{"collection":"alc","html_url":"https://unchartedknowledge.5gfusion.net/browse/alc/hermmuse/lambtext.htm","path":"alc/hermmuse/lambtext.htm","source_url":"https://sacred-texts.com/alc/hermmuse/lambtext.htm","text":"Sacred-Texts\u00a0\nAlchemy\u00a0\nEsoteric\u00a0\nIndex\u00a0\nPrevious\u00a0\nNext\u00a0\nThe Book of Lambspring\nThe Book of Lambspring, \nA Noble Ancient Philosopher,\nConcerning the Philosophical Stone;\nRendered into Latin Verse by\nNicholas Barnaud Delphinas,\nDoctor of Medicine, a zealous Student of this Art.\nPREFACE\nI am called Lambspring, born of a Noble Family, and this Crest I bear \nwith Glory and Justice.\nPhilosophy I have read, and thoroughly understood,\nThe utmost depth of my teachers' knowledge have I sounded.\nThis God graciously granted to me,\nGiving me a heart to understand wisdom.\nThus I became the Author of this Book,\nAnd I have clearly set forth the whole matter,\nThat Rich and Poor might understand.\nThere is nothing like it upon earth;\nNor (God be praised) have I therein forgotten my humble self.\nI am acquainted with the only true foundation:\nTherefore preserve this Book with care,\nAnd take heed that you study it again and again.\nThus shall you receive and learn the truth,\nAnd use this great gift of God for good ends.\nO God the Father, which art of all the beginning and end,\nWe beseech thee for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ\nTo enlighten our minds and thoughts,\nThat we may praise Thee without ceasing,\nAnd accomplish this Book according to Thy will!\nDirect Thou everything to a good end,\nAnd preserve us through Thy great mercy. - \nWith the help of God I will shew you this Art,\nAnd will not hide or veil the truth from you.\nAfter that you understand me aright,\nYou will soon be free from the bonds of error.\nFor there is only one substance,\nIn which all the rest is hidden;\nTherefore, keep a good heart.\nCoction, time, and patience are what you need;\nIf you would enjoy the precious reward,\nYou must cheerfully give both time and labour.\nFor you must subject to gentle coction the seeds and the metals,\nDay by day, during several weeks;\nThus in this one vile thing\nYou will discover and bring to perfection the whole work of Philosophy,\nWhich to most men appears impossible,\nThough it is a convenient and easy task.\nIf we were to shew it to the outer world\nWe should be derided by men, women, and children.\nTherefore be modest and secret,\nAnd you will be left in peace and security.\nRemember your duty towards your neighbour and your God,\nWho gives this Art, and would have it concealed.\nNow we will conclude the Preface,\nThat we may begin to describe the very Art,\nAnd truly and plainly set it forth in figures,\nRendering thanks to the Creator of every creature.\nHereunto follows the First Figure,\nFigure I\nBE WARNED AND UNDERSTAND TRULY THAT TWO FISHES ARE SWIMMING IN OUR SEA.\nThe Sea is the Body, the two Fishes are Soul and Spirit.\nThe Sages will tell you\nThat two fishes are in our sea\nWithout any flesh or bones.\nLet them be cooked in their own water;\nThen they also will become a vast sea,\nThe vastness of which no man can describe.\nMoreover, the Sages say\nThat the two fishes are only one, not two;\nThey are two, and nevertheless they are one,\nBody, Spirit, and Soul.\nNow, I tell you most truly,\nCook these three together,\nThat there may be a very large sea.\nCook the sulphur well with the sulphur,\nAnd hold your tongue about it:\nConceal your knowledge to your own advantage,\nAnd you shall be free from poverty.\nOnly let your discovery remain a close secret.\nFigure II\nHERE YOU STRAIGHTWAY BEHOLD A BLACK BEAST IN THE FOREST.\nPutrefaction.\nThe Sage says\nThat a wild beast is in the forest,\nWhose skin is of the blackest dye.\nIf any man cut off his head,\nHis blackness will disappear,\nAnd give place to a snowy white.