DNicolas Flamel says: “This operation

is a true labyrinth because a thousand

paths present themselves at the same

time and, in addition, one must go to

the end of the operation exactly

opposite to the beginning.” Suffering is

the seed of perfection. It is truly the

menstruation of the wise, the Green

Lion of the Philosophers, the Pontic

water that does not wet the hands,

the acetum acerrimum or very sour

vinegar by means of which the raven’s head is extracted, the true milk of

the Virgin and the elixir for multiplication.

You must converge every circumstance of your life toward the supreme

goal, visualizing each action clearly before carrying it out, but above all

the daily pains and sufferings, and many will come, for “the disciples of

the wise do not find good rest in this world,” says Rabbi Issachar-Baer.

You can extract from them marvelous experience and obtain the aqua

regia that corrodes all impurities.

To know how to extract the ferment (energy) of perfection from life’s

difficulties and transmute it into living forces on the hyperphysical plane is

the greater alchemy against which nothing prevails; it is the magnificent

dealbation, the aurum de stercore of Virgil, the morbus quilibet

purgatorium (the disease that is a Purgatory, or gold in alchemical

manure) of Paracelsus.

Do not let a murmur escape you when one of your projects does not

seem crowned by success. You will soon understand that it was necessary

for it to be so, and that momentary disappointments must prepare you for

unexpected advantages in a future.

Geber teaches that it is almost obligatory that the alchemist make several

mistakes.

In adversity console yourself by thinking without anxiety that your

intellectual vision is currently obscured, and that the path from which you

were expelled, and which you thought excellent, was not actually so.

You will soon gain certainty and recognize the ever-admirable chain of

effects and causes.

Beware of envying the days and moment’s triumphs. You will see, my

Disciple, that they mock your ascent and disdain your effort. “We do not

beg,” say the fools, “we do not beg and yet, our affairs prosper! We

blaspheme God and God does not paralyze our tongue!”

But what test is this? that their Heavenly Father is good and that they are

mere unconscious nothingness. But you, my Disciple, persevere in

advancement along the Way. Do not abandon yourself. The same masters

have restarted the Work several times.

Understand that no teaching heard or sought can replace the slow

assimilation of the alchemical doctrine through deep, conscientious study

of the masters’ books.

Only after years will the Light begin to dawn for you.

Then, in texts where the profane see only nonsense, you will perceive

subtle relationships that guide you through the obscurity of the Path.

Alchemy is not a matter of a week; it is a lifetime’s work and a single

thing with the Adept’s existence. The understanding of the Great Work is

the culmination of life.

Reaching the Absolute at twenty or thirty years old is illusory; at that age

you are only on the path and you cannot abandon the Path without also

losing the hope of re-entering.

You will progressively discover the truth in the masters’ words; do not

wish to be at the journey’s end before you have walked the necessary

road to arrive. If you are minimally advanced on the Path, you will

understand that it is impossible to speak more clearly.

But how luminous will the words that now seem dark and

incomprehensible appear to you later if you have not ceased working

while following the masters’ prescriptions!

Then you will smile, seeing how simple the notions that once seemed so

abstruse to a layperson are, and you will recognize that there was no

explanation intended to prepare your spirit to receive the seed of truth if

you do not undertake the first step in personal investigation.

And it is in this sense that it is said that no one can be initiated except by

himself.

Grillot de Givry

SUBLIMATION