^n148]: Meßiglich indicates proportionate or measured guidance. The prayer moves from Wisdom’s assistance in the work to Jesus Christ as its heavenly cornerstone, ending with an explicit confession of the Trinity. [^n149]: The land-giving sentence corresponds to Joshua21:43 in many modern verse divisions, followed here by the substance of21:45; the original heading44–45 is retained. Deuteronomy32:3 supplies the concluding ascription of honour. [^n150]: The poem distinguishes apparent gold-making from a product that withstands testing. The phrase nicht ... wenig sorgen means “no little concern”. Gelt, literally money, here refers to the supposed gold being tested. The repeated technical word fix stresses permanence under the test: fixity is the missing accomplishment, not the mere appearance of a metallic colour. [^n151]: Theosophy here means wisdom or knowledge of divine things, within the work’s Christian setting. The verse interprets an emblem of a female personification, with helmet, wings, cock and other attributes. That corresponding image is not present at this point in the governing copy; the description is retained without reconstructing a missing picture. [^n152]: The exposed body signifies the attractiveness of disclosed wisdom; the mask qualifies the openness with secrecy. The contradictory posture—upright yet threatened with falling—figures the art’s endurance amid hostility. [^n153]: The bells mark the ridicule cast upon the personification; they are not treated here as laboratory vessels. The “best portion” recalls the language of Luke10:42, while the poem’s own emphasis remains the art’s attachment to wisdom. [^n154]: The round and rolling fortune is deliberately set below the enduring treasure of wisdom. The close promises a heavenly reward and a lasting earthly reputation, completing the poem’s comparison between the constancy of the true art and that of its faithful adherent. The German Muth, spirit or disposition, is what soars upwards after death; it is not Nutz, benefit. [^n155]: The printed heading identifies Johann von Mehung as the writer. This edition records that attribution as part of the 1619 companion text. [^n156]: The speaker’s rebuke turns on the difference between ordinary volatile quicksilver and the metallic principle she claims to employ. Alembics, cucurbits, stills and pelicans retain the distinct vessel names of the original; “pelican” denotes the historical name used here. [^n157]: Esse and vivere are Latin for being and living. Nature distinguishes mineral existence, vegetable life and growth, and animal sensation. Atramenta is retained because the category is named without further specification. [^n158]: The text first asks for a growing metallic grain and then denies metals a generative seed. Both statements are retained. The distinction develops through the difference between mineral formation and the reproduction of a thing’s like; it must not be erased by harmonising the wording. [^n159]: Genus generalissimum is the most general genus; “Catholisch” here bears the sense universal. The subsequent triad of privatio, forma and materia names privation, form and matter in the text’s account of change. [^n160]: The celestial order, opposed directions of motion and periods are those given by the 1619 text, including Venus at 349 days and Mercury at 339. No figures have been corrected to a modern astronomical system. Primum mobile means the first mover or first moving sphere. [^n161]: The difficult clause before the descent into the earth is retained in sense as a determination that the influences enter and reach the centre. The governing print is awkward here; the translation does not invent a missing causal explanation. [^n162]: Agens and patiens mean the acting and the acted-upon principles, rendered agent and patient. “Unctuous” retains the text’s quality of oiliness. The Marienbad is the named water-bath form of gentle heating; Nature explicitly contrasts her own work with the sophist’s equipment. [^n163]: The imagery of child, virgin earth, fifth being and elemental spirit belongs to Nature’s explanation of generation. The text does not state a modern elemental analysis. [^n164]: Hyle is the Greek-derived term for matter. The household of king, queen, knight and chambermaid is left as the text presents it; no identities are added to the allegory. [^n165]: Propriè and appropriatè distinguish a quality belonging properly to an element from one it acquires by association. The unusual allocation of qualities and the creation of angels, heavens and elements are the dialogue’s historical account. [^n166]: The sentence beginning “Alles was vnter den Himmel” is syntactically difficult in the printing. Its sequence of putrefaction, belly, warmth and birth is retained without adding an unstated substance or procedure. [^n167]: The appeal to Avicenna is the citation made by this dialogue: De viribus cordis, chapter 2. The argument as printed moves from Nature’s exclusive power to an assertion that celestial assistance is necessary. [^n168]: Aurum potabile means potable or drinkable gold. The speaker is condemning the erring practitioner’s claim to prepare it; the term is retained as a historical claim, without a modern medicinal recommendation. [^n169]: “Golden chain” appears explicitly within this companion text. The wording here is part of the 1619 witness and its cosmological account, independent of the later book named The Golden Chain of Homer. [^n170]: The dialogue distinguishes ordinary gold from the