An Alchemical Treatise on the Great Art E-Book

Antoine Joseph Pernety

• Herausgeber: E-BOOKARAMA
• Kategorie: Ratgeber
• Sprache: Englisch
• Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

"An Alchemical Treatise on the Great Art" is an essential Alchemy work written by French writer Antoine-Joseph Pernety in the 18th Century. 
Hermetism is explained as not solely concerned with the transmutation of metals, but also with the spiritual emancipation of Man.
This work deals with a system of physics according to the Hermetic Philosophy, and the Theory and Practice of the "Magisterium". Unlike other authors, Pernety presents the complete system of the "Magnum Opus" in a short and concise manner.

Leseprobe

Table of contents

AN ALCHEMICAL TREATISE ON THE GREAT ART

Preface

List of the Modern Works Consulted

Preliminary Discourse

PART 1

General Principles of Physics According to Hermetic Philosophy

Of the First Matter

Of Nature

Of Light and Its Effects

Of Man

Of the Elements

Of the Earth

Of Water

Of the Air

Of Fire

Of the Operations of Nature

Of the General Aspects of the Mixts

Of the Differences between the Three Kingdoms

Of the Soul of Mixts

Of the Generation and Corruption of the Mixts

Of Light

Of the Preservation of Mixts

Of The Moist Radical

Of the Harmony of the Universe

Of Movement

PART 2. TREATISE ON THE HERMETIC WORK

Treatise on the Great Work

Philosophical Counsels

Aphorism. Of the Truth of the Sciences

The key of Science

Of Secrecy

Of the Means of Arriving at the Secret

Of the Keys of Nature

Of Metallic Principles

Of the Matter of the Magnum Opus in General

Ancient Philosophical Names given to this Matter

Matter is all and yet Simple

The Key of the Work

Definitions and Properties of this Mercury

Of the Vase of Art and That of Nature

Names given to This Vase by the Ancients

Of Fire in General

Of Philosophical Fire

Operative Principles

Operation Principles in Particular

Demonstrative Signs or Principles

Of the Elixir

Operation of the Elixir according to d’Espagnet

Quintessence

The Tincture

The Multiplication

Of the Weights in the Work

Very instructive General Rules

Of the Virtue of the Medicine

Of the Maladies of the Metals

Of the times of the Stone

Conclusion

Addenda

Alchemical Characters

AN ALCHEMICAL TREATISE ON THE GREAT ART

Antoine-Joseph Pernety

A SYSTEM OF PHYSICS ACCORDING TO HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY AND THEORY AND PRACTICE OF THE MAGISTERIUM

Preface

UNDER the auspices of the "Universite Libre des Hautes Etudes" of Paris, a Branch of which has recently been established in America, we publish the first volume of a series of classical works whose study constitutes the foundation of the teaching of the “ Faculte des Sciences Hermetiques.

It is not without reason that we have chosen Pernety to inaugurate this series. Of the three thousand volumes composing the bibliography of ALCHEMY, those of Dom Antoine-Joseph Pernety are the only ones in which the theories of the Artificers are exposed with method: he is the first and only writer who has endeavored to present a short, concise and complete system of the Magnum Opus.

Those valiant defenders of the mystic Faith, to whom we are indebted for the present universal awakening of Idealism, have not failed to recognize the important role which Hermetic Philosophers have played in the preservation and transmission of the sacred tradition regarding the rapports existing between God, Man and Nature. Unhappily they have found themselves face to face with the Sphinx, unable to solve the enigma; they have lost their way in the inextricable labyrinth of apparently contradictory symbols and signs, and in the darkness of their ignorance, they have been incapable of distinguishing Truth from the rubbish that surrounds it, or of separating pure physical facts from mere mystical speculations. Having a vague intuition that Hermetism was not solely concerned with the transmutation of metals, but also with the spiritual emancipation of Man, they have profited by a few analogies which presented themselves, and have created a mystical Alchemy in which the inner man is the exclusive subject. But while such interpretation may, in many instances, be applied to alchemical symbolism, and while we may believe that in this we follow the traditions of the Rosicrucians (who founded a system in which Alchemy and Kabbalah were indissolubly blended), modern commentators, borrowing the jargon of the Alchemists - who are never more obscure than when they appear to express themselves plainly 1 - have drawn analogies which a mere acquaintance with the fundamental principles of Physical Alchemy would suffice to cause to be rejected as utterly devoid of appropriateness.

Rosicrucians were indeed mystics, but their studies were above all of a purely physical and experimental character; their association of mysticism and chemistry was founded upon analogies the truth of which could be demonstrated in the laboratory and duly verified by the physical senses. No metaphysical proposition was accepted by them which could not be fully confirmed by scientific demonstrations, according to the practice of Roger Bacon, the father of the experimental method.

Alchemists acquired the knowledge of Divine operations by the study of human arts and the observation of natural phenomena. Hermetism begins with the study of the operations of Nature, and ends with the knowledge of the Divine Principle. None, however, must hope to behold the secret Sun of this Royal Art while he remains in darkness regarding the fundamental principles of physical Hermetism, or Alchemy.

