"Liber Secretisimus" starts from almost the very beginning of the work (unlike most of his texts, which start with some of the operations already completed and not explained or pointed out to the reader), and it clearly says it's "three several and distinct" (i.e. separate) substances, not "one". The interaction between these three substances gives rise to the so-called "one thing" (which is really a complex compound of these 3 matters, not any "one thing only" in a true literal sense) that will give all the "mercuries/waters/oils" and solids (after its destructive distillation, which he also describes there) that will be used in making the Stone.
Of which I was one of the main transcribers & proof-readers. I don't recall what "method" you have in mind, though.
The "Accurtations" does indeed reveal (by logical implications, not by direct statements) that the "Green Lion" can be prepared without dissolution in vinegar (whether acetic acid or some other acid menstruum is meant by this name; in the "Marrow of Alchemy" he clearly refers to other acid solvents that can also be used in some of the preparations, so Ripley used in fact several acids in his various manners of operating.) Notice, therefore, that it is neither wood nor soot, as you think, since these matters do not dissolve in such acid liquors (at least certainly not in vinegar) and do not form any "green gum", which "gum" will then be destructively distilled into the several substances he describes in many of his works. The "Green Lion" here is a composite material itself already, even without dissolution in a separate acid menstruum. But Ripley does not explain anything about its composition in that text. For that you need to look into "Liber Secretisimus", the only one of his works where he gives some info regarding this crucial subject.
Accurtations:
13 By another way & practise do thus. Take the green
14 lion, without distillation in vinegar & put him in a great
15 earthen retort which can endure the fire & put it to distill after
16 the same way & manner as they distill aqua fort, putting thereto
17 a receiver & luting well the joints, that it breath not forth.
18 Then first distill with a gentle fire, until thou seest white
19 fumes appear, then change the receiver closing it well
20 & so distill with a great fire as they distill aqua fortis, & so
21 continue it for 24 hours. If thou continuest thy fire
22 for 8 days, thou shall always see the receiver full of
23 white fumes, & so shall thou have the blood of the green
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1 lion, which we call a secret water, &
most sharp vinegar, by the
2 which all bodies are reduced to their first matter, & all infirmi-
3 ties are driven away from the bodies of men, & it is our fire burn-
4 ing always in one continued manner whithin the glass vessel &
5 not without, & our dunghill, our aqua vite; our balneum; our grape-
6 shell, our horse belly, the which operates wonderful things in
7 the works of nature & is the examen or trial of all bodies
8 dissolved, & not dissolved;
& is an acute water carrying the fire
9 in its belly, as a fiery water, else it would not have powery to
10 dissolve bodies into the first matter. Also it is our mercury,
11 our sol, our lune which we use in our work. The farther may
12 thou shall find in the bottom of the vessel, black feces like coals
13 the which thou shall calcine with a gentle fire for the space of
14 eight days, & in a stronger & more acute fire, other
15 eight days. & so continue until they come to the whiteness
16 of snow; or calcine them thrice in a potter's furnace in the
17 hottest place of the furnace even to a whiteness, & so keep
18 all things apart, therefore now, when thou hast thy calx
19 altogether nor wholy apart or separately,
Key to the Golden Gate:
