Before Preparatory Work, Spiritus Mundi

Strictly speaking, no. They are the same ineffable substance at the different stages of work and manifestation. We call it Spiritus Mundi before the extraction, Secret Fire during extraction, and Mercurius when extracted. The difference lies in the different “host” matters, as the alchemical proceedings transmute the host matter. The envelope.

As we have already seen in the Solar Alchemy section, although alchemical light is not the light object of Einstein’s Nobel prize, it is not foreign to it. Maybe the two lights share some physics aspects and even corpuscles and waves (theory of Secret Fire as electrons). But there is also a theory affirming that the alchemical light and the light subject to physics laws don’t even love each other and operate just in the absence of each other, even though the sun and stars are known as massive sources of alchemical light. The alchemical Spiritus Mundi prefers the nocturnal dark to descend to the earth, employing the Moon. If we can say to be somewhat accustomed to the physics light laws ( I mean for the current state of the science), very little is known about alchemical light, which is both evident and obscure. It can be visible to our eyes ( or, better, detectable to our brain) when the first Mercurius, in specific paths, shines into the vessel and even in a spectacular way when metallic gold is involved.

It is not easy to answer this question in modern times, as nobody has provided a concise and explicit statement in this regard so far. Ancient alchemists traditionally tended to identify these two “entities” either as specific substances, as coming from specific regions of our Universe (the earth or the sky), or as coming out of different stages of the works. Anyway, the two are different and cannot be confused with each other. In a certain sense, the Spiritus Mundi can be compared to Mercurius/Universal Dissolvent/Universal Magnet, while the Anima Mundi is comparable to Sulfur. Anima means “Soul”. Spiritus Mundi and Anima Mundi are the α and ω of our alchemical works. The quest for Spiritus Mundi begins with the preparatory works as an indispensable condition to get our Universal Dissolvent from nature. Many modern alchemists take Spiritus Mundi as a synonym for Mercurius Sideribus and Universalis from the upper part of the terrestrial atmosphere. The Anima Mundi will be extracted with the Spiritus Mundi’s help at the end of the Opus, representing the ultimate goal. The issue was interpreted in a very pragmatic way by Johannes Trithemius (who, strictly speaking, was not an alchemist) while describing the Western divine magic: “which was namely how to get the Spiritus Mundi, which attracted to itself the stars and their influence, and how to separate the Anima Mundi to make things magnetic”.

Without necessarily wanting to compare Spiritus Mundi and the etheric or subtle body that surrounds and interpenetrates all bodies, the laboratory alchemist must admit that they behave similarly.

The theory of an Inner Central Sun affirms that every independent body has an Inner Central Sun in constant back-and-forth communication with the Inner Central Sun of the astronomical Sun. As the preliminary, first work involves the raw matter destruction to let the spiritual part out, as the latter is often called “Philosophical light”, and the operations aimed at the purpose are defined as “Extraction of Secret Fire/Spiritus Mundi/Mercurius”, consequently it can be argued the notions as mentioned above are not foreign to the idea of an Inner Central Sun of the body in the object.

It was an imagined alchemical stage in which an invisible fermentation precedes the visible matter. The so-called male principle of light and time revolves as a “flaming sword” within the solid crust of the so-called feminine principle, which is the essence of space.

There are two schools of thought: The first is summed up by Johann Joachim Becher, who, in Physica Subterranea, concludes that the result of putrefaction is the same as combustion, that’s to say to separate volatile parts from fixed and leave behind just friable earth as a residue. He dared to analyze and observe all the degrees of a corpse’s decomposition in a year. He directly witnessed all the phenomena, which were essentially gaseous and vaporous. We know that ancient alchemists gave the utmost importance to fumes and vapors, the dwellings of the alchemical spirits. And we know that alchemical fermentation should be performed in well-closed vessels. The second school of thought states that matter reaches the perfect putrefaction and, consequently, the perfect black when it is utmostly dispersed and dissolved. For example, a fast blackness is achieved when fine powder of gold calcined is added to the Mercurius, even of plant origin. And, of course, into well-closed vessels.

Yes, and these are somewhat confusing alchemical nomenclatures. So the Secret Fire is widely known as Spiritus Mundi in its way from the sky and Radical Humid when dwelling in the bodies and earth. But we have seen both have their motion and a great attraction to each other.