The Spagyric Art is a dead science; it has long since uttered its last word; nothing remains but a few tracts, fragments of its outer vestment, and a multitude of worthless lucubrations by pseudo-adepts; the secret is lost, for future generations to recover; but, in order to be freed from the trouble of ransacking dusty old books and manuscripts, and of reconstituting, word after word, this science in its integrity by patient research; in order to avoid the tedious work of deciphering the hieroglyphic pentacles and of restoring the secret meaning of the mutilated tracts of the Masters which have reached us through the centuries, one is not permitted to invent a new Hermetism, to enlarge it, or to attribute to it a signification which, most probably, it never had. Hermetism is what it is, and we must accept its teachings for what they are worth, without trying to reconcile them with the assertions of modern science, or to give to them any signification that may suggest itself.

Hermetic Philosophy has long since been rejected by the School, and scientific means of investigation are here of no practical use, even XIXth century chemistry offers no clue; for the ideas of the Spagyric Art are absolutely the antithesis of those of official chemistry. The student must make use of other means; but let him guard against preconceived ideas, against his ardent desire to verify, in the obscure symbols of medieval Artists, his own suppositions. Let him remember that Symbols prove everything, and that the signs chosen to defend the affirmative of any proposition, may also be used successfully in demonstrating the negative of the same proposition; symbols are the expression of the Absolute which is neither positive or negative, but positive and negative, according to the point of view from which one judges.

Thus, in order to distinguish the right way, “which leads to the Elysian Fields,” from that “which borders Tartarus,” the assistance of a trusty guide is indispensable. Unfortunately such guides are few, and if, perchance, one is found, the student, ninety-nine times in a hundred, far from being willing to follow in silence, prefers to choose his own way. If the student depends upon his supposed willingness to obey his Initiator, let him shut this book and renounce his plan of lifting the veil which covers the arcana of Hermetic Philosophy, for unprepared as he surely is, he will either fall a victim to impostors, or fail to acknowledge with gratitude the heavenly gift of a Mentor.

There is but one method whereby one may succeed without a Master in reconstituting, in its completeness, the Lost Science, and this method which we take pleasure in revealing, as plainly as possible, is infallible in its results. It constitutes the most potent operation of the Ars Magica: the EVOCATION. We shall describe it under its general aspect, referring the Reader to the special works on Transcendental Magic for full details:

Evocation consists in causing departed spirits to manifest their presence before the Conjuror. But as spirits can only appear immaterially - and as influences rather than individuals - it goes without saying that these beings cannot manifest themselves in tangible form, (susceptible of being photographed), unless appeal is made to our own semi-material, semi-spiritual principle, to our Astral Body; this, however, constitutes the Great Operation to which it is neither necessary nor advisable to have recourse, so much the more that the Evocation, such as we recommend, differs from the Great Operation in that it is of longer duration, practically permanent; whilst the latter is dependent upon the powers of the Conjuror; moreover the Great Operation is possible only for the Initiate in Theurgy, whilst the simple Evocation, as here described, can be performed with success by any one who possesses the pass-words of the First Degree of Initiation: PATIENCE and WILL-POWER.

The Evocation, or Operation of the lesser Mysteries, consists in recreating the atmosphere in which the departed lived while on earth. It is therefore important that the choice of an invisible Master be made intelligently from the long list of Hermetic Philosophers. The Operator must know the biography of that Master and obtain a correct impression of his exterior appearance; he must know the history of the time in which that Master lived, the geography of the country in which he resided, the topography of his city, the plan of his house, the disposition of his laboratory. Helping himself by whatever informations books, monuments or tradition can furnish, the Neophyte will assemble and classify every detail concerning the home-life, customs, daily vocations, etc., so as to reconstitute, in the imaginative world, the life of the selected Guide. Place him amidst his disciples, either in his laboratory or at the amphitheatre of the school where he taught; gather all the works most probably known and studied by him, read and re-read them; write from memory the very works of that Master, especially his most obscure passages, for the soul of a writer can always be found in his words, ready to convey the true interpretation to the one eager to discover it. Collect objects contemporaneous to that Master, especially books, instruments and works of art. All this constitutes the restoration of the most material part of the atmosphere that will serve as the vehicle for the true magnetic force which shall be the bond uniting the soul, or influence, of the invisible Master to that of the Conjuror. This true magnetic fluid must be established between the mind of the Operator, which now is active, and that of the Master, which is passive; when the rapports are at last established, the mind of the Guide becomes the positive pole and that of the initiate the negative pole of this intellectual battery. To generate the magnetic fluid the student must place his intellect on the same level as that of his chosen Preceptor: he must learn to know and to ignore that which the Master knew and ignored; he must believe that which the invisible believed, when on earth, whether modern science accepts or rejects these beliefs; he must think over the same thoughts of the Master, speak his own words, use the same expressions, recite the same prayers, practice the same religion, acquire the same habits, perform the same acts of virtue, live the same life; in a word, he must place the heart and the mind in a thoroughly sympathetic condition, in a perfect unison with the heart and mind of his Mentor, so as to attract the latter into his own atmosphere again, of which he will become the intellectual center, as formerly; he will incarnate himself in his disciple whose mind, now a plastic clay, will acquire in its highest degree the faculty of receptivity, and will become susceptible of receiving the least impressions from the outer world. The Influence of the being thus evoked, thus brought back into the world by an irresistible magnetism, will then unite with the Operator and continue, through the latter's instrumentality, the work which death interrupted. It is thus that Hans de Bulow, who lived among the souvenirs, the works and the relics of Beethoven, consecrating his entire life to the study of this Master, succeeded in giving that traditional expression established by the composer for the interpretation of his Sonatas and Symphonies.

