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Diotimos Library · Esotericism & Spirituality Collection · Bilingual Edition

Attributed to Abraham the Jew

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I

Book of Hieroglyphic Figures

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The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume IHerod and the Reduction of the Elements · Manuscript 40v · Scan 106

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Herod and the Reduction of the Elements · Manuscript 40v · Scan 106

French

Ms. 40v

l’esprit solutif, corrosif et frappant de notre mercure par la faux de Saturne, et par l’écume de la mer le sel ou le nitre qui s’élève sur notre mer de la corruption des dieux ; d’où notre Vénus ou androgyne de nature hermaphrodite a été appelée en langue arabique Ziniar, c’est-à-dire lumière et beauté ; c’est elle qui est la mère des Dieux, l’épouse du ciel étoilé, le huitième Jour où notre soleil commence de luire et est appelé comme au-dessus au huitième Ciel.

Voici encore ce qu’on remarque dans cette figure. Les jeunes enfants tués et leurs mères étendues par terre demi mortes figurent le corps du vitriol, c’est-à-dire la terre vitriolique commune ; par le sang qui coule de leurs veines, le soufre invisible et intérieur de cette terre ; par les soldats qui massacrent ces enfants, le vif-argent ou l’esprit mercuriel, parce que ce n’est qu’à lui qu’il appartient de tirer cette première essence ou cette teinture du sang de ces cavernes vitrioliques pour en pouvoir faire un bain pour laver et rétablir les membres malades et affligés du soleil et de la lune. C’est assez parlé là-dessus.

Ms. 40v

The Manly Hall Manuscript Collection, Volume I: Herod and the Reduction of the Elements

Ms. 40v

the dissolving, corrosive, and striking spirit of our mercury through Saturn’s sickle; and through the sea’s foam, the salt or niter rising upon our sea from the corruption of the gods. Hence our Venus, or androgyne of hermaphroditic nature, has been called in Arabic Ziniar, that is, light and beauty. She is the mother of the gods, the wife of the starry heaven, the eighth Day on which our Sun begins to shine and is called, as above, to the eighth Heaven.

Here is what else may be observed in this figure. The slain young children and their mothers lying half dead upon the ground represent the body of vitriol, that is, common vitriolic earth. The blood flowing from their veins represents the invisible and inward sulfur of this earth. The soldiers massacring these children represent quicksilver or the mercurial spirit, because it alone can draw this first essence or tincture from the blood of these vitriolic caverns, in order to make a bath for washing and restoring the diseased and afflicted members of the Sun and Moon. Enough has been said on this subject.

Ms. 40v

About This Reading Edition

The first manuscript in the Manly Palmer Hall collection at the Getty Research Institute: the Book of Hieroglyphic Figures, presented in French and English with 463 explanatory notes, 13 manuscript plates, 25 source details, an introduction, chapter outline, glossary, bibliography, and register of readings.

Historical Text and Translation

Book of Hieroglyphic Figures (Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques), attributed in the witness to Abraham the Jew. Getty Research Institute, Manly Palmer Hall collection of alchemical manuscripts, accession 950053, Box 1, Hogart manuscript 3; French witness catalogued circa 1800. Manly Palmer Hall is the collector, not the author.

About Diotimos Editions

This historical edition credits Diotimos Editions as its English translator.

Rights

The circa 1800 source manuscript is public domain. The supplied 2026 French reading transcription, English translation, introduction, notes, outline, glossary, register, and editorial arrangement are published with the site owner’s authorization. Source photographs are credited to the Getty Research Institute and Internet Archive in the supplied edition.