Real Alchemy: A Primer of Practical Alchemy

«Consulting a licensed physician is encouraged before consuming herbal preparations. Familiarize yourself with the laws that may apply to you in your jurisdiction and act accordingly.» — la advertencia de apertura, que el volumen imprime como plana propia antes de los preliminares: consultar médico antes de ingerir los preparados y atenerse a la ley del lugar.

«Read as many of the other books on the subject of Alchemy as possible. (A list of recommended books can be found in the Bibliography.) Learn as much as you can from a qualified teacher.» — lo que la misma advertencia pide antes de practicar: leer cuanto se pueda y aprender de un maestro cualificado, con la bibliografía del final como lista de referencia.

«And above all, know the theory before attempting the practice.» — la regla que remata la advertencia y que el capítulo segundo repite como dicho de los alquimistas: primero la teoría, después la praxis.

«T hese days the word Alchemy is lumped together with psychic phenomena, ghost hunters, UFO sightings and other “Dark Arts.” Everyone has heard of such things but only a few know more of the details, especially those concerning alchemy.» — con esto abre el prefacio de la primera edición: la alquimia estaría hoy revuelta con lo psíquico y lo paranormal, y de ella se sabría todavía menos que del resto.

«A few years ago, my wife was in a class for Hypnotherapy certification and she happened to mention that I had an interest in alchemy. Everyone was intrigued.» — el origen que declara para el libro: la mención casual de su mujer en un curso de hipnoterapia.

«They asked if I would be willing to give a two or three-hour presentation on the subject.» — la invitación que dice haber recibido, de dos o tres horas.

«My hesitant reply was, “Yeah, I can do that.” That first time, I talked for five hours. People were entranced and asked if we could have another class to continue. Before I could finish constructing an outline for the second class, I received a call asking if we could make the whole presentation three six-hour classes.» — cómo creció aquella charla, según su relato, hasta tres clases de seis horas.

«Since then, I've been teaching the classes each year. There is a real thirst out there for information on the practical alchemical arts.» — lo que dice haber medido con esas clases anuales: una demanda real de información sobre las artes alquímicas prácticas. Es la justificación que da al libro.

«Now I will teach and describe the secret of the arts, which secret is at the heart of all secrets hidden in the art of alchemy; since one will here understand the wonderful works that God has accomplished in all things he has made out of the four elements...» — el epígrafe que abre el cuerpo del libro, bajo el título *Real Alchemy*; la voz es de Isaac Holland, no de Bartlett.

«For I shall here teach you to know the spirits of herbs, trees, and all growing things; how to separate them from their bodies, and also how to purify the four elements and restore them to their first being and their perfect power; that is, that when the elements are purified, how they can be put together again and make a perfect and fixed body of them, which is then glorified and has a miraculous effect .» — la continuación de ese epígrafe, que enuncia el programa entero del libro —separar, purificar, recomponer— en palabras de Holland.

«– Issac Holland, Opera Vegetabilia (15th century)» — la atribución del epígrafe. El nombre se imprime aquí *Issac Holland* y en el capítulo cuarto *Isaac Holland* (p. 39); la bibliografía lo cataloga como *Holland, Isaac* y como *Johan Isaaci Hollandus* (p. 160). Las grafías van tal cual y no se arbitran.

«W hen we mention the word “Alchemy ” most people think that means a now-discredited method of turning lead into gold.» — el primer lugar común que la introducción sale a deshacer: la alquimia como método desacreditado de hacer oro.

«Yet, if we look into the lives of the alchemists themselves we find they were indeed involved in laboratory work that appears to be similar to what we call chemistry today.» — el argumento con que objeta la lectura solo metafórica: las vidas de los alquimistas muestran trabajo de laboratorio.

«alchemy and attach it to any number of “New Age” transformative tools (such as alchemical massage or alchemical hypnotherapy) because alchemy is associated with the transmutation or transformation of something of little worth into something of great value.» — el tercer uso que deslinda: el del término como etiqueta de terapias de la Nueva Era. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 14.

«Who am I? And where is this information coming from? I've been exploring alchemy since I was about twelve years old. I've had a laboratory of my own in one form or another since even before then.» — la credencial con que se presenta: laboratorio propio desde antes de los doce años.

«In 1974 I began an intensive study of alchemy at the Paracelsus Research Society (PRS) -- later called Paracelsus College and located in Salt Lake City, Utah. The classes were taught by Dr. Albert Reidel, who preferred to be known as Frater Albertus.» — la filiación de escuela que declara, con la identidad civil de Frater Albertus.

«Frater Albertus was one of the most well-known practical alchemists of the twentieth century. He also taught classes in Germany, Switzerland, New Zealand and Australia.» — la posición que le adjudica a su maestro y el alcance internacional de sus cursos.

«The classes took place on a small campus composed of a dormitory, a lecture hall, and a laboratory. Class size was limited to twelve students and contact with the outside world was not encouraged (no radios, TV, phones, or newspapers) so the student could fully immerse himself in the teachings. It was a Mystery School.» — cómo describe el régimen de aquella enseñanza: doce alumnos, aislamiento del exterior, y el nombre que le da, escuela de misterios.

«The classes ran Monday through Saturday, from 9 A.M. to 5 P.M. (with homework and lab work that ran continuously) for two weeks each year over seven years. At the end of each two-week class, the students were given work to accomplish in preparation for the next year's class.» — el calendario del curso: dos semanas al año durante siete años, con trabajo asignado para el intervalo.

«By 1976, I decided to return to a university where I could finish my degree in chemistry in hopes of one day working at Paralab -- the commercial offshoot of the PRS that would be opening soon. Paralab offered a line of herbal and mineral preparations formulated along alchemical principles for research and alternative healthcare practices.» — el paso por la química universitaria y qué era Paralab: el brazo comercial de la sociedad, con preparados herbales y minerales de formulación alquímica.

«After graduation in 1979, I was appointed Chief Chemist at Paralab and remained in that position until its closure in late 1983. Frater Albertus passed away in 1984.» — el cargo que ocupó y las dos fechas con que cierra el episodio: el cierre de Paralab a finales de 1983 y la muerte de Frater Albertus en 1984.

«I have been a professional Chemist since that time and have worked on my own projects through the years.» — su oficio desde entonces.

«analytical data on many products from alchemical experiments, and so begin to answer some of the questions modern science would ask concerning these materials.» — lo que dice haber podido hacer desde el laboratorio profesional: reunir datos analíticos sobre los productos alquímicos y responder con ellos a la ciencia. El tramo abre a mitad de frase porque el impreso parte *state-of-the-art* en el salto de renglón.

«To understand that correctly requires some understanding of natural laws and some introduction to mysticism or occult philosophy.» — la condición que pone para entender la definición de Frater Albertus: leyes naturales por un lado, misticismo o filosofía oculta por el otro.

«The earliest descriptions of alchemy link it to transformations in matter through the influence of light or spirit, or fire. It is the metamorphosis of matter orchestrated by spirit.» — cómo data el arte por sus descripciones más antiguas, y la fórmula que saca de ellas: metamorfosis de la materia orquestada por el espíritu.

«It is generally agreed that ancient Egypt is the birthplace of alchemy (as it is known in the Western World) and it is there that we begin our exploration.» — el punto de partida histórico que adopta, presentado como consenso y acotado al mundo occidental.

«T he origins of alchemy are lost in history and theories abound as to where it might have originated:» — el capítulo primero abre declarando que el origen del arte se ha perdido y que las teorías abundan; no elige entre ellas.

«• God taught it to Adam and later to Moses. • Fallen Angels taught it to human women in exchange for sex. • It is a remnant of lost Atlantean technology. • Extraterrestrials taught it to our ancestors.» — las cuatro leyendas de origen que enumera sin suscribir ninguna: la enseñanza divina a Adán y a Moisés, los ángeles caídos, la tecnología atlante y los extraterrestres. Las viñetas son del impreso y se conservan dentro de la cita.

«Whatever its true origin is, recorded history documents an esoteric tradition that has existed for several thousand years.» — lo que sostiene por debajo de esas leyendas: sea cual sea el origen, hay una tradición documentada de varios milenios.

«Mystery and magic permeate all that is ancient Egypt. From beginning to end, Egypt has been called a theocratic state, ruled by a very powerful priesthood. The priesthood was divided into various castes, each with specific duties -- such as scribes and astronomers.» — cómo describe el marco egipcio del que hace arrancar el arte: estado teocrático y sacerdocio dividido en castas.

«Of special interest to us are the priests, who worked with materials in ways we might describe today as chemistry. These priests, often working under an oath of secrecy regarding their art, developed skills in metallurgy, ceramics, medicine, mummification, and winemaking, to name just a few.» — a qué casta sacerdotal adjudica el antecedente: la que trabajaba materiales bajo juramento de secreto, con destrezas de metalurgia, cerámica, medicina, momificación y vinificación.

«The study of the operative forces at work in the universe was the primary goal of the priesthood. They called these forces the “Neteru” from which we obtain our word, “Nature.” The Neteru are the forces of Nature.» — la etimología que propone: *Neteru* como origen de *Nature*, y las fuerzas operativas del universo como objeto propio del sacerdocio.

«From the small number of writings which remain to us, it is apparent that these priests were skilled healers who possessed a materials science, much of which is still a mystery to us.» — lo que adjudica a esos sacerdotes a partir de los pocos escritos conservados: una ciencia de materiales todavía no reconstruida.

«There were always two parts to these sciences -- one was mental/spiritual and the other physical. For example, the preparation of a medicine included the processing of a material accompanied by certain words, spells, incantations or rituals. And in prescribing, the patient was given the medicine with instructions to repeat a spell or prayer. The proper timing of these things was equally important.» — la estructura de dos partes que sostiene para aquella medicina —material y verbal— con el momento oportuno como tercer requisito. Es el mismo esquema que el libro aplicará después en el laboratorio.

«In the Egyptian Mysteries, Man was composed of various spiritual and mental components as well as the physical component and each had its proper “medicine.”» — la antropología que adjudica a los misterios egipcios: componentes espirituales, mentales y físicos, cada uno con su medicina propia.

«These Secret Sciences advanced over time and tales of wondrous healing oils, life-giving potions, and imitations of gold and precious stones have survived even to our day.» — qué dice que sobrevivió de aquellas ciencias secretas: relatos de aceites curativos, pociones y oro imitado.

«When ancient tomb robbers would plunder a pharaoh's tomb, these precious oils were one of the first things to be stolen. They were considered to be as precious as gold and easier to carry and sell. Stolen gold was heavy and had to be melted down before you could sell it.» — el argumento indirecto con que sostiene el valor de aquellos aceites: los saqueadores de tumbas los preferían al oro.

«When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt around 300 B.C.E., he fell in love with the whole culture, and the Egyptians welcomed him with open arms.» — cómo data el arranque del periodo grecoegipcio.

«The Greeks called Egypt Khem or Khemet . This literally meant “The Black Land” and is in reference to the thick layer of dark fertile soil deposited by the annual flooding of the Nile.» — la primera mitad de la etimología que propone para el nombre del arte: *Khem*, la tierra negra del limo del Nilo.

«Knowledge of Egyptian Secret Sciences made its way into Greece where it was called Khemia “The Black Art” and spawned a long line of Greek alchemists.» — la segunda: *Khemia*, el arte negro, ya en Grecia.

«The Great Library of Alexandria is legendary. It has been estimated that this library contained nearly a million volumes of the collected writings of the known world.» — la cifra que da para la Biblioteca de Alejandría, presentada como estimación y sin fuente.

«If is here that the Hermetic Philosophy and alchemy congealed as a Path to Spiritual Attainment and its secrets were only revealed to initiates under an oath of silence.» — dónde sitúa la cuajada de filosofía hermética y alquimia como vía espiritual, con el secreto iniciático como régimen. El impreso escribe *If is here* por *It is here*.

«By around 30 B.C.E., the Roman legions had swept the world and the last of the Egyptian Ptolemies had fallen to Roman rule. During this insurgence, a very large part of the Great Library was destroyed by fire.» — el primer corte de la transmisión que traza: la conquista romana y el incendio de buena parte de la Biblioteca.

«Initially, Rome was tolerant of Egyptian ways. In fact, the worship of Isis spread well into the Roman world with temples in Rome itself. As the early Roman Emperors became converted to Christianity, this level of tolerance dropped off.» — cómo fecha el cambio de clima: la tolerancia inicial de Roma, con templos de Isis en la propia ciudad, cede con la conversión de los emperadores.

«In 290 C.E., the Emperor Diocletian feared that the influx of imitation gold produced by the Egyptian Art could disrupt the Roman economy. Fearing also that it would allow someone to gather enough wealth to form an army which could move against Rome, Diocletian passed an edict calling for the destruction of all texts and materials dealing with the manufacture of gold and precious stones.» — el edicto de Diocleciano y los dos motivos que le adjudica: el riesgo monetario y el riesgo político de un ejército financiado con oro alquímico.

«This order was carried out with great severity. Great masses of information were indiscriminately destroyed as well as what remained of The Great Library.» — el alcance que atribuye a esa destrucción.

«In 325 C.E., Rome officially became Christian and in 391 the Emperor Theodosius made heresy punishable by death and ordered the destruction of pagan temples.» — las dos fechas con que cierra el episodio romano.

«Most of those practicing the Hermetic Philosophy fled the country and migrated east to Arab lands not occupied by Rome. The early Persian Caliphs were much more hospitable to the alchemists and the center of The Art shifted there, although in a much more guarded capacity.» — el traslado del centro del arte a tierras árabes que sostiene, con la reserva de que allí se practicó de modo más reservado.

«It was here that the Arabic prefix Al was added to the Greek Khemia to give us Al-Khemia , later to become Alchemy .» — el tercer tramo de su etimología: el artículo árabe sobre el término griego.

«Beginning with the Islamic invasions around 800 C.E., knowledge of alchemy spread into Western Europe, largely through the works of Ibn Sinna (also known as Avicenna.)» — la vía de entrada a Europa que traza, con Avicena como primer nombre. El impreso escribe *Ibn Sinna*.

«that we derive our word for Gibberish . They collected many of the ancient Egyptian and Greek alchemical works and translated them into Arabic, which were later translated into Latin in Europe.» — la etimología que propone para *gibberish* a partir del nombre de Jabir, y la doble traducción que adjudica a los árabes, del griego al árabe y de ahí al latín. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 19, donde dice que Jabir escribía en estilo críptico para ocultar los secretos.

«In Medieval Europe, alchemy became very fashionable. By now, kings and rulers everywhere had heard of the wonders possible through alchemy, especially the turning of lead into gold.» — cómo describe la moda alquímica medieval y su motor: la transmutación del plomo en oro.

«There were also a great number of cons and scams perpetrated by those who pretended to know the secrets of the alchemists. Many unsuspecting people lost their life savings in hopes of finding the way to inexhaustible wealth.» — el fraude como parte del cuadro, y no como acusación externa al arte.

«Alchemy began to acquire a bad reputation as a fraud because of this, and people began to distrust the whole matter without really knowing anything about the true alchemical art. Then, around 1310, Pope John XXII issued a decree prohibiting the practice of alchemy, and gold-making in particular, with heavy fines against those who traded in alchemical gold.» — de dónde hace venir la mala fama del arte, y la primera prohibición que consigna, la de Juan XXII hacia 1310.

«In 1404, King Henry IV of England issued an “Act” declaring gold-making a crime against the Crown.» — la segunda prohibición que consigna, la inglesa de 1404.

«Paracelsus (born Phillipus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim in Switzerland 1493) revolutionized the Alchemical Art and is considered to be one of the fathers of modern chemistry and pharmaceutical medicine.» — la posición que adjudica a Paracelso en la historia del arte y en la de la química. El nombre se imprime *Phillipus Theophrastus Bombast von Hohenheim*.

«A respected physician and university lecturer, Paracelsus was also skilled in all of the arts of the Hermetic Philosophy.» — cómo lo describe: médico y catedrático a la vez que practicante de todas las artes herméticas.

«Paracelsus repeatedly demonstrated the power and effectiveness of alchemically prepared medicines.» — lo que le adjudica como aporte práctico.

«He stressed to his colleagues the importance of looking carefully into alchemy as a source for medicines far beyond what the current pharmaceutical technology could produce.» — el argumento que atribuye a Paracelso ante sus colegas: la alquimia como fuente de medicinas fuera del alcance de la farmacia de su tiempo.

«He was constantly at odds with the medical professionals of his day and was looked upon very suspiciously by the Church because of his views and opinions. Because of this some believe Paracelsus was murdered in 1541.» — el conflicto que le adjudica con el gremio médico y con la Iglesia, y la hipótesis del asesinato, que consigna como creencia ajena y no como hecho.

«However, his ideas and writings did not go unnoticed. In a strange twist of irony, these helped lead to the end of the Age of Alchemy and the beginnings of chemistry as we know it today.» — la ironía que señala: la obra de Paracelso habría contribuido al fin de la edad alquímica que él mismo renovaba.

«The writings of Paracelsus shifted the view on alchemy from the pursuit of gold into which it had fallen, back toward its original intent -- medicines for the body and soul leading one to perfect health, wholeness, and initiation into Nature's mysteries. Paracelsus recognized man's physical and occult constitution according to Hermetic Principles.» — qué desplazamiento le adjudica: del oro de vuelta a la medicina del cuerpo y del alma, con la constitución oculta del hombre leída por principios herméticos.

«By the seventeenth century, there was a growing religious freedom which sparked a wave of interest in all things Mystical. Alchemical texts became still more widely available, and scholars openly identified themselves as Rosicrucians, Adepts or Alchemists. The spiritual aspects of alchemy appealed to many, apart from any practical works.» — cómo describe el siglo XVII: libertad religiosa creciente, textos disponibles y eruditos que se declaran rosacruces o adeptos; señala que a muchos les atrajo el lado espiritual al margen del trabajo práctico.

«Robert Boyle (another “Father of Modern Chemistry”) and Isaac Newton studied alchemy during this time. Newton was fully involved and produced volumes of work. In fact, he considered himself to be more of an alchemist than a physicist or mathematician.» — lo que sostiene sobre Newton: que se tenía más por alquimista que por físico o matemático.

«His notes indicate that he believed he was very close to success in the alchemical art of metallic transmutation.» — y qué adjudica a los cuadernos de Newton: la creencia de estar cerca de la transmutación metálica.

«Boyle was also an ardent student trying to clarify many alchemical concepts which were becoming obscured even in his day. He was a meticulous experimenter and realized the difference between Philosophical and Unphilosophical workings upon materials.» — cómo presenta a Boyle: no como adversario del arte sino como quien intentaba aclararlo, y con la distinción entre trabajos filosóficos y no filosóficos.

«In his very influential book, The Sceptical Chymist , Boyle called into question the number and nature of the elements and called for a more organized terminology.» — qué le adjudica al *Sceptical Chymist*: poner en duda el número y la naturaleza de los elementos y pedir una terminología ordenada.

«His alchemical insights have been largely misinterpreted to be a debunking of vitalistic alchemy in favor of a more rigorous concentration on the physical facts. It was the beginning of a more mechanical world-view, which would last into the twentieth century.» — objeta la lectura corriente de Boyle como liquidador de la alquimia vitalista, y data ahí el arranque de la visión mecánica del mundo.

«Around 1660, King Charles II signed the first Charter of the Royal Society and the study of chemistry soon became an officially recognized science.» — la fecha con que marca la institucionalización de la química.

«America also had its alchemists, including several state Governors. There were groups in Pennsylvania who brought with them many of the early German alchemical writings (which were quite extensive.)» — la rama americana que consigna: gobernadores alquimistas y los grupos de Pensilvania con escritos alemanes.

«By the 1800s, the practice of Alchemy had largely disappeared» — cómo fecha la desaparición pública del arte. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 22 con *in the outer world*.

«in the outer world in favor of its still young offshoot -- chemistry. Alchemy survived underground in various “Secret Societies” which became popular, especially towards the end of the nineteenth century.» — la continuación: el arte habría pasado a las sociedades secretas del fin del siglo XIX mientras la química ocupaba el lugar público.

«In the early 1900s, H. Spencer Lewis received a charter from some of these European contacts to form the Ancient Mystical Order of the Rosae Crucis, better known as AMORC. Among other things, they taught laboratory alchemy as it was handed down by earlier Rosicrucian sources.» — el eslabón siguiente de su genealogía: AMORC y la enseñanza de alquimia de laboratorio por vía rosacruz.

«In the early 1940s, one student of these classes was Albert Reidel. Frater Albertus went on to teach these classes himself and then later split off on his own to establish the Paracelsus Research Society in 1960, which became accredited as Paracelsus College in the early 80s.» — el eslabón que lo alcanza a él: Albert Reidel sale de esas clases y funda en 1960 la sociedad donde el propio Bartlett estudió.

«With the passing of Frater Albertus in 1984, there seemed to be a void in alchemical teachings and a lack of a central point where students could exchange information.» — el vacío que declara tras la muerte de su maestro.

«By the early nineties, through the efforts of several PRS students, contact with a French group was made and the Philosophers of Nature (PON) was formulated to fill the void with fresh ideas and to carry on research in alchemy.» — cómo dice que se llenó ese vacío: el contacto con un grupo francés y la fundación de los Philosophers of Nature, cuyos seminarios de Jean Dubuis cita el libro.

«The PON closed in the late nineties. Now we have the Internet -- the new “Library of Alexandria.” As we shall see, chemistry, left to grow unfettered, has nearly come full circle to rediscover the Hermetic Philosophy.» — el cierre del capítulo histórico: internet como nueva biblioteca de Alejandría, y la tesis que el libro retomará en la conclusión, que la química habría vuelto casi al punto de partida hermético.

«P erhaps the most concise exposition of alchemical theory, acknowledged by adepts from all ages, is the famous “Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus.” Legend has it that this tablet predates the Biblical flood and was inscribed by Thoth himself on a large plate of alchemically produced emerald:» — el capítulo segundo declara a la Tabla Esmeralda la exposición más concisa de la teoría, y consigna como leyenda —no como dato— que sea anterior al diluvio y grabada por Thot en esmeralda producida por arte.

«It is true, certain, and without falsehood, that whatever is below is like that which is above; and that which is above is like that which is below: to accomplish the one wonderful work. As all things are derived from the One Only Thing, by the will and by the word of the One Only One who created it in His Mind, so all things owe their existence to this Unity by the order of Nature, and can be improved by Adaptation to that Mind.» — las dos primeras rúbricas de la Tabla Esmeralda en la versión que este volumen imprime bajo el rótulo *VERBA SECRETORUM HERMETIS*; la obra tiene ficha propia como `tabula-smaragdina` y esta es la redacción de este libro, no la de aquella.

«Its Father is the Sun; its Mother is the Moon; the Wind carries it in its womb; and its nurse is the Earth. This Thing is the Father of all perfect things in the world. Its power is most perfect when it has again been changed into Earth. Separate the Earth from the Fire, the subtle from the gross, but carefully and with great judgment and skill.» — la tercera rúbrica y el precepto de separar lo sutil de lo grueso, en la misma versión.

«It ascends from earth to heaven, and descends again, new born, to the earth, taking unto itself thereby the power of the Above and the Below.» — la cuarta rúbrica, la del ascenso y descenso que recoge el poder de arriba y de abajo. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 24 con *Thus the splendor of the whole world will be*.

«thine, and all darkness shall flee from thee. This is the strongest of all powers, the Force of all forces, for it overcometh all subtle things and can penetrate all that is solid.» — la continuación de esa rúbrica y la quinta, la de la fuerza que vence lo sutil y penetra lo sólido. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«For thus was the world created, and rare combinations, and wonders of many kinds are wrought.» — la sexta rúbrica, la de la creación del mundo por ese patrón.

«Hence I am called HERMES TRISMEGISTUS, having mastered the three parts of the wisdom of the whole world. What I have to say about the masterpiece of the alchemical art, the Solar Work, is now ended.» — la séptima y última rúbrica, donde el texto se firma como Hermes Trismegisto y da por concluida la Obra Solar.

«The alchemists always admonish their students, “Know the theory first before attempting the praxis.” They say, “You must walk in the Book of Nature to understand our Art.”» — los dos dichos que adjudica a los alquimistas y que rigen el orden del libro: la teoría antes de la praxis, y el Libro de la Naturaleza como texto que hay que andar.

«“The alchemical concept of life and matter lies at the opposite pole of that of the current scientific community. Science is trying to find out how matter created life. Alchemy states that life created matter.» — la inversión que el volumen toma de Jean Dubuis: la ciencia buscaría cómo la materia creó la vida, y la alquimia sostendría lo contrario. La formulación es de Dubuis, citada de sus seminarios de la Philosophers of Nature de 1992.

«Alchemy affirms that at the origin, there is consciousness. Consciousness is the need to Be of the Absolute. In order to satisfy this need, consciousness created life, and in order to evolve, life created matter.”» — la continuación de esa cita de Dubuis: al origen habría consciencia, entendida como la necesidad de Ser del Absoluto, y de ahí la vida y luego la materia.

«Alchemy is an exploration of the involution of the Absolute into matter and its subsequent evolution back to the source, depicted as the Ouroborus or serpent eating its own tail.» — cómo define el arco entero del arte: involución del Absoluto en la materia y evolución de vuelta al origen, figurada en el uróboros.

«There's a very old saying, “The All is mind. The universe is Mental.”» — el dicho que cita sin nombrar fuente; la bibliografía del volumen registra el *Kybalion* de los Tres Iniciados, que tiene ficha propia en el corpus.

«The All or The One is, that which is the Fundamental Truth, the Substantial reality, (i.e., standing under and supporting Reality.) This All is beyond comprehending or the ability to truly name it, so we use a symbol and call it -- The All, the Absolute, the Divine, Spirit, the Force, The One Only One. Whatever you choose, it is just a symbol so we can talk about it. This is perhaps best described as Infinite Living Mind.» — cómo acota su propio término: el Todo sería incomprensible e innombrable, y los nombres que se le dan —Absoluto, Divino, Espíritu, la Fuerza— son símbolos para poder hablar. El límite va dentro de la misma frase.

«“Only by mental creation, can the All manifest the universe and still remain the All. For if a substance was used or acted upon, it would be separate and the All would not be All.”» — el argumento que cita del *Kybalion*: solo la creación mental deja al Todo siendo Todo, porque una sustancia usada quedaría aparte.

«What we call “matter” is only that portion of the All we apprehend through our senses.» — cómo define la materia: la porción del Todo que alcanzan los sentidos. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 25.

«designate the manifestation of the All within the range of our limited sensory apparatus. All things are connected but separated only by their rates of vibration.» — la continuación: la materia como etiqueta del alcance sensorial, y la separación entre las cosas reducida a diferencia de vibración. El tramo abre a mitad de frase.

«Each one of us is a unique and complex waveform, though we also share many of the same “harmonics.” Like fingerprints, we are unique but all related.» — el símil con que aplica esa doctrina a las personas: formas de onda únicas y a la vez emparentadas, como las huellas dactilares.

«Einstein once said, “Everything is energy, beyond that is divine.”» — la sentencia que adjudica a Einstein, sin dar referencia; el volumen no documenta la fuente.

«We live in a vast ocean of energy and everything seen and unseen is a part of it. The alchemists called this energy the Celestial Fire, Prima Materia, the First Matter, Chaos, and many others.» — los nombres que adjudica a esa energía en la literatura alquímica: Fuego Celeste, Prima Materia, Primera Materia, Caos.

«Everything around us, though it seems separate and different from ourselves is One only One. All is from One is the First Law of Hermetics.» — el enunciado de la primera ley hermética que ordena el capítulo: todo procede de Uno.

«The One reflecting on itself creates the first movement towards polarity -- the division of the One into a most subtle spiritualized energy and dense material energy; the One divided into Spirit and Matter.» — cómo deriva la polaridad: el Uno que se refleja en sí mismo se divide en energía espiritualizada y energía material.

«One of the earliest observations of Nature was that everything has its opposite -- day/night, male/female, hot/cold, wet/dry. The One divides into active and passive modes, with the active energy constituting the energies of life, and the passive one the energy of matter.» — los pares de opuestos con que ilustra la segunda ley, y el reparto entre modo activo —energías de la vida— y modo pasivo —energía de la materia.

«The Golden Chain of Homer , a book written about 1730 and highly esteemed by several generations of alchemists, called the active energy “Celestial Niter” and the passive energy “Celestial Salt.”» — los nombres que toma de la *Golden Chain of Homer*, que data hacia 1730: Nitro Celeste para lo activo y Sal Celeste para lo pasivo. La bibliografía la registra bajo Anton Kirschweger, en la copia manuscrita de Sigmund Bacstrom de 1797.

«We call these “The Volatile” and “The Fixed.” These two modes of the One express an inherent polarity as well.» — los términos con que él mismo traduce ese par: lo volátil y lo fijo.

«The energy of Life (Niter) operates through the Elements of Fire and Air. Both are active in nature but Fire is the more active of the two. These are the volatile energies. The energy of Matter (Salt) operates through the Elements of Water and Earth. These are the fixed energies -- Water being the more active of the two.» — el reparto de los cuatro elementos entre los dos polos: Fuego y Aire para el Nitro, Agua y Tierra para la Sal, con un más activo dentro de cada par.

«These “Elements” have nothing to do with the material bodies of the same name. They are in fact, energetic states, each with their own unique characteristics.» — el deslinde que hace de los elementos: no son los cuerpos materiales del mismo nombre sino estados energéticos.

«called these The Four Elements and recognized them as the essential qualities by which Nature operates and is formed.» — cómo data ese reconocimiento y qué le adjudica: las cualidades esenciales por las que la naturaleza opera y se forma. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 26, donde fecha la doctrina hacia el 500 a. C.

«The Element of Fire relates to the qualities of radiance, expansion, warmth, and light -- anciently known as the hot and dry properties. On the psychological level, fire relates to the Superconscious Mind.» — la definición del Fuego —caliente y seco— y su correlato psicológico, la mente superconsciente.

«The Element of Air is penetrating, diffuse, moveable -- the wet and hot properties.» — la definición del Aire —húmedo y caliente—; el impreso da su correlato psicológico partido en el renglón siguiente como *Selfconscious Mind*.

«The Element of Water relates to coolness, contraction, mutability or change -- the properties of wet and cold. Water is the perfect representative of the Subconscious Mind.» — la definición del Agua —húmeda y fría— y su correlato, la mente subconsciente.

«The Element of Earth relates to the qualities of stability, rest, inertia, strength, and solidity -- the dry and cold properties. In the human economy, this is the physical body.» — la definición de la Tierra —seca y fría— y su correlato, el cuerpo físico.

«they call them by the names, “Strong Nuclear Force, Weak Nuclear Force, Electromagnetic Force and Gravitational Force,” they are related to the ancient Elemental qualities of Fire, Water, Air and Earth respectively.» — la equivalencia que propone entre las cuatro fuerzas fundamentales de la física y los cuatro elementos; la enuncia como correspondencia, no como identidad. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 27.

«These elemental qualities and their mixtures form the vehicles through which the alchemical “Three Essentials” operate. They are the clothing which we interpret as our physical reality.» — cómo articula los dos esquemas: los elementos serían el vehículo por el que operan los tres esenciales, y el vestido que leemos como realidad física.

«The Three Essentials are the alchemical principles of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. Again these terms are not the common materials we associate with these words, such as table salt or the mercury in your thermometer. They describe subtle philosophical principles active in Nature.» — el segundo deslinde terminológico del capítulo: Azufre, Mercurio y Sal no son la sal de mesa ni el mercurio del termómetro sino principios filosóficos.

«Alchemical Salt, or the Body of a thing, provides the matrix wherein the Sulfur and Mercury can act. It is a passive medium, the Virgin Earth, subject to the fixed energies of Water and Earth. The Salt is influenced by psychic and instinctual forces of the subconscious as well as the conditions affecting the various states of matter.» — la definición de la Sal: cuerpo, matriz pasiva y Tierra Virgen donde actúan los otros dos.

«The Alchemical Sulfur, or Soul of a thing, conducts the volatile principles of Fire and Air expressing consciousness, intellect, and the “True Will” or personal fire.» — la definición del Azufre: alma, conductor de lo volátil, consciencia, intelecto y Voluntad Verdadera.

«Alchemical Mercury, or the Spirit of a thing, is the vital force or life force, and predominates in the elements of Air and Water, reflecting intellectual, instinctual and psychic energies. It forms the link or bridge, between the higher forces of Sulfur and the lower body of matter, the Salt. In mythology, Mercury is the messenger between the world of the Gods and the world of mortals -- the» — la definición del Mercurio: espíritu y fuerza vital que hace de puente entre el Azufre y la Sal, con la figura mitológica del mensajero. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y cierra con *physical world*.

«The energies of Celestial Niter are often equated with the force of Kundalini , our internal spiritual force according to Indian philosophy. In alchemy, this is referred to as the Secret Fire in Man .» — la equivalencia que traza entre el Nitro Celeste y el Kundalini de la filosofía india, y el nombre alquímico que le da, Fuego Secreto en el Hombre.

«The energies of Celestial Salt are equated with the force of Prana , or Vital Energy carried by the air we breathe and food we eat. Prana is the primary energy distributed throughout the cosmos, said to maintain physical life and existence. It acts at the instinctual and unconscious levels as well as being influenced by cosmic cycles and other natural phenomena.» — la otra equivalencia: la Sal Celeste con el Prana, energía vital del aire y del alimento, sujeta a los ciclos cósmicos.

«The function of the Kundalini / Niter is to increase awareness of our True Self and True Will by lifting our consciousness and opening us to wider vistas of awareness. At the lowest level of functioning, this is the self-centered ego, at its highest, we become aware of our Divine nature.» — qué función le adjudica a esa fuerza: elevar la consciencia del ego centrado en sí hasta el reconocimiento de la naturaleza divina.

«The effects of awakening this Secret Fire within constitute a true awakening into nature's mysteries with attendant changes in our perception of how Nature operates. This is a direct experience of liberating interior knowledge. The physical body is also changed and improved in functioning, establishing a new center of balance on spiritual and physical levels.» — qué efectos adjudica al despertar de ese fuego: conocimiento interior liberador y un cuerpo físico cambiado, con nuevo centro de equilibrio.

«The alchemical process seeks to fan this fire... “carefully, with great judgment and skill.” In laboratory alchemy, the Three Essentials of Body, Soul, and Spirit are most important because they provide us a means of manipulating the elements.» — cómo enlaza el precepto de la Tabla con el trabajo: el proceso avivaría ese fuego, y los tres esenciales serían el modo de manipular los elementos.

«Many alchemists indicate that the Primal Elements are too subtle even for the most skilled artist and that only Nature can work at that level. The Three Essentials are the fruit of the Elements, which Man can manipulate even at the physical level.» — el límite que toma de otros alquimistas: los elementos primordiales quedarían fuera del alcance del artista, y solo los tres esenciales, fruto de ellos, se dejan manipular.

«“The three principles of things are produced out of the four elements in the following manner: Nature, whose power is in her obedience to the Will of God, ordained from the very beginning, that the four elements should incessantly act on one another, so, in obedience to her behest, the fire began to act on air, and produced Sulfur; air acted on water and produced Mercury; water, by its action on earth, produced Salt.» — el pasaje que cita de la *New Chemical Light* de Michael Sendivogius, que data hacia 1600: de la acción recíproca de los cuatro elementos saldrían Azufre, Mercurio y Sal. La voz es de Sendivogius.

«Earth alone, having nothing to act upon, did not produce anything, but became the nurse, or womb, of these three principles.”» — el cierre de ese pasaje de Sendivogius: la Tierra no produce nada y queda como nodriza o matriz de los tres principios.

«The Salt represents the Body , or vehicle, which allows expression of the other two essentials. It is a principle of fixity, consolidation, and focus -- The Material Basis, or matrix.» — el resumen que da de la Sal: principio de fijeza, consolidación y foco.

«The Sulfur , represents the Soul , the Consciousness. It is a fiery principle, brightness. The Spiritualized Male aspect of the One. Kundalini. The character of a thing. The True Colors. The Intelligence. The Divine Spark.» — el resumen del Azufre, con la serie de nombres que le acumula: principio ígneo, aspecto masculino espiritualizado, Kundalini, carácter, Colores Verdaderos, Inteligencia y Chispa Divina.

«The Mercury , represents the Spirit -- the Vital Life Force, the Animating Spirit, Chi, Prana. It is a Subtle, spiritualized Feminine aspect of the One. Pure Energy. It bridges the Air and Water Elements, the Spiritual World and the Material World, the Volatile and the Fixed.» — el resumen del Mercurio, con Chi y Prana entre sus nombres y el aspecto femenino espiritualizado como su signo; hace de puente entre lo volátil y lo fijo.

«It is the Sulfur (the Consciousness) which directs the Life Force through the body. Directing more of the Life Force through more refined bodies or vehicles is the course of Nature and Evolution.» — la jerarquía que pone entre los dos: la consciencia dirige la fuerza vital, y afinar el vehículo por el que pasa sería el curso mismo de la evolución.

«Alchemical work strives to create and fortify an incorruptible» — el fin que adjudica al trabajo alquímico. El tramo se corta en el límite de chunk y sigue *spiritual body of which the physical body is a reflection*, es decir, un cuerpo espiritual incorruptible del que el físico sería reflejo.

«To the alchemist, everything is alive and consists of a Body, Soul and Spirit or Salt, Sulfur and Mercury. This is true in the Vegetable Kingdom, the Animal Kingdom and the Mineral Kingdom. That the plant world and the animal world are filled with living beings is obvious to all.» — la doctrina que abre la sección de los tres reinos: todo está vivo y consta de cuerpo, alma y espíritu.

«The mineral world is generally looked upon as non-living because we only understand carbon based life, but to the alchemist the mineral world is also teaming with life and consciousness just as much as the other two kingdoms. The processes of alchemy reach into each of the three kingdoms in order to bring its subjects to a higher degree of perfection.» — dónde pone la discrepancia con la mirada corriente: el mundo mineral, que él declara tan vivo y consciente como los otros dos reinos.

«In alchemy, all things are evolving but considered to be exposed to a wave of energies becoming involved in matter as well, and thus subject to hindrances and impurities from matter not ready or mature enough to evolve beyond a certain level (corruptible matter). As a result the energies of life are weakened and the energies of matter predominate when it is the energies of life which should predominate.» — cómo explica el desequilibrio que el arte vendría a corregir: la materia corruptible estorbaría la onda evolutiva y dejaría predominando las energías de la materia sobre las de la vida.

«The alchemist believed that by understanding Nature's laws and applying them with Art, that it is possible to remove hindrances to the evolutionary wave so that the energies of life can predominate and lift the subject toward perfection.» — qué adjudica a la creencia del alquimista: que conociendo las leyes naturales y aplicándolas con Arte se remueven esos estorbos.

«Nature is the greatest alchemist of all. She has all of time to complete the process of evolution which is constantly unfolding around us like a symphony. The alchemist seeks to assist in this evolution utilizing Nature's own laws and methods.» — la fórmula con que sitúa al operador respecto de la naturaleza: ella es la mayor alquimista y él solo asiste, con las leyes y los métodos de ella.

«Early observations of Nature revealed that she moves in cycles, that there is a rhythm to everything. Vibration is a periodic event, circular in nature. Everything we see, everything we know of is vibration and because of this, there are certain harmonies established between things.» — de dónde deriva la doctrina de las correspondencias: la naturaleza se mueve en ciclos, todo es vibración y de ahí las armonías entre las cosas.

«From early times people have observed the stars in order to understand the rhythm of Nature. If one intends to help the process of evolution, one has to keep within Nature's laws. You would not go out and plant lettuce in the snow. So it is in the Laboratory, where the alchemist would await a specific time to carry out an operation in order to capture the momentum of subtle forces.» — el argumento con que introduce la astrología del capítulo siguiente, con el símil de no sembrar lechuga en la nieve: el alquimista esperaría el momento para captar el impulso de las fuerzas sutiles.

«There are many such connections between gardening and alchemical works.» — cómo cierra el capítulo segundo: emparentando el trabajo alquímico con la jardinería.

«A strology is intimately connected with the Hermetic Philosophy and supplies much of the guidance for practical applications of the Alchemist's Art.» — el capítulo tercero abre subordinando la astrología a la filosofía hermética y adjudicándole el papel de guía práctica del arte.

«The forces of nature have their reflection at all levels of reality -- the Salt, Sulfur and Mercury.» — el principio con que justifica esa guía: las fuerzas de la naturaleza se reflejan en todos los niveles.

«Man is a microcosm inseparable from his macrocosmic environment.» — la fórmula del microcosmos, enunciada sin argumento y como premisa del capítulo.

«The Sun has always been considered the source of all life and light in our system. The Sun radiates out; the planets absorb what they need then radiate the excess.» — el mecanismo físico que propone para las influencias: el Sol irradia y los planetas absorben y reirradian el excedente.

«This forms the complex interplay of subtle energies that reach our planet and form the basis for astrological studies. The stars also exert their energies and enter into this constant interplay.» — de dónde hace salir la base de los estudios astrológicos: ese juego de energías sutiles, con las estrellas dentro.

