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that both afterwards, being conjoined, may make one matter, partly spiritual and partly corporal. Once more, I
assure you, the regulation of the fire is the only thing that I have hidden from you. Given the proper-regimen,
take the Stone, govern it as you know how, and then these wonderful phenomena will follow: The fire will at
once dissolve the Mercury and the Sulphur like wax; the Sulphur will be burnt, and change its colours from
day to day; the Mercury will prove incombustible, and only be gradually tinged (and purified, without being
infected) with the colours of the Sulphur. Let the heaven stoop to the earth, till the latter has conceived
CHAPTER XX. Of the Appearance of Blackness in the Work of the Sun and Moon 12
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 An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King
heavenly seed. When you see the substances mingle in your distilling vessel, and assume the appearance of
clotted and burnt blood, be sure that the female has received the seed of the male. About seventeen days
afterwards your substance will begin to wear a yellow, thick, misty, or foamy appearance. At this time, you
must take care not to let the embryo escape from your vessel; for it will give out a greenish, yellow, black,
and bluish vapour and strive to burst the vessel. If you allow these vapours (which are continuous when the
Embryo is formed) to escape, your work will be hopelessly marred. Nor should you allow any of the odour to
make its way through any little hole or outlet; for the evaporation would considerably weaken the strength of
the Stone. Hence the true Sage seals up the mouth of his vessel most carefully. Let me advise you, moreover,
not to neglect your fire, or move or open the vessel, or slacken the process of decoction, until you find that
the quantity of the liquid begins to diminish; if this happens after thirty days, rejoice, and know that you are
on the right road. Then be doubly careful, and you will, at the end of another fortnight, find that the earth has
become quite dry and of a deep black. This is the death of the compound; the winds have ceased, and there is
a great calm. This is that great simultaneous eclipse of the Sun and Moon, when the Sea also has disappeared.
Our Chaos is then ready, from which, at the bidding of God, all the wonders of the world may successively
emerge.
CHAPTER XXI. Of the Caution required to avoid Burning the Flowers
The burning of the flowers is fatal, yet soon committed: it is chiefly to be guarded against after the lapse of
the third week. In the beginning there is so much moisture that if the fire be too fierce it will dry up the liquid
too quickly, and you will prematurely obtain a dry red powder, from which the principle of life has flown; if
the fire be not strong enough the substance will not be properly matured. Too powerful a fire prevents the
true union of the substances. True union only takes place in water. Bodies collide, but do not unite; only
liquids (and spirits) can truly mingle their substance. Hence our homogeneous metallic water must be allowed
to do its work properly, and should not be dried up, until this perfect mutual absorption has taken place in a
natural manner. Premature drying only destroys the germ of life, strikes the active principle on the head as
with a hammer, and renders it passive. A red powder is indeed produced, but long before the time: for redness
should be preceded by blackness. It is true that, in the beginning of our work, when heaven is wedded to
earth, and earth conceives the fire of nature, a red colour does appear. But the substance is then sufficiently
moist; and the redness soon gives way to a green colour, which in its turn gradually yields to blackness. Do
not be in a hurry; let your fire be just powerful enough, but not too powerful; steer a straight course between
Scylla and Charybdis: you will behold in your vessel a variety of colours and grotesque transformations --
until the substance settles down into a powder of intense blackness. This should happen within the first fifty
days. If it does not, either your Mercury, or the regulation of your fire, or the composition of your substance [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]