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developed too far, it will also seep through the glass, for there is no physical container
sufficiently strong to hold it, The reason for this is that it is no longer a substance but a
divine essence partaking of the interpenetrative power of Divinity. When it is properly
developed, this universal solvent in liquid form will dissolve into itself all other metals.
In this high state the universal salt is a liquid fire. This salt dissolved with the proper
amount of any metal and run through the different stages of digestion and rotations; of
augmentations will eventually become a medicine for the transmuting of inferior metals.

The True Way of Nature by Hermes Trismegistus, given out by a genuine Freemason,
I.C.H., describes the danger of over-augmenting the universal salt: "But this
multiplication cannot be carried on ad infinitum but it attains completeness in the ninth
rotation. For when this tincture has been rotated nine times it cannot be exalted any
further because it will not permit any further separation. For as soon as it perceives only
the smallest degree of material fire it goes instantly into a flux and passes through the
glass like hot oil through paper."

In classifying the processes through which the chemical elements must pass before the
Hermetic medicine is produced, lack of uniformity in terminology is evidenced, for in
The True Way of Nature seven stages are given, while in the Dictionnaire Mytho-
Hermétique twelve are noted. These twelve are linked with the signs of the zodiac in a
manner worthy of consideration.

1. Aries, Calcination 5. Leo, Digestion 9. Sagittarius, Incineration
2. Taurus, Congelation 6. Virgo, Distillation 10. Capricorn, Fermentation
3. Gemini, Fixation 7. Libra, Sublimation 11. Aquarius, Multiplication
4. Cancer, Dissolution 8. Scorpio, Separation 12. Pisces, Projection

This arrangement opens an interesting field of speculation which may be of great service
if intelligently carried out. These twelve "steps" leading up to the accomplishment of the
Magnum Opus are a reminder of the twelve degrees of the ancient Rosicrucian Mysteries.
To a certain degree, Rosicrucianism was chemistry theologized and alchemy
philosophized. According to the Mysteries, man was redeemed as the result of his
passage in rotation through the twelve mansions of the heavens. The twelve processes by
means of which the "secret essence" may be discovered remind the student forcibly of the
twelve Fellow Craftsmen who are sent forth in search of the murdered Builder of the
Universe, the Universal Mercury.

According to Solomon Trismosin, the stages through which matter passes in its journey
towards perfection are divided into twenty-two parts, each of which is represented by an
appropriate drawing. There is an important connection between the twenty-two emblems
of Trismosin, the twenty-two major cards of the Tarot, and the twenty-two letters of the
Hebrew alphabet. These mysterious Tarot cards are themselves an alchemical formula, if
properly interpreted. As if to substantiate the claims of mediæval philosophers that King
Solomon was a master of alchemy, Dr. Franz Hartmann has noted that the much-abused
and misunderstood Song of Solomon is in reality an alchemical formula. The student of