The Golden Fleece or Golden Treasure and Art Chamber

for in this has occurred that very swift union which no one otherwise may prepare through Art; and Nature has done all this for the sake of the birth of the metallic form. But this same matter, which is thus informed by Nature, benefits Art for the sake of receiving the power which then quickly lays itself into such matter. Thereafter, some alchemists calcine The process of heating a substance to high temperatures in air to reduce it to a powder or "ash." the Sun original: "☉"; the symbol for Gold. so that they may bring it to dissolution and the separation of the elements, until they bring it into a spiritual, subtle nature and the purity of the natures of Quicksilver and Sulphur. This is then the very closest matter, which compares most nearly with Gold, to receive the form of the hidden Stone of the Philosophers. This matter is called Mercury of the Philosophers original: "Mercurius Philosophorum"; not common quicksilver, but the "living spirit" extracted from the metal.. And this is what Arles Likely referring to pseudo-Aristotle, a frequent authority cited in alchemical texts. means in his speech to King Alexander: "If you wish to take Gold for our Stone, with which kings are adorned and crowned," although this Mercury alone is the matter and a single thing, yet the thing is so manifold in its effect and in its names that no one can find their way through it. This is done, as Rosinus The Latinized name for Zosimos of Panopolis, a 3rd-century alchemist. says, so that not everyone might attain it. It is also simultaneously a work, an effect, and a vessel, all of which are multifaceted because of the comparison to all things contained in Nature. For thus speak the Philosophers: dissolve that which is now sublimated The process of heating a substance so it turns into vapor and then solidifies again, used for purification., and then distill it and coagulate The process of thickening or solidifying a liquid into a mass. it; make it ascend and descend; press it in; dry it out. And the skills they name are innumerably many, yet they are all completed at once together and in a single vessel. Alphidius An Arab alchemist often quoted in medieval Latin texts. confirms this and says: you should know that when we dissolve, we also sublimate, and likewise calcine without ceasing; we purify and complete our work. And he speaks further thus: when our Body original: "Corpus"; the solid material being worked upon. is thrown into the water so that it may be dissolved, it soon becomes black and defiles itself, and becomes a lime A powdery residue or ash., and sublimates itself, when it is sublimated and dissolved with the spirit,