18 Of the operative part.
19 Take
20 in the name of god adrop, the green lyon, which I have
21 afore mentioned, & dissolve it in aq. vite for the space of three
22 days, stirring it well thrice every day & let it be well
23 mixed, then separate the feces thrice by balneum. Afterwards
24 evaporate the aq. vite with a gentle fire until it be as
Page 23
1 thick as milk, the which then pour out & keep. On this wise
2 must thou dissolve 12 pounds of the green lyon. Then hast
3 thou the earth of earth, the earths brother, of which the philosophers
4 have made so much mention. Put 3 pounds(?) of this milk into a
5 glass the form whereof is here described in the margin. Then
6 put it half ways in a furnace filled with most fine sand, yet
7 with this caution, that the glass be two fingers distant from the
8 bottom & the sides. Then kindle at first a most gentle fire,
9 put too a receiver, the which you must not as yet lute on, &
10 after some few hours there will distill over a certain mild in-
11 sipid water; now when there ascends a certain white fume,
12 adjoin a new receiver, most long & most large, lute it on
13 with the very best wax or lute thou canst get, or otherwise
14 the spirits will pass out, the which spirits are most of all necess-
15 ary for us in this work; The fume will tinge the receiver
16 with a certain thick & milkysh moisture, the which is called
17 argent vive, wherewith also ascends a most red oil, the
18 wich also is called by the philosophers aëreal gold, a stinking
19 menstruum, the gold of the philosophers our tincture, aqua ardens,
20 the blood of the green lyon, our unctuous humidity, the which is
21 the ultimate consolation of the body of man in this life, the
22 mercury of philosophers, the solutive water, the which dissolves
23 gold with the conservation of its species & hath many
24 other innumerable names. This distillation thou shall
Page 24
1 continue, from the first appearance of the white fume, even unto 12
2 hours time, & then cease.
Then take off the receiver & shut
3 it firmely with wax artificial, that for the spirits breath not forth &
4 be lost. & thus shall thou have the blood of the green lyon, the which
5 we call our secret water & most sharp vinacre, whereby all bodies
6 may be reduced into their first matter, & also the bodies of many
7 men may be purged from many infirmities. This is our fire burn-
8 ing always equally & with one measure within the glass & not without.
9 This is our dunghill, our aqua vite, our balneum, our belly of an horse
10 which operates & produceth many wonderful things in the secret
11 workmanship of its nature. For it is the examination of all bodies
12 dissolved, & not dissolved; & hot and moyst viz. a most sharp wa-
13 ter, carrying fire in its belly (*) Senior saith. When anyone
14 would extract this divine water, which is fire, let him heat it
15 with its own fire, the which fire is water, the which water they
16 have mensurated even to an end, & have hidden by reason
17 of the indiscretion of fools. And all the philosophers have sworn
18 concerning this thing, that they will not write it clearly in
19 any place. But they have attributed the glorie unto god omnipo-
20 tent, who reveals to whom he wills, & forbids it from whom
21 he will, because that in it lies a great sophisme & obscurity.
22 This therefore doth not operate actually nor potentialy, but in
23 pulsance or power unto ad(?); the which notwithstanding is to be assist-
24 ed with its own like, & this is said to be natural, and thus
25 hast thou the philosophical key to open every metal
Concordancy:
6 The Composition of a most sharp Acetum
7 vegetable, by George Ripley
8 Take the tartar of most strong wine & calcine it into
9 a colourness. Take of this calcined tartar one pound, that
10 being powdered put it in a great Porcelain cucurbit, where-
11 upon pour half a cup of spirit of wine or somewhat
12 more, close the mouth well, & let them stand in cold water
13 24 hours. Then put to a receiver & distill in Balneum with a gentle
14 fire, that so that it will distillate & then will ascend a
15 certain phlegma, that which you must distinguish by taste. Then
16 let it cool. And again put to the aforesaid tartar new
17 sprit of wine in the same quantity as afore, doing in all
18 respects as before. The whole work thou must repeat 15
19 times, & if thou will an hundreds. But when you open the
20 glas in the same all imbibitions about all thing beware
21 of the sustain odour of this adept fire.
Accurtations:
Put one ounce
16 of thy calx in the egg of the Gryphon, & put thereupon as much
17 of the tincture as it may be as it were covered, & shut the
18 vessel & so let it stand for the space of 8 days in a cold place,
19 & at the end of the time it will be thirsty, then give it more
20 drink as afore, & do as was aforesaid by the space of 8 days
21 & so continue from 8 days to 8 days until it will
22 drink up no more of its tincture, letting it thus stand in a
23 cold place until it becomes as black as pitch, then put
24 it in a natural balneum; & let it so stand until the humi-
Page 15
1 dity be fixed with the earth, the which will become as white
2 as snow. This done, thou maist divide it into two parts, keep-
3 ing one part for the white work, & the other part for the red
4 work,
