[Die geheimen Figuren der Rosenkreuzer]
Translation from the German by Robert Hütwohl[1]
The “Philosopher’s Stone.”
“If they had the philosophers’ stone,
The wise men lacked the stone.”
As is well known, the “philosopher’s stone” and its production played a major role in the literature of the alchemists and Rosicrucians of the Middle Ages. Through the magical power of this stone, it was believed that all base metals could be transformed into real gold and silver and all illnesses could be cured, even rejuvenated and death could be avoided indefinitely. It is not surprising, therefore, that a large number of chemical experimenters devoted their time and fortune in search of this wondrous stone, and that many became insane. Even today, the belief that there is a substance capable of turning lead, copper, tin, and other metals into gold has not died out, and there is evidence that such transformations are possible. Among other things, the imperial treasury in Vienna contains a large oval, a commemorative coin decorated with the images of the ancestors of the imperial family, which consists of two-thirds silver, while the remaining third was turned into pure gold by the Augustinian monk Wenzel Seiler, for which the monk was struck to the “Knight of Reinburg” by Emperor Leopold I.
That it may be possible to transform one metal into another, and that modern chemistry is on the way to discovering it, will scarcely be denied; but true alchemy has nothing to do with such chemical experiments; it is not primarily concerned with external objects, but with internal elements and forces, and if the alchemists of ancient and modern times have not succeeded in finding the philosopher’s stone, the reason for this is that they have dealt with it with external ones trying to produce means instead of preparing it in themselves. The philosopher’s stone, or in other words “the rock” upon which Christ built his church, is the born-again, fully conscious of his spiritual (occult) powers, perfect man.
The philosophers of the Middle Ages used certain symbols and language not easily understood by the uninitiated to protect the sacred mysteries of religion and “royal art” from profanation by the profane. The “philosopher’s stone” of which they spoke is the man who has attained true, divine self-knowledge, whose strength of character is unshakable and who is in possession of wisdom. By his standing in the power of true, living faith and knowledge of God (the Higher Self), he is enabled to unite his will with the Divine Will, and by its power the lower elements, desires, and passions inherent in his human nature and which the alchemists refer to in their symbols as “base metals” (copper, lead, tin, etc.) and to transform them into the “gold” of high wisdom and the “silver” of noble thoughts.
Wisdom is the true knowledge of the truth, the realization of the ideal, the knowledge of the higher self, which man does not achieve through objective observation, but only through his own becoming. It is consequently the perfect union of the knower with the object of knowledge in the power of knowledge. This is symbolized by the triangle, since it consists of three intimately connected sides, which together form a unity, a whole that cannot be separated. In the perfect man this union of spirit man with his higher self has taken place in the power of self-knowledge; therefore he is not only in possession of the philosopher’s stone, because he himself is this stone.
This “stone,” or more clearly, this being, is the panacea against all evils, for through union with his higher being man attains exaltation over all that is his lower nature and his; mortal shell is concerned. By possessing this stone, man attains immortality. Not that his visible body would thereby become immortal; because this is only the shadow of his true self, only its earthly clothing; but the inner man attains knowledge of his higher existence on this path; the consciousness of his individual immortality in the higher being awakens in him.
By means of this royal art of preparing the philosopher’s stone, man constructs for himself the transfigured astral body, which he then possesses both during his life on earth and after he sheds his mortal body. The soul or ego of the human being who has awakened to true self-awareness is not an insubstantial nothing, or like a bubble that crumbles when it bursts. There are certainly many so-called “herd people” who have not yet come to their own thinking and the intellectual realization of their individuality, who do not have a pronounced individual character, but are only playthings of the thinking and feeling of others, whose aspirations do not go beyond the horizon of their personal desires and Desires go beyond and which cannot rise above the general public, but are governed by the prevailing instincts and ideas. Such people, although they differ physically and as personalities from others like them, may well be regarded as “class souls” who do not yet have their own soul, that is, one that has not awakened to true self-awareness. The preparation of the philosopher’s stone consists in the development and strengthening of higher self-awareness, through which man attains knowledge of his individual being on a higher, spiritual level. In the process, his spiritual rebirth takes place in him and he builds up the transfigured body of immortality, of which the apostle Paul says that its seed was sown in the perishable body and that from this the imperishable body came into being.
