Eugenius Philalethes’ preface, part 3 of 3

—occultè Medicans, spargitque salubres
Ambrosiae succos, & odoriferam Panaceam.

This word is much abused by certain Alchimists, as they call themselves: but Servius upon the Place tels us, it is Nomen mirè compositum, and he observes out of Lucretius, that the Panacea was Salt. It is true, that if we could putrifie Salt, it would discover all the Mysteries of Nature, for it hath all the Tinctures in it: but to destroy this substance, is a hard task, for he that would do it, must do something more, then Death can do, for even her Prerogative comes not so far. Howsoever it cannot be denyed, but some Wise men have attain'd to the putrifaction of Salts, but this Key they received from God, and it is the great Secret of their Art. What I admire most in it, is this: That when it is kil'd, it dyes not, but recovers to a better life, which is a very strange priviledge. On the contrary, if some Animal dyes, if an Herb withers, or if some mettal be calcin'd and the parts thereof truly separated, we can never restore them again: but this Mystical substance, this Root of the world, if you bring his parts together, after they are separated, then will not he be quiet, but run from one Complexion to another, from this Colour to that: as from Green to Red, from Red to Black, from Black to a Million of Colours, and these miraculous Alterations will not cease, till he hath work'd out his own Resurrection, and hath clearly brought himself to a Super-natural Temperature. I say then that Salt is the true Grain, the Seed not onely of this world, but of the next, and it is the Mystery that God hath made. It is a living water, wherein there dwels a divine Fire, and this Fire binds the parts thereof to himself, coagulates them, and stops their flux, and Salt is the water, that wets not the Hand. This Fire is the life, and therefore it hinders Death; nay it is such a preservative against it, that the very gross Body of Salt prevents Corruption, wheresoever it comes. But if any man would fully know the power of this Fire, let him wisely and effectually dislodge him, let him destroy his Habitation, and then he shall see, what course this Artist will take, to repair his own House. Do not think now that I speak of common Salts, though I confess they are great Medicines, if rightly prepared.

I told thee formerly, there were several sorts of Salts, and here I would have thee study lest thy labours should end with that Complaint of the Chimist in Sendivogius: Lapidem (saith he) amissum deplorabat, & maximè condolebat, quod Saturnum non interrogaverit, quale SAL hoc fuerit, cum tot varia Genera Salium reperiantur. I shall advise thee then to consider the several Divisions of the Chaos, which I have formerly mention'd out of Raymund Lully, for the matter as it is there describ'd, is not subject to many Complexions, and therefore thy Mistakes cannot be many. And now let us touch at the Treasures of our Saltish liquor, and our liquid Salt. Veniamus quaeso (saith one) ad illum spiritûs, seu Aquae gradum, qui nobis sensibilior, magisque familiaris est; Naturae q; aereae vestigia diligenti Inquisitione scrutemur, in cujus Occulto mirabilia delitescunt: videlicet, Angeli omnium Generum, Formae rerum inferiorum Essentificae, Humidum radicale cujus q; Viventis, Ignis spissi Nutrimentum, Admirabiles Meteororum apparitiones, ventorum cujusque Anguli violentae Irruptiones, & infinita alia Mysteria. And now perhaps thou dost begin to bless thy self: for is it possible (sayst thou) that any bodily substance should inclose such Mysteries as these? In this, my Friend, thou hast thy Liberty: trouble not thy self about it, for thy faith will add nothing to it, and thy Incredulity cannot take any Thing from it. This onely thou shalt do, be pleased to give way to my sauciness: for I must tell thee, I do not know that Thing, which I may call Impossible. I am sure there are in Nature powers of all sorts, and answerable to all Desires: and even those very powers are subject to Us. Behold, I will declare unto thee their Generation, and their secret Descents even to this Earth. It is most certain that God works by the Idea's of his own minde, and the Idea's dispence their Seals, and communicate them dayly to the Matter. Now the Anima Mundi hath in the fixed starrs, her particular Forms, or Seminal Conceptions answerable to the Idea's of the Divine minde: and here doth she first receive those spiritual Powers and Influences, which originally proceed from God. From this place they are conveyed to the Planets, especially to the Sun and Moon; and these two great Lights impart them to the Air, and from the Air they pass down to the Belly or Matrix of the Earth in prolific, spirited Winds and Waters. Seeing then that the Visible Heavens receive the Brightness of the Spiritual World, and this Earth the Brightness of the Visible Heavens, why may not we find something on Earth, which takes in this Brightness, and comprehends in it self the Powers of the two superior Worlds? Now if there be such a Subject to be found, I suppose it will not be denyed, but the Powers of the Angelical and Celestial Worlds are very strange Powers, and what that is which they cannot do, is hard to determine. The Subject then is the Salt I have spoken of formerly, it is the Body of the Universal Spirit, [non-Latin script]. It is the Sperm of Nature, which she prepares for her own Light, as if we should prepare Oyl for a Lamp. A strange Substance it is, but very common, and of some Philosophers most properly called, Salina virens, & Mirabilis. And here it will not be amiss to speak something of the Cabalists Linea viridis, or green Line, a Mystery not rightly apprehended even by some of the Mekkubalim, but certainly the Modern Rabbins know it not at all. It is the last Midah or Propriety of the Sephiroths, for it receives and includes all the Influences of the Sphirstical Order. It compasseth the Heavens, and in them the Earth, like a green Rain-bow, or one vast Sphere of Viridity, and from this Viridity the divine Influences are showr'd down like Rain through the Aether into the Globes of the fixed Stars: for what the Air is to the Globe of the Earth, such is the Aether to the Globes of the Stars, and here lies a Secret of the Mekkubalim, for they tell us, there is a double Venus, in duplici Aere. But of this enough. I will now speak of the Philosophers Secret, and blessed Viridity, which is to be seen and felt here below. It is the Proteus of the old Poets; for if the Spirit of this green Gold be at Liberty, which will not be till the Body is bound, then will he discover all the Essences of the Universal Center.

