des Steins der Weisen. 9

the eternal and damnable, the good and the evil, [he] sowed and cast [into it], joined together and locked [it]. Therein also is the redness and our unique matter, from which the Philosophical Stone and medicine is made; this God has ordained in the world out of Paradise, [and] this will also remain until the end of the world.

Thus there is now no other matter from which the Philosophical Stone and Mercurius mercury come, and it can be found nowhere else, wherever you might search, be it even in the whole world; you search, find, [and] obtain them everywhere in vain. But their inner nature is unknown to you. Also there is no other to be found that accomplishes such, as our own unique matter, which was born from such a high, single seed, which God himself chose before others, and [it] is yet not to be viewed as such, [for it is] capable of so much and endowed with such high inner power. Therefore, the stone or corpus body is compared to the body of the pure, chaste Virgin Mary; men cannot exist without this. For God himself has planted in this matter the high, clean nature and tincture alchemical essence of minerals and metals to preserve health, improvement, and elevation. It also demands and accommodates itself to all natures, takes their power unto itself, [for] none