A Golden and Blessed Casket of Nature's Marvels

What It's About

This is a compilation of alchemical writings gathered and published by the German alchemist Benedictus Figulus, centred on the philosopher's stone and the universal medicine. It opens with the "Revelation of Hermes", attributed to the legendary Hermes Trismegistus and presented with an interpretation credited to Paracelsus. It then gathers treatises, a dialogue and extracts by the physician-alchemist Alexander von Suchten, followed by shorter pieces on the tincture, the nature of man as the subject of medicine, and the preparation and use of potable gold. Figulus's dedicatory address is also autobiographical: he describes how he came to the Paracelsian "Hermetic philosophy" and why he championed it over the philosophy taught in the schools.

Key Concepts

The central idea is the philosopher's stone, a transmuting substance that is also a medicine able to heal the body. Related themes include the tincture, the primal matter known as Hyle, and potable gold as a restorative. The book treats alchemy, astronomy, magic and Cabala as fragments of one ancient natural wisdom said to descend from Adam and flourish in Egypt. It is written in a dense, symbolic language of allegory, enigmas and verse. Many passages are deliberately veiled, and the question of whether such secrets can be communicated at all runs through the text. The attributions are also debatable: Renaissance alchemical collections often credited texts to Hermes or Paracelsus on slim evidence, and Figulus himself is better understood as an editor and advocate than as the sole author.

About the Author

Benedictus Figulus (born Benedikt Töpfer) was a German alchemist and a committed follower of Paracelsus. By his own account he took up Paracelsian medicine and alchemy in his youth, turned to poetry for some years, and then returned to the Hermetic and Paracelsian tradition, to which he devoted his later career. He worked in a period of intense interest in chemical medicine and the revival of Hermetic learning.

About This Edition

This is an 1893 translation by Arthur Edward Waite.