George Ripley, The Compound of Alchymie, part 2 of 4

OF CALCINATION. The first Gate.

CAlcinacion is the purgacyon of our Stone,
Restauryng also of hys naturall heate;
Of radycall moysture it lesyth none;
Inducyng Solucion into our Stone most mete,
After Philosophy I you behyte,
Do not after the comyn gyse,
Wyth Sulphure and Salts preparat in dyvers wyse.

Nether with Corrosyves nor with Fire alone,
Nor with Vyneger nor Water ardent,
Nether with the vapour of Lede our Stone
Is Calcyned to our intente:
All they to Calcyne whych so be bent
Fro thys hard Scyence withdraw theyre hond,
Till they our Calcyning better understonde.

For by such Calcynyng theyre bodyes be shent,
Whych mynysheth the moysture of our Stone;
Therefore when bodyes to powder be brent,
Dry as askys of Tre or Bone,
Of such Calx then wyll we none,
For moysture we multiply radycall,
In Calcynyng, mynyshyng none at all.

And for a sure ground of our trew Calcynacyon,
Woorch wyttyly kynde only wyth kynde;
For kynd to kynde hath appetyble inclynacyon;
Who knoweth not thys yn knowledge is but blynd:
He may forth wander as Myst doth wyth the Wynd;
Woting never wyth perfytnes whereto lyght,
Because he cannot conseve our words aryght.

Joyne kynd to kynd therefore as reason ys,
For every Burgeon answereth to his owne Seed;
Man begetteth Man, a Beast a Beast lykewyse;
Ferther of thys to trete it is no need,
But understond thys poynt yf thou wylt spede;
Every thyng ys fyrst Calcyned in hys owne kynd,
Thys well consevyng, frute thereyn shalt thou fynde.

And we make Calxes unctious both Whyte and Red,
Of three degrees or our Base be perfyt;
Fluxyble as Wex, ells stond they lyttle in sted;
By ryght long processe as Phylosophers wryte,
A yere we take or more for our respyte:
For in lesse space our Calxe wyll not be made,
Able to tayne with colour whych wyll not vade.

As for the Proporcyon thou must beware,
For therein many one ys beguylyd,
Therefore thy warke that thow not marre;
Lat the Body be sotelly fylyd
With Mercury, as much then so subtylyd:
One of the Sonn, two of the Moone,
Tyll altogether lyke pap be done.

Then make the Mercury foure to the Sonne,
Two to the Mone as hyt should be,
And thus thy worke must be begon,
In fygure of the Trynyte;
Three of the Body and of the Spryt three:
And for the unytye of the substance spirituall,
One more than of the substance corporall.

By Raymonds Reportory thys ys trew,
Proporcyon there who lyst to looke,
The same my Doctour to me did shew;
But three of the Spryt Bacon tooke,
To one of the Body for thys I wooke:
Many a nyght or I hyt wyst,
And both be trew take whych you lyst.

If the Water be equall in Proporcyon
To the Erthe whych hete in dew mesure,
Of hym shall spryng a new burgyon;
Both Whyte and Red in pure tyncture,
Whych in the Fyre shall ever endure:
Kyll than the quyck, the ded revyve,
Make Trynyte Unyte wythout any stryve.

Thys ys the best and the surest Proporcyon,
For here ys lest of the part spyrytuall,
The better therefore shall be Solucyon;
Then yf thou dyd it wyth Water small,
Thyne Erth over glutyn whych losyth all:
Take heede therefore to potters loome,
And make you never to nesh thy wome.

That loome behold how yt tempered ys,
The meane also how thou hyt Calcenate;
And ever in mynd loke thou bare thys,
That never thyne Erth wyth Water be suffocate,
Dry up thy moysture wyth heate most temperate:
Helpe Dyssolucyon wyth moysture of the Mone,
And Congellacyou wyth the Son, then hast thou done.

