no further, because this does not contribute to our subject, which it is fitting to pursue.

By the old oak trunk to which Cadmus’s serpent is fastened, pierced in the throat, and by this cross of oak wood upon which the great dragon hangs dead, fastened with two nails, we understand a wooden vessel half full of ashes and containing the philosophical egg. For this wood naturally maintains a gentle, even, and continual fire. It is even believed to receive a long-lasting heat because of its weight and hardness. Who, on seeing this figure of the cross, will not at once recognize this vessel, which is the matter that must be digested and corrupted, since it is destined to pay the penalties for the crime committed and undergo death? Thus a serpent is depicted fastened to it along its whole length, its head hanging toward the rising sun and its tail toward the setting sun, so that no one is so dull as not to judge that a stronger fire is needed at the beginning of the preparation, signified by the head.

Seek a lion in the east and an eagle in the south, for there are more lions in Africa than elsewhere, and flocks of white eagles are scarcely seen except in the west or the south. More preparations are needed for hunting the lion than for hunting white eagles. It is needed for the making of our sulfur.

It is therefore not without reason that all the Egyptians held the cross in great veneration: not only because it contains all the powers and properties of elementary things, as we shall explain more fully later in its place, but because Jesus Christ suffered death upon the cross and, by his death, paid the penalties due for our crime and obtained for all Christians a general pardon for the sins they have committed.

The Garden



A garden and its cultivation, with a central tree, surrounding flowers, and figures at work. The following text concerns the spiritualization of waters. Scan 81.

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