Unveiled Hermes

The text of this magnificent work Hermès Devoilé, Dédié a la Postérité, Paris, Imprimerie of Félix Locquin, 16, Rue Notre-Dame-Des-Victroites, Paris, 1832, has always fascinated us by the difficulty of the interpretation of its symbolism that for any alchemist is a challenge.

After we have read it several times, the First Operation (Making of Azoth or the philosophers' mercury) was not achieved until today in order to lift the veil of the allegory.

Few are the artists that make reference to this operation because it is not comprehensible to those that, like us, already have some knowledge in the interpretation of the alchemic texts.

In the first part, the symbolism seems easy to interpret. This path, in our opinion, in the first part, is made by the dry way and the last, the most difficult, by the wet way.

The author was inspired of a beautiful allegory to describe the first operation where he makes certain considerations that, in our opinion, are still of the contemporary symbolism.

We have referred to, in previous writings, "To Follow Nature", to Natures subtle forces that are necessary to know and have the knowledge of their application in the Great Work.

It is not easy for an alchemist to understand how to apply these subtle forces. In this small but beautiful book the author refer to these subtle forces which without the knowledge of, it will be totally impossible for you to understand the whole work, mainly the important part in respects to the wet way.

But lets move on to the text in its more essential parts. The Nymph that appeared in dream to our alchemist said this:

«You told me that you were educated in chemistry: See which way your knowledge can offer to open only the locks of the door of this temple in order to penetrate into the sanctuary.»

«…You cannot combat the dragon that defends the entrance of this temple inwardly, except with this lance that is necessary for you to heat to heat till red with the help of the vulgar fire, in order to pierce the body of the monster that you should combat, and penetrate to its heart: dragon that was well described by the old ones, and of which they have spoken so much of. »

Thinks in the May dew; it becomes indispensable as vehicle, and as being the beginning or the principal of all things.»

«Finally I decided to the combat. Having gathered dry wood branches disperses on the place where I was, and started the fire with the help of a lens that I had and heated my lance to the bright white.

During this operation, I sought a way by which I could best destroy the temple door lock. Then, I realised that the nymph had placed in my pocket without my knowledge a large mouth glass flak, closed and filled of the substance that was necessary.

Determined to win or lose, I held with fury my lance in one hand and the substance in the other, and put of the last one, the necessary amount on the lock. In a short time, it disappeared entirely, and the two knockers of the temple door opened up with a crash. I perceived a terrible dragon that had an enormous dart with three points, and that was trying to throw at me its mortal breath. I threw myself on him and screaming:

When all is lost, that no more hope is expected, life is a dishonour and death a duty.

It opened its mouth to devour me; I drove strongly my lance inside it and penetrate to its bowels and dilacerate the heart; and for that he cannot reach me, I made great efforts at the same time with the help of my lance to deviate the direction of its head. The monster bends on itself for several times, it vomits flows of blood and ceases to exist.»

«I saw two superb crystal vases, each resting on a pedestal of the most beautiful Carrara marble. One of these vases was in an urn form having on top a gold crown with four fleuron's; somebody had written in engrave letters underneath: matter containing the two metallic natures.

The other crystal vase was a large bowl shut by emery polishing, and of a strong thickness; somebody had also engraved underneath the following:

Astral spirit or burning spirit that is the polar star dejection.

This vase had at the top a silver crown, adorned with nine brilliant stars.»

My strength and my courage began to fall: I thought that I should obey the orders of the nymph. I noticed beside the two sacred vases, several, clean empty crystal flasks, wheeled polish. I took two; I opened with precipitation, the first vase in urn form that contained the androgynous matter, or the two metallic natures and filled my vase. Having shut it, after having closed the crystal urn, I opened the second and the largest vase. I flowed tremulously in my second flask the substance that it contained: as I didn't have a funnel, time was of the essence and my strength was vanishing. I closed the large vase and mine quickly with its crystal lid and go out of temple hastily. Passing near the monster that I had overcome, I saw that nothing more remained of him than his mortal spoils of null value.»

