of the resurrection of naturall things.
the raising again of naturall things.t
he resurrection, and renewing of naturall things, is not the least, but a profound, and great secret in the nature of things, and rather divine, and angelicall, then humane, and naturall.
i desire to bee here understood with great distinction, and no otherwise then my opinion is, and nature doth daily, and manifestly shew, and experience make good, lest i should bee exposed to the lies,[pg 52] and slanders of mountebankes, my enemies (which doe construe all that i doe in the worst sense) as if i would usurp the divine power, and attribute this to nature, which shee was never able to performe: wherefore wee must cautiously consider that there is a twofold death, viz. violent, and voluntary. death is twofold. the one can raise a thing again, the other not. wherefore, doe not beleeve those sophisters that say, that a thing that is once dead, or mortified, can never bee raised again, and that make no account of resuscitation, and restauration of things, which error indeed of theirs is not the least. and indeed it is true, that whatsoever dyeth, or perisheth with a naturall death, and what nature mortifies by reason of her predestination, god alone can raise again, or must of necessity bee done by his command: so whatsoever nature destroyes, man cannot restore again. what things may be raised againe.but whatsoever man destroyes hee can restore again, and being restored spoil again, and man hath no further power of himselfe, and if hee should attempt to doe any thing more, hee would arrogate the power of god to himselfe, and yet hee would labour in vain, and be confounded, unlesse god did assist him, or hee had so much faith as to remove mountains: even to such a man, this is possible, and greater things then this. because the scripture saith, and christ himselfe spake it. if thou hast faith as a grain of mustard-seed, and saist unto this mountaine, goe and bee removed thither, and it shall bee removed, and all things bee possible to thee, and nothing impossible.
but to return to our purpose, what difference then there is betwixt dying, and being mortified, and[pg 53] which of these may be raised again, so these are to bee understood. whatsoever naturally dies hath its end by predestination, and so the will and ordination of god permits. what things can not be raised againe.yet it happens that this is also done by divers diseases, and various casualties, and this can never be raised again, neither is there any preservative to bee used against predestination, and the naturall term of life. but that which is mortified, may bee both raised again, and revived, which may bee proved by divers arguments, which wee shall set down in the end of this book.
it is one thing to dye, and other thing to be mortified.
wherefore there is a great difference betwixt dying, and being mortified, neither must they bee taken for one, and the same things, under the same name. for in the very example they are far different. for look upon a man that dies a naturall, and predestinated death, what further good, or profit is there in him? nothing, hee is only cast into the earth to worms. for hee is a stinking carkasse, and due to the earth.
but the same is not to be understood of a man that is slain with a sword, or dies by some such like violent death. for his whole body is profitable, and good, and may bee prepared into a most pretious mummie. for although the spirit of life went out of such a body, yet the balsome in which lies the life remains, which indeed doth as balsome preserve other mens bodies.
so you may see in metalls, when a metall is about to die, it begins to bee overcome with rust, and as much as is thus overcome, is dead: and when all the metall is devoured with rust, it is all dead, and such a rust can never bee reduced into true metall againe,[pg 54] but it becomes only drosse, and not a metall. for it is dead, and death is in it, neither hath it any more balsome of life, but is quite destroyed in it selfe.
the difference betwixt the calx of metalls, and their ashes.
now the calx of metalls, and their ashes are two things: and there is a great difference betwixt these two, for one may be revived, and brought back again into a metall, but the other not: the one is volatile, the other fixed, the one died, the other mortified.
what the ashes of metalls is.
the ashes is volatile, and cannot be brought back into a metall, only into glasse, and drosse: but the calx of metals is fixed, and maybe be brought back into its own metall.
what the calx of metalls is.
