Splendor Solis.

Now follows the way through which the entire Work of this Art or Mastery is completed; and it is indicated through several Parables, Figures, Discourses, and many Sayings of the Philosophers of Philosophers. original: "Philosophi Philosophorum"; this superlative title refers to the collective wisdom of the greatest alchemical sages throughout history.

THIRD TREATISE original Latin: "Tractatus Tertius"

Hermes, a father of the Philosophers, says: "Until the end of this world, heaven and earth shall come together." No one can, through heaven and earth [alone], [attain] the two previously mentioned dispositions original: "geschickligkeiten"; referring to the active and passive principles or "Man and Woman" described on the previous page.; however, many accidents occur in the Work before it is brought to a conclusion and understood through the parables of the figures, as follows hereafter; and this is the First Parable.

In the beginning, God created the Earth, plain, rich, and very fertile, without spirit original: "Geist"; here meaning without the volatile vapors or "life-force" that move within the earth to cause change., and without sand, stones, mountains, or valleys. Through the influence of the planets and the operation of Nature, the Earth has since been transformed into many forms: outwardly with hard stones, high mountains, and deep valleys; and inwardly with strange things and colors, namely the ores and their origins.

Through such things, the Earth was entirely changed from its original form. This resulted from those primary matters; for although the Earth is thick, great, deep, long, wide, and broad, yet through the constant operation of the Sun’s heat original: "Sonnen Hitz"; alchemists viewed the sun's heat as a primary agent in the ripening of metals within the earth, mirroring the "cooking" in the alchemist's furnace., there arose within it a sultry, hot, vaporous, and smoky warmth. This warmth permeated the entire Earth even to its deepest abyss and produced—within the cold and moisture of the Earth—a powerful vapor, misty and airy, all of which were enclosed within the Earth. And after a long time, these grew in number and finally became so strong that the Earth could no longer hold or contain them...