From the book
Heinrich Khunrath’s Magnesia Catholica Philosophorum
Heinrich Khunrath · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordImpregnation is the Artist's determination of catholic first matter toward the properties of silver or gold in the first composition of the two.
- In KhunrathThe account begins with metallic seed sown into the fountain or mother-field.
- In this editionThe hybrid German verb imprægniren is retained as a source form.
- A reading distinctionThe p. 97 passage describes impregnation of first matter; it does not relocate the universal regeneration field inside the metal alone.
Meaning
Impregnation is the Artist's determination of catholic first matter toward the properties of silver or gold in the first composition of the two. The word gives the generative relation a precise place within the route to a specified Stone.
Use in the book
The account begins with metallic seed sown into the fountain or mother-field. At pp. 95–962 the joined materials are brought toward more-than-perfected silver or gold, with effects still belonging to that particular kind. Page 97 then names what has happened to the first matter itself: the Philosopher impregnates and specifies it toward silvern or golden properties.
The temporal distinction is careful. The first composition is artful; the ensuing mixture and union are natural. Impregnation does not mean that any mechanical mixture successfully creates the required formative relation. The legitimate result is an inseparable union whose properties are communicated, acting according to the specified kind.
The following alternative confirms the term's limiting function. For the universal Stone, purified catholic Mercury is taken alone without silvern or golden addition. The contrast is not between activity and inactivity, since that matter also requires regeneration. It is between a work specified by metallic impregnation and a universal work conducted from the subject by itself.
Places to read
- 1599 p. 95Metallic seed and mother-field enter the work together.
- 1599 p. 96The result acts according to its specified silvern or golden kind.
- 1599 p. 97Impregnation and specification are named in the first artful composition and ensuing natural union.
- 1599 p. 98The universal way excludes silvern and golden additions.
Translation in this edition
The hybrid German verb imprægniren is retained as a source form. It is paired with specifying, which clarifies its local material effect without reducing it to a synonym of every mixture.
Source note
The p. 97 passage describes impregnation of first matter; it does not relocate the universal regeneration field inside the metal alone.