This “etheric” body is also often mentioned in Indian philosophy, it is described by Patañjali as imperishable, indestructible, transfigured and luminous, and it is taught that while in an ordinary gregarious man this etheric body dissipates after death like a cloud, in a spiritually exalted man it forms the material from which the body of immortality arises. Nor does this appear incomprehensible when one considers that basically all is essentially One, and what we call “matter, “ether,” “spirit,” etc., are merely various manifestations of the nameless One, and are, as it were, different vibrations of the forces springing from the One.
Among the “Secret Figures of the Rosicrucians” of the 16th and 17th centuries is a most rare tablet on which the preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone is symbolic but clearly and distinctly depicted to the experienced alchemist.[2]
The figure represents a triangle illuminated by the sun and the moon, in which the alchemical processes are symbolically indicated, and the inscription below gives us information about the meaning of this work. It is:
Subjectum stupendum et instrumentum mirificum omnium virtutem naturalium ac supernaturalium. Haec scientia mysteriosa et ars mirifica in medicina universal stupen edit miracula, ut nescio an in orba vel natura sit ei par miraculum, quod ex pura puta terra, omnibus objecta et vili, tantum thesaurum immensum ac praeciosissimum producataurum scilicet fulgentissimum, quod praestantia et pulchritudine cum sole certat: In haec arte mirifica maxima lucet omnipotentes virtus ac divina potestas, cum nihil aliud sit quam nova quaedam creatio qua philosophus maximam imitatur Dei creationem, qui lucem distinguit et chaos divisit in infinita natura mirabilia, sic philosophus de hac distinguit lucem et ignum eamque dividit in inmensane ac infinitum sanitatis panaceam, producit inde aurum pulcherrimum quod certe patrat mirabilia in hoc mundo et ita voluit altissimus ut fiat ad donum. Si in hac arte supernale ac divina cum natura ludere scias potes preciosissimum dividere in hoc opere in tantum quantum vis, qui semper ex minutissima parte ac unica guttula multa millia proferet.
Into English:
The amazing subject and the marvelous power of all natural and supernatural instruments. This mysterious science and the wonderful art of universal medicine produce astonishing miracles, so that I do not know whether the bereaved or natural wonder is equal to it that from pure earth, for instance, to all objects and cheap things, it will produce such an immense and most precious treasure, namely, the most brilliant, which competes with the sun for excellence and beauty. He imitates the greatest creation of God, who distinguishes light and chaos divides wonders into infinite nature. Thus the philosopher distinguishes light and fire from this and separates it into an immense and infinite panacea of health. to make a gift. If you know how to play with nature in this supernatural and divine art, you can divide up the most precious thing in this work as much as you want, which will always produce tens of thousands from the smallest and only one drop.
The headings on the sides of the triangle read:
Lapis philosophorum benedictus, hic creationis nostrae prima fuit materia et restaurationis nostrae verissima est medicina.
Monstrifica alchemistarum metamorphosis, qua midae instar contacta aera mox omnia in aurum et argentum permutantur.
Into English:
Blessed is the stone of the philosophers, this was the primary matter of our creation and is the truest medicine for our restoration.
The metamorphosis freaks alchemists by which the air, like Midas, having been infected, soon all things are changed into gold and silver.
From these communications it appears that the preparation of the philosopher’s stone is a mysterious science and divine art, from which arise marvelous things unparalleled in either heaven or earth, and that out of the common and despised earth (matter) a immeasurable and most precious treasure is produced, the shining gold, whose splendor and beauty is comparable to the sun. As at the beginning God saw the light and separated it from the darkness of chaos,[3] so the enlightened alchemist discerns the (spiritual) light and heavenly fire, and separates the light from the dark (Buddhi-Manas from Kāma Manas). Anyone who understands this supernatural (spiritual) art can divide the treasure they have gained into as many parts as they wish, because even the smallest part and the single drop of this universal medicine will result in many thousands of fruits.
“The blessed philosopher’s stone is the universal medicine which effects the restoration of our original divine state; his touch instantly turns everything to gold and silver.”
The writings of all the other Rosicrucians also show that we are not talking about the manufacture of ordinary gold and silver, but about something far more important. So, for example, says the unnamed author of the “Golden Fleece”:
“It is given to the body in time
The spirit which delights the soul.
