Detail from the frontispiece of the 1709 Amsterdam edition

of Thomas Bromley’s ‘Way to the Sabbath of Rest’,

John Pordage’s ‘fellow laborer‘ in the Boehmian ‘Philadelphian Society’.

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Today’s sharing from the Blue House of Via-HYGEIA is another gift that echoes our Johann Grasshoff post, as the theme is also the Stone of Wisdom and the method to realize it. It follows, as an appendix, the famous and influential, ‘A Philosophical Epistle on the True Stone of Wisdom, to One who is Earnestly Digging‘ (Jane Leade) published in Friederisch Roth-Stolzen famous German alchemical anthology in 3 volumes, ‘Ein Deutsches Theatrum Chemicum‘ in Silesian Herrenstadt in 1728 (starting date of publication); here the excerpt is from volume 1, from page 589 to 596. A Via-HYGEIA English translation from the German version, as the English original manuscripts were lost, alike Thomas Bromley post-trilogy manuscripts. So this is a ‘coming home‘ for this text !

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On the Natural & Philosophical Mixture of the Seeds;
Whereby is shown how one may prepare the Philosophers’ Stone and use the same.

1. First, the required circumstances must be learned by which the seeds interpenetrate one another; without which no true generation can ever take place. Nothing else is required but that both seed-tinctures must necessarily be mixed together and must coagulate into one, by means of the intimate interpenetration of one into the other, so that the outer man may be brought forth into this visibility. Concerning this, Job speaks: ‘Hast thou not poured me out like milk, and curdled me like cheese?‘ (Job 10:10).

2. These seeds, now being uniformly changed and thereby grown together into a lump through the inclination implanted in them by the Spirit of this World, conceive and grow in the mother’s womb, as in a furnace. Therein they are cooked and matured, preserved and nourished, until they emerge in the form of a perfect child. Here, nothing more is to be done than to seal the womb with the Seal of Hermes and, in truth, to leave the sealed womb to its own life. Now the seeds quicken themselves and form from themselves a body of flesh, a living soul, and a life-perfecting spirit. No further labor or art is required from the father of the male seed or the mother of the female seed or womb, than that they are brought together, and after they are brought together, they are left to mix with one another and then leave them; and after they have been left, place them together in their proper vessel, namely the womb, and let them there carry out their own generative work.

3. If they are sealed in their own glass furnace with the Hermetic seal, and with a gentle fire, day and night, with a constant and even temperature, nourished and sustained by the external and central fire and warmth of the womb, then at the end of the due time a young, living child will emerge, which will break the furnace and bring itself forth to the joy of the father and the mother. Then they are of a new kinship: and then we give the man and woman a new name; for as soon as the child is born, he is made a father, and she a mother.

4. You, therefore, who seek this earthly philosophy, who seek the outer tincture and the outer seed, which should be the matter of the outer Stone and transform and perfect the imperfect metals; allow me to present this mixture of the seeds in the mother’s womb to you as a model. I believe that an outer Stone, belonging to this outer world, which may be made by art, can transform the outer metals. But here, a true process is placed before your eyes.

5. Know only the seeds and matter of your Stone. Know only your male and your female, your man and your wife, your king and queen; and know the seeds of your Stone, whether they are generative seeds, or of a generative power; and not dead seeds, but endowed with a living breath and urge: the male seed with the male urge, and the female with the female. For if your seeds do not have their living urge within them, you could never generate.

6. Then, however, if your seed is a generating, begetting seed, prepare them with one another in number, weight, and measure: then you will see them flow into one another, with great desire and longing embrace one another, and go over into a single coagulated lump.

7. Then recognize your proper birthplace and matrix. I mean your furnace, the philosophical furnace: and seal it with the seal of secrecy. And within it, let them be cooked by their own central fire from within, and by the philosophical fire from without: then they will become one, and in their own due time, form the Stone-child for you, without any foul vapors, and present the same to you for your great joy.

8. All these mysteries the philosopher must know: and if he lacks even one, the Stone will result in a miscarriage. This is what makes the formation of the Stone so difficult, and why there are so many miscarriages even among the philosophers themselves. If they knew these circumstances, it would be as easy for them to form and complete the Stone, as it is for a coarse farmer or a maid to help produce a child. Give them only a maid, and they will, through the communal union of their bodies, without any academic lecture or instruction, bring forth a child. They will make no secret of bringing forth a secret, which is just as great, and greater, than it is for any philosopher to form the Philosophical Stone.

