From the book
A New Light of Alchemy
Michael Sendivogius · Diotimos Editions · 2026
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At a Glance
- The wordLaughter, smiling, the tearful-name joke Lachrymista, a German fox-taunt and the insult “philosophers’ dung” are local means of exposing mistaken self-understanding.
- In the workMercury first laughs when conjured, then pretends fear and showers the worker with honorifics.
- In this editionNotes 50, 52 and 58 identify the tear-wordplay, translate the German phrase and frame the execution imagery as a satirical curse.
- A place to readmi Domine Lachrymista: Mercury’s first speech turns the occupational title into a tear-joke.
Meaning
Laughter, smiling, the tearful-name joke Lachrymista, a German fox-taunt and the insult “philosophers’ dung” are local means of exposing mistaken self-understanding. Satire is the editorial name for their combined dramatic function, not a Latin headword printed in these passages.
Use in the book
Mercury first laughs when conjured, then pretends fear and showers the worker with honorifics. The flatterer’s apparent submission lets the target supply his own indictment: the alchemist wants recognition more than correction. When Mercury distinguishes the injurious “alchemist” from the honoured “philosopher,” the listener eagerly accepts the distinction without seeing that both describe him.
The comedy repeatedly reverses agent and object. Mercury supposedly cannot be controlled, yet has obediently undergone every mixture. The worker thinks he treats materials, but Nature says they make a fool of him. The seeker of matter in dung becomes “philosophers’ dung,” and the search for a profitable harvest yields only the substance he added. These reversals make the verbal humour part of the argument about practice.
The ending is not cheerful correction. Once the alchemist knowingly chooses fraud, Nature’s response becomes a harsh curse involving a noose and accursed cross. That violence belongs to the satirical speaker. A modern account should neither soften the source into harmless banter nor repeat the curse as advice to a reader.
Places to read
- Dialogue of Mercury, the Alchemist and Nature · Passage 4Latinmi Domine Lachrymista: Mercury’s first speech turns the occupational title into a tear-joke.
- Dialogue of Mercury, the Alchemist and Nature · Passage 9LatinMein lieber Fuchs: A brief German taunt interrupts the Latin dialogue.
- Dialogue of Mercury, the Alchemist and Nature · Passage 13Latinnon vos illos tractatis, sed illi vos tractant: Nature reverses the direction of the supposed work.
- Dialogue of Mercury, the Alchemist and Nature · Passage 15LatinLaqueus, merito, tales Philosophos manet: The closing curse belongs to Nature’s dramatic speech.
Translation in this edition
Notes 50, 52 and 58 identify the tear-wordplay, translate the German phrase and frame the execution imagery as a satirical curse. None is supplied as an endorsement of the character’s conduct or punishment.