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understanding it correctly. And thus the controversies are reconciled. Concerning all these apparent contradictions, and how they are to be reconciled, one should see the 50th and 54th letters, as well as the final letter of the aforementioned Michael Sendivogius. And there, one should also note with diligent attention what Sendivogius himself says regarding our unique universal celestial spirit; and see also his New Light original: "Novo Lumine", Treatise 3, at the beginning, etcetera.

Elsewhere the wise add that from that unique sweet subject which is called the second matter, or remote matter, or chaos, with which and through which everything in this art is made, from it, with it, in it, and through it, are all things necessary for our work: as Geber, Senior, and others say. For this reason, we first extract from it a mercurial spirit that is fiery, volatile, and universal, in sufficient quantity and alive, which is one of our mercuries, and is our natural fire: called "All in All" by Basil Valentine. In the second place, after the putrefaction of our wine into vinegar reduced by our art, we draw out the spirit of our most sharp vinegar, which is another of our mercuries, the true menstruum solitivum solvent liquid. It is therefore called "fire against nature" because it dissolves the body and turns it into oil. In the third place, we obtain the sal fixum alcalicum fixed alkaline salt which is bitter, white on the outside but red on the inside. Although we elicit it in a small quantity from the tartar of our wine, it is nevertheless of the greatest virtue. Lullius declares this in The Power of Riches original: "Potestate divitiarum" chapter 8, regarding its small quantity and the aforementioned virtue. And thus we have the spirit and the body, and consequently the soul, since