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offence, being unknown to thee, and thou to me. This I say not to detractfrom any Philosopher, for many were deeply seen in this Mastery, butalmost all were envious, and the most candid would have judged myplainness deserving an Anathema maranatha. I have here laid you so plaindemonstration as I go, that you cannot miss, if God direct you; and withoutthe knowledge of the Fires you are far wide, whatever whimsies you havein your head; for you shall never see the dissolution of the Body, nor shallyou ever make black, and by consequence you cannot divide Elements asyou ought to do, because you proportioned not your Matters wisely in thebeginning of the Work; for, Dimidium facti qui bene cepit, habet, he whomakes a good beginning, hath as good as half done.Therefore make Fire thy Glass within,Which burneth the Body much more than FireElemental, if thou wilt winOur secrets according to thy desire:Then shall thy Seed both rot and spire,By help of Fire occasionate,That kindly after they may be separate.Take then my counsel, be not so careful of the Fire of the Athanor, as ofyour Internal Fire; seek it in the house of Aries, and draw it from the depthsof Saturn; let Mercury be the Internuncio, and your signal the Doves ofDiana. By the River you shall find a Tree, in which is the Nest of 10Eagles; take of them 7, 9, or all, but take them very white, which oftplunging in the River will cause: with these you may overcome the Lion.The heat of their stomachs is far more powerful than any Fire in the World;for in it Gold will be destroyed, that thou shalt not know what is become ofit; which yet loseth nothing of it self, though exposed to the greatestviolence of any flame.Thus with patience thou shalt see thy desire fulfilled, and thy heart shallrejoice; for a wide door shall be opened by which thou mayst behold theMysteries of Nature in all her Kingdoms.In 40 or 50 days thou shalt behold the highest sign of most perfectcorruption of thy perfect Body, which of a dead lump is thus become Seed,in which though many cannot believe that there is any active virtue, yet it isnow to the astonishment of Nature made living, and by its life it kills thatby which it was made alive, and both being mingled make one Bath, whichby continual decoction, moving the Earth and Water below, and circulatingthe Air and Fire above, make at last one inseparable quintessence, theFather of Wonders.127