In order to really possess a Master and perform his works as the author himself imagined them, we must prepare within ourselves a temple fit to receive him; we must place all our mental faculties under his control, we must become a docile instrument into his hands. But, by the law of reaction, this complete submission on our part soon becomes the manifestation of our absolute independence, of our absolute intellectual freedom.

This is the course which we recommend to all our students, and it is to instruct them concerning the scientific opinions of the Hermetic Philosophers that we publish this work of dom Pernety. The opinions herein expressed may not be in accordance with the teaching of scholastic knowledge, but we do not present this work as a substitute for classical Physics and Chemistry. The theories exposed by Pernety were those of the Alchemists! For the mystic, for the seeker of the Universal Panacea, or Philosopher's Stone, the science described in this Treatise is all that is required; nay, it is the sole one to be accepted, regardless of its differences from the results of modern investigation which, for our purpose, are utterly worthless. Just as it is indispensable for the pupils of Edison and Tesla to base their studies upon the latest works on Natural Philosophy, however erroneous the science of tomorrow may prove them to be; it is indispensable, for those who do not recognize the impossibility of transmuting metals, to base their investigations upon the science which was sufficient to Arnaud de Villeneuve, Nicolas Flamel and Paracelsus.” 2

The present work which we have entitled TREATISE ON THE GREAT ART is composed of the introductory remarks preceding the principal works on Alchemy of the savant dom Pernety, especially his “Fables Egyptiennes et Grecques devoilees et reduites au meme principe ”, (a Paris, chez Bauche, 2 volumes in I2, I758). This work is almost the sole source from which modern expounders of Alchemy have derived their informations, forgetting, of course, to give due credit to this author, excluding his works from the bibliographical lists terminating their compilations and even going so far, in some instances, as to mutilate his name, when compelled to quote extensively from his works. The publication of this TREATISE constitutes as much a work of justice and restitution to the learned French monk, as an effort to contribute to the renaissance of a Science containing within itself the germs of the most important and unexpected discoveries and offering a sure guide in the maze of obscure symbols of this most obscure of all Occult Sciences.

Antoine-Joseph Pernety was born in Roanne, France, in 1716; and died at Valence (Dauphine), in 1801. At an early age he joined the Benedictine Congregation of Saint-Maur and there devoted his life to these patient studies for which Benedictine monks are justly famous; he published numerous works on theology and fine arts, geography and mythology, philosophy and mathematics, but he became celebrated for his researches in the realm of the hidden Sciences. His explorations into forgotten lore led him to the creation of the “Academie d’Avignon” a sect of Illuminati whose influence in Freemasonry has long been felt: the most famous, if not the most important, degree introduced in the Masonic nomenclature by Pernety is the Twenty-eighth of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite, known as Knight of the Sun, or Prince Adept; and a considerable part of his rite is still preserved in other masonic systems, such as the Martinist Order.

The work which we present to the public is the result of a comparative study of the writings of the Spagyric Philosophers of all times, schools and nationalities, and not merely a summary of the author's personal ideas on the subject; it is a monument of patient research, representing over a quarter of a century of investigation. The writer has carefully analyzed the classical compositions of the Masters, preserving with religious care the dogmas upon which they all agree, and setting aside their contradictions, basing himself upon the axiom that Truth, when once discovered, is the same for all, while error only offers opportunity for discussion. 3 Pernety, following the example of Trevisan, has compared with an extreme attention the Greek, Alexandrian, Arab, French, German, Dutch, English, Kabbalistic, Rosicrucian and Islamic schools of Hermetism, presenting the synthesis of their doctrines in the lucid manner so characteristic of the French savant, by nature the mortal enemy of all that which is obscure and incomprehensible.

The present work is divided into three parts: an Introductory Discourse, an Expose of Natural Philosophy according to Hermetists, without which all attempt to understand the Art of Transmutations is impossible, and the Theory and Practice of the Magisterium, or Royal Art, briefly, but completely presented.

