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

...terrible battles began and the gods were victorious. Vischnu Vishnu took the Amrita the nectar of immortality under his protection, and the demons withdrew into the most horrifying wildernesses of the earth.

This Avatar divine incarnation brings, firstly, the representation of the Liquor hepatis a solution of sulfur, salmiac, and lime; literally "liquid of the liver". In regards to this substance, it is the primary avatar. Secondly, it brings a struggle of giants or demons linked to it, and thirdly, the embodiment of Vishnu as a tortoise.

Third Avatar. The mother of demons, Diti, wife of Kasyapa, has two giant sons. Vishnu, in his incarnation as a boar, slays one of them, Hiranyâkscha.

The boar, like the domestic pig, enjoys wallowing in muddy places. Therefore, he has a relationship to the "morass" sludge or mud. Through this, he represents the mass of sulfur, salmiac, and lime water which is subjected to distillation. The tusks canine teeth protrude from the boar's mouth. These are curved upwards, pointing toward the heights. They run parallel to the distillate gases which rise upwards when one distills the previously mentioned mass.

This avatar also brings, first, the representation of the Liquor hepatis on one hand, and on the other, a struggle linked to it. Thirdly, it brings the embodiment of Vishnu as a boar.

Fourth Avatar. The giant Hiranyakasipu wishes to avenge his brother, the giant killed in the previous avatar. Through persistent penance, he obtains a promise from Brahma that neither god nor man, neither giant nor animal, shall be able to wound him, and that he shall be killable neither by night nor by day, neither inside nor outside the house. Now, as Hiranyakasipu, trusting in this invulnerability, tyrannically persecutes the human race, Vishnu transforms himself into a man with a lion's head, or a lion with a man's head, and slays the giant on the threshold of the door at twilight. — Here we have nothing else regarding the Liquor hepatis than the yellow color, based on the lion's skin. The evil giant forms the continuation of the demonic struggle in the third and second avatars respectively. Vishnu embodies himself as a lion-man or man-lion. In this lion-man or man-lion, we have, so to speak, the halfway point between man and animal. We have the same halfway point at the moment of death in relation to day and night, and at the door's threshold between the dwelling and the open air.

Fifth Avatar. A tyrant, Mahâbali, from the lineage of the giant in the previous avatar, oppresses his subjects, refuses service to the gods, and has extended his empire so far that the gods are overcome with fear that he might seize their regions. Vishnu now appears to him as a dwarf and asks for as much land as he can measure out with three steps. It is granted to him. Now Vishnu strides away over earth, heaven, and air, whereby only the underworld remains as a dwelling place for Mahâbali.

With the three steps, one immediately thinks of the Vedic Vishnu, but whether the striding dwarf with the three steps is to be linked to the three steps of the Vedic Vishnu (as, for example, Lassen suggests) is still very much in question. The fundamental basis concerns very different things. The dwarf has his eye on the solid things—sulfur, salmiac, and lime—as the "land," and because these are three, he wishes to take three steps. As he begins to stride, he strides over earth, heaven, and air. That is to say, the Liquor hepatis rises as a distillate. For Mahâbali, who is left behind, nothing remains but the residue of the distillation, which stays below in the retort—that is, in the underworld.

Vishnu is a dwarf here in view of the fact that from the tiny things—sulfur, salmiac, and lime—the high Arcanum secret remedy of Liquor hepatis is made. These things are "tiny" or lowly because every mason has lime in his hand, sulfur is found in every house as a match-making material, and salmiac is such a lowly thing that it can even be produced from camel dung.

This avatar again stands at the point of the representation of the Liquor hepatis on one hand and the struggle on the other. Vishnu incorporates himself as a man.

Sixth Avatar. Vishnu, under the incarnation of the third Râma, Râmatschandra, marches against Ceylon. The ruler of Ceylon was Ravana from the race of giants. He is also called Dasagriva, which means "the ten-necked one." He had stolen the black-eyed Sita, Râma's wife, and hence the campaign against him by the robbed husband, who is even aided faithfully by monkeys. Ravana and his giants are defeated, and Râma becomes master of Ceylon, where Râmayiri becomes his residence. This story is the subject of the Râmâyana. — In these two avatars, the Liquor hepatis is absent, but the struggle remains. Vishnu incorporates himself as a hero.

To get a picture of an Indian hero, we wish to set down here how the epic Râmâyana describes Râma.