«Advances in Radio Astronomy have shown that we are constantly receiving energy “fingerprints” from many stars as well as the planets.» — el aval contemporáneo que invoca, la radioastronomía y las huellas energéticas de estrellas y planetas; no da referencia.

«In practice, all things are considered to be the product of their natural cycles. For example, medicinal plants are harvested at the correct time in relation to the plant part required.» — la consecuencia práctica: las plantas medicinales se cosechan según el momento y la parte requerida.

«When the plant is operated on in the laboratory, each stage should be done at an optimal astrological configuration» — la regla de taller que enuncia. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 33 con *harmonious to that operation*.

«harmonious to that operation. It has been said that without knowledge of astrological tools and methods, the production of a true alchemical medicine is not possible.» — la afirmación fuerte del capítulo, dicha en pasiva y sin firmante: sin astrología no habría medicina alquímica verdadera. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Each illness appears like a vibratory disharmony or dissonance to our particular waveform or field. Using a system of correspondences, alchemical medicine seeks to restore the harmony of our true selves.» — cómo define la enfermedad y la cura: disonancia respecto de la propia forma de onda, y restitución de la armonía por correspondencias.

«From ancient traditions to modern scientific studies, we know that medicinal herbs have physiological effects on specific organ systems. Herbs, like the organs they affect, are considered to fall under the influence of a particular planet or sign of the zodiac on the basis of an affinity.» — el argumento con que empareja hierbas y órganos: los dos caerían bajo un planeta o signo por afinidad.

«Each planetary sphere has a unique energetic expression and signature qualities associated with it, such as color, musical tones, parts of the body, diseases, medical effects, herbs, stones and metals. For example, the planet Venus is said to be the “ruler” of Copper metal and the herb Yarrow, as well as affecting the kidneys in man.» — qué contiene una signatura planetaria —color, tonos musicales, partes del cuerpo, enfermedades, hierbas, piedras y metales— con Venus, el cobre, la milenrama y los riñones como ejemplo.

«This rulership is a two-way interaction called sympathy, and refers to the planetary energies as they affect our world, and things of this world manifesting the different qualities of these planetary energies. Today we might describe this “sympathy” as resonance.» — cómo define la regencia: interacción de dos sentidos llamada simpatía, que él traduce al término moderno de resonancia.

«Each thing below then, has a characteristic waveform resonating with planetary energies from above in specific ways.» — el corolario de esa definición para cada cosa de aquí abajo.

«Within man's occult anatomy, these planetary representatives were often referred to as our “Interior Stars.”» — el nombre que da a los representantes planetarios dentro de la anatomía oculta: las Estrellas Interiores.

«In Practical Alchemy, the timing of astrological events is used to assist various aspects of the work on the three levels -- Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury.» — para qué sirve la elección del momento en su método: asistir el trabajo en los tres niveles.

«In the work with plants, the Moon's disposition is a very important consideration.» — qué factor pone por delante en el trabajo vegetal: la disposición de la Luna.

«The Waxing Moon is good for Enriching an Essential element by circulations or distillations. Its magnetic influence draws things up -- volatilizing, exalting and spiritualizing them.» — qué adjudica a la Luna creciente: enriquecer por circulación o destilación, con una influencia magnética que volatiliza y exalta.

«The Waning Moon is good for Separating the Pure from the Impure whether by distillation, extraction, or calcinations, etc. Just as the dying moonlight, our matter is subjected to the fermentation and putrefaction of death in order to release its essence, thus separating» — qué adjudica a la menguante: separar lo puro de lo impuro, con la fermentación y la putrefacción leídas como muerte que libera la esencia. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y cierra con *the pure and the impure*.

«Astrology helps to harness subtle forces, which have an influence on our subject matter. That there are physical forces at play has been demonstrated through studies such as crystallization experiments, and capillary dynamics; but there is also a subtle, spiritual aspect we seek to capture as well. Our material subject is the magnet which gathers the energy and holds it.» — el argumento con que responde a la objeción física: invoca experimentos de cristalización y dinámica capilar, sin darles referencia, y sostiene además un aspecto sutil; la materia del trabajo sería el imán que junta y retiene la energía.

«Our personal natal horoscope provides us with a powerful tool for understanding our own energy signature and how it is affected by other energy forms including matter. A detailed examination of the birth chart takes time, but reveals one's essence.» — qué adjudica a la carta natal: instrumento para entender la propia signatura energética.

«The first concepts to examine in order to use this system are the individual planets and zodiacal signs, their energies, and rulerships. By developing an understanding of these sympathies and their interactions with each other, we can work to rectify the energetic imbalances that can lead to illness, and also work to strengthen specific energies within ourselves for physical or spiritual improvement.» — por dónde manda empezar —planetas, signos y regencias— y para qué: rectificar desequilibrios energéticos que llevarían a la enfermedad.

«Each individual at birth is considered to be of a particular zodiac type in that their energetic imprint predisposes them to a particular temperament and also a predisposition to an organ weakness which is peculiar to that sign of the zodiac.» — la doctrina del tipo zodiacal: temperamento y debilidad de órgano quedarían predispuestos por el signo.

«There are a few approaches to working with planetary energies for healing. The most simple is to use the individual planetary energies to support organs, systems, or functions of the body, or use them to oppose disorders, all according to planetary rulership.» — el primero de los dos métodos que expone: usar las energías planetarias para sostener órganos o para oponerse a los trastornos, según regencia.

«Another technique for using the planetary system of healing involves a more in-depth study of the birth chart and of the whole self, rather than just the treatment of passing symptoms and illnesses. It offers much deeper and longer-lasting balance and wellness. In this approach, the birth information of the individual is examined, and planetary affinities are determined.» — el segundo, que declara más hondo y duradero: el estudio de la carta entera en vez del tratamiento de síntomas pasajeros.

«The concept behind this is that at the time of birth, the planetary energies are locked up in physical material and have a determined reflection, stamping their influences and energies at each level of being. The rulership of the various houses in the birth chart reveals all types of personal qualities, such as strengths, weaknesses,» — la razón que da para ese segundo método: al nacer, las energías planetarias quedarían fijadas en la materia y estamparían su influencia en cada nivel. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue con *disease and health tendencies*.

«disease and health tendencies, and affinities for certain methods of treatment.» — la continuación: la carta revelaría además tendencias de salud y afinidad con ciertos tratamientos.

«The planetary energies can also be deliberately introduced in order to produce certain effects in the body, mind, or spiritual level of a person. Each planetary influence can be experienced and worked with in turn to create physical and spiritual balance.» — el tercer uso que consigna: introducir deliberadamente una energía planetaria para producir efectos en cuerpo, mente o espíritu.

«In alchemical works, the pattern of life/death/rebirth is often repeated upon the subject in various forms. For example, during distillation, our liquid passes into an invisible state then condenses and manifests in an improved form. The alchemists viewed this as analogous to death, a visit to the spiritual world then rebirth in the physical.» — cómo lee la destilación: como muerte, tránsito por el mundo espiritual y renacimiento en forma mejorada.

«Similarly during recrystallization, our matter is dissolved into a medium and becomes clear, then made to reappear as an improved form. In astrology, the birth chart shows the imprint of the cosmos on the individual at birth. So too during those periods of rebirth of our matter there is the imprint of the heavens.» — la misma lectura aplicada a la recristalización, y el paralelo con la carta natal: cada renacimiento de la materia llevaría su propia impronta del cielo.

«By repeatedly reinforcing a particular planetary power during these multiple rebirths, our subject becomes polarized to that force.» — la consecuencia operativa que saca: repitiendo el refuerzo de una potencia planetaria en cada renacimiento, la materia queda polarizada hacia esa fuerza.

«“It is therefore necessary that theory is accompanied by practice, the one being the consequence of the other. Only laboratory practice gives mastership, for what is practice if not controlled by theory. The rigor of the former corrects the vagaries of the latter. The disciple must exert himself to realize all his concepts.”» — el epígrafe del capítulo cuarto, que el volumen adjudica al comentario de Magaphon al *Mutus Liber*: la práctica de laboratorio daría la maestría y su rigor corregiría los desvaríos de la teoría. La voz es de Magaphon.

«I n Practical Alchemy, there is only the One Thing and all that we perceive is an adaptation of that One. The One takes on the “Clothing” of the Four Elements to bring forth the Three Essentials of Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. It is the Work of the alchemist to separate, purify and recombine these basic principles until they are in perfect proportion and harmony with each other.» — cómo enlaza la teoría del capítulo anterior con el taller: el Uno se viste de los cuatro elementos para dar los tres esenciales, y la obra consiste en separarlos, purificarlos y recombinarlos.

«Alchemy is all about bringing things to a greater state of perfection.» — la definición mínima del arte que repite aquí.

«“Everything which is generated of its elements is divided into three, namely into Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury. Learn the form which is peculiar to these three. One is liquor, and this is the form of Mercury; one is oiliness which is the form of Sulfur; one is alkali, and this is from Salt.”» — el pasaje que cita de Paracelso con las formas físicas de los tres principios: licor para el Mercurio, oleosidad para el Azufre y álcali para la Sal. La voz es de Paracelso.

«Spagyrics The three philosophical essentials are mirrored even to the» — la premisa de la sección de espagiria, bajo el rótulo *Spagyrics* que el impreso pone como encabezado y que el tramo arrastra. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *physical level, and manifested through particular forms which are harmonious to their nature*.

«The Practical Alchemist seeks to physically separate these three essentials from a substance, purify them, and recombine them -- a process termed Spagyrics by Paracelsus. The word Spagyric (pronounced “spa jeer ik”) is derived from the Greek words meaning “to separate and reunite.”» — la definición de la espagiria: separación física, purificación y recombinación de los tres esenciales, con la palabra adjudicada a Paracelso y la etimología griega de separar y reunir. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«The general process used in Spagyrics consists of three main steps: 1. Separation (of the Three Essentials) 2. Purification 3. Cohobation (or recombining)» — los tres pasos numerados del proceso espagírico tal como los imprime el volumen: separación, purificación y cohobación.

«Learning to spagyrically prepare herbs is a typical starting point for laboratory alchemy. It provides experiences which develop skill and understanding of the Art and Science involved, and can provide you with some very powerful remedies along the way.» — por qué pone las hierbas como punto de partida: dan destreza y, dice, remedios potentes de camino.

«These first experiments with plants lead the way to the “Lesser Circulation” or Plant Stone (which is very similar to the “Greater Circulation” which produces the Philosopher's Stone.)» — la relación que traza entre las dos circulaciones: la Menor o Piedra Vegetal como análogo de la Mayor, que da la Piedra Filosofal.

«Before we talk about the easy method, I want to describe the process in another more detailed fashion because I think it more clearly illustrates the separation of the Three Essentials.» — por qué expone primero el método largo: porque ilustraría mejor la separación de los tres esenciales.

«Let us say that we have selected the Sun-ruled herb Rosemary to work upon. With an eye to the Sun and Moon's disposition, we gather some fresh Rosemary, chop it finely and place it into a flask with a little water to make paste. We let it stand awhile to loosen up, then steam is injected into the herb paste and the hot vapors arising are captured in a cooling condenser. This distillate contains water from the steam and floating on the water will form a layer of oil -- the essential oil of Rosemary.» — el procedimiento con romero, hierba que adjudica al Sol: cosecha atenta a Sol y Luna, pasta con agua, arrastre de vapor y aceite esencial recogido del destilado.

«This oil we collect. It is the first of the Three Essentials and represents what the alchemists called the Alchemical Sulfur of the plant. The oil is a material analog or vehicle for the subtle principle of Sulfur, the Soul or character of the plant.» — qué principio adjudica al aceite esencial: el Azufre alquímico, vehículo material del alma o carácter de la planta.

«Our Rosemary remains in the flask as a watery mush and we allow this to ferment. In fermentation, the plant “dies” and “gives up the ghost” -- that is to say, the life force departs into the watery medium. After fermentation we can distill from this mush a» — cómo describe la fermentación: la planta muere y entrega el fantasma, y la fuerza vital pasa al medio acuoso. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *volatile liquid*.

«volatile liquid which the ancients called the Alchemical Mercury . This volatile liquid, which is mainly alcohol, carries the Spirit of the plant -- the life force. Today we still buy “spirits” at the liquor store and this is where the term comes from.» — qué principio adjudica al destilado alcohólico: el Mercurio, portador del espíritu, con la etimología de *spirits* del comercio de licores. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Remember, these physical materials are a reflection of the spiritual forces in Nature. The alcohol contains the life force as its body in this realm. The alcohol is not the spirit but merely a vehicle of spirit in the plant world, a focal point.» — el límite que pone a su propia identificación: el alcohol no es el espíritu sino su vehículo y punto focal en el reino vegetal.

«We now have separation of the Three Essentials, the oil or Sulfur, the Mercury as alcohol, and the Salt, which still lies hidden in the extracted Rosemary residue.» — el balance de la separación: aceite, alcohol y una Sal todavía escondida en el residuo.

«The next step of the process is the purification of our separated essentials. The Mercury and Sulfur are redistilled a number of times until they are highly refined in the physical sense, but also exalted in the spiritual sense.» — en qué consiste la purificación: redestilaciones repetidas, refinadas en lo físico y exaltadas en lo espiritual.

«To obtain the Salt, the extracted plant material is dried and then incinerated to an ash. This purges the accumulated impurities and structural components, which protected the plant in its growing environment. They have served their purpose but are no longer necessary. The light gray to white ash we obtain is dissolved in water, filtered and the liquid is then evaporated leaving a purified white crystalline salt. This represents the Alchemical Salt , the true body of the plant.» — cómo obtiene la Sal: incineración a ceniza, disolución en agua, filtrado y evaporación hasta la sal blanca cristalina, que declara el cuerpo verdadero de la planta.

«In a sort of resurrection, the finely powdered Salt is saturated with its Sulfur and awakened into activity by addition of its life force, the Mercury. After a period of digestion, our “Elixir” is complete. The alchemists considered such preparations to be exalted and evolved living medicines able to express the plant's true healing potentials not only on the body but at the level of the soul and spirit as well.» — cómo describe la cohobación —resurrección de la Sal saturada con su Azufre y despertada por el Mercurio— y qué adjudica al elixir resultante: medicina viva que actuaría en cuerpo, alma y espíritu.

«“When now the Spiritus and Corpus come together and are united after their preparation, one can do wonderful things with them, since they have then a hundred times more power than they had previously, for after the Conjunctio of the Souls and Body there exists a Glorified Corpus and a Great Elixir. With it one performs miracles.”» — el pasaje que cita de Isaac Holland sobre la Conjunción: el Corpus Glorificado y el Gran Elixir tendrían cien veces más poder. La voz es de Holland; el volumen lo data hacia 1480.

«OK, now for the easy method. Everyone can do this and you probably have most of the materials at home.» — cómo presenta el método fácil: al alcance de cualquiera y con material de casa.

«The Mercury within a kingdom is universal . The life force that animates me is the same as that within each of you. The spirit we distill from one plant is largely the same as we would obtain from distilling any other fermented plant.» — el principio que hace posible el atajo: el Mercurio sería universal dentro de un reino, y el espíritu destilado de una planta el mismo que el de otra.

«That being the case we can easily obtain our first Essential from the local liquor store. (They sell spirits.)» — la conclusión práctica que saca: el primer esencial se compra en la licorería.

«Ideally, we would buy Everclear, which is 95% alcohol (but this depends on which State you live in.) 100 proof vodka is usually available. This is 50% alcohol and is a satisfactory medium for this beginning operation, but we can use any strong alcohol for this first operation provided that Only Potable Alcohol is used. Do not use De-Natured Alcohol or Methanol.» — las graduaciones que recomienda y la prohibición expresa: solo alcohol potable, nunca desnaturalizado ni metanol.

«The Mercury of each kingdom has an affinity for the Sulfur of that kingdom.» — el segundo principio del atajo: el Mercurio de un reino tendría afinidad con el Azufre de ese mismo reino.

«So to begin, take a plant you wish to work with, and grind it to a fine powder. Place the powder into a jar (a canning jar works well) then pour your alcohol over the powder to cover it by one or two finger widths. Place a piece of plastic wrap over the top and screw the lid on tightly. (The plastic wrap prevents contact with the metal top.)» — el arranque del procedimiento casero, con el detalle del plástico para evitar el contacto con la tapa metálica.

«Place the sealed jar into a warm place out of direct light. The top of a water heater is a good spot. Let this stand for about two weeks and remember to shake it well every day. After the two weeks are up you will see that the alcohol has become deeply colored. We want to collect this extract and a good way to do it is to pour the entire contents into an old nylon stocking placed into a second jar. Wearing rubber gloves, squeeze the nylon to obtain as much of the liquid as possible, then seal the jar and let it stand.» — la maceración de dos semanas en calor y oscuridad, con agitación diaria y colado por una media de nailon.

«This liquid extract contains the combined Mercury and Sulfur of the plant.» — qué contiene ese extracto según su esquema: Mercurio y Azufre juntos.

«Take the extracted plant residue and place it into a fire-resistant dish outside. Touch a match to the herb and let it burn down to an ash. Grind the ash very fine and return it to the dish. Then place it over a gas burner or in the oven under broil to make it as light gray to white as possible. This ash contains the Salt principle of the» — cómo obtiene la Sal en la versión casera: quema del residuo al aire libre y calcinado hasta ceniza clara. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y cierra con *plant*.

«Quickly grind the ash while still warm, then add it to the extract of the plant you collected earlier. Again seal the jar and let it stand in a warm place for at least a week. Shake the jar daily very well.» — la cohobación casera: ceniza molida en caliente sobre el extracto, una semana más en calor con agitación diaria.

«At the end of the week, filter the liquid through a coffee filter and let it stand in a clean glass container for about forty-eight hours to see if any more insolubles settle out. Decant the clarified extract into dropper bottles for use. This is now a simple Spagyric elixir containing the three essentials of the plant in an exalted form and able to express the plant's truest and most powerful healing potentials on the various levels of our constitution.» — el filtrado, el reposo de cuarenta y ocho horas y el resultado que declara: elixir espagírico simple con los tres esenciales exaltados.

«Remember that in each of these operations, if we can work with conscious intent and create a sacred space to work from, the more effective the end result will be. We also want to keep within astrological timings favorable to the plant as much as we are able.» — la condición que repite para toda operación: intención consciente, espacio sagrado y momento astrológico favorable.

«If one is skilled in astrology, one can elect a powerful time to work the various operations. Perhaps the easiest thing to do here in these beginning experiments is to take note of the waxing / waning Moon as we mentioned earlier and also work on the day whose planet rules the herb we operate on (preferably within the hour following sunrise.)» — la versión mínima de esa condición para el principiante: fase lunar, día del planeta regente de la hierba y, de preferencia, la hora siguiente al orto.

«Our suggestion here is that you create what are known as the “Seven Basics.” By utilizing the Spagyric methods just described, one can create Seven Elixirs -- one for each day of the week.» — el ejercicio con que cierra el capítulo: los Siete Básicos, un elixir por día de la semana.

«Your Sun herb elixir is taken on Sunday, a Moon herb elixir on Monday, and so on. A few drops in a small amount of water or wine is a good way to start. This will begin to gently harmonize each system of the body and start the process of rebalancing and transformation at all levels. See the Appendix for information on herbs and their ruling planets.» — cómo se toman y a dónde remite para las regencias: el apéndice de hierbas y planetas del final del volumen.

«You really are what you eat. By using these Seven Basics over time, their refined and spiritualized matter become part of you and in turn you become more refined and spiritualized.» — el argumento con que justifica ese régimen: la materia refinada del elixir pasaría a formar parte del operador.

«It is said that the attitude of the artist, more than the process itself, is what makes alchemy “The Divine Art.” This attitude and energy becomes transferred to the matter being acted upon and» — a qué adjudica que la alquimia se llame Arte Divino: a la actitud del artista más que al proceso, con esa actitud transferida a la materia. Lo enuncia en pasiva, sin firmante. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *affects the outcome of the operation*.

«affects the outcome of the operation. The energy is released again within us from the Elixir in a more noble state.» — la continuación: la energía volvería al operador desde el elixir en estado más noble. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«You are the lead which is transmuted into pure gold. As with any new skill, we start with simple things and progress to more complex operations as our skill and experience lead us. We have to make a start somewhere, and these simple procedures form the beginnings of a fascinating process of self-transformation.» — la fórmula con que cierra el capítulo y traslada la transmutación al operador.

«I want to mention something about Spagyrics vs. Alchemy vs. Chemistry. In chemistry, we take certain ingredients and combine them through a process to obtain a certain result. And it is always the same result whether I mix it or you mix it. In alchemy this is not always the case. There is a subtle something, which can influence the end result.» — el deslinde con que abre el capítulo quinto: en química el resultado no depende de quién mezcla, y en alquimia sí habría algo sutil que influye.

«The chemist works with materials which are compounded and purified by processes, which the alchemist would call Unphilosophical and the materials so produced are dead bodies only.» — qué le adjudica al trabajo del químico en su vocabulario: materiales *unphilosophical* y cuerpos muertos.

«So what is Philosophical ? To have your materials be philosophically produced means you must follow the philosophy of alchemy and realize that you are working with the life force and consciousness of your materials as well as the body. Again, the quality of our attention affects the quality of life in our subject just as with a houseplant or pet.» — cómo define lo *filosófico* en el taller: trabajar con la fuerza vital y la consciencia del material, con el símil de la planta de casa y el animal doméstico.

«The processes used in laboratory alchemy strive to capture and preserve the operation of subtle essences in a suitable vehicle all the way to their material analogs.» — qué persiguen los procesos que va a describir: preservar la operación de las esencias sutiles hasta sus análogos materiales.

«Between 1600 and 1700 there occurred a transition period between alchemy and the new science of chemistry. It is during this time period that we can find some of the most clearly written descriptions of processes used in alchemy.» — dónde sitúa las descripciones técnicas más claras del arte: en el siglo de transición entre la alquimia y la química nueva, que es de donde saldrán casi todas sus fuentes.

«Apothecaries of the time were acquainted with the processes and used them to compound certain medicines. This branch of the pharmacy at that time came to be known as Spagyrics and related mostly to the preparation of plants. Spagyric preparations became widely popular but due largely to the long processing times and labor, they slowly faded into obscurity at the hands of faster, cheaper substitutes born of a developing chemical industry.» — cómo explica el auge y la caída de las preparaciones espagíricas: tiempos largos y trabajo, contra sustitutos más rápidos y baratos de la industria química.

«Some writers say Spagyrics is the work on plants and alchemy is the work on metals. In truth, alchemy is a universal process working at all levels. Whereas the Spagyric process is fundamental to both, alchemy in addition seeks to promote the matter's evolution. In a practical sense, Spagyrics leads to powerful medicines for the body. Anyone who follows the methods can produce Spagyric medicines. There is no strong dependence on the operator's state of mind.» — la distinción corriente que recoge —espagiria para plantas, alquimia para metales— y la objeción que le pone: la espagiria daría medicinas del cuerpo y no dependería con fuerza del estado mental del operador.

«Alchemy aims to produce medicines for the soul and spirit levels of being, as well as the body, and the operator is strongly linked to the material operated upon. The proper state of mind is essential for success. For example, once you have purified your essentials to a certain degree, they become very susceptible to mental impressions by those around them -- good or bad. This is another reason for the secrecy surrounding alchemical works. Very often, only the artist is allowed to see or handle materials at certain points.» — dónde pone la diferencia propia de la alquimia: medicinas del alma y del espíritu, vínculo fuerte con el operador, y de ahí el secreto, porque los esenciales purificados quedarían expuestos a las impresiones mentales ajenas.

«These processes and materials can lead to deep insight or contact with alternate realms of consciousness, thus bringing direct knowledge to the alchemist. This is a type of knowing that can not be written because words are too limiting. It is the marriage of intellect and intuition or the Sun and the Moon, as the alchemists would say.» — qué adjudica a esos procesos como conocimiento: un saber que no se escribe porque las palabras quedan cortas, y que llama matrimonio de intelecto e intuición.

«Alchemy is more than just something you do in a laboratory. It is a spiritual path leading one to enlightenment -- to evolving. It can be thought of as a psycho-physiological transformation directed by human self-consciousness.» — la fórmula con que define el arte más allá del taller: transformación psicofisiológica dirigida por la autoconsciencia.

«The Great Work, or Magnum Opus of alchemy, leads to the spiritual and physical regeneration of the alchemist himself.» — a quién adjudica el término de la Gran Obra: al propio alquimista, en su regeneración espiritual y física.

«The Philosophers agree that the process consists of stages, which are repeated over and over again on the matter until perfection is obtained. These stages or Operations, represent the active principles at work in nature whether we are speaking of the work» — cómo describe la estructura del proceso: etapas repetidas sobre la materia hasta la perfección, que serían los principios activos de la naturaleza. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *on plants, metals or on our own body and psyche*.

«The alchemical work is not just a “spring cleaning” or “detox session” from which we fall back into the same routine. Instead it is a true and lasting purification.» — el deslinde que hace con la higiene de moda: no sería limpieza de primavera ni desintoxicación pasajera.

«That portion of The Great Work which has to do with the transmutation of the alchemist himself is a process whereby the vibratory activity of our “interior stars” is so modified that the lower rates of vibration are transmuted and sublimated, or lifted up.» — cómo define la transmutación del propio operador: modificación del ritmo vibratorio de las estrellas interiores, con lo bajo sublimado.

«This transmutation of the subtle force working through the interior stars has a triple consequence. It leads to spiritual illumination. It presents the alchemist with radiant health, due to the perfect combination and coordination of chemical and electrical energies, which maintain the form and functioning of the human body.» — las dos primeras consecuencias que le adjudica: iluminación espiritual y salud radiante por la coordinación de las energías químicas y eléctricas del cuerpo.

«And finally, this process opens the activity of powers which are normally dormant in most human beings. Paracelsus said, “You will transmute nothing if you have not first transmuted yourself.”» — la tercera consecuencia —el despertar de potencias dormidas— y la sentencia que cita de Paracelso: nada se transmuta sin haberse transmutado primero uno mismo.

«Man himself is the primary subject of the Hermetic Art. It is useless to try to make the Philosopher's Stone outside oneself before one has approached the first part of the operation, which slowly transforms the operator himself into the Living Stone. Only then will the Alchemist possess the necessary skill and understanding of subtle forces to complete the work of making an actual substance with the power to transmute other bodies.» — la inversión de prioridades con que ordena todo el libro: el hombre es el sujeto primero del arte, y solo el operador vuelto Piedra Viviente alcanzaría la piedra material.

«The study of Astrology and practical Qabalah provide us with tools for establishing relationships between seemingly unrelated concepts and materials as well as a technology for the raising of spiritual energy, the Secret Fire in Man. These are essential parts of the alchemist's discipline. Trying to separate out the physical actions of the alchemist in the laboratory from these interior connections, bridging the spiritual and physical realms, reduces it to common chemistry.» — por qué mete astrología y cábala entre las disciplinas del alquimista: dan las relaciones entre conceptos dispares y la técnica de levantar el Fuego Secreto; separar el gesto de laboratorio de esas conexiones lo reduciría, dice, a química común.

«The alchemical dictum “Ora Et Labora” (pray and work) was the ancient guideline for practice. Our word “laboratory” comes from it. The lab is a temple and oratory wherein we labor.» — la etimología que propone para *laboratory* a partir del lema *Ora et labora*, y la definición del taller como templo y oratorio.

«The laboratory work provides us with some powerful tools for» — qué papel da al trabajo de laboratorio dentro de la Gran Obra. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *accomplishing this Great Work*.

«accomplishing this Great Work. The creation of our tinctures and elixirs is a first step in correcting the imbalances in our own Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. But there are many improvements that can be made to augment their power and effectiveness. Some are simple; others require much more time and effort.» — la continuación: tinturas y elixires como primer paso para corregir el propio desequilibrio de Azufre, Mercurio y Sal, con mejoras posibles de coste creciente. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Many people have the impression that to even begin alchemical work, one must have all manner of expensive chemical apparatus at one's disposal. Not true. You can begin your own alchemical laboratory with common household items just as we did in preparing the “Seven Basics.” As one continues the Work, one finds that the materials one needs have a way of showing up when they are needed.» — la objeción que sale a deshacer sobre el equipo: se empieza con utensilios de casa, y dice que el material aparece cuando hace falta.

«In the laboratory, fire is our main tool for transformation. Alchemy has been called the Work of Vulcan (blacksmith of the gods) and the old masters called themselves Fire Philosophers .» — qué instrumento pone en el centro del taller y con qué nombres: Obra de Vulcano y Filósofos del Fuego.

«The Sages agree that control of the fire is the key to success in alchemical works.» — la regla que adjudica a los Sabios: el dominio del fuego es la clave del éxito.

«Not very long ago, there were no thermostatic controls like we have today, and not much further back, there were no thermometers. Yet the alchemists were able to perform delicate distillations as well as prolonged searing heats of materials using coal and charcoal furnaces. Anyone who has ever stoked a woodstove or campfire (or even a barbeque) must appreciate the dedication and diligence required to keep a crucible at red heat for a month or even longer using a coal furnace.» — el argumento con que mide la dificultad antigua: sin termostatos ni termómetros, mantener un crisol al rojo un mes con horno de carbón.

«There are many grades of fire mentioned in alchemical texts. Some are physical, some are subtle representatives of spiritual principles. Most often mentioned are Celestial Fire, Central Fire, Secret Fire, and Elemental or Common Fire.» — los cuatro fuegos que enumera de la literatura: Celeste, Central, Secreto y Elemental o Común.

«At the practical level, the ancients used Common Fire in a» — el paso al fuego común y sus grados. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *system of graded heats often called the Four Degrees of Fire*.

«The first degree of fire is the Balneum Marie or Bath of Mary. Some believe this was developed by a female Jewish adept named Mary (the prophetess) around 500 C.E. (Others say it is not derived from a woman's name, but from the word “mare” and refers to the ocean -- like marine.)» — el primer grado, el Baño de María, con las dos etimologías que consigna sin arbitrar: la adepta judía María la Profetisa hacia el año 500, o el latín *mare*.

«This is basically a double boiler. The container of matter to be heated is immersed in another container of water, which is heated by the furnace. In this way the subject matter can never get hotter than 100°C and thus can not scorch the delicate components. Alcohol is rectified in a water bath, as an example.» — en qué consiste ese primer grado y qué límite le da: la materia no pasa de los 100 °C, y por eso ahí se rectifica el alcohol.

«The second degree of fire is Balneum Cinerus or ash bath. This is where the matter is placed in the ash pit and heated still hotter. The ashes have a certain insulating quality that allows for a heat which is above that of boiling water but still evenly distributed around the vessel.» — el segundo grado, el baño de cenizas, por encima del agua hirviendo y con calor repartido.

«The third degree of heat is called the Balneum Arena or sand bath. It is set up like the water bath but it is able to maintain a higher heat than the water or ashes. Many oils and substances with boiling points higher than water can be heated and distilled with the sand bath. It provides an even heating of the matter and avoids hot spots from developing. In fairly high heats, the sand bath also lends support for the vessel which might otherwise become deformed from the heat.» — el tercero, el baño de arena, que además sostiene el vaso para que no se deforme.

«The fourth degree is Balneum Ignis or bathed in flame. This is the hottest you can make it in your furnace with a naked flame. This heat is used for calcinations, fusions, etc.» — el cuarto, a llama desnuda, para calcinaciones y fusiones.

«We have a great advantage today with our electric hot plates or gas heating that can be regulated easily for long periods. In general, start off with the lowest temperature possible to accomplish the operation and try to avoid hot spots from uneven heating. One can always increase the heat as needed.» — la regla práctica que da para el equipo moderno: empezar por la temperatura más baja posible y evitar los puntos calientes.

«We mentioned earlier that the operations of alchemy are representative of nature's operative principles active at all levels of reality. The Sages often point out that knowledge of the occult operations of the elements is another essential key to success.» — la segunda clave que adjudica a los Sabios, junto al fuego: el conocimiento de las operaciones ocultas de los elementos.

«I want to talk about some of the common operations in laboratory alchemy and hopefully allay some of the fears in their performance. Foremost in this is the process of distillation. You have all done this. Maybe you did not recognize it as such. You put a pot on the stove to simmer, then return to check it, lift the lid and liquid streams off. This liquid has distilled from the contents of the pot. You breathe on a cold glass window and it condenses to liquid drops. This is distillation.» — cómo desdramatiza la destilación con dos ejemplos domésticos: la tapa de la olla y el vaho condensado en el vidrio frío.

«The earliest accounts of distillation describe hanging flocks of wool over boiling pots then wringing the distilled liquid from the wool.» — el procedimiento más antiguo que consigna: vellones de lana colgados sobre la olla y escurridos después.

«“Now I am come to the arts, and I shall begin from Distillation an invention of later times, a wonderful thing, to be praised beyond the power of man, not that which the vulgar and unskillful man may use. For they do but corrupt and destroy what is good. But that which is done by skillful artists. This admirable art, teaches how to make spirits, and sublime gross bodies, and how to condense, and make spirits become gross bodies. And to draw forth of plants, minerals, stones and jewels, the strength of them, that are involved and overwhelmed with great bulk, lying hid, as it were, in their chests. And to make them more pure, and thin, and more noble, as not being content with their common condition, and so lift them up as high as heaven.”» — el elogio de la destilación que cita de la *Natural Magick*, con su reserva de que en manos inexpertas corrompe lo bueno. La voz es de Della Porta; el volumen imprime el nombre como *Jean Baptiste Dela Porta* y lo data en 1600, y la bibliografía lo registra como *Della Porta, Jean Baptiste, Natural Magic, Book Ten*, Nueva York 1585.

«the art of distillation. In days passed, many households contained a distillery for making medicines, cordials, and cosmetics.» — el dato doméstico con que naturaliza la destilación: casas con destilería propia para medicinas, cordiales y cosméticos. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el límite de chunk y viene de la 47, donde dice que se llega lejos dominando el arte de destilar.

«There are many types of distillation -- simple, fractional, steam, vacuum, solar, etc. In chemistry we use this process to separate liquids from one another, and to purify liquids. In alchemy, we additionally use this process to exalt or evolve our matter (as we mentioned earlier) mirroring the life, death, rebirth cycle between states of matter.» — el uso adicional que adjudica a la destilación en alquimia frente a la química: exaltar o hacer evolucionar la materia, espejando el ciclo de vida, muerte y renacimiento.

«At the very simplest, a jar containing liquid to be distilled can be placed into a larger jar which is then sealed and placed in a sunny spot. The distillate will form on the walls of the large jar and run down the sides to the bottom where it is collected. It may not be terribly efficient or suitable for all distillations, but it is easily available for anyone to experiment. There are many illustrations in old texts depicting this type of solar distillation.» — el montaje más barato que propone, la destilación solar de frasco dentro de frasco, y su aval iconográfico en los textos antiguos.

«In herbal alchemy, most common uses of distillation are in the preparation of the Sulfur and Mercury. Earlier we described the steam distillation of the essential oils from a plant. Live steam is injected into a plant / water mush and the essential oils are carried over with the steam to form a layer on top of the distilled water. We can also simply distill the plant / water mush and collect the oil as it forms a layer at the top of the distillate. The collected oil can be mixed with water and distilled again to bring it to a higher state of purity.» — los dos modos de sacar el aceite esencial que consigna, por arrastre de vapor y por destilación directa de la papilla, con redestilación para purificarlo.

«The distillation of alcohol is perhaps the most frequent operation in herbal alchemy and this distillation is repeated anywhere from six to twelve times in order to make it pure enough. This process is called Rectification .» — cuántas veces manda redestilar el alcohol y con qué nombre: de seis a doce, en la operación que llama Rectificación.

«However we cannot produce 100% alcohol by simple distillation no matter how often you repeat the process. The best we can do is about 95% unless we use some new tricks. Most often a drying agent is used such as potassium carbonate or calcium oxide (quicklime.) These materials are not soluble in alcohol but have a voracious affinity for water, which they absorb from the alcohol.» — el límite técnico que declara y cómo se sortea: el 95 % como techo de la destilación simple, y los desecantes, carbonato de potasio o cal viva.

«In many instances, the distillations are repeated not so much to increase the purity but to elevate or spiritualize the matter.» — por qué se repite la operación más allá de la pureza: para elevar o espiritualizar la materia.

«This is one of the most common operations of practical alchemy and is simply allowing a material to incubate at a constant temperature for some period of time. The time period will vary depending on what is needed to occur and the temperature may need to be slowly increased over a lengthy course of digestion, but the idea is to provide a heated environment for the matter to react within or to slowly mature like hatching an egg.» — cómo define la digestión: incubación a temperatura constante, con el símil del huevo empollado.

«Art is a controlled digestion. You can construct a simple chamber for digestion by placing a lightbulb inside a large plastic ice chest of the type used for camping.» — la fórmula con que resume el arte entero, y la cámara de digestión casera que propone. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 48, donde empieza *The whole of the*.

«Simply by changing the wattage of the lamp you can control the temperature to the required degree. A simple indoor/ outdoor thermometer is useful for monitoring temperature, which for herbal work ranges from about 90 to 104 degrees F. Many operators prefer to wrap vessels with aluminum foil to protect them from the bright light.» — cómo se regula esa cámara: por el vataje de la bombilla, con termómetro y de 90 a 104 °F para el trabajo vegetal, y papel de aluminio para proteger los vasos de la luz.

«Extraction refers to methods for separating the pure from the impure. As with all of these basic operations, there are many ways to accomplish the end.» — cómo define la extracción dentro de su esquema: separar lo puro de lo impuro.

«In general, extraction methods use an extraction medium to effect separation. When you brew tea, water is the extraction medium; when you made the seven basics, vodka was the extraction medium. Remember that the Mercury of a kingdom has an affinity for the Sulfur of that kingdom. In herbal extraction we use alcohol, the vehicle for vegetable Mercury, to pull out the Sulfur of the plant. The resulting extract is called a tincture from the Latin “tinctura”, that which colors. It contains the Mercury and Sulfur of the plant. The extracted plant residue contains the salt which we obtain by calcination.» — la etimología de *tinctura* como aquello que colorea, y el reparto de los tres esenciales tras la extracción: Mercurio y Azufre en la tintura, Sal en el residuo.

«There are three methods widely used to effect extraction of a tincture from plants, the first is called Maceration. We used this to make the seven basics.» — el primero de los tres métodos de extracción, la maceración, que remite al ejercicio de los Siete Básicos.

«Pour the extraction media, also called the solvent or menstruum, over the material to be extracted until it stands about two finger widths above the material. Seal tightly and shake well. Place into a warm spot to digest and remember to shake it daily. After the extraction period, which can be a few hours to over a year in some operations, simply filter the tincture to separate it from the residue.» — el procedimiento de maceración y el rango de tiempo que declara: de unas horas a más de un año según la operación.

«The second type of extraction allows us to use a greater heat without loss of the volatile components. This method is called a Reflux Extraction. The matter to be extracted is placed into a flask and covered with the extraction medium. Then a condenser is attached to the top and heat is applied such that condensation occurs no higher than the first 1/3 of the condenser. After several days of this constant heating without liquid loss, the material is allowed to cool then filtered to obtain the extract and solid residue. This method works well for harder materials such as roots, barks and woods.» — el segundo método, la extracción a reflujo, y para qué materiales lo reserva: raíces, cortezas y maderas.

«The third method of extraction is called Soxhlet Extraction, named after Franz Von Soxhlet a German chemist who invented a special glassware apparatus for extracting fatty substances from» — el tercer método y su epónimo. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *materials in1879*, que es como el impreso da la fecha, sin espacio.

«The apparatus has come to be called a Soxhlet Extractor and can be somewhat expensive. In this method, the material to be extracted is placed into a filter paper cup, called a “thimble”, and inserted into the extractor body. The extraction medium is placed into the flask at the bottom and heat is applied to it. The solvent vapors rise up a side tube into a condenser where it turns to liquid again and drops into the extractor body and thimble. The extractor body fills with solvent until it reaches the top of the siphon tube whereupon it drains back into the flask. This cycle repeats until extraction is complete and there is no more coloring of solvent in the extractor body. The extract or tincture is recovered from the flask and the extracted residue is recovered from the thimble. Very often several thimbles are filled and extracted with the same solvent to obtain a concentrated tincture.» — el funcionamiento del extractor Soxhlet y su ciclo de sifón, con el aviso de que es caro. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Fermentation is a very important process in alchemy through which the vital essence of a material is released into a new medium from which we can capture it.» — qué papel da a la fermentación: liberar la esencia vital a un medio nuevo del que se la pueda capturar.

«In herbal alchemy it is always preferable to use the plant's own Mercury instead of that derived from another source such as grain alcohol. Although the Mercury of a kingdom is the same throughout that kingdom, isolating it in this very purified form is difficult. Each type of alcohol carries with it some of the subtle Sulfur of the plant from which it was distilled.» — la preferencia que declara y su razón: cada alcohol arrastra algo del Azufre sutil de la planta de la que se destiló, aunque el Mercurio del reino sea el mismo.