When the spirit draws the soul to him,
And since none deviates from the other,
So all three stay together
Until the body is dissolved free,
Faults and dies, separates from him
soul and spirit, but according to time
It all comes in the last heat
Reunited and retains his seat
All in right perfection Glorified with great joy.”
This is the spiritual rebirth, the resurrection of the immortal body in the corruptible body of man who has come to true self-knowledge through mystical death. No external equipment is necessary for this: Because it is taught:
“Whoever persists in the fear of God,
Also in his word do practice,
And diligently waits for his job,
Nothing can go wrong black or white,
That same person cannot go alone
be of tin, steel, iron, and copper,
gold and silver are enough for him
But he can still go to the things
In advance, if God is kind to him,
Make gold out of hard stone-clay.”[4]
Certainly all kinds of ovens, retorts and the like are mentioned in the books of the Rosicrucians; but this was for the purpose of veiling the great religious mysteries from the eyes of the greedy. That is why Paracelsus writes openly:
“What is there to say about the many recipes, and the various vessels, ovens, glasses, shards, water, oils, salts, sulphur, etc. You have to put it all away and leave it there; for it does not work for the five metals to make gold and silver.”[5]
The Rosicrucian symbols have at least twofold meaning. When the “Sun” is mentioned, it means not only our visible sun, the giver of all life in our universe, but also the spiritual sun of the world, the source of wisdom, love and life of the soul,[6] and below the “moon” is not only understood as the light of night in the visible sky, but it is also the symbol of thought, of creative imagination. The sun signifies the spirit, the moon means matter, the sun the procreative will, the moon the formative power of nature. From the union of will and thought (“man” and “woman”) the “son” arises, the deed.
In the accompanying figure, the large triangle illuminated by the sun and moon means man. He is a three-dimensional being and represents a world in miniature (microcosm) in which all the forces of the big world (macrocosm), whether active or latent, are contained. If he knew all the occult powers still dormant in him, awakened them within himself and used them properly, he would be godlike and perfect. He is a child of sun and moon; (Schopenhauer calls it “will and imagination”) in him body and soul are connected, but the spirit is unbound and free; that is why the non-enlightened person still has little power over his thinking and very few people have the strength to hold on to a thought; most do not think for themselves, but are the playthings of ideas “floating in the air” and dominated by thoughts which come from outside influences. That is why ordinary man is compared to a reed swayed by the wind, and man born again in the Spirit of God (in the realm of true knowledge) as the philosopher’s stone, or can be the rock unshakeable by the waves of the stormy sea of life. This steadfastness, this “steadiness in spirit,” can be attained through the union of will and thought in the word, or rather in its power; “For the kingdom of God is not in words, but in power.”[7]
A glance at the Tabula aurea now reveals three squares, one above the other, ending in a triangle containing a human figure representing Hermes. These squares represent the four states or planes of human existence, namely the outer world of senses, the inner life or “astral plane” and the spiritual world. We are placed in this material world where there is light and dark, good and evil, and before us is the “tree of knowledge” bearing good and bad fruits (karma).[8] On the left side of the picture is drawn the phoenix, the symbol of the higher aspirations of the soul, rising from the flames of earthly desires and striving for heaven, and the lion, the symbol of willpower. On the right side we find man on his way to the tree: knowledge. He is depicted as a victorious hero bidding farewell to the temptations of the sensual world and looking back with contempt on its delights. He transcends his animal nature, represented by the salamander dying in the fire of the love of God. The alchemical signs contained in the three squares represent the physical, ethereal, astral and spiritual elements, principles and forces contained in human nature, which the alchemist knows how to use to accomplish the great work of transforming and ennobling himself. Just as chemical compounds are dissolved and connected to others in a chemical process, the impure is separated and the pure is obtained, so it is in alchemy with the spiritual elements; there is dissolved the fire of love Δ permeates the water of thought ▽ and the material, the “earth” Δ; the spiritual ☊ rises and the purified, “the scent of the white lily” descends again to earth as a blessing for mankind.[9]
In the next field on the left we find the alchemist at work; he holds the flask in his hand, determined to complete the work. But this cannot be done by external means, and so on the right side of the picture the alchemist is represented as the furnace, which is himself. In him, and not outside of him, is the purification and exaltation; in him is the flame of love, which creates the moderate warmth needed for work. The “black raven,” the symbol of the earthly and impure, is removed and in its place comes the “white swan,” the symbol of the soul in its purity, swimming on the stormy sea of life, full of confidence and conscious of its security, that he cannot perish; for the Blessed One does not sin.
