Part 8

We have alledged heretofore, out of the 31. of _Numbers_ 23 that which is said of fire and water, the two purifying Elements, whereby in our baptisms we are accustomed to put a little piece of wax light or match, which they make the Creature to hold when they hold it over the font, the Church being thereby regulated by the pillar of fire which garded the Israelites, and the cloud (baptismall water) by day, whereunto sutes that of Saint _John_, in the 3. of _Matthew_, That in respect of himselfe he baptized with _Water_ unto repentance, but he that commeth after, shall baptize you with the _Holy Ghost_, and with _Fire_, to the remission of sinnes; for fire is a mark of the Holy Spirit, by which grace is conferred, and descended upon the Apostles on the day of Pentecost, in the form of fiery tongues, _Act._ 2.3. The Stoicks, although too superstitious therein, made great account of this Element, which they said, was I know not what living thing, the most wise Fabricator of the whole universe, and of all that which is contained therein; to which purpose, as I alledged before out of the 7. of _Wisdome_ 24. that Wisdome the Artist of all things taught me, that it is more moving then motion, for she passeth through all things by her purenesse. Wherein two properties of fire are attributed to Wisdome, Motion, and Purity: And in summe esteemed it to be a God, according to which Saint _Augustine_ in his 8. Book of the City of God, 5. chapter sets down _Zohar_ according to his high elevated contemplations alledging upon _Exodus_ this passage of the 7. of _Daniel_ 9. The Throne of the ancient of dayes, was flames of fire, and a River of fire running lightly issued from his face, his vestment white as snow; saith, that within this shining river of fire, were washed the vestments of the souls that mounted on high, and repurged themselves there from the old scum of the Serpent without consuming it selfe, which did but clear it self from the old filth that it had there gathered. And this is very properly said because we see by experience, that greases are not cleansed, but by other grease, which carries one the other, as doth Soap and Lees, which consists all of grosse and unctuous salts; for if those were not, they would not bite upon unctuosity and fatnesse; witnesse simple water, which doth nothing, by reason of the contrarieties of their natures, which do not suffer them to be able to joine and unite. And where there is no mixtion, there is also no alteration, because that which doth not enter, doth not change (saith _Geber_:) So that Salts being in the nature of Fires, have from them their proprieties and effects, that is to say, to purifie and cleanse all ordures and uncleanness. For as Salt (the same _Zohar_ pursues it) hinders putrefaction, to which every corruptible thing is subject; so the Fire of Gods love, and of Gods knowledge, which is illightned in the soul, repurging it from all corporall coinquinations, causeth, that after it hath been duly purged and cleansed, it remaines for ever in its purity, for as much as fire devours and consumes the filthy scumme thereunto fastned, cloathing it selfe with a new and pure fire, which it could not otherwise do. For if it were not so assisted with this pure fire, the Cherubin which is committed to the keeping of the Gate of the City of _Delices_, with a fiery sword, to forbid the approach to the tree of Life, would not permit it to enter therein; from whence the curiosity of tasting of the knowledg of good and evill excluded our forefathers, and us with them hereditarily.

