What is the Prima Materia?

[Merovee]

Hi,
If it doesn't bother you too much, let me say something more serious about it:

It is by no means wrong to speak of water here, in a way it is, because IT IS THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS, the matrix of all life, and as Kirschweger wrote, it is quite certain that all nature was water in the beginning, that everything was created from water, and that likewise everything must be destroyed by water. But we should know, actually, it is something that is in that water, something that forms its essence.

Well, some of the alchemists say that the basis of our work is the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and it did not only make the simple-minded hop across the meadow in the morning with an eyedropper in the hand and pick up the dew. But we, to use Philaletes again, are not deceived, for we are eyewitnesses and know the truth.

So, I will summarise it again briefly: What we have to look for is a power enclosed in a mineral earth or salt whose essence, form and structure is that of water. It is a fiery water of earthly nature, but of heavenly origin, it is our Balneum Mariae, the meaning of which is always misunderstood, but which carries within it a power (aqua forte permanens of the alchemists) far superior to ordinary fire.

If you read the texts very carefully and very attentively, you will inevitably come to the following conclusion: What we are to seek and take is a certain salt, in this salt is the nature of water, and in this in turn is hidden a fire. We must, in order to bring out the water, transform the salt into it, and the water we then have, we finally transform into a fire. So, we actually have three questions: What salt? How do I turn it into water? How do I get the fire from it? These questions cannot be answered one after the other, because each one conditions the others, so they have to be solved interdependently and together.
It seems that some people here already know the key to the necessary work (at least they mention it all the time), I hope they can also apply it...

 

[Jimmy Rig]

Hi Merovee,

I personally am very interested in water as the best subject to learn from and work with. I have been experimenting solely with water for about a year now with the exception of plant elixirs. John French and the Golden chain helped me to see the significance. I have made some surprising observations such as the development of a gur via fermentation of dew, rain or groundwater. The different waters that can be obtained from the starting water are interesting to me and have differing pH values (opposites) volatile is at one end and the less volatile at the other. The least volatile earthly water can be made into a salt and vica versa. Past this I seem to be stuck with how to move forward, just being honest here. I do find the observation of JF (quoting someone else's experiment) where a plant was placed in dried soil of 200lbs I believe, and was very small, grew to a weight of 169lbs and the soil had only lost like 2 ounces of its original weight simply by adding water.

Water is the matrix, light is the fire, well so it seems to me atleast. Water can concentrate it into life forms and allows them to hold onto this essence perhaps with salt as a helper.

I found it interesting as a child how the earth grows year after year (top soil) from the seasonal rains, sunlight and growth /death of biological activity. We had horses and I literally saw over the course of say a decade our property change via the alchemical process of the horses eating the grass. It would have happened without the horses, but they sped it up.

I had a dream last night of finding an old flask shaped like a snowman (large round bottom with a slightly smaller sphere on top and regular opening above that) which had some water left in it for an untold amount of time. It was in the crawlspace of the house we just moved out of. I found it in a box and was very excited because I had forgotten all about it and had gotten some old experiments back. I then noticed that what was water before had congealed into a brownish earth, circularly encrusted at the bottom of the vessel. I then picked a focal point In the middle of the material and struck it with.. my eyes? I am not sure what the proper terminology here is(a hidden light?). Immediately I witnessed a small pool of red liquid in the middle and it then began to splot in various places the patch of dried water. It looked like blood. The dream then jumped to me licking a few drops of it off the side of my hand, between the thumb and index finger but closer to the wrist, like the salt licking maneuver of a tequila shot and it did not have any particular taste. Then I had another dream that I do not remember any visuals but a message simply stated "royalty is protected" whatever that means.

This was strange as I had not spent too much time thinking on these matters the day or two prior as we were very busy packing and moving.
I just thought I would mention it while it is fresh, it seems like it was significant for me but perhaps it is just my subconscious playing on the echo chambers of my own waking thoughts.