but to understand the difference, and the cause, know, that in the ashes there is lesse fatnesse, and more drynesse then in the calx, which indeed makes it fluxil: but the calx is fatter, and moister, then the ashes, and doth still retain its refine, and fluxibleness, and especially the salt, which naturally is fluxil, and makes metalls flow, and reduceth them. hence now it follows, that the salt must bee extracted out of the ashes of metals, that they may not be brought back into a metal, then they are perfectly volatile; and this difference, and this clause is chiefly to bee taken notice of, for much depends upon it.
the errours of mountebankes concerning gold.
for amongst mountebankes this is no small error, who in stead of potable gold, the quintessence of gold, tincture of gold, &c. have given to men an impure calx of gold, not considering the difference, and evill that follows upon it. for there are two remarkable, and necessary things to be taken notice of here, viz.
[pg 55]
first, that gold calcined, or powdered, if it be given to men, is gathered into one heap in the stomach, or goeth forth again with the dung, and so it is taken in vain, without doing any good: or that which is reduced by the great inward heat in mans body, it gilds over, and makes hard in a crust, both the bowells, and stomach, by reason of which the concoction of the stomach is hindred, whence many, and various sicknesses follow, and at length death it selfe.
when metallike arcana are to be taken inwardly.
as you have heard of gold, so also must it bee understood of all the other metalls, viz. that you take not any metallick arcanum, or medicine into your body, unlesse it bee first made volatile, and it be reduced into no metall.
how to make metalls potable and irreducible.
wherefore the first degree, and beginning to prepare potable gold is this: so may such a volatile bee afterwards dissolved in spirit of wine, that both may ascend together, bee made volatil, inseparable. and as you prepare gold, so may you also prepare potable ? ♀ ♂ ? ? and ?.
the raising againe of things is proved by the whelpes of a lyon.
but to return to our purpose, let us prove by examples, and sufficient reasons, that things mortified are not dead, and forced to abide in death, but may bee reduced, raised again, and revived, and this truly by man, and according to the course of nature. you see lions how all of them are brought forth dead, and first of all are made alive by the horrible roaring of their parents, as one that is asleep is raised with a noise, how lyons are made alive againe.so also are lions raised, not that they are thus asleep. (for they which sleep a naturall sleep must of necessity rise again, which the lions of themselves doe not.) for if they were not raised[pg 56] by this roaring, they would remain dead, and life would never bee perceived in them. wherefore it is apparent, that by this roaring they receive their life.
the reviving of dead flies.
so also you see in all animalls which are not ingendered, but proceed from putrefaction, as flies, which if they bee drowned in water, that no life at all is perceived in them, and if they were so left, they would continue dead, and never return to life of themselves any more. but if you cast salt upon them, and put them in the warme sunne, or behind a warme furnace, they will recover their former life, and this truly is a raising of them up againe. for if this were not done, they would continue dead for ever.
the generation of many serpents of one.
so also you see in a serpent, if hee be cut into pieces, and these pieces put into a gourd glasse, and bee putrefied in horse-dung, the whole serpent will become living againe in the glasse, in the form either of worms, or spawn of fishes. and if those wormes bee in a fitting manner brought out of putrefaction, and nourished, many hundred serpents will be bred out of one serpent, whereof every one will be as big as the first, which is done only by putrefaction. and as it is said of the serpent, so also many other animalls may be raised, and restored again.
hermes, and virgils endeavour to raise themselves after death.
according to this processe hermes, and virgil have attempted (by the assistance of negromancy) to renew, and raise themselves after death, and to bee born again as infants, but it succeeded not according to their purpose.
