Die geheime Naturlehre der hermetischen Wissenschaft

1. The production of matter out of nothing.
2. The separation of that same matter into simple bodies.
3. The preparation or composition of mixed things from different simple bodies.

The holy Cabala a mystical tradition of interpretation, which receives its light from above and clarifies the true sense of creation, teaches seven stages in the great work of creation, in the following order: first, God created out of nothing that which we call the "other matter," in the form of the primordial water original: "Urwasser". Therefore, most philosophers alchemical scholars maintain only a single primordial element as the very first beginning of all things. To this primordial element, or so-called other matter, the philosophers attribute:

1. Two primordial properties, namely the active and the passive power.
2. They attribute to it three primordial effects:
   1. The Hyle the Greek term for fundamental matter or the physical body.
   2. The Archaeus the vital formative soul or life force.
   3. The Azoth the universal spirit, acting as the mediator between the both of them, or the servant of both.
3. God has assigned to these primordial effects four primordial instruments of all action and all suffering,