«In many of the beginning works of herbal alchemy and for general use, an alcohol derived from wine is perfectly suitable; however, for some of the more advanced works, it will be necessary to obtain the alcohol from the particular plant one is working with.» — el límite práctico que pone a esa preferencia: alcohol de vino basta para los trabajos iniciales, y solo los avanzados exigirían el de la propia planta.

«Winemaking is an art unto itself and more than we can detail here. You can explore this in many places online, so we will only touch on a few guidelines for alchemical work. The ideal is to add nothing foreign to the plant, that is, no added yeasts, or sugar, or nutrients other than what the plant itself supplies.» — el ideal que enuncia para la fermentación alquímica: no añadir nada ajeno a la planta, ni levaduras ni azúcar ni nutrientes.

«The general procedure is to place the fresh or dried plant into a large container that can be sealed. If you are using plant materials that have been steamed to collect the Sulfur, the natural yeasts of the plant are going to be inactive so you will have to add a handful of the plant that did not get steamed.» — el procedimiento y su advertencia: si la planta pasó por vapor, sus levaduras naturales quedan inactivas y hay que añadir material sin vaporizar.

«Now stopper the vessel tightly but leave a small piece of tubing running out of the top and into a small container of water. This is called a fermentation lock. Fermentation is anaerobic, that is, it proceeds without air contact; however, there is release of carbon dioxide gas which can bubble out of the tube without air getting in.» — el cierre hidráulico que describe y la razón que da: la fermentación es anaerobia pero libera dióxido de carbono.

«Fermentation can take days or weeks to complete so place the vessel into a warm place at about 30 degrees C and watch for the bubbling to stop. When the bubbling and foaming action has stopped, filter the liquid out and seal it for use. You can proceed immediately to distillation in order to obtain the Mercury or let the “wine” age for awhile first.» — los tiempos y la temperatura que da, y la señal de término: el cese del burbujeo.

«Remember to save the plant residue for calcination and recover of the Salt and also save the liquid from which you distilled the Mercury. This liquid is evaporated to a thick honey-like consistency then calcined to obtain the Salt of Sulfur of the plant (more on this when we talk about calcination).» — qué manda guardar y por qué: el residuo para la Sal y el líquido de la destilación, que evaporado y calcinado daría la Sal del Azufre de la planta.

«In practice, you may find it necessary to deviate from the ideal and add a small amount of wine yeast and sugar to those plants that seem to refuse to ferment easily.» — la concesión que hace a su propio ideal: a veces habrá que añadir levadura de vino y azúcar.

«If you find it necessary to add yeast to initiate fermentation, try adding a handful of red grapes which still have the white, powdery coating of natural yeast on the skins, into a cupful of warm water. Shake it around for awhile, then decant the water, which now contains some of the grape yeast, into the plant/water mixture you» — el arranque que propone en ese caso: la levadura silvestre del hollejo de uvas rojas, decantada en agua tibia. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *wish to ferment*.

«Sublimation is a term used to denote the rarefaction of a material and though it is often applied to liquid or solid materials in alchemy, it most commonly refers to action on a solid body. There are some solids you will come upon in alchemy which are purified by sublimation. These materials go from the solid state to a vapor without passing through a liquid state and the vapor returns to the solid state upon contact with a cool surface.» — cómo define la sublimación y a qué la aplica sobre todo: cuerpos sólidos que pasan a vapor y vuelven a sólido en superficie fría.

«Alchemically, the body opens and the finer parts ascend. These are captured by a cool condensing surface in an exalted form. Most notable are many of the ammonia-based salts. Coming Ware casseroles work well for this. Place the matter to be sublimated in a layer on the bottom of one casserole, then cover with a second casserole that is inverted. Gently heat the bottom and the sublimate will collect on the upper surfaces. The final sublimation temperature will depend on the matter you are sublimating and can range from near room temperature to a full red heat.» — la lectura alquímica que le da —el cuerpo se abre y lo fino asciende— y el montaje casero de dos cazuelas, con el rango de temperatura.

«Sublimation is the reason your ice cubes disappear if left for long periods in the freezer and forms the basis for freeze drying materials.» — los dos ejemplos domésticos con que la ilustra: los hielos que menguan en el congelador y la liofilización.

«Circulation is a process of continuous distillation used in alchemy to evolve your subject matter. In its simplest form, your subject (say one of the Seven Basics) is placed into a tall bottle like a long wine bottle and gently heated at the bottom while the top is allowed to remain cool. In this way the liquid distills upward, hits the cool upper surface and condenses; then falls back into the bulk of the liquid.» — cómo define la circulación y el montaje mínimo que da: botella alta, calor abajo y cuello frío arriba.

«It is not unusual to let a substance circulate for a month or longer during which time it passes through many life and death re-birth cycles and is evolved.» — el tiempo que declara normal para esa operación y cómo la lee: un mes o más, con muchos ciclos de muerte y renacimiento.

«preparation to truly alchemical preparations. Circulation provokes the evolution of the matter towards a more perfect state. Tall wine bottles filled with only three or four ounces and set on a warm heating pad will work for this.» — dónde pone el umbral entre la espagiria y la alquimia propiamente dicha: la circulación, que provocaría la evolución de la materia. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el límite de chunk y viene de la 53.

«Calcination takes its name from the word calx, which is an old term meaning lime or quicklime (calcium oxide) which is a white powder. When something is calcined we apply fire to produce a white ash (usually) by burning away the various volatile constituents and revealing the essential mineral components -- the Salt.» — la etimología de la calcinación y qué persigue: quemar lo volátil hasta revelar los componentes minerales esenciales, que son la Sal.

«Burning herbs to ash is easy enough over a small propane stove, but there are a few problems. First there is the smoke and smell, sure to attract the attention of your neighbors and elicit moans and groans from other people of your household. Unless you have a good fume hood, this is definitely an outdoor activity. Secondly, there are some materials which refuse to get very white at all.» — los dos estorbos prácticos que declara: el humo y el olor, que obligan a trabajar al aire libre, y los materiales que no blanquean.

«There is a simple method we can use, called the leaching process, to obtain the salts in a purified form.» — la salida que propone para eso: el lixiviado.

«After extracting your herb with alcohol, the plant residue is filtered out and placed into a heat-resistant dish. (Metal dishes are OK, but avoid aluminum.) Take it outside and place it on a brick or some other fire-resistant holder. Then touch a match to it. Let the herb burn and stir it around once in a while to burn as much as possible. It should turn black and if you are lucky it will calcine by itself to gray.» — el procedimiento de quema del residuo, con el aviso de evitar recipientes de aluminio.

«Once the plant has been reduced to a gray ash, grind it and continue calcining to get it light gray. Prolonged calcining and grinding will eventually give you a very light gray to almost white ash. To speed this up we can take our gray ash and mix it with ten to twenty times its volume of water. Shake it or stir it well. You can even heat it up to near boiling, then filter and collect the liquid. Place the liquid in a bowl and allow it to evaporate under a gentle heat. A white crystalline material will remain, collect this, grind it fine and keep it dry.» — el lixiviado paso a paso: molienda, agua caliente, filtrado y evaporación hasta el cristal blanco.

«This is called the Salt of Salt . The material that remains in the filter (which did not dissolve in the water) is called the Caput Mortuum or Dead Head also called Terra Damnata or Damned Earth and is usually discarded.» — los dos nombres que da a los productos de esa operación: Sal de Sal para el cristal, y Caput Mortuum o Terra Damnata para lo insoluble, que se descarta.

«There is another salt we obtain from plants. In working, you will notice that many plants do not give a lot of volatile oil, the Alchemical Sulfur. They are said to have a Fixed Sulfur.» — el caso que motiva la segunda sal: plantas de poco aceite volátil, a las que adjudica un Azufre Fijo.

«For these we can take the fermentation liquor (after removal of the alcohol,» — el arranque del procedimiento para esas plantas: partir del licor de fermentación una vez retirado el alcohol. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *our Mercury) or an alcohol extract of the plant, evaporate it to a thick honey-like mass, then calcine it*.

«our Mercury) or an alcohol extract of the plant, evaporate it to a thick honey-like mass, then calcine it. It will turn black and continued calcination may get it to gray but generally not.» — la continuación: evaporar a masa espesa como miel y calcinar, con el reconocimiento de que suele quedarse en negro y no llegar al gris. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«It stays black so we use a little trick to help. Grind the black material then wet it with distilled water or better yet, the collected phlegm of the plant, just to saturation. Let it stand overnight, then gently calcine it again. You will notice that it becomes lighter. Repeat this process of wetting and calcining several times and you will slowly bring it to a very light gray or even to white.» — el truco que da para blanquearlo: mojar con agua destilada o con el flema de la propia planta y recalcinar varias veces.

«This can now be leached out with water as you did for the plant ash, filter and crystallize it. This will give us the Salt of Sulfur , which is a magnet for the subtle principle of Sulfur of the particular plant.» — el producto que resulta y qué le adjudica: la Sal del Azufre, imán del principio sutil de Azufre de esa planta.

«In almost all cases you will find that a long slow calcination works better than a short violent one.» — la regla de oficio con que cierra la operación.

«This is an ancient alchemical formula for exalting our matter. In herbal work it is applied to the salts we collected and from the standpoint of chemistry it is a simple recrystallization where our salts are dissolved into water, filtered and again evaporated to dryness. From the alchemical viewpoint we are passing our matter through the life, death and rebirth cycle.» — la doble lectura que da al *solve et coagula*: recristalización desde la química, ciclo de vida, muerte y renacimiento desde la alquimia.

«In the liquid state materials are much more susceptible to astrological influences (especially through the Moon) and we use this to impress or augment a planetary power in our subject. It is not uncommon to repeat this process of solve et coagula a number of times using distilled water or a specially prepared type of water which has already captured certain astrological influences during its manufacture. With each cycle, the subject becomes more powerful.» — por qué repite esa operación: en estado líquido la materia quedaría más expuesta a las influencias astrológicas, sobre todo lunares, y cada ciclo la haría más potente.

«An excellent source of this water is the so-called Phlegm from distilling and rectifying the alcohol. This phlegm is obtained by continuing the distillation (after removal of the alcohol) of our fermentation liquid down to the thickened honey-like residue from which we obtain the Salt of Sulfur. The water that distills over is called the Phlegm and it is held to be the best solvent for purifying the salts of the body it was derived from; so keep it aside until needed.» — qué agua recomienda para esos ciclos: el flema de la rectificación del alcohol, que declara el mejor disolvente para purificar las sales del cuerpo del que salió.

«As fire is the active agent for purification of spiritual energies» — la simetría con que cierra la serie de operaciones. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *(niter), water is the active agent for purification of material energies (salt)*: fuego para lo espiritual, agua para lo material.

«These are just a few of the common operations of laboratory alchemy, and these in turn are related to the planets or signs of the zodiac under whose influence they are preferentially performed.» — cómo enlaza las operaciones con la astrología del capítulo tercero: cada una tendría su planeta o signo bajo el que conviene ejecutarla.

«Remember that there is also the inner alchemy, which affects the operator as well. Each of these operations can become a very powerful transformative meditation during their performance if we consciously relate ourselves with our subject matter.» — el segundo plano que pide no perder de vista: cada operación como meditación transformadora si el operador se relaciona conscientemente con su materia.

«For example, during the calcinations of our plant material, we burn off the volatile structural components of the plant, which served to protect it from the environment and ensure its propagation during its life. These components are no longer necessary as it enters a new phase in its life as an evolved alchemical elixir in the service of the alchemist.» — el ejemplo con que lo desarrolla: la calcinación quema los componentes que protegían a la planta y que ya no le sirven en su nueva fase como elixir.

«Similarly within our psyche we have accumulated various ephemeral components in the mask of our personality (some good some bad), which have served their purpose and are no longer required.» — el traslado de ese ejemplo a la persona: componentes efímeros de la máscara de la personalidad que ya cumplieron su función.

«There are many things we have tucked away deep in our unconscious that we prefer to forget about altogether and it takes a good deal of our energy to keep them hidden (though they have a habit of popping out from time to time) and this is energy blocked up in a useless waste that is better used elsewhere.» — el argumento psicológico que añade: mantener oculto lo reprimido consumiría energía que quedaría bloqueada en un desperdicio.

«We've all been in “the hot seat” during our lives when these things we try to hide and hope they will go away, do come out. Or we have more catastrophic events which rip our lives apart and we are forced to look deeply within to determine what really is most essential in our lives. This is part of our personal calcination.» — qué llama calcinación personal: los episodios en que lo escondido sale, o los que obligan a mirar hacia dentro.

«We can consciously pull these things out, examine them for what they are, learn from them, defuse the grip they have on us due to erroneous beliefs, and move on. In this way we purposely calcine out those parts of the psyche which tie up energy. We free this energy for our own personal transformation into our True Selves.» — la operación consciente que propone en su lugar: sacar eso, examinarlo, desactivar su fuerza y liberar la energía.

«So it is with each of the alchemical operations. There is a corresponding internal process that leads to our own transformation into an evolved being. Very often it is not easy nor a comfortable thing or a pretty sight. That is why it is called the Great Work.» — la generalización que hace: cada operación tendría su proceso interno correspondiente, y ninguno sería fácil ni agradable, de donde el nombre de Gran Obra.

«But in the end, the things that have kept us as heavy» — el remate de esa serie, con el plomo trasladado al operador. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *as lead become transmuted into incorruptible spiritual gold*.

«The processes of laboratory alchemy have a strange way of working on us at all levels in spite of ourselves. As we work on our matter it is working on us.» — la fórmula recíproca con que cierra: mientras se trabaja la materia, la materia trabaja al operador.

«The various stages our matter must pass through on its way to becoming perfected by Art will be dependent on the particular subject of the work. Alchemy recognizes twelve of the most common chemical operations, one for each sign of the Zodiac.» — la doctrina de las doce operaciones, una por signo del zodiaco, con la etapa dependiente del sujeto del trabajo.

«When the Moon is in a particular constellation a corresponding chemical operation is performed. In other words, the subtle energies governing the operation or state of the matter to be operated on are considered to be optimal or at least active.» — la regla de ejecución que da: la operación se hace con la Luna en la constelación correspondiente, cuando las energías sutiles estarían óptimas o al menos activas.

«The Operations and the Zodiac Signs are classically listed as follows:» — la línea con que anuncia la lista de operaciones y signos. La lista misma cae en la plana 58, que el troceo no imprime: es tabla sin capa de texto.

«N ow we come to the point of actually applying these processes to prepare various Spagyric and alchemical products. We described the preparation of the “Seven Basics” as a prelude or first step on the alchemical path. There are many different ways to obtain the Three Essentials and many preparations for use along the alchemical path -- each with unique medicinal and initiatory powers. We have talked about Tinctures and Elixirs, now we are going to explore several others with colorful names and surprisingly powerful effects.» — el capítulo sexto abre situando los Siete Básicos como preludio y anunciando otras preparaciones, cada una con sus propias potencias medicinales e iniciáticas.

«The process for producing the so-called Magistery of a plant has several variations. This one comes to us from Paracelsus. It is fairly simple, and requires only a distillation setup, some fresh herb, and a little 190 proof alcohol. We can produce seven magisteries from different plants each ruled by one of the planets, just as we did for the Seven Basics.» — de quién toma el procedimiento del Magisterio y qué material pide: la variante que adjudica a Paracelso, con destilador, hierba fresca y alcohol de 190 grados.

«The process requires a series of digestions and distillations which volatilize the three essentials followed by a final circulation. Here is the method:» — en qué consiste el Magisterio según su esquema: digestiones y destilaciones que volatilizan los tres esenciales, con una circulación final.

«Take a fresh plant and chop it up a bit. Put it into a container and pour your alcohol over it until the herb is covered. This should be rectified spirit of wine but any strong (potable) alcohol will» — el primer paso del Magisterio. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *work. Seal it, then let it digest at about 40°C for one month*.

«work. Seal it, then let it digest at about 40°C for one month. Then, take the matter and gently distill it in a water bath until it is dry. (Be careful not to burn it.) Pour this distillate (which now contains the liquid of the plant as well as the alcohol you started with) over some fresh herb and again digest at 40°C for a month. Distill the whole again and collect the distillate which will have increased in volume again.» — la continuación del procedimiento: digestión de un mes a 40 °C, destilación a sequedad en baño de agua y el destilado vertido sobre hierba fresca para repetir. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Repeat this process of digesting fresh herb in the distillate for a month and distilling until the volume is five times the original volume of alcohol used. If we used 100ml alcohol to start, we will end up with 500ml total at the end. Circulate this final distillate for one month, after which time the Magistery will collect as» — el criterio de término que da: quintuplicar el volumen inicial de alcohol, y circular un mes. La cita se parte aquí porque el impreso corta *oily-looking* con guion de fin de renglón.

«looking drops and either sink to the bottom or float on top, depending on the herb's nature. Collect this with a dropper into a small vial and keep it sealed well.» — la señal del Magisterio terminado: gotas de aspecto aceitoso que suben o bajan según la naturaleza de la hierba, recogidas con gotero. El tramo abre en la segunda mitad de *oily-looking*.

«Paracelsus says one part of this Magistery has the same effect as two hundred times the quantity of the corresponding dried plant (so 1/2oz = 100oz).» — la potencia que atribuye al Magisterio citando a Paracelso: doscientas veces la cantidad equivalente de planta seca. La cifra es de Paracelso, no suya.

«In his work entitled “Paramirim,” Paracelsus describes five powers which form the root causes of disease in man. These powers, which he terms Ens (or Entia in the plural) are subtle influences, spiritual yet involved in physical causation.» — la doctrina de los cinco *Entia* que adjudica a Paracelso como causas raíz de la enfermedad: influencias sutiles con efecto físico. El volumen imprime el título como *Paramirim*.

«The so-called Ens Tinctures are held to be effective at these subtle levels and considered by many to be among the most powerful Spagyric medicines which can be used to correct our own imbalances, bringing us to a state of physical and spiritual health in a much more powerful way than the Seven Basics.» — qué se les atribuye a las tinturas Ens, dicho en pasiva y como opinión ajena: de las medicinas espagíricas más potentes.

«“The Ens manifests the highest initiatic virtue of the plant it is made from. Since alchemy has no set rituals, no lodges, or methods of advancement other than the Work itself, all initiation is said to be interior in this form of esotericism. We initiate ourselves into the Work, and the Work initiates us to higher (and deeper) levels of awareness.» — el pasaje que cita de un operador contemporáneo sobre la iniciación en alquimia: sin rituales ni logias ni grados, toda iniciación sería interior y la Obra iniciaría al operador. La voz es de Mark Stavish.

«The nature of spagyric tinctures, and in particular the Ens, is to clear out the blocks in our psychic makeup and anatomy, similar to what is called Nadis in yoga or the Meridians in acupuncture.» — la continuación de esa cita de Stavish: la tintura despejaría los bloqueos de la anatomía psíquica, comparada con los nadis del yoga y los meridianos de la acupuntura. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana.

«This subtle anatomy allows for the exchange of information between the dense physical world of matter, and the subtler psychic world of which it is an extension.”» — el cierre de la cita de Stavish: esa anatomía sutil haría de intercambio entre el mundo denso y el psíquico, del que el primero sería extensión. El volumen data el texto en 1998, con el título *Practical Plant Alchemy*.

«The simplest Ens Tinctures are prepared from herbs, and like our Seven Basics or Magisteries, one can be made for each of the seven planetary rulers, for each day of the week.» — cómo encaja el Ens en el mismo esquema septenario de los Siete Básicos y los Magisterios.

«The preparation of the ENS Tincture is only a bit more complicated than our simple Spagyric elixirs, and yet their effect is held to be comparable to an elixir which has greater maturity and potency. The simple skills we learn from this experiment will serve us in future works upon the mineral realm.» — qué adjudica al Ens frente al elixir simple, en pasiva, y para qué sirve el ejercicio: preparar el trabajo mineral posterior.

«There are a number of methods suggested for preparing an ENS Tincture, the following method is perhaps the most common. It derives from the works of Paracelsus and specifically from a commentary on his life and works by Franz Hartman.» — de dónde saca el método que elige: de Paracelso, por vía del comentario de Franz Hartman a su vida y su obra. El impreso da el apellido como *Hartman*, y la bibliografía como *Hartmann, Franz* (p. 160).

«The same materials are used as previously described for making the Seven Basics. The alcohol must be very strong, not less than 95%. In addition, one or two pounds of potassium carbonate will be needed, and a wide glass dish like those used for baking.» — el material que pide para el Ens: alcohol de no menos del 95 %, una o dos libras de carbonato de potasio y una fuente de vidrio ancha.

«Potassium carbonate can be purchased from a chemical supply shop or you can also find it at a ceramics supply, often under the name of “pearl ash” for substantially less cost. In the old days, potassium carbonate was known as the Salt of Tartar .» — dónde comprar el carbonato de potasio y con qué nombres corre: *pearl ash* en el comercio cerámico, Sal de Tártaro en los textos antiguos.

«If you like, you can collect potassium carbonate the old way by leaching it from wood ashes (especially oak wood, grape vine, and fern ash.) This will give you something to do with all those ashes you clean out of your fireplace or woodstove. Just scoop them out and place them into a large plastic bucket. Pour clean water over them (tap water is fine) stir and let settle. Pour off the clear liquid from the top, filter and evaporate the water. Be careful, because it is quite caustic and can burn the skin and seriously injure your eyes. It is like lye (in fact it is lye) and they used to make soap this way.» — el método antiguo que ofrece como alternativa —lixiviar cenizas de roble, vid o helecho— con la advertencia de que el líquido es cáustico y que es lejía.

«After the water evaporates you will have a crystalline mass that is more or less white. You can set this in your broiler for a while to» — el resultado de esa lixiviación. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *get it white*.

«get it white. Let this crystalline material sit outside protected from dust and rain late in the evening till early morning several nights in a row and you will see that a large part of it will have turned into liquid by absorbing the moisture from the air. This is called Deliquescence .» — la deliquescencia descrita como procedimiento: el cristal expuesto de noche absorbe humedad y se licúa. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Collect all of this liquid you can and evaporate the water from it in a clean dish. This will give you a crude potassium carbonate. You can calcine this, dissolve it in water, then recrystallize it several times to make it pure.» — cómo purificar el carbonato así obtenido: calcinación, disolución y recristalizaciones sucesivas.

«This takes quite a bit of time and patience, but it is free and the end product can be used over and over again. Over time you can gather a fairly large amount of material which can be used for a number of different alchemical works and, in addition, gain some valuable experience in the manipulation of salts.» — el balance que hace de ese trabajo largo: sale gratis, el producto se reutiliza y deja experiencia en el manejo de sales.

«Spread the potassium carbonate in a thin layer inside a glass dish, no more than one quarter of an inch thick. Again, care should be taken to avoid exposure to the potassium carbonate in either its dry or liquefied state. So be sure to wash your hands thoroughly after handling to avoid any contamination, especially of your eyes which can be seriously damaged. The potassium carbonate is strong enough to etch the sides of the glass container used during this experiment so do not use anything you value. It will likely be destroyed.» — las precauciones que impone con el carbonato: lavarse las manos, cuidar los ojos, y el aviso de que la sal graba el vidrio del recipiente.

«Place the dish in an area where it will be exposed to the night air. As the potassium carbonate liquefies (becomes deliquescent) it absorbs the moisture carried in the air. This moisture is said to be the vehicle of a Universal Fire or Vital Force which is most easily obtained in the Spring and early Summer months. We'll have much more to say about this later.» — qué adjudica a la humedad nocturna que la sal absorbe: vehículo de un Fuego Universal o Fuerza Vital, más accesible en primavera y principios de verano. Es el eje del capítulo séptimo.

«Draw off the liquid as it accumulates into a clean container. This liquid is called the Oil of Tartar per Deliquium .» — el nombre que da a ese líquido: Aceite de Tártaro por Deliquio.

«When several ounces of liquid have been collected, you can begin the extraction procedure. It is best to filter the liquid through a ball of cotton or glass wool prior to use. Paper filters absorb a lot of the liquid and tend to fall apart due to the corrosive nature of the fluid.» — el filtrado que recomienda —algodón o lana de vidrio— y por qué descarta el papel: lo absorbe y se deshace.

«Place about two ounces of finely ground herb in a clean, dry jar and pour in the clear fluid you have collected and filtered.» — el arranque de la extracción del Ens. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *Beginning this operation when the planet ruling the herb is in a powerful position*.

«Beginning this operation when the planet ruling the herb is in a powerful position will assist you in your Work. Pour in enough fluid to cover the top of the herb until it becomes a fully liquefied mass. Also allow space for thorough shaking, and seal with a tight plastic lid.» — la elección del momento astrológico y el llenado del frasco; el tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Digest for a week or two with periodic shaking. The liquid will become darkly colored during this time. Carefully squeeze the mixture through a nylon stocking and place the liquid into a clean vessel. Remember to use gloves and eye protection for this.» — la digestión de una o dos semanas y el colado, con guantes y protección ocular.

«Now pour in an equal amount of strong alcohol (at least 95%) and shake daily to insure the two liquids mix, as the lighter alcohol will float on top. If the two liquids do not separate, it means there was too much water in the herb or the alcohol. Slowly add solid dry potassium carbonate to absorb the excess water. If separation does not occur, you will have to start again.» — el paso del alcohol y la señal de fallo: si las dos fases no se separan, había demasiada agua; si aun añadiendo carbonato seco no separan, hay que empezar de nuevo.

«The alcohol extract floating on top will be the Ens Tincture that will be removed after the digestion. The alcohol will become darkly tinted after a few days. After about two weeks (or longer) you can carefully draw off the alcohol tincture from the top of the Oil of Tartar / herb layer. Allow it to stand for a day or two then filter for use.» — dónde está la tintura y cómo se recoge: la capa alcohólica de arriba, retirada tras dos semanas o más.

«It is helpful to let it stand in a freezer during this time, so that any water containing dissolved potassium carbonate will tend to crystallize out more easily. You will want to get the best separation of the two liquids as possible. Remember to save the Oil of Tartar for future use. It can be dried, calcined and used again.» — el truco del congelador para separar mejor las fases, y la instrucción de guardar el Aceite de Tártaro, que se seca, calcina y reutiliza.

«In general, five to ten drops of the Ens Tincture is taken in a glass of wine or water on the day ruled by the planet of the herb. It will have an effect on the subtle or astral body of the user, as well as enhanced medicinal qualities of the particular plant. Take note of both physical effects and how it affects your habitual thought and emotional patterns.» — la posología que da y qué efecto declara: sobre el cuerpo sutil o astral además de la virtud medicinal, con la indicación de anotar los cambios de pensamiento y de emoción.

«Perhaps the most well-known Ens extract is the Primum Ens Melissa . Paracelsus mentions the herb Melissa with high praise and says it is loaded with an easily obtained Quintessence of great rejuvenating virtue.» — cuál es el Ens más conocido y en quién apoya su fama: Paracelso, que adjudica a la melisa una quintaesencia rejuvenecedora.

«Franz Hartman mentions an often-quoted case of its use by» — de dónde toma el caso famoso de la melisa: Hartman, que lo adjudica a Lesebure, médico de Luis XIV. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *Lesebure, a physician of Louis XIV of France, who gives in his “Guide to Chemistry” (written about 1685) an account of some experiments, witnessed by him*.

«as in former days. At this she was very much surprised, because she did not know that she had been taking a medicine. She became frightened, and refused to continue the experiment. My friend took, therefore, some grain, soaked it in that wine and gave it to the old hen to eat, and on the sixth day that bird began to lose its feathers, and kept on losing them until it was perfectly nude, but before two weeks had passed away, new feathers grew, which were much more beautifully coloured; her comb stood up again, and she began again to lay eggs”.» — el desenlace del caso de la melisa según Lesebure: la sirvienta menstrúa de nuevo y se asusta, y la gallina vieja pierde las plumas y las recobra más vistosas, con la cresta erguida y la puesta reanudada. La voz es de Lesebure, citada por Hartman y por el volumen. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el límite de chunk.

«The preparation of the Vegetable Stone has been called the Opus Minor , the Little Work or Lesser Circulation (in comparison to the Magnum Opus -- the Great Work of the Philosopher's Stone.)» — los nombres que da a la Piedra Vegetal y su relación con la Gran Obra: Opus Minor, Obra Pequeña o Circulación Menor.

«In the creation of a “Stone” in the Vegetable Kingdom, we seek to balance the Elements of an herb in their most exalted form, which represents the true Quintessence of the plant.» — qué persigue esa Piedra: equilibrar los elementos de la hierba en su forma más exaltada, que declara la quintaesencia de la planta.

«The effects of the Stone are quite powerful, both at the physical level and at the energetic level. Like the Ens Tinctures, the Vegetable Stone is held to possess an initiatic virtue that can bring an awareness of Nature's operations by opening the subtle energy flow between our “interior stars.”» — qué virtud le adjudica, en pasiva: una virtud iniciática que abriría el flujo sutil entre las estrellas interiores.

«They also represent a sort of merit badge marking the progress» — cómo lee la Piedra en la carrera del operador. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *of the alchemist's mastery over the vegetable realm and his own lower nature*.

«Creating an Herbal Stone takes some time. It could easily take a year or longer and if you do not start with enough material, you end up with only a small amount. Plan to use ten to fifty pounds of herb depending on which herb you choose. Prefer plants where you can easily collect a good quantity of essential oils and that provide ample amounts of salts after calcination.» — el coste que declara para la Piedra Vegetal: un año o más y de diez a cincuenta libras de hierba, elegida por su rendimiento en aceites y sales.

«The method we are going to examine provides the basic operations common to many of the ways of making a Stone. There are many variations possible and the actual process that you use will be uniquely yours. It may be called the Little Work, but it does take some work and this method is most often successful.» — cómo presenta su propio método: uno entre muchos, y con el aviso de que la Obra Pequeña también da trabajo.

«The first part of this work is the separation and purification of your Three Essentials. Ideally you would steam distill out the essential oil, then ferment the plant and distill out the alcohol, followed by multiple redistillations to obtain a very pure product. The remaining plant residue is calcined and the salts obtained by leaching. This will give you the Salt of Salt .» — la primera fase de la Piedra: destilar el aceite, fermentar, rectificar el alcohol y calcinar el residuo hasta la Sal de Sal.

«The liquid remaining from the fermentation and removal of the alcohol is evaporated and calcined also. This will provide the Salt of Sulfur which can also be obtained by leaching the calcined residue as we mentioned earlier.» — de dónde sale la segunda sal, la Sal del Azufre.

«The Solar Fire can be increased in the salts by setting them outside at night to deliquesce. Leave the salts to dry in the Sun. In this way, as they crystallize they absorb and trap more of the Sun's energy.» — la operación con que dice cargar las sales: deliquescencia nocturna y secado al sol, para que al cristalizar atrapen más energía solar.

«Take the salts inside and grind them fine, then place them into a Pyrex dish. Place the dish into an oven at a temperature of two hundred to three hundred degrees Celsius. This roasting of the salts causes their “pores” to open, as the old artists would say.» — el tostado de las sales a 200-300 °C, y la explicación que toma de los antiguos artistas: abriría los poros de la sal.

«Take the still-warm salts out of the oven and place them in a warm mortar. Grind the salts fine. Pour the salts into a vial in an even layer. Pour enough of the essential oil over the salts so that they are just saturated. Seal the vial and place it in anincubator at 40°C. There the salts should remain undisturbed for a week.» — la impregnación con el aceite esencial y la digestión de una semana a 40 °C. El impreso escribe *in anincubator*, sin espacio.

«On the appropriate day of the following week check the salts. If they have absorbed all of the oil, add some more. When the same amount of oil remains on the top of your salts as you put in a week» — el criterio de saturación con el aceite. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *before, the salts have taken up all they can hold*: cuando sobra tanto aceite como se puso, la sal ya no admite más.

«Begin adding your alcohol in the same manner as you did the oil. Keep the process up until no more alcohol will go into the salts. When this is done your stone is finished to the First Degree .» — el mismo procedimiento con el alcohol y el nombre del resultado: Piedra de Primer Grado.

«You can increase the virtue of your stone by grinding it and subjecting it to a gentle distillation and calcination of the residue. Grind the salts again and return the distillate to them with additions of fresh oil and alcohol as needed. You can repeat this process several times and in the end you will have a powerful medicine.» — cómo dice que se aumenta la virtud de la Piedra: destilación suave, calcinación del residuo y reincorporación del destilado con aceite y alcohol frescos.

«You can mature your Stone by allowing it to digest in the heat of the incubator for six months to a year. If it appears to dry out, continue adding fresh oil and alcohol in equal amounts to keep it moist. If done properly, the matter will congeal to a hardened stone which will work to separate the essentials from a macerating herb simply by immersing it in the herb / water mixture. The herb's Salt, Sulfur, and Mercury will gather together as a layer floating on the water surface, from which it is collected for use without any further preparation.» — la maduración de seis meses a un año y qué haría la Piedra madura: separar por inmersión los esenciales de una hierba macerada, que suben en una capa.

«The Stone is recovered unharmed for further use. This use of the stone is not nearly as efficient as a “circulatum” which forms our last topic of study.» — el límite que pone a ese uso: menos eficaz que el *circulatum* del final del capítulo.

«If not fully matured, the stone will fall apart upon immersion in water. It can be very disheartening to see months of work dissolve before your eyes. Many operators don't attempt this experiment and utilize the stone only as a powerful medicine.» — el fracaso que anticipa y su consecuencia: sin madurar, la Piedra se deshace en el agua, y muchos operadores prefieren usarla solo como medicina.

«In using the Stone medicinally, a small amount is taken in a little water or wine. The effects are related to the Stone's planetary ruler and can open doors of perception to its particular sphere, providing lasting insight to the various realms we have been discussing. The effect on the general health can be astonishing and quite overpowering. This is the reason that preliminary purification of the artist using preparations such as the Seven Basics is highly recommended.» — cómo se toma y qué efectos declara: abrir puertas de percepción a la esfera planetaria de la Piedra, con un efecto sobre la salud que llama abrumador, y de ahí la purificación previa del artista con los Siete Básicos.

«The so-called circulatum is essentially a liquid version of the plant stone which acts as a powerful menstrum or solvent in the extraction of plants. The most concise description of its preparation comes to us from a small book first published in 1690 by Baron» — qué es el *circulatum* y de dónde toma su descripción. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *Urbigerus, entitled Circulatum Minus Urbigeranum*; el volumen data el librito en 1690 y la ficha `junius-spagyrics` lo data en 1690 también.

«Urbigerus, entitled Circulatum Minus Urbigeranum . As with the vegetable stone, preparation of the circulatum depends on the marriage of the three essentials derived from the plant and purified prior to their recombination.» — el título de esa fuente y el principio que comparte con la Piedra: matrimonio de los tres esenciales purificados. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«In practice, a fairly large amount of salt of salt, and salt of sulfur are required since the final volume of circulatum will depend on their combined volume.» — la cantidad de sales que exige y de qué depende el volumen final.

«The combined salts are fully saturated with the essential oil and digested at 40 degrees C for several weeks. Additional oil may be required during the digestion and the whole should be stirred often until it becomes of a thick honey like consistency. Unlike the vegetable stone, the circulatum uses an excess of the volatile components; that is to say, the amount of volatiles is always greater than the fixed salts.» — la diferencia técnica que declara entre Piedra y *circulatum*: aquí lo volátil siempre excede a las sales fijas.

«Urbigerus recommends addition of Bituminous Sulfur to this mixture in order to aid volatilization of the salts, which is the key to this preparation.» — qué añade Urbigerus y para qué: azufre bituminoso como auxiliar de la volatilización de las sales, que declara la clave de la preparación.

«This bituminous sulfur is derived from the resin of the particular plant or that derived from another plant in which it is more plentiful. Urbigerus recommends Copaivian Balsam, but other sources include, pine, cedar, yew, and Canadian Balsam. Add just enough to thicken the matter and solublize the salts to the honey like consistency. The organic acids present in the resin assist in volatilizing the salts so that they will distill over united with the alcohol later.» — de dónde sale ese azufre bituminoso —resinas: bálsamo de copaiba en Urbigerus, y pino, cedro, tejo o bálsamo del Canadá como alternativas— y qué papel adjudica a sus ácidos orgánicos.

«After the period of digestion, add rectified alcohol at six to eight times the volume of your matter, seal and let digest at 40 degrees C for another two weeks to a month.» — la proporción de alcohol rectificado y el tiempo de la segunda digestión.

«Now the flask is attached to a distillation train and gently distilled down to the honey like consistency again. Be careful not to push the fire too high and drive the sulfur over, or burn the matter.» — la destilación y su advertencia: no forzar el fuego para no arrastrar el azufre ni quemar la materia.

«Take all of the clear distillate and pour it back over the matter in the flask, seal and digest again for two weeks. After this, distill again. This process is called circulation and the cycle must be repeated seven to twelve times to complete the preparation.» — el número de ciclos de circulación que exige: de siete a doce.

«The final distillate should be clear and have a sharp penetrating odor quite unlike the original alcohol. This is now the Circulatum.» — la señal del producto terminado: destilado claro con olor penetrante distinto al del alcohol de partida.

«In use, the circulatum is generally poured over a fresh, finely shredded plant and shaken. The liquid may become milky looking depending on the quantity and qualities of the plant's oils. The extracted plant residue will fall to the bottom and the milky emulsion will coalesce into drops of oily liquid that rise to the surface. This oily liquid contains the essentials of the plant, including its salts, so carefully collect it and save for use. The circulatum is recovered from the residue and gently distilled for use in other extractions. Its power is said to increase the more it is used.» — cómo se usa el *circulatum* y qué se le atribuye, en pasiva: recobrado del residuo y redestilado, su potencia crecería con el uso.

«P ractical Alchemy, as an experimental art and science, provides a means of exploring the works of Nature and gaining first hand knowledge of these operations. The old masters were often called Chemical Philosophers , and they understood the essential unity of all creation. By exploring materials in the laboratory, they came to an understanding of the more subtle realms preceding the physical manifestation.» — el capítulo séptimo abre con el nombre que da a los maestros antiguos, Filósofos Químicos, y con lo que les adjudica: llegar por el laboratorio a los reinos sutiles que preceden a lo físico.

«Aside from the quest for the Philosophers Stone, there are many interesting paths to explore and each one sheds light on another as we learn to work with Nature. The alchemist provides Nature with the proper materials and conditions, then Nature is all too happy to bring them to their fruition.» — cómo describe el reparto de tareas entre el operador y la naturaleza: él pone materiales y condiciones, ella lleva la obra a fruto.

«“Nature and Art must assist each other to perfect the works; Art operates without, and Nature within the glass.”» — el aforismo que cita: el Arte obra fuera del vaso y la Naturaleza dentro. El volumen lo adjudica a F. la Fontain, *Curious Aphorisms Concerning the Universal Salt of Nature*, 1797; el nombre no figura en la bibliografía del final.

«We spoke of the initial division of the One into a volatile / spiritual aspect and a fixed / material aspect. The Sulfur exhibits the fire and air qualities of the volatile aspect while Salt exhibits the water and earth qualities of the fixed. The Mercury acts in both worlds and can be of a fixed or volatile nature.» — cómo reparte los tres esenciales entre los dos polos: el Azufre por lo volátil, la Sal por lo fijo, y el Mercurio actuando en los dos mundos.

«On the practical level we use a Mercury to extract or separate the essentials of our matter and this can be with a fixed solvent or a volatile one. In general, a volatile solvent evaporates more rapidly than water. A fixed solvent evaporates less quickly than water, but in alchemy it is their action upon our subject matter which shows their real difference.» — el deslinde entre disolvente fijo y volátil: la definición química por velocidad de evaporación y la alquímica por su acción sobre la materia.

«In Herbal Alchemy, we use the alcohol as our volatile solvent and produce what is called an unfixed tincture. If instead, we extract our plant with vinegar, we will obtain a fixed tincture because we used a fixed solvent -- vinegar.» — los dos disolventes del reino vegetal y los dos productos que dan: tintura no fija con alcohol, tintura fija con vinagre.

«In winemaking, the plant dies and its spirit enters the watery medium as the alcohol. If we leave this open, the wine will go through a second death as the wine becomes vinegar which fixes the spirit. These two spirits, one fixed and one volatile, lie at the heart of practical alchemical work in the herbal realm and the mineral realm.» — cómo deriva esos dos espíritus de una sola serie: la planta muere en el vino y el vino muere otra vez en el vinagre, que fija el espíritu.

«Medicinally, the volatile or unfixed elixirs are warming, energizing and toning in their effects, while the fixed elixirs are cooling and contracting. Unfixed tinctures are said to be more effective in acute illnesses while fixed tinctures are more useful for chronic diseases.» — las indicaciones médicas que reparte entre unos y otros, la segunda dicha en pasiva: los no fijos para lo agudo, los fijos para lo crónico.

