Basilius Valentinus Redivivus or the Resurrected Basilius Valentinus or the Shining Star of Alchemy

may be, for the proverb is well known to me: Errare humanum est To err is human. But also knowing that perseverare in opinione falsa præconcepta diabolicum est to persist in a false, preconceived opinion is diabolical. I also remind myself daily of the first aphorism of Hippocrates: Ars longa, vita brevis Art is long, life is short. Thus, I do not hold myself above others; I only remember this: that from youth I have felt in myself an insatiable desire for the alchemical study. For this reason, I have spared no effort or cost in acquiring the most distinguished authors dedicated to this study, have gone through them most accurately, and have observed their disagreement and consensus as much as possible. Therefore, I have extracted a specimen or short schema from their noblest writings and compiled them, by means of which guidance I have escaped, as if by an infallible guideline, the detours and wrong paths of the deceptive, seductive philosophical sophists and process-peddlers.
But since writing in this science and bringing it to the light of day is, for manifold reasons, very dangerous. Then one sees only such a page that carries an alchemical title, and in a flash the sentiment is formed: The author can make gold. Yes, others who are hateful of this noble art dare to call him rashly a hare and a fool. Softly, whoever you may be and judge according to your darkened opinion, your conclusion is not correct, since many have written about this noble science but at the same time confessed that they understood the transmutation theoretically, for they were aware that in practice, a Higher Power has a hand in the game, which the following verses explain to us:

VIRGIL. 6. AENEAD. translated thus: