The Secret Work of the Hermetic Philosophy

Spirit

A subtle, moving or mediating principle. It can unite soul and body or name a volatile condition; its function changes with the passage.

Sulphur

A principle or prepared product with a central role in tincture and the first work. The philosophical sulphur of the late canons must not be identified solely by the modern common name.

Vessel

A containing and generative condition. Canon 109 distinguishes a vessel of nature from vessels of art, so the term ranges from philosophical earth to made apparatus.

Water

A receiving, dissolving and circulating medium. In the elemental account, the other elements move under its form; this is broader than ordinary water considered in isolation.