of the separation of naturall things.
the chaos the matter of the world.i
n the creation of the world, the first separation began from the foure elements, seeing the first matter of the world was one chaos.
of this chaos god made the greater world, being divided into four distinct elements, viz. fire, aire, water, and earth. fire is the hot part, aire the moist,[pg 80] water the cold, and earth the dry part of the greater world.
what separation shall be here spoken of.
but that you may in brief understand the reason of our purpose in this 8th. book, you must know, that we doe not purpose to treat here of the elements of all naturall things, seeing wee have sufficiently discoursed of those arcana in the archidoxis of the separation of naturall things: whereby every one of them is apart, and distinctly separated, and divided materially, and substantially, viz. seeing that two, three, or foure, or more things are mixed into one body, and yet there is seen but one matter. where it often falls out, that the corporeall matter of that thing cannot bee known by any, or signified by any expresse name, untill there bee a separation made. then sometimes two, three, four, five or more things come forth out of one matter: as is manifest by daily experience, in the art of alchymie.
what electrum is.
as for example, you have an electrum, which of it selfe is no metall, but yet it hides all metalls in one metall. that if it be anatomized by the industry of alchymie, and separated: all the seven metalls, viz. gold, silver, copper, tinne, lead, iron, and quicksilver come out of it, and that pure, and perfect.
what separation is.
but that you may understand what separation is, note, that it is nothing else then the severing of one thing from another, whether of two, three, four, or more things mixed together: i say a separation of the three principles, as of mercury, sulphur, and salt, and the extraction of pure out of the impure, or the pure, excellent spirit, and quintessence, from a[pg 81] grosse, and elementary body; and the preparation of two, three, four, or more out of one: or the dissolution, and setting at liberty things that are bound, and compact, which are of a contrary nature, acting one against the other, untill they destroy one the other.
how many kinds of separation.
now there are many kinds of separation, many of which are unknown to us; those, which wee have experienced out of elementary, dissoluble naturall things, shall in this place, according to their kinds, be described.
the separation of the microcosme.
the first separation of which wee speake, must begin from man, because hee is the microcosme, or little world, for whose sake the macrocosme or greater world was made, viz. that hee might be the separator of it.
the body of man after death is twofold.
now the separation of the microcosme begins at his death. for in death the two bodies of man are separated the one from the other, viz. his celestial and terrestial body; i.e. sacramental, and elementary: one of which ascends on high like an eagle; the other falls downward to the earth like lead.
what the elementary body is.
the elementary is putrefied, consumed, and becomes a putrid stinking carkase, which being buryed in the earth, never comes forth, or appeares more.
what a sacramentall body is.
but the sacramentall, i.e. syderiall, or celestiall, is never putrefied, or buried, neither doth it possesse any place. this body appears to men, and also after death is seen.
hence ghosts, visions, and supernaturall apparitions.
whence the cabalisticall art.
hence by the ancient magicians, the cabalisticall[pg 82] art took its beginning, of which we shall treat more at large in the books of cabalie.
after this separation is made, then after the death of the man three substances, viz. body, soule, and spirit are divided the one from the other, every one going to its own place, viz. its own fountaine, from whence it had its originall, viz. the body to the earth, to the first matter of the elements: the soul into the first matter of sacraments, and lastly, the spirit into the first matter of the airy chaos.
the separation of the macrocosme.
what now hath been spoken of the separation of the macrocosme, the same also may bee understood in the greater world which the great ocean hath divided into three parts, three parts of the world.so that the universall world is severed into three parts, viz. europe, asia, and africa, which separation is a certain representation of three principles, which can be separated from any terrene, or elementary thing. these three principles are mercury, sulphur, and salt, of which three the world was made, and composed.
the separation of metalls.
the next thing to bee known is the separation of metalls from their mountains, i.e. the separation of metalls, and mineralls.
by vertue of this separation many things come forth out of one matter, as you see out of mineralls come forth, the drosse of metalls, glasse, sand, piipitis, marcasite, granatus, cobaltum, talke, cachinna, zinetum, bisemutum, antimony, litharge, sulphur, vitriall, verdegrease, chrysocolla, the azure stone, auripigmentum, arsenicke, realgar, cinnabar, clay of iron, spathus, gyphus, ocree, and many more like to these, as also the waters, oyles, re[pg 83]sines, calxes, mercury, sulphur, and salt, &c.
of vegetables.
vegetables in their separation yeeld, waters, oyles, iuices, resines, gums, electuaries, powders, ashes, mercury, sulphur, and salt.
of animalls.
animalls in their separation yeeld, water, bloud, flesh, fat, bones, skin, body, hairs, mercury, sulphur, and salt.
what a good separator ought to be.
hee therefore that boasts himselfe to bee able to separate all naturall things after this manner, must of necessity have long experience, and perfect knowledge of all naturall things.
moreover, hee must bee a skilfull, and well practised alchymist, that hee may know what is combustible, and what not; what is fixt, and what not; what wil flow, and what not; and what things are more ponderous one then another: also he must be experienced in the naturall colour, smell, acidity, harshnesse, sowrenesse, bitternesse, sweetnesse, the degree, complexion, and quality of every thing.
the degrees of separation. what and how many there be.
also hee must know the degrees of separation, as of distillation, resolution, putrefaction, extraction, calcination, reverberation, sublimation, reduction, coagulation, powdering, and washing.
what distillation separates.
by distillation is separated water, oyle from all corporeall things.
what resolution.
by resolution are separated metals from minerals, and one metall from another, and salt from the other principles, and fat, and that which is light, from that which is heavy.
putrefaction.
by putrefaction is separated fat from lean, pure from impure, putrid from not putrid.
extraction.
by extraction is separated pure from impure, and spirit, and quintessence from body, and thinne from thick.
[pg 84]
calcination.
by calcination is separated watery moisture, fat, naturall heat, odour, and whatsoever else is combustible.
reverberation.
by reverberation is separated colour, odour, what is combustible, all humidity, aquosity, fat, and whatsoever is inconstant, or fluxil, in any thing, &c.
sublimation.
by sublimation is separated the fixed from the volatile, spirituall from the corporeall, pure from impure, sulphur from salt, mercury from salt, &c.
reduction.
by reduction is separated what is fluxil, from what is solid, a metall from its minerall, and one metall from another, a metall from its drosse, fat from what is not fat.
coagulation.
by coagulation is separated waterishnes from humidity, water from earth.
powdering.
by powdering are separated powder, and sand, ashes, and calx, minerall, vegetable, and animall one from the other, and all powders, which are of an unequall weight are separated, and by winnowing, as chaffe from corne.
washing.
by washing are separated ashes, and sand, a minerall from its metall, that which is heavy from what is light, a vegetable, and animall from what is minerall, sulphur from mercury, and salt, salt from mercury.
the preparation of metall is manifold.
but passing by the theorie, we will now fall upon the practise, and come to particulars.
you must therefore note, that the separation of metalls is the first by right, and wee shall therefore treat of it after this method, and manner.
