The Fire-Stone of Basil, or the Golden Apple

what was established and tested a thousand years ago, only to discuss it again with unnecessary disputation. original: "Contra negantem enim principia non disputandum esse censeo" For I believe one should not dispute against one who denies the principles.

In the creation of the world, the Spirit of the Lord traversed everything: in heaven, on earth, in the sea, and even in the innermost chasms, down to the center of the earth. He penetrated everything, and all things were filled with this Spirit, and all was good.

original: "Divinitus est igitur infusum rebus omnibus suus quidam Spiritus, qui continet inse occulte creatae rei potentiam, vim, virtutem, vitam, qualem Deus posuit in creaturis suis." Therefore, a certain Spirit of its own is divinely infused into all things, which contains within itself the power, force, virtue, and life of the created thing, just as God has placed it in His creatures.

original: "Mineralia autem prae aliis rebus omnibus occultiori quodam modo, viventia sunt, ut ferrum in Magnete, in perlarum attractione gagatis, auri ac argenti vivi sympatia nobis demonstrat," Moreover, minerals are living in a more occult manner than all other things, as the iron in the magnet, the attraction of jet for pearls, and the sympathy of gold and quicksilver demonstrate to us. And although the life of the metal dwells in a thick and strongly constricted body, it can nonetheless be parted, separated, and thus rendered penetrative, so that wonders are performed with it in human bodies; exempla sunt quotidiana examples are daily. Therefore, the highly learned philosopher and physician Petrus Severinus, a Dane, writes in his Idæa Medicinæ Philosophicæ: original: "perfectissimorum corporum Balsami, & desideratae proprietates, tam duris corporum carceribus continentur, ut favorem & benevolentiam quam humanae naturae debent, demonstrare non possint, ita Corallorum Perlarum, gemmarum, auri, atque argenti, reliquorumque virtutes metallorum dolent se frustra in mundanam provinciam venisse, & mortalium scelestam temeritatem continenter accusant, quod tantarum praedestinationum immemores, ad quas naturae providentiam destinabantur in peregrinos & infanes usus, tantarum rerum majestatem commutaverint. Impuritatem pellis, inscitiam mentis tegere coguntur, & dolosa superbiae, avaritiae, luxuriae, perfidiae, adulterij, discordiae, & mortis ministeria subire. Hoc est non in naturalem usum retransferre, iniquas usuras exercere: Inventi sunt, qui folia auri Electuariis, tabulatis miscuerunt, qui pulveres corallorum, perlarum, gemmarum, ad confortationes cerebri, cordis, magnâ simplicitate exhibuerunt, infelix mortalitas, inutilibus disputationibus & quaestionibus vitam traducimus, naturae, praecipuos thesauros, in quibus gravissimorum morborum medela ab altissimo posita est, intactos relinquimus. Nec ipsi solum relinquimus, sed alios inquirere volentes prohibemus, impedimus, condemnamus, irridemus, & mille ludibriis afficimus. Hac ille." The balsam and desired properties of the most perfect bodies are contained in such hard prisons of bodies that they cannot demonstrate the favor and benevolence they owe to human nature. Thus, the virtues of corals, pearls, gems, gold, and silver, and other metals, grieve that they have come into the worldly province in vain, and they continually accuse the wicked temerity of mortals, who, unmindful of such great predestinations for which they were destined by the providence of nature, have exchanged the majesty of such great things for alien and childish uses. They are forced to cover the impurity of the skin and the ignorance of the mind, and to undergo the deceitful ministries of pride, avarice, luxury, perfidy, adultery, discord, and death. This is not to re-transfer them to natural use, but to practice unjust usury: There are those who have mixed gold leaf into electuaries and tablets, and who have exhibited powders of coral, pearls, and gems for the comfort of the brain and heart with great simplicity. Unhappy mortality, we pass our lives in useless disputations and questions, and we leave intact the chief treasures of nature, in which the remedy for the gravest diseases has been placed by the Most High. And we do not only leave them, but we forbid, hinder, condemn, mock, and subject to a thousand mockeries those who wish to inquire. Thus he says.

Therefore, the reflection and complete resolution of all rational Chymiatrorum chemists/alchemical physicians is that gold in human...