Thanks for the post Merovee.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

*snip*

I had a dream last night of finding an old flask shaped like a snowman (large round bottom with a slightly smaller sphere on top and regular opening above that) which had some water left in it for an untold amount of time.

*snap*

Hi Jimmy Rig,

Could it be that what you dreamt of was a so-called pelican flask?



Actually, I have one of these guys for real. I got it from here [link broken] and I absolutely love it!

Cheers
Michael

 

[black]

Hi,
If it doesn't bother you too much, let me say something more serious about it:

It is by no means wrong to speak of water here, in a way it is, because IT IS THE BEGINNING OF ALL THINGS, the matrix of all life, and as Kirschweger wrote, it is quite certain that all nature was water in the beginning, that everything was created from water, and that likewise everything must be destroyed by water. But we should know, actually, it is something that is in that water, something that forms its essence.

Well, some of the alchemists say that the basis of our work is the dew of heaven and the fatness of the earth, and it did not only make the simple-minded hop across the meadow in the morning with an eyedropper in the hand and pick up the dew. But we, to use Philaletes again, are not deceived, for we are eyewitnesses and know the truth.

So, I will summarise it again briefly: What we have to look for is a power enclosed in a mineral earth or salt whose essence, form and structure is that of water. It is a fiery water of earthly nature, but of heavenly origin, it is our Balneum Mariae, the meaning of which is always misunderstood, but which carries within it a power (aqua forte permanens of the alchemists) far superior to ordinary fire.

If you read the texts very carefully and very attentively, you will inevitably come to the following conclusion: What we are to seek and take is a certain salt, in this salt is the nature of water, and in this in turn is hidden a fire. We must, in order to bring out the water, transform the salt into it, and the water we then have, we finally transform into a fire. So, we actually have three questions: What salt? How do I turn it into water? How do I get the fire from it? These questions cannot be answered one after the other, because each one conditions the others, so they have to be solved interdependently and together.
It seems that some people here already know the key to the necessary work (at least they mention it all the time), I hope they can also apply it...

What you have written here Merovee tells a very, very good story.

 

[Blacksmith]

what is the function of this type of bottle?

 

[Jimmy Rig]

*snip**snap*

Hi Jimmy Rig,

Could it be that what you dreamt of was a so-called pelican flask?

Hi Michael,

I am familiar with the pelican style flasks and actually considered purchasing the model you linked but held off. I am considering purchasing one now that I hear you have had a positive experience. The flask in my dream was similar but without the side channels and the mouth between lower and upper chambers was larger in circumference. Definitely like a snowman that was missing his head. I do like that this piece you posted has the 24/40 connection which matches my equipment. Cheers

 

[Michael Sternbach]

what is the function of this type of bottle?

It is typically used for circulation, a type of reflux: The vapor from the liquid in the lower part of the apparatus condenses in the upper part and flows back down into its source. As the process repeats itself over and over, the original substance is being refined and exalted in alchemical understanding.

A circulation can continue for weeks, with no artificial heat source being applied (even though you may want to keep the apparatus in a warm place).

Used this way, you would want to stopper the pelican, to keep your liquid from evaporating out into the air. But never stopper a flask that you are going to expose to a significant degree of heat, of course - the pressure building up inside would burst it soon!

For that matter, you could certainly mount a reflux condenser on top of the model shown, however, its manufacturer interestingly suggests using it also in conjunction with an alembic - which should result in some peculiar kind of fractional distillation, with the proper degree of heat applied.



The inspiration for this may have come from the classical double pelican, a modernized version of which is also available from Proglass (via Ebay):

 

[Michael Sternbach]

Hi Michael,

I am familiar with the pelican style flasks and actually considered purchasing the model you linked but held off. I am considering purchasing one now that I hear you have had a positive experience. The flask in my dream was similar but without the side channels and the mouth between lower and upper chambers was larger in circumference. Definitely like a snowman that was missing his head. I do like that this piece you posted has the 24/40 connection which matches my equipment. Cheers

Hey Jimmy,

Glad I could be of assistance! One thing I like about this manufacturer is that they are making various items specifically with alchemists in mind. Also, the glass they use is of good quality, and most importantly, they really know how to wrap stuff up before setting it on a plane!

BTW, in the first image of my previous post your snowman finally got his head back, right? And a LONG "carrot nose", too!

 

[Jimmy Rig]

What would be the starting material to be circulated in your opinion Michael?
I have been using a retort and tear drop shaped vessels for some time; as these were easier to come by. I am starting to lean towards the idea that simpler is better but I am speaking more to the process and less to the vessel. (speaking solely of physical lab-alchemy.)

As in a better circulation vessel is probably more effective than a more basic circulation vessel; or simply obtains similar results a little quicker. This does not make the simple redundant, just less efficient at the purpose.

A good example is an alembic vs a retort.


But back to the question at hand.. the prima materia?

I do believe it can be more than one thing as they are all adaptations however for me water is as good a starting point as any. (Not claiming plain water~ and this is misleading since water is anything but) is "buckets of spiritus mundi" as black was jokingly pointing fun at Awani and Myself and I know that was all in good fun, no offense taken Black - I know he will see this at some point.

I do know the more distilled water I drink (and have been for about 4 years now) the more refined my body seems to become especially with some fasting thrown in. I suppose working with an appropriate earth, throwing "de-stilled" ~ not common(fiery) water at it could have similar effects. A slow process I believe.

If any readers have differing views or a better understanding please share we can all learn from each other!

 

[black]

But back to the question at hand.. the prima materia?

I do believe it can be more than one thing as they are all adaptations however for me water is as good a starting point as any. (Not claiming plain water~ and this is misleading since water is anything but) is "buckets of spiritus mundi" as black was jokingly pointing fun at Awani and Myself and I know that was all in good fun, no offense taken Black - I know he will see this at some point.

No offense intended Jimmy, I'm just trying to get the members away from thinking about water and the many possible things that have virtually no power in them for the collection of Our Mercury, Secret Solvent, SM, etc.

The other day I posted this very short list HERE.

These types of materials cannot hold the amounts of power that is required for an Alchemic Process.

 

[Jimmy Rig]

Black, the materials you work with do you need to augment them with the celestial influences before working upon them? Or do you get straight to work? I was just reading the book of Abraham the Jew and am interested in your thoughts on what the virgin Marcz is and if it is necessary to imbue this earth with the dew so many times to obtain the first salt. Or can the magnet be used to naturally extract the SM rather than the operator attempting to concentrate it via dew? If you dig this magnet out from knee deep it makes sense to expose it to the celestial influences. What is interesting to me is that if the magnet concentrates it, obviously it is carried in the air and thus also in the waters, particularly dew. In my own experiments with dew, if treated properly it will manifest its own earth which seems to me to be the same material we can dig from the ground.

I had a glass bowl shatter last summer from holding Marcz "I think" saturated with dew repeatedly and left in the sun to dry. This Marcz was super fiery to the tongue. Shockingly so.

Please share your thought on this, I would be glad to hear your perspective. I agree with your list as being pretty powerless. With the exception that there is a chain between the elemental forms and thus element "water" though maybe less concentrated than element earth should be workable as well especially since it can be rotated up or down so to speak.

I think what you are getting at is that for example if you start with dew, by the time you concentrate the material hidden inside you are not left with enough strength or volume of mercury for alchemical processes.

 

[Argento Vivo]

Hi Jimmy

the Earth is actually MAREZ, marcz being a poor quality transcription by rams. In Marez, arez is the hebrew word for earth/land.

 

[Andro]

VISITA IN-TER-IO-RA TERÆ / ÆRETZ / Æ{}R / ÆTHER

 

[Jimmy Rig]

Thanks for the tips guys. It is helpful.