The editor of this translation has preserved in the text the notes of Pernety himself, and has introduced, as foot-notes, annotations borrowed from other works of Pernety, from Albert Poisson, the Champollion of Alchemy, Dr. Papus, Jollivet-Castelot, de Guai'ta, etc., in the very few places where the text seemed to allow a complementary explanation. These annotations are always followed by the name of the author to whom the translator is indebted.

The work contains also a table of Alchemical Characters which are so frequently met with in spagyric works and a short Dictionary of Hermetic Symbols, compiled by the lamented Albert Poisson for his “Theories et Symboles des Alchimistes,” which will afford great help in the reading of alchemic pentacles. E. B.

Nevada, Missouri, March 3, 1898.

List of the Modern Works Consulted

Pernety - Dictionnaire Mytho-Hermetique - Paris, I779 Albert Poisson - Theories et Symboles des Alchimistes, - Paris, 1891 id. - Cing Traites d'Alchimic - Paris, 1890.

Jollivet-Castelot - Comment on devient Alchmiste - Paris, 1897.

Tiffereau - L'Or et la Transmutation des Metaux - Paris, 1892.

De Guaita - La Clef de la Magic Noire - Paris, 1897.

Eliphas Levi - La Clef des Grands Mysteries - Paris, 1861 Dr. Papus - Traite Methodique de Science Occulte - Paris. id. - La Kabbale - Paris. id. - Traite de Physiologic Synthetique - Paris.

D'espagnet - Hermetic Arcanum - London, 1894 and:-

A Lover of Philalethes - A short Enquiry concerning the Hermetique Art, - in Collectanea Hermetica, edited by W. Wynn Wescott - London, 1894.

Barrett - Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers, edited by Arthur Edward Waite-London, 1888.

Preliminary Discourse

DO not expect to have the approbation of those vast, sublime and penetrating minds which embrace all, which know all without having learned anything, which dispute concerning everything, which decide about everything without knowledge of the cause. It is not to such people that one gives lessons; to them belongs the name of sage, rather than to Democritus, to Plato, to Pythagoras and to the other Greeks who were in Egypt to breathe the hermetic air, and who drew from it the folly of which we will treat. It is not for sages of this character that this work is made: this contagious air of Egypt is diffused throughout it; they would run the risk of being infected by it; as the Gebers, Synesiuses, Moriens, Arnaud de Villeneuves, Raymond Lullys, and so many others, simple enough to believe in this Philosophy. Following the example of Diodorus of Sicily, of Pliny, of Suidas and many other Ancients, they would, perhaps, become credulous enough to regard this Science as real, and to speak of it as such. They might become ridiculous as Borrichius, Kunckel, Beccher, Stahl, mad enough to make treatises which prove it, and to undertake its defense.

But if the example of these celebrated men makes any impression upon minds free from bias and void of prejudice in this respect, there will be found, doubtless, men sufficiently sensible to wish to be instructed, as they, in a Science little known, in truth, but cultivated in all times. Proud ignorance and fatuity alone are capable of despising and condemning without knowledge. Not a hundred years ago, simply the name of Algebra kept one from the study of that science and was revolting to the so-called good sense of the savants! that of Geometry is capable of giving hysterics to the scientific “Petits-Maitres” of to-day. Little by little one has become familiar with them. The barbarous terms with which they bristle, no longer cause fear; one studies them, one cultivates them, honor has succeeded the repugnance, 1 might say the scorn, with which they were regarded.

Hermetic Philosophy is still in disgrace and consequently in discredit. It is full of enigmas, and probably will not be freed, for a long time, of those allegorical and barbarous terms whose true meaning so few understand. The study of it is so much the more difficult as perpetual metaphors put on the wrong track those who imagine that they understand the authors who treat of it, at the first reading. Moreover these authors warn us that such a Science as this cannot be treated as clearly as the others because of the fatal consequences to civil life which might result from it. They make of it a mystery, and a mystery which they study rather to deepen than to develop. So they continually recommend the reader not to take them literally, to study the laws and processes of Nature, to compare the operations of which they speak with hers; to admit only those which will be found conformable to hers. . . .

Ambition and the love of riches are the only motives which influence almost all of those who work to instruct themselves concerning the processes of this Science; it presents to them mountains of gold in perspective, and long life to enjoy them. What riches for hearts attached to the blessings of this world! They hasten, they run to reach this aim, and as they fear not to arrive there soon enough they take the first way which appears to lead to it most quickly, without taking the trouble to instruct themselves concerning the true way. They walk, they advance, they believe themselves at the end; but as they have walked blindly, they find there a precipice in which they fall. They then think to conceal the shame of their fall by saying that this pretended aim is only a shadow, which they cannot embrace; they treat their guides as perfidious ones; they finally arrive at the point of denying even the possibility of an effect, because they are ignorant of its causes. What! because the greatest naturalists have lost their night-studies and their works in trying to discover what processes Nature employs to form and to organize the fxtus in the maternal womb, to make a plant germinate and grow, to form the metals in the earth, could we with good grace deny these facts? Would we regard as sensible a man whose ignorance would be the foundation of his negations? One would not even deign to take the trouble to make the least proof to convince him.