«“Remedies that are unfixed heal unfixed diseases and the radically fixed nonvolatile ones expel fixed diseases which do not move the excrements through evacuation but through sweating and by other means.”» — el pasaje que cita del *Keynes Ms. 64* de Newton sobre remedios fijos y no fijos; la voz es de Newton, y la bibliografía registra el manuscrito en el King's College de Cambridge.

«Water is a strange creature. It is the only substance on our planet that exists in solid, liquid and gaseous states at the same time under the normal range of temperatures and pressures we experience.» — lo que declara singular del agua: ser la única sustancia del planeta que coexiste en los tres estados dentro del rango normal.

«As mentioned earlier, the Sun radiates the vital energies throughout our Solar System. This Universal Fire of life is one of the alchemist's Secret Fires . As this spiritual fire hits our atmosphere, it condenses in the air and is carried by it. As the air fills with moisture, the Universal Fire condenses even further and moves into the water. The water gathers and it starts to rain.» — la teoría del Fuego Universal que ordena el capítulo: el fuego solar se condensa en el aire, pasa al agua y cae con la lluvia.

«This water, charged with the Secret Fire (a Universal Mercury) becomes determined for use by a particular kingdom when it hits the Earth. If it falls on plants, it is determined to the Vegetable Kingdom. If touched or drunk by man or animal, it is determined to the Animal Kingdom and if it strikes the Earth, it is determined to the Mineral Kingdom.» — la doctrina de la determinación: la misma agua cargada quedaría destinada a un reino u otro según dónde caiga.

«“The Golden Chain of Homer” provides one of the clearest descriptions of this process. The text describes the Universal Fire generating “an invisible and most subtle humidity” which consequently undergoes a gentle fermentation to generate the Universal Acid – “a most subtle, spiritual Incorporeal Niter Spiritus Mundi.” As this Universal Acid enters the atmosphere, it becomes more material and meets an Alkaline, passive principle, whereupon it becomes fixed as native Niter.» — de dónde toma esa secuencia y cómo la resume: la *Golden Chain of Homer*, con la humedad sutil, la fermentación, el Ácido Universal que llama Spiritus Mundi y su fijación como nitro nativo.

«In modern practical alchemy, the element Hydrogen is attributed to Fire, Nitrogen to Air, Oxygen to Water, and Carbon to the Earth element. The other material elements of the respective periods in the periodic table share these qualities as well.» — la traducción química que propone para los cuatro elementos: hidrógeno, nitrógeno, oxígeno y carbono, extendida a los periodos de la tabla.

«Hydrogen is the most abundant element in the universe, a true First Matter , and is the first carrier of the Fire while Nitrogen possesses the most oxidation states of any element and is said to “coagulate matter.”» — los dos argumentos con que sostiene esa traducción: el hidrógeno como Primera Materia por abundancia, y el nitrógeno por su número de estados de oxidación.

«These two form the Fire and Air group which the ancients called Alkali (NH3, ammonia) and later become the matrix of the ammonium (NH4) salts.» — la identificación que hace del grupo Fuego-Aire con el amoníaco de los antiguos y con las sales de amonio.

«The second group of atmospheric constituents is the “Acid Niter” group or Fire / Air / Water group (H2/N2/O2) from which niter originates. The acid niter (HNO3) is ammonia to which the element of Water has been added.» — el segundo grupo de su esquema, el del nitro ácido, definido como amoníaco con el elemento Agua añadido.

«The Spirit of the World , the Embodied Alkali, is in the Ammonium (NH4) radical. This is often called Sal Ammoniac and is deposited as rain, snow, dew and hail over the Earth.» — dónde localiza el Espíritu del Mundo en términos químicos: el radical amonio, depositado por lluvia, nieve, rocío y granizo.

«in the water as the Salt of Dew or Ammonium Nitrate (NH4NO3) at about 0.5 to 4 grams per ton of rain.» — la cifra que da para esa sal en la lluvia, de medio gramo a cuatro por tonelada. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 71, donde empieza *It is carried*.

«The practical work mentioned in “The Golden Chain of Homer” provides a method of capturing the Universal Seed of Nature , of determining this seed, and growing it to its ultimate perfection using only rainwater.» — qué promete el trabajo práctico de esa obra: capturar la Simiente Universal de la Naturaleza y llevarla a perfección con sola agua de lluvia.

«We begin by collecting rainwater. This is done in a special way. First of all, this operation is best performed during the Spring when the Sun is in Aries, Taurus, or Gemini and thundershowers are preferred since the lightning fixes more nitrogen in the air. And secondly, the rain should not touch metal, the Earth or plants or animals (including human contact.)» — las dos condiciones que impone a la recogida: primavera con el Sol en Aries, Tauro o Géminis y con tormenta, porque el rayo fijaría más nitrógeno, y que la lluvia no toque metal, tierra, planta ni animal.

«The operation is easily done by staking out a piece of plastic sheeting and leading the runoff into a catch bottle or plastic bucket. (It is good to filter all the water collected.) Cover the container with a piece of cloth to keep dust out but let the water “breathe.”» — el montaje que propone para recoger la lluvia sin contacto, con la tela que deja respirar el agua.

«Place it in a warm spot (30° to 40°C) to ferment for at least a month, but longer is better. Some wait a year or even more. At the end of this time you should see white to brownish solid-like tufts of cotton floating in the water. This is the Universal Gur or Seed of Nature .» — el tiempo de fermentación y la señal que anuncia: copos algodonosos blancos o pardos, que llama Gur Universal o Simiente de la Naturaleza.

«Place all of the water (including the Gur) into a distillation apparatus and very gently sweat over the first quarter of its volume. Label this distillate as the Fire and Air of Water . Raise the temperature and continue the distillation until most of the water has come over but not to dryness. Label this distillate Water of Water . The residue which remains is placed into a dish and slowly allowed to dry in the Sun, labeled as Earth of Water and contains the Universal Gur.» — la separación en tres fracciones y sus nombres: Fuego y Aire del Agua, Agua del Agua y Tierra del Agua, esta última secada al sol con el Gur dentro.

«The text continues with instructions for moistening the Earth with various proportions of the Fire, Air, and Water fractions to generate Mineral, Vegetable, or Animal life in the Gur. It is said that the Universal Seed can be determined in order to grow any specified form to maturity.» — qué promete el texto que sigue, dicho en pasiva y sin suscribirlo: humedecer la Tierra con proporciones distintas de las otras fracciones generaría vida mineral, vegetal o animal en el Gur.

«All of Nature comes from seed. Alchemy has often been described as a “Celestial Agriculture.”» — cómo cierra esa sección, volviendo a la definición de agricultura celeste.

«Another common method of separating the Elements of Water is called a Seven-fold distillation or 4×3 distillation.» — el segundo método de separación que expone y sus dos nombres.

«The fermented water is first distilled gently into four equal volumes. The first quarter to distill is labeled as Fire of Water .» — el primer tiempo del método, con el primer cuarto rotulado Fuego del Agua. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *The second quarter is labeled as Air of Water*.

«The second quarter is labeled as Air of Water . Next comes the Water Element followed by Earth. Again, the distillation is stopped before dryness and the residue is dried then labeled as the Gur.» — la continuación: Aire, Agua y Tierra para los otros tres cuartos, con la destilación detenida antes de la sequedad y el residuo seco rotulado Gur. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Now take each collected quarter in turn and distill it into three parts which come over in the order Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt. For example, the Fire fraction is placed into the still and gently heated. The first third to distill over is the Sulfur of Fire of Water , the next third is Mercury of Fire of Water . The remaining third is labeled Salt of Fire of Water .» — el segundo tiempo: cada cuarto partido en tres, en el orden Azufre, Mercurio y Sal, con el ejemplo del Fuego del Agua.

«At the end of this process you will have twelve fractions representing the Body, Soul, and Spirit of each of the Four Elements.» — el resultado del método: doce fracciones, cuerpo, alma y espíritu de cada elemento.

«These twelve fractions can be combined in various proportions to moisten the Gur as in the previous operation. Each of these twelve fractions from water is said to possess unique medicinal properties on their own and being twelve in number, they have been given astrological correspondences.» — qué se les atribuye a esas doce fracciones, en pasiva: propiedades medicinales propias y, por ser doce, correspondencias astrológicas.

«These correspondences are properly derived from the Cardinal, Fixed and Mutable signs of each Element. Cardinal relates to the fiery Sulfur, Mutable to the mediating nature of Mercury and Fixed to the principle of Salt. For example, our Fire of Water was distilled into the following thirds:» — cómo deriva esas correspondencias: cardinal para el Azufre, mutable para el Mercurio y fijo para la Sal.

«Sulfur of Fire of Water—Aries Mercury of Fire of Water—Sagittarius Salt of Fire of Water -- Leo» — la tabla del ejemplo tal como la imprime el volumen: Aries, Sagitario y Leo para las tres fracciones del Fuego del Agua. El impreso usa raya en las dos primeras líneas y doble guion en la tercera.

«It is said that by the proper manipulation of these water experiments one can even grow and multiply metallic gold much as is done with any vegetable seed crop. Although it is not commonly known, the alchemists understood the Mineral realm to have its own form of seed just as the Vegetable and Animal worlds have their unique forms of seed.» — lo que se atribuye a estos trabajos, dicho en pasiva: multiplicar oro metálico como una siembra, sobre la doctrina de que el reino mineral tiene simiente propia.

«The various works on water can be quite educational with regard to the operations of Nature and lead to some surprising results. The work itself requires some labor in distilling because a fairly large volume of rain is needed at the beginning, but it is an inherently “safe” alchemical work (there are no toxic materials used) and is available to anyone.» — el balance que hace de estos trabajos: laboriosos por el volumen de lluvia, pero sin materiales tóxicos y al alcance de cualquiera.

«A related line of operations (capturing the Universal Fire into a corporeal form) is the work with salts. By the use of certain properties of selected salts we can capture and concentrate this vital, Universal Fire for our alchemical work of evolving our matter and ourselves. These salts form the basis for many of the Secret» — cómo enlaza el trabajo con sales al mismo objeto: capturar el Fuego Universal en forma corpórea. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *Fires mentioned in alchemical texts*.

«Fires mentioned in alchemical texts. These act as a catalyst in the operation to effect separation or conjunction of principles.» — la función que adjudica a esas sales: catalizar la separación o la conjunción de los principios. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«“The secrets of the ancients are in the salts. The magnetic salts should attract and capture the steel, the astral spirit, the universal seed, which, once concentrated, gives the germination power directed in accordance to the matrix in which it was incorporated.”» — el pasaje que cita de Jean Dubuis sobre las sales magnéticas y la simiente universal; la voz es de Dubuis, de sus seminarios de 1992.

«There are a number of mineral and metallic salts which have a long association with the alchemical art. The fifteenth century alchemist, Isaac Holland describes The Hand of the Philosophers as being an assembly of important salts in alchemical works. These salts include Niter (potassium nitrate), Sal Ammoniac (ammonium chloride), Vitriol (copper or iron sulfate), Alum (potassium aluminum sulfate), and common salt (sodium chloride).» — la Mano de los Filósofos que adjudica a Isaac Holland y las cinco sales que la componen, con su equivalente químico moderno.

«Through their proper combinations and manipulation, anything can be made to yield its spiritualized essence.» — qué promete de esas cinco sales bien combinadas.

«Holland describes them as keys to unlock matter. In his commentary to Basil Valentine's “Triumphal Chariot of Antimony,” Dr Theodor Kerkring says: “Salts are keys; they open the chest wherein the treasure lies but you must be sure to take the true key; otherwise you may spoil the lock and not open the chest.”» — la metáfora de las llaves que atribuye a Holland y el pasaje que cita de Theodor Kerkring, comentarista del *Triumphal Chariot of Antimony* de Basil Valentine: la llave falsa estropea la cerradura. La voz de la cita es de Kerkring.

«capturing Celestial Fire we will examine several common salts and how they are used in this process. In each case, it is the Salt's ability to deliquesce in the air that is utilized.» — qué propiedad de las sales pone en el centro de estos trabajos: la deliquescencia al aire. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el límite de chunk y viene de la 75.

«“Few persons know how to extract from the rays of the Sun or of the Moon. The means to make this water to descend from Heaven is truly wonderful; it is in the stone which contains the Central Water, which is indeed one sole and the same thing with the Celestial Water, but the secret consists in the knowing how to make the stone a magnet to attract, embrace, and unite this Astral Quintessence to itself”.» — el pasaje que cita del *Hermetical Triumph*, que data en 1723: el secreto no estaría en la piedra sino en saber hacerla imán de la Quintaesencia Astral. La voz es de esa obra; la bibliografía la registra impresa para Thomas Harris en el London Bridge, 1723.

«We talked about this when we described the process for creating an Ens Tincture. The Salt of Tartar is potassium carbonate derived» — qué es la Sal de Tártaro. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *from the calcination of wine tartar or plant ashes and provides an easily obtained starting material for many works*: sale de calcinar el tártaro del vino o cenizas vegetales. El tramo cruza además el salto de la plana 77, donde el impreso pone los rótulos *Mutus Liber* y *Salt of Tartar* como pie de lámina y encabezado.

«Spread the salt in a thin layer (1/4 to 1/2 in.) in a glass baking dish. Set the dish of salt outside, protected from rain and dust, but exposed to the air. Do this in the late evening until six or seven A.M. This is accomplished even better in the Spring when the Sun is in Aries, Taurus, or Gemini because there is more of the Universal Fire with generative force present.» — el procedimiento de exposición nocturna y la ventana estacional que prefiere: primavera con el Sol en Aries, Tauro o Géminis, cuando declara más presente el Fuego Universal con fuerza generativa.

«The salt will deliquesce, or become liquefied, by absorbing the moisture of the air which is loaded with the condensed Universal Fire -- the Secret Fire. This liquid, called the Oil of Tartar per Deliquiem , was used in the Ens extraction. Remember, this liquid is quite caustic and will burn the skin and especially the eyes, so be careful with it.» — qué recoge esa deliquescencia según su teoría —el Fuego Secreto condensado en la humedad del aire— y la advertencia de que el líquido quema la piel y sobre todo los ojos. El impreso escribe aquí *per Deliquiem*, y en la plana 62 *per Deliquium*.

«Another use of it is to gently distill the liquid just to dryness. The clear, watery distillate has been called Angel Water and can be used in the recrystallization of the herbal salts. This liquid, loaded with the Secret Fire, becomes enmeshed with the crystalline matrix of the salts as they crystallize, thus revivifying them. This type of transference of subtle force always takes place in the liquid state, thus the Alchemists stressed Solution as one of the important stages in the work. The volatile becomes fixed and the fixed becomes volatile.» — el Agua de Ángel que saca de ese líquido y para qué la usa: recristalizar las sales herbales, que quedarían revivificadas; de ahí, dice, que los alquimistas insistieran en la Solución, porque la transferencia de fuerza sutil solo ocurriría en estado líquido.

«The liquid distillate is also useful in plant extractions. It is said to be determined to the Vegetable World, because of the salt's prevalence in plant ashes, and thus useful for all work in the herbal realm. Just as the potassium salts are said to carry the Vegetable Fire, sodium salts carry the Fire in the Animal World. These elements lie in the same period as Hydrogen (the Fire element) in the Periodic Table, but at more densified levels.» — la doctrina de la determinación aplicada a las sales: las potásicas llevarían el Fuego Vegetal y las sódicas el Animal, por su lugar en el mismo periodo que el hidrógeno en la tabla.

«We can use common salt in the above experiment to obtain water charged with Animal Fire. Salt (NaCl) will not deliquesce but can absorb a significant quantity of moisture. Use pure dried sea salt to which nothing has been added for this. The yield is much smaller but just as powerful for work in the Animal realm.» — la variante con sal común para el reino animal, con el límite declarado: la sal no delicuesce y el rendimiento es mucho menor.

«Another salt often worked with in the same way and mentioned earlier is called Dew Salt, or The Heavenly Dew Salt . It can be» — la tercera sal de la serie y sus nombres. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *derived from collected dew or rainwater*.

«derived from collected dew or rainwater (especially that collected during a thundershower) but this is long and tedious. The salt itself is ammonium nitrate. The Dew Salt is highly deliquescent and said to be determined to the Mineral realm especially, but it is of a Universal nature. Sometimes, you can find this salt in gardening stores as a fertilizer, but it is becoming harder to find because of its use in creating makeshift explosives.» — qué es la Sal de Rocío y a qué reino la adjudica: nitrato de amonio, muy delicuescente, determinada sobre todo a lo mineral aunque de naturaleza universal, y cada vez más difícil de comprar por su uso en explosivos improvisados.

«There really is a lot of fire in this salt! It can be prepared by mixing nitric acid and ammonium hydroxide until neutral, then crystallizing. Solve Et Coagula a few times by deliquescence to revivify. Be careful with this salt too, it is a powerful oxidizer and can ignite various types of fuel materials.» — cómo se prepara esa sal por vía química y la advertencia de que es un oxidante potente.

«Distillation of this salt when it liquefies is stopped well before the dry point. Crystals will form which can be reused. This distillate can be used in various operations in the Mineral work in place of distilled water.» — cómo se destila y para qué sirve su destilado: sustituir el agua destilada en el trabajo mineral.

«This distillate is loaded with the Mineral Fire, which can be transferred to our subject in order to reanimate it. Copper salts also carry Mineral Fire as copper is part of the group 1B elements in the Periodic Table, and thus related to the elements under Hydrogen, all of which are carriers of the Fire.» — qué adjudica a ese destilado y la extensión que hace de su esquema al cobre, por el grupo 1B de la tabla periódica.

«The last salt we'll mention in this category is antimony trichloride, also called Butter of Antimony . Properly, this belongs to the Mineral works so we will only mention its use at this point. The preparation and use of this salt is much more difficult and dangerous than any of the salts previously discussed. When it is prepared, it has the color and texture of butter, hence the name.» — la cuarta sal y de dónde viene su nombre: el tricloruro de antimonio, con color y textura de mantequilla.

«However, it is toxic and very corrosive so it requires some skill and practice to work with safely.» — la advertencia que le pone: tóxica y muy corrosiva.

«The Butter of Antimony has a ravenous appetite for the moisture in the air and will deliquesce even on a hot sunny day. The water distilled from it is said to carry a truly Universal Fire which can be set to operate in any of the three kingdoms.» — qué se le atribuye a esa sal, en pasiva: delicuesce incluso en día caluroso, y su agua llevaría un Fuego verdaderamente universal, apto para los tres reinos.

«Some operators combine the above methods to produce a reconstituted water called the Archaeus of Water . It is an evolved» — el producto que sale de combinar todo lo anterior, el Arqueo del Agua. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *form of water with surprising medicinal effects*.

«The water obtained by deliquescence of a salt is loaded with Fire and considered the male / Sulfur / Sun aspect, while the rain or snow waters are considered to represent the female / Mercury / Lunar aspect of the Celestial Waters .» — el reparto sexuado que hace de las dos aguas: la de deliquescencia como masculina, solar y sulfúrea; la de lluvia o nieve como femenina, lunar y mercurial.

«A quantity of collected rainwater (the female) is “impregnated” with the distilled Angel Water (the male), then allowed to ferment for at least a month. After fermentation, the water is separated using the 4×3 distillation described above.» — el primer tiempo del Arqueo: impregnación de la lluvia con el Agua de Ángel, fermentación de un mes y separación por la destilación 4×3.

«Once the twelve fractions of water have been obtained, the process of recombination can begin. Starting with the Fire element, equal volumes of the Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt fractions are combined, then allowed to circulate for several days. Let it cool, then set it aside for later use. Repeat this process on each of the remaining elements until you obtain the four elements in their reconstituted form.» — el segundo tiempo: recomponer cada elemento juntando a partes iguales sus fracciones de Azufre, Mercurio y Sal, y circulando unos días.

«Now combine equal volumes from each of these elements and allow this to circulate for a week to a month at about 40°C. Notice we do not use the Gur in this preparation. The resulting Celestial Water is called the Archaeus or First Being of Water , and can be used as a solvent for extractions in any realm or as a healing water on its own.» — el tercer tiempo y el nombre del producto: Arqueo o Primer Ser del Agua, con el aviso de que el Gur no entra en esta preparación.

«The Archaeus represents a Universal Mercury, and can be determined for operation in any of the three realms by adjusting the relative proportions of the four elements during its preparation. The four elements of water should be present in each Archaeus, but not equally as we did above. If the Earth element is predominant, the Archaeus will be determined to the Metallic realm. If the elements of Earth and Water predominate, the Archaeus will be determined to the Mineral realm. Water and Air predominant will determine it to the Vegetable realm, while Fire and Air will determine the Animal realm. The mixtures are circulated as before, then they are ready for use.» — cómo se determina el Arqueo a un reino u otro: por la proporción de los cuatro elementos, con Tierra dominante para lo metálico, Tierra y Agua para lo mineral, Agua y Aire para lo vegetal y Fuego y Aire para lo animal.

«The dried Gur we collected is placed into a flask, then moistened / impregnated with the Archaeus. Close the flask and digest. (At about 40°C for Vegetable works or up to about 90°C for Mineral / Metal works.) Continue just moistening the Gur as it dries out.» — cómo se usa el Arqueo sobre el Gur y a qué temperaturas, según el reino.

«If you prepared an Archaeus determined to the Vegetable Realm,» — el caso del Arqueo determinado al reino vegetal. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 81 con *you should see primitive plant life appear after some time*.

«you should see primitive plant life appear after some time. Keep it moistened. As soon as this plant appears to die, calcine the material and add the ashes to fresh Gur. Now begin the process of imbibing the Gur with the Archaeus again. After some time, a new and more evolved plant life should appear. This whole operation can be repeated as often as desired in order to observe the progression of the plant life.» — qué anuncia que ocurre entonces: vida vegetal primitiva que aparece, muere, se calcina, y cuyas cenizas vuelven a Gur fresco para que reaparezca más evolucionada; el ciclo se repetiría cuantas veces se quiera. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«If instead, you prepared an Archaeus determined to the Mineral Realm, the moistened Gur will at first become gritty, like sand and pass through various colors. It is said that if the proportions are correct, you may even develop a few grains of gold and silver.» — qué anuncia con el Arqueo mineral, dicho en pasiva y condicionado a la proporción: unos granos de oro y plata.

«These operations with water are generally long-term. They require some labor at first and long times for digestion. Like trying to cultivate a rare orchid, success may require you to make several attempts. They do provide some interesting experience and insight to alchemical work wherein “Nature is assisted by Art.”» — el balance con que cierra el capítulo, con el símil de la orquídea rara y la fórmula de la Naturaleza asistida por el Arte.

«L et us return to our discussion of fire which began with common fire, only now we are going to examine some of the more subtle aspects of Fire presented in alchemical texts. Nature has its degrees of volatility and fixity. Alchemy really is all about the Fire in its various aspects.» — el capítulo octavo abre anunciando el paso del fuego común a sus formas sutiles, y con la fórmula que resume el libro: la alquimia trataría del Fuego en sus aspectos.

«“Fire is the primary agent, that of the whole Art. It is the first of the Four Elements.”» — la sentencia que adjudica a Olimpiodoro, a quien data hacia el año 500: el Fuego como agente primero de todo el Arte.

«“Fire, notwithstanding the diversities of it in this sub-lunary kitchen of the elements, is but one thing from one root. This fire is at the root and about the root -- I mean about the center of all things both visible and invisible. It is in water, earth and air, it is in minerals, herbs and beasts; it is in men, stars and angels. But originally it is in God Himself; for He is the fountain of heat and fire, and from Him it is derived to the rest of the creatures in a certain stream of sunshine”» — el pasaje que atribuye a John Dee, con el fuego uno desde su raíz en Dios y derivado a las criaturas. La voz es del texto que el volumen llama *The Rosie Crucian Secrets*, copiado por Peter Smart en Londres en 1712 y remitido al manuscrito Harleiano 6485; esa obra tiene ficha propia en el corpus como `dee-rosicrucian-secrets`.

«In its most subtle form, Fire is the One Only Thing, the Undivided Light, from which all is derived. Fire is energy and energy is matter. This most subtle Fire is variously called Celestial Fire, Heaven, Universal Fire, Astral Gold, Divine Will, and many» — los nombres que acumula para el fuego más sutil, con la identificación entre fuego, energía y materia. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *more*.

«It is described as the purest grade of fire; not burning, but gentle; invisible and known only by its operations.» — cómo lo describe, dicho en pasiva: no quemante, invisible y conocido solo por sus operaciones. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«It is the source of all other forms of fire and its visible representative for us is the Sun.» — qué papel da al Sol visible en ese esquema: representante del fuego sutil, no su fuente.

«Remember, there is the “Sun behind the Sun,” or spiritual source of which our visible star is condensed. This Celestial Fire is said to have two main aspects, the Universal and the Particular. The Universal Fire is diffused everywhere and excites movement in bodies. It warms and preserves the Germ of all things. It develops the Particular Fire.» — la doctrina del Sol detrás del Sol y el primero de los dos aspectos del Fuego Celeste: el Universal, difundido en todas partes, que calienta el Germen de las cosas.

«The Particular Fire (also variously termed Innate Fire, Central Sun, or Central Fire) is implanted in each mixture with its Germ. It acts little, except when excited. It does then what the Sun, its father, does in the large universe.» — el segundo aspecto, el Fuego Particular o Central, implantado en cada mezcla con su Germen y casi inactivo salvo que se lo excite.

«This is the Divine Spark hidden in all things, the reflection of Celestial Fire. Called the Quintessence , it is the “most purified and fixed part of a matter,” formed by the perfect balance of the Four Elements. This harmony between opposing forces of the Elements, brings forth a whole new and exalted state, the Fifth Element or Quintessence . Its action is digestive and maturing. It drives the transpiration and subtilization of the elements upward to regenerate fire.» — cómo define la Quintaesencia dentro de ese esquema: parte más pura y fija de una materia, nacida del equilibrio perfecto de los cuatro elementos, con acción digestiva y madurante.

«Michael Sendivogius, in his work “The New Chymical Light” (1608) called it The Seed : “The Seed is the Elixir or Quintessence of anything, its most perfect digestion and decoction. Or again the Balm of Sulfur, which is the same as the Radical Moisture in metals.”» — la definición de la Simiente que cita de Sendivogius, a quien data en 1608: elixir o quintaesencia de una cosa, y Bálsamo de Azufre, lo mismo que la Humedad Radical de los metales. La voz es de Sendivogius. El volumen imprime el título *The New Chymical Light*, y la bibliografía *The New Chemical Light* (p. 161).

«“The Four Elements by their continual action project a constant supply of seed to the center of the Earth, where it is digested, and whence it proceeds again in generative motions.”» — la continuación de Sendivogius: los cuatro elementos proyectarían simiente al centro de la Tierra, donde se digiere y de donde vuelve a salir.

«“The Seed, which is a product of the Four Elements is projected in all directions from the Earth-center, and produces different things according to the quality of the different places.» — el cierre del pasaje de Sendivogius: la simiente proyectada en todas direcciones desde el centro daría cosas distintas según la calidad del lugar.

«As the Celestial Fire begins to coagulate or condense, it forms “an invisible most subtle humidity” as the Element Air. This process of inspissation or thickening continues and the Air condenses into the Water Element, then Water condenses into the» — la vía descendente de su cosmología: el Fuego Celeste se espesa en Aire, el Aire en Agua. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *Earth Element*.

«The Earth volatilizes and becomes thickened Water. The Water volatilizes and becomes vaporous, and the Air becomes rarified into the Fire Element where it is regenerated by the Celestial Fire and the cycle begins anew. We are talking about occult elements here; not the air we breathe or water we drink. This perpetual circulation of Fire is often called the Fountain of Nature .» — la vía ascendente y el nombre del ciclo entero: Fuente de la Naturaleza, con la advertencia de que habla de elementos ocultos y no del aire que se respira.

«“Thus Fire and Air come down into Waters and impregnate them. The Waters dispose of their thickest part and give it to the Earth. The Earth thereby becomes overloaded or saturated, which superfluity of Earth and Water is again volatilized and sublimed upwards by the Fire, (Inverted Fire or Central Fire), into vapors, which ascension and descension God has implanted into the Universal Fire as the great and only Agent of Nature”» — el pasaje que cita de la *Golden Chain of Homer* sobre el ascenso y el descenso implantados por Dios en el Fuego Universal. La voz es de esa obra.

«“The Earth itself is a condensed or fixed Celestial Fire and this Fire is a volatilized Earth.”» — la fórmula recíproca que cita de la misma obra: la Tierra como Fuego Celeste fijado y el Fuego como Tierra volatilizada.

«This cycle of “Spiritual or Celestial Fire,” in motion from the most sublime level (the Kabalistic World of» — cómo mapea ese ciclo sobre los mundos cabalísticos, de Atsilut hacia abajo. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *Assiah*, es decir, hasta el mundo más denso y de vuelta.

«In the laboratory, the alchemist follows Nature in her operations; volatilizing the Earthy parts of the matter, (such as the salts and coarse oils obtained in the plant work) as well as capturing or fixing the Fire in its more ethereal forms (as in the Vegetable Mercury and volatile essential oils of the plant.) The volatile and fixed materia are united and circulated to create a new and exalted balance of the Fire inherent in the original matter.» — la traducción de esa cosmología al taller: volatilizar lo terroso —sales, aceites gruesos— y fijar el fuego en sus formas etéreas, uniendo y circulando después lo volátil con lo fijo.

«Modern science will agree that, in nature, energy never just disappears. It is in a constant state of transference from one form to another.» — el aval moderno que invoca para su doctrina del medio: la conservación de la energía.

«“You can not move from one extreme to another extreme without the proper medium.”» — el aforismo de la *Golden Chain of Homer* que da nombre a la sección: no se pasa de un extremo a otro sin el medio adecuado. El tramo cruza el salto de plana; la plana 89 no la imprime el troceo.

«In order to move from one Elemental level to another, it is necessary to have the Proper Medium. To turn Earth into Fire you must pass through Water and Air.» — cómo aplica ese aforismo a los elementos: de Tierra a Fuego hay que pasar por Agua y Aire.

«One Element is the conductor of the others adjacent, and that one Element dissolves and subtilizes the other. Thus one Element is the other's magnet, solvent, volatilizing, condensing, coagulating and fixing principles.» — la doctrina de los elementos como imán y disolvente unos de otros.

«“Therefore if you want to unite Heaven or Fire with Earth, or convert Fire into Earth, unite it first with its nearest volatile medium and they will unite immediately. When that is done, give them Water as a medium between Air and Earth, and they will also unite; then add the Earth, and thus you may unite Fire with Earth and fix it therein; and so vice versa turn Earth into water with Water then convert it into Air, and the Air into Fire by means of Air”» — el pasaje operativo que cita de la *Golden Chain of Homer* con la secuencia de medios para unir Fuego y Tierra y para el camino inverso.

«This cycling of energy was often referred to as the Rotation of the Elements and forms an important key to alchemical procedure, whereby the essence of a substance is extracted, purified and raised to its most sublime state. With each rotation, the Four Elements of the matter come into greater balance and purity. When the perfect harmony is obtained, we have the Quintessence of the matter. The path is not so much a circle but a corkscrew, exalting the matter and drawing the Elements to a center of balance, the pinnacle of the matter.» — el nombre y la función que da a esa clave del método: Rotación de los Elementos, con la imagen del sacacorchos en vez del círculo, hasta la Quintaesencia.

«“When thou made the quadrangle round, then is all the secret found.”» — el dístico que cita adjudicándolo a Ripley en 1480: hecho redondo el cuadrángulo, hallado está el secreto. La voz es de Ripley; la bibliografía registra su *Liber Secretisimuss* (p. 161).

«A long this same topic we're going to introduce another concept at this juncture and talk about the Qabalah. And introduce it to your attention is all we can hope to do for, like Astrology, it is a study in itself. In fact, Alchemy, Astrology and Qabalah form the three pillars of the Hermetic Art.» — el capítulo noveno abre acotando su propio alcance —una introducción, no un tratado— y enuncia la tríada que ordena el libro: alquimia, astrología y cábala como pilares del Arte Hermético.

«“Now, if you do not understand the use of the Qabalists and the old Astronomers, you are not born by God for the Spagyric Art, or chosen by Nature for the work of Vulcan, or created to open your mouth concerning Alchemical Arts...”» — la sentencia que cita de Paracelso, de la *Tincture of the Philosophers*, para exigir cábala y astronomía al espagirista. La voz es de Paracelso.

«“The Qabalah is a comprehensive approach and an integral study of all that which exists on the physical and metaphysical planes, the creation process, the ties between the created and the source of creation, the mechanisms of Nature, the various worlds and the various space-time's”.» — la definición de cábala que toma de Jean Dubuis, de una conferencia de los Philosophers of Nature de 1992; la formulación es de Dubuis.

«The word Qabalah finds its root in the Hebrew word Qibel meaning “to receive.” This receiving refers to an oral tradition of esoteric or secret knowledge concerning the mysteries of Nature.» — la etimología que da: *Qibel*, recibir, y de ahí la tradición oral de saber secreto sobre los misterios de la naturaleza.

«For the alchemist, Qabalah provides a symbolic representation of the path which the One Only One followed in the creation of the Universe (including Man) and the process of returning to Oneness along the same path.» — para qué le sirve la cábala al alquimista según él: como representación simbólica del camino de ida y de vuelta entre el Uno y la creación.

«Qabalah has always provided a means for individually approaching the spiritual dimension directly and without priestly intervention. In times past it gave a religious and philosophical freedom viewed by many as bordering on heresy.» — qué adjudica a la cábala en lo histórico: acceso directo a lo espiritual sin mediación sacerdotal, y por eso rozando la herejía.

«The alchemists used the symbolic framework of Qabalah as part of their secret language to both reveal and conceal certain works.» — el uso doble que adjudica a ese marco simbólico entre los alquimistas: revelar y ocultar a la vez.

«The Qabalah is presented symbolically in the form of The Tree of Life . The Tree contains ten centers or spheres, called the Sephiroth, which are connected by twenty two paths. Taken together, they are said to constitute the thirty two paths of secret wisdom .» — la estructura del Árbol de la Vida: diez sefirot y veintidós senderos que suman los treinta y dos caminos de la sabiduría secreta.

«The centers are arranged in three columns. The column on the left is called the Pillar of Severity and represents the feminine aspects of the One. This column contains three Sephirah -- named Binah (Understanding), Geburah (Severity) and Hod (Splendor). These are related to the planetary energies of Saturn, Mars, and Mercury respectively.» — la columna izquierda, que llama Pilar de la Severidad y adjudica a lo femenino, con sus tres sefirot y sus planetas.

«The column on the right is called the Pillar of Mercy and represents the masculine aspects of the One. Contained in this column are the three Sephirah -- Chokmah (Wisdom), Chesed (Mercy) and Netzach (Victory). These relate to the band of the Zodiac, Jupiter, and Venus.» — la columna derecha, Pilar de la Misericordia, adjudicada a lo masculino, con el Zodiaco, Júpiter y Venus.

«The middle pillar is called the Pillar of Equilibrium and represents the balance between the male and female pillars. It contains the four Sephirah -- Kether (Crown), Tiphareth (Beauty), Yesod (Foundation) and Malkuth (Kingdom).» — la columna central, Pilar del Equilibrio, con sus cuatro sefirot. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 92.

«These are related to The Undivided Light , the Sun, the Moon, and the Earth or physical world.» — las correspondencias del pilar central: Luz Indivisa, Sol, Luna y Tierra. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana, tras el pie de lámina *The Tree of Life*.

«One view of the Qabalah requires four of these Trees, one for each World of the Universe, stacked vertically so one tree's Malkuth gives rise to the next tree's Kether (in the same order as» — la doctrina de los cuatro árboles apilados, con el Maljut de uno dando el Kéter del siguiente. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y cierra el paréntesis en la 93 con *the Four Elements -- Fire, Air, Water, and Earth*.

«For ease of presentation, the four trees are usually condensed into a single tree divided into the representatives of the Four Worlds.» — la convención de representación que sigue: un solo árbol dividido en los cuatro mundos.

«The Qabalah distinguishes four major planes or Worlds of Existence ranging from the most subtle spiritual realm to the most dense physical reality. Although it is easier to visualize and represent them as separate levels they are actually superimposed on one another and form a continuum of the One.» — el límite que pone a esa representación por niveles: los cuatro mundos estarían en verdad superpuestos y formarían un continuo.

«Atziluth : Represents the Archetypal world, Fire, pure Divinity, Superconsciousness, the Spiritual World, The Supernal Triad (consisting of the Spheres of Kether, Chokmah, and Binah)» — la definición de Atsilut en su tabla: mundo arquetípico, Fuego, superconsciencia y la Tríada Suprema.

«Briah : Represents the Creative world, Air, the Archangelic,» — la de Beriá: mundo creativo, Aire y lo arcangélico. La cita se corta aquí porque el impreso parte *Self-consciousness* con guion de fin de renglón; sigue *consciousness, the Mental World, The Spheres of Chesed, Geburah, Tiphareth, Netzach, and Hod*.

«Yetzirah : Represents the Formative world, Water, the Angelic, Subconsciousness, the Astral World, The Sphere of Yesod» — la de Yetsirá: mundo formativo, Agua, lo angélico y el mundo astral.

«Assiah : Represents the Material world, Earth, man, the body, the Physical World, The Sphere of Malkuth» — la de Asiá: mundo material, Tierra, el cuerpo y el mundo físico.

«The Qabalistic worldview has to do with energy and emanation. The universe issues from a single source into all we perceive -- light, matter, even space and time. The condensation of this pure energy progressively provides the illusion of matter. The study of Qabalah is a study of the Source of Energy, the areas or arena of transfer of this energy, and the behavior of this energy which is Nature. What is below is a reflection of that which is above.» — cómo lee la cábala en clave energética: emanación de una fuente única cuya condensación daría la ilusión de materia.

«Just as within the alchemical worldview, Qabalah portrays creation occurring as increasingly dense levels of energy; from the most subtle, or Fire element, to the most dense, or Earth element Within this ocean of increasing / decreasing density, arise the Sephiroth representing unique levels of consciousness often referred to as the spheres of being .» — el paralelo que traza entre las dos doctrinas: creación por niveles crecientes de densidad, con las sefirot como niveles de consciencia.

«Each World is a reflection of a denser or more subtle degree than» — cómo describe la relación entre mundos. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *the one before or after it*.

«sphere which precedes it, taking on its own unique characteristics, just as the planets absorb from the Sun and radiate the excess, colored differently. Only those Spheres of The Middle Pillar have an equilibrating nature, and the ability to harmonize or reflect in total all the energies of creation.» — la continuación: cada sefirá refleja a la anterior como los planetas reflejan al Sol con otro color, y solo el pilar central equilibraría. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Practical Qabalah forms a system of operation based on the interconnections and relationships revealed by the Tree of Life. Just as the planets in astrology have numerous correspondences associated with them, their interconnections and relationships are shown in the structure of the Tree. Through proper use of these correspondences it is possible to gather and direct subtle energies for alchemical work at any level of being -- progressively condensing Celestial Fire into physical manifestation.» — qué llama cábala práctica y para qué sirve en su método: reunir y dirigir energías sutiles, condensando el Fuego Celeste hacia la manifestación física.

«This is where the mental and spiritual exercises of the alchemist come to bear upon the subject and finally condense into physical reality.» — la frase con que cierra el capítulo y engancha con el trabajo mineral.

«A s we lead in to consideration of the work on minerals and metals, we must strongly caution you to know the theory first before attempting the praxis. The work with plants prepares us for the work with minerals, but plants are much more forgiving of mistakes and accidents. Without this developed skill, and sense of precaution based on experience, certain types of mineral work are quite deadly.» — la advertencia con que abre el capítulo décimo: las plantas perdonan los errores y ciertos trabajos minerales son mortales.

«In the work with minerals and metals, we are dealing with materials in the crystalline state. They are the most dense forms of the One. The life force locked inside the crystal matrix is very pure and very powerful. We have only to look at our current technology to see the awesome power of crystalline materials, from the silicon chip to nuclear power.» — cómo justifica el paso al mineral: el estado cristalino como forma más densa del Uno, con la fuerza vital encerrada en la red, y el chip de silicio y la energía nuclear como aval moderno.

«Herbal elixirs are powerful tools. You could spend a lifetime exploring their possibilities; but the most powerful alchemical medicines have always been sought for in the Mineral world.» — dónde sitúa las medicinas más potentes, dicho en pasiva: en el mundo mineral.

«The basics of Mineral alchemy are the same as outlined in the herbal work --separation and purification of the Three Essentials followed by their reunion, and revivification. The methods are similar but tend to be longer, more complex and at higher temperatures.» — qué se conserva y qué cambia al pasar al mineral: el mismo esquema de separación, purificación y reunión, con métodos más largos, complejos y calientes.

«As with the herbal work, the processes used in the Mineral realm work upon us in subtle ways. Because of the increased complexity» — el segundo plano que repite para el trabajo mineral. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *of the work, you form a stronger link with your subject*.