claimed transformative and healing power of the Stone. Its reference to ducats and rose nobles is a comparison with minted gold, not an added description of an alchemical product. [^n171]: The ten-pound and hundred-pound loads are retained as the author’s comparison. No modern units are substituted. [^n172]: The organ and ape comparisons sharpen Nature’s criticism of mechanical imitation. The account nevertheless ends by naming one matter, one vessel, one furnace and one regimen: these statements are preserved together rather than treated as mutually exclusive instructions. [^n173]: The same word forma is deliberately distinguished here: Nature sets aside substantial and accidental form to speak of the actual vessel’s shape and size. The distinction is explicit and governs the practical analogy. [^n174]: The four printed names for fire—epsesin, pepsin, pepansin, aptesin—are retained rather than silently reduced to one modern heating process. [^n175]: The author invokes the Romance of Jean de Meung and the named authorities as witnesses to the art. These are the dialogue’s own attributions, not a claim that every writing circulated under those names has authenticated authorship. [^n176]: The references to Aristotle and Albertus Magnus are preserved as the speaker gives them, including the claim that Albertus accomplished the work. The text’s “Physici” can mean investigators of nature as well as writers associated with medicine. [^n177]: The printed biblical reference is “Salomon … Ecclesiast. cap. 38.” It remains in the translation as printed. Radical moisture renders the root-like or foundational moisture named “wurtzelhafftig feuchtigkeit”; it is not an inserted modern fluid. [^n178]: The claims about the ounce and grain, riches, health and the universal medicine are Nature’s claims in the dialogue. The same passage expressly states that the creature must nevertheless die. [^n179]: The printed instruction names a furnace “inhumiret” to a third part, without providing dimensions, a temperature or an identified material. The translation preserves that wording and its attachment rather than supplying unstated practical details. [^n180]: The alchemist’s answer preserves the fourfold hierarchy of being, growth, sensation and rational human life. It then explicitly distinguishes the immortal soul and divine grace from Nature’s bodily operation. [^n181]: The difficult clauses concerning the proportioned body, sensation and sin on p.191 are preserved without replacing the passage’s Christian anthropology with a psychological interpretation. [^n182]: The reply does not merely submit. The alchemist questions Nature about malformed births, inaccessible depths and conflicting books. These objections form part of the dialogue’s argument and are retained in full. [^n183]: Sperma homogeneum means homogeneous seed; potentia and actus distinguish potentiality from actuality. The alchemist repeats these terms as part of his attempt to understand Nature’s argument. [^n184]: The three visible colours are explicitly related to fire, water and earth, with air assigned a penetrating role. The translation retains that association rather than replacing it with a modern colour-stage scheme. [^n185]: The alchemist’s retelling distinguishes philosophical foresight and preparation from Nature’s inward operation. The language of seed, gestation and dust remains integral to his account. [^n186]: Species, genus and individual remain logical categories in this objection. The reply rejects a simple universal application of “like begets like” to minerals while maintaining the account of mineral formation from elements. [^n187]: The printing’s “nahende Creatur der Elementen” is retained as a creature close to the elements. The claim that gold is dead but endures fire is not silently harmonised with the earlier growth language. [^n188]: The sequence involving raw quicksilver and gold is reported as the deceiver’s proposal and then rejected explicitly. Preserving that attribution is essential to the argument; it is not the alchemist’s endorsed preparation. [^n189]: The passage retains the sowing and reaping criticism and the paired Latin names for the operations through their English equivalents. It contrasts changing appearances with Nature’s actual elemental proportion. [^n190]: Fire and air are described as invisible and intangible principles within the compound. The alchemist distinguishes them from a wet distillate offered as proof of separation. This preserves his conceptual objection without identifying the supposed fractions chemically. [^n191]: The statement about the natural philosopher and physician is attributed to Aristotle by the dialogue. The text uses it to frame alchemy’s assistance to Nature, rather than to remove human participation altogether. [^n192]: The three stated effects of alchemy are retained in their printed order: perfecting and vivifying metal, uniting body and spirit without new addition, and demonstrating the absence of actual elemental separation. [^n193]: The parenthesis on p.210 ends “den man auff der Erden nimmer” without a completing verb. The German preserves the incomplete printed clause; the English marks it explicitly rather than inventing a conclusion. [^n194]: The final father-and-son argument calls fine or high red gold the Stone’s father after earlier denying ordinary gold a power beyond itself. Both formulations remain visible; the difference must be interpreted from their contexts rather than silently erased. [^n195]: Aquis