 

[black]

Black, the materials you work with do you need to augment them with the celestial influences before working upon them?

Hi Jimmy, the materials I use don't require any additional work with celestial influences to be able to collect SM, just a few hours lab work.

Augment = increase in amount/volume.
Multiplication = increase in virtue/power.

Or do you get straight to work?

Yes ... straight to work.

I was just reading the book of Abraham the Jew and am interested in your thoughts on what the virgin Marcz is and if it is necessary to imbue this earth with the dew so many times to obtain the first salt.
Or can the magnet be used to naturally extract the SM rather than the operator attempting to concentrate it via dew?

There are earths that can be used as a magnet for what is termed a "Dew", most of us are confused by this term believing it to be dew on the grass ,etc, etc.

Alchemic "Dew" has large amounts of power in it, but this is only one way to collect SM.
This is where a very good understanding of chemistry can be a great assistance, but as Kibric has mentioned that these days a few hours on a computer can give you most of what you need.

If you dig this magnet out from knee deep it makes sense to expose it to the celestial influences. What is interesting to me is that if the magnet concentrates it, obviously it is carried in the air and thus also in the waters, particularly dew.

This is fine in theory, but will never work in practice.
It's like trying to extract gold from sea water, there is gold in sea water but it is in the most minutest parts per trillion parts.

In my own experiments with dew, if treated properly it will manifest its own earth which seems to me to be the same material we can dig from the ground.

Yes Jimmy you are correct about an earth forming in dew or rainwater but this is only a proof of concept showing that there is a life force present.
This earth has no value in Alchemic Processes.

I think what you are getting at is that for example if you start with dew, by the time you concentrate the material hidden inside you are not left with enough strength or volume of mercury for alchemical processes.

Quite true ... your life is too short to be able to collect enough SM from rainwater or dew to be able to do any Alchemic work.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

What would be the starting material to be circulated in your opinion Michael?

In spagyrics, an herb can be macerated in a circulation vessel. This process may take up to nine weeks to complete. Typically, you would leave your pelican in the sunlight during that time (provided it is intense enough). Thus, all states of matter would get involved: solid, liquid, vaporous, and even plasmatic (the Sun shining above it all!).

Or your starting matter could be a spagyric essence that you wish to further exalt. An artificial heat source may be used here and the vessel could even be evacuated with a suitable pump to keep the required temperature lower.

I have been using a retort and tear drop shaped vessels for some time; as these were easier to come by. I am starting to lean towards the idea that simpler is better but I am speaking more to the process and less to the vessel. (speaking solely of physical lab-alchemy.)

As in a better circulation vessel is probably more effective than a more basic circulation vessel; or simply obtains similar results a little quicker. This does not make the simple redundant, just less efficient at the purpose.

A good example is an alembic vs a retort.

I like retorts and have several of different size and design. They are kind of iconic for alchemy. Operating them is a bit tricky, though - in particular, beware of boiling retardation! And they should only be used for substances that condense easily, i.e., that don't require anything but air cooling.

They can be useful for distilling viscuous liquids, if the thick-necked variety that doesn't clog up so easily is chosen. Cleaning the remainders out afterwards may be difficult, though.

On that record, I like this kind of detachable retort I got from here:



This guy is so cool! The short diagonal tube can be extended with a jointed glass tube (available from the same manufacturer), or connected to a water-cooled condenser.

Talking about alembics, I surely like those as well. Not least, they allow for alchemical expansion of the vapour before condensation. Much like an aludel flask, in principle. Again, they may be a bit hard to clean, especially if you don't have access to an ultrasonic cleaner.

But back to the question at hand.. the prima materia?

There is a common misassumption that the starting material and the prima materia would be the same thing... They are not! The prima materia is your starting material reduced to a form of 'unconditioned' matter during the nigredo stage of the Great Work.