Foure Natures shall into the fyfth so turne,
Whych ys a Nature most perfect and temperate;
But hard hyt ys with thy bare foote to spurne,
Agaynst a brodyke of Iyron or Stele new acuate:
Soe many one doth whych bene infatuate,
When they such hygh thyngs don take in hond,
Whych they in noe wyse understonde.

In Eggs, in Vitryoll, or in Blod,
What ryches wene they there to fynde;
Yf they Phylosophy understode,
They wold not in worchyng be so blynd,
Gold to seke or Sylver out of kynd:
For lyke as Fyre of brennyng the pryncyple ys,
So ys the pryncyple of gildyng, Gold I wys.

Yf thou intend therefore to make
Gold and Sylver by craft of our Philosophy;
Therto nother Eggs nor Blood thou take,
But Gold and Sylver whych naturally,
Calcyned wysely, and not manually,
And new generacyon wyll forth bryng,
Incresyng theyr kynde as doth ech thyng.

And yf yt true were that perfyt myght be,
In thyngs which be not mettallyne:
In which be Colours plesaunt to see,
As in Blood, Eggs, Here, Uryn, and Wyne,
Or in meane Mettalls dyggyd out of the Myne:
Yet must theyr Elements be putrefyed and separate,
And wyth Elements of perfyt Bodys be dysponsate.

But fyrst of these Elements make thou Rotacyon,
And into Water thy Erth turne fyrst of all;
Then of thy Water make Ayre by Levygacyon;
And Ayre make Fyre; then MASTER I wyll thee call
Of all our secretts greate and small:
The Wheele of Elements thou canst turne about,
Trewly consevyng our Wrytyngs wythowt dowte.

Thys done, go backward, turnyng thy Wheele againe,
And into thy Water then turne thy Fyre anon;
And Ayre into Erth, ells laboryst thow but in vayne:
For soe to temperment ys brought our Stone,
And Natures contraryose, fower be made one,
After they have three times ben Cyrculat,
And alsoe thy Bace perfytly consummate.

Thus under the moysture of the Moone,
And under the temperate hete of the Sonne,
Thy Elements shalbe incynerate sone,
And then thow hast the Maistery wone;
Thanke God thy worke was then begon:
For there thow hast one token trew,
Whych fyrst in blacknes to thee wyll shew.

The hede of the Crow that tokyn call we,
And sum men call hyt the Crows byll;
Sum call hyt the Ashes of Hermes Tre,
And thus they name hyt after theyer wyll,
Our Tode of the Erth whych etyth hys fyll:
Sum name hyt by whych it ys mortyfycat
The spyryt of the Erth wyth venome intoxycate.

But hyt hath Names I say to the infynyte,
For after each thyng that Blacke ys to syght;
Namyd hyt ys tyll the tyme that hyt wex Whyte,
For after blacknesse when yt wexeth bryght,
Then hath hyt names of more delyght:
After Whyte thyngs, the Red after the same,
Rule of Red thyngs, doth take hys name.

At the fyrst Gate, now art thou in,
Of the Phylosophers Castle where they dwell;
Proceede wysely that thou may wyne
In at mo Gates of that Castell,
Whych Castle ys round as any Bell:
And Gates hath Eleven yet mo,
One ys conquered, now to the Second go.

The end of the first Gate.

OF SOLUTION. The second Gate.

OF Solucion now wyll I speke a word or two,
Whych sheweth owt that err was hyd from syght,
And makyth intenuate thyngs that were thyk also;
By the vertue of our fyrst Menstrue clere and bryght,
In whych our Bodyes eclypsyd ben to syght:
And of ther hard and dry Compactyon subtylyat
Into ther owne fyrst nature kyndly retrogradate.

One in Gender they be and in Nomber not so,
Whose Father the Son, the Moone truly ys Mother,
The mean ys Mercury, these two and no mo
Be our Magnesia, our Adrop, and none other;
Thyngs there be, but only Syster and Brother:
That ys to wene Agent and Pacyent,
Sulphure and Mercury coessentyall to our entent.

