Die Alchemie. Das ist die Lehre von den grossen Geheim-Mitteln der Alchemisten und den Speculationen, welche man an sie knüpfte

...then, by way of mystification, Radix Valerianae Valerian root and so on take the role of the antimony portion of the Pulvis solaris Solar Powder. The name Bezoardicum Bezoar-like remedy borrows from the Bezoar a calcified stone found in the stomachs of animals which was so popular among school physicians. The Bezoardicum animale animal-based bezoar remedy has already introduced us to the deceptive means with which the Western alchemists served the school physicians. The mystifications regarding the Pulvis solaris are very extensive. Instead of the combination of Hydrargyrum oxydatum rubrum red mercuric oxide on one hand and Sulphur auratum golden sulfur of antimony and Stibium sulphuratum nigrum black antimony sulfide on the other, they offered the school physicians combinations of other mercury and antimony preparations. To make the more skeptical doctors more certain in this tactic, as they did not want to lose the red color of the Pulvis solaris ruber Red Solar Powder, alchemists substituted Kermes a red mineral or insect-derived pigment for the Sulphur auratum when offering a different mercury preparation, or they kept the Sulphur auratum as it was. On this latter basis rests Pulvis alterans Plummeri Plummer’s Alterative Powder, which consists of Calomel mercurous chloride and Sulphur auratum, and is nothing other than a mystified Pulvis solaris ruber. They advised the school physicians to distill mercury with antimony. They offered them any mercury preparation without antimony, or any antimony preparation without mercury, as Pulvis solaris. They kept the mercury in the form of some mercury preparation but substituted some other mineral substance for the antimony, such as Salmiak ammonium chloride, lime, and so on. They kept the antimony in the form of some antimony preparation but substituted some other mineral substance for the mercury, specifically a metal like iron, tin, or lead. In this regard, we mention the Antihecticum Poterii Potier’s Anti-hectic, a remedy for wasting diseases, consisting of tin and antimony, and the Sudoriferum magnum Faberi Faber’s Great Sudorific, a sweat-inducing medicine, a combination of tin, lead, and antimony. We have already learned earlier about the replacement of Hydrargyrum oxydatum rubrum red mercuric oxide with snakes and antimony with plants. As stated, the mystifications regarding the Pulvis solaris are very extensive.

Number of Arcana. Numerical Philosophy.

As we have seen, there are seven Arcana secret remedies: Acidum sulphuricum sulfuric acid, Ferrum iron, Natron carbonicum sodium carbonate, Natron nitricum sodium nitrate, Liquor hepatis liver of sulfur solution, Pulvis solaris ruber Red Solar Powder, and Pulvis solaris niger Black Solar Powder. Speculation took hold of the large number of Arcana very early on, as it was said that one does not necessarily have to perceive the Arcana from the perspective of Seven: other numbers can also come into play here. Thus, the Arcana were also understood from the perspective of the numbers 1 to 6.

Perspective of One. The Single Arcanum.

The Arcana have one purpose, which is to make sick people healthy. This one purpose provides the perspective around which all Arcana are grouped; hence, the Single Arcanum. Connected to the Single Arcanum is the fairly widespread lay view that alchemists had a single remedy with which they claimed to be able to cure everything. This mysterious remedy is then called the Tincture of Life, the Life-Rejuvenating Tincture, and so on.

Perspective of Two. The Dual Arcanum.

The Dual Arcanum originally comes from dividing the Arcana into two groups such that the solid Arcana were placed on one side and the liquid ones on the other. Thus, the distinction between the property of the Arcana being solid on one hand and liquid on the other was exploited for the Arcanum-Two. This at least provides the original basis for the perspective of Two. In the further course of alchemy, they went further. It was said that not only do solidity and liquidity provide a basis for the Two, but also this or that opposing property on one side or the other of the Arcana.

Perspective of Four. The Fourfold Arcanum.

One arrives at the Four in the following way. Natron carbonicum sodium carbonate and Natron nitricum sodium nitrate are both sodium, or, what ultimately carried just as much weight for the ancients, both are prepared from common salt see the previous section. Thus, the perspective is given to perceive them as one Arcanum. Furthermore, the two Pulvis solares Solar Powders consist of

Hydrargyrum oxydatum rubrum red mercuric oxide on one hand and an antimony preparation on the other. This also provides the basis for perceiving them as one Arcanum. Finally see the previous section, Acidum sulphuricum sulfuric acid is obtained from iron vitriol. The ancients interpreted this as if Acidum sulphuricum were fundamentally nothing other than a transmuted iron. And thus, the perspective is given to also perceive Acidum sulphuricum and Ferrum iron as one Arcanum. In this way, instead of the two Arcana: Natron carbonicum and Natron nitricum, we had one Arcanum: Sodium; instead of the two Arcana: Pulvis solaris ruber and Pulvis solaris niger, one Arcanum: Solar Powder; instead of the two Arcana: Acidum sulphuricum and Ferrum, one Arcanum: Vitriol; and to this is added the remaining Liquor hepatis liver of sulfur, through which the Fourfold Arcanum was established: 1) Sodium, 2) Solar Powder, 3) Vitriol, 4) Liquor hepatis.

