Before Preparatory Work, Spiritus Mundi

We have seen in Solar Alchemy that the Sun contains a spark of individual life, which has nothing to do with the intrinsic heat of this celestial body. Then we learned in Lunar Alchemy, that the solar spark is nothing unless swelled by the Moon into a true ray. But many alchemists indicate only the Stars as the origin of the Spiritus Mundi. Anyway, know that, from the point of view of alchemical works, these are only details. In fact, few – and certainly not the alchemists of the Baroque era – will be able to answer.

We have already seen the theory of an Inner Central Sun in constant communication back and forth with the Inner Central Sun of the astronomical Sun (see Solar Alchemy). It is said that the alchemist’s task is to extract it, and once brought to light its name will change from Spiritus Mundi to Mercurius and Secret Fire.

Obviously, being alchemists, they are referring to the idea of handling a tangible substance that contains the Spiritus Mundi.

On the one hand it is supposed that certain tangible matters must necessarily originally contain Spiritus Mundi (for example, dew, gold, urine…), on the other that certain tangible matters must necessarily contain Spiritus Mundi because they were collected at certain lunar and solar moments.

In fact, no Alchemy treatise explains why certain subjects should be “charged” with Spiritus Mundi. Beginners are simply advised to learn the lists by heart without asking too many questions. Experience and study then lead to “intuition” that it should be substances that would have “absorbed” a certain charge of emanations from the stars. It is complex to understand what emanations they are. See also Alchemy and Modern Physics Particles, Stellar Alchemy, the Signatures Palace, Stellar Alchemy, the Aerial Ropes and Flow and Reflux.

A rule of thumb is to carefully plan the path you intend to follow and choose the raw material from which to extract/collect the Spiritus Mundi: it must be useful to us in the continuation of the work.

As said above, the Spiritus Mundi should be useful in the continuation of the work. The alchemist must know what he wants to do; there is no universal Spiritus Mundi for all paths. Ultimately, the Spiritus Mundi is “housed” in the raw material the alchemist is able to use.

Because where Alchemy ends, Theurgy begins. Where Apollo ends, Zeus arrives. Apollo-the-esoteric-sun, is the only one who can glimpse the “transcendent father”. We will see how, ultimately, the task of all the Olympian deities is to make the all-too-distant Zeus manifest.

Regarding the fact of the Spiritus Mundi as an ionized substance, there could be some truth in it.

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.

Alchemists assert that, like the respiratory systems, the Spiritus Mundi should have a response system as powerful as its reception system, in short, it should act as a double pump. Today, it is difficult for us to imagine this movement as a pump, but perhaps as a magnet.

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.

True, one theory has it that the Spiritus Mundi hovers in the upper atmosphere away from the earth’s crust because of the sun. Only at night it can descend and penetrate the most hidden recesses.

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.

Alchemists extract the Spiritus Mundi from bodies to “transmute” it into a “magnet” essential for the continuation of alchemical work (see First-Preparatory Works and Alchemy and Modern Physics Particles).

It is necessary to understand whether the Spiritus Mundi is a vehicle, a medium, or the thing that must “travel”. In any case, for the alchemists, the philosophical sea was a medium, not the “thing”. See Flow and Reflux.

For more information see Alchemy & Light, Introduction. Then it is up to you.

For more information see Stellar and Planetary Alchemy. Then it is up to you.

See Alchemy and Modern Physics Particles.

Many say that Spiritus Mundi can be defined as a wave – this can be seen above all from the dry alchemical path. See Concordances and Differences between the Humid and Dry Path and Alchemy and Modern Physics Particles.

I think that modern physicists can certainly ask themselves this question. See Alchemy and Modern Physics Particles.

With the expression “sound force“, the alchemists meant the vibratory force, a peculiar characteristic of the Mercurius and the Spiritus Mundi. See Alchemy Resounds.

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. An extremely concise, and theoric, definition holds that Anima Mundi is the spark and Spiritus Mundi is the mercurial ray that condenses it. Hence the symbolism of the Sun for Anima Mundi and the Moon for Spiritus Mundi. 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.

Because an entity is a concrete thing with autonomous properties, while a principle is an abstract concept, a rule. During alchemical works Anima Mundi and Spiritus Mundi become real substances. In a certain sense, the Spiritus Mundi can be compared to Mercurius/Universal Dissolvent/Universal Magnet, while the Anima Mundi is comparable to Sulfur.

