Ripley reviv'd, or, An exposition upon Sir George Ripley's hermetico-poetical works containing the plainest and most excellent discoveries of the most hidden secrets of the ancient philosophers, that were ever yet published / written by Eirenæus Philalethes ...

Sir George Ripley's RECAPITULATION.

I.

FOr to bring this Treatise to a final end; And briefly here to conclude these secrets all: Diligently look thou, and to thy Figure at∣tend, Which doth in it contain these secrets great and small: And if thou it conceive, both Theorical and Practical, By Figures and Colours, and by Scripture plain, Which wittily conceived, thou mayest not work in vain.

II.

Consider first the Latitude of this precious Stone, Beginning in the first side noted in the West, Where the red Man, and white Woman be made one,

Spoused with the Spirit of life to live in love and rest: Earth and water equally proportion'd, that is best; And one of the Earth is good, and of the Spirit Three, Which Twelve to Four also of the Earth may be.

III.

Three of the Wife, and one of the Man thou must take; And the less of the Spirit there is in this Disponsation, The rather thy Calcination for certain shalt thou make: Then forth into the North proceed by obscu∣ration▪ Of the red man and his white Wife called Eclypsation; Loosing them, and altering them betwixt Winter and Vere, Into Water turning Earth, dark, and no∣thing clear.

IV.

From thence by Colours many one into the East ascend, Then shall the Moon be full, appearing by day-light:

Then is she passed Purgatory, and her course at an end: There is the up••rising of the Sun appearing white and bright▪ There is Summer after Vere, and Day after Night: Then Earth and Water which were black, be turned into Air, And Clouds of darkness ••ver-blown, and all appeareth f••••r.

V.

And as in the West was the beginning of thy practice, And the North the perfect mean of profound alteration: So in the East after them is the beginning of speculation. But of this course up in the South the Sun maketh consummation. There be the Elements turned into Fire by Circulation. Then to win to thy desire, thou needst not be in doubt, For the Wheel of our Philosophy thou hast turn'd about.

VI.

But yet about again 2 times turn thy wheel, In which be comprehended all the secrets of our Philosophy In Chapters Twelve, made plain to thee, if thou conceive them well; And all the secrets by and by of our lower Astronomy, How thou shalt Calcine Bodies, perfect, dis∣solve, divide, and putrifie, With perfect knowledg of all the Poles which in our Heaven been Shining with Colours inexplicable, never were gayer seen.

VII.

And this one secret conclusion know with∣outen fail, Our Red Man teyneth not, nor his Wife, until they teyned be; Therefore if thou list thy self by this craft to avail, The Altitude of the Bodies hide, and shew out their profundity, In every of thy Materials destroying the first Quality,

And secondary Qualities more glorious in them repair anon; And in one Glass, with one Reg'ment Four Natures turn to One.

VIII.

Pale and black with false Citrine, unperfect White and Red, The Peacock's Feathers in Colours gay, the Rainbow, which shall over-go The spotted Panther, the Lyon green, the Crow's Bill blew as Lead; These shall appear before the perfect White, and many other moe Colours; And after the perfect white, gray and false Citrine also: And after these, then shall appear the bloody red invariable; Then hast thou a Medicine of the third or∣der of his own kind multiplicable.

IX.

Thou must divide thy white Elixir into parts Two, Before thou Rubifie, and into Glasses Two let them be done, If thou wilt have the Elixirs for Sun and Moon, so do,

With Mercury then them multiply unto great quantity soon: And if thou hadst not at the beginning e∣nough to fill a Spoon, Yet thou mayst them so multiply, both the White, and the Red, That if thou liv'st a Thousand Years, they will stand thee in stead.

X.

Have thou recourse unto thy Wheel therefore, I counsel thee, And study him well to know in each Chap∣ter truly; Meddle with no Fantastical Multiplyers; but let them be, Which will thee flatter, and falsly say they are cunning in Philosophy: Do as I bid thee, then dissolve those fore∣said Bases wittily, And turn them into perfect Oyls with our true Water ardent By Circulation, that must be done accord∣ing to our intent.

XI.

These Oyls will six crude Mercury, and convert Bodies all

Into perfect Sol and Lune when thou shalt make Projection: That Oyly Substance pure & fixt, Reymond Lully did call His Basilisk, of which he never made so plain detection: Pray for me to God, that I may be one of his Election; And that he will for one of his at Dooms-day me ken, And grant me in his Bliss to Reign with him for ever, Amen.