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he premise for transmutation is the £V TO K&V ("One, the All").
Til is premise is that at the root of all things having form, quality or individuality there lies an undifferentiated principle. This principle is without form or individuality, above and at the same time prior even to the opposition between I and not-I. between materiality and spirituality, between inner and outer. For the alchemists, to go back, or as they also say, to dissolve their substances in this "prima materia" is the fundamental aim of all their art.⁵⁰⁰ So in order to "transmute" it does not suffice to pass beyond the perceivable types of substances to the state of "spiritualized bodies" or "androgynes," it is also neces­sary to know how to go beyond their detailed specifications to reach the undiffer­entiated principle, and then to execute, by an act of the spirit, a "projection” that unties the knot of those invisible powers manifesting themselves as a given minerality.
The consequence will be a "precipitation" on the material and sensory plane that precisely determines the passage of this materiality from one species to another: for example, from copper or lead, to gold.
It is thus evident that for physical alchemy to succeed, one must know how to pass correctly through the successive stages that mark rhe transmutation in a spiritual sense. The power to remove the individuality of a particular metal is quite strictly measured by the suspending of the same human individuality, so far as to realize, in an active ecstasy, the pure Mercury that contains the "seeds” {or signatures] of all things, beyond the opposition between the physical body of a man and that of natural things separated in space.² Specifically, there are three points ol correspondence. First, there is the power to "extract the natures,” making manifest that which is hidden with regard to the physical metallic substances and which corresponds to the power of carrying out in itself the "mortification” and of producing the "Black Materia” and then, little by little, the white from the black. Second, there is the power of returning the metallic soul to the prima materia, which is the power to be maintained in the "Great Sea” and to dominate the Mother, that is to say, to fix the "matter” in the whiteness. And finally, there is the power of projecting from the undifferentiated prima materia a new qualifica­tion, obtaining thereby the transmutation of the metal, which we find in the Red Work and the regime of Fire, in which there is enough primordial energy for every individualization.
So much for the general sense and scheme of metallic transmutation. There is no cause to go into the technical details here because it is very difficult to pry them loose from the labyrinth of texts and requires a very specific competence. Apart from what we have said about the required inner qualifications for palingenesis— about ascetic preparation, about the two lives, about the difficulties, dangers and uncertainties - we would also now have to deal with astrology and magic in the same way, but these themes fall outside the scope of the present work.
Actually although in a higher realization all operative virtue proceeds -accord­ing to the teaching of Agrippa—out of the "stable and not declining soul” of the regenerated without any external help, in other cases we are presented nevertheless with the opportunity of a meeting of elements. And if they do not immediately create the act, they serve to favor and guide it effectively in the desired direction. So then, in some alchemical texts, in addition to physical and mental purity and integrity and in addition to spiritual dignity there arc also rices mentioned, and prayers, conjurings, magical herbs, special substances—in this case not symbolic ⁷ From this arises the error of those who think that the foundation of the alchemical will-o'-the-wisp is the forerunner of the scientific truth of the unity of matter and energy Tin's "truth” is limited to external reality, that is to say, to a mere sector of reality that modern science has methodically isolated from everything else.


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but real—and finally the "proper time and felicitous moment” determined by particular positions and conjunctions of the stars. Here a true science comes into play that seeks to create favorable conditions for moments of sympathy and syntony between the various orders of conciliating forces, exterior and interior, individual and cosmic, to the point of "oneness” in which the action of the spirit can be vibrated efficiently and without hindrance.
We can now come back to what we were saying about the correspondences of the "Seven”: certain groups of subtle dynamics of the human organism (that can be energized by the appropriate magical rituals) are found to correlate with powers that are also manifested in the mineral kingdom in the form of typical metallities and, in heaven, by the various planets and the invisible influences proceeding from their movement.
With the astrological aspect in particular, the principle is the actualization linked to a specific meaning occurring at the exact moment in the which the exterior (stellar) reality is presented as a symbol that objectively parallels it, then by syntony a hidden circuit is closed, as it were, multiplying the effectiveness of that same expression in the physical world.
The planets, on fixed dates, with their conjunctions—especially in aspect to the Sun and Moon—are presented precisely as great symbols of particular hermetic or alchemical operations; and when these are conducted on such dates they have a major probability of succeeding.^ Naturally, cold calculation is not enough for this, A lively sense of nature is needed, the living Fire of "communications.” As for the moment of the "coincidence” or "oneness’’—and transmutation—this will always be a culmination, an apex of the whole being.
