In this short fourth chapter A.E. Waite in his Introitus Apertus translation is once more not in shortage of wrong renderings of latin words.
Introitus Apertus ad Occlusum Regis Palatium”, Amsterdam or Amstelodami 1667, the fourth chapter is the second of a series of four chapters ( from third to sixth) dealing with different aspects of quite the same thing: our Secret Fire/Mercurius and its strange mirroring working.
I have already explained that the Open Entrance version we are examining is the translation by Arthur Edward Waite in 1893. While latin Introitus Apertus is the first original edition of 1667, “curante” or edited by Joannes Langius.
This chapter is in the very Introitus style, that’s to say equivocally and not systematic. All that was helped by latin language uncertainty. In fact, in my opinion, Introitus Apertus has been conceived to be written just in latin. Very unlikely one will get keys and clues from this book translated into languages other than latin. When translated, Introitus is not useful to open Alchemy, but conversely, Alchemy is a precondition to open Introitus.
Chapter fourth or IV
Title: Of the Magnet of the Sages
Waite’s Open Entrance: As steel is attracted towards the magnet and the magnet turns towards the steel, so also our Magnet attracts our Chalybs.
Before going any further with latin comparison, we have to understand what we are talking about. Magnet or Magnesia is our Mercurius Philosophorum extracted from Raw Matter or Materia Tertia or blackness (see an Opus Magnum scheme). Chalybs, or steel (see in Introitus Apertus chapter third why steel can be synonymous for Chalybs), is the same divided Mercurius Philosophorum causing the metal to be dissolved. And then Incrudated. To become a Male Sperm and partake in an alchemical Marriage. Now we are ready for the latin sentences.
Latin Introitus Apertus: Quemadmodum chalybs ad magnetem trahitur (1), magnesque sponte se ad chalybem convertit (2), sic & magnes Sophorum trahit illorum chalybem.
In Latin magnes-tis means both magnet and magnesia, hence in hermetic symbolism magnesia and magnet are synonymous. Magnesia is often used by seventeenth-century alchemists to point at white Mercurius. And in ancient chemistry magnesia was also a synonym for marcasite, a white brittle or sponge-like powder out of metals. But, more interesting, it stands for women too. Thus our Female Sperm or the one set aside waiting for male sperm (see Mercurius Duplicatus) or Chalybs to be married with.
But, of course, it is not as easy as that. We know that metals have to be prepared, thus dissolved in Mercurius Philosophorum, or female sperm, or magnet-magnesia. When we divide Mercurius Philosophorum to be set aside and employed for different uses, it takes different names. Metals to be dissolved inside or “Philosophically prepared” (3), generally undergo a long series of dissolutions (4) to be entitled to be then Incrudated to become a pure Secret Fire/Mercurius. But we are not ready to afford a translation of this latin Introitus first sentence yet.
Open Entrance author states to be the real author of Introitus, but his fourth chapter differs in nothing from the honest french translation (5) I often use as a double check. Both put to use the verb “to attract” to translate traho-xi. The word “Aimant”, which I lazily translated without even looking up in the dictionary as “Lover”, put us in the condition to find another synonym for our alchemical Magnet. To put it simply, we could render the word Magnet as Lover. A Magnet/lover generally attracts who is in burst for her/him. But, take notice, this lover is represented here causing an attraction, not experiencing it in his/her turn. Open Entrance paints this lover/magnet simply by turning towards the other. A love affair is not so equal in quality and strength. We know that the magnet/lover is female. Is female lover really so frozen? Well.. .in the seventeenth century that was a cool behavior ( and it still is today), but we are here talking of Alchemy, not anthropology, and two Mercurius/Secret Fires, even if one has recently been a campaigner in a fight involving a metal dissolution.
Male and female, Sun and Moon are subjected to the nasty rule of three, that’s to say every symbol may stand for at least three different concepts. Here we have two Magnets/lovers, and back at that time no doubt they officially are of different sex. Thus man has to be attracted by woman, Sun is attracted by Moon. And the woman is a kind of fugitive or rather a passive character. Man features of something active (6).
Philalethes is never systematic in spite of the chapters directory, never absolute and categorical in spite of titles. In some aspects, he reminds me of Fulcanelli. And here, in chapter fourth, we are unlikely to hear of a definite Mercurius Duplicatus affair, as one would hope.
A metal, which to this extend may be defined as male, is attracted by Mercurius Philosophorum, which to this extend may be defined as female. And dissolution is never a quiet affair. So we can be before Mercurius Duplicatus marriage, before the two Mercurius Philosophorum union? We are preparing a male sperm, steel. But Philalethes defines the metal to be dissolved too as chalybs/steel. No wonder, we know that he has never been a good and charitable boy.
Nevertheless, attraction may also be a feature of the Union between male and female Mercurii Duplicati. If you remember Secret Fire, when divided, causes the two parts to be affected by each other. Like a diapason, indeed, being quite an awakening. Not like a magnet. A magnetical attraction is more appropriate to a metal and a Mercurius Philosophorum/Universal Dissolvent. And as far as Polaris or North Star light attraction for Mercurius Philosophorum we know that light is, it does not come to. Thus light and consequently Secret Fire from the sky cannot be attracted. In seventeenth-century iatrochemistry, poisons were said to be attracted by their antidotes. Now we are ready to try a translation of the Introitus Apertus latin sentence. To your surprise I will be verbatim, since the ambiguity of traho-xi and converto-ti allows me to do it, and as you know, verbatim is always preferable to an interpretative translation: “Quemadmodum chalybs ad magnetem trahitur, magnesque sponte se ad chalybem convertit, sic & magnes Sophorum trahit illorum chalybem”.