«of the work, you form a stronger link with your subject. Many operators have experienced the presence of sacred space or a field of force during some of the intense procedures of a mineral work.» — qué declaran haber experimentado muchos operadores, en pasiva: la presencia de un espacio sagrado o un campo de fuerza. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«As one of the old masters put it, “There are many paths that lead to the one effect.” Likewise, we find a number of processes described for Mineral works in general as well as accomplishing The Great Work of confecting the Philosopher's Stone.» — la sentencia que cita de un maestro antiguo sin nombrarlo, y con la que justifica la pluralidad de procedimientos.

«These processes are often broken down into two general modes: the so-called Dry Way and the Wet Way . Some masters say there is no true Dry Way as the liquid state is essential for the transference of Celestial and Vital forces in the matter.» — la partición en Vía Seca y Vía Húmeda, con la objeción que consigna sin arbitrar: algunos maestros niegan que exista Vía Seca verdadera, porque el estado líquido sería imprescindible.

«Via Humida -- or the Wet Way provokes separation of the three essentials by a process of fermentation and exaltation, or their extraction with a Menstruum derived from a fermentation process and determined to the particular kingdom of the matter.» — la definición de la Vía Húmeda: separación por fermentación y exaltación, o por extracción con un menstruo fermentado y determinado al reino de la materia.

«Via Sicca -- or the Dry Way , provokes separation of the essentials by processes of calcination, fusion, sublimation, amalgamation, and dry distillation of prepared materials. The transfer of subtle principles from medium to medium occurs during fusion.» — la definición de la Vía Seca: calcinación, fusión, sublimación, amalgamación y destilación seca, con el traspaso de los principios sutiles ocurriendo en la fusión.

«We begin our investigation into Mineral Works with practical methods used in the Via Humida or Wet Way, to extract and purify the Essentials drawn from the Mineral Realm» — con qué vía arranca la segunda mitad del libro.

«I n the Wet Work, the best solvent for separating the essentials is the Mercury of the particular kingdom. In the work on plants we used a Vegetable Mercury to extract or separate our three essentials. We can proceed in the same way with the Mineral and metals work by using the correct type of solvent for the work at hand.» — el principio con que abre el capítulo undécimo: el mejor disolvente sería el Mercurio del propio reino.

«The Alchemists called these various solvents, their Menstruums or Menstrua . These were not solvents as the modern term is generally understood. Many of them required months of preparation and, in fact, they were often prepared by following the Moon's phases. This link with the Moon partly explains the use of the term Menstruum.» — el deslinde terminológico que hace del menstruo frente al disolvente moderno, y la etimología que propone por las fases lunares de su preparación.

«They were, in addition, held to be filled with the vital life force and could transfer that Universal Fire to the subject of the operation -- even to revivify materials. Just as the menstruum nurtures and forms the fetus, so the alchemist's Menstrua possesses a nutritive power to bring forth the Chemical Child or Living Medicine .» — qué se les atribuye a esos menstruos, dicho en pasiva: llevar la fuerza vital y revivificar materiales, con la analogía nutricia que da el Niño Químico o Medicina Viviente.

«In some texts, a special menstruum may be referred to as a Secret Fire , which provokes the dissolution or separation of the subject without the need of external fire.» — qué llaman algunos textos Fuego Secreto: un menstruo que disuelve sin fuego externo.

«Water, alcohol, vinegar, acetone, and ether are the most commonly used solvents in laboratory alchemy. They form the starting materials of a wide range of powerful Menstruums, useful in both Vegetable and Mineral works.» — los cinco disolventes de partida que enumera.

«Wine and vinegar provide all the solvent power we need for Vegetable works, being the volatile and fixed spirits of that kingdom. Their combination forms the first menstruum we will be looking at, within a group of useful solvents for Mineral works.» — el papel del vino y el vinagre como espíritus volátil y fijo del reino vegetal, y su combinación como primer menstruo de la serie mineral.

«The Vegetable Radical Menstruum is essentially a form of Liquid Vegetable Stone or Circulatum which properly belongs with Vegetable works, but it can be made effective to act upon minerals as well. The preparation is accomplished by the Marriage of the volatile and fixed vegetable spirits.» — qué es el Menstruo Radical Vegetal y en qué consiste su preparación: matrimonio de los dos espíritus vegetales.

«Ideally, we would begin with a large quantity of red wine. Half of the volume is set aside to sour and become vinegar (the Fixed Spirit). The other half is distilled to obtain the alcohol (Volatile Spirit). All of the residues that remain (the feces) are collected together in order to extract the Salt.» — el reparto de partida: media cantidad de vino a vinagre, la otra media destilada a alcohol, y las heces reunidas para la Sal.

«The wine is rectified by distillation six or seven times to obtain a strong alcohol in the usual way. The vinegar is concentrated first by freezing and later by distillation. For this you can half fill a plastic bottle with vinegar and freeze it. Take it out of the freezer and overturn it into a glass jar. After thirty minutes or so, the concentrated vinegar will have thawed and dripped into the jar leaving a plug of ice in the plastic bottle. Discard the ice then refreeze the vinegar and repeat this thawing / freezing cycle yet a third time.» — el procedimiento de concentración del vinagre por congelación fraccionada, con tres ciclos.

«Now distill the concentrated vinegar but discard the first 1/4 to 1/3 as it is mostly water. Distill to near dryness and collect the distillate. This is the Fixed Spirit.» — cómo se destila ese vinagre y qué se descarta: el primer cuarto o tercio, que declara agua.

«Combine all of the residual solids from both the wine and vinegar processing, and calcine them. Then leach out the salts and crystallize several times. Allow the salts to deliquesce for some time between crystallizations.» — cómo se obtiene la sal del menstruo: calcinación de las heces, lixiviado, cristalizaciones sucesivas y deliquescencia entre ellas.

«As the work with the salts progresses, you can blend together equal volumes of the alcohol and vinegar in a “roomy” glass vessel,» — la primera circulación, de alcohol y vinagre a partes iguales. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *seal it and allow it to circulate for a lunar cycle*: un ciclo lunar sellado.

«At the end of the month, add the dry and powdered salts to the cooled liquid slowly. Re-seal the container and allow this to circulate for another Lunar cycle. At the end of this second cycle, carefully distill the whole mixture to dryness.» — la incorporación de las sales y la segunda circulación lunar.

«Return the distillate to the salts that remained behind, then seal and circulate for another cycle. Repeat this cycle seven to twelve times and on the final distillation, the Menstruum will be ready.» — el número de ciclos que exige: de siete a doce cohobaciones.

«The Menstruum should completely distill and leave no residue. This liquid contains ethyl acetate married to the volatile plant salts and will extract the essentials from plants easily. It can be used for extracting many mineral and metal subjects such as iron and copper.» — la señal de que el menstruo está hecho —destila entero, sin residuo— y qué contiene: acetato de etilo casado con las sales volátiles de la planta.

«The next preparation we will examine is the so called Kerkring Menstruum or Philosophical Alcohol . This preparation is attributed to the Dutch physician, Dr. Theodor Kerkring who mentions it in his commentary to Basil Valentine's “Triumphal Chariot of Antimony.”» — a quién adjudica el Menstruo de Kerkring y dónde lo halla: el comentario de Theodor Kerkring al *Triumphal Chariot of Antimony* de Basil Valentine, obra que tiene ficha propia en el corpus.

«This is an example of a Vegetable spirit being magnetized or determined to activity in the Mineral realm by contact with prepared salts.» — qué ilustra ese menstruo dentro de su esquema: un espíritu vegetal determinado al reino mineral por contacto con sales preparadas.

«In this Menstruum, we make use of the salt ammonium chloride (NH4Cl) or Sal Ammoniac. All of the volatile ammonium salts are valuable in alchemy and not just minerals, but plants and animals contain Sal Ammoniac. These salts sublime easily, and if not captured, will vapor away unseen.» — qué sal usa y por qué le importan las de amonio: subliman con facilidad y, sin capturarlas, se van en vapor sin verse.

«The origin of Sal Ammoniac in alchemical history is hard to place. It was obtained from animal wastes for centuries, and also from the horns of homed animals, which earned it the name Hartshorn or Spirit of Hartshorn .» — de dónde declara que se obtenía la sal amoníaco y de dónde le viene el nombre de Hartshorn. El impreso escribe *homed animals* por *horned*.

«There is some evidence to suggest that the priests at the Temple of Amun in ancient Egypt produce it by sublimating soot. The product contained volatile ammonia salts and was called The Salt of Amun , then later Sal Ammoniac.» — la etimología egipcia que propone para *Sal Ammoniac*, con la reserva *some evidence to suggest* dentro de la frase: los sacerdotes del templo de Amón la habrían obtenido sublimando hollín.

«Preparation of the Menstruum begins with the sublimation of Sal Ammoniac (a commercial product is alright for this preparation).» — el primer paso del menstruo de Kerkring, con la concesión de que aquí sirve el producto comercial. El tramo cruza el salto de plana.

«After the first sublimation, the sublimed crystals will take on a pale yellow color. Collect them and sublime again. The sublimate will appear more yellow-orange and even reddish in areas. Collect and sublime a third time. After this third sublimation, the crystals will appear very» — las tres sublimaciones de la sal amoníaco y los colores que sirven de señal. La cita se corta aquí porque el impreso parte *red-yellow* con guion de fin de renglón; sigue *yellow-orange to red-yellow and are ready for use*, y manda guardarlas en vidrio a resguardo de la humedad.

«Next, we need a very strong alcohol, 95% at least, and preferably from red wine.» — el segundo ingrediente y su preferencia: alcohol de vino tinto.

«When we have prepared these two ingredients, they are combined at the New Moon in the proportion of four parts Sal Ammoniac to ten parts Alcohol.» — el momento y la proporción de la mezcla: luna nueva, cuatro partes de sal por diez de alcohol.

«Seal them in a glass vessel and let digest at about 40°C for a month at least.» — la digestión que sigue.

«After digestion, the whole matter is gently distilled to near dryness. Collect the distillate and distill it again two more times. The final distillate will be the Kerkring Menstruum . Seal it tightly in a glass vessel for use. Collect together all of the residues from the distillations and save them as well. They can be used to charge more alcohol several times.» — las tres destilaciones que dan el menstruo, y el aprovechamiento de los residuos para cargar más alcohol.

«Alkahest is another term from Paracelsus and is used to denote not only a solvent which can extract the Sulfur and Mercury of living metals, but also one that can specifically extract the Sulfur from dead or smelted metals, and infuse them with its own vitality to reanimate them. Alkahest was thought of as a Universal Solvent» — de quién toma el término Alcahesto y qué le adjudica: disolvente que extrae Azufre y Mercurio de los metales vivos y que reanima los muertos infundiéndoles su propia vitalidad; se lo tuvo por Disolvente Universal.

«Each of the Alkahests themselves possess remarkable healing power. There are a number of ways to prepare an Alkahest. We will examine two of them.» — qué virtud declara de los alcahestos y cuántos va a exponer.

«For the Alkahest of Tartar , we begin with crude tartar as it comes from the wine barrel, also called wine stone. Crush the tartar into 1/8 to 1/4 inch granules and place them into a distillation vessel. Begin distillation with a gentle heat at first then» — el arranque del Alcahesto de Tártaro: tártaro crudo del tonel, molido y destilado con fuego suave. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *gradually increase*.

«First a water, called the Phlegm, will come over to the receiver, then slow or stop altogether. Increase the heat and change to a new receiver with good cooling from an ice bath. Soon the entire apparatus will fill with a thick white vapor, and a clear yellowish liquid will begin to form in the receiver, followed by drops of a black foul-smelling oil.» — las fracciones que anuncia en esa destilación: flema, vapor blanco espeso, líquido amarillento y un aceite negro fétido.

«The distillate is now gently distilled using a water bath. The Alkahest of Tartar will come over as a clear liquid ready for use. There will also remain a nasty-smelling black oil which is the crude Sulfur of Tartar . This oil is reputed to have beneficial effects on diseases, involving the build up of obstructing plaques, but it must be refined by distillation before being used.» — el producto y su subproducto: el Alcahesto de Tártaro claro y el Azufre crudo de Tártaro, aceite negro al que atribuye efectos sobre enfermedades de placas obstructivas, en pasiva y con la condición de refinarlo antes de usarlo.

«The Alkahest is effective for extraction of most of the metals, even gold and silver -- which are hard to open because of their perfect coction of the elements. This alkahest will also extract Sulfur from smelted or refined metals. In this case, the Alkahest lends its Alchemical Life to revivify the tincture and cannot be recovered for further use.» — qué metales abre ese alcahesto y con qué límite: en los metales fundidos o refinados presta su vida alquímica y no se recupera.

«If a living mineral is extracted, the Alkahest may be recovered by gentle distillation and reused. In fact, it is said to become stronger with frequent use. The oily residue that remains behind in this distillation is dissolved into rectified wine spirits and allowed to stand. Decant the clear liquid tincture for use.» — el caso contrario, el del mineral vivo, con lo que se le atribuye en pasiva: el alcahesto se recupera y se haría más fuerte con el uso.

«That's right. Urine -- “Held in contempt by most people, but esteemed by the wise.” There are many secrets hidden in urine.» — cómo introduce el segundo alcahesto, con una sentencia entrecomillada sobre la orina que no adjudica a nadie.

«From urine we can easily obtain the volatile ammonium salts in a Philosophical state -- that is, alive.» — qué declara obtener de la orina y en qué estado: sales volátiles de amonio en estado filosófico, es decir, vivas.

«Collecting the urine requires some preparation since we will only want to use the finest. A cleansing diet and restricted salt intake is undertaken for several days at least, then only water or wine during the period of collection.» — el régimen previo que impone al donante: dieta de limpieza, sal restringida y solo agua o vino durante la recolección.

«Close the urine in a glass vessel and let it putrefy for a month or more in a warm place. The odors involved with this process certainly class it as an outdoor activity.» — la putrefacción de un mes o más, con el aviso de que el olor obliga a trabajar al aire libre.

«Filter the putrefied urine into a distillation train and slowly distill to dryness. Return the distillate to the solids that remain (the» — el ciclo de cohobación. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *caput mortuum) and again digest for a month*.

«caput mortuum) and again digest for a month. Distill and repeat the cohobation of distillate on the solids a third time.» — la continuación: tres cohobaciones sobre el caput mortuum. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«On the final distillation, collect the clear distillate as the Spirit of Urine or Alkahest of Urine . As this final distillation ends, you can gently increase the heat and you will see a white sublimate form in the upper glass. Collect this sublimate and save it aside for use. It is the Volatile Salt of Urine , also called Van Helmont's Alkahest . The alchemist J.B Van Helmont, a later student of the works by Paracelsus, became well known for his miracle cures using this salt. Some of this salt comes over during the distillations and is contained in the Alkahest.» — el producto y el sublimado que lo acompaña: Espíritu u Alcahesto de Orina, y la Sal Volátil de Orina o Alcahesto de Van Helmont, a quien presenta como estudioso tardío de Paracelso famoso por sus curas con esa sal.

«This Alkahest is similar to the Kerkring Menstruum but far superior in that it is derived from live Sal Ammoniac and thus can revivify a subject. The Kerkring Menstruum cannot because we used commercial Sal Ammoniac.» — dónde pone la diferencia entre los dos: este vendría de sal amoníaco viva y podría revivificar, y el de Kerkring no, por partir de producto comercial. Es la coherencia interna que su propio esquema le exige.

«“This spirit, by rectification may be made so pure and subtle that it will burn as fire and dissolve gold and precious stones.”» — el pasaje que cita de *The Art of Distillation* de John French sobre lo que el espíritu rectificado podría llegar a hacer. La voz es de French; la bibliografía data el original en Londres, 1651.

«B efore we continue our examination of Wet Ways, let us digress and talk about our subject matter, the products of the Mineral realm. Just as we had to gather and prepare our herbs for use, so it is with the minerals.» — el capítulo duodécimo abre como digresión sobre la materia misma, con el paralelo entre preparar hierbas y preparar minerales.

«In the alchemical view, mineral and metal ores collected fresh from the Earth are in their natural living form and preferred to any commercial chemical substitute.» — la preferencia que declara y su razón: el mineral recién sacado de la tierra estaría en forma viva, y por eso antes que cualquier producto químico comercial.

«Today, people do not usually consider rocks and minerals to be alive, but to the alchemist the Mineral realm is just as full of life as the other two kingdoms of Nature. Minerals are alive. They grow, evolve, produce seed, and the just like plants and animals; but they do this at an imperceptibly slow rate.» — la afirmación central del capítulo: los minerales estarían vivos, crecerían y darían simiente, solo que a ritmo imperceptible.

«“The bodies of metals are domiciles of their spirits. When their terrestrial substance is by degrees made thin, extended, and purified; the life and fire hitherto lying dormant is excited and made to appear: For the life which dwells in the metals is laid hid, as it were, asleep. . . nor can it exert its power or show itself unless the bodies be first dissolved and turned into their radical source. Being brought to this degree at length, by abundance of» — el pasaje que cita sobre la vida dormida en los metales, que solo se manifestaría al disolverlos hasta su origen radical. El volumen lo adjudica al *Golden Treatise of Hermes Trismegistus* citado y anotado por Margaret Atwood en su *Hermetic Philosophy and Alchemy*; la voz es la de ese tratado, por vía de Atwood. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *their internal light they communicate their tinging properties to other imperfect bodies*.

«their internal light they communicate their tinging properties to other imperfect bodies.”» — el cierre de ese pasaje: los metales así abiertos comunicarían su virtud tintórea a los cuerpos imperfectos. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«The species of the Mineral realm are just as varied as those of the Vegetable and Animal worlds. The minerals and metals appear to us in many different forms. Some of these forms are easier to find and to work with in order to provide the Essentials of each planetary type.» — cómo describe la variedad del reino mineral y el criterio con que elige sus materias: las formas más fáciles de hallar y de trabajar.

«The Oxides, Carbonates, Sulfides and Sulfates of the metals are the most commonly preferred sources as minerals right out of the Earth.» — las cuatro clases de mineral que prefiere como punto de partida.

«The table below indicates some of the commonly available metal ores for each of the planets:» — la línea con que anuncia la tabla de menas por planeta; la tabla misma es lámina y el troceo no imprime su contenido.

«Plan to use five to ten pounds of raw mineral ore to begin with in general, but this is dependent on the quality of the mineral. Take the mineral ore you have selected to work on and separate by hand as much of the high grade material as possible from any surrounding rock.» — la cantidad de mena que pide y el primer paso, la selección a mano del material de ley.

«Fold the collected material into a piece of cloth or canvas to avoid flying debris as you strike it with a hammer. Clean out any impurities that may have been freed, then continue crushing and grinding to a fine powder. A four inch iron pipe cap fitted with a four to six inch piece of pipe makes a nice mortar for pounding ores.» — el molido de la mena y el mortero improvisado que propone, con tapón y tramo de tubo de hierro. El tramo cruza el salto de plana.

«Very hard stones are often heated quite hot then thrown into cold water a few times to help in reducing them to powder.» — el truco térmico que da para las piedras duras: calentarlas y echarlas en agua fría.

«Most of the minerals have associated with them certain impurities which we want to remove. Foremost of these are the more volatile metals which may include traces of arsenic, mercury, cadmium, selenium, zinc and free sulfur. Slowly drive these off by roasting the powdered ore outside for a day or two at about 90°C. Stir the material around once in a while during the roast.» — las impurezas que manda eliminar por tostado —arsénico, mercurio, cadmio, selenio, cinc y azufre libre— y a qué temperatura.

«After this, you can raise the temperature slowly to about 250°C for a day to remove the last traces of arsenic. It goes without saying, that these are not things you want to be breathing, so have good ventilation.» — el segundo tostado para el arsénico, con la advertencia de ventilación.

«Many ores can be extracted with a menstruum when they are in the form of the oxide. Metal oxides are called a calx of the particular metal. To prepare them, the powdered ore is slowly calcined at higher temperatures, ground and calcined again. The sulfide ores are often treated this way by slowly calcining the sulfur out which is replaced by oxygen to form the oxide.» — cómo prepara los óxidos, que llama *calx* del metal, y cómo se llega a ellos desde los sulfuros.

«Carbonate minerals are easily calcined to the oxide. They are also soluble in acidic solutions and form the salt of that acid. This offers many possibilities for purification prior to extraction by one of the prepared menstruums. Using a strong vinegar to produce the acetate of the metal is often the preferred way and this subject will be examined later.» — el camino que prefiere para los carbonatos: acetato del metal por vinagre fuerte, que es lo que desarrolla el capítulo trece.

«The extraction of the mineral takes place much as in the Vegetable work, by covering the subject with menstruum, sealing and digesting in a warm place up to about 90°C.» — cómo extrae el mineral, con el mismo esquema del trabajo vegetal y hasta 90 °C.

«After some time of digestion, and this can take months, the menstruum will take on a color or tincture . Filter this tincture off and gently distill the majority of the menstruum off. (Save this for future extractions.) Then allow the residue to evaporate gently down to an oily or resinous consistency.» — los tiempos que declara para esa digestión —meses— y la señal: el menstruo se tiñe. El tramo cruza el salto de plana.

«Collect the residue and extract it into a small volume of strong alcohol. Let the alcohol extract stand for a week or two, then decant off the clear tinted liquid for use.» — el remate de la extracción por alcohol.

«Some operators like to take this a step further by evaporating the alcohol extract and dissolving the residue into a small amount of ether. The ether extract is allowed to stand, decanted and evaporated. The final residue is then extracted again with alcohol and gently distilled. The distillate is collected for use and contains the most volatile essence of the metal.» — el paso adicional con éter que atribuye a algunos operadores, y qué obtiene: la esencia más volátil del metal.

«This additional step helps to eliminate any metallic salts that may have carried through the extractions and so provide us with a more purified Sulfur of the metal.» — para qué sirve ese paso: eliminar sales metálicas arrastradas y dar un Azufre más puro.

«“The Sulfur of the metals is an oiliness extracted from the metals themselves, endowed with very many virtues for the health of man.”» — la definición del Azufre de los metales que cita de Paracelso: una oleosidad extraída de ellos con virtudes para la salud. La voz es de Paracelso.

«If we carefully follow the instructions of the Sages for preparing various oils and elixirs from the metals, we can indeed obtain the products they describe and this increases our confidence in their description of using the preparations.» — el argumento con que traslada su confianza de la técnica a la terapéutica: si los procedimientos de los Sabios dan lo que describen, crecería la confianza en el uso que declaran.

«The medicinal use of oils derived from the mineral world has a long history, with some reports bordering on the miraculous. However, as we mentioned earlier, the Vegetable world is much more forgiving of mistakes than the Mineral realm.» — cómo presenta la tradición de los aceites minerales, con la reserva de que algunos informes rozan lo milagroso, y la advertencia de riesgo repetida.

«If one does not fully understand the theory and practice of metal works, an assumed “Tincture of Iron or Copper” may just be a solution of toxic metal salts and not the true alchemical Sulfur of the metal.» — la objeción que se pone a sí mismo: una supuesta tintura de hierro o de cobre puede ser solo una disolución de sales tóxicas.

«Many operators consider the metal as a catalyst which acts upon the solvent to change it in characteristic ways. The actual metal is not present in the final product.» — la lectura alternativa que consigna sin arbitrar: para muchos operadores el metal sería catalizador y no estaría en el producto final.

«Still, the metallic works provide valuable lessons in the operations of Nature and tangible results which demonstrate the operator's progress.» — el balance con que cierra ese punto: los trabajos metálicos darían lecciones y resultados tangibles del avance del operador.

«There are many different oils to be obtained from the metals, depending on the subject and method of extraction. For curiosity's» — la variedad de aceites que anuncia. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *sake, we mention some reported effects of using metal oils medicinally*.

«sake, we mention some reported effects of using metal oils medicinally and at the psychological level as summarized below. These are a selection of uses extracted from older texts, as well as reports from modern workers and thus not to be taken as medical advice.» — la salvedad expresa con que introduce la lista: son usos recogidos de textos antiguos y de operadores modernos, y declara que no son consejo médico. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Oil of Antimony -- Although antimony is not one of the seven ancient metals, its use in alchemy has a long history and we will be examining this in greater detail later on. Many alchemists have claimed it to be the best blood purifier available. The volatilized oil of antimony is said to help restore youth. Depending on the method of preparation, the oil of antimony rids the body of toxins by purgation, catharsis or through sweating.» — lo que recoge sobre el aceite de antimonio, todo en pasiva: el mejor purificador de la sangre según muchos alquimistas, y un aceite volatilizado al que se atribuye restaurar la juventud.

«There are many claims through the centuries of antimony oil curing cancer and leprosy. The Oil of Antimony is held to be nearly a universal medicine. It has a characteristic penetrating fire that will work with any other planetary medicine and deliver it powerfully to its target. Hence, it is often called the Triumphal Chariot .» — las curas que se le han adjudicado a ese aceite y el nombre que le viene de su fuerza penetrante: Carro Triunfal.

«Oil of Gold is considered to be a medicine of the highest order. It strengthens circulation as a heart tonic. It is generally strengthening to all systems and is also a good blood purifier and regenerative. It is a true universal medicine often referred to as Potable Gold and highly prized from ancient times.» — lo que recoge sobre el aceite de oro: tónico cardiaco, purificador de la sangre y medicina universal, con el nombre de Oro Potable.

«Oil of Gold has been used successfully for treatment of rheumatism, arthritis, cancer, syphilis, uremia and multiple sclerosis. Mentally this is good for a weak will and strengthens ambition, courage, vitality and creativity.» — las indicaciones físicas y mentales que la lista adjudica al aceite de oro.

«The smallest amount of the Oil of Gold will strengthen any other herbal or mineral elixir.» — la función auxiliar que le adjudica: reforzar cualquier otro elixir.

«Oil of Silver is effective for disorders of the brain, cerebellum, nervous system, memory, and emotions. It is used in cases of epilepsy, depression, mania and emotional trauma. It affects the subconscious mind and dreams. It is useful in understanding one's hidden past. It helps to remove fears and mental blockages. It enhances one's psychic sensitivity and powers of imagination.» — las indicaciones del aceite de plata, del lado del sistema nervioso, la memoria, los sueños y la sensibilidad psíquica.

«Oil of Mercury powerfully affects the nervous system, respiratory system, and liver. It is used for treating skin problems, soothing the» — las indicaciones del aceite de mercurio: sistema nervioso, respiratorio e hígado. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *nerves, asthma and related breathing problems*, con el habla y la comunicación entre sus efectos.

«Oil of Copper is useful for treating liver, thyroid and reproductive organ diseases. It stabilizes blood pressure and purifies the body of blood borne infections. It has been used in cases of leukemia and cancer. It enhances psychic sensitivity and attraction to the opposite sex.» — las del aceite de cobre, con hígado, tiroides y presión arterial, y el atractivo sexual entre sus efectos.

«Oil of Iron is another powerful regenerative for the whole body. It strengthens and purifies the blood, rapidly heals wounds, cuts, and abrasions. It is used to treat the gall bladder, pancreas, bleeding ulcers and ulcers in general. It is also said to enhance one's natural instincts. It provides an additional boost of energy, especially when mixed with Sun herbs. In fact it is said to activate the potentials of most other herbs.» — las del aceite de hierro, con la sangre y las heridas, y lo que se le atribuye en pasiva: activar las potencias de casi cualquier otra hierba.

«Oil of Tin is useful for problems affecting the liver and lungs. It balances the way in which the body stores and uses sugars. It is held to have sudorific, vermifuge and antispasmodic properties. On the mental side, it affects the growth and wealth attitudes and brings lightheartedness to one's outlook.» — las del aceite de estaño, con el hígado, los pulmones y la economía del azúcar, y del lado mental las actitudes ante el crecimiento y la riqueza.

«Oil of Lead is especially effective for diseases affecting the bones, atrophy of the body muscular atrophy, as well as problems with the spleen. It has been used for treating acute lead toxicity, anemia, and neuropathy. It is said to increase steadiness, patience, and tolerance.» — las del aceite de plomo, con los huesos, el bazo y, curiosamente, la propia intoxicación por plomo; del lado mental, la constancia y la paciencia.

«W e continue now with the methods of Via Humida, with a different and very effective Process involving the acetates of metals which we mentioned earlier. It begins with the final menstruum we will examine for the Wet Way, which is called the Radical Vinegar . This liquid opens the way for obtaining the Philosophical Essentials from the mineral realm as well as one of the paths for confecting the Philosopher's Stone.» — el capítulo trece abre anunciando la vía de los acetatos y el Vinagre Radical como puerta al reino mineral y a una de las vías de la Piedra.

«This is a method to create a very' concentrated vinegar that is loaded with Mineral Fire.» — cómo define el Vinagre Radical. El impreso escribe *very'* con apóstrofo, resto del OCR.

«The Radical Vinegar provides a path whereby most of the Mineral and metallic realm can be opened. The starting materials are easy to find -- copper wire and red wine vinegar.» — qué abre ese vinagre y con qué materiales de partida: alambre de cobre y vinagre de vino tinto.

«The copper wire is balled up loosely and heated to redness several times in order to oxidize it to a black color. Place the brittle mass into a glass vessel and cover with wine vinegar which has been concentrated by freezing. Seal the container and let it digest and shake it at least daily. After some time, the liquid will become deep emerald green.» — el primer tiempo de la preparación y su señal: el líquido vira a verde esmeralda.

«Decant the liquid into another vessel and save it aside. Repeat the process of heating the wire and extracting with fresh vinegar» — la repetición del ciclo de oxidación y extracción. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *several times*, con la cristalización del acetato de cobre y su recristalización en agua de lluvia.

«The dry crystals are crushed, and then placed into a strong distillation apparatus.» — el paso a la destilación seca de esos cristales.

«With a cooled receiver in place, the crystals are heated first slowly, then gradually up to about 400° to 500°C. The liquid distillate is a very concentrated acetic acid and may have a slight blue-green tint. This is the Radical Vinegar. It has strength in itself to open many mineral and metallic substances, and shows its greatest utility in the preparation of metal acetates, from which we can separate the Philosophical Mercuries of the metals.» — el rango de temperatura, la señal del producto y para qué sirve: ácido acético concentrado con tinte azul verdoso, útil sobre todo para preparar acetatos metálicos.

«Some alchemists refer to this as The Acetate Path . It stems from an Alchemical process that was a closely guarded secret for many centuries and leads to preparing The Secret Wine Spirit of the Adepts .» — el nombre de la vía y lo que declara de su historia: secreto guardado durante siglos que llevaría al Espíritu Secreto del Vino de los Adeptos.

«The idea behind the acetate work involves the transfer of plant life into the metal in order to accelerate its evolution.» — la idea que sostiene toda la vía: transferir vida vegetal al metal para acelerar su evolución.

«In the general process, a mineral or metal ore is prepared as an oxide or carbonate, which is subsequently converted to an acetate using a live vinegar from wine or, even better, the Radical Vinegar.» — el esquema general del proceso, con el Vinagre Radical como mejor opción frente al vinagre vivo de vino.

«After isolation and purification, the metal acetate is subjected to a dry distillation. That is, the crystals themselves are distilled slowly at first, then gradually increasing to about 400° to 700°C. The products of this distillation are a volatile spirit (a Philosophical Mercury ), an oil (the Sulfur of the metal, called the Lion's Blood ), a watery phlegm, and a solid residue (often called the Black Lion ) from which is obtained the Salt.» — los cuatro productos que anuncia de la destilación seca del acetato, con sus nombres: Mercurio Filosófico, Sangre del León, flema y León Negro.

«Around 1450, the English alchemist George Ripley called this distillate the Blessed Liquor or Menstruum Foetens and describes it as containing three substances: 1. The Aqua Ardens -- which burns like wine spirits 2. A thick white water called Lac Virginum or virgin's milk 3. A blood-red oil called Sanguis Leonis or Blood of the Lion» — los tres componentes que adjudica a George Ripley, a quien data hacia 1450, bajo el nombre de Licor Bendito o Menstruum Foetens: Aqua Ardens, Lac Virginum y Sanguis Leonis. La lista numerada es del impreso. El tramo cruza el salto de plana.

«He further states that the key to all chemistry lies hidden in this Menstruum Foetens .» — lo que adjudica además a Ripley: que en ese menstruo estaría escondida la clave de toda la química.

«Isaac Holland describes the work on Lead Acetate, in “Opus Saturni” or “A Work of Saturn.” He begins here with an already pure lead acetate – purified Saturn . The same method of preparation can be applied to other mineral and metal acetates:» — de dónde toma el procedimiento largo que va a reproducir: el *Opus Saturni* de Isaac Holland, sobre acetato de plomo ya purificado.

«“My Child, you may remember, that I ordered you to reserve the one half of the purified Saturn, which take and put into a Stone pot, pour upon it a bottle or more of distilled Wine Vinegar, set a head on, distill the Vinegar again from it in a Bath, the head must have a hole at the top to pour fresh Vinegar upon the Matter, and abstract the Vinegar again from it, pour fresh Vinegar again on, and again abstract it; this pouring on, and abstracting or distilling off must continue so long, till the Vinegar be drawn off as strong as it was when it was put in, then is it enough, and the Matter hath in it as much of the Spirit of Vinegar as it can contain;» — el arranque del pasaje de Holland: cohobaciones de vinagre destilado sobre el Saturno purificado hasta que el vinagre salga tan fuerte como entró. La voz es de Holland.

«then take the Pot out of the Bath, take off the head, and take the Matter out, and put it into a thick glass which can endure the Fire, set a head on it, put it in a Cupel with Ashes, which set on a Furnace, first make a small Fire, and so continually a little stronger, till your Matter come over as red as Blood, thick as Oil, and sweet as Sugar, with a Celestial Scent» — la continuación de Holland: el paso al vaso resistente al fuego y la señal que espera, materia roja como sangre, espesa como aceite, dulce como azúcar y de olor celeste.

«and then grind it on a Stone with good distilled Vinegar, put this Matter so ground into a Pot, pour good distilled Vinegar upon it, that two parts be full, set the Pot into a Bath with a head upon it, distill the Vinegar off, pour fresh Vinegar again upon it, distill it off again: thus do so long, that the Vinegar be as strong as it was when it was first poured upon it» — la segunda ronda de cohobaciones que manda Holland, con la materia molida en piedra y vuelta al vinagre.

«Reiterate this distillation in the Bath until the Matter hath no more Spirit of the Vinegar in it, then take it out, set it in a glass pot, distill all that will distill forth in ashes, till the Matter become a red Oil, then have you the most noble Water of Paradise, to pour upon all fixed stones, to perfect the Stone; this is one way. This water of Paradise thus distilled, the Ancients called their sharp, clear Vinegar, for they conceal its name.”» — el cierre del pasaje de Holland y el nombre que da al producto: el Agua de Paraíso, que dice que los Antiguos llamaban su vinagre agudo y claro para ocultar su nombre.

«The metal or mineral ore we have selected to work on is converted into its acetate form and distilled in this crystalline state. During this distillation, as the temperature is rising, moisture will begin to collect and come over into the recipient. This is mostly water that was associated within the crystalline acetate -- the so-called water of crystallization . Collect this water and save it aside. This is called the Phlegm , and is used to extract the salts later.» — el mismo procedimiento en su propia redacción, con la primera fracción, el agua de cristalización que llama Flema.

«As the heat increases, the phlegm will stop distilling over. Attach a fresh receiver and continue heating. Soon you will see a thick, heavy, white vapor coming over and a golden liquid form in the receiver, which must be kept very cold or this spirit will escape.» — la segunda fracción y la precaución que exige: receptor muy frío o el espíritu se escapa.

«The final distillation temperature may be in the range of 400° to 700°C, and by this time you will notice drops of blood-red oil distilling over, the apparatus being filled with dense white vapor so as to appear made of chalk. Let the apparatus cool and save the distillate tightly sealed. This liquid appears red like wine and called the Menstruum Foetens or Secret Wine Spirit .» — el remate de la destilación, con el aceite rojo sangre, el vapor blanco que hace parecer el aparato de tiza, y el nombre del producto.

«Gentle distillation of this liquid will yield a clear, very volatile liquid containing the Philosophical Mercury of the metal and a deep red liquid which contains the Philosophical Sulfur of the metal. These are called the Red and White Wine .» — la separación en dos: Mercurio Filosófico en lo volátil y Azufre Filosófico en lo rojo, que llama Vino Rojo y Vino Blanco.

«The volatile liquid or Philosophical Mercury is purified by distillation several times. This liquid contains mostly acetone with some of the more volatile components of the oil. In fact, this was the way acetone was made industrially until the early 1900s, by which time its alchemical roots had largely been forgotten.» — qué declara que es químicamente ese Mercurio Filosófico —acetona con algo de los aceites volátiles— y el dato histórico que añade: así se fabricó la acetona hasta principios del siglo XX.

«This was becoming evident even by the 1850s, when a medical doctor named C.A. Becker investigated this preparation. Becker presents» — el caso de C. A. Becker que consigna, médico que hacia 1850 investigó esta preparación. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 114 con las historias clínicas.

«case histories for the successful treatment of flu, nervous complaints, rheumatism, headaches, fevers and paralysis using the volatile spirit, which he termed Spiritus Aceti Oleosus because it was prepared in the old way and still contained some of the volatile oils, unlike the commercial product. Becker considered these etheric oils to be essential to the medical effects and urged his fellow physicians to regain possession of this valuable remedy.» — la continuación: las dolencias que Becker declara tratadas con el espíritu volátil que llamó *Spiritus Aceti Oleosus*, y su argumento de que los aceites etéricos son esenciales al efecto, ausentes del producto comercial. La voz del argumento es de Becker; el tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«The red liquid or red wine is also purified by gentle distillation. First, a clear acidic phlegm will come over. The thick blood-red oil that remains can be distilled at a higher temperature or often it is just dissolved in alcohol and the clear tinted liquid is decanted for use. These oils are analogous to the essential oils obtained from plants and their chemical composition is just as complex.» — cómo se purifica el vino rojo y el paralelo que traza con los aceites esenciales vegetales.

«The solid residue from the acetate distillation is generally removed and calcined, then extracted with the combined phlegm and crystallized to obtain the Salt.» — qué se hace con el residuo sólido para obtener la Sal.

«The distillation residue from lead is interesting as it is mostly composed of fine particles of lead metal and will rapidly oxidize on exposure to the air. Very often it will ignite on its own and become like a red hot coal, burning itself to ashes.» — la observación que anota sobre el residuo del plomo: partículas metálicas finas que se oxidan al aire y a veces se encienden solas.

«Any pure salt of the particular metal can be used as the body; even a “dead” commercial salt, which is then reanimated with the Mercury and Sulfur as we did in the Vegetable work.» — la concesión que hace sobre el cuerpo del preparado: sirve incluso una sal comercial muerta, reanimada después con su Mercurio y su Azufre.

«Holland describes an operation along these lines which requires thirty to thirty two weeks to produce a solid medicine or Stone from lead, of which he says:» — el tiempo que declara para la Piedra de plomo según Holland: de treinta a treinta y dos semanas.

«“My child, there are some people who have external distempers on their bodies such as fistulas, cancer, wolf, or evil biles or holes, be they what or how they will, etc. Give such a one the weight of one wheat corn to drink in warm wine two days as is taught before. The whole body will, within and without, be freed from all which is adverse to nature.”» — el primer tramo de lo que Holland promete de esa Piedra, para fístulas, cáncer y llagas. La voz es de Holland.

«“And if the party will take the like quantity of a wheat corn every day for the space of nine days, I tell you, his body will be as spiritual as if he had been nine days in the terrestrial paradise eating every day of the fruit, making him fair, lusty, and young. Therefore, use this stone weekly, the quantity of a wheat corn with warm wine, so shall you live in health until your last hour of the time appointed for you by God.”» — el segundo tramo, con el cuerpo vuelto espiritual como tras nueve días en el paraíso terrenal y la salud hasta la hora señalada por Dios. También es voz de Holland.

«This illustration from “The Art of Distillation” shows the basic design for the acetate work. The still pot on the furnace holds the acetate, then the vapor is led through a cooling system into a receiver. This will catch the bulk of the distillate.» — el pie de la lámina tomada de *The Art of Distillation* de John French, con el montaje del trabajo de acetatos.

«using a barrel of ice water, leads off from this receiver to a second receiver which catches the more volatile spirits.» — el segundo tramo del pie de esa lámina: un barril de agua helada lleva del primer receptor a un segundo que recoge los espíritus más volátiles. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el límite de chunk, que reemite la plana 115.

«Some artists make the distinction that Philosophical Mercuries are derived from the metals; while the minerals produce an Alkahest.» — el deslinde que consigna como opinión de algunos artistas: Mercurios Filosóficos de los metales, Alcahesto de los minerales.

«T he Dry Way of working is held to be faster, but at greater danger and requiring some developed skills. Many of these works require fierce heat, toxic materials, and molten salts or metals as well as some agility in manipulating them.» — el capítulo catorce abre con lo que se le atribuye a la Vía Seca, en pasiva: más rápida y más peligrosa, con fuego fiero, materiales tóxicos y sales o metales fundidos.