He is descended from the tribe of Ikschvâku, and the peoples celebrate him under the name of Râma. He is abstemious, brave, brilliant, knowledgeable in the sacred scriptures, compliant, inventive, clever, eloquent, fortunate, a slayer of his enemies, broad-shouldered, with muscular arms, with a neck marked with shell-shaped triple lines, with protruding cheekbones, with a broad, strongly arched chest, with a fleshy neck: a fighter of enemies; his arms reach to his knees, he has a beautiful head, a beautiful forehead, a youthful gait, he is stout with proportioned limbs, has a pleasant color, is majestic, has turgid swollen or prominent nipples, large eyes, is fortunate, has a prepossessing appearance; he is just, keeps his promises, knows how to suppress his anger and his emotional outbursts, is wise, has good manners, is brave, strong; he is a punisher of the human race, a protector of justice, he is well-versed in the sacred scripture and its explanations, a perfect archer; he has learned almost everything, is knowledgeable in the law, brilliant, kind toward all, honorable, noble-minded, insightful; the good follow him as the rivers follow the ocean; Râma, he who is endowed with all virtues, is the joy of his mother; he is deep like the ocean, firm like the mountain Himavan the Himalayas; he is lively like Vishnu, lovely to look upon like the moon; when he is angry, one would say the world was ending; he is patient like the earth; he is generous like Kuvêru, the giver of treasures, reliable like a second god of justice.

Eighth Avatar. Vishnu under the incarnation of the god Krischna Krishna. Krishna is born as a king's son and immediately after his birth manifests his divine origin through a multitude of miracles. His maternal uncle seeks the child's life, therefore he was carried across the river and raised among shepherds. There Krishna invented the flute and is sometimes presented dancing as Balakrischna or the child-Krishna. His lawful wife is Râdha, but he is not faithful to her. In a fragment from the Brahma-Vaivarta-Purana, edited by Stenzler, the love story with the shepherdess Viraja is described. It is kept a bit "juicy" erotic. In the whole body of Viraja, the hairs stand up with joy original: "In toto corpore Virajae gaudio eriguntur pili.". — Viraja suffers a fainting of the soul from the desire for pleasure with Krishna original: "Animi deliquium patitur Viraja cupedine voluptatis cum Krischno.". — Haris Krishna clings to Viraja original: "Virajae adhaeret Haris (Krischna).". — Radha surprises the pair, and the terrified Viraja turns into a river. Krishna, however, transforms her back. She arises: laboring under the weight of her hips and thighs, endowed with swollen and erect breasts original: "clunium femorumque pondere laborans, turgentibus erectisque mammis praedita"; she, the beauty among beauties, strides slowly along like an elephant (!). When the lord of the world Krishna saw her so beautiful, marked by love, he quickly embraced her and kissed her again and again. The prince Krishna, having found his beloved in solitude, practiced all kinds of love, the contrary and the rest, again and again original: "Quam cum vidisset formosam, amore distinctam, mundanam dominus (Krischna), celeriter illam amplexus est, osculatusque iterum iterumque. Omnis generis amores, contrarium et reliquos princeps (Krischna), in solitudine amatam adeptus, exercuit iterum iterumque.". That Viraja, driven by impulse, conceiving that seed, was immediately made pregnant; she, wealthy and good, bore the divine

fetus of the prince for an age; then indeed she brought forth seven very beautiful sons original: "principis foetum per seculum; tum vero septem filios pulcherrimos enixa est.". One sees from this matter that the Indians, who on the one hand know how to treat love so wonderfully lyrically, on the other hand also know how to paint the colors of love quite garishly. The seven sons from before, by the way, have no enviable lot. Viraja is once walking with Krishna in the forest and has ideas of love. Then her youngest son rushes toward her, having been frightened by his brothers. Haris, seeing the frightened child, leaves Viraja, and she comforts the boy. Afterward, however, she notices that Krishna is gone, becomes enraged at this, and transforms her sons into seven seas: the salt sea, the sugar sea, the spirits alcohol sea, the butter sea, the buttermilk sea, the milk sea, and the water sea. (Seven Arcana secret chemical remedies). — Krishna performs several heroic deeds, among which especially belongs his killing of the dragon Kaliya, and his once lifting the Parnassus Mt. Govardhana with his finger. In general, Krishna is a very mighty lord, a powerful god. Let us hear Daman, the servant of Krishna in the Purana cited above, speak about this. He, Daman, says to Radha: How can you, O Mother, address my lord with such bitter speech; unthinkingly, O Goddess, you revile him in vain. The lord of Brahma, Ananta, Siva, Yama, the creator of the world, the lord of Sarasvati, Laksehmi, Maya, Prakriti; him, who is without qualities, content with himself, full of love—him you treat shamefully. Him, who keeps the best goddesses in check, whose highest mistress of all you are through worship and foot-veneration—you do not know him, O fortunate one. What shall I say to the lord? Krishna can create countless goddesses like you by the mere frowning of his brows, and him, who is without qualities, you do not know. In Vaikuntha paradise, Lakshmi always strokes the lotus of the feet of Haris with her hair and worships him submissively. The lord, whom Sarasvati always praises submissively with songs that sweetly delight the ear—you do not know him. Him, whom good nature, endowed with the form of the life of all, always honors and praises submissively—you proud one do not know him! The sixteenth part of his greatness the Vedas sacred scriptures always glorify, but they do not know all his parts: — him, however, you do not know, O angry one. Yes, him, whom Brahma with the four faces, the father of the Vedas, the lord, praises, whose lotus of the feet he venerates, O mistress; him, whom Siva with the five faces (Acid. sulphur. sulfuric acid, Ferrum iron, Natron carbon. sodium carbonate, Natron nitricum sodium nitrate, Natron sulphuricum sodium sulfate, see Siva), the teacher of the penitents, praises with tears and joyful trembling, and venerates the lotus of the feet. Sesha with the thousand faces (the serpent of Vishnu) praises the highest lord forever and ever, and reverently venerates the lotus of the feet. The lotus of his feet is also always joyfully venerated by Yama, the guide of all things and their witness, the lord of the worlds. The ruler Vishnu, who rides on a white elephant, himself a lord and a part of this one Krishna, nevertheless always meditates upon this one, the Highest. The Suras and Asuras, the most noble of the anchorites, the Manus, men, and the wise, although they do not see him, venerate the lotus of the feet even in sleep. Let go of your anger quickly, and venerate the lotus of the feet of Haris, who can destroy the creation by a mere frowning of the brows. If he only moves his eyelids, Brahma is brought to a fall. In one day that belongs to him, twenty-eight Indras fall; he, the creator of the worlds, has a life of 108 ages. You, Radha, and the girls the shepherdesses with Radha are completely in the power of my lord.