fortibus literally means strong waters; dissolutionibus names dissolutions. Both appear in a list the alchemist repudiates. The final promise instead restates dependence on Nature and divine will. [^n196]: The close retains the original first-person commitment and gratitude. It supplies no chemical identity, dimensions, temperature or modern guarantee of the historical work’s result. [^n197]: The title in the 1619 volume assigns this treatise to Nicolas Flamel. This is the wording of that printed attribution. [^n198]: The Latin terms sulphur, argentum vivum and spermata mean sulphur, quicksilver and seeds. Their qualities here belong to the author’s account of metallic generation; they do not identify a modern laboratory substance by themselves. The printed “vixer” is read in context as fixed. [^n199]: The printing reads “Buch” (book) of Mercury. The ensuing description of Mercury as mother makes “Bauch” (belly or womb) a possible intended reading, but the German reading and translation retain the printed word. The reference to Babylon and its encompassing miles is likewise retained as printed rather than resolved into an invented chemical identity. [^n200]: Sun and Moon retain the treatise’s metallic and cosmological language. This passage itself names gold and silver while distinguishing their ordinary bodies from the principles discussed within Mercury. [^n201]: “Flowing Mercury” preserves the distinction drawn by the text between a running metallic material and the philosophical generation it seeks. Cinnabar and sublimate name transformations invoked by the author; no modern composition is supplied here. [^n202]: Minera is rendered as ore in this argument, which explicitly makes it a matrix of generation and nourishment. Granum is a grain and germen a germ or sprout; these words sustain the analogy with fruit rather than identifying a modern mineral specimen. [^n203]: The “waters” and “cement” are historical working terms. The text’s point here is the failure of such treatments to restore a severed natural continuity; the translation does not supply an otherwise unstated recipe. [^n204]: The times and comparisons—one day, a hundred years, about one year and a thousand years—are the treatise’s own rhetorical scales and have been retained. Its “garden,” “tree,” “dew” and “Sun” remain interwoven with its account of generation; they are not silently converted into specific apparatus or temperature settings. [^n205]: The “mountain of the seven,” “sixth,” “royal herb,” “bones” and “broth” are retained as the passage’s own figurative wording. No identification of the unnamed subject is supplied. [^n206]: The contrast between Nature’s creation and art’s subsequent assistance is explicit. The unusual phrase “more than perfect and imperfect metals” likewise remains in the reading rather than being silently regularised. [^n207]: The hatching comparison assigns its own correspondences: fire to the chick’s like, ashes to straw, glass to nest and furnace to house. The healing, feeding and clothing promises continue this historical allegory. [^n208]: Dicta Philosophorum means the sayings of the philosophers. The closing first-person acknowledgment of God the Father is part of the original treatise. [^n209]: The printed sign ℞ means a recipe or prescribed preparation; it is not the name of an ingredient. “Regimen” means the ordered conduct and conditions of an operation. [^n210]: The author rejects these operations as independent, artificial interventions, then redefines the same names as aspects of a single natural coction. The apparent contradiction is part of the tract’s argument. “Cucurbits” are the lower, often gourd-shaped bodies of distilling apparatus. [^n211]: “Strong waters” are powerful dissolving liquids, often mineral acids; the author names a class of preparations rather than specifying one modern acid. “Tartar” is Weinstein, the deposit associated with wine vessels. [^n212]: “Coction” translates Kochung: cooking, digestion or maturation through heat. The tract treats it as one continuous natural work under many technical names. The biblical command occurs in Leviticus 19:18 and is reiterated in Matthew 22:39 and other New Testament passages. [^n213]: The mercury signs carry Latin endings in the German printing. Hyle is Greek for matter; the tract gives its own explanatory Latin phrase, “the beginning of all things”. Its accounts of fire and water are historical natural philosophy. [^n214]: Auripigment is the historical name orpiment. The planetary names here designate gold, silver, copper, iron, tin and lead respectively. The author’s rejection of a named material should not be turned into a modern identification of his unnamed starting substance. [^n215]: The tract interprets colour names through the separation of essence and liquor. Its interpretation should be kept distinct from other alchemical texts which use blackness, whitening and reddening as successive stages in a vessel. [^n216]: The distinction between visible corporeal elements and their hidden essences is central to the following pages. The visible materials are aids to the essences; this is not an identification of a particular laboratory reagent. [^n217]: The warning about poisonous vapours is the historical author’s own. “Marcasites” is a broad early modern mineral term and should not automatically be limited to the modern mineral of that name. [^n218]: The printed transition “ohne welches durch sein eigenes Liecht od Liquor” is syntactically difficult. The rendering