his turne I prescribe not here for any but such as looke after these principles and they must give mee leave to inform them if they be not perfect Masters of the art As for Libertie of opinion I rob not any man of it I am one that gives and takes and this to avoid Contentions I can suffer the School-man to follow his owne Placets so hee doth not hinder mee to follow mine In a word I can tolerate mens Errors and pitty them I can propound the truth and if it bee not follow'd it is satisfaction to mee That what I did was wel done A POST-SCRIPT To the READER THis small discourse was no sooner finished though by command but the same Authoritie recald their Commission and now being somewhat transformd I must as some mysteriously have done live a Tree Yet the wise know that Groves have their Durdals and I remember I have read of an Image who 's Hic fodias plac'd the substance in the shadow To bee plain I am silenc'd and though it bee in my power to speake yet I have Lawes as to this subject which I must not trangresse I have chosen therefore to oppose my present Freedom to my future Necessitie and to speake somthing thing at this time which I must never publickly speak hereafter There is no Defect in ought that I have written if I but tell you one thing which the Philosophers have omitted it is that which some Authors have cald Vas Naturae and Vas viride Saturni and Miriam cals it Vas Hermetis a menstruous substance it is and to speak the very Truth it is the Matrix of Nature wherein you must place the Universal sperm assoone as it appears beyond its Body The Heate of this Matrix is sulphureous and it is that which coagulats the sperm but common Fire though it bee most exactly regulated will never do it and in this point see that you bee not deceived This Matrix is the life of the sperm for it preserves and quickens it but beyond the Matrix it takes cold and dyes and nothing effectual can be generated thereof in a word without this Matrix you will never coagulate the Matter nor bring it to a minerall Complexion and herein also there is a certain measure to bee observed without which you will miscarrie in the practise of this Natural vessel speaks Miriam in these following words In omnibus corporibus est scientia sed Stoici propter eorum vitae brevitatem operis prolixitatem hoc unicum occultaverunt Illi vero invenerunt elementa tingentia ipsi docuerunt ea omnes Philosophi docent illa praeter vas Hermetis quia illud est Divinum sapientia Domini Gentibus occultatum illi qui illud ignorant nesciunt Regimen veritatis propter Vasis Hermetis Ignorantiam In the proportion and Regiment of this thing which they call their Vessel and sometimes their Fire consists all the secret and verily the performances thereof are so admirable and so speedy they are almost incredible Had I knowne this at first it had not been with mee as it hath been but every Event hath its time and so had I. This one thing to lay aside other Reasons doth not only perswade but convince mee That this Art was originally revealed to man for this I am sure of that man of himselfe could not possibly think of it for it is invisible it is removed from the eye and this out of a certaine Reverence and if by chance it comes into sight it withdrawes againe naturally for it is the secret of Nature even that which the Philosophers call primus Concubitus This is enough to a wise Artist at least it is all I intend to publish and now Reader farewell Felix qui potuit Rerum cognoscere Causas Atque Metus omnes inexorabile Fetum Subjecit pedibus strepitumque Acherontis avari Illum non populi Fasces non purpura Regum Flectit Infidos agitans discordia Fratres Non Res Romana perituraque Regna neque Ille Aut doluit miserans Inopom aut invidit habenti FINIS Reader THe neglects and omissions of the Presse are so grosse and so many that if it were not for thy sake more then any other consideration the Author would bee ashamed to list them Bee pleased to correct what others have corrupted and for meere peccadillos wee present them not thou hast here onely such Errors as may pervert thy judgment not thy candor In the Epistle Dedicat. pag. 2 lin 8 read I think it a happiness c. ibid. p. 3. l 4. r. Those verses c. in the Epistle to the Reader p. 2. l. 3. r. I am grown in the book it self p. 5. l. 11. dele kind and r. This oâ—â—-worke p 9. l. 22. r. Method p. 10. l. 15. r. That it is not lawfull p. 11. l. 24. r. but by a secret p. 12. l. 9. r. to the greatest effects p. 21. l. 2. rea out of his way c. Bookes Printed or sold by VVilliam Leake at the Crowne in Fleet-stret between the two Temple gates YOrk's Heraldry Bible of a very faire large Roman letter 4. Orlando furioso Callis learned Readings on the Staâ— 23. Hen. 8. Cap. 5. of Sewers Perkins on the Lawes of England Wilkinson office of Sheriffs Vade mecum of a Justice of Peace The booke of Feet Persons Law Mirror of Justice Topicks in