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 ...

Position VII.

The East denoting Whiteness, is the begin∣ning of the Stones Altitude.

THence by Colours many into the East as∣cend, &c. In the Work are three Di∣mensions; Altitude, Latitude, and Pro∣fundity: The Altitude is the Perfection of the Bodies which is Inchoate in White∣ness, and compleat in Redness. The Pro∣fundity is the first Matter into which they are resolved; For Multiplication and the Latitude is the means through which it passeth from its Perfection to be abased; and from its abasement to its Glorifica∣tion.

In this passage are infinite gay colours

like unto those as appeared before Black∣ness, but more glorious; For note, the Stone hath but three colours, Black, White and Red: In the first when compleated, it stays three, or four days at most; in the second as long; in the last it reposeth it self for ever, between these Periods as the Matter is moister or dryer, purer or im∣purer, many intermediate colours appear, more then can be numbred; But Two, (viz.) Green and Yellow, are of long continuance, before the White and the Red: But many colours appear between the beginning of that Work, and the first colour of Blackness: And although seve∣ral colours appear, yet are they dark, foggy, and foul coloured; by which it appears, that Blackness is the predomi∣nant, which for a space will appear like the Aegyptian darkness, and is much about the same continuance: so between Black∣ness and the White, although infinite co∣lours appear; yet the Basis of them be∣ing Whiteness, they are bright, and very glorious, which being only transient, pass, and go, and others come in their place, until the White be perfected.