Betwyxt these two in qualyte cotraryose,
Ingendred ys a Mene most mervyllosely
Whych ys our Mercury and Menstrue unctuose;
Our secrett Sulphur worchyng invysybly,
More fersely than Fyre brennyng the body,
Into Water dyssolvyng the Body mynerall,
Which Nyght fro darknes in the North parte we call.

But yet I trow thou understandyst not utterly
The very secrett of Phylosopers Dyssolucion;
Therefore conceve me I councell thee wyttyly:
For I wyll tell thee trewly wythout delusyon;
Our Solucyon ys cause of our Congelacyon;
For the Dyssolucyon on the one syde corporall
Causyth Congelacyon on the other syde Spyrytuall.

And we Dyssolve into Water whych weytyth no hond,
For when the Erth ys integrally yncynerat;
Then ys the Water congelyd, thys understond;
For the Elements be so concatenat,
That when the body fro hys fyrst forme ys alterate:
A new forme ys inducyd immediately,
For nothyng being wythout all forme ys utterly.

And here a secret to thee I wyll dysclose,
Whych ys the ground of our secrets all;
And yf thou hyt not know thou shalt but lose
Thy labour and costs both great and small,
Take hede therefore in Errour that thou not fall:
The more thyne Erth and the lesse thy Water be,
The rather and better Solucyon shall thou see.

Behold how Yse to Water doth relent,
And so hyt must, for Water hyt was before;
Ryght soe agayne to Water our Erth is bent,
And Water thereby congelyd for evermore,
For after all Phylosophers whych ever was bore:
Every Mettall was ons Water mynerall,
Therefore wyth Water they turne to Water all.

In whych Water of kynde occasyonate
Of qualytes bene repugnaunce and dyversyte,
Thyngs into thyngs must therfore be rotate,
Untyll dyversyte be brought to parfyt unyte,
For Scrypture recordyth when the Erth shall be
Trowbelyd, and into the depe Sea shall be cast
Mountaynes, our Bodyes lykewyse at the last.

Our Bodyes be lekenyd convenyently
To Mountaynes whych after hygh Planets we name;
Into the depenes therfore of Mercury.
Turne them and kepe the out of blame,
Then shall ye se a Nobyll game;
How all shall become powder soft as sylke,
So doth our Runnett by kynde curd our Mylke.

Then hath our Bodys ther fyrst forme loste,
And other be enducyd ymedyately;
Then hast thow well beset thy cost,
Wheras some other uncunning must goe by,
Not knowyng the secretts of our Phylosophy:
Yet one poynt I more must tell thee,
Every Body how hyt hath dymencyons three.

Altytude, Latytude, and Profundyte,
By whych algates turne we must our Whele;
Knowyng thy entraunce in the West shall be;
Thy passage forth into the North yf thou do well,
And there thy Lyghts lose theyre Lyght eche-dele:
For there thou must abyde by Ninety Nyght
In darknes of Purgatory wythowten Lyght.

Then take thy course up to the Este anon
By Colours passyng varyable in manyfold wyse,
And then be Wynter and Vere nygh over-gon
To the Est, therfore thyne assendyng devyse,
For there the Son wyth Day-lyght doth upryse
In Somer, and there dysporte the wyth delyght,
For there thy Warke shall becom parfyt Whyte.

Forth fro the Est ynto the South assend,
And sett thou up therein thy Chayre of Fyre,
For there ys Harvest, that ys to say an end
Of all thys Warke after thyne owne desyre:
Ther shynyth the Son up in hys owne sphyre,
And after the Eclyps ys in rednes wyth glory
As Kyng to rayne uppon all Mettalls and Mercury.

