In Clavicule de la Science Hermétique the author explains how to encapsulate the Delphian motto “Know Yourself” in the search for the Alchemical Fire.
This essay is known to have been published in both latin and French editions. The latin one is entitled Clavicula Hermeticae Scientiae, ab hyperboreo quodam horis subsecivis consignata Amsterdam 1732 (1). An edition mixed latin and French, published in Amsterdam by Petrus Mortier in 1751, is also known (2), and a copy of it belonged to the Virginelli Rota hermetic library collection.
Finally, a uniquely French edition was published in 1786 (2) with the title ” La Clavicule de la Science Hermétique Ecrite par un Habitant du Nord, dans ses Heures de Loisir” which is the French translation of the original latin, that’s to say: the little key of the hermetic science written by a northern inhabitant, in his idle hours. About its anonymous author, we are informed that he was a North European inhabitant. A group of Swedish researchers (1) have identified him as the Swedish count Gustaf Bonde.
A note under the title says: “To the Nature, unstained Virgin, and to the Art which comes after her as a guide, I humbly consecrate my evening diversions, me who I am a Heaven grain dust ( the author uses poussière), a man.”
In his introduction, the author apologizes to readers for having written another book on such depleted art and, what’s more, he asks for readers to not disregard him just because of his being from a land apparently so less beloved by nature or, as he says, where the cornucopia of nature appears to be so exhausted.
The edition I translated is the French one of 1786. Mine will not be a full version, but a rendition of the most substantial parts ( which are several, though) and a complete one of the appendix on the cabala of the Pythagorean tablet, which I will publish in the following article. As a matter of fact, there are not so many treatises verbalizing this topic. The subject of this first and main part is the matter to be used to operate, not in Alchemy, but in the art of knowing oneself (Alchemy, in fact). Let’s start:
“Ancient Egyptians, eager for science, had as main study the art of knowing oneself. Greeks, who drew their dogmas from Egyptians and brought in their own country the same rule which they considered as being the basis of all wisdom, put on the doors and walls of their famous temple of Delphi these words: Consule te ipsum, nosce temet et ambula ab intra, or See yourself, know yourself and direct towards the entrance.
After that, a long experience had made known there is harmony between the universe and man; it was believed the latter was the recapitulation of the whole or rather the little world. This is the key of the great Hermes seal, whose emblem consists of a hand holding a sphere, that’s to say a little world, with this entry: That which is above is like that which is below.”
By this little word, the author perhaps did mean a “microcosm”, which we have taken for granted as a copy in a tiny scale of the “Macrocosm” or Universe. But hardly anyone, neither Clavicule author, has ever told us what they did mean for macrocosm and microcosm. Some alchemists ( since this treatise is unquestionably about Alchemy, although the author distinguishes between chemical and natural Alchemy) argued that a microcosm had to be intended as a vessel for alchemical operations. But this explanation fails to answer many questions. And we start to wonder if there is a connection between this little sphere world and something hidden deep in ourselves. Of course, there is, but perhaps in this case, not as a spiritual-emotional inner, but rather as a spiritual-material inner.
“I do not care about Alchemists’ dreams, who strain these words in order to bend them to confirm their chimeras. It is sufficient that their masters have drawn from the most hidden mysteries of Nature. From that, it follows that the same is also told in the Asclepius: “For this reason, or Aesculapius, the man is a great miracle, an animal to honor and worship”. One can reject this statement, arguing he is a rather miserable being, inferior to other animals. If I run my eyes on myself, I learn nothing except to recognize my extreme imperfection.”
Do not misinterpret the real intention of the author; in fact, in many treatises, we will see how chemical Alchemy is sometimes criticized in support of another kind of more elevated kind of art, which is then revealed to be the same chemical art, but with more ineffable substances involved than the mere raw mineral ones. But we will understand as we go.
“The greats of antiquity made sure of the existence of the Soul, but because they were uncertain about its essence and its destiny after the ruin of the body, they have put some into the category of gods and demigods, especially those of heroes and sages. Human beings are weak beams of the lost image of God.”
The author begins to make himself a bit clearer by introducing the concept of the Soul.
