Paracelsus: The Book Concerning the Tincture of the Philosophers · 12 of 13 · tr. Arthur Edward Waite
Section 1l
This spiritual substance is neither heavenly nor hellish, but an airy, pure, and hearty body, midway between the highest and lowest, without reason, but fruitful in works, and the most select and beautiful of all other heavenly things.
This work of God is far too deep for understanding, for it is the last, greatest, and highest secret of Nature.
It is the Spirit of God, which in the Beginning filled the earth and brooded over the waters, which the world cannot grasp without the gracious interposition of the Holy Spirit and instruction from those who know it, which also the whole world desires for its virtue, and which cannot be prized enough.
For it reaches to the planets, raises the clouds, drives away mists, gives its light to all things, turns everything into Sun and Moon, bestows all health and abundance of treasure, cleanses the leper, brightens the eyes, banishes sorrow, heals the sick, reveals all hidden treasures, and, generally, cures all diseases.
Through this spirit have the philosophers invented the Seven Liberal Arts, and thereby gained their riches.
Through the same Moses made the golden vessels in the Ark, and King Solomon did many beautiful works to the honour of God.
Therewith Moses built the Tabernacle, Noah the Ark, Solomon the Temple.
By this, Ezra restored the Law, and Miriam, Moses' sister, was hospitable; Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and other righteous men, have had lifelong abundance and riches; and all the saints possessing it have therewith praised God.
Therefore is its acquisition very hard, more than that of gold and silver.
For it is the best of all things, because, of all things mortal that man can desire in this world, nothing can compare with it, and in it alone is truth.
Hence it is called the Stone and Spirit of Truth; in its works is no vanity, its praise cannot be sufficiently expressed.
I am unable to speak enough of its virtues, because its good qualities and powers are beyond human thoughts, unutterable by the tongue of man, and in it are found the properties of all things.
Yea, there is nothing deeper in Nature.
O unfathomable abyss of God's Wisdom, which thus hath united and comprised in the virtue and power of this One Spirit the qualities of all existing bodies!
O unspeakable honour and boundless joy granted to mortal man!
For the destructible things of Nature are restored by virtue of the said Spirit.
O mystery of mysteries, most secret of all secret things, and healing and medicine of all things!
Thou last discovery in earthly natures, last best gift to Patriarchs and Sages, greatly desired by the whole world!
Oh, what a wondrous and laudable spirit is purity, in which stand all joy, riches, fruitfulness of life, and art of all arts, a power which to its initiates grants all material joys!
O desirable knowledge, lovely above all things beneath the circle of the Moon, by which Nature is strengthened, and heart and limbs are renewed, blooming youth is preserved, old age driven away, weakness destroyed, beauty in its perfection preserved, and abundance ensured in all things pleasing to men!
O thou spiritual substance, lovely above all things!
O thou wondrous power, strengthening all the world!
O thou invincible virtue, highest of all that is, although despised by the ignorant, yet held by the wise in great praise, honour, and glory, that - proceeding from humours - wakest the dead, expellest diseases, restorest the voice of the dying!
The transformation of base substance — outer matter or the inner soul — into a purified, perfected, or 'gold' state; the magnum opus as both laboratory practice and spiritual allegory.
The passage explicitly describes this substance as the 'Tincture of the Philosophers' and links it to the invention of the Seven Liberal Arts and material riches.
The universal fluid or medium of occult philosophy — Lévi's Great Magical Agent — that transmits will, thought, and magical influence between minds and matter, and preserves the impress of all forms and actions as a book of consciences; cognate with akasha and the anima mundi. Distinct from cosmic_sympathy (a doctrine of hidden affinity) in being a substantival medium that can be charged, directed, and abused.
The spiritual substance functions as a universal medium that 'reaches to the planets, raises the clouds, drives away mists, gives its light to all things' — transmitting creative and healing influence throughout the cosmos.
The doctrine that the divine is present within all things and the universe itself, pervading creation rather than remaining solely transcendent above it. Distinct from unity_of_being (the general claim that all existence is one substance, agnostic about whether that substance indwells its parts) and from kingdom_within (the divine present specifically IN THE INDIVIDUAL human, accessible without mediation) — divine_immanence is the general pervading-presence claim applied to all of creation, not a human-specific indwelling.
The spirit 'gives its light to all things, turns everything into Sun and Moon, bestows all health and abundance of treasure' — pervading and animating all of creation rather than remaining solely transcendent.
Pronoia — the doctrine that the divine actively orders the unfolding of the cosmos and human affairs toward intelligible ends, against pure chance or blind necessity.
The Spirit is portrayed as actively ordering the cosmos through its powers of raising clouds, driving mists, and healing diseases.
Esoteric teachings reserved for those ready to receive them; outer meaning conceals an inner liberating truth.
The substance is repeatedly called 'the last, greatest, and highest secret of Nature,' 'mystery of mysteries, most secret of all secret things,' and is accessible only through 'instruction from those who know it.'
The absolutely simple, undivided first principle from which all multiplicity and existence flows.
The passage centers on 'this One Spirit' that 'hath united and comprised in the virtue and power of this One Spirit the qualities of all existing bodies' — a single, undivided principle containing all multiplicity.