Hermaphrodite Child of the Sun and Moon XII

Translated by Mike Brenner. Copyright Mike Brenner 1997. Permission given to freely copy this, as long as this copyright remains attached.
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EXPLANATION OF FIGURE 12

The snake eating its own tail represents the solid White and Red Stones. These first harden and solidify the virgin Milk, and then transform into a Salamander who lives in the Fire. The Fire furnishes the Salamander with the energy for its continued evolution.

The flying dragon, now fallen to Earth, breathes fire, which devours all metals, transmuting them into Silver or Gold.

The cross designates the Attraction Field of the Astral Fire whose vibrations color the Salamander Venusian yellow, Martian Citrine-Red, and blood-red. This is the Fire of eternal Youth through multiplication, experienced by many.

PARAGRAPH 12

Alchemy
Turns the swan into a
Salamander abruptly.
She feasts on
Heat
And lives in flames,
Blood-Red in color,
Nourished by the glowing embers:
Those who bow to her rule,
(Like the Pelican
Who gives all to his young):
Will see the Salamander
Develop their
Strength and Virtue,
But she only appears to those who
Understand 7 stars:
She opens up
The 7 gates for us.

EXPLANATION OF PARAGRAPH 12

Fire is the energy for implementing and completing all Alchemical Work. Fire and heat instantly changed the swan to a Salamander. Dry mystical Fire was used in the earlier part of the Work. Now the moist physical Fire at steady heat builds up, maintains, and cools the mystical Fire. The mystical Fire is called the blood of its own Fire-Embers, appearing in Figure 12 beneath the pelican.

The 7 Stars, which remind us of the magical or natural
Imbibitiones, the author himself clarifies:

The Milk of the Moon is not like the virgin Milk of the Sun: making (EINTRAENKUNG) the White Stone requires whiter milk, than the Red.

Use Dry Fire to sublimate and calcinate it. Start making it red by pouring a tiny bit of yellow-red Mercury on it, once or, if needed, twice.

CANON 12

Just One Thing under the Sun
Its Possession is the secret of making Gold.
Its form is both male and female.
Its nature is both hot and cold.
Its nutrients pour out,
Its male part, solid, Its female part, liquid.
Its unity makes it the beginning and the end.
Its state changes from male to female:
Dissolving, putrefying, purifying, coagulating,
Until the golden Child appears.
Its milk feeds the Child anew,
And lets you immediately repeat the Work,
Until everything flows and penetrates.
Then fine gold accumulates,
Its Spiritual Body turns acid.
Its Colors have to be made ready for the Work:
But be righteous and guard against sins,
And God will grant you this treasure:
Its color will eventually turn red,
And then remember to thank the Lord.

EXPLANATION OF CANON 12

To sustain succintness, the Author can say no more, yet says all.

This final canon is the Epilogue summarizing and confirming the others.

In the beginning verses, there is the One Substance, our White Ingredient, the Ens Mundi, the One Thing, the secret Subject or spirit energy which is the source of the physical energy transmitted through its object, the Sun.

This One Substance is in a state of perfect balance, a perfect gender balance of male and female, and a perfect vibrational balance of heat and cold.

The male and female aspects of this balance are this passive Subject and its active Object. The male (the artificially modified Object) waits inside the Subject in solid form, until the female Subject acts on the Object. Then the Object loses its congealed solidity and turns liquid. When its flows (as Hermes said) they can be harmoniously and gracefully separated from teach other, and later hermetically sealed back together.

At the beginning of the Work, as a liquid, and at the end, as a solid, It is just One Thing. But not in between, from the time Passion and Reason are separated, until they are sealed back together to produce the White Stone.

The steps are: (1) dissolve, (2) putrefy, (3) purify, (4) coagulate. Repeat this process until the golden Child appears in the form of the noble Stone. Separation followed by marriage. Nourish the Stone with heavenly nectar, the ambrosia of our virgin Milk, which means dissolve it. Let it rot and wash it with magical solutions. Seal it in its tomb until it coagulates and solidifies, until the power of the Tincture climaxes.

This Gold of the Sun is the fine Gold of the Wise. Repeat the process until It becomes cherry red. Then just melt a bunch of metals together, one fifth gold, and toss in a freely flowing portion of the Tincture, and you will see how much incomplete metal you can change into the finest gold this way. Praise God for the Result.

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