But wise people, enlightened and skilful Artists have studied all their lives, and have worked continually to arrive at it, they have given up their lives for it: what must we conclude? That the thing is not real? No: from about the year 550, from the foundation of Rome up to our day, the most skilful people worked to imitate the famous burning mirror of Archimedes, with which he burned the vessels of the Romans in the port of Syracuse; they have not been able to succeed; they treated the fact as an allegory; it was a fable; and even the making of the mirror was impossible. M. de Buffon thinks of taking a simpler way than those who have preceded him, he arrives at the end; we are surprised, we finally avow that the thing is possible.

Let us conclude then, with more reason, that these Savants, these skilful Artists made their own knowledge of too much importance. Instead of following the straight, simple and smooth ways of Nature, they have attributed to her subtleties which she never possessed. Hermetic Art is, say the Philosophers, a mystery hidden to those who rely too much on their own knowledge: it is a gift of God who regards favorably those who are humble, who fear Him, who place all their confidence in Him, and who, as Solomon, demand from Him with eagerness and perseverance that wisdom, who holds in her right hand length of days, and in her left hand riches, (Proverbs ch. iii. v. 16); that wisdom which Philosophers prefer to all honors, to all the kingdoms of the world, because she is the Tree of Life to those who lay hold upon her, (Proverbs, ch. iii. v. 18).

All Hermetic Philosophers say that, although the Ars Magna is a natural thing, both in its essence and in its operations, yet things so surprising take place in it, that they elevate the spirit of man toward the Author of his being, that they manifest His wisdom and glory, that they are much above human intelligence, and that only those comprehend them, whose eyes God deigns to open. This is sufficiently proved by the blunders and lack of success of all those artists, famous in vulgar chemistry, who in spite of all their skill in manipulations, in spite of all their pretended knowledge of Nature, have lost their time, their money, and often their health, in the search of this inestimable treasure.

How many Becchers, Homberts, Boerhaves, Geofroys and other skilled chemists, have by their indefatigable labors forced Nature to reveal to them some of her secrets? In spite of all their carefulness in watching her processes, in analysing her productions, to take her in the act, they have almost always failed, because they have been the tyrants of this Nature and not her true imitators. Sufficiently enlightened in common chemistry, and instructed in its processes, but blind in regard to Hermetic Chemistry, and carried away by custom, they have erected sublimatory, calcinatory, distillatory furnaces, (Novum Lumen Chemicum; Tract. I). They have employed an infinite number of vases and crucibles, unknown to simple Nature; they have summoned to their aid the fratricide of natural Fire; how could they have succeeded with such violent processes? They have absolutely departed from those who follow the Hermetic Philosophers, if we are to believe President d'Espagnet, (Hermetic Arcanum, Can. 6.):

“The Alchemists who have given their minds to their well-nigh innumerable Sublimations, Distillations, Solutions, Congelations, to manifold extraction of Spirits and Tinctures, and other operations more subtle than profitable, and so have distracted themselves by a variety of errors, as so many tormentors, will never be inclined again by their own genius to the plain way of Nature and light of Truth; from whence their industrious subtlety hath twined them, and by twinings and turnings, as by the Lybian Quicksands, hath drowned their entangled wits; the only hope of safety for them remaineth in finding out a faithful guide and master, who may make the Sun clear and conspicuous unto them, and free their eyes from darkness.”

“A studious Tyro of a quick wit, constant mind, inflamed with the study of Philosophy, very skilful in natural Philosophy, of a pure heart, complete in manners, mightily devoted to God, though ignorant of practical Chemistry, may with confidence enter into the highway of Nature and peruse the books of the best Philosophers.” 4

“If Hermes, the true father of Philosophy”, so says the Cosmopolite ( Novum lumen chemicum, Tract I), if the subtle Geber, the profound Raymond Lully, and other justly celebrated chemists could return to the earth, our alchemists would not only refuse to regard them as their masters, but would think to confer a favor upon them by owning them as their disciples. It is true that they would not know how to make all those distillations, circulations, calcinations, sublimations, in a word all those innumerable operations which chemists have imagined, because they have wrongly understood the books of the Philosophers.”

All real Adepts speak with one voice and if they speak truly, one may, without taking so much trouble, without employing so many vases, without consuming so much charcoal, without ruining one's purse and one's health, one may, I repeat, work in concert with Nature, who, being aided, will lend herself to the desires of the Artist and will freely open to him her treasures. He will learn from her, not how to destroy the bodies which she produces, but how and from what, she composes them, and into what they resolve. She will show him that matter, that chaos from which the Supreme Being has formed the Universe. They will see Nature, as in a mirror, and her reflection will manifest to them the infinite wisdom of the Creator, who directs and guides her, in all her operations, by a simple and unique way which constitutes all the mystery of the Magnum Opus.