I do believe it can be more than one thing as they are all adaptations however for me water is as good a starting point as any. (Not claiming plain water~ and this is misleading since water is anything but) is "buckets of spiritus mundi" as black was jokingly pointing fun at Awani and Myself and I know that was all in good fun, no offense taken Black - I know he will see this at some point.

I do know the more distilled water I drink (and have been for about 4 years now) the more refined my body seems to become especially with some fasting thrown in.

However, I would caution that drinking distilled water can deprive one's body from electrolytes. Since it contains no mineral salts, it tends to bind those to itself, given the opportunity.

I suppose working with an appropriate earth, throwing "de-stilled" ~ not common(fiery) water at it could have similar effects. A slow process I believe.

Water in general is a very interesting substance as it is so impressionable and tends to record the information of whatever it is exposed to in its quasi-crystalline structure. Presumably, even its physical and chemical characterstics can be dramatically altered this way.

With reference to the above question, one of the tables of the Mutus Liber may actually allure to the circulation of (previously processed) dew water (see bottom of the page).

If any readers have differing views or a better understanding please share we can all learn from each other!

Amen to that!

Knowledge is unlimited, and each of us may have found different things on their journey.

 

[Merovee]

Michael, now I have to ask you first, because I only understood it correctly the second time. You mean that the starting material is not identical with the Materia Prima, which is first to prepare from the starting material, is that correct? If so, you are absolutely right!
Only a few of the adepts say clear words about this, one of them was George Ripley, he elaborated this very beautifully in his Liber Secretisimus.
However, I must disagree with you about the dew and the Mutus Liber. You can find it below, I actually addressed this post to Jimmy, and in it I already mentioned this passage from the Mutus Liber.


Jimmy: You have chosen a really fine work, but also a very difficult one, not only does it have many Latin and Hebrew passages, but also the actual process has been rather confused in detail, but it is very extensive and detailed and belongs to the best writings on alchemy. The special thing is that the very first work is also explained here, so that one can also find our first and actual matter.
But it is not so that it is clearly stated, and the whole is embedded between other processes which are similar, so that one might think it belongs there. But work with the book, perhaps then many things will become clearer to you, and maybe you will find it by yourself.
Once more from the water: don't be misled, without the ordinary, sweet, and living water (of the Jordan) we cannot do the work, and a true alchemist should know that. Flamel points this out to us when he speaks of doing as Naaman did, whom the prophet told to wash seven times in the Jordan to cure his leprosy (the partly underground river Alpheios is also mentioned, which served Heracles for the cleaning of the stables).

But ordinary water is not our materia prima, nor our starting material, nor our magnet, nor can it give it to us - but perhaps involved in a special way in everything? Don't start skipping across the morning meadow to catch the dew either. Although the Mutus Liber appears to show a method of capturing the dew, the reader is being led astray here; in truth it is a different process and is related to the whitening of the magnesia. The initial process (the preliminary work) is addressed in panel 2, and here Neptune the sea god plays the leading role. The heavenly dew and the greasiness of the earth are not found outdoor, they are in your glass, in your magnesia (our black earth), that is our microcosm, but to get them out of there and refine them, we don't stretch bed sheets.

Jimmy, I don't know what you are getting knee-deep out of the ground, but if you are looking for an earth, remember that it always means an earth of the wise, and there are several of them, but the earth with which the wise begin their teachings is usually our magnesia or Saturnian lead, a pitch-black, greasy and moist earth. As a reminder, when the philosophers speak of such things (as earth, water, air, salt, gold mercury...) they always mean something else, and what they mean in detail can only be gathered from the context. Everything that is fixed, muddy, dusty or hard is called earth, everything that is liquid and flowing is called water or oil, if something is yellow or red, it is a fire (but sometimes gold) or connected with fire, if it is white, it is an air (but sometimes silver) or connected with air. However, all this is also only valid to a limited extent and should be judged on a case-by-case basis.

