From the book
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Heinrich Khunrath · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordThe more-than-perfected Mercury is Azoth regenerated from itself into the universal Stone.
- In KhunrathThe account at pp. 97–9923 makes the change precise.
- In this editionThe p. 103 Latin preserves Plusquā with its abbreviation mark.
- A reading distinctionThe distinction concerns two available modes of the same required catholic ground, not the introduction of a second universal source.
Meaning
The more-than-perfected Mercury is Azoth regenerated from itself into the universal Stone. Fixity belongs to the completed physico-chymical condition contrasted with watery, volatile, perfect first matter at p. 103.
Use in the book
The account at pp. 97–9923 makes the change precise. Purified living Mercury, containing within itself what the universal work requires, is regenerated without silver or gold added. The result is still called first matter and Azoth, yet now more-than-perfected and glorified. The recurring names identify continuity of ground through a real difference of condition.
The subsequent use of the completed universal Stone distinguishes this state from the starting water. In fermentation it can exalt silver and gold to more-than-perfection without the preceding reduction required in the other route. Thus the injunction that metals need first matter does not demand an identical preliminary sequence whenever the perfected Stone is employed.
The p. 103 summary holds both modes together: first matter must be present either watery and volatile or coagulated, fixed and more-than-perfect. The perfected state is not merely the naturally coagulated crude Mercury of p. 66, since the additional qualifications register the completed work.
Places to read
- 1599 p. 98Azoth is named as Mercury regenerated of itself and more-than-perfected.
- 1599 p. 99The result is the universal glorified Stone.
- 1599 p. 101Completed universal matter acts through fermentation without the other route’s prior reduction.
- 1599 p. 103Watery volatile matter is distinguished from coagulated fixed more-than-perfect matter.
Translation in this edition
The p. 103 Latin preserves Plusquā with its abbreviation mark. “Fixed” must be read alongside “more-than-perfect,” rather than used as a synonym for every solid or coagulated material.
Source note
The distinction concerns two available modes of the same required catholic ground, not the introduction of a second universal source.