The top square represents the spiritual plane. The serpent of lust for earthly possessions disappears and the dragon of passion is vanquished; the alchemist is no longer depicted here; for he has died a mystical death and is no longer relevant as a personality.[10] The “two birds,” matter and spirit, the individual and the divine consciousness have merged, the human and the divine will are only us; personal thinking has merged into the idea of God and the heavenly marriage of spirit and soul has been accomplished.[11]
Thus the magnum opus, the great work, the completion of which takes hundreds of thousands of years and countless reincarnations, but can also be completed in a moment, even succeeded “by a woman sitting at the spinning wheel,” and the philosopher’s stone is found. This is represented symbolically by the uppermost triangle. Here the three have become one; the knower is no longer a being distinct from the deity, the object of intuition, but is united with the deity through the power of the knowledge of God. God and man are one; the soul is illuminated by the light of wisdom; the divine self knows itself, not by any concrete intuition or philosophical speculation, but because it is itself the Self and, the illusion of peculiarity and separateness from the sole having vanished, recognizes itself in spirit and in truth as the sole Self of all recognizes beings. In this realization of the divine ideal in man consists the “philosopher’s stone,” the Adeptship and the universal medicine, which cures all ills, for all ills in the world have their cause in ignorance of the higher existence, and through its knowledge the cause of all ills is removed.
Note: [12]
The “Philosopher’s Stone.”
Selected sayings of the ancient alchemists and Rosicrucians relating to the preparation of the philosopher’s stone, the elixir of life and universal medicine.
Preliminary Remark.
It is often asked why the ancient alchemists and Rosicrucians, if their description of the preparation of the “philosopher’s stone” is only about initiation and spiritual rebirth, did not divulge their secrets to the public, but cloaked their teachings in language quite incomprehensible to the uninitiated; since the doctrine of being born again in the Bible is often written clearly and distinctly, if one only knows how to read it properly?
In answer to this question it might be said that the teachings of the alchemists and Rosicrucians are also contained in their writings plainly and distinctly for all who properly comprehend and understand them; but that the holy truths to which these teachings refer were brought to view only in a veiled form, there were evidently good reasons for this:
First of all, things of which he has no experience, because they lie beyond his intellectual horizon, cannot be made visible to a person, other than through pictures, symbols and comparisons with things he knows. Secondly, the proclamation of the truth, when inconsistent with ecclesiastical interests, has always been, and in a certain sense still is today, a dangerous thing. Examples of martyrs of truth are Socrates, Giordano Bruno, Savonarola, Michael de Molinos and many others who taught that man did not need the mediation of the clergy to find his God (his higher Self) and that the power of salvation is contained in the heart of man himself. Furthermore, the enlightened well knew that only he who gains knowledge of the truth through his own divine inspiration and strength can actually come into possession of it, while all externally learned scholarly stuff flies away like chaff in the wind, and they therefore sought to stimulate the serious researcher with symbols, to draw his attention to the path to self-knowledge and to serve as a guide. Finally, they heeded the warning given in the Bible, Matthew VI. 6, and they well knew the dangers of profaning the name of God through the abuse of spiritual powers. For the wicked and foolish, their own ignorance is their best protection from perdition.
Sayings of Wisdom,
which are not invented by men, but are taught by wisdom itself to anyone who listens to its voice (“The Voice of [the] Silence”).
“It will be asked: What is the condition of a man who follows the true light as far as he can? — I answer: He who is not such a man can neither know nor understand it, and he who understands it cannot express it; for it is inexpressible.” (Theologia germanica.)
“It is a word that speaks forever. It speaks itself inwardly, but not in itself, and yet it can never be spoken. This word is I, everything and nothing, heaven and hell, light and darkness, good and evil, will and desire, joy and sadness, essence and appearance, time and eternity, angel and devil, life and death, something and nothing, Man and God, All in All; it creates everything, remains eternally uncreated and is everything itself that it creates. It is called Christ.” (“The Secret Figures of the Rosicrucians.”)[13]
“This work is greater than that we should experience with reason alone, where it would not be revealed to us by special inspiration or intuition.” (“Turba philosophorum.”)
“Know that this art is a gift of the Holy Spirit, and is given to none save he that pleases God.” (“Rosar. Maj.”)