But that thing called Philosopher's Stone, Universal Medicine, Golden Panacea, does it exist in reality as well as in speculation? Why, through the ages, have so many persons, whom Heaven seemed to have favored with knowledge superior to that of most men, sought it in vain? But, on the other hand, so many trustworthy historians, so many wise men have attested its existence, and have left in enigmatical writings and allegories the method of making it which can scarcely be doubted, when one knows how to adapt these writings to the principles of Nature.

The Hermetic Philosophers differ absolutely from the common Philosophers or Physicists. The latter have no certain system. They invent new ones daily, and the last seems to be conceived only to contradict, and destroy those that have preceded it. Briefly, if one is erected and established, it is upon the ruins of its predecessor, and it will exist only until a new one overthrows it and takes its place.

On the contrary, Hermetic Philosophers are all agreed; no one of them contradicts the principles of the other. He who wrote thirty years ago speaks as he who lived two thousand years ago. One thing which appears a little singular is that they never weary of repeating that axiom which the church (Vincent de Lerin. Commonit.) adopts as the most infallible mark of the truth in that which it presents to us for belief: Quod ubique quod ab omnibus, et quod semper creditum est, id firmissime credendum puta. Observe, say they, read, meditate on the things which have been taught in all times, and by all Philosophers; the truth is enclosed in the passages where they all agree.

What an indication, indeed, when men who have lived in ages so distant, and in countries so different in language, and, I dare to say it, in their manner of thinking, all agree on one point. What! would Egyptians, Arabs, Chinese, Greeks, Jews, Italians, Germans, Americans, French, English, etc., have agreed, without knowing each other, without understanding each other, and without having communicated their ideas, in writing and in speaking about a chimera, an imaginary entity? without taking into account all the works on this subject, which were burned by the orders of Diocletian, 5 who thought thus to deprive the Egyptians of the means of making gold, and to render them unable to sustain war against him, there still remain to us, in all the languages of the world, works sufficiently numerous to justify to the incredulous what I have just advanced. The library of the King alone preserves a great number of ancient and modern manuscripts, in all languages, relating to this science.

Michel Maier said on this subject, in an Epigram, found at the beginning of his Treatise, entitled Symbola aurew mensw:

Unum opus en priscis hwc usque ad tempora seclis

Consona diffusis gentibus ora dedit.

Let one read Hermes, Egyptian; Abraham, Isaac de Moiros, Jews, quoted by Avicenna; Democritus, Orpheus, Aristotle, (De Secretis Secretorum), Olympiodoros, HeIiodorus (De rebus chemicis ad Theodosium Imperatorem), Etienne, (De magna et sacra scientia, ad Heraclium Cwsarem) and other Greeks; Synesius, Theophilus, Abugazal, etc., Africans; Avicenna, (De re recta. Tractatulus Chemicus. Tractatus ad Assem Philosophum. De anima artis), Rhasis, Geber, Artephius, Alphidius, Hamuel, surnamed the Elder, Rosinus, Arabs; Albertus Magnus, (De Alchymia, Concordantia Philosophorum; De Compositione Compositi, etc.), Bernard Trevisan, Basil Valentin, Germans; Alain (Liber Chemicw), Isaac, father and son, Pontanus, Flemish or Dutch; Arnaud de Villeneuve, Nicolas Flamel, Denis Zachaire, Christophe Parisien, Gui de Montanor, d'Espagnet, French; Morien, Pierre Bon de Ferrare, the anonymous author of the "Marriage of the Sun and the Moon, ” Italians; Raymond Lully, Spanish; Roger Bacon, (Speculum Alchemic), Hortulain, Jean Dastin, Richard, George Ripley, Thomas Norton, Philalethes and the Cosmopolite, English or Scotch. Finally, many anonymous authors, (Turba Philosophorum, Seu Codex veritatis, Clangor Buccinw, Scala Philosophorum, Aurora consurgens, Ludus puerorum, Thesaurus Philosophic, etc.), of all countries and of different ages: there will not be found among them one whose principles are different from those of the others. Does not this conformity of ideas and principles form, at least a presumption in favor of the truth and reality of what they teach? If all the ancient fables of Homer, of Orpheus, and of the Egyptians, are only allegories of this Art, as I claim to prove in this work, by the ground-work and origin of the fables themselves, as well as by their conformity to the allegories of almost all Philosophers, could one persuade one's self that this science is only a vague phantom, which never had any existence among the real productions of Nature?