“They ( ancient Egyptians) have taken great care to transmit the posterity in columns, marble, wood, stone, and books, with hieroglyphics and sacred characters about this mean between man and nature, which they called the “Great Chain”, and this Divine Science acquired with so much exhaustion not to get lost with them and fall in the dark.
Wisdom has this in common with truth, that it may well be haunted for a time but can neither be destroyed nor completely overwhelmed; in spite of adverse fortune, many traces of its former luster remained when the Arabs came into Egypt in the past centuries, this wisdom was able to attract their kings and princes. Some Greek and Latin, at least in the early centuries of Christianity, when the mysteries of Ceres were imported from Egypt, had the good fortune to turn to it, but they were so few that, with the exception of some teachers, barely there has been handed down a few names.”
“And since they ( Arabs) did not ignore that the man has the insatiable thirst of gold, were committed particularly to entice more and, at the same time, to bring out the seekers from the simple path of nature, which is, in my opinion, the only authentic, and throw them in a multitude of other particular ways, so they stopped mainly on the mineral and metal, arguing that gold could not be produced without gold, as well as only a cow could have come from a cow, or a horse. The foundations of this rule are very true because it is not possible for nature to produce gold without the seed of gold, and also, even the greatest philosopher will not be able to dissolve the gold and philosophically reduce it to his seed without our means and without the balance of nature.”
In this last sentence, the author unveils his intentions: to reduce metallic gold to its seed philosophically, we need “Our Means” and the “Balance of Nature”, a synonym of our alchemical Mercurius.
I nevertheless give you some advice, which is that, after reading a few of the authors of ascertained sincerity, you have to erase from your mind any temptation to manipulate raw metals and minerals of all kinds, on the contrary, applying only to generations of Nature and in this way, you can be very sure you have entered the true path.
The road that I will show you doesn’t get you the great expense or unnecessary work in the manner of the philosophers; in fact, beyond the ordinary expenses which you are obliged by your regular maintenance, it will not cost you more than two or three crowns. My subject is neither animal nor vegetable or mineral but participates in all three kingdoms. It is universal and more common in the world than anything else. It must be called microcosmic sympathy, and rightly so. This is always and everywhere, either in the bottom of the Indies, in the middle of Rome, or the day and night, in summer and winter.”
The author’s subject does participate in all three kingdoms: in fact, the seed of metals can be extracted from vegetal and animal kingdoms, too, since the substance composing the so-called universal seed is above and beyond the molecular stage. It is our Secret Fire/Mercurius/Spirit. The same substance matter comes from Suns and Stars and still dwells in our bodies.
It is never at rest but always in action and movement; it is never exposed but still hidden from view. Its mine is deep and covered with the thick darkness, as it is enclosed in confined spaces and in the earth’s bowels, from which it draws and manifests itself suddenly to the artist. Its origin is the Earth, and its life in Heaven. It follows that it is alive and not dead. This Mercurius is vulgar, but it is not at all that common. The first is a common cold fluid; mine is a hot fluid. The common one needs many things and work to be cleansed; mine needs only a single pleasant job. Mine dwells in a single body. Ultimately, it retains the same color when it started, although it is infinitely exalted. It is formed by an infinite number of other materials, and the analysis at raw gives evidence of the similarities it has with the three kingdoms. Although I am forbidden to compose it, I would not worry about it, for Nature gives me prepared and made what I need for my purpose. Its name is well known by all, but its virtues are more than unknown and untested. It has deceived many people who foreshadowed great things from its excellence and its heavenly origin. They have tried to improve it, ignoring his true and friendly cooking. Because of that, the great philosophers have rejected and condemned it, even with good reason, because it can not be dissolved or die, or be revived, nor perfected, but only in himself and by himself, in a really suitable and natural way, hidden and philosophical. Every simple fire, also the least, whatever name you give it, turns it off or kills it, or at least makes it unable to be philosophically raised. In this way, the matter without the exact knowledge of the fire, the pot, and athanor is more useless than you might believe.”
This Secret Fire is, at a time matter, a fire that cooks and vessels ( towards the end of the work though).