\nUnderstand well the meaning of this head:\nThe blackness is called the head of the Raven;\nAs soon as it disappears,\nA white colour is straightway manifested;\nIt is given this name, despoiled of its head.\nWhen the Beast's black hue has vanished in a black smoke,\nThe Sages rejoice\nFrom the bottom of their hearts;\nBut they keep it a close secret,\nThat no foolish man may know it.\nYet unto their Sons, in kindness of heart,\nThey partly reveal it in their writings;\nAnd therefore let those who receive the gift\nEnjoy it also in silence,\nSince God would have it concealed.\nFigure III\nHEAR WITHOUT TERROR THAT IN THE FOREST ARE HIDDEN A DEER AND AN UNICORN.\nIn the Body there is Soul and Spirit.\nThe Sages say truly\nThat two animals are in this forest:\nOne glorious, beautiful, and swift,\nA great and strong deer;\nThe other an unicorn.\nThey are concealed in the forest,\nBut happy shall that man be called\nWho shall snare and capture them.\nThe Masters shew you here clearly\nThat in all places\nThese two animals wander about in forests\n(But know that the forest is but one).\nIf we apply the parable to our Art,\nWe shall call the forest the Body.\nThat will be rightly and truly said.\nThe unicorn will be the Spirit at all times.\nThe deer desires no other name\nBut that of the Soul; which name no man shall take away from it.\nHe that knows how to tame and master them by Art,\nTo couple them together,\nAnd to lead them in and out of the forest,\nMay justly be called a Master.\nFor we rightly judge\nThat he has attained the golden flesh,\nAnd may triumph everywhere;\nNay, he may bear rule over great Augustus.\nFigure IV \n \nHERE YOU BEHOLD A GREAT MARVEL - TWO LIONS ARE JOINED INTO ONE.\nThe Spirit and Soul must be united in their Body.\nThe Sages do faithfully teach us\nThat two strong lions, to wit, male and female,\nLurk in a dark and rugged valley.\nThese the Master must catch,\nThough they are swift and fierce,\nAnd of terrible and savage aspect.\nHe who, by wisdom and cunning,\nCan snare and bind them,\nAnd lead them into the same forest,\nOf him it may be said with justice and truth\nThat he has merited the meed of praise before all others,\nAnd that his wisdom transcends that of the worldly wise.\nFigure V \nA WOLF AND A DOG ARE IN ONE HOUSE, AND ARE AFTERWARDS CHANGED INTO ONE.\nThe Body is mortified and rendered white, then joined to Soul and Spirit by being saturated with them.\nAlexander writes from Persia\nThat a wolf and a dog are in this field,\nWhich, as the Sages say,\nAre descended from the same stock,\nBut the wolf comes from the east,\nAnd the dog from the west.\nThey are full of jealousy,\nFury, rage, and madness;\nOne kills the other,\nAnd from them comes a great poison.\nBut when they are restored to life,\nThey are clearly shewn to be\nThe Great and Precious Medicine,\nThe most glorious Remedy upon earth,\nWhich refreshes and restores the Sages,\nWho render thanks to God, and do praise Him.\nFigure VI\nTHIS SURELY IS A GREAT MIRACLE AND WITHOUT ANY DECEPTION - \nTHAT IN A VENOMOUS DRAGON THERE SHOULD BE THE GREAT MEDICINE.\nThe Mercury is precipitated or sublimed, dissolved in its own proper water, \nand then once more coagulated.\nA savage Dragon lives in the forest,\nMost venomous he is, yet lacking nothing:\nWhen he sees the rays of the Sun and its bright fire,\nHe scatters abroad his poison,\nAnd flies upward so fiercely\nThat no living creature can stand before him,\nNor is even the Basilisk equal to him.\nHe who hath skill to slay him, wisely\nHath escaped from all dangers.\nYet all venom, and colours, are multiplied\nIn the hour of his death.\nHis venom becomes the great Medicine.\nHe quickly consumes his venom,\nFor he devours his poisonous tail.\nAll this is performed on his own body,\nFrom which flows forth glorious Balm,\nWith all its miraculous virtues.\nHereat all the Sages do loudly rejoice.