9. For concerning this work of generating or begetting a child, one would marvel more than at the greatest work in the world—that one could bring forth an image like oneself—if it were not so common; but because it is so common and happens so daily, and men know the manner and way of forming this miraculous work, almost no one would hold it for a wonder. However, if the matter, the place, and the mingling of the seeds together were not known, or were kept secret and hidden among only a few; then one would undoubtedly marvel at the formation of a child with the highest astonishment.

10. Thus, if the Stone itself, its seeds and its matter, as well as its furnace, its fire, and its mixtures, were commonly known in number, weight, and measure; then it would be as common a recipe, and of as little regard, as the formation of a child in the mother’s body is now.

11. It is certain that there is a transforming Stone, which belongs to the adornment of the Sixth Day of Creation: and it is therefore indisputable, that the living generating seed or sperm is to be found by the true Philosophers in the vegetable, mineral, and animal kingdoms. But in extracting the seed through fire from plants, animals, and minerals, the generative property is destroyed and lost. Then, O you Philosophers, is your labor in vain.

12. There is an easier and nearer way, which teaches that you take your living seeds, with their begetting, generating power from the matrix and vessel of the One Indivisible Element, and from the dust of Paradise, I mean from the Paradisiacal Earth; then you may, without any artificial fire, extract therefrom living seeds with their generative and begetting tincture.

13. Then go (if you will) to a White Philosopher, and he will show you its proper use. But to whom shall you show this White Philosopher? Would you entrust the matter, which is extracted from the ground and dust of Paradise, to another than yourself? Therefore you must know that your own Philosopher is within yourself: He is your brother, he is your inner and eternal Paradisiacal Man. He, yes he alone, is the White Philosopher. This, your now confused Philosopher, must be helped again: and after he is prepared for a new or other birth, you must place him into Paradise itself; for he knows the way there. And let him remain within for a time; then he will quickly recognize the Chemical Art; and after he has learned it, the Stone will be prepared by you two brothers, as the outer and inner man, for a great joy and comfort, without all toil and labor.

14. I have no need to warn you that I must guard the outer man from deception; and keep the Stone secret, and praise and glorify God. I fear to deceive anyone; nor to misuse anyone. He who has ears to hear, let him hear! I speak to a disciple. For the true man is the Philosopher who makes the Stone, who is an upright imitator of Nature. But if the outer man wants to be a Philosopher and a Chemist, before and until the work of rebirth is carried out and completed in him, then he is a false Philosopher and an unredeemed Chemist; and I protest, and say: he is not my brother; for he is no disciple of Wisdom!

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Source

German Text

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Appendix:

‘A Little Catechism

of the Inner Stone’,

(to help assimilate the essence of the above text)

Master: What is the first principle of the Great Work?

Disciple: That the two seeds—the male and the female, the inner king and queen—must be known in their living essence. They must not be dead extracts, but endowed with their own generative breath and longing.

Master: How are these seeds to be conjoined?

Disciple: They must be prepared in true number, weight, and measure, and brought together in the sealed vessel. Then, by their own innate desire, they will flow into one another and coagulate into a single lump, as milk curdles into cheese.

Master: What is the sealed vessel?

Disciple: It is the philosophical furnace, the womb of the work. It is the inner matrix, sealed with the Seal of Hermes, which is the seal of secrecy and containment.

Master: What fire is to be applied?

Disciple: A twofold fire: the gentle, constant, philosophical fire from without, and the fierce, vivifying Central Fire from within. By these, the united seed is cooked, nourished, and brought to maturity.

Master: What is the product of this regimen?

Disciple: The Stone-Child, a living being of perfect nature, which in its own due time breaks the vessel and presents itself. This birth establishes a new kinship and gives new names: he who was a seeker becomes a Father; she who was matter becomes a Mother.

Master: Where are the living seeds to be found? Not in common matter?

Disciple: No. Though the generative sperm exists in all three kingdoms, extracting it by vulgar fire destroys its virtue. The true, living seed with its uniting tincture must be drawn from the One Indivisible Element, from the dust of the Paradisiacal Earth, without artificial violence.

Master: Who then shall instruct the Disciple in its use?

Disciple: The White Philosopher, who is not an outer man but an inner brother. He is the eternal Paradisiacal Man within, who knows the way back to the source. The Disciple must help this inner Philosopher to awaken, learn from him, and with him, as two brothers, complete the Work.

Master: What is the final warning?

Disciple: To guard against deception. The outer man, before the inner rebirth is complete, is a false philosopher and an unredeemed chemist. The Stone must remain secret, and God praised. The Work is for the disciple who has ears to hear, for few are true imitators of Nature.

Master: So mote it be.

Disciple: So mote it be.

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Important Note

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You can find John Pordage’s

‘A Philosophical Epistle on the True Stone of Wisdom,

to One who is Earnestly Digging‘ (Jane Leade) here

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