Euphrates, or the Waters of the East
Rosicrucian tract on the secret water that flows from fire — element as state, not modern chemistry.
Arguments
Seek the first mixture of elements — fresh
Skip the named metals; chase Nature's first mix while fresh; then shut up.
This Admonition; if thou would'st know Nature, take heed of Antimonie and the common metalls; seek onely that very first mixture of elements, which Nature makes in the great world; seek it I say, whilst it is fresh and new, and having found it, conceal it.
Why it matters
Skip the named metals; chase Nature's first mix while fresh; then shut up.
Use when: When a hunt is distracted by famous reagents instead of the upstream mixture.
Dissolvent not to be sought in metals
Looking for the solvent inside what it is meant to dissolve is category madness.
But to seek that Dissolvent, or the matter whereof it is made, in Metals, is not only Error but Madness.
Why it matters
Looking for the solvent inside what it is meant to dissolve is category madness.
Use when: When a team searches for the unlock inside the locked object.
Concepts
Universal matter — foundation and nourishment
One matter both constitutes and feeds — origin and logistics are the same substrate.
Universal, that is the foundation of all Nature, that is the matter whereof all things are made, and wherewith being made are nourished.
Why it matters
One matter both constitutes and feeds — origin and logistics are the same substrate.
Use when: When a system needs one substrate for build and for sustain.
Definitions
Element means a state of matter
False friend alert — "element" here is phase/process, not periodic-table atom.
The word "Element" as used by the learned at the period when "Euphrates" was penned, meant rather a "state" of matter, such as the hot, cold, moist and dry natures; or the solid, liquid, gaseous or ethereal conditions; or the stationary, slow, quick or instantaneous processes of change.
Why it matters
False friend alert — "element" here is phase/process, not periodic-table atom.
Use when: When a modern reader imports chemistry into early modern matter-talk.
Passages
Secret water flows from fire
Paradox engine: water sourced from fire, carrying both luminaries — the image is the thesis.
CURSE FOUNTAIN, OF THAT SECRET WHOSE WATER FLOWS FROM FIRE; AND CARRIES IN IT THE BEAMS OF THE SUN AND MOON.
Why it matters
Paradox engine: water sourced from fire, carrying both luminaries — the image is the thesis.
Use when: When a secret needs a heraldic paradox in one line.