\nFigure VII\nWE HEAR TWO BIRDS IN THE FOREST, YET WE MUST UNDERSTAND THEM TO BE ONLY ONE.\nThe Mercury having been often sublimed, is at length fixed, and becomes capable of resisting fire: the sublimation must be repeated until at length the fixation is attained.\nA nest is found in the forest,\nIn which Hermes has his brood;\nOne fledgling always strives to fly upward,\nThe other rejoices to sit quietly in the nest;\nYet neither can get away from the other.\nThe one that is below holds the one that is above,\nAnd will not let it get away from the nest,\nAs a husband in a house with his wife,\nBound together in closest bonds of wedlock.\nSo also do we rejoice at all times,\nThat we hold the female eagle fast in this way,\nAnd we render thanks to God the Father.\nFigure VIII\nHERE ARE TWO BIRDS, GREAT AND STRONG - THE BODY AND SPIRIT; ONE DEVOURS THE OTHER.\n \nLet the Body be placed in horse-dung, or a warm bath, the Spirit having been extracted from it. The Body has become white by the process, the Spirit red by our Art. All that exists tends towards perfection, and thus is the Philosopher's Stone prepared.\nIn India there is a most pleasant wood,\nIn which two birds are bound together.\nOne is of a snowy white; the other is red.\nThey bite each other, and one is slain\nAnd devoured by the other.\nThen both are changed into white doves,\nAnd of the Dove is born a Phoenix,\nWhich has left behind blackness and foul death,\nAnd has regained a more glorious life.\nThis power was given it by God Himself,\nThat it might live eternally, and never die.\nIt gives us wealth, it preserves our life,\nAnd with it we may work great miracles,\nAs also the true Philosophers do plainly inform us.\nFigure IX\nTHE LORD OF THE FORESTS HAS RECOVERED HIS KINGDOM, AND MOUNTED FROM THE LOWEST TO THE HIGHEST DEGREE. IF FORTUNE SMILE, YOU MAY FROM A RHETOR BECOME A CONSUL; IF FORTUNE FROWN, THE CONSUL MAY BECOME A RHETOR.\nThus you may know that the Tincture has truly attained the first degree.\nNow hear of a wonderful deed,\nFor I will teach you great things,\nHow the King rises high above all his race;\nAnd hear also what the noble lord of the forest says:\nI have overcome and vanquished my foes,\nI have trodden the venomous Dragon under foot,\nI am a great and glorious King in the earth.\nThere is none greater than I,\nChild either of the Artist or of Nature,\nAmong all living creatures.\nI do all that man can desire,\nI give power and lasting health,\nAlso gold, silver, gems, and precious stones,\nAnd the panacea for great and small diseases.\nYet at first I was of ignoble birth,\nTill I was set in a high place.\nTo reach this lofty summit\nWas given me by God and Nature.\nThence from the meanest I became the highest,\nAnd mounted to the most glorious throne,\nAnd to the state of royal sovereignty:\nTherefore Hermes has called me the Lord of the Forests.\nFigure X\nA SALAMANDER LIVES IN THE FIRE, WHICH IMPARTS TO IT A MOST GLORIOUS HUE.\nThis is the reiteration, gradation, and ameliorationof the Tincture, or Philosopher's Stone; and the whole is called its\nAugmentation.\nIn all fables we are told\nThat the Salamander is born in the fire;\nIn the fire it has that food and life\nWhich Nature herself has assigned to it.\nIt dwells in a great mountain\nWhich is encompassed by many flames,\nAnd one of these is ever smaller than another - \nHerein the Salamander bathes.\nThe third is greater, the fourth brighter than the rest - \nIn all these the Salamander washes, and is purified.\nThen he hies him to his cave,\nBut on the way is caught and pierced\nSo that it dies, and yields up its life with its blood.\nBut this, too, happens for its good:\nFor from its blood it wins immortal life,\nAnd then death has no more power over it.\nIts blood is the most precious Medicine upon earth,\nThe same has not its like in the world.\nFor this blood drives away all disease\nIn the bodies of metals,\nOf men, and of beasts.