the Laws of England Sken de significatione verborum Delamans use of the Horizontal Quadrant Mathematical Recreations Welby second set of Musick 3 4 5 and 6. parts Cordarius in English The Fort Royal of the Scriptures or the Vade mecum Concordance Presenting to the World above an hundred heads of Scripture most of them common places for publâ—que use the second Edition much enlarged Dr. Fulks Meteors Malihus Fire-works Nyrs Guanery and fire works Cain Major with Annoâ—â—tions by Wil. Austin Esquire Mel Heliconium by Alâ—x Rossâ—â— Nosce reipsum by Sir John Davis Annimadversions on Lillyes Grammer The Historie of Vienna and Paris The Spanish Mandevile of Miracles Lazarille de Tormes Christs Passion wâ—â—h Annotat. by G. Sands Hero and Leander by Christopher Marlow and G. Chapman Alcilia or Phiâ—oâ—as loâ—ing â—olly Epigrams divine and moral by Sir Thomas Vâ—chard Mayers Catechisme 8 Exercitatio Scholastica Bishop Andrews Sermons Adoms on Peter Posing of the Accidence Amadis de Gaule Guâ—lliams Heraldrie Herberts Travels Borcas Tales Man become guilty by John Francis Senalt and Enligshed by Henry Earl of Monmoth The Ideot in 4. books the first and second of Wisedome the 3d. of the minde the 4. of Statick Experiments of the Ballance The life and Reign of H. 8. written by the Lord Herbert Cornwallis Essayes and Paradoxes Cleanards greek Grammar 8. Playes Henry the fourth Philaster Maids Tragedie King and no King The grateful Servant The wedding The strange discoverie The Hollander Oâ—â—ello or the Moore of Venice The Marchant of Venice Tragedie of Hoffman
conceale them Had their doctrine been such as the Vniversities profess now their silence indeed had been a vertue but their positions were not meer noyse and Notion they were most deep experimental secrets and those of infinite use and Benefit Such a tradition then as theirs was may wear that style of the noble Verulam and is most justly called traditio Lampadis But I observe that in their deliverie of mysteries they have as in all things else imitated nature who dispenseth nor her light without her shadows they have provided a Veile for their Art not so much for obscuritie as ornament and yet I cannot deny but some of them have rather buried the truth then drest it for my own part I shall observe a meane way neither too obscure nor too open but such as may serve posteritie and add some splendor to the Science it selfe And now whosoever thou art that in times to come shalt cast thine eyes on this book if thou art corrupted with the common Philosophie doe not presently rage and take up the pen in defiance of what is here written It may be thou hast studied thy three questions pro forma and a quick disputant thou art but hast thou concocted the whole body of Philosophie hast thou made nature the onely business of thy life and bast thou arrived at last to an infallible experimental knowledge If none of these things upon what foundation dost thou build It is meer quacking to oppose the dead and such perhaps as thy betters durst not attempt in time of life but as one said that advantage breeds basenes so some may insult because their Adversarie is out of the way and tell mee with that friendly Stoick Audisnê hoc Amphiarae sub terram abdite If any such Tares spring above ground when I am under it I have alreadie looked upon them as an idle contemptible bundle I have prepar'd them a convenient Destinie and by my present Scorn annihilated their future malice It is a better and more serious Generation I would bee serviceable unto Generation that seek nature in the simplicitie thereof and follow her not only with the Tong but with the hand If thou art such then as this Character speakes let me advise thee not to despaire give me leave also to affirm unto thee and that on my soule that the consequences and treasures of this Art are such and so great that thy best and highest wishes are farre short of them reade then with diligence what I shall write and to thy diligence add patience to thy patience hope for I tell thee neither fables nor follies Tibi res Antiquae laudis Artis Aggredior Sanctos ausus recludere fontes I tell thee a Truth as ancient as the fundamentals of the world and now lest my Preface should exceed in Relation to the discourse it selfe which must bee but short I will quit this kind out-work that I may bring thee within doores and here will I shew thee the Throne of Light and the Chrystalline Court thereof Light originally had no other birth then manifestation for it was not made but discovered it is properly the life of every thing and it is that which Acts in all particulars but the communion thereof with the first matter was celebrated by a generall contract before any particulars were made the matter of it self was a passive thin Substance but apt to retaine Light as Smoke is to retaine flame After impregnation it was condens'd to a Chrystalline moisture