And in one Glasse must be done all thys thyng,
Lyke to an Egg in shape, and closyd well,
Then must you know the mesure of fyryng;
The whych unknowen thy Warke ys lost ech dele,
Lett never thy Glasse be hotter then thow may feele:
And suffer styll in thy bare hand to holde
For dread of losyng as Philosophers have the tolde.

Yett to my Doctryne furthermore intend,
Beware thy Glasse thou never opyn ne meve
Fro thy begynnyng, tyll thou have made an end;
If thou do contrary thy Warke may never cheve:
Thus in thys Chapter whych ys so breve,
I have the taught thy trew Solucion;
Now to the Thyrd Gate goe, for thys ys won.

OF SEPARATION. The third Gate.

SEparacyon, doth ech parte from other devyde,
The subtill fro the groce, fro the thyck the thyn;
But Separacyon manuall look thou put asyde:
For that pertaynyth to folys whych lyttyll good don wyn,
But in our Separacyon nature doth not blyn:
Makyng dyvysyon of qualytes Elementall
Into the fyfth degree tyll they be turned all.

Erth ys turnyd into Water black and bloe,
And Water after into Ayre under very whyte:
Ayre ys turned into Fyre, Elements there be no mo;
Of thys ys made by crafte our Stone of grete delyte,
But of thys Separacyon much more must we wryte;
And Separacyon ys callyd by Phylosophers dyffynycyon
Of the sayd Elements tetraptatyve dyspersyon.

And of thys Separacyon I fynde a lyke fygure
Thus spoken by the Prophet yn the Psalmody,
God brought out of a Stone a flud of Water pure,
And out of the hardyst Stone Oyle abundantly:
Ryght so of our precyose Stone yf thou be wytty,
Oyle incombusteble and Water thou shalt draw,
And thereabout thou nedyst not at the Coles to blow.

Do thys wyth hete esy and mesuryng
Fyrst wyth moyst Fyre, and after wyth the dry;
The flewme by Pacyence owt drawyng;
And after that thy other natures wyttyly,
Dry up thyne Erth tyll hyt be thrysty:
By Calcenyng els thou laboryst all in vayne,
And then make hyt drynke up his moysture agayne.

Separacyon thus must thou ofte tymes make,
Thy Matter dyvydyng into parts two;
So that the Symple fro the groce thou take
Tyll Erth remayne benethe in color bloe,
That Erth ys fyx for to abyde all wo:
The other parte ys Spyrytuall and fleyng,
But thou must turne hem all into one thyng.

Than Oyle and Water wyth Water shall dystyll
And thorow her help receve menyng:
Kepe well thys two that thou not spyll,
Thy Wark for lack of dew closyng,
Make thy Stopell of glas meltyng
The top of thy Vessle together wyth yt,
Than Phylosopher-lyke usyd ys hyt.

The Water wherwyth thou must renew thy Stone
Looke thou dystyll afore thou warke wyth hyt
Oftentymes by it selfe alone:
And by thy syght thou shalt well wyt,
Fro feculent feces when hyt ys quytt:
For sum men can wyth Saturne it multeply,
And other Substance which we defye.

Dystyll hyt therfore tyll hyt be clene,
And thyn lyke Water as hyt shold be,
As Hevyn in Color bryght and shyne,
Kepyng both fygure and ponderosyte,
Therwith dyd Hermes moysture hys Tre:
Wythyn hys Glas he made to grow upryght,
Wyth Flowers dyscoloryd bewtyosely to syght.

Thys Water ys lyke to the venemous Tyre,
Wherewyth the myghty Tryacle ys wrought;
For yt ys Poyson most stronge of yre;
A stronger Poyson can none be thought:
Att the Potecarys therfore oftyn yt ys bought:
But no man shall be by hyt intoxycate,
After the tyme yt ys into Medycyne Elevate.

For then as ys the Tryacall trew,
Hyt ys of poysons most expulsyfe;
And in hys working doth mervells shewe,
Preservyng many from deth to lyfe,
Loke thou meng yt wyth no corrosyve:
But chese hyt pure and quick rennyng,
Yf thou thereby wylt have wynnyng.

