Picture number 7. “Germinatio Vegetativa” or vegetal germination. We already know that during the Main Work a transmutation of colors from black to red (8) passing through white is to happen, and not by magic, but by magic of Mercurius. Cabala Mineralis author fails to mention all the passages from black to white and, what’s more doesn’t mention the color grey, but in this picture he refers to green, or better a greenish black. In this stage we don’t have to wait for the first light of Mercurius to appear, since we already are lucky owner of a Mercurius Philosophorum. Whatever kind of cooking we are allow to perform ( for example Kamala Jnana, see undernote 9, just cooked by pouring Mercurius on) we have to get our matter to undergo “Washings” or Laiton. In simple words we have to discharge our partitioned Mercurius and very slowly, but in a “stormy” way ( see the kind of tempest over the matter surface) black starts to change color. The first apperance may be a greenish tone. It is not compulsory, though. Sometimes it can be caused by molds. Sometimes it is just a tone towards grey. But in ancient times it might appear as a sign of “vegetation”, of life (10). The undernote in fact says: “Sol de nigretudine Colore Mutato viridascens Germen, suum pandit in vegetationem”. The Sun from blackness changes to a greenish black germ, it gets vegetative.
Picture number 8.” Sulphur Album” , or White Sulphur. The first appearance of whiteness in our main Works is a sign of Sulphur. Mercurius, is always Mercurius of course, but it is crowned as Sulphur. An unripe Sulphur though, since is not red yet. We may have already read in this site of the ubiquitous rule of three, by which every symbol stands for at least three different concepts. So Sulphur is also called a Mercurius Fixed, and/or Mercurius when reaches colors, in this case it is called “Dye”. ” Sol noster Mutato Colore viridis, Transit in Sulphur, Quod est Corpus Animatum Anima in Corruptibili”. Our Sun, turned into a greenish, is now on the way to white, which is an animated body, it really is our incorruptible Soul. Very often you may read in alchemical treatises that Mercurius is our Spirit of Life, while Sulphur is Soul. Just a question of densities.
Picture number 9. ” Volatilisatio per Liquidum” , or volatilization by liquid. We have already learned that “Washings” cook or produce change of color, and now is time for red. Washings have the power to both calcine and volatilize, this time they volatilize and in so doing can extract more Secret Fire. The ultimate purpose of our Works is in fact the utmost extraction of Secret Fire. The method of extraction has always been the same: Solve et Coagula. Volatilize and make fixed. This is how Alchemy works (11). “Sol noster albus, sine mannum impositione ulla, nec vasis, Apertione iterum liquescit, Calore Continuato, cum rariis vaporibus ad cauda pavonis similitudinem, Tunc Son noster albus volatilisatur per liquidum”. Our Sun, without neither handcraft, nor device, over and over open the vessel, pour our “Water” and the matter inside gets liquid again, go on with the heat (very likely sand heat), it will scarcely discharge some vapors, it will change many colors till looking like a peacock tail. But here Rabbi Simeon skips a lot of stages: the peacock tail is towards the end of work indeed, in fact he ends up saying that in that moment our Sun is volatilized by its own liquid. To tell the real truth we have to repeat this operation till the appearance of the peacock tail. Before that, at every repetition we will get the “Rota” or rotations of colors from black to red ( 12).
Picture number 10. Let’s get back at the passage from white to red. A light pink- orange (like the coming dawn “Aurora Consurgens”) color will announce your red. The whole to do is called now: ” Volatilisatio per fixum” or volatilization by dry. The author here would make this red as being the last red, in fact it looks like it can not go any further. But why handling the ultimate goal, or perfect red, and skip the first step, or first redness? What’s more there would be a difference of the “something” to be put inside to push the matter in the vessel to change color, or transmutate. The real volatilization by means of dry is the last one, when the matter could not go any further. The author in fact says: ” Continuato calore Sol noster volatilis jam factus per liquidum desiccatur est sic corpus lucens, Quasi Aurora Consurgens, Haec est volatilisatio per siccum”.
Picture number 11. The light pink-orange is now over. The redness is finally arrived. “Sulphur Rubeum”, or simply red Sulphur and Rabbi Simeon goes on referring to it as the last sulphur. “Hac Aurora paulatim Evanescente, consurgit Sun noster in granula pulchrima et rubicundisima, Que sunt Sulphur nostrum rubeum a sophis, Tam desidera sunt, Quod tamen non est finis laborum”. This Aurora ( in the latin sense of dawn) little by little makes our Sun to come out as red and gorgeous granules, which are our red and philosophic Sulphur, so much desired, nevertheless the work is not finished.
Picture number 12. ” Fermentatio Aliis Imbibitio Lapidis” There is another series of imbibitions for the perfection of the Stone , or Lapis, and this is done when we arrive at Red Earth (Adam) or Red Ferment. This new series of pouring is quite different and difficult, it is made drop by drop. In fact they are called “Imbibitions”, quite a new born baby to be gently fed. This new earth is very dry and drinks eagerly its humid, which is not the usual mercurial partitions, but a red one. This red can only be fed with another red. ” Sulphur hoc imbibitur novi Mercurii Quinario suis corpus pondere paulatim et paulatim per septem deversas imbibitiones et continuato calore rotata rota naturae, mense uno, transfeunt putrefactio et jam dicta regimina”. This Sulphur is saturated with a new Mercurius five times its body weigh (quinarius was a roman coin worth 5 other coins), over and over, during seven different imbibitions or saturations, with continuing heat ( often an increased heat), rotating the wheel of nature, for one month (philosophic month, but every alchemist has here a different interpretation, generally a philosophic month is a day time long, but here it should indicate an established time). There is a putrefactive stage also in this regimen. Of course, for the rule of three, there may be at least three different kind of imbibitions. And indeed there are.