\nFrom it the Sages derive their science,\nAnd through it they attain the Heavenly Gift,\nWhich is called the Philosopher's Stone,\nPossessing the power of the whole world.\nThis gift the Sages impart to us with loving hearts,\nThat we may remember them for ever.\nFigure XI\nTHE FATHER AND THE SON HAVE LINKED THEIR HANDS WITH THOSE OF THE GUIDE: KNOW THAT THE THREE ARE BODY, SOUL, AND SPIRIT.\nHere is an old father of Israel,\nWho has an only Son,\nA Son whom he loves with all his heart.\nWith sorrow he prescribes sorrow to him.\nHe commits him to a guide,\nWho is to conduct him whithersoever he will.\nThe Guide addresses the Son in these words:\nCome hither! I will conduct thee everywhere,\nTo the summit of the loftiest mountain,\nThat thou mayest understand all wisdom,\nThat thou mayest behold the greatness of the earth, and of the sea,\nAnd then derive true pleasure.\nI will bear thee through the air\nTo the gates of highest heaven.\nThe Son hearkened to the words of the Guide,\nAnd ascended upward with him;\nThere saw he the heavenly throne,\nThat was beyond measure glorious.\nWhen he had beheld these things,\nHe remembered his Father with sighing,\nPitied the great sorrow of his Father,\nAnd said: I will return to his breast.\nFigure XII\nANOTHER MOUNTAIN OF INDIA LIES IN THE VESSEL, WHICH THE SPIRIT AND THE SOUL - THAT IS, THE SON AND THE GUIDE - HAVE CLIMBED.\nSays the Son to the Guide:\nI will go down to my Father,\nFor he cannot live without me.\nHe sighs and calls aloud for me.\nAnd the Guide makes answer to the Son:\nI will not let thee go alone;\nFrom thy Father's bosom I brought thee forth,\nI will also take thee back again,\nThat he may rejoice again and live.\nThis strength will we give unto him.\nSo both arose without delay,\nAnd returned to the Father's house.\nWhen the Father saw his Son coming,\nHe cried aloud, and said: -\nFigure XIII\nHERE THE FATHER DEVOURS THE SON; THE SOUL AND SPIRIT FLOW FORTH FROM THE BODY. \nMy Son, I was dead without thee,\nAnd lived in great danger of my life.\nI revive at thy return,\nAnd it fills my breast with joy.\nBut when the Son entered the Father's house,\nThe Father took him to his heart,\nAnd swallowed him out of excessive joy,\nAnd that with his own mouth.\nThe great exertion makes the Father sweat.\nFigure XIV\nHERE THE FATHER SWEATS PROFUSELY, WHILE OIL AND THE TRUE TINCTURE OF THE SAGES FLOW FORTH FROM HIM.\nHere the Father sweats on account of the Son,\nAnd earnestly beseeches God,\nWho has created everything in His hands,\nWho creates, and has created all things,\nTo bring forth his Son from his body,\nAnd to restore him to his former life.\nGod hearkens to his prayers,\nAnd bids the Father lie down and sleep.\nThen God sends down rain from heaven\nTo the earth from the shining stars.\nIt was a fertilizing, silver rain,\nWhich bedewed and softened the Father's Body.\nSuccour us, Lord, at the end,\nThat we may obtain Thy gracious Gift!\nFigure XV \nHERE FATHER AND SON ARE JOINED IN ONE SO TO REMAIN FOR EVER.\nThe sleeping Father is here changed\nEntirely into limpid water,\nAnd by virtue of this water alone\nThe good work is accomplished.\nThere is now a glorified and beautiful Father,\nAnd he brings forth a new Son.\nThe Son ever remains in the Father,\nAnd the Father in the Son.\nThus in divers things\nThey produce untold, precious fruit.\nThey perish never more,\nAnd laugh at death.\nBy the grace of God they abide for ever,\nThe Father and the Son, triumphing gloriously\nIn the splendour of their new Kingdom.\nUpon one throne they sit,\nAnd the face of the Ancient Master\nIs straightway seen between them:\nHe is arrayed in a crimson robe.\nTO THE INVISIBLE KING\nOF THE WORLD,\nTO THE ONLY TRUE AND IMMORTAL GOD\nBE PRAISE AND GLORY\nNOW AND EVERMORE.\nAMEN.\nNext: The Golden Tripod","title":"The Book of Lambspring","type":"page"}