unctuons and fiery of nature Hermaphroditical and this in a double sense in relation to a double Center Celestial and Terrestrial From the Terrestrial Center proceeded the earthly Venus which is Fierie and Masculine and the earthly Mercury which is Waterie and Faeminine and these two are one against the other From the Celestiall Center proceeded two living Images namely a White and a Red light and the white light setled in the Water but the Red went into the Earth Hence you may gather some infallible signes whereby you may direct your selves in the knowledge of the Matter and in the Operation it selfe when the Matter is knowne For if you have the true Sperm and know withall how to prepare it which cannot bee without our secret fire you shall find that the Matter no soonerseels the Philosophicall heat but the white light will lift himself above the water and there will hee swim in his glorious blew vestiment like the Heavens But that I may speak somthing more concerning the Chaos it self I must tell you it is not rain-water nor dew but it is a subtile mineral moisture a water so extreamly thin and spiritual with such a transcendent incredible brightness there is not in all nature any liquor like it but it self In plain terms it is the middle substance of the wisemen's Mercurie a water that is coagulable and may bee bardned by a proper heat into stones and metals Hence it was that the Philosophers cald it their stone or if it be lawful for mee to reveal that which the Devil out of envie would not discover to Illardus I say they cal'd it a stone to the end that no man might know what it was they cal'd so for there is nothing in the world so remote from the complexion of a stone for it is water and no stone Now what water it is I have told you already and for your better instruction I shal tell you more it is a water made by nature not extracted by the hands of Man nor is it meere water but a spermatic viscous composition of Water Earth Air and Fire all these foure nature unites in one Chrystalline coagulable Mass in the form or appearance of water and therefore I told you it was a water made by nature But if you ask mee how nature may be said to make any such water I shall instruct you by an example that 's obvious Earth and water are the onely materials whereupon nature works for these two being passive are compassed about with the active superior bodies namely with the Aire Heaven Sun and Stars Thus doe they stand in the very fire at least under the Beams and ejaculations thereof so that the Earth is subject to a continual torrefaction and the water to a continuall coction Hence it comes to pass that wee are perpetually overcast with Clouds and this by a Physicall Extraction or sublimation of water which nature herself distils and rains downe upon the earth Now this water though of a different complexion from the Philosopher's Mineral water yet hath it many circumstances that well deserve our observation I shall not insist long upon any I will onely give you one or two instances and then returne to my subject First of all then you are to consider that nature distils not beyond the body as the Chymist doth in the Recipient she drawes the water up from the Earth and to the same earth doth she returne it and hence it is that shee generates
by circular and seasonable imbibitions Secondly you must observe that shee prepares her moisture before shee imbibes the body therewith and that by a most admirable preparation her nethod in this point is very obvious and open to all the World so that if men were not blind I needed not much to speak of it Her water wee see shee rarisies into Clouds and by this meanes doth shee rack and tenter-stretch the body so that all the parts thereof are expos'd to a searching spiritual purgatorie of winde and fire for her wind passeth quite through the Clouds and cleanseth them and when they are well cleansed then comes Heaven in with her Fire and fixeth it in Ente puro Saphirico But this is not all there are other circumstances which nature useth above ground in order to her vegetables and now would I speak of her subterraneous preparations in order to her Minerals but that is not lawfull for mee as it was for the Poet Pandere res altâ terrâ Caligine mersas Howsover I shall not fail to tell thee a considerable truth whoever thou art that studiest this difficult Science The preparation of our Animal and Mineral sperm I speak of the true preparation is a secret upon which God hath laid his Seale and thou mayst not find it in books for it was never intirely written thy best course is to consider the way of nature for there it may bee found but not without reiterated deep and searching meditations If this Attempt fails thee thou must pray for it not that I hold it an easie or a common thing to attaine to Revelations for wee have none in England but God may discover it to thee by some ordinarie