« …One of your flasks has more androgynous matter than you need; but you didn’t take enough of the astral spirit! You need infinitely more; as Arnold of Villanueva says, it needs plenty of water, or distilled spirit…»

«Considers well the nature works: it formed the metals in earth core; but you need something more: its quintessence. See where it takes the quintessence from things: it is on the surface of the earth only within the kingdoms that live and vegetate: therefore, follow nature step by step.»

«After a short time, I recommence my work and, with the help of the Hercules' works, I got the matter containing the two metallic natures, as well as the astral spirit…»

FIRST OPERATION

«I took the matter containing the two metallic natures; I began to soak it with the astral spirit little by little, in order to awaken these two inner fires that were extinct, and drying lightly and grinding the whole circularly to the heat of the sun; then reiterating like this frequently, wetting it more and more, drying and grinding until the matter took the aspect of a lightly thick paste…»

* *

For an expert alchemist the symbolism of the combat with the dragon with the lance to the white heat is easy to understand. Thus, the first part of this work begins with the dry way or, to be clearer, by the obtaining of the martial regulus. Why?

Cyliani's fight with the dragon overstepping it with a lance heated to the white symbolises the Separation in the antimony dry way. Mars will have to be heated to the bright white before being thrown in the crucible with the mineral subject's mixture and the melting salts.

After having killed the dragon, he saw inside the temple on two marble columns, an urn containing the two metallic natures and another recipient with astral spirit which he picks up hastily one in a large mouth flask and the another in a flask polish cover, of which he didn't pick up enough of, for not having a funnel.

There is not doubt that if we faced Alchemicaly the androgynous matter that is the martial regulus, it contains effectively the two metallic natures that is the antimony and the iron.

Cyliani after having killed the dragon and when he leaves the temple passes by him and notice that there are no spoils of any value. This is to say that the caput of the Separation doesn't have any use in this work because if it had, he would have picked it up also.

We will see further on in elapsing of the work that the sulphur is not coming of the iron but yes of the gold extracted by the philosophical mercury itself.

If the author is very clear in what he refers to the androgynous matter it is not so with relationship to the astral spirit. He refers symbolically to the dew of May as vehicle of the astral spirit and after refers to Arnold of Villanueva with relationship to the distillation of the spirit.

An experienced alchemist knows perfectly that the dew doesn't have any solvent action on the martial regulus and this can just be interpreted as symbolism of a distillation.

We read Arnold of Villanueva in Le Chemin Du Chemin, Arché Milano, 1974, but we didn't get to understand the provenance of the solvent water that he refers to.

The author is ambiguous and as many of the writings of the time, they are obscure and we don’t get "to extract" anything.

For the Cyliani's description in the "Preparation of the Philosophical Mercury", he soaks of astral spirit the matter that contains the "two metallic natures" little by little as it absorbs it and drying it to the heat of the sun until it becomes like a soft paste.

There is not doubt that the "astral spirit" will be a solvent that acts slowly on the thin powdered martial regulus and will dissolve it.

We know that one of the solvents of the martial regulus is the royal water but it doesn't seem to be the case here, in our opinion.

The solvent acts slowly and dissolves the matter. He picks up the liquid that contains the matter in dissolution until there is nothing else to dissolve. This liquid that contains the matter in dissolution will be fermented and will precipitate a black matter. He picks up by distillation without fire the precious liquid that is over the matter containing its inner fire and keeps it in a glass flask very closed with emery polished cover.

He then picks up the matter and leaves it drying to the heat of the sun reiterating the soaking with the astral spirit, etc.

It won't be easy to know which is the matter's solvent because the author doesn't give us the necessary elements to identify it or perhaps we don't get to discern it.

However, he makes a very interesting observation, but it does not explain too much:

«Don't forget also that the mysterious matter dissolution, or the magic marriage of Venus with Mars, is done in the temple that I told you before, in a beautiful night, a calm and cloudless sky, and the sun being in the sign of Gemini, the moon being at its first quarter to full moon, with the help of the magnet that attracts the astral spirit of the sky, which is seven times rectified until that it can calcinate the gold.»

The author describes minutely the several subsequent work operations to the end but it doesn't serve any purpose to continue if we don't know previously what is the matter solvent, the one that he calls "astral spirit".