Many baroque alchemical treatises attribute the role of soul to Anima Mundi and the role of extracting/dissolving spirit to Spiritus Mundi. Since these are cosmic entities—in the astronomical sense—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 thing was interpreted in a very pragmatic way by Johannes Trithemius (who, strictly speaking, was not an alchemist) while describing the Western divine magic: “so, learn 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”.

Absolutely. The quest for Spiritus Mundi begins with the preparatory works as an indispensable condition to get our Universal Dissolvent from nature. As already mentioned, Anima Mundi is the final stage of the alchemical Opera.

The difference of the sequence of Spiritus Mundi-Mercurius-Secret Fire is in the different material “envelopes” in which these “entities” travel. As for the Egyptian sequence of souls I think the difficulty is to understand where those entities are.

The laboratory alchemists must admit that they behave without necessarily wanting to compare Spiritus Mundi and the etheric or subtle body (that some philosophical and theosophical schools say that surrounds and interpenetrates all bodies). Alchemists like to think that the Spiritus Mundi is similar to a special dew that “falls” to the earth, attracted by the moon, and that they only have to collect just like ordinary dew. It is useless to point out to them that the real dew is a humidity already present on the earth’s surface and that it does not fall from the sky, but condenses. On the other hand, it is not even certain that the Spiritus Mundi is analogous to the etheric body of the theosophists.

In a sense, repeated hot-cold passages bring the Spiritus Mundi to surface. But this concept belongs more to the laboratory extraction of Mercurius. The connection with Spiritus Mundi is that this once extracted with laboratory procedures takes the name of Mercurius. See First-Preparatory Works.

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 (or when added as a third salt), and Mercurius when it officially emerges from the putrefaction of the nigredo and, after at least six volatilizations, becomes the universal solvent (see First-Preparatory Works). The difference in definitions lies in the different “guest” materials, since the alchemical processes gradually transmute the host matter, that is, the envelope.

It is correct, but not only that: traditional alchemical works cannot obtain the philosophers’ stone directly from the Spiritus Mundi, but require Mercurius.

In this case we must ask ourselves what use we have of the Philosophers’ Stone, because it, at least the one in tradition, is obtained only after, and with, the Mercurius. So, the right question to ask is: what is the Philosophers’ Stone for? (see What is the Philosophers Stone?, The Genesis on a Small Scale, and Alchemy Resounds). I believe that the ancients undoubtedly obtained the desired results without the exhausting work of the various humid or dry metallurgical paths (see Short Art Ars Brevis).

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

But, we can condense the Spiritus Mundi more quickly 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 attract water molecules in average conditions. A crucible is a lab tool used instead in these extreme desiccation processes. Le Breton says: “To Calcinate is to reduce a mixture employing fire to lime or ashes that cannot be further burned”. So, the calcined, or dried, material must be calcined until it can not be further calcined or dried. Only then will it be ready to engage in Spiritus Mundi, the spirit of the world: because its original will have been exhaled.
The following exposition can mostly be outdoors, to sky beams and air condition, or even indoors, in caves deep in the earth.

True. But in this case it becomes a difficulty for the Alchemists to try to “collect” it. In Alchemy this system is used more for the fixation of the volatile Mercurius, as we will see in First-Preparatory Works.

Yes, this occurs after the previous extreme de-humidification of peculiar saline substances (for instance, undergoing long calcination at a crucible or furnace), which then, upon contact with moist air, will tend to receive once again water molecules from the atmosphere. Not only do the salts act chemically as if they were a sponge, but they also attract the Spiritus Mundi way better than a non-mineral water attractor, with a “philosophical” magnet in them.

Some alchemists claim to be able to condense the Spiritus Mundi from the Sun inside a glass container. From my experience, even in closed and open containers, the collected matter can not be Spiritus Mundi of the Sun, but could rather be surrounding air particles, which, struck by solar radiation, oxidize or ionize. These salts – for alchemists call them “salts” – being highly magnetized, tend to release the Spiritus Mundi from within. In this case, the problem could be the tiny amount of gathered salt, or liquid, which is likely very insignificant compared to the amount we need to deal with dissolutions, duplications, washings, nourishments, and multiplications during the subsequent alchemical works.

See Water Alchemy

This is a question to which most alchemists would answer yes, while to modern chemists it is incomprehensible that a substance that they have been able to identify with difficulty in the humidity of the air or in some stray particle in the air, now passes through glass, a substance that only photons, neutrinos and gluons can pass through. So what? In Alchemy something that can be defined as “sonic force” does “flow” in the air, and that what we actually see of the Spiritus Mundi could be only a means of transport or a cover. What happens to the philosophical egg at the end of the Last Cooking actually resembles a real sonic force (see Alchemy Resounds).

