Bath of the Philosophers

BATH OF THE PHILOSOPHERS — That which the alchemists term the Bath is a matter reduced into a liquid or aqueous form thus when it is required to perform projection on a metal, that metal must be melted, and this is called the Bath, or reduction in to the mercurial form, where the King and Queen come to Bathe — that is, the Sun and Moon-because it is liquid water. 

BATH OF THE PHILOSOPHERS — is when operations of circulation take place in the egg. The philosophers say that the King and Queen bathe in the fountain as many times as it will naturally... 

Hermes Trismegistus. [Aureus] Aureus the golden tractate of..., concerning the physical secret of the Philosopher s Stone. In seven sections. Bath Occult Reprints. Bath R. H. Fryar, 1886. 

This is taken from "Aureus " The Golden Tractate of Hermes Trismegistus. Concerning the Physical Secret of the Philosopher s Stone. In Seven Sections. With an Introductory Essay by John Yarker, Esq. Edited and Published for Friends (200 copies only) Robt. H. Fryar,Bath. 1886. Transcribed by Frank Modica. From the original"[ The Translation here used and followed is from that notable work, "A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery," (London, 1850.) ] "... 

Flamel, Nicholas. Nicholas Flammel his exposition of the hieroglyphical figures which he caused to be painted upon an arch in St. Innocents church yard in Paris concerning both the theory and practice of the philosophers stone.. .. Done into English out of the French copy, by Eirenaeus Orandus. .. London, Printed by T.S. for T. Walsley, 1624. Translated by Eirenaeus Orandus. Bath R.H. Fryar, 1890. xii, 45 p. 

This engraving is found in the Hermetic Museum and it shows the Athanor [or Furnace of the Alchemists] and the principal symbolic animals belonging to Hermeticism. This particular Athanor has a somewhat fanciful structure but it does include the main parts the [brick-base] tower surmounted by a dome, the sand bath, and the Philosophical Egg. The serpent enclosed within the Egg represents the Matter of the Stone. 

The Mercury of the Philosophers may be considered under four aspects. The Mercury of Bodies, which is the Hidden Seed the Mercury of Nature, which is the Bath or Vase of the Philosophers, otherwise called the Radical Moisture the Mercury of the Philosophers, because it is found in their laboratory and in their mineral storehouse. It is the Sphere of Saturn it is their Diana it is the true Salt of Metals. After its acquisition the philosophical work begins. In the fourth place, it is called Common Mercury, not the vulgar Mercury, but the true air of the Philosophers the true middle substance, the true, secret, hidden Fire, called Common Fire because it is common to all minerals, since the substance of metals consists of it, and their quantity and quality are drawn from it. 

Queen symbolises the elimination of impurities from the primitive materials in preparing the proximate ones and the Bath or Fountain of the Philosophers is an image of the menstruum in which the resulting sophic sulphur and sophic mercury are conjoined. 

Here is a picture of the pelican in its sand bath, the process of the sublimation of the contents, and the change of colour which takes place in one of the laboratory processes in the preparation of the Philosophers Stone. That this preparation is a physical process carried out in a laboratory with water, retorts, sand-bath, and furnaces, there is no doubt. 

Take the dissolved water, set in warm ashes and place in the shade in a warm place. It will solidify to a hard stone. Set in a bath of horse-dung so hot that the hand can scarcely be held in it and in six weeks it will be a clear Water. Set it aside again as before and you will have the Philosopher s Stone upon which the art depends. 

PHIONITA — Natural Hostility or Antipathy, such as one animal or composite of any kind entertains towards another, as for example, the antipathy of the cat for the mouse, of one pole of the magnet for the other. The Philosophers say that their Dragon has this quality in respect of water, and that it must be forced to drink thereof, and to bathe therein, so that it may be relieved of its old skin or impure cortex. 

THERMUS — The Bath. Some Philosophers have given this name to their Mercurial Water. THERMOMETER — The Philosophical Thermometer is the Natural Warmth of Composites. THIMIVENETIANI — Absynth... 

In addition to the theoretical end of alchemy, Jabir contributed to the practical study of matter. For example, sal ammoniac was introduced to natural philosophical studies by Jabir (or a pseudo-Jabir). Two varieties of sal ammoniac were distinguished natural (ammonium chloride), called al-hajar, and derived (ammonium carbonate), referred to as al-mustanbat. The latter was created by the dry distillation of hair and other animal materials. The invention of the alembic (a distillation vessel) is attributed to Jabir, along with dozens of chemical procedures, such as double distillation and the use of sand baths. 

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