Baroque age alchemists did distinguish between aerial and terrestrial, superior and inferior, Spiritus Mundi. They extracted what they defined as “aerial” or superior from atmospheric forms of humidity and “terrestrial” or inferior, all dwelling into bodies. Strictly speaking, there is no difference. It does make sense, although misleading, to list our salts.

There is a theory that the aerial Spiritus Mundi has turned into terrestrial, or inferior, once deep in the earth. And the quality has remained unchanged.

Magnetization is the destruction of the raw matter to let out the Secret Fire inside and, for the law of density, to make it more attractive for the Spiritus Mundi. Condensation is the catching of raw matters, particularly rich in Secret Fire, through materials either prepared for the purpose or natural. For instance, the atmospheric humidity absorption through a peculiar salt artificially dried out is considered condensation, while the dismemberment of a matter under the Sun and Moon is considered magnetization.

The extraction of Secret Fire/Spiritus Mundi/Mercurius is drawing out using the effort of force from bulk raw matter. The condensation accumulates in a proper object, i.e. through a natural or alchemically prepared magnet. Roughly, the extraction takes place during the preliminary works. At the same time, the condensation is a peculiar goal of the second-main work when using an alchemically prepared magnet ( i.e., Mercurius Philosophorum) and a peculiar goal of the preliminary work when instead using a natural magnet.

 Only the raw matter and the magnet prepared by alchemists can do that for us. It is challenging to extract and condense spiritus mundi from non-aqueous air molecules. Lenses and mirrors can nevertheless operate, especially on particulates. Please refer to the section Solar alchemy for more details.

Yes. By distillation of some atmospheric humidity forms, such as dew, and by Heat/Cold conditions on the container.

But, more quickly, we can condense the Spiritus Mundi through a salt exposition. This occurs after the previous extreme de-humidification of a saline substance, which then, upon contact with moist air, will tend to receive water molecules from the atmosphere once again. Not only do the salts act mechanically as if they were a sponge, but also indeed attract the Spiritus Mundi way much better than a regular sponge, having a “philosophical” magnet in them.”
An extreme de-humidification is a calcination process, and the ancient chemistry treatises are pretty exhaustive. The preferred salts are saline substances that tend to attract water molecules in average conditions. A crucible is a lab tool instead used in these processes of extreme desiccation.
The following exposition can mostly be outdoors, to sky beams and air condition, or even indoors, in caves deep in the earth.

Yes, it has been observed that reducing the air pressure inside the container can facilitate the extraction of spiritus mundi.

It is illogical to think that the absence of molecules could lead to the extraction of spiritus mundi from nothing. Theory and experience tell us that what is often mistaken for a vacuum is instead simply a pressure decrease. It should also be noted that glass has an ion exchange with many molecules. The spiritus mundi is evanescent and ineffable, but even if it were propagated in a vacuum as gravitational waves do, it is extracted only from the real matter.

Some ancient authors stated the Spiritus Mundi lingering in the highest atmosphere during sunlight conditions is then helped by the Moon to fall on the earth’s surface.

Yes, it tends to linger in high altitudes during daytime sunlight.

The Spiritus Mundi, after sunset, tends to naturally fall to the earth’s surface and enter the slots scattered on its surface. And it still has to be considered “aerial”.

Yes, indeed. Motion and sound are considered Spiritus Mundi accelerators. And almost the warm, as the first acting force motion, is a principle inherent in heat. Heat/cold and dry/humid are, and generate, ‘ motion‘, physically speaking. And Alchemy is physics, as Fulcanelli said.

Alchemically and physically speaking, heating is a way to give motion to matter. And cooking must undoubtedly be seen as giving heat to matter.

Alchemically and physically speaking, cooling is a way to slow down motion in the matter. But also an opportunity for a new heating and hence a way to enhance motion.

Alternating hot and cold is ultimately the basis of classical alchemical works to extract and condense the spiritus mundi and make it manifest its power. Alternating hot and cold generally causes changes of state in the matter. And physically speaking, it generates electricity.