Hitherto _Zohar_, then which nothing could seem more conformable, nor which carryed it selfe better to our subject. _Every man shall be salted with Fire, and every Sacrifice with Salt._ For to salt, in this regard, to cleanse, and purifie, are but one thing, as also to salt, and to burn, because of their consemblable effects. _Burne my reines and my heart_; where burning, is put for repurging and cleansing, according to the Hebrew, and the Chaldee; and in the 13 of _Zachary_ 9. _I will burn them, as silver is burned._ To which sutes also that which the Apostle writ in the 1 _Cor._ 3.12. _If any man build upon this foundation, gold, silver, pretious stones, or wood, hay, stubble; Every mans work shall be made manifest, for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire, and the fire shall try every mans work of what sort it is. If any mans work abide, which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any mans work shall be burnt, he shall suffer losse, but he himself shall be saved, yet so, as by fire._ Saint _Augustine_, citing this place throughout the whole scope of his works interpreteth it in the 21. of the _City of God_, 26. chap. for the vanities which men have too narrowly embraced in this age, which we shall not enjoy in another, but they must be abolished and defaced by the repurgation of fire; for that which he had not without provoking love, he shall not lose without burning grief. And at length shall be saved as by fire, because nothing shall be able to remove it from this foundation upon which it shall be built. S. _Ambrose_ to the same purpose, in his third Sermon upon the 118. _Psal._ As good gold, even the very Church when it is burnt, receives not detriment, but its lustre and resplendency encrease more and more. The _Persians_ esteemed that when they voluntarily burned themselves, the soul remained thereby repurged from all iniquities & misdoings, which consumed by the flames as touching the body, which had power to move the Indian _Calanus_ and some others to come from thence, (for God would not that we should advance our dayes by one moment) who, at the time they receive him, he washeth us, and cleanseth us from all preceding faults. Whereby some abusing themselves thereby, attended to receive it as slowly as they could; and others baptized themselves for those which were already deceased. In _Æthiopia_ one who had conspired against the proper person of their _Neguz_, or Emperour, by baptizing himself thereupon, before he was imprisoned, remained quit.

So the proprieties of fire, are in the first place to shine and lighten, and that is, by it, common to the Sunne, but it is thereby much surmounted. And afterwards to warm, digest and bake, which this luminary doth also primitively, as we may see in that the Earth produceth, but for that the naturall heat doth not bring them wholly for our use, to the last and perfect degree of maturity, fire for the most part supplyes its wants, and defaults; for the regard of the concocting of what we eat, for we hardly thereby make our profit being raw, there where it is baked in the fire, it becomes of more facil digestion, and lesse corruptible, as having lesse of crudities; afterwards the fire separates strange things, and not alike, and after, having taken away the corrupting superfluities, namely the waterish humidity, which it driveth out, and the oily unctuosity, which it burns and consumes with the terrestrieties that remain, at last it doth gather together in a new composure, the pure homogenealities; which composure, then consisteth of soul, body, and spirit, from now forwards inseparable, and incorruptible, which relates to the three worlds, the soul to the intelligible, the spirit to the celestiall, and the body to the elementary; but this is not a reasonable soul, or sensitive, nor a vitall spirit, such as is in animals; but substances equipollent unto them: which may be seen in glass, which is an image of the Philosophicall Stone. Whereupon _Raymond Lullius_ enquiring of the confection of the said Stone, and how men may attain thereunto, made answer, hee that knoweth to make glasse, because their manner of proceeding are alike; and such ought that pretious substance to be, which _Hermolaus Barbarus_ in his Annotations upon _Plinie_, and _Appian_, in his disquisition of antiquities, alledgeth to have been found in an old Sepulchre, in the Territory of _Padua_, not above a hundred years since, having this Distique with two others.

_For he shut in with great labour, the digested Elements under this small vessel; greatest_ Olybius.