“Our art is in the power of God, who out of his mercy either gives it or takes it away from whomever he wants.” (Geber.)
“Son, put your heart more in God than in art; for it is a gift from God, and he imparts it to whomever he wills. Therefore have rest and joy in God, and you will have art.” (Alanus.)
“Know, son, that you cannot have this art until you have purified your mind and God sees that you have a sincerely faithful heart. Wherever God finds a faithful heart, he certainly manifests this art.” (Alphidius. “In Lilio.”)
“This art is a secret which God preserves and keeps for those who fear, rightly love and honor him.” (Hermes.)
“There is no doubt, if you keep God before your eyes, love him and trust him, ask for such wisdom from him and work alongside it, that you may obtain such a noble treasure without any means.” (Bernh. Comes Tervis.)
“We cannot know anything thoroughly in this art unless God directs us to do so. Neither can we accomplish anything unless it is first decreed in His divine counsel that we should have it.” (Morienus.)
“God trusts and shows this art only to his chosen and faithful servants.” (Morienus.)
“If you practice the fear of God, you will see clearly the hidden nature of this art and the same power and recognize the spirit of the highest, that all wisdom was from God and was with God forever.” (Senior.)[14]
“Oh, Lord! Only show this art to those who prove in their work and in deed that they love you and their neighbors from the heart, and also have good intentions to use it properly.” (H. Khunrath.)
“Whoever reveals or discovers this mystery to an unworthy person is a criminal of the heavenly victory and an offender of the divine majesty; he shall be subject to God’s punishment, with much calamity.” (Author in Apoc.)
“I beg you children of philosophy, through the one who shows us everything good, and who has also shown you the grace of his goodness, that you do not disclose this art to anyone who is immature, ignorant, despises or otherwise suspects. If you do this, you will not go unpunished by God.” (Hermes.)
“Let everyone know that if he whom God has revealed to this art will maliciously and with defiant seriousness despise it, or treat them badly and contemptuously in this way out of frivolity, or do not keep their teacher in good faith, God will not let him escape heart, body and soul from temporal curse and punishment.” (H. Khunrath.)
“Whoever reveals this art to a wicked man shall be cursed, and the wrath of God shall come upon him that he shall die a wicked, sudden death.” (Author Rosar.)
“Whoever does not recognize nature, it is impossible for him to get into this art, unless it is done through special inspiration and instruction from a master.” (H. Khunrath.)
“God’s word has made a synthetic work out of the lowest elements and has put it together and has been united with the master worker God; for it was of one substance, nature, and essence with him. — Whoever knows himself as he is from God, knows God, the good that is above nature; yes, whoever goes into himself and recognizes himself, enters into God and also recognizes God.” (Hermes.)
“Son, I beseech you first of all, that you fear God; for in this is the effort of all your work, and the union of every separated thing.” (Hermes.)
“The Creator ordered all this out of nothing so that man not only has to see and respect the earthly, but also has to recognize the heavenly as the supernatural at the same time.” (Basilius Valentinus.)[15]
“This art is a special gift of God and might well compel a wicked boy, who would like to see it properly, to love God and to desist from evil; for no one can tell enough how fervently man becomes against God when he has rightly obtained it and been righted.” (Com. Tervis.)
“Know, that in this work body, soul, and spirit[16] are together, and is a thing to which nothing is added, nor anything foreign introduced from without.” (In Lilio.)
“Know, that nature delights in nature, and that nature overcomes nature, and one nature sustains another nature, and yet they are not different natures, nor many, but one alone.” (Turba.)
“People work well, but God gives them the good fortune to make it well.” (Haly.)[17]
“If God the Most High does not will, you will fail in art.” (Philos.)
“You who want to investigate and experience the perfection of this art must recognize the first matter of metals well and correctly, otherwise you will work in vain.” (Arnoldus de Villa Nova.)
“The name of our stone (i.e., matter) must not be revealed to everyone indiscriminately in general, with damnation of his soul; because one could not answer to God for it. That is why one should rather die than reveal this art to an unworthy person.” (Rosinus.)
“Our stone is difficult for some, but impossible for the wise to explore (without God’s will), and known only to the children of wisdom.” (Plato.)
“This is the whole mastery, that the highest becomes the lowest, and on the other hand the lowest becomes the highest, and is boiled until the lead ore flows with the ferment or yeast in the beginning or middle, and added to the end. Then it alloys, while in the projection or interjection it will flow and melt like wax.” (Turba.)