Tum variae illudent species, at q; ora Ferarum:
Fiet enim subito sus horridus, atra q; Tigris,
Squamosusque Draco, & falvâ cervice Leaena:
Aut acrem flammis sonitum dabit, at q; ita Vinclis
Excidet, aut in Aquas tenues dilapsus abibit;
Omnia transformat sese in miracula Rerum,
Ignem q; Horribilem q; ferā, Fluvium q; liquentē.

But this is Poetry: let us now hear the same Scene described by a most excellent, and withall a severe Professor of Philosophy. Ubi vero spiritus (saith he) excessit è fragilibus, per quos sparsus erat, meatibus, estque ab omni prorsum Colluvie purgatus, in infinitas sese attollit formas; modo in Herbam, modo in Lapidem, aut in Insolitum quoddam Animal: Interdum in Aequor, aut Unionem, aut Gemmam, aut Metallum: dulceque rubentibus jam Flammis emicans, in multas statim colorum Myriadas transit, vivitque portentorum semper Effector, ac Magus, isto nequaquam fatiscens labore, sed vigore ac viribus indies adoloscens. Thus he: And now Reader I must tell thee, that all these Miracles grow out of a certain Earth, a soft red Clay, which is to be found every where. It may be thou art much troubled at these Appearances which I have mentioned, but what wilt thou say to Jamblichus, who tells us seriously, that this Earth will attract Angels, I mean good Spirits? for so did he. But let us hear this Auditor of Anebo, for thus he writes from Aegypt to Porphyrius. Omnium prima (saith he) & Antiquissima Entia, in Ultimis quoque subrutilant, Immaterialiaque principia materialibus adsunt. Nemo itaque miretur, si quam materiam esse dicimus puram, atque Divinam. Nam ipsa quoque materia, quum ab Opifice, Patreque Omnium facta sit, merito perfectionem sui quandam acquisivit, aptam ad Deos suscipiendos. Quinetiam quum nihil prohibet superiora Lumen suum ad Inferiora diffundere: neque igitur materiam permittunt expertem fore Superiorum. Quapropter quantumcunque materiae perfectum, & purum est, atque deiforme, ad Deorum susceptionem non est ineptum. Nam quum oportuerit etiam Terrena nullo modo Divinae Communionis expertia fore, ipsa quoque TERRA divinam quandam portionem suscepit, ad capiendos Deos sufficientem. Non ergo fas est omnem, Materiam detestari, sed solam, quae Diis fuerit aliena; Propriam vero ad illos decet eligere, utpote quae consentire possit: Neque enim aliter Terrenis locis, & hominibus hic habitantibus, possessio, portiove ulla ex Divinis contingere potest, nisi TALE quiddam prius factum fuerit FUNDAMENTUM. Arcanis itaque Sermonibus credendum est, Testantibus a DEIS per Beata Spectacula, Traidtam fuisse MATERIAM QUANDAM, Haec ergo illis ipsis Tradentibus cognata est. Talis ergo Materia Deos excitat, ut se demonstrent, &c. These are the words of Jamblichus, in that profound Discourse of his, where he gives Porphyrius an Accompt of the Aegyptian, Caldean, and Assyrian Mysteries. I know the Philosophical Earth discovers not those Forms I have spoken of in the common, ordinary Process, which if any man knows, I shall not therefore call him a Philosopher. There are several ways to use this Mystery, both first and last: and some of them may be communicated, but some not. To conclude, I say, that this clarified Earth is the Stage of all Forms, for here they are manifested like Images in a Glass: and when the Time of their Manifestation is finished, they retreat into that Center, out of which at first they came. Hence came all Vegetables, all Minerals, and all the Animals in the World; even Man himself with all his Tumult and Principality. This Soft Clay is the Mother of them all: and what the Divine Virgil sometimes said of Italy, may be very properly applyed to this our Saturnine and Soveraign Earth.

