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Urim and Thummim

Urim und Thumim; URIM & THUMIM; Album & Rubrum Philosophicum

Urim and Thummim are biblical names which the author identifies with the philosophical White and Red.

From the book

Candida Phoenix Philosophica

Anonymous · Diotimos Editions · 2026

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Orientation

At a Glance

  • The wordUrim and Thummim are biblical names which the author identifies with the philosophical White and Red.
  • In the CandidaThe identification supports claims about Solomon’s wisdom and purified universal substance, with a later appeal to ruby-like crystals.
  • TranslationThe English uses the conventional name Thummim while preserving the source’s spellings in the original.
  • A place to readRead p. 201 with p. 224; the latter makes the grounds and degree of the author’s assent especially clear.

Meaning

The entry concerns the author’s alchemical interpretation of the biblical names, not an established identification of ancient objects. Urim and Thummim enter first through the priestly ornament described in the precious-stone chapter, then through the argument for Solomon’s knowledge, and finally through the reply letter’s discussion of purified substance. The changing settings matter: a scriptural description, a historical-theological inference and a reported philosophical experience are not the same kind of evidence.

Use in the book

At pp. 114–115 the author recalls the twelve stones of the high priest’s breastplate, with the names of Israel’s tribes, and places Urim and Thummim within that splendid priestly ornament (II.114.2). The passage explains why precious stones deserve attention as noble works of God and as analogies for the operation of the subject. It does not yet demonstrate that the breastplate’s objects are philosophical tinctures.

At p. 201 the identification becomes explicit. Solomon’s wisdom and the supposed greater knowledge of the art among the Jews support the assertion that Urim and Thummim were nothing other than the philosophical White and Red (II.201.1). Wisdom 7 is then invoked for knowledge of the world’s making and the power of the elements. The author directs the reader toward the following letter and chapter thirteen, connecting the claim with the book’s account of substance.

At p. 224 the reply writer states his grounds more carefully. Considering the preceding arguments, and especially because he has more than once seen crystals like rubies in his labours, he agrees with those who maintain this identification (II.224.1). He says it seems highly probable that God answered Israel through that purified substance. The language marks assent and probability, not an eyewitness report about the ancient priesthood.107

The explanation depends on purity and origin. This substance is freed of every impurity, immediately created through God’s substantial Word, the source from which all things were formed, and more precious than anything except the human soul. The Urim-Thummim interpretation consequently reinforces the book’s hierarchy of causes and perfection. It is not merely an observation that red gems exist.

The passage also follows the subject’s regeneration through putrefaction and separation, which is called a living image of Christian transmutation and blessedness (II.223.2). That sequence gives the biblical identification a theological setting. The author is interpreting a divinely ordered substance whose purification discloses significance across nature and Scripture.

Places to read

  1. Part II · II.114.2The high-priestly ornament in the precious-stone chapter.
  2. Part II · II.201.1The explicit White-and-Red identification in the Solomon discussion.
  3. Part II · II.223.2; II.224.12Regeneration, ruby-like crystals, probability and purified substance in the reply.

Translation

The original varies between Thumim and THUMIM. The English uses Thummim as a recognizable form of the biblical name, without claiming that the translation resolves the historical identity of the objects. Album and Rubrum are rendered White and Red where used substantivally; “philosophical” remains explicit. They should not be silently converted into two specified modern gemstones or chemicals.

Connections

White and red tinctures explains the philosophical pair. Solomon and wisdom supplies the argument in chapter twelve; Generation of precious stones supplies the earlier setting. Substance and Logos subsistent clarify why the reply places such weight on purity, immediate origin and permanence.

Cautions

The author’s identification is an interpretation, and the reply’s highly probable judgment should remain a judgment. Ruby-like crystals do not establish an ancient material identity by themselves. No unsupported derivation of the Hebrew names or archaeological conclusion is required to understand the local argument, and none is asserted here.

Urim und Thumim

Urim und Thumim — Urim and Thummim in German connective spelling. II.201.1.

URIM & THUMIM

URIM & THUMIM — Urim and Thummim in the Latin reply. II.224.1.

Album & Rubrum Philosophicum

Album & Rubrum Philosophicum — philosophical White and Red. II.201.1; II.224.1.

Source note

The reply says he agrees with those who maintain the identification and calls the proposed divine use highly probable (II.224.1). Those qualifications distinguish inherited interpretation and personal assent from a claim to have directly witnessed the ancient objects.