Page 49 - Treatise on Salt

They remain at last stable below,
And there become liquefied with certitude,
In their first chaos most profoundly.
And then all these substances will become black,
As does the soot in the chimney,
That is called the head of the raven,
Which is no small sign of the grace of God.
When that shall have happened, you will see in a short time
Colours of all sorts,
The red, the yellow, the blue, and the others,
The which will nevertheless all soon disappear.
And you will see afterwards more and more,
That the whole will become green, like the leaves, and herbs.
Then at last the light of the moon shows itself;
Wherefore the heat must then be augmented,
And be left in that degree;
And the matter will become white like a hoary man, whose aged
complexion resembles ice,
It will also whiten afterwards like silver.
Govern your fire with a great deal of care,
And afterwards you shall see that in your vessel,
Your matter will become altogether white as the snow;
And then your elixir is perfected as to the white work;
Which in time will likewise become red.
For which reason augment your fire afresh,
And it will become yellow, or of a lemon colour all over:
But at last it will become red like a ruby.
Then render thanks to God our Lord,
For you have found so great a treasure,
That there is not in the whole world anything comparable to it for its
excellency;
This red stone tinges into pure gold,
Tin, copper, iron, silver, and lead,
And all the other metallic bodies whatever:
It effects and produces moreover many other wonders;
You may by its mean drive away all the maladies incident to mankind,
Wherefore render thanks to God with all your heart;
And being enabled by it, give freely your assistance to your neighbour,
And employ the use of this stone to the honour of the most high,
Whom it may please, to receive us into his kingdom of heaven.

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