In Alchemy, it is not uncommon to hear about a less dense Mercurius/Secret Fire/Spirit attracted by a denser one, as opposed to the atmospheric models. I don’t mean the density of raw matter but the density of our ineffable and invisible Spirit. For this reason, the extraction from raw matter is complex and hardworking. The density differentiation theory of Mercurius leads to a whole range of densities, which the ancient astronomers rendered in their astronomical charts with various types of skies.

Above and beyond the known magnetization stage performed by the astronomical sun and moon, as well as that by the symbolical sun and moon through heating-freezing and extraction-condensation, theoretically Mercurius and, consequently, spiritus mundi/secret fire, could neither exist nor work alone. I said theoretically because very few global alchemists know why and how that phenomenon occurs. Moreover, this occult companion is.

The mirror theory has similarities to the theory of the hidden companion. Anyway, whether we call Spiritus Mundi that which is extracted from the celestial matter, or Secret Fire, that’s to say, extracted from terrestrial matter, or Mercurius, which is obtained by the preliminary work, this ineffable substance seems to work in the mirror, that’s to say it always needs to be reflected in a mate, or even antagonist, it works best in pairs. It must be added to his fellow or be waiting for his fellow.

In other words, it is a doubling, and the result will never be identical but similar.

The best magnet for attracting Spiritus Mundi, or Secret Fire from the sky, is the alchemically prepared Mercurius Philosophorum, as it is the densest Secret Fire known artifact (being Alchemy, the science and art of making Secret Fire condensers). But often, we are still in the preliminary works, so we have only availability of either raw matters or handmade methods. For instance, as for the latter, there is the method of common air humidity to be attracted through the rehydration of significantly dried salts. It follows a list of “binary suggestions” for building or finding a good condenser/magnet. Only experience can make us instinctively understand how to proceed. A colloidal substance, like nostoc, tends to be more attractive than a solid. A finely powdered and dispersed mineral powder is more attractive than a bulk ore. The fermented raw matter is more attractive than fresh matter. Nocturnal conditions are more attractive than sunlight. A desert is more attractive than a pluvial forest. The crescent Moon is more attractive than the full Moon. Natural fire is said to be attractive too. The dawn is more attractive than the sunset. Gold is the best attractive among minerals. Running stream water is more attractive than still water. A cavern is more attractive than open conditions. But a roofless house is more attractive than a house with a covering. An underground stream is more attractive than a superficial one. Equinoctial conditions are more attractive than solstitial. Slots are more attractive than wide open spaces. Daily extreme temperature excursions are more attractive than comfortable temperatures. Metal containers are more attractive than glass vessels. Rooms at the top of high towers are more attractive than the ground floor. The high mountain is more attractive than the sea level. An ionized environment is more attractive than a null. The absence of wind is more attractive than windy conditions. The Moon is more attractive than the Sun. Mineral reign is more attractive than plant. A dispersing upward condition is more attractive than a downward-condensing one. A destroyed raw matter is more attractive than an untouched one. A liquid is more attractive than a solid. Salt is more attractive than a bulk mineral. A child is more attractive than an elderly. Our organic liquids are more attractive than the earth. Underground earth is more attractive than surface soil. A corpse is more attractive than a living body. An explosion is more attractive than stillness. The earth away from trees is more attractive than that under trees. A metallic salt is more attractive than a nonmetallic. A noisy place is more attractive than a silent one. A dissolving salt is more attractive than an already dissolved. But a saturated solution is more attractive than an unsaturated one. An aged raw matter is more attractive than fresh new. Dirty is more attractive than clean. A weak acid is more attractive than a strong one. A burned matter is more attractive than a non burned. A substance that underwent entropy is more attractive than a newborn substance. Natural substances are more attractive than artificial ones. An electrical discharge is more attractive than a non-conducting substance. Darkness is more attractive than light. A shelled place is more attractive than an electromagnetically hit place. Two merged substances are more attractive than a single one. Melting metal is more attractive than a solid, and it is also more attractive than an ore. A fume is more attractive than a liquid. It is more attractive what is merging than what is by a long time separated. A small slot is more attractive than a large aperture. It is more attractive what is buried than what is on the earth’s surface. Is it more attractive a magnetization during an equinox than a solstice? It is more attractive to the melting snow than the newly felt. It is more attractive to deep water than surface water. Division and reunion are both attractive in the same way. The more attractive hour is an hour before dawn. It is more attractive to the evaporating seawater in a saltern than the salt remaining on the bottom. We are more attractive with long hair than bald. An ion is more attractive than an atom. Rock is more attractive than grass. Magma is more attractive than cooled rock. More attractive is the thunder than the silence. Antarctica is more attractive than French Polynesia. If we wait for a star beam to come, a Moonless night is more attractive than a crescent Moon night.