Now that four Arcana have been established, and further speculations are attached to them, Sodium, Solar Powder, and Vitriol are perceived in whatever way the relevant speculation can best utilize them. Sodium is taken as Natron carbonicum when the speculation aims to utilize sodium carbonate; as Natron nitricum when the speculation aims to utilize sodium nitrate. Solar Powder is perceived as Pulvis solaris ruber when the speculation aims to utilize the Red Solar Powder; as Pulvis solaris niger when the speculation aims to utilize the Black Solar Powder. Vitriol is perceived as Acidum sulphuricum when the speculation aims to utilize sulfuric acid; it is perceived as iron when the speculation aims to utilize the iron. However, it should be noted in this regard that it was much more common for the Solar Powder to be perceived as Pulvis solaris ruber than as Pulvis solaris niger. This is because the former, due to its complicated method of preparation, is far more accessible to speculation than the latter. And notably, regarding the perspective of sulfuric acid-iron, it is absolutely more common for one to focus on the Acidum sulphuricum rather than the iron. This is because iron can indeed be thought of in liquid form, but it does not have to be so thought of. Acidum sulphuricum, on the other hand, is liquid under all circumstances. And since the latter is the case, by making the fourfold arrangement, one obtains 1) Sodium, 2) Solar Powder, 3) Liquor hepatis, 4) Acidum sulphuricum. This results in three solid and two liquid Arcana Latz may be counting the two sodium forms or the two solar powders to arrive at five total components within this grouping. Thus, an equal ratio is given on both sides, which is more useful for further speculation than an unequal ratio on both sides, which would result if one established: 1) Sodium, 2) Solar Powder, 3) Iron (solid), 4) Liquor hepatis. For in the latter case, we would have three solid Arcana on one side and only one liquid Arcanum on the other.

Perspective of Three. The Threefold Arcanum.

Once one has reached the stage of the Fourfold Arcanum, one can say that from the concentration on the four, a further step could follow. Of the four Arcana, two have a very special relation to each other. These we wish to concentrate further as one Arcanum; and thus the Threefold Arcanum is here. As a Threefold Arcanum, the arrangement that specifically figures is: 1) Sulfuric Acid-Sodium, 2) Solar Powder, 3) Liquor hepatis. We already find this arrangement among the Indians. However, the following arrangement also occurs: 1) Solar Powder-Liquor hepatis, 2) Acidum sulphuricum, 3) Sodium.

Perspective of Five. The Fivefold Arcanum.

The Fivefold Arcanum develops from the Fourfold Arcanum in such a way that one Arcanum, which was not perceived from the perspective in the Fourfold Arcanum, is split into its original parts, while the other Arcana are left as they are in that perspective. This then determines the arrangements for the Fivefold Arcanum: A) One splits the Sodium. Then one obtains: 1) Sodium carbonate, 2) Sodium nitrate, 3) Solar Powder, 4) Vitriol, 5) Liquor hepatis. B) One splits the Solar Powder. Then one obtains: 1) Sodium, 2) Red Solar Powder, 3) Black Solar Powder, 4) Vitriol, 5) Liquor hepatis. C)

Perspective of Six. The Sixfold Arcanum.

The Sixfold Arcanum develops from the Sevenfold Arcanum in such a way that among the seven Arcana, five remain as they are, but among those qualified to be perceived from the numerical perspective, two are perceived as one. Qualified for this, however, are either Sodium carbonate—Sodium nitrate, or Sulfuric acid—Iron, or Red Solar Powder—Black Solar Powder. The perspective that stands out most in the history of alchemy is that Sodium carbonate and Sodium nitrate are perceived as one, so that we would obtain as a Sixfold Arcanum: 1) Sodium, 2) Acidum sulphuricum, 3) Iron, 4) Red Solar Powder, 5) Black Solar Powder, 6) Liquor hepatis. However, nothing prevents Sulfuric acid and Iron from being perceived together, such that one obtains: 1) Sodium carbonate, 2) Sodium nitrate, 3) Vitriol, 4) Red Solar Powder, 5) Black Solar Powder, 6) Liquor hepatis; or that, by perceiving Red Solar Powder and Black Solar Powder together, one obtains: 1) Sodium carbonate, 2) Sodium nitrate, 3) Acidum sulphuricum, 4) Iron, 5) Solar Powder, 6) Liquor hepatis.