The Roman _Morienes_ to _Calid_ King of _Ægypt_ on his Treatise of Metallick transmutation. Whosoever shall know well how to neatify, and whiten the soul, and make it mount on high, and can well preserve its body, and take therefrom all obscurity and blacknesse, with the evill smell, she may then replace it in its body and in the hour of their rejunction great marvels will appear: yet _Rhases_ in his Epistle. So every soul doth reconjoin to its first body: which in any other manner cannot be reunited to another, and from thence forwards shall never separate; for then the body shall be glorified, and reduced to incorruption, and to a subtilty and brightnesse unspeakable. So that it will penetrate all solid things what soever they be; because its nature shall be such, as of a Spirit: that which he borrowed out of _Hermes_, it shall penetrate every subtill thing. An admirable thing that these Chymicall Philosophers under the vaile and curtain of this Art, treating wholly about things so materiall as are metals, and that which depends thereon, with their transmutations by fire, have comprized the most high secrets of Intelligibles and even of the resurrection, whereunto it seems this would seem to strike, wherein bodyes shall be glorified and reduced as into a spirituall Nature, against which no spirituall obstacle can contradict, nor hinder its actions; from this the Apostle in the 15. of the 1. to the _Corinthians_ doth not much vary, _It is sown a naturall body, it is raised a spirituall body. There is a naturall body, and there is a spirituall body: howbeit, that was not first which is spirituall, but that which is naturall, and afterwards that which is spirituall._ I know moreover, an Artifice whereunto I have obtained in divers subjects, that burning an herb, the salt extracted from these ashes and sowed in the earth, a like herb will grow therefrom. But this burning must be made in a very close vessel, wherein we shall say more hereafter about Salt, and yet we will yet bring further another of our experiments which ought not bee disregarded. Of three liquors swimming one above another without either mingling or confounding together, what mingling soever they be; that they may not return into their residence and separated: to represent the four Elements in a little vessel of glass, or a little black enammill grossly beaten will hold place of earth in the bottom, water will do thus, Take calcined Tartar, or gravelled ashes, which is almost the very same thing, and let them go to the moist air taking the dissolution that shall be made thereof, the clearest that you can, and mingle therewith a little blew stone, to give it the colour of Sea water. Note here a maxim, and let this be said by the by, for those that exercise themselves in the Spagirique, that in one of these resolutions into moisture, which are made by themselves, all salts and alums, do depure and subtiliate, more then 12, or 15. dissolutions made with vineger and other like dissolvants.

Every thing that dissolveth it selfe, is of the nature of Salt and Alum, as _Geber_ saith, For air, take fine _aqua vitæ_ which you shall turn into a Celestiall blew, with a little turnsol; and for fire, the oil of Been, but for that it is more rare, take of Turpentine oil, which is made thus, Distill common Turpentine in _Balneo Marie_, there will mount up together both water and oil, so white and transparent, the one as the other: but the oil will swim above the water; separate them by a glasse fonnell, and dye this oil, into a fire colour, with _Orchanet_ and with Saffern. The three liquors will never mingle, what ever trouble you use to them; but will separate themselves distinctly, into lesse then nothing, by swimming one above another: Of the Turpentine, that remains in the Alembique, you shall extract it by Sand, in a _Cornue_ with a stronger fire, then by the bath, a thick red oil, which is most excellent balm: water and oil extracted by the bath are very serviceable also, in many accidents of Medicine and Chirurgery; only the white oil will make scars quickly fall away without pain, or evill impression. But if with the water of the said Turpentine, you dissolve salt of lead, you shall have yet a more Soveraign balm. But we must a little better clear this: for sith we treat here of fire, and of its effects, what hinders but that we may extend our selves at length upon many things which our long labour and experience have acquired? This oil of lead, was one of _Raymond Lullius_, his great secrets: & of many other excellent personages, who have as it were made conscience to remember it: for this hath been to them an entry of more admirable works. Some, as _Riply_, & others, have taken the _minium_ of lead, but it is too easie, & of an uneasie resolution, as also ceruse & calcined lead. For my part I have found litharge, which is nothing else but lead, for a pound of litharge, you shall extract 14. or 15. ounces of lead: put them into powder, and poure thereon distilled boiling vinegar, stirring it strongly