«There are some artists who eschew the violent methods of the Dry Way with its high fusion temperatures and corrosive salt mixtures.» — la objeción interna que consigna sin arbitrar: hay artistas que rechazan esos métodos violentos.

«“Fire is the life of metals while they are still in their ore, and the fire of smelting is their death,” says Sendivogius.» — la sentencia que cita de Sendivogius: el fuego es la vida del metal en la mena y el de fundición su muerte.

«The death of the material, its putrefaction , is the key that releases the spiritual components from the prison of the body. The trick in either the Wet or Dry Way is to be able to capture the subtle essence into a suitable vehicle before they can vapor away.» — cómo lee esa muerte dentro de su esquema: la putrefacción liberaría lo espiritual de la prisión del cuerpo, y la destreza consistiría en capturarlo antes de que se evapore.

«“To grasp the invisible elements, to attract them by their material correspondences, to control, purify and transform them by the living power of the spirit, this is true alchemy.”» — la definición de alquimia verdadera que cita de Paracelso: asir los elementos invisibles por sus correspondencias materiales y transformarlos con la fuerza viva del espíritu. La voz es de Paracelso.

«In the solid state, the body is subjected to the forces of Earth and the Universal Fire is held prisoner within the body. The methods of the Dry Way create an open entrance to the bodies of minerals and metals to release their trapped Quintessence.» — qué hace la Vía Seca según él: abrir una entrada en el cuerpo mineral para soltar la Quintaesencia presa.

«Most of these operations involve either amalgamation with» — de qué constan casi todas esas operaciones. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *metallic mercury, melting or fusion of the materials*.

«metallic mercury, melting or fusion of the materials; since the vital and spiritual energies transfer in the liquid state but they will escape if not captured by a magnet or proper medium.» — la razón que da: el traspaso de lo vital y lo espiritual ocurriría en estado líquido, y sin imán o medio adecuado se escaparía. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«In laboratory alchemy, there are a handful of mineral salts which are of great utility in unlocking mineral and metallic essences. Isaac Holland called them The Hand of the Philosophers . These five salts act as Keys to open materials. They can be combined and prepared in many different ways in order to unlock any metal or mineral so that its spiritual essence is available for extraction by a suitable medium.» — las cinco sales de la Mano de los Filósofos según Holland, presentadas como llaves para abrir cualquier metal o mineral.

«“In the power of the salts and their preparation lies the whole art of alchemy.”» — la sentencia entrecomillada con que cierra esa presentación; el volumen no le pone firmante.

«The first and foremost salt placed on the Hand is Niter or Saltpeter, which Holland calls the King of Salts and the Crown . It is the thumb of the hand.» — la primera sal de la Mano y los nombres que Holland le da: Rey de las Sales y la Corona, en el pulgar. El tramo cruza el salto de plana 118, que es la lámina de la Mano.

«“He is the mill, through which everything must be ground”. Today we call it potassium nitrate (KNO3) and it is a powerful oxidizer -- the main ingredient in gunpowder.» — la sentencia sobre el nitro como molino que todo lo muele, y su identificación química moderna como nitrato de potasio, ingrediente de la pólvora.

«In the old days, niter was obtained from specially prepared and attended piles of decomposing plant and animal wastes, wood ashes, and loose soil. The nitrogen-containing compounds decompose and form nitric acid which reacts with the potassium salts in the plant ash to form potassium nitrate. This all takes some time, at least one to three years, so there would be many different niter beds working to harvest at any time.» — cómo se obtenía el nitro antiguamente y cuánto tardaba: eras de residuos vegetales y animales, ceniza y tierra, de uno a tres años.

«At harvest, the pile is leached with water and the water evaporated to obtain the niter as crystals which are then purified by recrystallizing several times.» — la cosecha de esas eras y la purificación por recristalizaciones.

«The commercial potassium nitrate of today is usually generated from the waste products of other chemical processing industries and is not considered to be Philosophical .» — la objeción que pone al producto comercial: viene de residuos de la industria química y no se lo tiene por filosófico.

«This holds true for most of these salts we are discussing. Prior to use they must be reanimated or recharged with Fire.» — la generalización de esa objeción y el remedio que exige: reanimar la sal, recargarla de Fuego, antes de usarla.

«In the case of niter, it should be recrystallized from rainwater several times, allowing it to absorb the moisture of the air in between crystallizations, at the very least. An even better trick is to recrystallize the commercial product after solution in fresh urine followed by crystallization from rainwater.» — cómo reanimar el nitro comercial: recristalizaciones en agua de lluvia con deliquescencias entre ellas, o el truco mejor, disolverlo en orina fresca.

«“Niter is the corporified spirit of the stars, and therein is the nature of metals. Niter is the body of the stars, whose central fire or Sulfur is called Sol.”» — el pasaje que cita de LaFontain sobre el nitro como espíritu corporificado de los astros. La voz es de esa obra de 1797; el volumen la nombra aquí *LaFontain* y en la plana 69 *F. la Fontain*.

«Depicted as the index finger of the Hand and a six pointed star, is Vitriol. Today this term usually denotes the blue crystalline salt, copper sulfate; or the green crystals of iron sulfate, but there are other vitriols as well.» — la segunda sal de la Mano, el vitriolo, con su figura de estrella de seis puntas.

«There are writings describing the use of these materials dating to at least 600 B.C.E.» — cómo data el uso de esos materiales.

«This mineral is found near deposits of sulfide ores such as Pyrite, where water leaches it out of the weathering ore.» — dónde se halla el vitriolo. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 120 con los dos nombres antiguos: Atramento, por su uso como ennegrecedor de tintas y cueros, y Lixivium de Marcasitas, por su preparación.

«texts refer to this salt as Atrament , recalling its use as a blackening agent for inks and leather while other texts refer to it as Lixivium of Marcasites in reference to how it is prepared. (Marcasites are the sulfide ores.)» — esos dos nombres antiguos, con la aclaración de que las marcasitas son las menas sulfuradas. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«You can produce your own vitriol though it takes some time. Collect together ten to twenty pounds (at least) of iron pyrite (FeS) and grind it to powder. Spread the powder out onto a large flat iron tray then alternately roast it gently and spray with rainwater to moisten, then dry. Repeat this process of artificially weathering the ore many times over the course of several months. Now place the weathered ore into a container and wash it well with rain water. Save all of the wash water together and continue weathering the ore that remains. Decant or filter the wash water into a wide bowl and allow it to evaporate. A few drops of concentrated sulfuric acid may be added to retard air oxidation of the solution. You will soon see beautiful emerald green crystals forming which you will collect and keep in an air tight container.» — el método casero de fabricar vitriolo: meteorización artificial de la pirita durante meses, lavado, evaporación y cristales verde esmeralda.

«These green crystals can be purified by recrystallization from rain water into very glassy, transparent crystals of ferrous sulfate (FeSO4 - 7H2O). In fact, the name vitriol derives from the Latin vitrum , meaning glass.» — la purificación de esos cristales y la etimología que da: *vitriol* del latín *vitrum*, vidrio.

«Many of the ancient authors sing praises to the utility of vitriol. Basil Valentine called it The True Mineral Salt which contains the Red and the White spirits.» — el nombre que Basil Valentine da al vitriolo según él: la Sal Mineral Verdadera, que contendría los espíritus Rojo y Blanco.

«If vitriol alone is distilled, there will first come over a clear liquid (the White spirit) with a strong sulfur dioxide odor. Keep this tightly sealed and the choking odor will disappear as the dissolved sulfur dioxide oxidizes to form a mild solution of sulfuric acid.» — qué sale al destilar vitriolo solo: el espíritu Blanco, con olor de dióxido de azufre que declara que desaparece al oxidarse.

«As the heat is increased quite high, there will finally ascend a more viscous, reddish liquid which is a concentrated sulfuric acid filled with martial essence (the Red spirit).» — y el espíritu Rojo: ácido sulfúrico concentrado que declara cargado de esencia marcial.

«Menstruum. Sal Ammoniac is the Star of the Hand at the middle finger.» — la tercera sal de la Mano, la Estrella, en el dedo medio. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 120.

«“The Spirit of all things is Sal Ammoniac.” “Sal Ammoniac can unite all things that are antagonistic and cannot be mixed so that afterwards they mix and conjugate.”» — las dos sentencias que cita de Isaac Holland sobre la sal amoníaco: espíritu de todas las cosas, y capaz de unir lo que es antagónico. La voz es de Holland; el volumen da la obra como *Opera Vegetabilis*, y en la plana 13 como *Opera Vegetabilia*.

«The amazing thing about this salt is its ability to sublimate easily and in doing so, it changes from the solid state directly into vapors of hydrochloric acid and ammonia only to reunite on a cool surface as the solid salt again. It is this extremely corrosive atmosphere that serves to open many of the metals for extraction.» — qué explica su virtud según él: al sublimar se descompone en vapores de ácido clorhídrico y amoníaco que abren los metales, y se recompone en la superficie fría.

«When mineral or metal ores are mixed with Sal Ammoniac and sublimated, their more subtle parts are caught up in this vapor and deposited with the sublimate, purified and opened up.» — el uso operativo que saca de ese comportamiento.

«To illustrate, here is a method for preparing a tincture from silver as given by the twentieth century alchemist Fulcanelli:» — de quién toma el ejemplo de la tintura de plata: Fulcanelli, a quien llama alquimista del siglo XX. La obra tiene ficha en el corpus como `fulcanelli-dwellings-of-the-philosophers`.

«To begin, we need Horn Silver which occurs as the mineral Cerargyrite, consisting mainly of silver chloride. Pure silver metal dissolved into nitric acid then precipitated with a solution of sea salt will also work for this experiment. Wash the precipitate (which is silver chloride) with water then dry it. Next, mix it with three times its weight of Sal Ammoniac and grind it well together.» — el material de partida de esa tintura y su alternativa por vía química.

«Now gently sublime the powder and collect all that will come over. Dissolve the sublimate in rainwater and let it settle. You will see a red to brown fine solid fall to the bottom. This solid contains the Lunar Sulfur. Decant off the clear liquid and save it. Wash the solids several times with rainwater then place the solids into a dish to dry. Collect together all of the dried solid as a powder then extract it with rectified wine alcohol (95% or better) for a month. The resulting clear, golden alcohol extract is a Tincture of Silver and contains the Lunar Sulfur for use.» — el procedimiento de Fulcanelli hasta la Tintura de Plata que contiene el Azufre Lunar.

«Your Sal Ammoniac can be recovered for future use by evaporating the liquid you decanted from the solids earlier.» — cómo se recupera la sal amoníaco al terminar.

«The Lantern of the Hand at the ring finger is Alum. Properly speaking, Alum is a vitriol being the double sulfate of potassium and aluminum KAL(SO4)2, but has been such a versatile mineral» — la cuarta sal de la Mano, el Alumbre, que llama la Linterna, con la salvedad de que en rigor es un vitriolo. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *since ancient times that its in a class of its own*, así impreso, sin apóstrofo.

«It has been used for cleaning and deodorizing, as a mordant for dyes, to prepare leather, and as an astringent and styptic to close wounds.» — los usos antiguos del alumbre que enumera.

«Alum has a low melting point (92.5°C) and so it is often added to assist fusion of other salts and mineral bodies. At higher temperatures Alum releases sulfur oxides in large amounts and so assists the production of sulfuric acid.» — por qué le sirve en el taller: funde bajo y ayuda a fundir otras sales, y a más temperatura desprende óxidos de azufre.

«The best native source for this is the mineral Alunite (or Alum stone), which is ground and roasted, then dissolved in water. After filtration, the water is evaporated to obtain crystals of Alum.» — de dónde sacar alumbre nativo y cómo.

«The Key of the Hand, on the little finger is salt. This is common salt, sodium chloride (NaCl), obtained as sea salt or that which is mined from the earth, called Sal Gemma .» — la quinta sal de la Mano, la Llave: la sal común, de mar o de mina.

«Salt itself has great healing power when rightly prepared. Such a preparation is the Fixed Spirit of Salt as given by Holland.» — qué le adjudica a la sal común bien preparada y de quién toma la preparación.

«Take sea salt and grind it fine in a mortar, then dissolve it into distilled vinegar from white wine. Filter the solution into a wide bowl and gently heat to evaporate the liquid.» — el arranque del Espíritu Fijo de Sal según Holland.

«Soon a crust or skin will begin to form at the surface of the liquid. Collect this carefully with a skimmer and save it aside. Holland calls this the Spiritus of the salt. Continue collecting this as it forms until the liquid volume is too small. Take all the remains and repeat the solution with vinegar, evaporation and collection of the Spiritus a second time. Collect all of the Spiritus together and save for use. It is not Fixed at this stage.» — cómo se recoge lo que Holland llama el *Spiritus* de la sal, y la advertencia de que en esa fase aún no está fijado.

«The residue that remains in the bowl is called the Corpora of the salt. This same purification can be used for other salts as well.» — el nombre del residuo y la extensión del método a otras sales.

«“One cannot work with any salt unless the spiritus has first been separated from the corpus. As you separate the spiritus from the corpora of common salt, thus is also separated the spiritus from the corpora of all other things.”» — la regla que cita de Holland: sin separar el espíritu del cuerpo no se trabaja ninguna sal, y lo que vale para la común valdría para todo.

«To fix the Spiritus of salt, we must first recrystallize it from» — cómo se fija ese espíritu. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *rainwater several times*.

«Dry the crystals, powder them in a mortar, then add Sal Ammoniac at about 1/10th the total weight of salt. Seal this in a tall flask and allow it to digest for at least a month.» — la proporción de sal amoníaco y la digestión de un mes.

«Take out the salt and gently dry, then seal in a glass container for use. This is the Fixed Spiritus Salis which is said to have miraculous healing virtues.» — el producto y lo que se le atribuye, en pasiva: el *Fixed Spiritus Salis* de virtudes curativas milagrosas.

«One common use of these various salts is the preparation of Aqua Fortis or Strong Waters .» — el uso conjunto de esas sales: las Aguas Fuertes.

«Combinations of salts are distilled at high temperatures to produce the mineral acids such as sulfuric, nitric and hydrochloric acids. The resulting Strong Water is used for the preparation and purification of mineral bodies.» — qué son esas aguas en términos modernos —ácidos minerales— y para qué las usa.

«For example, we can combine equal parts of niter and vitriol and add 1/3 part of Alum, then distill up to about 800°C.» — la receta que da de ejemplo y su temperatura. El tramo se corta al final del chunk y sigue en la plana 123.

«yield (about 20% by weight of the solids) a solution of nitric acid with a concentration around 50% HNO3.» — el rendimiento de esa receta de agua fuerte. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 122.

«Vitriol can be distilled alone or with Alum to produce sulfuric acid. Concentrated sulfuric acid will react with common salt to produce hydrochloric acid.» — cómo obtiene los otros dos ácidos minerales por vía de sales.

«Aqua Regia is the King's Water , so-called because it is strong enough to dissolve gold -- the King of Metals. It is commonly made by mixing three parts hydrochloric acid with one part nitric acid, but in the old days it had to prepared by mixing and distilling salts.» — la etimología del Agua Regia y el contraste que traza entre su preparación moderna y la antigua.

«For example, we can mix two parts niter with one part Sal Ammoniac and distill at a high temperature to form Aqua Regia.» — la primera receta antigua de agua regia que da.

«Another recipe is to mix four parts vitriol, six parts niter and one part Alum, then distill them. Add Sal Ammoniac to the distillate and it will dissolve gold, silver, and sulfur.» — la segunda receta y lo que declara que disuelve.

«Salts can also be combined in dry form with many materials and effect their dissolution. The reactions generally take longer and thus are not as violent as the concentrated mineral acids.» — la variante en seco y su ventaja declarada: reacciones más lentas y menos violentas.

«For example, the mixing of niter and sal ammoniac as powders, to which is added a metal to be dissolved. A few drops of rain water will help get the reaction going. This mixture will generate Aqua Regia slowly and dissolve the metal. Not all of the reaction» — el ejemplo de agua regia generada en seco. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *mixtures are slow so try a small amount first*.

«mixtures are slow so try a small amount first. One spectacular example of this is the mixture of four parts Sal Ammoniac, one part Dew Salt, and four parts powdered zinc. A few drops of water placed on top of a small pile of the powder begins a reaction that shortly causes the material to burst into flame.» — la advertencia de que no todas esas mezclas son lentas, con el ejemplo espectacular del cinc en polvo con sal amoníaco y Sal de Rocío, que se inflama con unas gotas de agua. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«The illustration above depicts an apparatus useful for the distillation of “Strong Waters” by adding spoonfuls of salts slowly.» — el pie de la lámina tomada de *The Art of Distillation*, con el aparato para las Aguas Fuertes.

«Salts are used in Dry methods as Dry Menstrua . Just as the liquid menstrua of the Wet Way extract and retain the essentials in Vegetable and Mineral works, the Dry Way achieves the state of total liquefaction of the mineral or metal by high temperature fusion aided by select salts. Much of this technology stems from the very ancient arts of glassmaking and ceramics.» — qué son los menstruos secos y de dónde declara que viene la técnica: los oficios antiguos del vidrio y la cerámica.

«Salts in addition to those of the Hand include our old friend Salt of Tartar, and the related sodium carbonate or Natron; both used extensively in glass and ceramic glazes for their relative ease of fusion (about 900°C) and ability to dissolve many mineral bodies. These are often referred to as the Alkali Carbonates or just Alkali.» — las dos sales que añade a las cinco de la Mano para la Vía Seca: la Sal de Tártaro y el natrón, por su fusión fácil y su poder disolvente.

«The Fixed Salt of Tartar (K2CO3) is said to “penetrate every metal on fusion and takes from them the Sulfurous part.”» — qué se le atribuye a la Sal de Tártaro fija, dicho en pasiva: penetrar todo metal en la fusión y quitarle su parte sulfurosa.

«Alchemist George Starkey in his work “The Art of Volatilizing Alkalis” speaks of the process wherein the “Calx of an imperfect metal” is fused with Alkali in order to extract its Sulfur.» — de dónde toma ese procedimiento: *The Art of Volatilizing Alkalis* de George Starkey, que tiene ficha de actor propia en el corpus.

«If you have some experience with the Ens tincture process described earlier, this operation has similarities but is adapted to mineral and metal bodies.» — el paralelo que traza con el Ens vegetal ya explicado.

«We mentioned the corrosive nature of Tartar Salt and the deliquescence liquid. This corrosiveness is greatly intensified in the fused salt, giving it the power to liquefy minerals and metals rapidly.» — por qué sirve esa sal fundida: su corrosividad, dice, se intensifica mucho al fundirla.

«Begin by heating a large porcelain crucible and fusing the Salt of Tartar until it is about half full. When it is molten, slowly add your powdered ore (generally in the form of an oxide but not always) and allow it to fuse. Stir occasionally with an iron rod.» — el procedimiento de fusión con crisol de porcelana.

«Continue adding portions of the ore and additional Tartar Salt to maintain complete flux of the matter. Now we have two options, let the contents cool in the crucible and break it out later or cast the molten liquid out onto a smooth heat-resistant surface.» — las dos opciones que da para enfriar la masa fundida.

«Collect the solidified matter and grind it while it is still warm. Again we have a few options: one -- allow the powdered mass to deliquesce; then extract the metal's Sulfur with Kerkring» — la primera opción de extracción, por deliquescencia y menstruo de Kerkring. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *Menstruum just as in the Ens tincture process*.

«Menstruum just as in the Ens tincture process. The second way is to dissolve the mass into rainwater and allow the solids to settle. The solids are collected and dried, then extracted with a prepared menstruum.» — la segunda opción, por disolución en agua de lluvia. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«The final extract will contain the Sulfur of the metal and if an Alkahest was used in the extraction, it will also be reanimated with fresh Fire.» — qué contiene el extracto final y qué añadiría el uso de un alcahesto.

«This operation is a little Wet and Dry but helps to illustrate some of the possibilities of methods involved.» — el reconocimiento que hace de que su propia partición entre las dos vías no es tajante.

«Another valuable process which is somewhat obscure is called Ysopaica -- the art of washing things white by fire. It does not really fit in as a specifically wet or dry method and is more an auxiliary method of purifying extracts from plant or mineral sources.» — el proceso auxiliar que llama Ysopaica y cómo lo define: el arte de blanquear las cosas por fuego.

«Paracelsus mentions this process in his writings, and Rudolf Glauber, who was a later follower of the works of Paracelsus praised it greatly.» — a quiénes adjudica ese proceso: Paracelso y, después, Rudolf Glauber.

«The roots of Ysopaica go back to the burnt offerings of the ancient temples, the idea being that the most purified essence of a material is driven off to the heavens by the action of fire. Frater Albertus often said “that which is essential is not destroyed by the fire, it is only purified thereby.”» — de dónde hace venir la Ysopaica —los holocaustos de los templos antiguos— y el dicho que atribuye a Frater Albertus: lo esencial no lo destruye el fuego, solo lo purifica.

«“The flame of fire can consume nothing but its like ie, the combustible sulfur, but cannot consume the incombustible mercury, nor destroy, burn or annihilate it, the flames only serving to meliorate and exalt it. For the mercury of all things can no way better be purged than by fire, by which though it be driven away, yet may always be found again, as being incombustible.”» — el pasaje que cita del *De Purgatorio Philosophorum* de Glauber, que data hacia 1650: la llama consumiría el azufre combustible y no el mercurio, al que solo exaltaría. La voz es de Glauber.

«‘Vegetables, animals, and minerals with the help of any burning spirit, not only that of wine, but of com, honey, fruits, leaves or grass, may be most highly purified and reduced to the highest medicines.”» — la continuación de Glauber, con los espíritus ardientes que sirven además del vino. El impreso abre esta cita con una comilla simple y escribe *com* por *corn*.

«The practice is fairly simple and basically consists of obtaining an alcoholic extract from Vegetable, Animal or Mineral subjects,» — en qué consiste la práctica. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *and igniting the alcohol under a cooling dome or similar cooling setup*: prender el alcohol bajo una cúpula fría que capture y condense los vapores.

«“This spirit of wine being kindled burns away and the mercury of the most pure essential salt is thereby loosened and with the flame goes over into the receiver where it is caught of the phlegm from which being separated by distillation in a vaporous bath it is fit for use.”» — el pasaje que explica el mecanismo: el espíritu de vino ardería y arrastraría al receptor el mercurio de la sal esencial. La voz sigue siendo la de Glauber.

«As a simple example, we can take red wine and distill out the alcohol which is then rectified several times. The remaining wine liquid is evaporated to a thick honey-like residue. This honey is then distilled at a higher temperature to obtain a black stinking oil which contains healing virtue locked inside its impure and stinking form.» — el ejemplo con vino tinto hasta el aceite negro fétido que declara portador de virtud curativa.

«This black oil is dissolved in the rectified wine spirit, then ignited under the cooling helm where the hot vapors will be condensed. The resulting distillate can be used as is or subjected to a gentle distillation to obtain a small amount of volatile solid which Glauber calls the incombustible mercury of the subject and a powerful medicine.» — el remate del ejemplo y el nombre que Glauber da al sólido volátil resultante: el mercurio incombustible del sujeto.

«“This method of using the burning spirit works on all stinking, impure, vegetable, animal, and easily inflammable mineral subjects, whereby they are washed to the highest degree of purity, with which great things may be performed.”» — el alcance que Glauber adjudica al método.

«In the work with minerals and metals, the subject is treated with salts as mentioned above, extracted with one of the menstruums, such as Kerkring Menstruum, and the resulting extract is burned under a cooling helm. The resulting distillate is used as is or the gentle distillation to obtain a volatile salt completes the preparation.» — cómo traslada la Ysopaica al trabajo mineral.

«“In the same way we can extract tinctures from iron, copper, antimony, and sulfur, and with the assistance of the flame of spirit of wine, maturate them into most lovely, fragrant, incombustible tinctures. For by means of our microcosmical salt, all metals and minerals may be reduced to potability, without the help of corrosive, in which state they are the most powerful medicaments imaginable.”» — el pasaje de Glauber sobre las tinturas de hierro, cobre, antimonio y azufre, y lo que llama su sal microcósmica, que llevaría los metales a potabilidad sin corrosivos.

«The yields from this method tend to be small but very powerful in effect.» — el balance que hace de los rendimientos de la Ysopaica.

«“Learn to prepare medicines by fire; because whatsoever can without hurt or loss abide the fire, the same must needs be pure and good.”» — el precepto que cita de Glauber sobre preparar medicinas por fuego. El tramo cruza el salto de plana.

«“The art of washing things snow white by philosophical purgatory fire appears to be the head skill of philosophy, physik, and alchemy.”» — la valoración con que Glauber cierra el capítulo: ese arte sería la destreza principal de la filosofía, la medicina y la alquimia. El impreso escribe *physik*.

«Frontispiece to The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony by Basil Valentine» — el pie de la lámina que abre el capítulo del antimonio: el frontispicio del *Triumphal Chariot of Antimony* de Basil Valentine, obra con ficha propia en el corpus.

«I t is often said that once you begin on the alchemical path, strange things happen in the form of coincidence (or synchronicity) to attract toward yourself information and materials that are required for your continued journey.» — cómo abre el capítulo del antimonio, con lo que se dice del camino alquímico: las coincidencias atraerían información y materiales.

«This certainly was the case for me and antimony. I had just returned from the PRS class centered on the wonders of antimony and was anxious to start the work. Within a month, and by an odd series of events, I found myself working underground in an antimony mine I did not know existed, only sixteen miles from my home. Needless to say, I soon found myself in possession of all the fresh picked antimony required for many experiments.» — el episodio personal que da como caso: la mina de antimonio a dieciséis millas de su casa, cuya existencia declara ignorar hasta entonces.

«Antimony has always held a special place in alchemy. Known from very ancient times, other names for Antimony are Mestem, Asinat, Stimmi and Stibium from which we get our symbol for the element Sb. Antimony is considered a toxic metal, very similar to arsenic.» — los nombres antiguos del antimonio que enumera y de dónde saca el símbolo Sb, con la advertencia de que es metal tóxico.

«The fascination with this material led to abuse and scams which caused the death of many who had heard of its healing virtues. This provoked Parliament in 1566 to forbid its use in medicine for about one hundred years.» — el dato histórico que consigna: la prohibición del Parlamento en 1566, por un siglo, tras los abusos y las muertes.

«Antimony is said to be the mineral of Malkuth. Earth is its planetary ruler. It contains the rays of all the other planets, and because of this is said to be immortal. Its spirit is fixed to the sphere of Earth.» — la adscripción cabalística que le da, en pasiva: mineral de Maljut, regido por la Tierra y con los rayos de todos los planetas dentro. El tramo cruza el salto de plana.

«“The ancients knew about antimony, praising it very highly for its hidden medicinal virtues. During medieval times, a rediscovery of these virtues by Basil Valentine and the “father” of modern medicine, Paracelsus, caused considerable renewed interest. Both found antimony to be of extraordinary curative potency and wrote extensively about it. Valentine called antimony one of the Seven Wonders of the World, praising it as the best blood-purifying agent available. He claimed to have used it for the cure of many diseases, including cancer. These claims were substantiated by Dr. Kerkring of Holland about two hundred and fifty years later when he prepared and used antimonial tinctures in his medical practice.”» — el pasaje que cita de Frater Albertus sobre la historia médica del antimonio: Basil Valentine y Paracelso lo redescubren, Valentine lo llama una de las Siete Maravillas del Mundo y dice haberlo usado contra el cáncer, y Kerkring lo retoma dos siglos y medio después. La voz es de Frater Albertus.

«There is a great power hidden in antimony which is often depicted in alchemical images as a black dragon, a venomous serpent, a wolf, or an orb surmounted by a cross.» — las figuras con que dice que se representa esa potencia: dragón negro, serpiente venenosa, lobo, u orbe coronado de cruz.

«The authoritative text on the many preparations of antimony is Basil Valentine's “The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony” which first appeared around 1600, though others argue that it is two hundred to three hundred years older.» — cuál declara el texto de referencia y la disputa de datación que consigna sin arbitrar: hacia 1600 según unos, dos o tres siglos antes según otros.

«By far the most common source of antimony is the sulfide ore called Stibnite (Sb2 S3) or antimony trisulfide. When the old texts speak of antimony, they are generally referring to this sulfide ore, and when speaking of metallic antimony, they designate it as Regulus or Little King .» — la mena que usa y el deslinde terminológico que hace: *antimonio* en los textos antiguos sería la estibina, y el metal se llama Régulo o Reyecito.

«Stibnite very often has impurities of arsenic, mercury, bismuth, lead, and uncombined sulfur, so it is common practice to roast the ore prior to use in order to eliminate these as much as possible. Begin this roasting gently at about 90°C for a day, then slowly increase to about 250°C.» — las impurezas que declara de la estibina y el tostado con que las elimina.

«Some consider that these common impurities earned the mineral the name Anti Monos or not alone , from which we get our modern word Antimony.» — la etimología que atribuye a algunos, sin suscribirla: *Anti Monos*, no solo, por esas impurezas.

«A long slow calcination will eliminate all of the sulfur and produce a very light gray to white antimony oxide suitable for many works. This calcination is at a much higher temperature than roasting, but keep it below 520°C or melting will begin at the start.» — el límite térmico que impone a la calcinación del antimonio.

«Later, as the sulfur vaporizes and the ore looks lighter, the temperature can be increased. Stir the powder around with an iron rod once in a while to assist the oxidation. Antimony oxide is somewhat volatile at these temperatures, so be sure not to overdo the time and temperature. This is outside work or to be done under a fume hood.» — la advertencia sobre la volatilidad del óxido de antimonio y la ventilación. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«One of the strange properties of antimony is that it acts as an acid or an alkaline material depending on its environment. They call this being amphoteric .» — la propiedad química en que apoya toda la sección: el antimonio es anfótero.

«By taking advantage of this property, it is possible to purify Stibnite, even low grade ores, with a chemical process. The result of this purification is a red-brown powder called Kermes , named after a dye of this color made from insects.» — qué permite esa propiedad y el nombre del producto: el Kermes, llamado así por el tinte del mismo color hecho de insectos.

«The preparation is easy but involves some foul smelling odor like rotten eggs, so again this is outside work or in a fume hood.» — la advertencia de olor y ventilación para el Kermes.

«Start by grinding the ore to a fine powder. Then set it aside until we need it. Now prepare a strong alkali solution by dissolving Lye (sodium hydroxide) into rainwater. A 20 to 30% solution works well. This will get very hot as the lye dissolves, so add it slowly to avoid boiling. Also wear eye and hand protection.» — el primer paso y las precauciones con la lejía.

«Start adding the powdered stibnite to the still hot lye solution while stirring with a non-metal rod. The amount of ore added depends on its quality, but it is better to add it in excess to the weight of lye used. We can do this alkaline leaching several times to pull out all of the antimony. The solution can even be heated to near boiling to hasten the dissolution of the stibnite.» — el lixiviado alcalino de la estibina.

«After an hour of digestion, let the solution settle a bit, then filter it through a wad of glass wool. This solution is very caustic and will eat right through paper filters. You can find glass wool at aquarium suppliers.» — el filtrado por lana de vidrio, con el aviso de que la disolución come el papel.

«The resulting solution will be of a deep golden yellow color. Into this solution, slowly pour in a 10 to 30% solution of acetic acid until the solution pH is seven or neutral.» — la neutralización con ácido acético hasta pH siete.

«This is the smelly part mentioned earlier. A lot of hydrogen sulfide is released which is quite toxic, so definitely be outside and» — la advertencia sobre el sulfuro de hidrógeno. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *upwind*.

«As the acetic acid is added you will begin to see a red-brown solid form and fall to the bottom. This is the Kermes Mineral .» — la aparición del Kermes.

«Allow the solids to settle, then decant the clear liquid from the top and save it aside. This liquid contains mostly sodium acetate which can be recovered for use in the acetate work. Its previous association with antimony makes it even more valuable.» — qué hacer con el líquido sobrenadante y por qué lo declara más valioso: el acetato de sodio quedaría marcado por su paso con el antimonio.

«The still moist Kermes is washed several times with rainwater by covering it with ten to twenty times its volume of water and letting it settle, then decant and repeat. Place the wet solid into a dish to dry.» — el lavado del Kermes.

«The resulting red-brown powder, the Kermes, is now cleansed of many impurities that are associated with antimony ores including the alumina and silica matrix. Chemically, the powder represents a complex mixture of antimony trisulfide and antimony trioxide.» — qué declara del Kermes ya limpio: libre de la matriz de alúmina y sílice, y químicamente mezcla de trisulfuro y trióxido.

«Other alkalis will also work to dissolve the stibnite, such as potassium hydroxide, salt of tartar, even liquid ammonia. By altering the concentrations, and order of mixing the acid and alkali solutions, the powder can be made to take on shades of canary yellow to brilliant orange to crimson red as the particle size varies.» — las variantes de álcali y la gama de colores que declara obtener variando concentraciones y orden de mezcla.

«Kermes is much easier to calcine to a light oxide powder because of its greater purity.» — la ventaja práctica del Kermes.

«Another property of antimony is that it is a glass-former. Ancient glass and ceramic artifacts bear witness to this knowledge far back in time.» — la segunda propiedad que aprovecha, con los artefactos antiguos de vidrio y cerámica como aval.

«Preparation of the glass begins with the calcination of stibnite or Kermes into the oxide. This conversion to the oxide need not be too rigorous as a small proportion of the sulfide is needed to help form the glass. If you melt pure antimony oxide you will see a beautiful orange liquid, but when it is cast and cooled it will revert to an opaque yellowish-white crystalline mass. The presence of antimony sulfide mixed into the antimony oxide will promote the formation of transparent glasses of intense red, yellow and orange shades.» — la mezcla que exige el vidrio de antimonio: algo de sulfuro junto al óxido, sin lo cual la masa no queda transparente.

«The finely ground antimony oxide / sulfide is fused in a strong porcelain crucible at a temperature of about 700° to l000°C, sometimes even up to 1300°C. It helps to add a small amount of» — las temperaturas de fusión del vidrio de antimonio. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *the raw stibnite powder in doing this to obtain a deep ruby red glass*: la estibina cruda como truco para el rojo rubí.

«Some use borax as a flux, but this often leads to problems in removing it later. In fact, some claim that borax as well as aluminum lead to alchemical death of the subject and avoid their use at all costs.» — la objeción que consigna sin suscribirla: hay quien sostiene que el bórax y el aluminio matan alquímicamente el sujeto.

«When the crucible is 3/4 full, and entirely molten, stick a thin iron rod into it and pull it out. Look at the glass adhering to the rod, if it is transparent then it is ready. If it is cloudy, continue heating until it clarifies. However, do not overdo the fusion for too long as the material will be volatilizing throughout the process.» — el ensayo de la varilla para saber si el vidrio está listo, y el aviso de no prolongar la fusión.

«When the melt is ready, use tongs and quickly pour the liquid out into a wide flat dish of copper. Once cool, you will have the glass of antimony. It should be transparent and generally of a yellow to deep red tint, although by altering proportions and heating it is possible to obtain glasses of other colors, even green and blue. The glass is held by many to be the preferred starting material for extracting the Sulfur of antimony.» — el colado del vidrio, sus colores y lo que se le atribuye, en pasiva: sería el material de partida preferido para extraer el Azufre del antimonio.

«Prior to extraction with one of the prepared menstruums, the glass must be ground to a very fine powder.» — la condición previa a la extracción.

«Stibnite is one of the few minerals that seem to undergo fermentation similar to making wine, but at higher temperatures. The resulting liquid is known as the Vinegar of Antimony or the pure Fixed Spirit of Antimony , and is nearly a Universal Menstruum for the Mineral world as well as a powerful medicine for internal and external use.» — qué es el Vinagre de Antimonio y qué le adjudica: menstruo casi universal del mundo mineral y medicina potente.

«Begin by grinding several pounds of Stibnite to a fine powder. Roast the powder at about 90°C for a day to remove arsenic, mercury, and any free sulfur that may be present. After cooling the ore, mix three parts of it with seven parts of distilled rainwater by weight. Seal in a flask and digest at 40° to 50°C, shaking it frequently. This is the part that takes some time. Up to a year or longer is often allowed for the fermentation to occur.» — el procedimiento y el tiempo que declara: hasta un año o más de fermentación.

«As the Antimony Spirit enters the water you may perceive the liquid to be more viscous and soapy or foamy. This is a good sign the ore has opened. Now the flask of material is attached to a distillation train. Begin the distillation slowly at 80°C and slowly raise it to about 400°C over a period of three days.» — la señal de que la mena se ha abierto —el líquido más viscoso o jabonoso— y la rampa de destilación de tres días.

«Let the apparatus cool completely. You should see a yellow to red sublimate on the walls of the glassware, or as a crust above the stibnite residue. Return the distillate to the residue, rinsing all of the sublimate from the walls. Repeat this distillation cycle two more times. The liquid from the final distillation is the Vinegar of Antimony.» — los tres ciclos de destilación que dan el Vinagre de Antimonio. El tramo abre en la plana 135 tras el salto.

«In this form it is still a weak solution but has excellent healing qualities of its own. Basil says it will eliminate all toxins from the body.» — lo que Basil Valentine adjudica a ese vinagre según él: eliminar todos los tóxicos del cuerpo. El volumen lo nombra aquí solo *Basil*.

«We can concentrate this Fixed Spirit through distillation such that it will extract the Sulfur from gold in a short time. The best way to approach this is by a 4×3 distillation to obtain twelve fractions. This separation opens other possibilities for medicinal use but our interest now is in concentrating the Vinegar. The name “vinegar” is applied to this liquid because of its fermentive origin and its acidic nature, and though it is not acetic acid nor sulfuric acid, the concentrate can reach a pH of one.» — cómo concentra ese vinagre por destilación 4×3 y qué declara de su naturaleza: el nombre viene del origen fermentativo y de la acidez, sin ser ácido acético ni sulfúrico.

«Test the pH of each of the twelve fractions and combine those which are most acidic. Distill this combined liquid into four equal parts and test the pH. Continue the process of distillation, testing, and combining until you have isolated the distillate with a pH of one. This is the» — el procedimiento de concentración por pH. El tramo se corta al final del chunk y sigue en la plana 135.

«concentrated Vinegar of Antimony. The yield is generally small but very powerful medicinally and as a menstruum it will extract the essentials from virtually all of the Mineral realm.» — el rendimiento y el alcance que declara del Vinagre de Antimonio concentrado. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el límite de chunk y viene de la plana 134.

«There are many ways to obtain an oil from antimony, and the properties of these oils vary with their method of preparation.» — la advertencia con que abre la sección de los aceites: sus propiedades cambiarían con el método.

«The preparation begins with the calcination of stibnite or Kermes into the oxide form. The oxide is ground very fine and made into glass of antimony. This glass is powdered and then extracted with a strong solution of vinegar, or still better, with radical vinegar. Let the extraction continue for several weeks at about 40°C and agitate it once in a while, especially in the first few days, or it will coalesce into a thick mass. After this time the solution will take on a golden to deep red color. Filter off the extract, and repeat with fresh vinegar.» — el procedimiento del Aceite Rojo Fijo hasta el extracto de color rojo profundo, con el aviso de agitar para que no se apelmace.

«Combine all of the extract and filter it into a distillation vessel. Gently distill the liquid until it becomes thickened, then add some water to dissolve the residue and continue the distillation. Repeat this washing with water to remove as much of the acid as possible. This washing can also be performed using alcohol. In this case, ethyl acetate is formed and readily distills out, so the washing is faster.» — el lavado del extracto y el atajo con alcohol, que forma acetato de etilo y destila pronto. El tramo abre en la plana 136 tras el salto.

«The resulting residue will appear as a golden brown, gummy resin.» — la señal del residuo listo para destilar.

«Place the resin into a suitably sized distillation vessel and proceed to distill as in the acetate work. Drops of a blood-red oil will come over, which are carefully collected by dissolving them into alcohol. Rinse any of the oil adhering to the glassware out with alcohol and combine all of the liquid into a container. Seal and allow it to stand for several days, then decant the clear tinted extract for use. This Fixed Tincture of Antimony has powerful healing properties unrecognized by modern medicine.» — la destilación del aceite rojo sangre y lo que le adjudica: virtudes curativas que declara no reconocidas por la medicina moderna.

«The final preparation of antimony we will briefly examine is that of the so-called Star Regulus of Antimony .» — la última preparación del capítulo y su nombre.

«This preparation is considered to be an advanced alchemical work as there is some danger involved and requires the operator to have developed laboratory skills. Many of the ancient sages describe this operation in extremely veiled terms.» — cómo la califica y qué dice de sus fuentes: los sabios antiguos la describieron en términos muy velados.

«Some of the clearest writings come from such notables as Eiraneus Philalethes, Nicholas Flamel, and even Isaac Newton. In fact, this path is often referred to as The Flamel Path . Taken to completion, it leads to the confection of The Philosopher's Stone and as such, represents the summit of laboratory alchemical works in the Dry Way.» — a quiénes adjudica las descripciones más claras —Filaleteo, Nicolas Flamel e Isaac Newton— y el nombre de la vía: el Camino de Flamel, cima del trabajo de laboratorio en la Vía Seca. El impreso escribe *Eiraneus Philalethes*.

