The Turba Philosophorum (complete) — trans. A. E. Waite (1896)

other air which separates the water from the fire. But they are both one and the same air, namely, that which separates things frigid, the earth from the water, and that which separates the water from the fire. But the lower air is thicker than the upper air, and the upper air is more rare and subtle, being nearer to the fire than the lower air. In the egg, therefore, are four things — earth, water, air, and fire. But the point of the Sun, these four excepted, is in the centre of the yolk, and this is the chicken. Consequently, all philosophers in this most excellent art have described the egg as an example, which same thing they have set over their work.

The Fifth Dictum. Arisleus saith: — Know that the earth is a hill and not a plain, for which reason the Sun does not ascend over all the zones of the earth in a single hour ; but if it were flat, the sun would rise in a moment over the whole earth.

The Turba Philosophorum. 13

Parmenides saith : — Thou hast spoken briefly, O Arisleus ! He answeretfi : — Is there anything the Master has left us which bears witness otherwise ? Yet I testify that God is one, having never engendered or been begotten, and that the head of all things after Him is earth and fire, because fire is tenuous and light, and it rules all things on earth, but the earth, being ponderous and gross, sustains all things which are ruled by fire.

The Sixth Dictum. Lucas saiih: — You speak only about four natures ; and each one of you observes something concerning these. Now, I testify unto you that all things which God hath created are from these four natures, and the things which have been created out of them return into them. In these living creatures are generated and die, and all things take place as God hath predestinated. Democritus, the disciple of Lucas, answereth : — Thou hast well spoken, O

14 The Turba Philosophorum.

Lucas, when dealing with the four natures ! Then sailh Arisleus : — O Democritus, since thy knowledge was derived from Lucas, it is presumption to speak among those, who are well acquainted with thy master ! Lucas answereth: — Albeit Democritus received from me the science of natural things, that knowledge was derived from the philosophers of the Indies and from the Babylonians ; I think he surpasses those of his own age in this learning. The Turba answereth : — When he attains to that age* he will give no small satisfaction, but being in his youth he should keep silence.

The Seventh Dictum. LocusTA saith: — All those creatures which have been described by Lucas are two only, of which one is neither

* Whether the age indicated is that of the Indian and Babylonian adepts does not appear, but the entire episode is remarkable when it is borne in mind what great importance evidently attached to the Democritic school of Greek alchemy. It seems to indicate that the Turba Philosophorum represents a tradition hostile to the tradition of

The Turba Pkilosopkorum. 15

"known nor expressed, except by piety, for it is not seen or felt. Pythagoras saith : — Thou hast entered upon a subject which, if completed, thou wilt ■describe subtly. State, therefore, what is this thing which is neither felt, seen, nor known. Then he : — It is that which is not known, because in this world it is discerned by reason without the clients thereof, which are sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch. O Crowd of the Philosophers, know you not that it is only sight which can distinguish white from black, and liearing only which can discriminate between a good and bad word ! Similarly, a wholesome odour cannot be separated by reason from one which is fetid, except through the sense of smell, nor can sweetness be discriminated from bitterness save by means of taste, nor smooth from rough unless

Demociitus, who, accordingly, figures merely as a promising tyro, and, in fact, remains silent throughout the rest of the deliberations. For " those of his own age " the second recension reads " his contemporaries."

1 6 The Turba Philosophorum.