and meere natural meanes In a word if thou canst not attaine to the knowledg of it in this life yet shalt thou know it in thy own body when thou art past knowing of it in this Subject but becaus I will not deprive thee of those helps which I may lawfully communicate I tell thee that our preparation is a purgation yet doe not wee purge by common ridiâ—uous sublimations nor the more foolish filtrations by a secret tangible natural fire and hee that knowes this Fire and how to wash with it knowes the key of our Art even our hidden Saturn and the stupendious infernall lavatorie of nature much more could I say concerning this Fire and the proprieties thereof it being one of the highest mysteries of the Creation a subject questionless wherein I might bee voluminous and all the way mysterious for it relates the greatest effects of Magic being the first male of the Mercurie and almost his Mother Consider then the Generation of our Mercurie and how he is made for here lyes the ground of all our secrets It is plain that outwardly wee see nothing but what is grosse for example Earth Water Metals Stones and amongst the better Creatures Man himselfe All these things have a lumpish ineffectual outside but inwardly they are full of a subtil vital limositie impregnated with fire and this nature makes use of in generations wherefore wee call it the sperm For instance sake wee know the body of Man is not his sperm but the sperm is a subtil extraction taken out of his bodie Even so in the great world the bodie or fabric it self is not the seed it is not Earth Water Aire or Fire for these foure if they were put together would bee still four Bodies of different formes Complexions The seed then or first matter is a certaine limositie extracted from these foure for every one of them contributes from its very Center a thin slimie substance and of their several slimes nature makes the sperme by an inessable union and mixture this mixture and composition of slimie principles is that Mass which wee call the first matter it is the Minera of Man whereof God made him in a double image did hee make him in the day that he becam a living soule hence a famous Artisi speaking of the Creation of Adam and alluding to the first matter delivers himself in these terms Creavit Deus Adam de limositate Elementorum scilicet de limositate Terrae Aquae Aeris Ignis vivificavit eum a sole Sancti Spiritus de Luce claritate lumine Mundâ— Have a care then that you mistake not any specified body for the sperm beware of quick-silver Antinomie and all the metals and have nothing to doe with ought that is extracted from metals Beware of Salts Vitriols and everie minor mineral beware of Animals and Vegetables and of every thing that is particular or takes place in the Classis of any knowne species The first matter is a miraculous substance and of which you may affirme contraries without Inconvenience It is very weake and yet most strong it is excessively soft and yet there is nothing so hard It is one and all spirit and body fixt and volatile Male and Female visible and inviflble It is fire and burnes not it is water and wets not it is Earth that runs and Aire that stands still in a word it is Mercurie the laughter of fools and the wonder of the wise nor hath God made any thing that is like him Hee is borne in the VVorld but was extant before the world and hence that excellent Riddle which hee hath somewhere propos'd of himselfe Habito in Montibus in Planitie pater antequam Filius genui matrem meam mater mea sive pater tulit me in matrice sua generans me non opus habens Nutrice I dwell saith hee in the Mountains and in the Plains a Father before I was a Son I generated my Mother and my mother carrying mee in her womb generated mee having no uye for a Nurse This is that substance which at present is the Child of the Sun and Moon but originally both his Parents came out of his Belly Hee is plac'd between two fires and therefore is ever restless Hee growes out of the earth as all vegetables doe and in the darkest night that is receives a light from the starrs and reteins it Hee is attractive at the first because of his horrible emptines and what hee drawes downe is a Prisoner for ever hee hath in him a thick fire by which hee captivates the Thin and he is both Artist and matter to himselfe In his first appearance he is neither earth nor water neither solid nor fluid but a substance without all forme but what is universal hee is visible but of no certaine colour for Chamaelion-like hee puts on all colours and there is nothing in the world hath the same figure with him when hee is purg'd from his Accidents hee is a water colourd with fire deep to the sight and as it were swollen and he hath something in him that resembles a commotion in a vaporous heate hee opens his belly and discovers an azure Heaven ting'd with a milkie light within this coelum hee hides a little Sun a