This is roughly what our pitch-black, greasy and moist earth looks like, which we call magnesia. It’s the Saturnian night, darkness and blackness fills the whole microcosm. They say it is the breath of death and the stench of decay that fills the glass. But don't be afraid, Ripley says, seeing it is cause for great joy, and he calls it our artificial antimonious compound, which is abundantly filled with the dew of heaven and the unctuous fatness of earth.
It is, he says, composed of the sun, the moon, and our Mercury, for if the work were not begun with a trinity, all labour would be lost and the result useless.

 

[Andro]

the Earth is actually MAREZ, marcz being a poor quality transcription by rams.

Interestingly, MRCZ or MRKZ are the Hebrew Root Letters for Merkaz, which means CENTER. So, transcription error or not... I haven't seen the original, so I can't tell...

 

[Andro]

You mean that the starting material is not identical with the Materia Prima, which is first to prepare from the starting material, is that correct? If so, you are absolutely right!
Only a few of the adepts say clear words about this, one of them was George Ripley, he elaborated this very beautifully in his Liber Secretisimus.

I must also agree with this. It is also presented in the Golden Chain Schematics.

In my approach, they are of so-called "celestial" origin, "harvested at the source", so to speak. Not dismissing or disregarding other approaches, though.

the earth with which the wise begin their teachings is usually our magnesia or Saturnian lead, a pitch-black, greasy and moist earth.

the very first work is also explained here, so that one can also find our first and actual matter

Are you perhaps indirectly implying that in your specific practice, the starting Matter(s) for rendering the "Materia Prima" is/are collected as readily available in nature?

In my work, the "Central Salt" is the Starting Earth, and the so-called "Astral Spirit" or "Spiritus Mundi" is the Starting Water (or "Celestial Niter").

None of them are readily available to simply collect in nature, and have to be "pulled in" or "manifested" or "corporified" by the practitioner.

As an example, this is one of one of my earlier renderings of the Central Salt, in a petri dish in this case.

After separation from the slimy matrix used to "pull" it from its Source, it remains white and calx/lime-like, insoluble in neither polar nor non-polar solvents.

Note: The matrix does NOT contain this Salt within itself. In fact, more of it will "appear" as time passes.

Also, no distillations or special equipment is required for this process, although it can also be obtained using more "complicated" techniques.

Their Union of this Salt with its own Spirit eventually renders the "Blacker Than Black" Materia, which must subsequently continue its refinement and evolution.

But like I said, I do not, in any way, dismiss or disregard other approaches.

-----------------------------------------------

 

[Merovee]

I probably have the same book, it's quite old, and in it it's sometimes Arez, sometimes Marez, and the c (which occurs a couple of times) is actually an e, only it got a bit lost in print, so it appears as a c. Strangely, the words are sometimes transcribed, but sometimes written in Hebrew letters. As far as I have seen, the Latin centro is used for centre.

 

[Jimmy Rig]

Hi Michael, Andro and Merovee.

Thank you for your gracious input. It is helpful to me and gives me much to think about. I am definitely interested in what you all have to say and will get back to you in a more detailed response so that you can let me know if I am grasping the threads you are leaving for me or not.

At the moment, I need to do some more reflecting and reading and of course wait until I can put together an appropriate response. (It takes some time, sometimes.)

"Man is the fifth being of the world's machinery, the very center, into which all spheres of nature pour their rays, the microcosm and the summary of the entire world, the wonder of the world." - English translation from I.C.H sourced from Andreas Tenzel "Praesatione Medicinae Diastaticae"

I have the physical book Hermes Trismegistus old and true natural path.

I haven't picked it up in a while, but the hints you guys are dropping lead me to pick it up again. I have flirted with this particular idea of working while reading this work which seems to me to be almost too obvious that I dismissed it. That is all I am going to say at this moment. All I will say is that I have played around with some other matters in the past and had some very interesting results.

