Revelation and Declaration of Basilius Valentinus

origin or source of this SPIRIT of MERCURY; know however in passing that it is supernatural, coming from the celestial Stars, & from the Elements of the first Creation. But it suffices to consider this Spirit in the quality of Terrestrial: That is why leave the Stars & their influences, by conceiving them only by faith or imagination, because their virtues & impressions are invisible & incomprehensible; do not stop either at the speculation of the Elements: For they have already by their concurrence engendered this Spirit: & it is not in the power of man to do anything of them, seeing that this belongs only to the sovereign Creator of the Universe.

Let it suffice you then to know this single spirit of Mercury, already made & engendered, which has form, & if it has none, to know which is perfect; it is comprehensible, & yet incomprehensible in diverse regards, & nevertheless although visibly apparent to our eyes. So that when you will have it, you can be assured that you possess, the first MATTER of which are made all the Minerals & Metals, & this MATTER which joins with the SULPHUR, which is described in the Chapter of VENUS, & with the SALT, which the Chapter of MARS mentions, which SALT reduces them to a perfect coagulation, & into a body which is a sovereign