In alchemy, when thinking of a state of matter, one often thinks of plasma, which does appear in the works. Nevertheless, this state is soon fixed as a solid or a more or less viscous liquid, or a colloid. And despite that, it is still a solvent and magnet, even to a more advanced degree. As the raw matters from which the most significant amount of Mercurius is extracted are heavy metals, the idea that Mercurius could dwell in the electronic clouds has been put forward. Besides that, ionization seems to play a role in raw matter magnetization. So, in my opinion, the alchemical works might affect the part of an atom generally occupied by electrons.

Finally, let me quote P. D. Ouspensky’s (A New Model of the Universe): “Expansion of gases, liquids and solid means that molecules retreat from one another. The contraction of solids, liquids, and gases means that molecules approach one another. The distance between them diminishes. There is space here, and there are distances… There is more ‘time’ in a liquid than in a solid; there is more ‘time’ in a gas than in a liquid”.
By the way, the philosophical egg has an abnormal concentration of mass.
To deepen the subject, see also The Genesis on a Small Scale.

Ancient alchemists said that Secret Fire and common fire have an affinity. Some of them prescribed to attract the Secret Fire with bonfires. It is undeniable that the secret fire, and the construction of Mercurius, find their best times in the same hour in which the common fire is more easily ignitable. At the same time when those who believe in ghosts use hunting ghosts.

It will be helpful to know that the protocol for maintaining the eternal fire inside the temple of Vesta programmed the ritual extinguishing and re-ignition of the fire. So just constant burning wasn’t enough.

No, this is a wrong and misleading superstition leading to modern spagyrics. In a very ancient past, chemists did observe that, when melted, many minerals divided into fumes/white emulsions and greasy/viscous liquids, so they believed the fume/white emulsion was the Mercurius and the greasy/viscous liquid the sulfur. While the real alchemical Mercurius is the spiritus mundi/secret fire extracted from the salt’s volatilization, and the sulfur is a complex subsequent dissolution-fixation operation through the Mercurius. In the dry metallurgic way, they operate a kind of separation-purification, but they have nothing in common with the idea of primordial Mercurius and Sulfur.

This statement cannot be correct for a reason mentioned in the faq above. But undeniably, metallic gold is the more generous raw matter when releasing the Spiritus Mundi/Secret Fire from within.

Metallic gold, as well as the real nostoc from the sky. But some think the opposite because it doesn’t contain enough “slag” to work hard.

The Spiritus Mundi is an excellent solvent. The powder of gold calcined is quickly dispersed, so it becomes black. The gold darkness is proof the material obtained is particularly rich spiritus mundi. It is to be noted that even a strongly ionized matter can disperse the powder of gold.

There is a lot of truth in this statement. For the ancient alchemists, it was not strange to believe that the composition of the surrounding air somehow influenced the Spiritus Mundi for the simple reason that the stellar influences did affect the very fabric of the air.

To confirm this idea, it would be enough that Hermes, the alchemical deity par excellence, was considered the god of air.

The fire in the temple of Vesta in Rome was not merely symbolic; it was a real fire that had to burn perpetually, apart from the time of spring celebrations, Ver Sacrum: when the Pontiff Maximus, master of the waters, put out and rekindled the fire with the help of the older priestess, with water and perhaps embers from the old extinguished fire or a special solar flint.

Also, in this case, we can say that the secret fire did not consist of the common fire but in what involved the physical operation of extinguishing and ignition. Legend has it that Aeneas brought the spark of the sacred fire from his native Troy to the coasts of Lazio.

Suppose you don’t know what a thing is for; in that case, it only applies to the object that is the final receptacle of the concept, as if you were to pick up a smartphone, destroy it and judge it only by the ”intrinsic usefulness” of the materials that compose it.

They are two different schools of thought, but both are considered valid.