“Having thus known the matter, you still need to consider and look for how it should be corrected and purified. This is not accomplished by means of any elementary or artificial fire in any pot or stove but rather by his own fire that the Creator has given immediately, from the beginning, and that we inherit. The farmer recognizes it despite the crudeness of his mind, while the Alchemist ignores it altogether. We hear all the time about its virtues, but we do not know the location of the house where it retired. It is invisible but not insensitive, sweet, fluffy, continuous, equal, and lies within the raw matter. By this, it is supported, nurtured, dissolved, made dead, corrupted, germinated, rejuvenated, revived, flourished, perfected, increased, and multiplied. Therefore is the knowledge of this fire to be preferred to matter knowledge because knowledge of matter alone contributes greatly to that of the fire, and, once we know it, the knowledge of the first may even be hidden.”
When we know how to extract this matter, that’s to say by means of salts volatilization; we understand that quite all raw materials could be suitable for the use, but operative considerations.
“Even the vessel is neither artificial nor handcrafted, but rather natural and homogeneous, oblong, with a closed neck nor open depending on what is required by the need, opaque and dark. In this, which is one and unique in the earth, matter begins; it is cooked and refined. You can have it anywhere and at any time, and it costs as much as the fire, not more than the matter costs many people. It seals by itself and reopens.”
Towards the end of the work, our Mercurius gets more arduous and can contain itself ( but it is not as easy as it may seem).
“It contains no more than suitable and refuses superfluous, so that you do not have to worry about either proportions or amounts, for Nature is not unaware of what it needs, provided that it gets the necessary help. I do not possess more than a single burner, which is of the earth but natural, the construction of which the art had no part. It is equipped with two windows and is opaque to the sides. Nevertheless, it is so mobile that I can easily carry it from one place to another and even take it with me on long journeys without any difficulty or fear of being betrayed. What is amazing is that my athanor contains within itself the strongest fire in nature, or as others say, the fourth degree of fire, and that thanks to its virtue, however, it breaks down and is destroyed by most elementary fire or lamp. From this, you can convince yourself of how different from an artificial vessel.”
The things that make this work difficult are:
1. The knowledge and care of the hours of parturition, because this is very similar to the human generation, as it has its hours for conception and birth.
2. managing the fire, in which those who do not take the necessary precautions often miss and ruin all the construction, a hindrance that you can easily avoid by being cautious and careful.
3. The secret, which I promptly learned by going directly to its first source. The remaining is easy and not at all unpleasant, except for the pungent odor that affects the beginning. The colors are three in number, namely black, white equals that of the snow, and the third resembles the ruby, although blending these three produces others as well (3).
I think this art is so smooth and easy that it could be carried out even by one of my peasants completely ignorant of chemistry (assuming I have first said a few words in his ear. Most philosophers imagine and swear that this art is deeper and more difficult than any metaphysics, although nature walks in this, as in all its other operations, with a straight and simple pace. We have only one matter, one cooking. The matter, the pot, the oven, and the fire are not the same.
“People who neglect the knowledge of themselves and that indulge in pomp and avarice tend to rise to stars and planets and join them as worthy friends that in their turn all head to their leader, the sun, and after having offered to it the moon as a spouse, they would like to be rewarded with free access to the huge treasures of the Bridegroom. But one can not expect anything from a dead thing. The common popular idols They need our water with which they sow and by their fruit delight those who work in the sun. This is, however, not the goal of a true Philosopher. Those look at this Prince of Planets’ lineage as fun and as the first rudiment of their knowledge.”
In this paragraph, the author criticizes those who try to get the Secret Fire directly from the astronomical Sun, which is quite impossible.