«The term Regulus of Antimony has always been used to refer to the metallic antimony reduced from its ore. When it is well prepared and purified, you will see a starry pattern on the surface of the metal. The metal itself is quite brittle and reduces to a powder fairly easily. Hidden in the Regulus is the spirit of antimony.» — qué es el Régulo y cuál es su señal: el dibujo estrellado en la superficie del metal.

«“In Antimony are Mercury (in the regulus), Sulfur (in the redness) and Salt (in the black earth which sinks to the bottom),» — el pasaje que cita de Newton sobre los tres principios dentro del antimonio: Mercurio en el régulo, Azufre en la rojez y Sal en la tierra negra del fondo. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 137.

«which three, corrected, separated, and finally united together in the proper manner of Art so that fixation be obtained without poison, give an opportunity to the artificer to approach the Stone of Fire.”» — el cierre de ese pasaje de Newton, con la condición que pone: fijación sin veneno para acercarse a la Piedra de Fuego. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«The most common way of producing the Regulus begins with stibnite or the Kermes mineral.» — el punto de partida del Régulo.

«Isaac Newton recommended two parts stibnite, one part of iron filings, and four parts of burnt tartar. The mixture is fused in a crucible and allowed to cool slowly.» — la proporción que adjudica a Newton para esa fusión.

«A slag or scoria forms at the surface and easily comes off the metal with a hammer blow. Save this scoria from the first reduction of the ore to metal, it contains the Seed of Gold .» — la escoria de la primera reducción y qué declara que contiene: la Simiente del Oro.

«The metal or Regulus at the bottom of the crucible may show some signs of starring, but generally requires additional purification by grinding and fusion with niter to bring out the stars.» — la purificación con nitro que hace falta para que salgan las estrellas.

«The use of iron in the reduction produces iron sulfide by taking the sulfur from the stibnite, leaving the antimony free as metal which sinks to the bottom.» — la explicación química que da de esa reducción.

«Other methods of obtaining the Regulus include the use of niter in the mixture, For example, twelve parts stibnite, five parts iron filings, six parts niter, and nine parts raw tartar. Even small iron nails can be used for the reduction in place of iron filings.» — la variante con nitro y las proporciones que da.

«The inclusion of raw tartar is said to increase the yield of the Seed of Gold in the scoria during the first fusion.» — qué se le atribuye al tártaro crudo, en pasiva: más Simiente del Oro en la escoria.

«The exact proportions will depend on the quality of the stibnite you begin with.» — el límite que pone a esas proporciones.

«A word of caution: the mixtures with niter are essentially a form of gunpowder which you will be placing into a very hot crucible. Add material slowly or you will soon find out why the ancients called this process Detonation .» — la advertencia que da y la etimología que saca de ella: las mezclas con nitro son pólvora, y de ahí el nombre antiguo de Detonación.

«The Regulus, once obtained, is ground and mixed with twice its weight of niter, then fused again in a crucible to purify it. This purification may be repeated several times in order for the starry qualities to develop in the metal. This Star Regulus of Antimony is also called the Martial Regulus because of the iron used in its» — la purificación repetida del Régulo y el segundo nombre que recibe, Régulo Marcial, por el hierro. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y cierra con *production*.

«The Regulus has healing power of its own. An extraction of the powdered metal with spirit of turpentine turns a deep red. Removal of the turpentine leaves an oil which is dissolved into spirit of wine and used for all pulmonary illnesses. This is called the Balm of Antimony .» — el Bálsamo de Antimonio: extracción con esencia de trementina, disuelta después en espíritu de vino, para las dolencias pulmonares.

«By far the greatest interest surrounding the Regulus is its fixed spirit or Mercury, which can be transferred to other metals in order to reanimate them and awaken their generative power. This path leads to confecting the Philosopher's Stone.» — dónde pone el interés mayor del Régulo: su espíritu fijo, transferible a otros metales para despertar su poder generativo.

«In one approach to this path, the Martial Regulus is alloyed with about twice as much pure silver and a small amount of copper to produce a Lunar Venusian Regulus which has a beautiful violet color.» — la primera vía que expone: la aleación con plata y algo de cobre que da el Régulo Lunar Venusino, de color violeta.

«This Regulus is then amalgamated with purified metallic mercury, washed and then distilled. The amalgamation and distillation is repeated seven to ten times and is referred to as letting the eagles fly . The Regulus of antimony will not amalgamate very easily with mercury metal, so the silver is added to absorb the fixed spirit of antimony and transfer it to the mercury.» — las amalgamaciones y destilaciones repetidas que llama *dejar volar las águilas*, y la razón técnica de meter plata: el Régulo no amalgama bien con el mercurio.

«The silver then, often called the Doves of Diana , acts as a medium to transfer the life force of the antimony into the mercury. After the distillation, the residue of silver which remains in the retort, called now the Dead Doves of Diana , is cleaned and used again. With each cycle of amalgamation and distillation, the mercury metal becomes more enlivened and ultimately is called Animated Mercury , containing the generative power of the metallic realm.» — los nombres del proceso —Palomas de Diana y Palomas Muertas de Diana— y el producto: el Mercurio Animado, portador del poder generativo del reino metálico.

«It is the fertile field wherein the seed of metals is sown.» — la imagen con que cierra esa descripción: el Mercurio Animado como campo fértil donde se siembra la simiente de los metales.

«Purified gold metal is seeded into this animated mercury and digested over a long period. The matter will pass through a black stage, then gradually whiten and finally redden into the ferment or Red Stone which can be multiplied using fresh animated mercury.» — la siembra del oro y la sucesión de colores hasta la Piedra Roja, multiplicable con mercurio animado fresco.

«The Red Stone forms the basis of the Elixir or Universal Medicine for Man and Metals . It also has the power to transmute the lesser metals into gold, but it must become dedicated to that purpose by a further process called Inceration , which we will talk» — qué se hace con la Piedra Roja y la bifurcación que anuncia: Medicina Universal para el Hombre y los Metales, o transmutación previa Inceración. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *about later*.

«about later. After this process, it serves only for transmutations of metal and not for medicinal use.» — la exclusión que declara: hecha la Inceración, la Piedra ya solo sirve para transmutar. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Another approach for using the Star Regulus to confect the stone, without the use of metallic mercury, unites the Regulus with gold through a long digestion with a menstruum, derived similarly to the urine alkahest, in a closed vessel.» — la segunda vía que expone, sin mercurio metálico: unión del Régulo con el oro por digestión larga con un menstruo.

«The same progression of colors from black to white to red will be observed.» — la señal común a las dos vías: la misma sucesión de colores.

«In this case, the Regulus is called the Mercury or Our Luna and the gold is called Sol or Sulfur . The liquid menstruum is also often referred to as Mercury to confuse you or is called the Secret Fire . It is the catalyst which unites the contrary metals. Thus you will often see pictures of the Sun and Moon being united by Mercury in alchemical works.» — la clave de lectura que da para los nombres de esa segunda vía, y la advertencia sobre el uso deliberadamente confuso de *Mercurio* para el menstruo, que también se llama Fuego Secreto.

«“Matter is no other than a mere vapor, which extracted from the elementary earth by the superior stars, as by a sidereal distillation of the Macrocosm; which sidereal hot infusion, with any airy-sulfurous property descending upon inferiors, so acts and operates, that in those metals and minerals is implanted spiritually and invisibly a certain power and virtue, which fume afterwards resolves itself in the earth, into a certain water, from which mineral water all metals are thenceforth generated and ripened to their perfection; and thence proceeds this or that metal or mineral, according as one of the Three Principles acquires dominion.”» — el epígrafe del capítulo dieciséis, con la generación de los metales por una destilación sideral que implanta una virtud en la tierra. La voz es de Basil Valentine, del *Triumphal Chariot of Antimony*.

«T oday, products from the Mineral realm are not considered to have seeds or even to come from seeds, but in the works of alchemy, this is a great secret of the Art. Michael Sendivogius, in his “New Chemical Light” says:» — el contraste con que abre: hoy no se le adjudica simiente al reino mineral, y en la alquimia sería un secreto mayor del Arte.

«“Nature is not visible, though she acts visibly; she is a volatile spirit who manifests herself in material shapes, and her existence is in the Will of God.”» — el primero de los tres dichos que cita de Sendivogius: la naturaleza invisible que obra visiblemente y cuya existencia estaría en la Voluntad de Dios.

«“She is One and produces different things but only through the mediate instrumentality of Seed.”» — el segundo: una sola naturaleza que produce cosas distintas solo por mediación de la Simiente.

«“Nature performs whatsoever the Sperm requires of Her. Nature works on Seed.”» — el tercero: la naturaleza obraría sobre la Simiente. El tramo cruza el salto de plana.

«from above that Sendivogius called Seed, the Quintessence of a thing -- its most perfect digestion and decoction or the Radical Moisture . He further states that there is only one seed and that their difference is only caused by the place (the Womb) and degree of coction, but it is perfectly ripened in gold.» — lo que recoge de Sendivogius sobre la Simiente: una sola, con las diferencias puestas por la matriz y el grado de cocción, y perfectamente madura solo en el oro. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el encabezado *Recall* que el impreso deja en la plana anterior.

«The “Collectanea Chemica” published around 1650, describes it thus:» — la fuente siguiente que introduce, que data hacia 1650; la bibliografía la registra como anónima, en la reimpresión londinense de 1963 sobre la primera edición de 1893.

«“The seed of metals is what the Sons of Wisdom have called their Mercury, to distinguish it from quicksilver, which it nearly resembles, being the Radical Moisture of metals. This, when judiciously extracted, without corrosives, or fluxing, contains in it a seminal quality whose perfect ripeness is only in gold; in the other metals it is crude, like fruits which are yet green, not being sufficiently digested by the heat of the Sun and action of the elements, We observed that the Radical Moisture contains the Seed, which is true; yet it is not the Seed, but the Sperm only, in which the Vital Principle floats, being invisible to the eye.”» — el pasaje de la *Collectanea Chemica* sobre la simiente de los metales: el Mercurio de los Sabios, distinto del azogue, con la madurez solo en el oro y con la distinción entre Humedad Radical, Esperma y Simiente. La voz es de esa obra.

«“Though the seed is the most glorious of all created things, yet the womb is its life, which causes the putrefaction of the enclosing grain or sperm, brings about the congelation of the Vital Atom, nourishing and stimulating its growth by the warmth of its own body.”» — la continuación: la matriz como vida de la simiente, que la pudre, congela el Átomo Vital y lo nutre con su propio calor.

«The Salt or body determines the Fire or Seed to burn in a characteristic manner here in the physical world. Salt is the Womb wherein the Sulfurous nature and the Mercurial nature unite to produce the Living Chemical Child in which the Celestial Fire incarnates.» — cómo integra eso en su propio esquema de los tres principios: la Sal como matriz donde Azufre y Mercurio se unen para dar el Niño Químico Viviente.

«Everything produces seed after its own nature and so the sages often remind us that the proper seed placed into the proper matrix is the work of the artist, and then Nature takes over and is all too happy to bring the material to fruition. The sages tell us that you won't get a dog by planting a wheat seed nor a cow from a hen's egg, so do not expect to grow any metal without the Metallic Seed.» — el principio que adjudica a los sabios, con los dos símiles que dan su límite: ni perro de simiente de trigo ni vaca de huevo de gallina, y ningún metal sin Simiente Metálica.

«So where do we find the seeds of metals? The “Collectanea Chemica” tells us quite plainly and naturally that the seed of metals is found in their ore just as they occur in nature. Certainly then, the most coveted seed is the Seed of Gold as gold contains the most perfect reflection of the Celestial Fire.» — dónde localiza esa simiente según la *Collectanea Chemica* —en la mena tal como se da en la naturaleza— y por qué la del oro sería la más codiciada.

«“The Stone you seek, we said and still affirm is only gold,» — el pasaje que cita de Filaleteo: la Piedra sería solo oro. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *brought to so high perfection as it is possible*.

«brought to so high perfection as it is possible, which though a firm compacted body is, yet by art's direction, and nature's operation, made a tinging spirit which will never fade.”» — el cierre de esa cita de Filaleteo: cuerpo firme y compacto vuelto por el arte espíritu tiñente que no se desvanece. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Just as the alchemists describe many Degrees of Fire , so do they also describe many Grades of Gold and we must often discern which gold they are speaking of.» — la advertencia de lectura con que introduce la sección: hay varios grados de oro y hay que discernir de cuál se habla.

«“In order that you may desire nothing that belongs to the theory and practice of our Philosophy, I will tell you that, according to Philosophers, there are three kinds of Gold.”» — el arranque de la clasificación que cita del *Hermetical Triumph*: tres clases de oro según los Filósofos.

«“The first one is an Astral Gold, whose center is in the Sun, which with its rays communicates it, at the same time as its light, to all heavenly bodies under it. It is an igneous substance, and a continuous emanation of solar corpuscles which, being in a perpetual flux and reflux, because of the movement of the sun and the stars, fills up the whole universe. Everything is penetrated by this Gold in the immensity of heavens upon earth, and, in its bowels, we breathe continuously this Astral Gold, the solar particles penetrate our bodies and are ceaselessly exhaled from them.» — la primera clase: el Oro Astral, emanación de corpúsculos solares que llenaría el universo y que se respiraría de continuo.

«“The second one is an Elemental Gold, that is, the purest and most fixed portion of the elements, and of all substances composed by them; so that every sub lunar being of the three genera contains in its center a precious grain of this Elemental Gold.» — la segunda: el Oro Elemental, la porción más pura y fija de los elementos, presente en el centro de todo ser sublunar.

«“The third one is the handsome metal, whose brightness and inalterable perfection give it a price, which make it to be considered by all men as the sovereign remedy for all evils and needs of life, and as the only foundation of greatness and human power.”» — la tercera: el metal mismo, del que dice que los hombres lo tienen por remedio soberano y fundamento del poder.

«“It is a Universal Fluid, a living one, extended throughout all Nature, which penetrates all beings; it is the most subtle of all things, incorruptible in its essence, and permeating the infinite space. The sun and planets are but condensed states of this Universal Principle, distributing their abundances through their palpitating hearts, and sending them to the forms of the lower worlds and to every being, acting through their own centers, and» — el pasaje que adjudica a Johannes Trithemius sobre el Oro Astral como fluido universal vivo del que el Sol y los planetas serían estados condensados. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *impelling those forms to a higher state in the path of perfection*.

«This spirit may be obtained in the same way as it is communicated to earth from the stars. The forms in which this living principle becomes fixed, become perfect and permanent. Thus, the Philosophical Stone is the ultimate that can be made using it, making that which is volatile to become fixed.”» — el cierre de ese pasaje: el espíritu se obtendría como las estrellas lo comunican a la tierra, y la Piedra sería lo máximo que con él puede hacerse.

«“The gold of the wise is proper the gold of the second species; for, when this gold is perfectly calcinated, and exalted to the cleanness and whiteness of snow, it acquires, by Magistery, a natural sympathy for the Astral Gold, of whom it has become visibly a true magnet, it attracts and concentrates in itself so great a quantity of Astral Gold and of solar particles, received from the continuous emanation of them done in the center of the Sun and Moon, that it is in a disposition near to become the living gold of the Philosophers.”» — el pasaje del *Hermetical Triumph* que cierra el capítulo: el oro de los sabios sería el de la segunda especie, que calcinado y exaltado a blancura de nieve se vuelve imán del Oro Astral.

«A ccording to Hermetic tradition, the Philosopher's Stone is manifest as a heavy crystalline substance which is described as being quite similar to pulverized glass, ranging from crimson to saffron in color.» — cómo describe la Piedra Filosofal, según la tradición hermética que invoca: sustancia cristalina pesada, parecida al vidrio pulverizado, de carmesí a azafrán.

«It has no odor, is not combustible and yet melts easily like wax by candle flame alone and readily dissolves into water or wine. The materials to make it are abundant and to be had by anyone.» — las propiedades que le adjudica y la afirmación sobre sus materiales: abundantes y al alcance de cualquiera.

«The Stone is said to have the power to cure all sickness, give back lost youth, and to transmute other metals into gold.» — las tres virtudes que se le atribuyen, dicho en pasiva: curar toda enfermedad, devolver la juventud y transmutar los metales.

«The old Adepts constantly assure us of its physical reality. There are exhibits in several European Museums, which are reportedly alchemically made gold. Even up to our current times, reports of successful transmutations are found.» — el aval que invoca para su realidad física: las piezas de museo que se declaran oro alquímico y los informes de transmutaciones que llegarían hasta hoy. La atribución de esas piezas la da en pasiva.

«the nineteenth century, alchemical transmutation was considered a dead issue. “The elements are immutable.” Then came the discovery of radioactivity and the fact that transmutation of elements was occurring naturally.» — el giro histórico que traza: la transmutación se tenía por asunto muerto hasta el descubrimiento de la radiactividad. El tramo abre a mitad de frase porque el impreso corta *Near the end of* en renglones sueltos.

«In the 1960s it was announced that the alchemist's dream had been realized when scientists formed a tiny amount of gold by bombarding a pool of mercury with high energy particles.» — el segundo hito que consigna, en pasiva y sin fuente: el oro obtenido bombardeando mercurio con partículas de alta energía.

«In the 1970s and 1980s the work of the French biochemist Louis Kervran revealed the possibility of elemental transmutation as a» — el tercer hito que consigna: el trabajo de Louis Kervran, cuyo libro registra la bibliografía. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *natural process in living systems and gave it the name Biological Transmutations*.

«Today the controversy over Cold Fusion is still in progress, and Quantum Physics tells us the observer has an effect on the material world. The promises of alchemy seem to be far from a dead issue.» — los dos avales contemporáneos con que cierra el argumento: la controversia de la fusión fría y el efecto del observador en la física cuántica.

«The perfection and evolution of the alchemist is the true goal in all of this. We mentioned that one must become the living stone before being able to produce the tangible stone.» — dónde vuelve a poner el fin verdadero de todo el libro: la perfección del alquimista, que debe volverse piedra viviente antes de hacer la piedra tangible.

«The skills necessary for its production and the way to proceed are gradually revealed to the alchemist as his own transformation unfolds. The actual physical stone is regarded more as a final test or proof that he has been successful, although at that point the transmutation of base metals to gold will become a trivial pursuit.» — cómo dice que se adquiere la destreza —al paso de la propia transformación— y qué lugar da a la piedra física: prueba final, con la transmutación vuelta trivial a esa altura.

«In the wrong hands the Stone could have a devastating effect on the world economy for the Stone could be made to multiply, not only in quantity but in transforming power, where an ounce could produce ten thousand ounces of gold and cure hundreds of people at Death's door.» — el riesgo económico que le adjudica y las cifras de multiplicación que maneja.

«As Christopher Glaser wrote in his Chemical textbook about 1650 -- Would you ever feel safe walking down the street knowing that in your vest pocket lay the potential to create ten thousand ounces of gold? In the past, many were imprisoned and tortured to reveal the secrets of making gold. Do you think it would be any different today?» — la pregunta con que traslada ese riesgo al operador; el volumen la introduce como escrita por Christopher Glaser hacia 1650 sin cerrar la atribución, y la bibliografía registra su *Complete Chymist* de 1677.

«Some say this is the reason why alchemy has been such a closely guarded secret by the adepts. How does that go? “With great power comes great responsibility and the ability to attract great consequences.”» — la explicación del secreto alquímico que consigna como opinión ajena, rematada con una sentencia entrecomillada sobre el poder y la responsabilidad que no adjudica a nadie.

«“Therefore the philosophers say their matter is in all things, yet have selected such subjects wherein the Universal Spirit is more abundantly contained and more concentrated and easier to be obtained.”» — el pasaje de la *Golden Chain of Homer* que reconcilia la materia universal con la elección de sujetos concretos.

«We've mentioned two of the commonly used paths for confecting the Philosopher's Stone, that of the Wet Way through lead acetate, and the Dry Way through the Star Regulus of Antimony .» — el recuento de las dos vías ya expuestas antes de la tercera.

«The final method we examine is often called the way of the Divine Cinnabar . I saved this for last because it is a dangerous operation requiring the use of the very toxic metallic mercury. The other two methods also present dangers and the use of toxic materials, but mercury is particularly insidious and can quickly contaminate an area which will then be very difficult to clean up.» — la tercera vía y por qué la deja para el final: el mercurio metálico, que declara particularmente insidioso.

«Some alchemists avoid working with mercury metal altogether because of the danger to themselves and those around them. The use of metallic mercury is well established in both Chinese and Indian alchemy as well.» — la objeción que consigna sin arbitrar —hay alquimistas que rehúyen el mercurio— y el aval histórico que da: su uso asentado en la alquimia china e india.

«All of the laboratory skills you have developed in the Lesser Works will be called into play in these works -- The Great Work -- in order to avoid mishap. More than one alchemist has lost his life in this work, so be cautious and Know the theory first before attempting the praxis .» — la advertencia con que abre la Gran Obra, repitiendo el precepto del capítulo segundo: más de un alquimista habría perdido la vida en este trabajo.

«Metallic mercury or common mercury is a curious thing, liquid at normal temperatures, bright like silver and heavy like gold. It seems poised to become any of the other metals. The slightest vibration sets it quivering for some time. It seems alive.» — cómo describe el mercurio metálico: líquido, brillante como plata y pesado como oro, y a punto de volverse cualquier otro metal.

«The ancients called it Argent Vive , living silver, or Quicksilver because it is always quick to move, but also because it is easily quickened with life. Being in the liquid state, mercury is still heavily influenced by the subtle spiritual energies around it.» — los nombres antiguos del mercurio y la doble etimología que propone para *quicksilver*: rápido de moverse y fácil de vivificar.

«The basic idea behind the mercury work is that the mercury plays the part of the female and gold is the male, their proper union results in the birth of The Chemical Child -- the Philosopher's Stone.» — la idea rectora de esta vía: el mercurio como hembra y el oro como macho, cuya unión daría el Niño Químico.

«Of course not just any old mercury and gold metals will work, they need Philosophical preparation. The mercury must be purified before work can begin. Then the purified mercury is reanimated or recharged with Universal Fire to awaken its generative power. The Animated Mercury is then digested with prepared gold in the proper proportion and regimen of heat until it passes through the black, white, and finally to the red stage or Red Stone . Much the same as with the Star Regulus of Antimony mentioned earlier.» — el requisito de preparación filosófica de los dos metales y la sucesión de colores que espera, la misma de la vía del Régulo.

«“Gold is the true leaven of the Elixir. Marriage will take place between the mercury menstruum (the female), and the Sun/gold (the male). The woman is said to draw the sperm or “seed” of» — el pasaje que cita de Lintaut, *Friend of the Dawn*, que data hacia 1700: el oro como levadura verdadera del Elixir. La voz es de Lintaut. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *the gold*.

«the gold. The seed of the noble metal will make the mercury like itself through digestion alone”» — el cierre de esa cita de Lintaut: la simiente del metal noble volvería semejante a sí al mercurio por sola digestión. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«We can buy high purity mercury (triple distilled) from the chemical supply store, but it is still a good idea to purify it in the old ways. It is not so much aimed at getting the mercury any more pure, than exalting it alchemically and opening the body to receive new life.» — por qué purifica el mercurio comprado ya puro: no para limpiarlo más sino para exaltarlo y abrir el cuerpo a vida nueva.

«For this, take your mercury and wash it well with rainwater, then squeeze it through a piece of chamois or some other thin pliable leather.» — el primer lavado del mercurio.

«Now cover the mercury with dried and powdered sea salt. Mix these two completely using a mortar and pestle. Depending on the impurities in the mercury, the salt may darken even to blackness. Wash this dirty salt out using rainwater and repeat the salt washing once or twice. The mercury will retain some of the subtle essence of the salt which is important for the rest of the processes.» — el lavado con sal marina y qué declara que queda en el mercurio: algo de la esencia sutil de la sal, que dice importante para el resto.

«Put the mercury into a mortar and add an equal amount of sea salt. Saturate this mixture with strong distilled vinegar (about 10% acetic acid) and begin vigorously mixing the mass for about ten minutes. Now wash this salt out with rainwater until the mercury appears shiny and bright. Press it through a chamois. There should be no residue left in the chamois. The mercury should leave no trail when rolled across a smooth surface and should be without any appearance of scum at the surface. This mercury is now “the field prepared and fit to receive our noble king.”» — el lavado con sal y vinagre, las tres señales de que el mercurio está listo —sin residuo en la gamuza, sin rastro al rodar, sin nata— y la fórmula con que lo declara: campo preparado para recibir al noble rey.

«Animation is described as the addition of etheric essences or principles in the etheric shell of a substance and awakening its generative virtue.» — cómo define la animación, en pasiva: añadir esencias etéricas a la cáscara etérica de una sustancia y despertar su virtud generativa.

«There are many ways to animate mercury. We mentioned the most popular method earlier when discussing The Flamel Path with the Star Regulus of Antimony .» — el reenvío al método ya expuesto, el Camino de Flamel.

«The simplest method is to use native gold alone with the purified mercury. Use a form of pure native gold such as gold nuggets or gold dust as obtained by panning in a river.» — el método más simple que ofrece y qué oro exige: oro nativo, en pepita o en polvo de bateo.

«a powder by grinding with salt and vinegar into a paste. Wash out the salt and let the gold dry. To twenty nine parts of purified mercury, add 11/4 parts of gold powder and grind them into a fluid amalgam. Wash the amalgam with water until it is clean and bright. Wipe the surface with a piece of paper towel until dry, then place the dried amalgam into a tall, strong glass vessel and seal it well. Let this matter digest at about 40°C for three months. After three months, increase the temperature to 60°C and continue digestion for another three months.» — las proporciones de la amalgama y el régimen de calor: tres meses a 40 °C y tres más a 60 °C. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 147; el impreso da la proporción como *11/4* partes.

«“This action stirs up the hidden power in the mercury, which, totally surrounding the noble metal, gradually dissolves it, releasing its power into the dissolving menstruum.” “The mercury starts to acquire the subtle seed of the noble metal, thus being animated.”» — los dos pasajes de Lintaut que explican esa animación: el mercurio disolvería al metal noble y adquiriría su simiente sutil. La voz es de Lintaut.

«The result of this six month digestion is Animated Mercury . Be sure to make a sufficient quantity of this because the later operations of multiplication and augmentation of the Stone will require it. This method of animation requires time (six months), but the manipulation of hazardous materials is kept to a minimum.» — el producto de esos seis meses y el balance que hace del método: lento, pero con el mínimo de materiales peligrosos.

«The final method of mercury animation we will examine is the way of the Divine Cinnabar . This process requires a great deal of care as it is quite dangerous, but is held to be one of the most powerful ways to animate metallic mercury and produce the Philosophical Stone.» — la vía del Cinabrio Divino y lo que se le atribuye, en pasiva: de las más potentes y de las más peligrosas.

«We begin with metallic mercury purified with salt and vinegar as above. Mix the mercury with an equal amount of native sulfur in a mortar, grinding it together well. The matter will turn black during this process, forming mercury sulfide. Examine the matter closely with a magnifier. There should be no tiny globules of mercury remaining. Grind with additional sulfur if there are.» — el primer paso del Cinabrio Divino y la comprobación con lupa que exige: ninguna gota de mercurio libre.

«The resulting black mass is a crude form of cinnabar, which is the sulfide ore of mercury. We can proceed with the black variety of cinnabar or we can improve this matter by sublimation to obtain the beautiful orange variety of cinnabar which is best, but difficult and dangerous to perform.» — las dos variedades de cinabrio y cuál declara mejor: la naranja, obtenida por sublimación, que también dice más difícil y peligrosa.

«Now mix the cinnabar (black or orange) with an equal weight of iron filings and place this into a strong retort for distillation.» — la reducción del cinabrio con limaduras de hierro. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 149, donde dice que el hierro toma el azufre del cinabrio y que la clave está en la esencia sutil que el propio hierro aporta.

«with the Star Regulus of Antimony, the iron will take up the sulfur from the cinnabar. Mercury metal will be reduced and begin to distil over. Some operators recommend using a 50 / 50 mixture of Star Regulus and iron filings for this distillation. In both cases, it is the subtle essence obtained from the iron itself that is the key.» — la continuación: el hierro toma el azufre del cinabrio, el mercurio se reduce y destila, y la clave estaría en la esencia sutil del hierro; algunos operadores usarían mitad Régulo Estrellado y mitad limaduras. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«“The red, solar, sulfureous principle of iron (or its counterpart in regulus of antimony) acts on the mercury with increasing force each operation.”» — el pasaje de Lintaut sobre el principio sulfúreo solar del hierro, que actuaría con más fuerza en cada operación. La voz es de Lintaut; el volumen data aquí la obra en 1700 y en la plana 146 *circa 1700*.

«The outlet of the distillation is led into a container of water where the mercury vapor is condensed into a pool of bright shining mercury metal. The reaction can become quite vigorous so careful heating and strong vessels are required as is proper ventilation.» — el montaje de condensación del mercurio y sus precauciones.

«An easy way to perform the distillations of mercury amalgam is to construct a small retort using iron pipe fittings from the hardware store, pack charcoal briquettes around it and start the fire outside. Again the outlet is submerged in a container of water and the distillation of metallic mercury proceeds. When the distillation stops, be sure to remove the retort outlet from the water or the vacuum created by the cooling retort will draw the water into the apparatus with possible dire consequences, i.e. explosion.» — la retorta casera de accesorios de fontanería que propone, con la advertencia del vacío al enfriar y el riesgo de explosión.

«Collect all of the mercury that distills and squeeze it through a chamois, and this will conclude one cycle or Eagle . The process of making cinnabar with fresh native sulfur and its reduction by distillation with iron is repeated on this mercury until seven Eagles have flown .» — cómo cuenta los ciclos: cada vuelta de cinabrio y reducción es un Águila, y se repite hasta que hayan volado siete.

«process, but its inner etheric shell of sulfurous and mercurial principles is activated. After the final Eagle, distill the mercury two times by itself. This results in an Animated Mercury.» — qué declara que ocurre en esos siete ciclos: no una purificación mayor sino la activación de la cáscara etérica del mercurio. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el límite de chunk y viene de la 148.

«“It is the fertilized matrix in which you may plant your corn.”» — la sentencia entrecomillada con que remata esa sección; el volumen no le pone firmante y sigue el vocabulario agrícola de Lintaut.

«Once we have a supply of Animated Mercury from one of the above methods, or from the Star Regulus of Antimony method, the next step is to form the so-called Rebis wherein the opposites are united.» — el paso siguiente y su nombre: el Rebis, donde se unen los opuestos. El concepto tiene ficha propia en el corpus.

«Take four parts of your Animated Mercury and carefully amalgamate it with one part of fine gold powder in a glass mortar. Wash the amalgam with water until it is clean and shining then blot it dry with a cloth.» — las proporciones del Rebis: cuatro de Mercurio Animado por una de oro fino. El tramo abre en la plana 150 tras el salto.

«Place the cleaned amalgam into a long-necked glass vessel so that only a third of it is filled. This should be made of strong glass and able to seal very tightly.» — el vaso de cuello largo lleno solo hasta un tercio.

«Now warm the entire vessel and contents to about 50°C and quickly seal it air tight and allow it to cool a bit. In the old days this is where the Hermetic Seal would be applied by heating the neck of the vessel and melting it closed. Today glassware is available with precision ground joints and is sufficiently air tight for this.» — el sellado y la nota histórica: el Sello Hermético se hacía fundiendo el cuello del vaso, y hoy bastarían las juntas esmeriladas.

«The sealed vessel is now set to digest at about 40° to 50°C. After about three months at this heat, the matter will begin to darken and finally turn black. This is the so-called Nigredo phase or Black Stage .» — el primer régimen de calor y su término: tres meses hasta el negro, la fase que llama Nigredo.

«Once the matter is entirely black, gently raise the heat to about 60° to 65°C and continue the digestion. After two to three months the matter will acquire an iridescence at the surface with colors reminiscent of a Peacock's Tail , which is what the adepts called this stage. As the digestion continues, the matter will gradually become lighter marking the beginning of the Albedo stage or Whitening.» — el segundo régimen, con la Cola de Pavo Real como señal intermedia y el paso al Albedo.

«It will take about nine more months for the matter to become entirely white. When this happens, the heat is very slowly raised to about 130°C over the course of several months.» — el tiempo del blanqueamiento y el tercer régimen de calor.

«The whiteness gradually gives way to a yellowness that deepens with time into red. This is the Rubedo stage or Red Stage of the Stone. Once this point is reached, the matter should be digested at about 200°C for an additional two months in order to mature. Allow the matter to slowly cool, then break the vessel to remove the contents which is the Red Stone in the First Degree.» — el Rubedo, la maduración final a 200 °C y el producto: la Piedra Roja de Primer Grado.

«In order to effect metallic transmutations, the Red Stone must undergo some further processing.» — la condición que pone antes de la transmutación.

«Once this happens the Stone is no longer used for medicine but is solely dedicated to the purpose» — la exclusión que declara: hecha la Inceración, la Piedra deja de servir como medicina. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *of transmutation*.

«This final processing is called Inceration , which means to make something like wax. Inceration augments the Stone's fusibility and ingress into metals -- that is, its ability to penetrate.» — qué es la Inceración y para qué sirve: aumentar la fusibilidad y el ingreso de la Piedra en los metales.

«Begin this by grinding a portion of the Red Stone to a powder and then amalgamate it with six times its weight of Animated Mercury. Wash the amalgam with rain water several times, then blot it dry with a cloth.» — el procedimiento de Inceración y su proporción.

«Squeeze the dried amalgam through a chamois and save aside the mercury that passes through the chamois for later use.» — el colado por gamuza y la instrucción de guardar el mercurio que pasa.

«The matter is now digested for three months at each of the four heats used in preparing the Red Stone, (i.e., 40, 65, 130, 200°C).» — el régimen de calor de la Inceración, con las cuatro temperaturas de la Piedra.

«At the end of the digestion, break open the vessel and remove the matter which should now be easy to fuse like wax and not smoke at all.» — las dos señales de la Piedra incerada: funde como cera y no humea.

«The Red Stone in the First Degree is said to have the power to transmute metals in the ratio of one part Stone to ten parts metal.» — la potencia que se atribuye a la Piedra de Primer Grado, en pasiva: una parte por diez de metal.

«The Stone's power can be increased ten-fold in a process called Multiplication . This process is very much like that of preparing the original Red Stone, only it takes much less time.» — el proceso de Multiplicación y su relación con la primera confección: el mismo camino, mucho más rápido.

«Take one part of the Red Stone in the First Degree, and amalgamate it with ten parts Animated Mercury. Wash the amalgam with rainwater then blot it dry. Place the clean amalgam into a tall glass vessel and seal as before. Now begin the same regimen of heating and digestion starting at 40°C.» — el procedimiento de multiplicación.

«The matter will undergo the same series of color changes, (i.e., black, white and finally red) but in a much shorter time. Increase the heat according to the color changes as before.» — la misma sucesión de colores, más breve, con el calor regulado por el color.

«After the Red Stage has been reached, the matter is cooled and removed from the vessel. Its power is now such that one part will» — el término de la multiplicación. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *act on one hundred parts of metal*: una parte por cien.

«If we take this Red Stone and repeat the process of multiplication on it, one part will act on one thousand parts of metal, then ten thousand parts, and so on.» — la progresión que anuncia con cada multiplicación sucesiva.

«Remember that before the Stone can be used for metallic transmutations it must go through the process of Inceration , whatever degree it has been multiplied to.» — la condición que repite: Inceración antes de transmutar, sea cual sea el grado de multiplicación.

«Some believe it is quite dangerous to multiply the Stone more than seven times, as it is said to become first luminous then unstable altogether with the possibility of catastrophic consequences.» — el límite que consigna como creencia ajena: pasadas siete multiplicaciones la Piedra se volvería luminosa y luego inestable.

«The final test of the Stone and proof that the operator has worked correctly, is the transmutation of metals.» — qué papel da a la transmutación dentro de su esquema: prueba final del trabajo del operador, no su objeto.

«Projection is the term used to describe the addition of the Perfected Solar Medicine to molten metals by projecting it on top of the melted matter in a crucible, resulting in its transmutation.» — cómo define la Proyección: añadir la Medicina Solar Perfeccionada sobre el metal fundido en el crisol.

«Depending on the quality' and multiplication of the Stone, more or less of it may be required to effect the transmutation of various metals. For example, if one part of the stone is found to act on one hundred parts of pure silver, that same one part may only affect ten parts of a more crude metal such as tin or lead.» — la advertencia de que la cantidad necesaria varía con el metal, con el ejemplo de la plata frente al estaño o el plomo. El impreso escribe *quality'* con apóstrofo.

«Silver is a noble metal next to gold and often used as a guide in determining the strength of the Red Stone's power to effect transmutation.» — por qué usa la plata como patrón para medir la fuerza de la Piedra.

«Let us say that we have the Red Stone multiplied to a strength of one part to one hundred parts metal. Take one hundred parts of pure silver metal and melt it in a crucible. When it is completely molten, take one part of the Incerated Red Stone and form it into several small balls or pills. Slowly add one pill at a time to the crucible and allow it to fuse with the silver. Continue adding the small pills until you have added the full one part.» — el procedimiento de proyección, con la Piedra incerada formada en píldoras que se añaden de a una.

«Keep the contents molten for an additional two hours as the metal matures and evolves.» — el tiempo de fusión posterior y cómo lo lee: el metal madura y evoluciona.

«At the end of the two hours, allow the matter to cool slowly and then break it from the crucible.» — el enfriado y el desmolde.

«Now re-melt the metal and cast it into an ingot. All of the silver should have changed to 24k gold. An assay of the metal may reveal» — el resultado que anuncia de la proyección sobre plata. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 153 con el ensayo que propone para medir la fuerza real de la Piedra.

«the presence of silver which did not change, so the strength of the Stone can be determined at, say 180 to 1 instead of the expected 200 to 1. On the contrary, a portion of the metal may be melted with additional pure silver and reveal that it has strength to transmute even more than expected, say 300 to 1.» — el ensayo que propone: la plata sin transmutar daría la fuerza real, por debajo o por encima de lo esperado. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«This assessment of the Stone's power will allow you to judge the proper amount to effect the transmutation desired and yet not waste this most precious of medicines.» — para qué sirve esa medición: no desperdiciar la Piedra.

«The Elizabethan scholar / physician Dr. John Dee and his alchemist associate, Edward Kelly, are said to have learned a painful lesson in this. Having come into possession of a quantity of the Red Stone, they proceeded to make various transmutations only to discover later that the power of the Stone was far greater than they had imagined. Unfortunately they did not realize this until more than half of the Stone had been used up.» — la anécdota con que cierra el capítulo, dicha en pasiva: se dice que Dee y Kelly gastaron más de la mitad de su Piedra sin advertir que era más fuerte de lo que creían. John Dee tiene ficha de actor propia en el corpus.

«O ther chemists I meet often ask me, “Is alchemy like chemistry?” To which, I usually reply, “No, not at all really.”» — cómo abre la conclusión: con la pregunta que dice recibir de otros químicos y su respuesta.

«Alchemy and chemistry parted ways centuries ago and not under the best of terms. Over time, laboratory alchemy became even more obscured by the new terminology and goals of the developing science of modern chemistry. Most chemists today do not have a clue as to what alchemy is really about. The subject has had such a stigma placed on it from medieval times that much of its potential remains unexplored.» — el diagnóstico con que cierra el libro: la separación de alquimia y química, el estigma medieval y el potencial que declara sin explorar.

«Modern science has come a long way in the exploration of Nature, still it is not all-knowing. Around the turn of the twentieth century, science reveled in the discovery of its three essential building blocks of matter (the proton, neutron, and electron) under the influence of the four fundamental forces . Later on, the fundamental particles themselves were found to be composed of a whole cornucopia of smaller particles and some of these smaller particles were composed of yet smaller particles. It seems to go on and on but we've reached some limitations in divisibility or in the determination of division and it becomes a tangle of statistics and probabilities.» — el argumento con que devuelve la pregunta a la ciencia: los tres constituyentes y las cuatro fuerzas dieron paso a una divisibilidad que se enreda en estadística y probabilidad.

«Interestingly enough, the powers of mind begin to reveal themselves and the observer becomes a key issue. At this Quantum level of subtle matter, modern science recognizes the influence of mind. It also recognizes various modalities in time and space like sheets or layers or spheres of being. It is starting to sound a bit like Jabir-ish .» — dónde encuentra la convergencia: el observador y la mente reconocidos en el nivel cuántico, con modalidades de tiempo y espacio en capas o esferas. El chiste final retoma la etimología de *gibberish* del capítulo primero.

«We mentioned earlier that science is coming full circle to that which was taught in the ancient mystery schools.» — la tesis que retoma del capítulo primero. El tramo abre en la plana 155 tras el salto.