“The artist should be of a constant will; Don’t do this or that soon, because our art does not exist in the multiplicity of materials. It is only a thing, a medicine, a stone, in which all mastery resides and is accomplished, to which we add no external or alien thing; Only in its preparation do we eliminate the superfluous, for everything that is necessary for mastery of this art is contained in and from it.” (Geber.)
“Be sure that there is only one thing, from which everything that you desire is made.” (Rosinus.)
“If you do not find our stone at the hour of its birth, you must not expect any other in its place.” (Haly.)[18]
“The sun is its father, the moon its mother, and the wind carried it in its belly.” (Hermes.)[19]
“When you turn one element into the other, that is, making water out of earth, air out of water, and fire out of air, then you conquer art.” (Alexander Phil.)
“If we say that our matter is a spirit, it is true. If we say it is one body, we do not lie. If we call them heavenly, it is of the same name; if we call them earthly, then it is also not uncomfortable to speak. The opinion is the same, though the words do not agree.” (Milvesonidus.)[20]
“Just as the soul is and moves in all members of the human body, so this spirit is and moves in all elemental creatures.” (Avicenna.)
“What is nature but (essentially) God; namely, the divine power implanted in all creatures. God is not without nature and so nature is not without God; but both are one thing and have an office.” (Seneca.)
“All materials which are bought for money are not suitable for our universal and great work; for it is the son of the great world, the stone which God alone gave in vain and gave for nothing.” (H. Khunrath.)
“Our matter comes from man and man is also their offspring.” (Morienes.)
“Our stone has two noble concealments, one is the true knowledge of matter, the other its preparation. See to it that you do not err in the knowledge of the matter when you first enter this art, otherwise you will not understand the philosophers properly, let alone their universal work and the particularia flowing from it.” (Turba.)
“This is the highest, most explicit, very deepest, most hidden and most deeply rooted art among all other arts in the world, but on the other hand it also conveys God’s instruction and blessing easily and surely.” (In Tabula paradis.)
“The whole composition is just child’s play for the sake of its value and the whole work can be done in one dish.” (Philosopher.)[21]
“If one has recognition in addition to ability, then one has the end of concealment and the true beginning of this high art.” (H. Khunrath.)
“The very first work in this art is that we dissolve the dry stone☉or ☽ to make ♀, or it enters into its very innermost being.” (Alanus.)
“The philosopher’s stone was created ready by nature, and I swear to you that it needs nothing more than that one separates from it that which is so impure and superfluous on and in it.” (Rosar. majus.)
“To purify the heart and seek good and desist from evil, this is the religion of the enlightened.” (Buddha.)
Unless the corpora of materials are properly resolved, all labor is for nothing and of no avail.” (Razes.)
“Light is the form, the living essence and real power, and the burning splendor of the soul, or the heavenly, incomprehensible fire.” (Apoc. alchem.)
“Whoever works in this art without salt is like one who wants to shoot from a bow without strings.” (Soliloquii.)[22]
“The salt gives the congelation that it runs together and becomes tangible; because without salt nothing is tangible. But there are various kinds of salt, as well as various kinds of sulfur and mercury.” (Theophrastus.)[23]
“Gold is microcosmos, a small world, and has three principia and four elements, and is a celestial substance, heaven and rays of the sun. Therefore it consists in fire and is the highest medicine, and has in it all the suns of heaven and all the herbs of the earth.” (Theophrastus.)
“Remember that the fire at the beginning of the work should be gentle, then moderate, and last strong; namely, to be multiplied slowly, until the stone becomes white, and at last red.” (Arnoldus.)
“Patience and not haste is necessary for this work; for haste is of the devil, especially in this work.” (Philos.)
“Not just art and science, patience is required in the work.” (Goethe, “Faust”).
“Notice and take heed that your door is well shut, lest he that is within flee out, and thou, by the grace of God, may attain the effect.” (Philos.)[24]
“The philosophers have written much of the vaporous fire, which they have called Ignem Sapientiae, and have reported that it is a supernatural fire, which may well also be called divine.” (Philos.)
“Our water is the fire which burns gold more than natural fire. In this uniformly pure, translucent water the bodies Sol and Luna dissolve and in no other on earth.” (Alanus.)