with a staffe, and sodainly the vinegar will charge it self, with the dissolution of litharge: Evacuate the clear, and reiterate with new vinegar, so long till all the litharge be dissolved: Evaporate the vinegar, which shall be unsavory as the water, untill the salt shall remain congealed in the bottom. Take thereof a good quantity, and put thereof within your _Cornue_, as much as it will hold half full: and put it on the furnace with an open breech: in the beginning with an easie fire chasing away that which therein may appear a remainder of strange humidity: And when the white fumes shall begin to appear apply thereunto a Recipient big enough, and lute it well in the Jointures; after reinforcing your fire by little and little untill it become a very great one, and the _Cornue_ buried in the ashes, you shal see issue as a little continued torrent after the fashion of a filet of oil, but white as milk, and could as ice, which will come within the Recipient to resolve into an oil of the colour of an _Hyacinth_, and odoriferous, as that of _Aspic_. Continue the fire till there comes no more out of the _Cornue_, and leave it there to settle, al the night long. So now this secret oil, whereof that which _Raimond Lullius_ never more expresly said was towards the end of his short Epistle, in these very terms. Out of black lead is extracted the Philosophers oil, of a golden color, or as it were: and know that there is nothing in the world more secret then it. That which remains in the _Cornue_, put burning charcoals upon it, and that will take fire as the match of a fusee: whence you may draw a fair secret: for as long as it feels not the air, it will not flame, and it may dissolve againe with vinegar, to doe as before. But salt of lead dissolved in water, and yet better then Turpentine, oil will resolve to a greater quantity of oil; and thereof may see more ample marvailes. Take this oil, which _Raimond Lullius_ calleth his wine, and put it into a small Alembic of glasse; in _Balneo Mariæ_, and distill therein _aqua vitæ_, which will come in vains even as that of wine. Draw all out so long till the drops and tears come to appear in the Chap, which is a signe that there is no more flegm: which being out in the bottome, there will remain a pretious oil that dissolves gold and is admirable against wounds, and great accidents, from within, for it holds the same place with potable gold: Lead having great affinity with gold, as _Geber_ saith, with which it agrees in Surdity, in weight, and in that it cannot rust: And _George Riplay_ the most learned _English_ Philosopher, in his book of the 12. portes.

_There is extracted oil of golden colour, Or like it, out of our subtill red lead: When Raimond said, when he was old, Was much more pretious then gold. For when through age he was near death, He thereof made, his potable Gold, Which revived him; as may bee seen. This is that oil and vegetable Menstruum, &c._

In regard of the burning water therout extracted, more inflameable then the most fine powder of a harguebuze, it dissolves silver into subtill Crystalline flakes, which melt at the fire of a lampe, as easily as butter, and are fix as silver in the same proofs of fire: further see that which the said _Riplay_ sets down in his marrow of _Alchymie_: The body being prepared, put upon this water to the thickness of your thumb which wil straight boil above chalks of the body, without other external fire, by dissolving the body, and by elevating it, in the shape of ice, with the drying of the said water: and so let it bee reiterated, by removing that which was elevated. But to abbridge (for this _Aqua vitæ_ is in very small quantity and very uneasy to make) if you passe two parties of water of the departure, that dissolves the silver upon one party of the salt of lead, this will do the same effect for the transmutation of metals, but not within a mans body, where it must not in any case bee applyed, except after great sweetning, that is to say, a _demi sextier_ of the dissolution of strong water, to make evaporate three or four pails of water, running down within by a filter to the measure that elevates the strong water with the spirits and malignity of this fire against Nature. Think not that I would stay my self here so precisely, nor restrain to the Text of Saint _Mark_, nor upon that, which dependeth upon the religion in this regard, although our principall aim tends thitherward, that wee would not enlarge by the same means to the works and progresse of nature, whose principall key is _Alchymie_, to mount from thence to the _Architype_ the Creator by means of the _Caballe_. But we would not likewise here so reveal occasions to abuse this divine Art, to the ill turnings of perverse ignorants, who to gain a piece of silver would make no difficulty to deceive the world one way or other, as wee could do in revealing unto the means of blanching copper, to the likenesse of silver, with Iscicles accompanied with a Metalline of Orpiment, the which, as yellow gilded as it