[pg 57]
the resuscitation of metalls is twofold.
but to omit examples, and fall upon the praxis of resurrection, and restauration, it is necessary, and most convenient to begin with metalls, forasmuch as metalline bodies do oftentimes resemble mens bodies.
the reducing of metalls into quickesilver.
wee must know therefore, that the resurrection, and restauration of metalls is twofold. the one which doth reduce calcined metalls into their first metallick body: the other which doth reduce metalls into their first matter, i.e. into quicksilver.
the processe of the latter is this: calcine a metall with common quicksilver, put this calx, and as much quicksilver into a sublimatory, and let them stand so long till both be coagulated into an amalgama; then sublime the mercury from the calx, then grind it again with the metallick calx, and sublime it as before, this do so often, till the metallick calx shal over a candle melt like wax, or ice, and then it is well done. put this metall in digestion for a time, and it wil all be turned into quicksilver, i.e. into its first matter, which mercury of metalls is indeed called the mercury of philosophers, which many alchymists have sought after, but few have found. now after this manner may quicksilver bee prepared out of all metalls, viz. ? auri, ? ♀ ♂ ? ?.
the reduction of sublimate, and the highest purging of it.
now the raising again, or restoring of coagulated mercury is done by distillation in a retort: for quicksilver alone ascends into cold water, the ashes of ? ♀ or sulphur being left behind.
now the raising again, or restauration of mercury sublimed is done in seething hot water: but it must first be ground very small, so the hot water wil seperates it[pg 58] from it the spirit of salt, and vitriall, which it carries up with it, the quicksilver running in the bottome of the water. now if this quicksilver shall be again sublimed with salt, and vitriall, and revived againe in hot water, and this done seven, or eight times, it can never bee better purged, and renewed.
and this may bee kept for a great secret in alchymie, and physick, and be much rejoiced in. for by this means all the impurity, blacknesse, and poisonousnesse is taken away.
the reduction of calcined and precipitated mercury.
mercury calcined can never bee restored againe without sublimation; for unlesse it be sublimed after calcination, it will never bee revived, wherefore thou shalt first sublime it, and then reduce it as other sublimate.
the resuscitation of azure cinnabar, aurum vit?, also of precipitate, that they may bee reduced into quicksilver is thus:
take either of these, grind it small upon a marble, make it up into a past with the white of an egge, and sope, then make pills of the bigness of filbeards, which put into a strong earthen gourd, upon the mouth of it put a plate of iron, with many little holes in it, and lute it on, and distill it per descensum with a strong fire, so that it may fall into cold water, and thou shalt have the quicksilver again.
the renewing of wood that is burnt.
now the resuscitation, and restoring of wood is hard, and difficult, yet possible to nature, but without much skilfulness, and industry it can never bee done: but to revive it, the processe is this:
[pg 59]
take wood which must first bee a coale, then ashes, which put into a gourd together with the resine, liquor, and oyle of that tree, of each a like weight, mingle them, and melt them with a soft heat, and there will bee a mucilaginous matter, and so thou hast the three principles, of which all things are produced, and generated, viz. flegm, fatnesse, and ashes.
the flegme of wood is its mercury, the fat its sulphur, the ashes its salt.
the flegm is mercury, the fat is sulphur, the ashes is salt. for whatsoever fumes, and evaporates in the fire is mercury: whatsoever flames, and is burnt is sulphur, and all ashes is salt.
now seeing thou hast these three principles together, put them in horse-dung, and putrefie them for a time. if afterward that matter bee put in, and buried in fat ground, thou shalt see it live again, and a little tree spring from thence, which truly in vertue is farre more excellent then the former. this tree or wood is, and is called regenerated wood, renewed, and restored, which from the beginning was wood, but mortified, destroyed, and brought into coales, ashes, and almost to nothing, and yet out of that nothing is made, and renewed. this truly in the light of nature is a great mystery, viz. that a thing, which had utterly lost its form, and was reduced to nothing, should recover its form, and of nothing bee made something, which afterward becomes much more excellent in vertue, and efficacy then it was at first.
a generall rule for raising of things againe.
but to speake generally of the resurrection, and restauration of naturall things, you must know, that the chiefest foundation here, is, that that bee restored[pg 60] to every thing, and made to agree with it, which was taken from it in mortification, and separated from it, which is hard to bee here specifically explained. wherefore wee shall conclude this book, and shall speak of these things more at large in the next book, concerning the transmutations of naturall things.