As absurd as it may seem, after having said that it could pass through glass, one of the systems to “catch” it is through stone boxes with slits or holes. The fact that the opening must be narrow makes us immediately think that the Spiritus Mundi travels with the laminar flows of air and not with the turbulent flows that would form with larger openings. Even the systems to “catch” the dew and morning humidity of the air have narrow slits. Having also mentioned above the probable “sonic force” of the Spiritus Mundi, we find ourselves in a puzzling cul de sac. In conclusion, I also want to mention the fact that the first sacred buildings were tombs, temples came later. And this at least does not contradict the tendency of the Spiritus Mundi to slide ever further downwards. Even in this case, we must rely on “tradition” without being able to understand why. See also Alchemy and Modern Physics Particles.

In fact, it has been noted that square section tubes capture the Spiritus Mundi better than circular section tubes.

The word medium in Latin has rather complex translations. We have seen how the Spiritus Mundi loves to take refuge in the interstices like seeds. However, we can also consider a more “numerical” than alchemical situation. It is said that the “numerical” Spiritus Mundi is in the intervals and/or contact points of theurgic connecting rings.

In fact, this assumption is supported by many myths.

Both. And this detail could provide more than a few clues as to what the Spiritus Mundi might be. See also Solar Alchemy, Stellar Alchemy, the Signatures Palace and Stellar Alchemy, the Aerial Ropes.

No. Quintessence seems to be more “dense”. See Air Alchemy, the Dust. and Alchemy and Modern Physics Particles.

Let’s say right away that the Spiritus Mundi, as we have already seen, hovers in the upper parts of the atmosphere during the day (at least this is the characteristic it has in common with the Mercurius), but then, unlike the Mercurius, it seems to liquefy spontaneously and naturally. I said it seems to us that it behaves like this.

Even if it has not become the Mercurius of the alchemists, Spiritus Mundi can act as an excellent solvent. The case is that of some puddle mucilages, or equinox dews. In these cases, the calcined gold powder disperses rapidly, then turns black. The darkness of the gold is proof that the solvent matter is particularly rich in Spiritus Mundi. It is to be noted that even a strongly ionized matter can disperse calcined gold.

True. But in any case it becomes a difficulty for the Alchemists to try to “collect” it. In Alchemy this system is used more for the fixation of the volatile Mercurius, as we will see in First-Preparatory Works.

Ancient alchemists said that Spiritus Mundi and common fire have an affinity. Some of them prescribed to attract the Spiritus Mundi with bonfires. It is undeniable that the Spiritus Mundi, 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.

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.

Metallic gold and the other surrounding metals in Mendeleev’s chemical table, and this because of their electron clouds (see Gold & Alchemy and Alchemy and Modern Physics Particle). Any other raw materials that were actually chosen instead of these were due to their ease of dissolution, volatilization and sublimation or because they contained the metals mentioned. Other materials, such as nostoc, mucilage, snow, were chosen for their ionizing charge. In any case, the mercurius obtained from the latter was often enriched with salts of the former.

Let’s say right away that the Spiritus Mundi, as we have already seen, hovers in the upper parts of the atmosphere during the day (at least this is the characteristic it has in common with the Mercurius), but then, unlike the Mercurius, it seems to liquefy spontaneously and naturally. I said it seems to us that it behaves like this.

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. See Stellar and Planetary Alchemy.

We have already said in Solar and Planetary Alchemy, Air Alchemy, the Dust and Air Alchemy, the Fabric that Sal Naturae, or salt of nature, is difficult to define. It should however be of corpuscular nature – since it is defined as a salt. We have seen how the “corpuscular nature” is acquired by atmospheric dust, moistened and swollen during the night and the proximity to the earth’s crust, to acquire a notable consistency once it reaches the cavities of the subsoil.The whole sequence is well described by Dom Pernety as: Sal Naturae or salt of nature, Sal Niter, or nitre from the air, Tartar or salt of the earth’s crust, Vitriol or underground salt,.

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, in addition and/or waiting for companions.

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.

I personally do not know, but I can quote Canseliet who stated: “The Spiritus Mundi is green in color”. Note that, when something has a color, it is meant either in molecular form or in the form of electromagnetic radiation.

We cannot know whether Canseliet was speaking from his personal experience or whether he was inspired by Trevisanus’ “Green Dream”.

In fact, when speaking of the true color of the moon, alchemists will tell you that it is green.