Pretty sure the work can be done without complicated apparatus but also can be.
Its internal and external.

 

[black]

Prima Materia = Primum Ens / Quintessence / Soul.

Or we could view it as "Divine Light" in a Medium / Vehicle.

 

[Michael Sternbach]

Michael, now I have to ask you first, because I only understood it correctly the second time. You mean that the starting material is not identical with the Materia Prima, which is first to prepare from the starting material, is that correct? If so, you are absolutely right!
Only a few of the adepts say clear words about this, one of them was George Ripley, he elaborated this very beautifully in his Liber Secretisimus.

Yes, that's exactly what I mean. And reaching that conclusion was actually a no-brainer to me. Prima materia is a rather literal translation of ancient Greek philosophy's prote hyle, where it means matter in an original, undetermined state. So much of alchemy's underlying natural philosophy can be found in Plato, Aristotle, the Stoics and, of course, Hellenistic Hermetism! These systems were widely known up to the beginning of the modern era, and especially people who took interest in alchemy were expected to be thoroughly familiar with them. Likewise, anybody reading those old "chymical" texts today better learns as much as they can about ancient natural philosophy, it will help so much in understanding what those authors had in mind!

However, I must disagree with you about the dew and the Mutus Liber. You can find it below, I actually addressed this post to Jimmy, and in it I already mentioned this passage from the Mutus Liber.

That's okay. I'm quite used to people disagreeing with me.

 

[Merovee]

Hi Andro:

I don't know where you got this scheme of the Golden Chain from, it is a diagram of nature, but it can also be understood as the basis of the Great Work. I can say that as it stands there, it is completely correct and also corresponds to my path. But I think it is interpreted a bit differently by you than by me.

Okay, you have taken out this sentence: the very first work is also explained here, so that one can also find our first and actual matter

You're a bit funny, I don't know where you got the idea that I was implying something specific, but if you got that impression, I'm sorry.

What I said there refers to the book I mentioned. What the very first work was I left completely open, I said nothing at all about it. I have not even hinted in the slightest at which passage I mean. And our first and actual matter, what can that mean? It could even mean what you shoot in the petri dish. So, the only statement is this: if you know the initial, first process, you necessarily know the substance of that process.
This first process is covered by a cloak of absolute secrecy, and if one ever say it anyway, it may only be passed on personally. If I wanted to imply something about it, I would perhaps say: I have thrust Neptune's trident into the bottom of the sea and caused the island of Delos to rise, but what could someone who does not understand it infer from that?
But I'm only talking about the basic work or the first operation here, and this only applies to that. Otherwise, things are different, and I've said more about all, given both hints and various concrete clues, otherwise it would be completely superfluous to write anything here, wouldn't it?

But well, you have given me a little insight into your work, and I thank you. That is a courageous step which I acknowledge. However, it is too little to take anything tangible or concrete from it, but I understand it to the extent that it is almost clear to me that our paths do indeed diverge.
Since my work agrees with the words of the ancients, I would now have to assume that your work is wrong and an error, likewise you will have reason to think the same of my work. But to be honest: I do not yet have so much experience that I could allow myself such a judgement and make it with certainty. At least I know that there are variants of the work that are not taught, not even mentioned (I know this because I myself once walked such a hidden path for a short time, which puzzled my old teacher very much, but which he only confided to me later). Therefore, according to my conscience, I can only say that I have slight doubts about your work, but these have no meaning, at least no objective meaning, and only you can judge what your work is worth. In any case, it seems interesting, and I cannot deny that you have made me curious.
Let's wait and see what the future brings, but maybe we can meet sometime, either in your lab or in mine, and exchange a little.

 

[black]

Many students are confused with the Alchemic Terminology, so I will try to add a little more clarity to this work.

The first material we need to be able to work an Alchemic Process is "Our Mercury".

Once we have this, then we may be able to move onto the First Blackness of the Work.