For beginning the Work, Razi and Rudienus recommend the period when the Sun is in Aries, following the tradition of the Greek alchemists. The Cosmopolite and the Hermetic Triumph extend the time to cover the whole period of the spring signs: Aries, Taurus, and Gemini. In his Theatrum chemicum britannicum Ashmole provides a table of the favorable celestial aspects with respect to division, separa­tion, rectification, and conjunction of the Elements. The first purifications take place when the Sun is in Sagittarius and the Moon is in Aries, while the work is completed at the conjunction of Sun and Moon in the sign of Leo.^{501 502}
All this may—or rather, must-have both a hermetically symbolic value and a strictly astrological value at the same time—for the reason already given: that the astrological factor is effective only at the moment when a rigorous and mutually
reciprocal correspondence has been established between reality and symbol, thought and thing.⁵ In addition, the counsel of Agrippa must be observed, that to invoke the stars one agrees to become like them, to the point of participating inwardly in their light, the soul lleeing the darkness that seeks to take advantage of the body,⁶
As lor the magical rituals, their aim, in the idea of the Greek alchemists, is on the one hand to obtain the cooperation of the natures, and on the other to resist the influence of the "demons,"⁷ In the first case it is a question of indirect methods co activate those correspondences between the macrocosmic and microcosmic manifestations of an identical force, correspondences that otherwise can also be actualized directly by the "drawing out" of the consciousness hidden in a given "center” ol the invisible man. And as for the demons, these are considered visionary dramatizations of the obstacles and resistances in the deeper strata of the human entity.'⁸ So the conjuring ritual, in the final analysis, has only a symbolic value and the effectiveness of an indirect method.
Regarding prayer, of which mention is sometimes made in the texts, we may recall what has already been said: in this tradition prayer has a value essentially as a compelling mental act (similar to a spell) and not as a sentimental effusion of devotion. It is an element of technique, executed at the correct moment, with the right attitude and a clear "direction towards effectiveness," Finally, with respect to the aloresaid use of magical herbs, this is a matter ol potions which, according to the function we have explained for the "corrosive waters/' facilitate the state of spiritual exaltation summoned by the alchemist for his operation. Different sub­stances, such as perfumes, etc., may also be used, in an ambience consecrated to the work (the "laboratory’’); these are substances thar, in particular circumstances, also serve as "condensers" lor certain occult influences.
Elsewhere, we have touched on the power that solutions of metals, introduced into the organism in particular physical and psychic conditions can manifest: for every metal exercises an action on its corresponding "center" in the body. The metal natures of Gold, Tin and Iron affect, for example, vital energies that act respectively in the region of the heart, the brow, and the larynx. If when this happens rhe consciousness remains concentrated in the subtle state, it can be
^J Another common element tor the deternmiiition of the " right time" can be furnished by tbe symbolism of the seasons: to winter, spring, summer, and tall, as we have said (p, 8.5), correspond respectively the Works in black, white, red, and gold (as fixation of the red) In antiquity the Lesser Mysteries (White Work) were celebrated in spring, and the Greater Mysteries (Red Work), in autumn.
^|J Agrippa, Oc occults philosophic, 2:(>0 ⁷ Cf. CAG, 2-72, 74, 79, 8b, 87, 95.
^s Thus they correspond to chose "clouds," "poisonous vapors," winds, or eclipses that in the hermetic work occur when the Water goes again to quench the thirst ol an earth not entirely purified (see page 127ff.).

introduced and transformed in the "mystery” of the center corresponding to the metallic substance that has been introduced into the body⁵⁰³ by means of the specific reactions that are manifested. So we arrive at some equivalent to that which in antiquity was the initiation according to the various planetary gods; an initiation that among other things conferred the virtual possibility of the relation with the "inner nature” of given metals, and therefore of the action on them.^{504 505}
On the other hand, we can also consider special physical or chemical conditions to which it is convenient to subject the metallic substances, in order that even their physical condition offers less resistance to the operation of transmutation than, for example, when they are submitted to a vibratory state of molecular instability The alchemical teaching, according to which the "projection” would be effected on heated metals, can also be interpreted from this angle.
There is more to be said about the time necessary for the completion of the Work, but on this particular the opinions of the Philosophers are much divided. And that is only natural given the difference between the action of spirits and machines. Frequently the indications are reduced to symbols, as when in place of days, months or years, the numbers three, seven, twelve, etc. are used. Roger Bacon¹¹ says that transmutation "is a thing of a day, an hour, a moment.” Others, on the contrary, speak of long, long years of work that cost them health and property. Besides, it is ncccessary to bear in mind that because one may have succeeded once, that is not to say, in the majority of cases, he can succeed many times at will, precisely because of the necessity of reuniting in one faceful moment a rather complex conjunction of physical and psychic factors, and because of the character of the culmination of the realization itself. It is true that all the philoso­phers agree to discourage rashness, and advise patience, perseverance, and tenacity, without neglecting a "subtle intelligence.” Pseudo-Democritus, Zosimos, Pelagius, and the Turba declare: "If you don’t succeed, don’t put the blame on the Copper, but on yourself; because that means you have not labored well.” In any case, it is useless to hope lor any result before having acquired illumination.
And on this illumination must focus every effort of the true alchemist, since- according to the texts—only this enlightenment affords chat penetration into the "mystery of the Egyptian priests,” which is incommunicable, and has always been passed over in silence, but once understood, makes the Opus child’s play or woman's work—/rca^ioo natyiviov kat yvvaiog fpyov.
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