But if this science has a real object; if this Art has existed, and if we must believe the Philosophers, concerning the wonderful things which they relate of it, why is it so scorned, why so decried, why so discredited? Because the practice of this Art has never been clearly taught. All the Authors, ancient and modern, who treat of it, do so under the veil of Hieroglyphics, Enigmas, Allegories and Fables; so that those who have wished to study them have generally taken the wrong course, whence has arisen a kind of sect, which, through having wrongly understood and explained the writings of the philosophers, has introduced a new Chemistry, and has imagined that its system was the only real one. Many persons have become celebrated in this field. Some skilled in the principles, others extremely dexterous in practice, especially in the experience required for the success of certain operations, they have all united against Hermetic Alchemy; they have written in a manner more easily comprehended by the multitude; they have proved their opinions by specious arguments. By making at random, mixtures of different substances, and by working blindly, without knowing what the result would be, they have seen monsters arise; and the same chance which produced them has served as a basis for the principles then established. The same mixtures, reiterated, the same work repeated, have given exactly the same result; but they have not observed that this result was monstrous, and analogous only to the abnormal productions of Nature, and not to those which result from her processes, when she confines herself to the classes peculiar to each kingdom. Always from the union of an ass and a mare results a monstrous animal called a mule; for nature acts always in the same manner when the same materials are furnished her, whether to produce monsters, or to form beings conformable to their particular species. If mules came to us from some distant isle, and we knew nothing of their birth, we would certainly be tempted to believe that these animals form a class, which is multiplied as the others. We would not suspect that they were monsters. We are affected, in this same manner, by the results of almost all chemical operations; we consider abnormal productions as productions made in the natural order of Nature. So that one might say of this kind of Chemistry, that it is the science of destroying methodically the Mixts produced by Nature, in order to form from them monsters, which have almost the same appearance and properties as the natural Mixts. Would more be necessary to conciliate the Public?

Prepossessed by these deceitful appearances; overwhelmed by subtle writings; wearied by the multiplied invectives against Hermetic Alchemy, unknown even to its aggressors, is it surprising that the multitude scorns it?

Basil Valentin, (Azoth des Philosophes), compares the “souffleurs” to the Pharisees, who were in honor and authority with the Public, because of their affectation of religion and piety. They were, said he, hypocrites, attached only to the earth and their own interests; who would abuse the confidence and credulity of the people, ever ready to be taken by appearances; because their sight is not keen enough to pierce the exterior of things. Yet, let not one imagine that by such a discourse I intend to injure the chemistry of our days. One has found means of rendering it useful; and too much praise cannot be given to those who make an assiduous study of it. The curious experiments which most chemists have made can only satisfy the public. Medicine derives so many advantages from Chemistry, that to decry it would to be hostile to the good of the People. It has contributed not a little to the commodities of life by the means which it has furnished of perfecting Metallurgy and other arts. Porcelain, faience are fruits of chemistry. It furnishes materials for tinctures, for glass-making, etc. But because its utility is recognized, must we conclude that it is the only true chemistry? And must Hermetic Chemistry be rejected and scorned for this? It is true, that many people claim to be Philosophers, and take advantage of the credulity of the foolish. But is Hermetic Science to be blamed for this? Do not the Philosophers cry loud enough to be heard by all, and to warn against the snares laid by this class of people. There is not one of them who does not say that the matter of this Art is of low price, and even that it costs nothing; that the fire, necessary to work it does not cost more; that only one vase, or at most two, is necessary for the whole course of work. Let us hear d’Espagnet, (Can. 35):

“Philosophical work demands more time and labor than expense; for there remains very little to be done when one has the required Matter. Those who demand great sums to attain this object, have more confidence in riches of others than in the science of this Art. Therefore, let the amateur be on his guard, and not fall into the snares which rogues set for him, rogues who wish for his purse even while they promise him mountains of gold. They demand the Sun to guide them in the operations of this Art, because they do not see in the least.”

Thus it is not necessary to lay the blame on Hermetic Chemistry, which is no more responsible than is honesty for knavery. A stream may become foul and ill-smelling from the dirt which it collects in its course, without its source being the less pure, the less beautiful, the less clear.

Those who still decry Hermetic Science are those bastards of alchemy commonly known as souffleurs and seekers of the Philosopher's Stone. They are idolaters of Hermetic Philosophy. All the receipts presented to them are for them as so many gods before whom they bend the knee. Many of this class are instructed in the operations of common chemistry; they have even much skill in manipulations; but they are not instructed in the principles of Hermetic Philosophy, and will never succeed. Others are ignorant even of the principles of common chemistry, and these are, properly speaking, the souffleurs. To them we may apply the proverb: Alchemia est ars, cujus initium laborare, medium mentiri, finis mendicare.