“He who has acquired a taste for eternity eagerly wants to leave this life to gain the object of his desire, as one who has lived in exile and as a foreigner in distant countries, although free and safe, does not hesitate to return at home. God has equipped us with two deadlines for our days, one accidental and one natural. No mortal, not even a philosopher, can not go above it. For the other, we are given the science of magi to extend it, perhaps, by the favor of the divine will and remove obstacles. Our early Fathers, those who lived before the great flooding, and various philosophers provided some examples. The first of these terms is ordinary and common to all the mortals of this century; it will become clear through the example of a lamp or a candle, which burn as long as the fuse lasts, or until the second term unless they are turned off by some accidental cause, which would substitute the first term. The candle or lamp of our lives, it would burn so long as its subject or its vital oil is consumed if it was not turned off by age or by some violent accident, a weak complexion or by intemperance by debauchery and the softness from which numerous diseases, or from some other cause accidental. The science of the wises can go against this term unless, having the best things in front of their eyes, the wise man does not receive from the Creator through prayer the grace to move out early to go with him.”
There is a new concept here: our Soul is composed of Secret Fire/Sulphur and can be extracted by another less thick Secret Fire, that’s to say, Mercurius/Spirit of Life.
“But to return to our subject, many things in the books cover three distinct works: the animal, vegetable, and mineral, and yet the great and the small work, the work of Saturn, the dry and wet path. I mean neither to diminish the authority of so many excellent personages nor to fight and resist so many oracles. Nevertheless, I doubt very much that, through all these names, they have not meant to designate, in fact, one and the same thing, and not different steps in the operations and so many names, but they do look to the same goal. Not hard to believe that many of them, after obtaining the true Mercurius, have tried several ways to shorten the work, for the patience of the modern does not extend up to bring this excellent but long work to the last degree of perfection allowed by art and nature. Anyway, I have not been persuaded that any of the philosophers have ever been able to complete his work by means of any Mercurius other than the stuff of which I spoke above and through another method than mine, in which only Nature has hidden the keys of his treasure, and where finally there is nothing superfluous, but in which everything is transformed by means of constant cooking in a glorious elixir. This is the wet and dry path, and the animal, vegetable, and mineral work simultaneously.”
A real perfect alchemical work ( after the preparatory stage, of course, in which Secret Fire is extracted and prepared) is performed with and by a single Mercurius, then fixed, then doubled, partitioned, washed, and fed by itself, and harden by itself (see an Opus Magnum scheme).
“The path of the Wise Men’s Aquarius is perhaps known to me, but I have not ever undertaken the work because it is endless and very uncomfortable and requires the skill of a man accustomed to blowing coal. When, in my work, I have entrusted my compound, tightly closed, to its fire and oven, I do not need another teacher and guide of the same Nature. It is never idle, always works, and tends, step by step, to a new resurrection and the highest perfection. When sometimes the artist was wrong, it was just natural to straighten the error. There is only to regret that it requires such a long time because you could, in the space of two years, reach a useful and fruitful rotation. It also requires an artist to be attentive and free from any other concern, for fear that its negligence or other impediments to business make lost in a moment the result of many months of work. My distractions caused by public affairs were due, for example, to the fact that on three different occasions, I have unsuccessfully started this work and been unable to accomplish what I had seen from my teacher and what I had heard and handled with my hands. If you have more patience, care, and leisure, be happy, in a cheerful mood, prey without pause until the end, and you can count on finding the good ruler on earth after God.
That is the Golden Fleece of the Greeks, the Light and the Justice of the Jews, the Shining Star of the Magi, which leads them in the pursuit of knowledge of the Lord of Nature and the uncreated verb.”
In addition to that, there is the awareness that Secret Fire is within our body too. It is our Spirit of Life and our Soul. It does compose them. So the search for ourselves is the search for Secret Fire within us. Now we can understand nature’s “unstained Virgin”: our Mercurius, our Soul, and Spirit (4).
To be continued at Clavicule Science Hermétique and Transmutation Tetraktys .
- Scripta Instituti Donneriani Aboensis, Volumes 4-6, Almqvist & Wiksell, 1970 ;
- Bibliotheca Chemica by Ferguson ;
- See also Kamala Jnana, Introduction to a Live Secret , Hortulus Hermeticus, Beware of the Red Laton , Cabala Mineralis or the She Horse on Urine Work part 2 , Artephius, Secret Book and Secret Fire ;
- See also Holbein Dead Christ Builds his Grave , Michelangelo & the Mumia Skin in Last Judgement ;