If one perceives the Arcana from the perspective of various numbers, that is numerical philosophy, and the numbers themselves that one considers on this occasion are philosophical numbers.
However, one must distinguish between direct and indirect numerical philosophy, and direct and indirect philosophical numbers. The numerical philosophy and philosophical numbers we have just considered are direct numerical philosophy and direct philosophical numbers. Their characteristic is that they relate directly to the Arcana, whereas the characteristic of indirect numerical philosophy and indirect philosophical numbers is that they relate only indirectly to the Arcana. In indirect numerical philosophy and indirect philosophical numbers, it is a matter of speculation drawn into the realm of alchemy that is measured with a number, and the numbers then obtained in this way are set in relation to the numbers of the Arcana. For example, one draws the world into the realm of alchemy and then says, applying the number, there is one world. There one has the indirect philosophical number 1. Furthermore, one says the world falls into four parts: firmament, luminous celestial bodies, land, and sea. In this way, one obtains the indirect philosophical number 4, and so on. The numbers thus obtained are then connected with the Arcana by saying that just as there is one world, so there is also a Single Arcanum; just as there is a fourfold-divided world, so there is also a Fourfold Arcanum, and so on. Here, however, it should be noted that while it is true that direct philosophical numbers are simultaneously arcanological numbers—well, that goes without saying, as that is precisely the characteristic of the direct philosophical number, that it is arcanological. In contrast, it is not the case that an indirect philosophical number is always arcanological. It can be, and usually is, for what would we generally do with philosophical numbers that have no relation to the Arcana? On the other hand, it does not have to be so, and is not so under all circumstances. This simply stems from the fact that once one has entered the terrain of indirect numerical philosophy, one does not always allow the speculation to be so precisely delimited that one only obtains numbers covered by the Arcana. Thus, for example, in Indian numerical philosophy, we will encounter the indirect philosophical number 12. It is, of course, not an arcanological number, for there are no twelve Arcana.
A uniquely situated numerical philosophy is the Kabbalistic one. In it, the number is exploited in a mystical way. God, the angels, the prophets, the patriarchs, their wives, the apostles, man, animal, plant, and so on, are set against the number or numbers.

The Kabbalistic numerical philosophy is given a foundation especially through the Sefer Yetzirah Book of Formation see the special report on this. However, its beginning lies far before the Sefer Yetzirah. Already in Philo, we find the number exploited in a way that, while in the later sense cannot be called an actual Kabbalistic numerical philosophy, nevertheless bears its stamp. Among the Westerners, we provide two tables designed on the basis of a Kabbalistic numerical philosophy see the section: The Emergence of the Number Twelve.
Finally, we must mention a kind of numerical philosophy that stands too isolated to lay claim to the actual name of numerical philosophy, but which nonetheless has a more distant relationship to actual numerical philosophy. We refer to the fact that certain things are measured according to a prominent existing philosophical number. Thus, for example, one speaks of the Seven Wonders of the World. We would not have exactly seven of these wonders if Seven were not a prominent arcanological number. Thus one says: "All good things come in threes." We would not have exactly three of these good things if Three were not a prominent arcanological number, and so on.

Regarding the Colors of the Arcana.

It is not in our plan to present to the reader the various perspectives from which the alchemists perceived the Arcana in general chapters. Rather, we will discuss them in the specific sections in which we successively unfold alchemy, at the relevant places. At first glance, it seems to collide with this plan of ours that we discuss here the perspective of colors, from which the Arcana are perceived, in a general chapter. However, the matter is as follows. We cannot, of course, avoid presenting the Arcana in the foremost ranks of this book. As soon as this happens, however, the number of Arcana forces itself upon us, for the question arises: Are there now all the Arcana, none too many and none too few? Regarding such a question, it was necessary to show how, although alchemists also speak of other numbers of Arcana than precisely the Seven Arcana, these other numbers of Arcana are of a speculative nature and lead back to the Seven Arcana. Thus, we could not avoid a general chapter on numerical philosophy; it would have been forced, at the very least, if we had done so. Once we are on the subject of numerical philosophy, the color perspective follows very naturally, for the color perspective of the Arcana varies depending on which arcanological number one adopts.

1. If one adopts the standpoint of the Single Arcanum, the arcanological color is: White.
   Acidum sulphuricum sulfuric acid is white as Acidum sulphuricum rectificatum rectified sulfuric acid. Both forms of sodium are naturally white.
   Iron is white as polished steel.
   Concerning the Liquor hepatis liver of sulfur, it often happens during its preparation that it absorbs either too much or too little sulfur. If it absorbs too much sulfur, the sulfur easily separates when the preparation is diluted with water, and one then finds a white mass in the relevant bottle, similar to white mold, floating on the water. If it absorbs too little sulfur, the slightly yellow preparation immediately turns white in the air. Such is the standpoint of white for the Liquor hepatis.
   The Red Solar Powder and the Black Solar Powder are viewed from this perspective, specifically focusing on the Black Solar Powder. Now, in the Black Solar Powder, the Stibium sulphuratum nigrum black antimony sulfide is prominently represented; in quantitative terms, the Hydrargyrum oxydatum rubrum red mercuric oxide is absorbed into it. Now, while the Stibium sulphuratum nigrum is indeed black, shining silvery-white splinters glitter out from it. And it is precisely these that are utilized to demonstrate a white color for the Stibium sulphuratum nigrum.