Haec dedit Argenti Rivos, Aerisque Metalla
Ostendit venis, atque Auro plurima sluxit.
Haec Genus acre Virûm: Marsos, Pubem q; Sabellá,
Assuetum q; Malo Ligurem, Volscos q; verutos
Extulit: Haec Decios, Marios, magnos q; Camillos.
Salvê magna parents frugum, Saturnia Tellus,
Magna Virûm!—

Thus Reader have I endeavor'd to produce some Reasons for those strange Effects, whereof this Society hath made a public Profession. I did it not as a Kindness to them, for I pen no Plots, neither do I desire their Familiarity. I am indeed of the same Faith with them, and I have thus prefac'd, because I had the Impudence to think it concern'd me as much as them. And verily it is true, that wheresoever I meet my own Positions, there have I an Interest, and I am as much bound to the Defence of that Author, as I am to my own. Now for the Ground here layd, it is the Art of Water, the Philosophers Clavis humida, and this Societies Parergon. I dare not speak any thing of their Metaphysical Mystery, but I can tell thee it is not the same with the Philosophers Stone, either in Form or Matter, and let this satisfie thee. I know some Dispositions are so cross to these Principles, I might write again to excuse what I have written, but this I am resolved not to do. If thou art a malicious Reader, and dost think it too much, because it suits not with thy own Gingles, I must tell thee, thou art none of my Peers: for I have known some Sciences which thou hast never heard of, nor thy fathers before thee. But to make an end, I would have every man descend into himself, and rationally consider those Generations which are obvious to our eyes. We see there is a power granted to man over those Things, whose Original he doth know: Examples and Instances we have in Corn, and other Vegitables, whose seed being known to the Husbandman, he can by the seed Multiply his Corn, and provide for himself, as he thinks fit. It is just so in Minerals, there is a seed out of which Nature makes them, a first matter; and this the Magicians carefully sought after, for they reasoned with themselves, that as Nature by the Vegetable seed, did multiply Vegetables, so might they also by the Minerall seed, multiply Minerals. When they had found out the seed, they practis'd upon it several wayes: they did shut it up in Glasses, keeping it in a most equall temperate heat, for many moneths together, but all was to no purpose. Then did they fancy another Course, for they buried it in the Earth, and left it there for a long time, but without any success. At last they considered, God without all question being their Guide, that Nature had for every seed a Vessel of her own, and that all her Vessels were but several sorts of Earth: For example, The Vegetable Seed had the Common Earth for his Vessel, for therein Nature did sow it. The Animal Sperm had the Flesh for his, and flesh is but a soft animated Earth, as it appears in the Dissolution of the Body. They saw plainly then, that both these Vessels were not appointed for the Mineral Sperm, they were too cold for it, and common fire was too hot; or if it were well regulated, yet could it not alter the Sperm, for it had not the Qualities of a Matrix. Then did they try several new Heats: they exposed their Matter to the Sun, they buried it in Dunghills and beds of Quick-lime, they placed their Glasses in the Moon-beams, they invented new Baths, they made use of sand, ashes, and filings of Iron, they burnt Oyl, and fancied all sorts of Lamps, but all this was Error, and it ended in a troublesom Nothing. Now all these Falsities shall a man meet with in their Books; for when they had found out the Mineral Vessel, and especially the second Earth, wherein they sow'd their Mercury and Sulphur, then did they so confound the Work, that it is almost impossible to get the Preparation out of their hands. This I thought fit to touch upon, that those Difficulties, which great and aspiring Wits must strive withall, may be the more apparent, and surely I think I have pretty well clear'd the way. Thus Reader have I given thee my best Advise, and now it remains thou shouldst rail at me for it. It may be thou hast a free Spirit, but if this Liberality concerns not thy Credit, keep thy Spleen to thy self, for I would not have thee spend what thou canst well spare.

Soli Deo Gloria.