It ys a mervelose thyng in kynde,
And Wythout hyt may nought be done;
Therefore Hermes calleth hyt hys Wynde,
For it ys up flying fro Sonn and Mone,
And makyth our Stone flye wyth hyt Sone:
Revyvyng the ded and gevyng lyfe
To Son and Mone, Husband and Wyfe.

Whych yf they were not by craft made quick,
And ther fatnes wyth Water drawn out;
And so the thyn dyssevered from the thyke,
Thou should never bryng thys worke about:
Yf thou wylt speed therefore wythout doubt,
Reyse up thy Byrds out of theyre nest,
And after agayne bryng them downe to rest.

Water wyth Water accord wyll and assend,
And Spryt wyth Spryt, for they be of kynde;
Whych after they be exalted make to dyssend,
And soe thou shalt devyde that nature before dyd bynde,
Mercury essencyall turnyng into wynde:
Wythout whych naturall and subtyll Seperacyon,
May never be compleat profytable Generacyon.

Now to help thee in at thys Gate,
The last Secret I wyll tell to thee;
Thy Water must be seven tymes Sublymate,
Ells shall no kyndly Dyssolucyon be,
Nor Putryfyyng shall thou none see,
Like lyquyd pytch nor colours apperyng,
For lack of fyre wythin thy Glasse workyng.

Fower Fyers there be whych you must understond,
Naturall, Innaturall, against Nature, alsoe
Elementall whych doth bren the brond;
These foure Fyres use we and no mo:
Fyre against Nature must doe thy bodyes wo;
That ys our Dragon as I thee tell,
Fersely brennyng as Fyre of Hell.

Fyre of Nature ys the thyrd Menstruall,
That fyre ys naturally in every thyng;
But fyre occasionat we call Innaturall,
And hete of Askys and balnys for putrefying:
Wythout these fyres thou may not bryng
To Putrefaccyon for to be seperat,
Thy matters togeather proportyonat.

Therefore make fyre thy Glasse wythin,
Whych brennyth the Bodyes more then fyre
Elementall; yf thou wylt wyn
Our Secret accordyng to thy desire,
Then shall thy seeds both roote and spyre,
By help of fyre Occasionate,
That kyndly after they may be seperat.

Of Seperacyon the Gate must thus be wone,
That furthermore yet thou may procede,
Toward the Gate of secret Conjunccion,
Into the Castle whych wyll the Inner leade,
Do after my Councell therefore yf thou wylt spede;
Wyth two strong locks thys Gate ys shyt,
As consequently now thou shalt wyt.

The end of the third Gate.

OF CONJUNCTION. The fourth Gate.

AFter the Chapter of naturall Separacion
By which the Elements of our Stone dysseveryd be
The Chapter here followyth of secret Conjunccion;
Whych natures repugnant joyneth to perfyt Unyte,
And so them knyttyth that none from other may fle;
Whan they by Fyre shall be examynate,
Soe be they together surely conjugate.

And therfore Phylosophers geveth thys deffynycyon,
Seyng thus Conjunccion ys nought ells
But of dysseveryd qualytes a Copulacyon;
Or of Pryncypylls a coequacyon as other tells,
But some wyth Mercury whych the Potecarys sells,
Medleth Bodyes whych cannot dyvyde
Ther matter, and therefore they step asyde.

For unto tyme the Sowle be Separate
And clensyd from hys orygynall Syn
Wyth the Water and purely spyrytuallyzate:
Thy trew Conjunccion may thou never begyn,
Therfore the Soule fyrst fro the Body twyn:
Then of the corporall parte and of the spyrytuall,
The Soule Conjunccion shall cause perpetuall.

Of two Conjunccions Phylosophers don mentyon make,
Groce when the Body with Mercury ys reincendat,
But let hyt passe, and to the second tent thou take,
Which as I sayd ys after Separacion celebrat:
In whych the partys be lest whych lest so collygate;
And so promotyd unto most perfyt temperance,
Then never after may be among them Repugnance.

