AMALGAMS WAY, WET WAY OR BOTH?
All experts alchemists know that the Philalethes way just as the one of Flamel are an amalgams way, but if you read carefully An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King and The Marrow of Alchemy of same author perhaps you will have a completely different idea.
The Marrow of the Alchemy.
«Some in order to prepare their Water, use the Doves of Diana, which is a most tedious labour, that even for an Artist to hit once right, he may twice unfortunately miss: But the other Way, (which is the most secret), we recommend to all that mean to be true Artists.»
«... But strange it seemed to them, that as soon as this Dragon came near the Spring the Waters, as though afraid did straight way retire, nor Vulcan’s help ought avail, to reconcile them; then appeared Diana’s Doves in bright shining attire, with whose Silver Wings the Air was calmed, wherein the infolded Dragon lost his sting.»
An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King.
Chapter IV.
«This thief is armed with all the malignity of arsenic, and is feared and eschewed by the winged youth. Though the Central Water be his Spouse, yet the youth cannot come her, until Diana with the wings of her doves purge the poisonous air, and opens a passage to the bridal chamber. Then the youth enters easily through the pores, presently shaking the water above, and stirring up a rude and ruddy cloud. Do thou, Diana, bring in the water over him, even unto the brightness of the Moon! So the darkness on the face of the abyss will be dispersed by the spirit moving in the water.»
Chapter X.
«The two (the passive and the active principle) combined we call our Hermaphrodite. When joined to the Sun, if softens, liquefies, and dissolves it with gentle heat. By means of same fire it coagulates itself and by its coagulation produces the Sun. Our pure homogeneous Mercury, having conceived inward Sulphur (trough our Art), coagulates itself under the influence of gentle outward heat, like the cream or milk - a subtle earth floating on the water.
When it is united to the Sun, it is not only coagulated, but the composite substance becomes softer day by day; the bodies are almost dissolved; and the spirits begin to be coagulated, with a black colour and most fetid smell.»
Chapter XI.
«They sought active sulphur in a pure state, and found it cunningly concealed in House of Ram. This sulphur mingled most eagerly with the offspring of Saturn, and the desired effect was speedily produced - after the malignant venom of the "air" of Mercury had been tempered (as already set forth at some length) by the Doves of Venus. Then life was joined to life by means of liquid; the dry was moistened; the passive was stirred into action by the active; the dead was revived by the living. The heavens were indeed temporarily clouded over, but after a copious downpour of rain, serenity was restored. Then they placed it in the fire; in no long time they succeeded in coagulating it, and in its coagulation they found the Sun and the Moon in a most pure state.
Then they considered that, before its coagulations, this Mercury was not a metal, since, on being volatilised, it left no residue al bottom of distilling vessel; hence they called it immature gold and their living (or quick) silver…
For this reason they wedded these two to each other, put them in a still (alembic) over the fire and for many days regulated the heat in accordance with requirements of Nature. Thus the dead was revived, the body decayed, and a glorified spirit rose from the grave; the soul was exalted into the Quintessence, - the Universal Medicine for animals, vegetables, and minerals.»
In our opinion the secret of this Philalethes' wet version are the Diana's doves. What are then, these famous Diana's doves?
In the amalgam way, they are the Kaput of the distillation (Moon and Venus) for the animation of the Philosophical Mercury but here, it is not! But why?
They are the "key" (secret) of the wet version of this way the most difficult as the Master says.
Pay attention in the text extract: «The heavens were indeed temporarily clouded over, but after a copious downpour of rain, serenity was restored.»
In the amalgam way there are no clouds, nor abundant rains. That is characteristic of a wet path. If the Solar regulus amalgamated with the Mercury be placed in a closed glass matrass with two salts (the two Doves), very well known by the ancient alchemists and which are described in the Basil Valentine's Second Key, in an oven in a sand bath, there is a violent chemical reaction that dissolves the composition, and that provokes clouds (therefore the sky will be temporarily cloudy) and rain.
This violent chemical reaction after it began, there is no way of stopping it and to whom would try to do this operation after knowing the matters and the modus operandi, and we recommend much prudence. If the matrass isn’t sufficiently strong and large, it can explode.
Thus, this mercury will become Hermaphrodite because it has in its belly the Mars and the Sun's Sulphur but is not for that matter a metal. It can be coagulated "per se" and continue like this the whole work or then distilled and afterwards, cooked with the Sun. Because as Philalethes says: «where the gold can be sowed.»
All of this brings us to conclude that this alchemic operation by its characteristics also corresponds to the wet Artéfius' way.
Rubellus Petrinus