Essences quintessence

Ibid., 122 Essence Quintessence, Essensifier 306-07 Quintessence, Quintessence des elements, Quinte Nature. ... 

I have already indicated that all things are constituted of three essences - namely, mercury, sulphur, and salt - and herein 1 have taught what is tme. But know that the Stone is composed out of one, two, three, four, and five. Out of five - that is, the quintessence of its own substance. Out of four, by which we must understand the four elements. 

For in the cako of philosophers ar all the medicins potentiall and for that cause it is called quintessence. But in the Cako vulgar is not the quintessence medicinalle but the elemente and the matter only of the Quintessence. The which essence is a medison againste all diseases which proceed of the her of the lyttle wordle. 

Hermetic emblems thus bear within them seeds of being that can tinge and transform our innermost essence. When we are able to absorb them in our lower vehicles through such meditative work, like drops of quintessence they subtly transmute our souls and make us glow with inner spiritual life. The wise adepts of the hermetic tradition have left to us their most precious treasure, their tincture and philosophers stone, revealed and yet still hidden from us until we resurrect them within our being through inner work. 

This cycling of energy was often referred to as the Rotation of the Elements and forms an important key to alchemical procedure, whereby the essence of a substance is extracted, purified and raised to its most sublime state. With each rotation, the Four Elements of the matter come into greater balance and purity. When the perfect harmony is obtained, we have the Quintessence of the matter. 

BALSAMUS ELEMENTORUM EXTERNUS — External Balsam of the Elements is Liquor of External Mercury, i.e., Mummy of the Exterior Elements, one of the three Principles of all Things, the Firmamental Essence of Existences, the Quintessence. 

Metallic Entity — for it is the true Essence and Quintessence of Metals. 

MYSTERIUM - is the Essence of the Interior Nature, the sum of the whole substance in the subtle and withdrawn part of the given matter. Hence it differs greatly from sap, as much indeed as sap differs from the body. And because it is concealed in the most retired recesses of corporeal matter, and has an exceeding subtle nature, it is called a Mystery and an Arcanum. It is obtained immediately from the given thing, but after a certain necessary preparation. Also sometimes from a magistery and a sap. There are two varieties of this Mysterium or Essence, as it may be variously denominated. They are, namely. Quintessence and Specific Arcanum. 

UNIVERSAL MEDICINE — Substances which contribute to the prolongation of life. The best among these are quintessences, extracted from animals, minerals, and vegetables. The perfection of these quintessences consists in their preparation. So much does this vary that it would sometimes seem almost impossible that these essences are extracted from one and the same principle. 

Figure 3. Alchemists distilling the quintessence a rather mystical search for a fifth essence (after earth, air, fire, and water). The quintessence was supposed to be the purest nature of created things, making up the heavenly bodies, and latent in all things.

By this Quintessence or quintum esse, Paracelsus meant the nucleus of the essences and properties of all things in the universal world. 

From the foregoing paragraphs it will be seen that the whole principle of cure rests on the proper separation of this Quintessence to which alchemy, and alchemy alone, provides the key. The whole principle of the system is that the body of the metal impedes the action of the essence, and those metals which have hitherto been regarded as poisonous... 

However, although absolute alcohol is indeed eflective for extracting plant essences, its effectiveness is limited. In the late fifteenth century, the English alchemist George Ripley rejected quintessence of wine of the kind described by Raymond in the Liber de secretis. Apparently on the basis of his own experience, he observed that even multiple distillations fail to produce a quintessence sharp enough to dissolve metallic calxes ... 

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