“Know that our fire is a common fire and our furnace is a common furnace. The work is promoted and made manifest by the government of fire alone.” (“Basilius Valentinus.”)[25]
“The putrefaction of the body is the beginning of the work, and it happens with gentle warmth so that nothing rises; for such a thing would rise, there would be a separation of Mercury and the body, which should not be, so long and much, until man and woman, Mercury and anima are completely connected with each other and come into a being of blackness.” (Alanus. )
“Cook diligently, and don’t let it bother you, and don’t hurry with it. Don’t think about the loss of other things in circulation, but diligently wait until the end.” (Rasis.)
“See that the vessel is always closed in the work and has constant warmth; for nothing in the world is perfected without constant practice and nobler if you are persistent in the work.” (Longanus.)
“A master should always keep to himself more art and science than he puts into the book he is writing.” (Hermes.)
“Anyone who works differently will certainly fail; But whoever will work according to our commandment will certainly see the true art and the right mastery.” (Speculum Alchem.)
“This art is no longer remembered in the high schools, and the peasants know more about it than our Magi, the natural masters, that they are not unjustly called the natural fools who only learn behind themselves with so much expense and effort and are the devil’s taunts.” (Dr. Martin Luther.)
“We should heed the way, which nature has prescribed and deviate in no way from the way.” (Seneca.)[26]
Notes
[1] The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians. [Die geheimen Figuren der Rosenkreuzer. Franz Hartmann, M.D. Neue Lotusblüten 4, no. 1-2 (January-February 1911), 1-16] {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}
[2] See above [Beginning of this article.]
[3] Nuremberg 1737.
[4] Compare I Corinthians 3:11 & 12.
[5] “Liber Vexationum,” page 387.
[6] John 1. 4.
[7] I. Corinthians. IV. 20.
[8] I. Moses II. 9.
[9] An entire book would be required for an explanation of all the alchemical symbols.
[10] Colossus I. 27.
[11] I John III 9.
[12] The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians. (Continuation.) [Die geheimen Figuren der Rosenkreuzer. (Fortsetzung.) Franz Hartmann, M.D. Neue Lotusblüten 4, no. 3-4 (March-April 1911), 71-86] {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos. Translation from the German by Robert Hutwohl, ©2025}
[13] Cf. John I. 1. — “Wisdom” I. 7. — Psalm XXX. 6.
[14] See I Corinth. II. 6-16.
[15] “Supernatural” is what works and creates in nature; the form-generating principle, life, consciousness, the spirit.
[16] The lower apparent self merges into the higher true Self.
[17] Ātmā, buddhi, manas. 🜂
[18] The “birth of the stone” is the awakening of the higher consciousness in the human soul.
[19] The sun is the will (the “Father”), the moon is the thought (the “Son”), the wind is the ether (the Spirit).
[20] {R.H.— Hermetica Victoria, das ist: vollkommen erfochtener Sieg und Triumph, des welt-beruffenen und gleichwohl verachteten Herma-aphroditi, über die gantze Schaar der Götter und Patronen des metallischen und mineralischen Reichs; dass er, und nicht dieselben, die prima Materia Lapidis Philosophorum sey. Unter einem im Traum gesehenen Reichs-Tage und daselbst gehörten Bespräche vorgetragen, und zum Druck befördert durch Hermann Fictuld, pseud. Leipzig, Bey Michael Blochberger, 1750 [Hermetica Victoria, that is: fully achieved victory and triumph, of the world-renowned and at the same time despised Herma-aphroditi, over the entire host of gods and patrons of the metal and mineral realm; that he, and not the same, is the prima Materia Lapidis Philosophorum. Presented during a Reich Day seen in a dream and discussions heard there, and promoted to print by Hermann Fictuld, pseud. Leipzig, by Michael Blochberger, 1750]}
[21] In a human body, in a single incarnation.
[22] The ideal must be realized. Enthusiasm does not lead to the goal.
[23] The “salt” is substance, “sulphur” is life, “mercury” is intelligence.
[24] Matthew VI 6th —
[25] The “oven” is man, the fire is love. intelligence and soul combine; the realm of illusion disappears.
[26] This path is the path of growth and development from within through nourishment from without; it is consequently not a composite thing. Not from a mixture of plural opinions or plural desires (fire), but from the growth of the soul through the influence of the light of truth, knowledge is born and the tree of life brings forth flowers and fruit.