My verbatim translation: As steel/chalybs is pulled/dragged/drawn/imbibed/absorbed/attracted by the magnesia/magnet, and magnesia/magnet by its nature, spontaneously, turns/turns around/turns into/transforms/changes/translates/molts/brings back steel/chalybs, so the magnet/magnesia of Wises pulls/drags/draws/imbibes/absorbes/attracts their chalybs/steel.
As you can see many marriages may be described by this Philaletes sentence. But let’s go on.
Open Entrance: Thus, as Chalybs is the ore of gold, so our Magnet is the true ore of our Chalybs.
Latin Introitus Apertus: Quare sicut chalybem docui esse auri minera, pariter & magnes noster est chalybs nostri minera.
My translation: Thus, as I taught Chalybs/steel is the Gold Source, and similarly our magnet/magnesia is our Chalybs/steel mine.
As said in the previous chapter, mine is a synonym for “Mother”. Thus ore is a wrong translation. Mother simply is pure Mercurius/Secret Fire inside all metal electronic clouds. Magnet/magnesia and Chalybs/steel are equal Secret Fire chemical containers, but for the different chemical compositions of Chalybs/steel, due to metal dissolved inside ( not so relevant in weights though.
Open Entrance: The hidden center of our Magnet abounds in Salt, which Salt is the menstruum in the Sphere of the Moon, and can calcine gold.
Latin Introitus Apertus: Notifico (7) porro magnetem nostrum habere centrum occultum Sale abundans, qui Sal est menstruum in Sphaera Lunae, qui novit (8) calcinare aurum.
My translation: I further guarantee our magnet/magnesia has a hidden center with plenty of salt, whose salt is a menstruum from the Moon orbit, which menstruum can renew gold calcination.
The hidden center is a synonym for Secret Fire extracted from raw matter. Salt is another synonym for Secret Fire, once made fixed. Menstruum in Sphaera Lunae or from Moon orbit is a further synonym for Mercurius/Secret Fire in dissolving action. In fact, this menstruum, can renew gold calcination. Which is not only metallic gold reduced in powder, but also dissolved and then made fixed. Latin verb novo stands here for an important Alchemy axiom and key: In Alchemy Secret Fire is enduring an incessant journey between volatilization and fixation.
Open Entrance: This center turns towards the Pole with an archetypal appetite, where the virtue of the Chalybs is exalted into degrees.
Latin Introitus: Centrum hoc se convertit appetitu archetico ad Polum, in quo virtus chalybs est in gradus exaltata.
My translation is the same as Open Entrance, but for the aforementioned verb “convertit” which cannot simply be translated as turns towards, but also turns into/transforms/changes/translates/molts/brings back. In fact, as said before, light from stars does not travel but just is. And what mainly does is to light on Mercurius from raw matter. Notice the “ exaltata” which Open Entrance does not translate wrong, but the English language cannot point at her being female. Chalybs is male, but the Secret Fire composing it is certainly female. Because the Spirit of Life is always female.
Open Entrance: in the Pole is the heart of Mercury, the true fire (in which is the rest of its Master), sailing through this great sea that it may arrive at both the Indies, and direct its course by the aspect of the North Star, which our Magnet will manifest. (8)
The translation is correct. As said before Secret Fire’s first house ( as far as we know, for we cannot get further) is Polaris. Correctly Philaletes called it “heart”. And in the next post, we will see why this physiological organ has been used. Pay attention to “which our Magnet will manifest”, since that certifies what is aforementioned about light from Stars.
The final sentence has been omitted by Open Entrance, not without reason: it is just a bunch of contumelies against people not provided with his tremendous intellective strength. Always unostentatious, our good young Philalethes.
Intoitus Apertus versus Waite’s Open Entrance. Chapter 3.
- Traho-xi means to pull, to drag, to draw, to imbibe, to absorb, to attract. Trahitur is passive;
- Converto-ti means to turn, to turn around, to turn into, to transform, to change, to translate, to molt, to bring back. Be aware that in English the verb convert means “cause to change in form or function”;
- See Cabala Mineralis & Three Salts Enigma;
- See Atalanta Fugiens & the Golden Apples and Weidenfeld and Basilius Oleum Vitriolis;
- Entrée Ouverte, tome fourth of “Biblioteque des Philosophes Alchimiques ou Hermetique” Paris 1754;
- See Codex Marcianus Ouroboros;
- Notifico is a medieval neologism, usually starting notary documents. You cannot find it in latin dictionaries. As a young boy, my father used to collect similar ancient documents. Thus I can remember a lot of “Notifico”;
- Novo-avi, means to repair, to fix, to restore, to create, to renew;
- This sentence has been quoted by Fulcanelli, and I posted it in Fulcanelli and External Influences.