Note that ICH and Hermetic Recreations are quite obscure, and their descriptions of the subjects do not seem to me, in some aspects, to agree with the descriptions given by Cyliani and Zadkiel, even the latter borrowing his procedure from Hermetic Recreations, a fact that leads me to believe that, apparently, the first pair deal with the same subject, while the other two deal with another subject.
I think they're all using the same matter, the same "Adamic Earth". Cyliani explicitly mentions it can be found everywhere, although in various forms. Most authors agree that it is of a metallic/mineral nature, that is to say, partaking of both natures and yet somehow being neither. What a mindfuck!
Gerbant (a Cyliani follower), in his letter to "Mr. Magain in Metz ", while appearing to be very open, is cleverly veiling everything with cyphers within cyphers.
an immediate dissolution of the matter, as mentioned in the symbolism of the fight between Basil Valentine's two combatants.
I believe this refers to the so-called "short/dry path" of Fulcanelli. It can indeed be dangerous, toxic, violent and even explosive, even if we add the moderating middle-matter. This is NOT the Old Way of Hermes Trismegistus, who explicitly wrote (in the Emerald Tablet) that the separation must occur GENTLY. Additionally, this path (so I've heard) is not as powerful as the classical, gentle one.
There's also the so-called "Royal Path", using one matter only, without any added solvents or "secret fires" that are "taken from elsewhere than from the matter" (Pontanus). We grab one (chemically simple) material and take it to the toilet to make the first separation. The material is so constipated, just the efforts to defecate will trigger an Out-of-Body experience.
Although the underlying principles are always the same, in all paths.
The Alchemic Test by Fire has nothing to do with Centigrade or Fahrenheit.
Anyone that thinks that the Alchemic Test by Fire has something to do with heat is so far removed from the Great Work that I strongly doubt they will ever see a drop of Quintessence.
I've already commented on this very strange claim, see my quotes below:
Black claimed that QE should not be heated above 80℃. While this may be true for the "Soul" part of this alchemical trinity, it is a complete falsehood WRT a "fully baked" QE, composed of the two more volatile Principles fixed on their own pure, inert, fire-proof/refractory Earth body, rendering the QE fixed and fusible yet stable even at high temperatures.
A "fully baked" QE can also be volatile, but will always be fully homogeneous and distillable as one. The claim that a true, complete QE can "split" above a certain temperature is ridiculous. It either remains fixed as one thing or fully sublimes as one thing, leaving nothing behind.