is, and its red elevations as rubies, being notwithstanding bruised in a copper morter, and sublimed upon burned brasse, passeth within the head of the _Cornue_, white as silver; But if it be well governed, with the foresaid Isicles would make indeed great alterations upon the Copper which men may wel misuse, wherefore we will forbear to speak thereof any further. We may too well say, that the preparation of this body, that _Riplay_ intends silver, is to calcine and reduce it into salt, which is done after this manner. But if in the dissolving there be _aqua fortis_, it sufficeth to calcine it. Take then silver plates of the bignesse and thicknesse of a riall and put them in a Cruset, or a little pot of _Paris_ earth, not leaded, bed upon bed, with prepared Salt, that is to say, dissolved in common water, afterwards filtred, congealed, and decrepited, and leave it 10. or 12. houres with burning coals, (it would be better in an oven of reverberation) draw it from the fire and cast it yet all hot into an earthen vessell, leaded, full of water, salt will dissolve it self therein, and that of the silver which shall be calcined will goe to the bottome: Let them reside well; and separate them warily, by inclination: after put again the plates to bee recalcined with new salt, and reiterated as before, evaporate the water, or the salt if it be dissolved, and that which remains shall be as good as new, to the third or fourth reiteration, all your plates will find themselves reduced into chalk: which you shall easily dissolve in distilled vinegar, for silver, lead, and iron, are not of hard resolution, nor also Copper to take it in _Roche_ of _azur_: Tin much more, and Gold more then all the rest, for that its calcination, is very uneasie. Which _Geber_ knew very well: the compleat calcination of Sol, is most difficult: He renders the causes thereof. But it would be too long to dilace upon all these things: wee will content our selves, to trace some shadows of that which our perquisition and labour hath enabled us to acquire, by the space of 50. years of one side, and another, and proved more then once, not to speake unadvisedly: All which secrets are revealed as is said; by the Fire. And not by mervails, since it analogically discovers the spirituall: _Thou hast tried me with fire, and in mee, there is found no iniquity_; said the Prophet, _Psal._ 16. There where you see, how hee couples fire with iniquities, as if it were it, that revealed them as well as hee did the impurities of mettalls, where it doth the same operation, and effect, as salt doth, in corruptible things; for although metalls, bee the permanent substance of all others, by reason of their most strong composition which doth not permit them easily to cast away out of their radicall form any alteration which men may make them indure in powder, chalk, salt, water, oil, glasse, Isicles, and infinite others: which happeneth not to one of the other elementaries, Minerals, Vegetables, Animals; the which being once changed from their primitive form, they cannot again reintegrate or be put together. By means whereof, to speak of fire without metals, which are its true subject, it would bee as to propose to an Artist furnished with necessaries and instruments, but had no stuffes proper to imploy them, so that would remain to him unprofitable. In metalls then there may be revealed and considered the fairest secrets of nature, by the help of fires action. Which if in some more particularly then in others, she hath shewed a will to recreat, yea to put in evidence her greater knowledge. It seems this was in stones and metals, then which nothing could be presented more fair or agreeable to the sight, nor more profitable and necessary, at least in regard of Iron without which mans life would irksomely passe away, shee receiving so many commodities thereby. But pretious stones beyond the simple contentment and pleasure of the eye, have nothing wherewith men may know to draw out profit or succours in any one of our businesses. And if they be once deprived of their naturall shining form, they never return thereto again, as mettals doe, so puissant and indissoluble is the assembling of their elementarie parties, and their mixtion one with another. Wherefore wee must not marvail if so many good spirits have travelled all their time to meditate upon this subject, and their divers transmutations, having been there unto drawn rather out of those fair considerations which they found therein for their spirits contentation, then for any sordid and greedy desire of gain, which hath made the ignorant so obstinate, who have so cried down this divine Art, sister germane to the _Caballe_: for that which the _Caballe_ is divine and intelligible things, into the profound secrets whereof, shee penetrates, _Alchymie_ is in naturall and elementary, which shee reveals unto us. _Geber_ saith some man cannot know the composition of a thing, that is ignorant of its destruction; which destruction is perfected by the separations caused by fire.