«Even modern medical science is beginning to recognize man's subtle energy substructure such as the acupuncture meridians.» — el ejemplo que da de esa convergencia en la medicina: los meridianos de la acupuntura.

«Practical alchemy has labored under a bad reputation, branded fraud or at best pseudo-science by those with no practical experience in the matter at all.» — de dónde hace venir la mala fama de la alquimia práctica: de quienes no tienen experiencia práctica en ella.

«There are many secrets still hidden in the ancient Art waiting to be rediscovered by the practicing artist. As the alchemist known as Magophon said, “The disciple must exert himself to realize all his concepts.”» — lo que deja abierto y la sentencia que repite del epígrafe del capítulo cuarto, aquí adjudicada a Magophon; en aquella plana el volumen escribía *Magaphon*.

«You have to do the work in order for the light to shine, Nature will do Her part.» — el reparto que repite entre operador y naturaleza.

«The well known occult writer, Israel Regardie, published a book entitled The Philosopher's Stone in 1938, wherein he examines alchemy from several mystical and psychological points of view. Later in life, he became a student of Frater Albertus at the Paracelsus Research Society, which “opened his eyes.” In his introduction to the second edition of the book, he had this to say regarding his experience of laboratory alchemy:» — el caso de Israel Regardie que consigna: publicó *The Philosopher's Stone* en 1938 desde una lectura mística y psicológica, y después estudió con Frater Albertus. Esa obra tiene ficha propia en el corpus.

«“It took no more than a few minutes to help me realize how presumptuous I had been to assert dogmatically that all alchemy was psycho-spiritual. What I witnessed there and have since repeated, has sufficed to enable me to state categorically that, in insisting solely on a mystical interpretation of alchemy, I had done a grave disservice to the ancient sages and philosophers.”» — el pasaje que cita de Regardie retractándose de su lectura solo psicoespiritual de la alquimia. La voz es de Regardie, de la introducción a la segunda edición de su libro.

«There is only the One Thing, The Celestial Fire , and we all have a part to play on its journey of self-realization. The Great Work is about following Nature and helping Nature in this unfoldment. The Celestial Fire is often termed The Divine Will . Our own Will is the reflection of this Fire which drives all of creation.» — cómo cierra la doctrina del libro: una sola Cosa, y la Voluntad propia como reflejo del Fuego Celeste.

«Discovering our True Will or Purpose and fulfilling that purpose is the highest accomplishment of the alchemist and service to Nature.» — dónde pone el logro más alto del alquimista: descubrir y cumplir la Voluntad Verdadera.

«“The secret of alchemy is this; there is a way of manipulating matter and energy so as to produce what modern scientists call a “field of force.” This field acts on the observer and places him in a privileged position within the universe. From this position he» — el pasaje de Fulcanelli con que cierra el libro: un campo de fuerza que situaría al observador en posición privilegiada. La voz es de Fulcanelli. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue *has access to the realities which are ordinarily hidden from us by time and space, energy and matter. This is what we call “The Great Work”*.

«This table is just a short selection of common herbs and their planetary rulers. Most of these associations are taken from the 16th» — el encabezado del apéndice de hierbas y planetas y su fuente. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 158: *century herbalist Nicholas Culpepper's, “Compleat Herbal,”*, que el volumen sitúa en el siglo XVI.

«S UN : angelica, bay, chamomile, celandine, eyebrigbt, juniper, marigold, rosemary, rue, saffron, St. John's wort, sundew, walnut» — las hierbas solares del apéndice, tal como las imprime el troceo; *eyebrigbt* es lectura del escaneo por *eyebright*.

«M OON : chickweed, cleavers, watercress, cucumber, lettuce, water-lily, moonwort, wallflower, willow» — las hierbas lunares.

«M ERCURY : wild carrot, caraway, dill, hazelnut, horehound, lavender, lily, liquorice, marjoram, oats, parsley, parsnip, savory, honeysuckle, valerian» — las hierbas mercuriales.

«V ENUS : burdock, columbine, coltsfoot, daisy, eringo, featherfew, figwort, goldenrod, marshmallow, mint, mother-wort, mugwort, catnip, pennyroyal, plantain, periwinkle, poppy, purslane, primrose, strawberry, yarrow» — las hierbas venusinas; el impreso quiebra la lista en renglones sueltos.

«M ARS : all-heal, barberry, basil, garlic, gentian, hawthorn, hops, nettle, onion, radish, rhubarb, tobacco, wormwood» — las hierbas marciales.

«J UPITER : Melissa, bilberry, borage, chervil, cinquefoil, dandelion, dock, endive, hyssop, house-leek, melilot, oak, roses» — las hierbas jovianas, encabezadas por la melisa del Primum Ens.

«S ATURN : amarantbus, barley, corn, beet, comfrey, dodder, elm, fumitory, horsetail, holly, ivy, mullein, nightshade, shepherd's-purse, blacktborn, wood, wintergreen, yew» — las hierbas saturninas; *amarantbus* y *blacktborn* son lecturas del escaneo por *amaranthus* y *blackthorn*.

«has access to the realities which are ordinarily hidden from us by time and space, energy and matter. This is what we call “The Great Work.”» — el cierre del pasaje de Fulcanelli con que termina el libro: ese campo de fuerza daría acceso a realidades ocultas por el tiempo, el espacio, la energía y la materia, y eso sería la Gran Obra. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana desde la 155.

«Published in 2009 by Ibis Press An imprint of Nicolas-Hays, Inc. P. O. Box 540206 Lake Worth, FL 33454-0206» — el pie editorial de la página de derechos: Ibis Press como sello de Nicolas-Hays, Inc., con domicilio en Lake Worth, Florida.

«Distributed to the trade by Red Wheel/Weiser, LLC 65 Parker St. • Ste. 7 Newburyport, MA 01950» — la distribución comercial, a cargo de Red Wheel/Weiser en Newburyport, Massachusetts.

«Copyright © 2007 by Robert Allen Bartlett spagyricus@aol.com» — el titular del copyright, con fecha de 2007 y correo del autor impreso junto al nombre.

«All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from Nicolas-Hays, Inc. Reviewers may quote brief passages.» — la reserva de derechos, que remite el permiso a Nicolas-Hays y no al autor.

«First Edition 2006 by Quinquangle Press Second Revised Edition 2007 by Lulu.com Third Revised Edition 2009 by Ibis Press» — la historia editorial que la propia plana declara: tres ediciones en cuatro años y tres sellos distintos, la segunda por autoedición en Lulu.com. Es el dato que sostiene las tres fuentes del encabezado.

«Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data available upon request ISBN 978-0-89254-150-8» — la ficha de catalogación se declara disponible a pedido, no impresa; el ISBN de esta tercera edición.

«Cover painting by Benjamin Vierling www.bvierling.com Cover design by Studio 31 www.studio31.com Printed in the United States of America» — los créditos gráficos de la portada: pintura de Benjamin Vierling y diseño de Studio 31.

«CONTENTS P REFACE to the Ibis Press Edition by Brian Cotnoir F OREWORD by Dennis William Hauck P REFACE to the First Edition by Robert Allen Bartlett» — el índice declara las tres piezas preliminares y sus firmantes: el prefacio de esta edición es de Brian Cotnoir, el prólogo de Dennis William Hauck y el prefacio original del propio Bartlett. Es la plana que deslinda las tres voces del volumen.

«I NTRODUCTION : Practical Alchemy O NE : A Brief History of Alchemy T WO : Theory of Alchemy T HREE : Astrology and Alchemy» — el índice del primer tramo: introducción, historia, teoría y astrología.

«F OUR : Introduction to Laboratory Alchemy F IVE : Alchemical Processes S IX : Herbal Alchemy S EVEN : Water Works E IGHT : Return to the Fire N INE : Qabalah and Alchemy» — el índice del tramo vegetal, del laboratorio a la cábala.

«T EN : Introduction to Mineral and Metallic Works E LEVEN : Via Humida T WELVE : Concerning The Minerals T HIRTEEN : Via Humida, Part Two F OURTEEN : Via Sicca F IFTEEN : Antimony S IXTEEN : The Seed of Metals S EVENTEEN : The Philosopher's Stone» — el índice del tramo mineral y metálico, ordenado por las dos vías, húmeda y seca. El índice imprime aquí *Introduction to Mineral and Metallic Works*, y el encabezado del cuerpo de la plana 96 dice *Introduction to Mineral and Metal Work*: las dos formas se consignan sin arbitrar.

«This book is sold for informational purposes. The author and publisher will not be held accountable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.» — la cláusula de descargo con que cierra la plana de la advertencia: el volumen se vende con fines informativos y ni autor ni editor responden por el uso.

«A s sentient, self-aware beings we have been engaged in the quest for more , the quest for better and the quest for perfection since we first stood upright and uttered our first words. To take what has been given to us and transform it, hoping and praying for the better, lies at the heart of what has been called The Royal Art, The Way of the Philosopher , or simply The Art , that is—alchemy.» — [Cotnoir] abre el prefacio de la edición de Ibis remontando la alquimia a un impulso humano de perfección, y da los tres nombres con que dice que se la ha llamado.

«The art and science of alchemy has been found throughout many times and regions. We can speak of Chinese alchemy, Indian alchemy, Hellenistic, Arabic and European. Some have focused on matter, some have focused on soul and others have a double focus on body and soul.» — [Cotnoir] enumera las alquimias regionales y las reparte por su foco: materia, alma o los dos a la vez.

«As such, alchemy is not a smooth monolithic system, but rather a journey full of contradictions, false turns and dazzling insights into the worlds of creation. At times it seems to defy a single definition.» — [Cotnoir] niega que la alquimia sea un sistema unitario y la describe como camino con contradicciones y vueltas falsas.

«But, in its most general, all-encompassing form, we can say with some degree of confidence that alchemy is the art and science of bringing something to its final perfection. That “something” may be corporeal or incorporeal and the processes involved are those of dissolution and composition.» — [Cotnoir] arriesga la definición más ancha —llevar algo a su perfección final— con la reserva *with some degree of confidence* dentro de la misma frase, y deja los procesos en dos: disolución y composición.

«The Greeks called alchemy chemia . They also used the words chrysopoeia and argyopoeia» — [Cotnoir] da los nombres griegos del arte. El impreso parte *silver-making* en el salto de renglón y el tramo se corta antes para no fabricar la palabra unida.

«The poeia part of the word means make or compose , it is where we get our English word poetry .» — [Cotnoir] deriva de *poeia* la equivalencia entre hacer y poetizar, que es el eje de su prefacio.

«In Plato's Symposium Socrates recounts how the philosopher Diotima, while instructing him, once said: “There is poetry, which, as you know, is complex and manifold. All creation or passage of non-being into being is poetry or making, and the processes of all art are creative; and the masters of arts are all poets or makers.”» — [Cotnoir] apoya esa equivalencia en el pasaje del *Banquete*; la formulación es de Diotima según Sócrates, no suya.

«And just as music is composed out of the elements of sound and silence, and poetry out of elements of words and letters, so the art of alchemy is composed out of elements—the elements of matter and soul. And so, with its basis in the material, alchemy could be considered the poetry of matter.» — [Cotnoir] traza el paralelo con la música y con la poesía para llegar a su fórmula: la alquimia como poesía de la materia.

«We follow the rules of composition, working with the elements, as in music or in language.» — [Cotnoir] extiende el paralelo al oficio: se trabaja con elementos y con reglas de composición.

«philosophers speak of four elements—Fire, Air, Water, Earth , or of three principles—Mercury, Sulphur, Salt . The main processes are dissolution and composition.» — [Cotnoir] responde a su propia pregunta por los elementos del arte: cuatro elementos o tres principios, y dos procesos. El tramo abre a mitad de frase porque la pregunta queda en la plana anterior.

«“If you do not skin the bodies of their corporeal nature and if you do not give a corporeal nature to incorporeal beings, then nothing you wait for will take place.”» — la sentencia que [Cotnoir] adjudica a Hermes, sin dar referencia de obra.

«Hermes shows here the heart of the alchemical process—the change of something into its opposite, and of taking apart and putting back together again.» — [Cotnoir] lee esa sentencia como el núcleo del proceso: mudar algo en su contrario, desarmar y rearmar.

«Maria the Jewess, one of our mothers of alchemy, alluding to Hermes, elucidates the role of opposites in the act of creation when she says, “Make the corporeal incorporeal and the incorporeal corporeal, join male and female and you shall have what you seek.”» — la fórmula que [Cotnoir] cita de María la Judía, a quien llama una de las madres del arte; la voz de la cita es de ella.

«Alchemy can be understood as the release of soul from the body and its subsequent reunion with it. This is the essence of the secret of composition.» — [Cotnoir] resume así el secreto de la composición: soltar el alma del cuerpo y volver a unirla.

«And it is in the composing that we find the final perfection—and the key to this final perfection comes from us—as we read in the Liber de compositione alchimiae , where the monk Morienus answers Khalid ibn Yazid, “this matter comes from you, who are yourself the source, where it is found and whence it is taken ...”» — [Cotnoir] sitúa la clave del lado del operador y la respalda con la respuesta de Morienus a Khalid ibn Yazid en el *Liber de compositione alchimiae*; la sentencia es de Morienus.

«Alchemy is said to be physical or spiritual—but the fact is, it is both. It has not always been practiced as both.» — [Cotnoir] rechaza la disyuntiva entre alquimia física y espiritual y acota en la misma frase que la práctica no siempre las juntó.

«There have been alchemists who dispensed with the “superstitions” of magic squares, planetary rulerships, etc. to focus on their dialog with matter.» — [Cotnoir] enuncia el primer extremo: los que dejaron fuera cuadrados mágicos y regencias planetarias para atender solo a la materia.

«And there were others who have focused on the uplift of their soul, leaving behind the dross of alembics, retorts and furnaces.» — y el segundo: los que dejaron atrás alambiques, retortas y hornos por la elevación del alma.

«Each aspect is like seeing with one eye, each correct and accurate on its own. But yet, there is more.» — [Cotnoir] concede que cada extremo es exacto por sí solo antes de introducir su objeción.

«We have all seen 3D viewers that take two photographs, each offset by a bit that when viewed, pop into three dimensions.» — el símil del visor estereoscópico con que [Cotnoir] arma su argumento.

«The split between the physical and spiritual interpretations of alchemy are like this: each photograph is accurate and complete and can stand on its own, as can each interpretation of alchemy.» — [Cotnoir] aplica el símil: cada interpretación es completa y se sostiene sola.

«But it is when we put them together that the almost magical experience of three dimensions occurs, something more than each eye alone could imagine.» — y de ahí saca lo que sostiene: solo juntas dan una dimensión que ninguna alcanza por separado.

«Is this what the alchemists thought? Not in all cases, but alchemy is the richest when it is seen with both eyes.» — [Cotnoir] pone el límite a su propia tesis: no adjudica esa mirada doble a todos los alquimistas históricos.

«Listen to how Zosimos of Panopolis expresses this unity of the work in a letter to his sister:» — [Cotnoir] presenta como testimonio de esa unidad la carta de Zósimo de Panópolis a su hermana.

«Let your body rest, calm your passions, resist desire, pleasure,» — el arranque de la carta de Zósimo que reproduce el prefacio; la voz es de Zósimo. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 8.

«anger, sorrow, and the dozen fatalities of death. In thus conducting yourself you will call to you the divine being, and the divine being will come to you, he who is everywhere and nowhere ...» — la continuación de esa carta: la conducta descrita llamaría al ser divino, que se dice a la vez en todas partes y en ninguna.

«Operating in this manner you will obtain the proper, authentic, and natural tinctures. Make these things until you become perfect in your soul.» — el cierre del pasaje de Zósimo, donde la operación de laboratorio y la perfección del alma se enuncian como una sola cosa.

«Much has been written on the psychological and spiritual aspects of alchemy, but it is the physical aspect with its variety materials and processes that causes confusion and puzzlement. What is actually done in physical alchemy? Simply put, alchemy begins with the body, it begins with the material, begins with the here and now.» — [Cotnoir] declara dónde ve el hueco bibliográfico —el lado físico— y con eso justifica el libro que prologa.

«As Morienus says, referring to the materials of the Great Work, “I will both bring before you the things called by these names, that you may see them, as well as work with them in your presence.... Do not depart from that which I have set forth for you and shown you, for you will go astray.”» — [Cotnoir] vuelve a Morienus para el modo de enseñanza: mostrar y trabajar delante del discípulo; la sentencia es de Morienus.

«And it is in this tradition that Robert Allan Bartlett in Real Alchemy shows the how and what of alchemy.» — [Cotnoir] inscribe el volumen en esa línea. El prefacio imprime el segundo nombre del autor como *Allan*, y la página de derechos como *Allen*: las dos grafías se consignan sin arbitrar.

«Please, know that these practices and materials are very real, and there is risk in this work, just as in chemistry.» — [Cotnoir] repite por su cuenta la advertencia de riesgo del volumen.

«But with the necessary precautions, for those who do venture forth, there is real wisdom to be found.» — y la contrapesa con lo que dice que se gana tomando las precauciones.

«When this practice is joined with the intent to heal or something positive, things happen.» — [Cotnoir] pone la intención curativa como condición del resultado.

«Start slowly and mindfully, put consistent effort behind the work and go through a few of the processes at a time.» — el consejo de método con que [Cotnoir] instruye al lector del manual.

«The basics are here, but reach into the primary sources from which these practices come and read them against your own practice and results.» — [Cotnoir] acota el alcance del volumen: trae lo básico, y pide leer las fuentes primarias contra la práctica propia.

«Dig into it, ask questions of the matter at hand, investigate it and not timidly.» — [Cotnoir] describe la relación con la materia como interrogatorio, no como receta.

«Soon you will clearly see that it is not a metaphor for something else, but rather that alchemy is fundamentally about transmutation in the physical world—of change from poison to medicine, from sickness to health, poverty to wealth, and ignorance to wisdom.» — [Cotnoir] niega la lectura metafórica y enumera las cuatro mudanzas físicas que adjudica al arte.

«Ultimately, what you bring to the practice is where alchemy begins.» — la frase con que [Cotnoir] cierra el prefacio, poniendo el comienzo del arte del lado del operador.

«Istanbul, Turkey Ramazan, 2008» — la data del prefacio de [Cotnoir]: Estambul, en el mes de Ramadán de 2008, un año antes de esta tercera edición.

«T he book before you is an amazing accomplishment in many ways. My friend and fellow alchemist Robert Bartlett has laid bare the secret processes and experiments of our discipline with exceptional clarity and openness.» — [Hauck] abre el prólogo presentando a Bartlett como amigo y colega, y valora el libro por su apertura al declarar procesos que la disciplina guardaba.

«He has exposed the Hermetic origins of alchemy and shown how modern alchemists approach the ancient art.» — [Hauck] resume así lo que el volumen aporta: el origen hermético y el modo de trabajar de los alquimistas de hoy.

«But first and foremost, his book is a revelation of the genuine craft of alchemy as it was meant to be practiced.» — [Hauck] pone el oficio por delante de la doctrina al describir el libro.

«While the work of Carl Jung and others have underscored the archetypal power and universal significance of alchemical symbols, alchemy itself is much more than a psychological commentary on the nature of the human psyche.» — [Hauck] concede el aporte de Jung sobre los símbolos y objeta que la alquimia se reduzca a comentario psicológico.

«It is true that alchemy reflects the highest aspirations of the human soul, for our gold has always symbolized the hastened perfection of Man as well as matter.» — [Hauck] concede el lado simbólico: el oro del arte figuraría la perfección acelerada del hombre tanto como la de la materia.

«However, any alchemist worth his salt knows that lasting transformation only takes place when the work is accomplished on all levels of reality – the mental, the spiritual, and the physical.» — [Hauck] pone la condición que da su objeción: la transformación duradera exigiría los tres planos a la vez.

«The Great Work is actual work to be done with the hands, the heart, and the soul, and not just understood with the mind.» — [Hauck] insiste en que la Gran Obra es trabajo de manos, no solo comprensión.

«A medieval alchemist brought back to our era would be highly amused at the endless discussions among modern theorists as to the nature and depth of alchemy or its sudden blossoming in the offices of psychiatrists and New Age counselors.» — la figura con que [Hauck] arma su objeción: el alquimista medieval traído al presente, divertido con la discusión de los teóricos.

«“Has no one ever tried it?” he would ask incredulously. “What good is such understanding without its practical application in the world?”» — la pregunta que [Hauck] pone en boca de ese alquimista imaginario, y que le sirve de argumento contra la lectura solo teórica.

«No alchemist in history ever thought the Secret Art was solely a» — [Hauck] niega que el Arte Secreto se haya entendido nunca como disciplina puramente mental. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 11 con *mental discipline*.

«mental discipline. The work of transformation takes place in the real world. Yet alchemy is not chemistry.» — la continuación de esa frase y el segundo deslinde de [Hauck]: el trabajo ocurre en el mundo real y aun así no es química. El tramo abre a mitad de frase por el salto de plana.

«Chemistry is a superficial science that deals only with the external forms in which the elements manifest. A chemist seeks to rearrange atoms and molecules to exhibit different properties of the same dead material.» — cómo caracteriza [Hauck] a la química: ciencia de las formas externas que reordena átomos de una materia que llama muerta.

«An alchemist seeks to create an entirely new substance by exposing its essences, bringing them alive, and causing them to grow.» — y el contraste que le opone: el alquimista buscaría una sustancia enteramente nueva, exponiendo esencias y haciéndolas crecer.

«When an alchemist performs a laboratory experiment, it is the culmination of careful planning to find the right timing and personal purification to create the sacred space in which the transformation can take place.» — [Hauck] describe el experimento como remate de una preparación que incluye el momento astrológico y la purificación del operador.

«The alchemist becomes an ingredient in his own experiment, and his intention and passion contribute to the outcome.» — la fórmula con que [Hauck] mete al operador dentro del experimento como un reactivo más.

«He suffers as the essences are teased and tortured from the substance, and he is elated when the hidden spark of truth brings the dead matter back to life on a new level of being.» — [Hauck] describe el trabajo como padecimiento y júbilo compartidos con la materia.

«Admittedly, this is a strange way of looking at laboratory work in a materialistic, industrialized world, and there are many prejudices the modern mind must overcome to accept the possibility that alchemy is real.» — [Hauck] concede la extrañeza de su propia descripción para el lector moderno.

«Yet perhaps, after reading this book with a free heart and open mind, you might find an ancient voice speaking to you through the drone of appliances, engines, and commercial broadcasts that make up our environment.» — el cierre del prólogo de [Hauck], con la reserva *perhaps* dentro de la frase; la voz antigua que anuncia remata preguntando si el lector lo ha intentado.

«Dennis William Hauck is an author, consultant, and lecturer working to facilitate personal and institutional transformation through the application of the ancient principles of alchemy.» — la nota biográfica del prologuista impresa al pie de su firma; es voz editorial sobre Hauck, no suya.

«As one of the world's few practicing alchemists, he writes and lectures on the universal principles of physical, psychological, and spiritual perfection to a wide variety of audiences that range from scientists and business leaders to religious and New Age groups.» — la misma nota, con el público al que se dirige, de científicos y empresarios a grupos religiosos y de la Nueva Era.

«He is the editor of the Alchemy Journal and on the board of directors of the International Alchemy Guild.» — los cargos que la nota le adjudica: editor del *Alchemy Journal* y miembro del consejo del International Alchemy Guild, la misma asociación en que el volumen sitúa a Bartlett.

«His bestselling books include The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation (Penguin Putnam 1999), and The Sorcerer's Stone: A Beginner's Guide to Alchemy (Citadel Press, 2004).» — los dos libros de Hauck que la nota consigna; los dos tienen ficha en el corpus, `hauck-emerald-tablet` y `hauck-sorcerers-stone`.

«Most of the works cited in this book, and a great deal more, are available in various translations on the Internet. Two of my favorite places for original texts are http://www.levity.com/ alchemy and http://www.alchemylab.com .» — la nota que encabeza la bibliografía: el autor remite a dos sitios de internet como sus lugares favoritos de textos originales, coherente con lo que en el capítulo primero llama la nueva Biblioteca de Alejandría.

«Allen, Paul M., ed. “Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries” in A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology . New York: Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1968.» — la primera entrada de la bibliografía, con los *Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians* en la antología de Paul M. Allen.

«Anonymous. Collectanea Chemica , From the 1893 James Elliot & Co. First Edition. London: Vincent Stuart Publishers LTD, 1963.» — la entrada de la *Collectanea Chemica*, que el cuerpo del libro data hacia 1650 y que aquí se registra como anónima en la reimpresión de 1963.

«Anonymous Praxis Spagyrica Philosophica , English translation from the original 1711 German Edition with commentary by Frater Albertus. Salt Lake City, Utah: Paracelsus Research Society, 1966.» — la entrada de la *Praxis Spagyrica Philosophica*, con comentario de Frater Albertus y pie de la Paracelsus Research Society.

«Altus. Mutus Liber , first published at La Rochelle in 1677. French edition with commentary by Magophon, translated by Kjell Hellesoe. Stavenger, 1985.» — la entrada del *Mutus Liber*, atribuido a Altus y datado en La Rochelle en 1677, en la edición francesa comentada por Magophon.

«Becker, Christian August. Das Acetone . 1867. Translated by Shuck and Nintzel, Richardson, Texas: Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts. 1981.» — la entrada de Christian August Becker, el médico cuyas historias clínicas cita el capítulo trece; el cuerpo lo llama *C.A. Becker* y lo sitúa hacia 1850, y la bibliografía data el libro en 1867.

«De Lintaut, Henri. Friend of the Dawn 1700 edition translated by Wilson Wheatcroft, India. Richardson, Texas: Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts, 1982.» — la entrada de Henri de Lintaut, la fuente de los pasajes del trabajo con mercurio; el cuerpo lo nombra solo *Lintaut*.

«Della Porta, Jean Baptiste. Natural Magic , Book Ten. New York: 1585. Basic Books, 1957.» — la entrada de Della Porta, cuyo elogio de la destilación cita el capítulo quinto atribuyéndolo a *Jean Baptiste Dela Porta 1600*; aquí se data en 1585.

«Dobbs, B.J.T., The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy . Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1975.» — la entrada de Betty Jo Teeter Dobbs sobre la alquimia de Newton, la única obra académica moderna de toda la bibliografía.

«Dubuis, Jean. PON Seminars l992 . Translated by Patrice Maleze. Winfield, Illinois: The Philosophers of Nature, 1992.» — la entrada de los seminarios de Jean Dubuis, citados tres veces en el cuerpo; el impreso escribe el año como *l992*, con ele inicial.

«Essentia: Journal of Evolutionary Thought in Action . Salt Lake City, Utah: Quarterly publication of Paracelsus College, 1980.» — la entrada de *Essentia*, la revista del Paracelsus College donde el autor se formó.

«Flamel, Nicholas. Hieroglyphical Figures . Translated by Eirenaeus Orandus for Thomas Walsley, at the Eagle and Child in Britans Burusse. London: 1624.» — la entrada de las *Figuras jeroglíficas* de Flamel en la traducción de Eirenaeus Orandus de 1624; Flamel tiene ficha de actor propia en el corpus.

«Frater Albertus. Alchemist's Handbook . Salt Lake City, Utah: Paracelsus Research Society, 1974.» — la entrada del *Alchemist's Handbook* de Frater Albertus, el maestro del autor; el manual recibió ficha propia en el corpus el 2026-09-07, después de este estreno.

«French, John. The Art of Distillation . Original 1651 edition published in London. San Francisco, CA: Para Publishers, 1978.» — la entrada de *The Art of Distillation* de John French, de donde salen dos láminas y una cita del volumen.

«Fulcanelli. The Dwellings of The Philosophers . Translated by Donvez and Perrin. Boulder, CO: Archive Press and Communications, 1999.» — la entrada de *The Dwellings of the Philosophers* de Fulcanelli, obra con ficha propia en el corpus, de donde sale la cita que cierra el libro.

«Glauber, Johann Rudolf. The Complete Works of Rudolf Glauber . Translated by Christopher Packe. Boulder, CO 1983.» — la entrada de las obras completas de Glauber en la traducción de Christopher Packe, fuente de la sección de Ysopaica.

«Glaser, Christopher. The Complete Chymist . 1677. Richardson, Texas: Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts, 1983.» — la entrada de Christopher Glaser, a quien el capítulo diecisiete cita datándolo hacia 1650; aquí el libro se data en 1677.

«Hartmann, Franz. The Life of Paracelsus . Los Angeles, California: Mokulume Hill Press 1972» — la entrada de la vida de Paracelso por Franz Hartmann, fuente del método del Ens; el cuerpo escribe el apellido *Hartman*, con una sola ene.

«Hauck, Dennis William. The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation . New York: Penguin, 1999.» — la entrada del libro de Hauck, el prologuista de este volumen; tiene ficha propia en el corpus como `hauck-emerald-tablet`.

«Holland, Isaac. A Compendium of Writings by Johan Isaaci Hollandus . Translated from German by RAMS. Richardson, Texas: Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts, 1981.» — la entrada de Isaac Holland, la fuente más citada del volumen después de Paracelso; aquí el nombre se registra a la vez como *Isaac Holland* y como *Johan Isaaci Hollandus*.

«Hurley, Phillip. Herbal Alchemy . Lotus Publications, 1977.» — la entrada de *Herbal Alchemy* de Phillip Hurley, que el cuerpo no cita.

«Junius, Manfred M. The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy . New York: Inner Traditions, 1985.» — la entrada del manual de Manfred Junius, bajo su título de 1985; la obra tiene ficha propia en el corpus como `junius-spagyrics`, por el título de la tercera edición de 2007.

«Kervran, Louis. Biological Transmutations . London: Crosby Lockwood, 1972.» — la entrada de las *Biological Transmutations* de Kervran, invocadas en el capítulo diecisiete.

«Kirschweger, Anton. The Golden Chain of Homer . Translated from the German 1723 edition by Sigmund Bacstrom in 1797. (Xerox of Bacstrom's handwritten copy.)» — la entrada de la *Golden Chain of Homer*, atribuida aquí a Anton Kirschweger y consultada en fotocopia del manuscrito de Bacstrom de 1797; el cuerpo la data hacia 1730 y la cita seis veces sin nombrar autor.

«Murien, Petri. Alchemically Purified and Solidified Mercury . Translated by Brigitte Donvez. La-Screen. Rasa Vidya Marg, India: Chinchwad, 1992.» — la entrada de Petri Murien sobre mercurio purificado, que el cuerpo no cita.

«Newton, Isaac. Keynes Ms 64 , King's College Library, University of Cambridge.» — la entrada del manuscrito Keynes 64 de Newton, del que salen dos citas del volumen.

«Paracelsus. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus , edited by Arthur Edward Waite. Reprint of the 1894 edition published by James Elliot & Co., London. University Books Inc., 1967.» — la entrada de los escritos de Paracelso en la edición de Arthur Edward Waite, reimpresión de 1894; Paracelso tiene ficha de actor propia en el corpus.

«Paracelsus. Volumen Medicinae Paramirum . Translated from the original German by Kurt F. Leidecker. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press, 1949.» — la segunda entrada de Paracelso, el *Volumen Medicinae Paramirum*; es la obra que el capítulo sexto llama *Paramirim* al exponer la doctrina de los cinco *Entia*.

«Philalethes, Eirenaeus. An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the» — la entrada de la *Open Entrance* de Filaleteo, de donde sale la definición de la Piedra del capítulo dieciséis. El tramo se corta en el salto de plana y sigue en la 161 con *King*, el pie de Richardson, Texas, y el año 1981.

«Regardie, Israel. The Philosopher's Stone , 2nd Edition. St. Paul, Minnesota: Llewellyn Publications, 1970.» — la entrada de *The Philosopher's Stone* de Regardie en su segunda edición, la que trae la retractación que cita la conclusión; la obra tiene ficha propia en el corpus.

«Ripley, George. Liber Secretisimuss . Richardson, Texas: Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts, 1982.» — la entrada de George Ripley, citado en los capítulos ocho y trece; el impreso escribe el título *Liber Secretisimuss*.

«Sendivogius, Michael. The New Chemical Light . First published in 1608. Richardson, Texas: Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts, 1982.» — la entrada de la *New Chemical Light* de Sendivogius, datada en 1608; el capítulo ocho imprime el título como *The New Chymical Light* y el capítulo dos lo data hacia 1600.

«The Hermetical Triumph . Printed for Thomas Harris, at the Looking-Glas and Bible, on London Bridge. 1723.» — la entrada del *Hermetical Triumph*, sin autor, con su pie de imprenta londinense de 1723; el cuerpo lo cita cuatro veces.

«Three Initiates. Kybalion Chicago: The Yogi Publication Society, 1922.» — la entrada del *Kybalion* bajo el nombre de los Tres Iniciados; es la fuente de la cita anónima del capítulo segundo, y tiene ficha propia en el corpus.

«Trismegistus, Hermes. Golden Tractate of Hermes . Salt Lake City, Utah: Para Publishing Co. Inc., 1973.» — la entrada del *Golden Tractate* atribuido a Hermes Trismegisto.

«Valentine, Basil. Triumphant Chariot of Antimony with annotations of Theodore Kirkringius MD. Printed for Dorman Newman at the Kings Arms in the Poultry, 1678. Photocopy of original edition.» — la entrada del *Triumphant Chariot of Antimony* de Basil Valentine con las anotaciones de Kerkring, en la edición de 1678; la obra tiene ficha propia en el corpus, y el cuerpo la nombra *Triumphal Chariot*.

«Weidenfeld, Johannes Segerus. Secrets of the Adepts . 1685. Richardson, Texas: Restorers of Alchemical Manuscripts, 1982.» — la última entrada de la bibliografía, los *Secrets of the Adepts* de Weidenfeld, que el cuerpo no cita.

«Way of the Crucible Real Alchemy for Real Alchemists ROBERT ALLEN BARTLETT» — el anuncio del siguiente libro del autor que el volumen imprime al final: *Way of the Crucible*, con el subtítulo *Real Alchemy for Real Alchemists*.

«This book is the next step in your Alchemical Studies. The Way of the Crucible provides directions for a more advanced understanding of the mineral work. It is a ground-breaking modern manual on the art of Alchemy that draws on both modern scientific technology and ancient methods.» — el texto promocional de ese anuncio, que presenta el volumen siguiente como avance en el trabajo mineral.

«Bartlett provides an overview of how practical alchemy works, along with an exploration of the theories behind its practice. The author also explains what the ancients really meant when they used the term “Philosopher's Stone” and describes practical methods toward its achievement. Includes treatises on Astrology, Qabalah, Herbalism, and minerals, as they relate to Alchemy» — el resto del anuncio, con las materias del libro siguiente: astrología, cábala, herbolaria y minerales.

«ROBERT ALLEN BARTLETT has been a practicing alchemist for over thirty years and was a student of the twentieth century's most highly recognized alchemist, Frater Albertus, at Paracelsus College. After receiving his degree in Chemistry, Bartlett was appointed Chief Chemist at Frater Albertus' Paralab. He is a member of the International Alchemy Guild at the Adept Level. He is an Instructor in Spagyrics at Flamel College Online through www.Alchemylab.com» — la nota biográfica del autor impresa en ese anuncio: treinta años de práctica, alumno de Frater Albertus, químico jefe del Paralab, miembro del International Alchemy Guild en grado de Adepto e instructor de espagiria en Flamel College Online. Es voz editorial sobre el autor, no del autor.

«Paperback • $22.95 • 6 × 9 • 332 pages Numerous illustrations • ISBN: 978-0-89254-154-6» — los datos comerciales de ese anuncio, con el ISBN del libro siguiente.

«Design, typesetting and diagrams by William J. Kiesel www.bookarts.org Cover illustration rendered by Benjamin Vierling www.bvierling.com» — los créditos de la última plana del volumen: diseño y diagramas de William J. Kiesel e ilustración de portada de Benjamin Vierling.

Azufre (principio sulfúreo) — Segundo de los Tres Esenciales: el alma o carácter de una cosa, principio ígneo y masculino que conduce lo volátil de Fuego y Aire y expresa consciencia, intelecto y Voluntad Verdadera; en el reino vegetal su portador material es el aceite esencial, y en el metálico la oleosidad que Paracelso llama Azufre de los metales.

Mercurio de los filósofos (Mercurius) — Primer esencial: espíritu y fuerza vital que hace de puente entre el Azufre y el cuerpo, aspecto femenino espiritualizado del Uno; su vehículo vegetal es el alcohol —que el libro advierte que no es el espíritu sino su punto focal— y del trabajo con acetatos sale el Mercurio Filosófico de cada metal.

Cuatro elementos (fuego, aire, agua, tierra) — No son los cuerpos materiales del mismo nombre sino estados energéticos con sus cualidades: Fuego caliente y seco, Aire húmedo y caliente, Agua húmeda y fría, Tierra seca y fría, cada uno con su correlato psicológico. El libro los empareja además con las cuatro fuerzas fundamentales de la física y con hidrógeno, nitrógeno, oxígeno y carbono.

Materia prima — Nombre alquímico del océano de energía en que todo estaría inmerso, junto a Fuego Celeste, Primera Materia y Caos; el libro adjudica al hidrógeno el papel de Primera Materia verdadera por ser el elemento más abundante.

Quintaesencia (quinta essentia) — Parte más pura y fija de una materia, nacida del equilibrio perfecto de los cuatro elementos; es la Chispa Divina o Fuego Particular escondido en cada cosa, de acción digestiva y madurante, y Sendivogius la llama la Simiente.

Piedra filosofal (lapis philosophorum) — Sustancia cristalina pesada, de carmesí a azafrán, que no huele ni arde y funde como cera; se le atribuye curar toda enfermedad, devolver la juventud y transmutar los metales, y el libro pone su condición previa en que el operador se vuelva primero piedra viviente.

Nigredo (la obra al negro) — Primera fase del Rebis sellado: tras unos tres meses a 40-50 °C la materia oscurece hasta el negro.

Albedo (la obra al blanco) — Fase del blanqueamiento, precedida por la iridiscencia que los adeptos llamaron Cola de Pavo Real; el libro le da unos nueve meses.

Rubedo (la obra al rojo) — Fase final, en que el blanco cede al amarillo y luego al rojo, madurada a 200 °C, y que da la Piedra Roja de Primer Grado.

Putrefacción (putrefactio) — Muerte del material que libera lo espiritual de la prisión del cuerpo; en el trabajo vegetal es la fermentación bajo la Luna menguante, y en la Vía Seca la clave de la que depende toda la operación.

Rebis (el hermafrodita) — Nombre de la unión de opuestos: cuatro partes de Mercurio Animado amalgamadas con una de oro fino en vaso sellado herméticamente, que recorre las tres fases de color hasta la Piedra Roja.

Sefirot (las diez numeraciones) — Los diez centros del Árbol de la Vida repartidos en tres pilares —Severidad, Misericordia y Equilibrio— con sus regencias planetarias, y unidos por veintidós senderos que suman los treinta y dos caminos de la sabiduría secreta.

Microcosmos (el hombre-mundo) — Premisa del capítulo de astrología: el hombre como microcosmos inseparable de su entorno macrocósmico, con los representantes planetarios de su anatomía oculta llamados Estrellas Interiores.

Spiritus mundi (espíritu del mundo) — En el esquema del libro, el Ácido Universal que la Golden Chain of Homer describe como Nitro Espiritual Incorpóreo; su forma corpórea sería el radical amonio depositado por la lluvia, la nieve y el rocío.

Iniciación (recepción por grados / metamorfosis del ser) — El volumen recoge de Mark Stavish que la alquimia no tiene rituales, logias ni grados, y que toda iniciación sería interior: la Obra iniciaría al operador. La Piedra Vegetal y las tinturas Ens llevan virtud iniciática.

Secreto (lo que se jura no fijar por escrito) — El libro da tres razones distintas para el secreto del arte: que los esenciales purificados quedarían expuestos a las impresiones mentales ajenas, que la Piedra multiplicada arruinaría la economía, y que en el pasado se torturó a muchos para arrancarles la fórmula.

Horas planetarias — La regla mínima que da al principiante: trabajar en el día cuyo planeta rige la hierba y, de preferencia, en la hora siguiente al orto; los Siete Básicos se toman uno por día de la semana.

Cadena de transmisión (quién tomó de quién) — El capítulo primero traza la genealogía entera: sacerdocio egipcio, Alejandría, huida a tierras árabes tras Diocleciano, entrada a Europa con Avicena y Jabir, Paracelso, Boyle y Newton, las sociedades secretas del XIX, AMORC, Frater Albertus y la Paracelsus Research Society, los Philosophers of Nature, e internet como nueva Biblioteca de Alejandría.

Decknamen (nombres cubiertos) — El libro declara que sus fuentes ocultan a propósito: Jabir escribía en estilo críptico, los sabios describen el Régulo Estrellado en términos muy velados, el menstruo se llama Mercurio *para confundirte*, y el Agua de Paraíso se llamó vinagre agudo justamente para esconder su nombre.