Most of the Artists, skilful in common Chemistry, do not deny the possibility of the Philosopher's Stone; the result of many of their operations is a sufficient proof of this. But they are slaves to human opinion; they would not dare to openly avow that they recognize it as possible, because they fear to expose themselves to the ridicule of the ignorant, and of pretended savants, blinded by prejudice. In public, they jest about it, or at least speak of it with so much indifference, that one suspects that they do not regard it as real, while the tests which they make, in private, tend to its quest. After having passed many years in the midst of their furnaces, without having succeeded, their vanity is offended; they are ashamed of having failed; then, they seek to indemnify themselves, to avenge themselves, by speaking evil of that which they have been unable to obtain. These are the people who had no equals in the theory and practice of Chemistry; they have assumed to be such; they have proved it as well as they could, but by repeating it or causing it to be heralded by others, they have caused people to believe it. When, at the end of their life, they think advisable to decry Hermetic Philosophy, the multitude will not examine and see if they do it wrongly; the reputation which they have acquired gives them the right, and one would not dare but to applaud them. Yes, they say, if the thing had been feasible, it could not have escaped the science, the penetration, the dexterity of such a skilful man. These impressions are insensibly strengthened; a second one, not having succeeded better than the former, has been disappointed in his hope and his work; he adds his voice to that of the others; he even cries louder if he can; he makes himself heard; the prejudice grows, until finally one reaches the point of saying with them, that Hermetic Philosophy is a chimera, and what is more, they are convinced without any knowledge of the subject. Those to whom experience has proved the contrary, content with their fate, do not envy them the applause of the ignorant. Sapientiam et doctrinam stulti descipiunt, (Proverbs, ch. I).

Some have written to undeceive them - (Beccher, Stahl, M. Pott, M. de Justi, undertake its defense openly in their Memoirs) - they have not wished to shake off the yoke of prejudice, they have remained under it.

But finally, what constitutes the difference between common chemistry and Hermetic Chemistry? Simply this. The first is, properly speaking, the art of destroying the composites which Nature has formed; and the second is the art of working with Nature to perfect them. The first puts in practice the furious and destructive Tyrant of Nature; the second employs her gentle, benign Agent. Hermetic Philosophy takes as the subject of its work the secondary 6or chief principles of things, to lead them to the perfection of which they are susceptible, by processes conformable to those of Nature. Common chemistry takes the Mixts which have already reached their point of perfection, decomposes and destroys them. Those who may desire to carry further the parallelism between these two arts, may have recourse to the work which one of the great antagonists of Hermetic Philosophy, Father Kircher, S. J., has composed, and which Manget has inserted in the first volume of his Bibliotheque de la Chymie curieuse. The Hermetic Philosophers scarcely fail to mark the difference of these two arts in their works. But the infallible mark, by which one may distinguish an Adept from a chemist, is that the Adept, according to all Philosophers, takes only one thing, or, at most, two of the same nature, one vase, or perhaps two, and a single furnace to perfect his work; on the contrary, the chemist works on all kinds of matters, indiscriminately. This is also the stone by the touch of which you must try those rogues, or souffleurs, who have designs upon your purse, who demand gold in order to make it, and who, instead of the transmutation which they promise you, make indeed only a transfer of gold from your purse to theirs. This remark is not the less applicable to those souffleurs of good faith and honesty, who think to be in the right way, and who deceive others while deceiving themselves. If this work makes enough impression upon minds to convince of the possibility and reality of Hermetic Philosophy, God grant that it may also serve to undeceive those who have a mania for spending their property in blowing charcoal, in erecting furnaces, in calcining, in sublimating, in distilling, finally in reducing everything to nothing, that is, to ashes and smoke; the Adepts do not run after gold and silver. Morien gives a great proof of this in the Roi Calid. The latter having found many books which treated of Hermetic Science, and being able to comprehend nothing of them, offered a great reward to him who would explain them, (Entretien du Roi Calid). The charms of this reward brought to him many souffleurs. Then Morien, the Hermit, departed from his desert attracted not by the promised recompense, but by the desire of manifesting the power of God, and of showing how wonderful He is in all His works. He found Calid, and demanded as the others a suitable place to work, in order to prove, by his works, the truth of his words. Morien, having finished his operations, left the Perfect Stone in a vase around which he wrote: Those who have all that is necessary for them, have need neither of recompense nor of the aid of others. He then departed without saying a word, and returned to his solitude. Calid having found this vase, and having read the writing, understood well what it signified, and after having tested the Powder, he banished, or put to death, all those who had wished to deceive him.

Therefore, Philosophers rightly say that this Stone is the center and source of virtues, since those who possess it scorn all the vanities of the world, vain glory, ambition; since they esteem gold no more than sand or dust, (Sapientia, chap. 7), and silver is to them no more than dirt. Wisdom alone makes any impression upon them; envy, jealousy and other tumultuous passions do not excite the tempests of their heart; they have no other desires than to live to please God, no other satisfaction than to render themselves secretly useful to their neighbour, and to penetrate more and more into the secrets of Nature.

Hermetic Philosophy is therefore, the school of piety and religion. Those to whom God accords the knowledge of it are either already pious or they become so, (Flamel, Hieroglyph). All the Philosophers begin their works by demanding of those who read them, with the intention of penetrating into the sanctuary of Nature, an upright heart and a God-fearing spirit: Initium sapientia timor Domini, a compassionate mind, to aid the poor, a profound humility, and a fixed purpose to do all for the glory of the Creator, who conceals His secrets from the proud and pretended wise of the world to manifest them to the humble, (Matthew, ch. XI).