Thus causyth Separacion trew Conjunccion to be had
Of Water, Ayre, Earth and Fyre,
But that every Element may into other be lad,
And so abyde for ever to thy desyre;
Do as done Laborous with Clay and Myer,
Temper them thyke, and make them not to thyn,
For so to up drying thou shalt the rather wyn.

But manners there be of thys Conjunccion three,
The fyrst ys callyd by Phylosophers Dyptative,
Betwyxt the Agent and the Patyent which must be
Male and Female, Mercury and Sulphure vive;
Matter and forme, thyn and thyke to thryve.
Thys lesson wyll helpe thee wythout any dowte,
Our Conjunccion trewly to bryng about.

The second manner ys called Tryptative,
Whych ys Conjunccion made of thyngs three,
Of Body, Sowle, and Spyrit tyll they not stryve,
Whych Trynite must be brought to perfyt unyte,
For as the Sowle to the Spyrit the bond must be;
Ryght to the Body the Sowle to hym must knyt,
Out of thy mynde let not thys lesson flyt.

The thyrd manner and also the last of all,
Fowre Elements together whych joynyth to abyde,
Tetraptative contently Phylosophers doth hyt call,
And specyally Guydo de Montayno whose fame goyth wyde;
And therfore the most laudable manner thys tyde,
In our Conjunccion four Elements must be aggregat,
In dew proportion fyrst whych asonder were separat.

Therefore lyke as the Woman hath Vaynes fyfteene,
The Man but five to the act of her fecundyte,
Requyryth in our Conjunccion fyrst I mene,
So must the Man our Sun have of hys water three;
And (nine) hys Wyfe, whych three to hym must be:
Then lyke whych lyke wyll joy have for to dwell,
More of Conjunccion me nedyth not to tell.

Thys Chapter I will conclude right sone therefore,
Groce Conjunccion chargyng the to make but one,
For seldome have Strumpetts Chyldren of them I bore,
And so thou shalt never cum by our Stone,
Wythout you suffer the Woman to lygg alone;
That after she hath conceyved of the Man,
The Matryce of her be shyt from all other than.

For such as addyth evermore crude to crude,
Openyng theyr vessells, and lettyng ther matter kele:
The sperme concevyd they norysh not, but delude
Themselfes, and spyllyth ther work every dele;
If thou therefore lyst for to do well,
Close up the Matryce and norysh the seed,
Wyth heat contynuall and temperate if thou wilt spede.

And whan thy Vessle hath stond by Monyths five,
And Clowds and Clypsys be passed ech one;
That lyght apperen increase thy hete then blyve,
Tyll bryght and shyneing in Whytnesse be thy Stone,
Then may thou opyn thy Glasse anone,
And fede thy Chyld whych ys then ybore
Wyth mylke and mete ay more and more.

For now both moyst and dry be so contemperate,
That of the Water erth hath recevyd impressyon;
Whych never assunder after that may be seperate,
And ryght soe Water to Erth hath given ingressyon,
That both together to dwell hath made professyon:
And Water of Erth hath purchasyd retentive,
They fower be made one never more to strive.

And in two thyngs all our entent doth hing,
In dry and moyst whych be contraryous two;
In dry that hyt the moyst to fyxing bryng,
In moyst that hyt geve lyquyfaccion the Erth unto,
That of them thus contemperate may forth go
A temperament not so thyk as the Body ys,
Nother so thyn as Water wythout mys.

Losyng and knyttyng therefore be Princypalls two
Of thys hard Scyence, and Poles most pryncypall;
How be hyt that other pryncyples be many mo,
As shyneyng fanells whych shew I shall:
Proceed therefore unto another wall
Of thys strong Castle of our wysdome,
That Inner at the Fyft Gate thou may come.