Naturally, these are exaggerations that collide with the usual views of Indian mythology. They merely serve to push Krishna to the fore as a god with emphasis.

Ninth Avatar. Vishnu under the incarnation of the reformer Buddha, the founder of Buddhism.

Buddhism is, it should be mentioned in passing, the most widespread religious party in Asia. V. Bohlen establishes the following approximate ratio regarding the main

religious parties in Asia, though he himself points out the uncertainty of such data:

Tenth Avatar. Vishnu as Kalki. This incarnation still lies in the future. Vishnu will come on a white horse to free mankind from their sin and to extirpate vice.

Here we have the whitening (white horse) of the Liquor hepatis (see under the colors of the Arcana), and the corruption chemical degradation of the preparation that is linked to it.

In this avatar, the Liquor hepatis again comes to the fore. Vishnu incorporates himself as Kalki. — Regarding the more specific situation, we have the following concerning the ten avatars.

At the level of chemical science at that time, it is naturally unthinkable that one understood which chemical processes occur when Liquor hepatis is produced during the distillation of sulfur, salmiac, and lime. Therefore, one could only say quite generally: we take sulfur, salmiac, and lime, let them act chemically upon one another, and the result of the matter is that they embody themselves into something new, which is: Liquor hepatis. Since Vishnu represents the Liquor hepatis, Vishnu embodies himself, and thus we have the avatars.

The question now is, as what should Vishnu embody himself? First, based on the second avatar, the tortoise is brought in. The tortoise represents the Lutum sealing clay or putty with which the retort neck and the receiver are cemented together. That the Lutum is pushed into the foreground in this way shows us either, in general, that great and high value was placed on a good cement; in this case, "tortoise" or "tortoise shell" is a general name that means exactly the same thing as Lutum, cement. Or, the matter is to be taken specifically, suggesting that the Indians used the shell of the tortoise for their cement and took pride in having discovered such a good cement. In any case, the Indians considered the cementing together of the retort neck and receiver during the production of Liquor hepatis to be something that poignantly draws the alchemist's attention, for otherwise they would not have utilized Vishnu for it. By utilizing him for it, we have the tortoise as his incarnation.

In connection with the second avatar, we have therefore already moved closer to the answer to the question: "As what should Vishnu embody himself?" We already have one answer: "As a tortoise." But now it is a matter of ten avatars, and that shows that one wants to approach the subject from many sides. With this versatility, one cannot simply bring in the tortoise again and again. Thus, the necessity arises to expand upon the tortoise, and since it is an animal, it is natural to expand it to "the animal" in general. We thus receive an answer to the question: "As what should Vishnu embody himself?" that moves within wider limits—namely the answer: "As an animal."

The Indians divided the animal kingdom into four classes: land animals, flying animals, water animals, and creeping things. The tortoise is counted among the creeping things. Since we now have an incarnation of Vishnu as a creeping thing, and the incarnations are to be extended into the realm of animals, it is natural to bring in the three remaining animal classes, and thus material for the incarnation for three new avatars is given. However, in the avatars, the animals of the air are not reflected upon. This is because Vishnu already has a bird upon which he rides: Garutmat or Garuda. He already has this bird beforehand, and therefore the class of birds does not need to be represented in the avatars. To this is added the fact that Garuda is an enemy of snakes, and the snake belongs to the class of creeping things, to which the tortoise—this basis of Vishnu's animal incarnation—also belongs. Tortoise—

Page 26 contains a duplicate of the text from page 25. The translation continues from the logic of the animal classes and the tortoise shell cement.

...shell original: "Schild-"