takes the preceding true alchemical art as the condition for the following exaltation of elemental fire. “Its own light or liquor” follows the enlarged source image; no additional ingredient or operation has been supplied. [^n219]: Barbers and bathkeepers performed bodily treatments in early modern practice. The author distinguishes medicinal usefulness from the metallic transmutation he defines as true alchemy. [^n220]: Theoph. abbreviates Theophrastus, the name associated with Paracelsus. Adam von Bodenstein’s writings and editorial work are the target of the author’s polemic. The claim that Bodenstein did not understand true alchemy is the author’s judgment, not an independently established conclusion. The Latin proverb concerns the absent; it does not, by itself, establish whether the person is alive. [^n221]: Ad essentiam: “upon the essence”, or “with regard to essence”. Vivos praeceptores means living teachers, distinguished here from the written books. [^n222]: “Höllen der Erden” here denotes the earth’s hollows or cavities. The sequence “heat and warmth” follows the printed wording; a contrasting “cold” has not been substituted. [^n223]: Quid pro quo literally means “one thing for another”; venena pro medicamentis, “poisons instead of medicines”. The occupational and medical accusations are the author’s polemic against practitioners he regards as unqualified. [^n224]: The mercury sign stands for common mercury in the rejected identification. The author then defines “mercury”, “sulphur”, “Sun”, “Moon”, “soul” and “spirit” as names for elemental liquor and fire. These are his own distinctions, not universal definitions of alchemical usage. The sentence about what workers “suppose” has difficult printed syntax; its contrast with the following explanation makes the intended warning clear. [^n225]: The printed Latin “primarum materiarum” is grammatically awkward in this German construction; the surrounding argument concerns a single common first matter. “Radical moisture” translates radicalem humorem, moisture understood as a root or fundamental source. [^n226]: The solar and lunar signs designate gold and silver. The claim that vegetable and metallic essences differ by coction belongs to this tract’s historical model of generation; the translation preserves that model. [^n227]: The printed sequence “starcke Wasser arsenicam, aquam vitæ” does not clearly distinguish all items by punctuation. “Arsenical water” renders arsenicam without assigning a modern formula; aqua vitae is retained as a historical preparation name. [^n228]: The definition of elixir as “cooked fire” is the author’s explanatory wordplay, not a modern etymology. The eagle is an alchemical name within his account of the single subject. [^n229]: The title and the collective voice claim the authority of F. R. C., associated with the Rosy Cross. They do not independently establish the existence, membership or authorship of an organised fraternity. This response is translated from the 1661 reissue, pp. 200–205, HAB scans 00206–00211. [^n230]: The concealed thing becoming manifest recalls Matthew 10:26, Mark 4:22 and Luke 8:17. The five wise and five foolish virgins are from Matthew 25:1–13; the response applies their oil to the seeker’s personal preparation. [^n231]: “You both” preserves the address to two recipients; their identities are not supplied by this text. Centrum mundi means the centre of the world. The mountain’s opposed qualities form part of the response’s enigma. [^n232]: Ductor means guide or leader. The German designation “Läytsmann”, repeated later, is a variant of Leitsmann, guide or conductor. The narrative describes him as unseen. No identity is supplied for him. [^n233]: The triangle is the conventional alchemical sign for fire. The succession of wind, earthquake and fire followed by stillness closely recalls Elijah’s encounter at Horeb in 1 Kings 19:11–12; this narrative gives the sequence its own alchemical application. [^n234]: Convent means an assembly or meeting of the fraternity. Dictator here denotes one who directs or dictates instruction; it should not automatically carry the modern political sense. The lion and the end of the world extend the response’s apocalyptic imagery; no historical ruler is identified in the printed text. [^n235]: The signature’s initials are retained without speculative expansion. Senior means elder. [^n236]: The small raised character after B most plausibly abbreviates Bruder (brother), but is not securely legible. It is represented as B[r?] and is not silently expanded. This response is translated from the 1661 reissue, p. 206, HAB scan 00212. [^n237]: Steltze can mean a supporting stilt or crutch; the broken leg governs the present rendering. The text leaves “three” unnamed. Their identity is not supplied by the translation. [^n238]: The melting elements and new heaven and earth recall 2 Peter 3:10–13; compare Revelation 21:1. The response combines this biblical future with the preceding alchemical transformations. [^n239]: Christag ordinarily denotes Christmas Day. The wording “bey St. Peter” does not identify a particular church or city. The initials B. T. remain unexplained in the printed response and are not expanded here. [^n240]: Public Domain Mark and requested attribution: e-rara “Terms of Use” on the title record. The holder also requests information and a voucher copy and/or notification of a digital publication as customary scholarly practice. Sources: https://www.e-rara.ch/cgj/content/titleinfo/2580882.