Latin — 1533, repaired
Democritus autem, Orpheus, ac multi Pythagoricorum, caelestium vires inferorumque naturas diligentissime perscrutati, omnia plena diis esse dixerunt: nec abs re, siquidem nulla res est tam praestantibus viribus, quae viduata divino auxilio sui natura contenta sit. Deos autem vocabant virtutes divinas in rebus diffusas: quas Zoroaster divinas illices, Synesius symbolicas illecebras, alii vitas, alii etiam animas nominabat; et ab his virtutes rerum dependere dicebant: quia solius animae sit, ab una materia extendi in res alias, circa quas operatur: sicut homo, qui extendit intellectum ad intelligibilia, et imaginationem ad imaginabilia. Et hoc est quod intelligebant dicentes, videlicet unius entis animam egredi, et in aliud ingredi, et fascinare ipsum, et suas operationes impedire: quemadmodum adamas impedit magnetem, ne ferrum attrahat.
Cum vero anima primum mobile sit, et, ut dicunt, sponte et per se mobile: corpus vero vel materia per se ad motum inefficax, et ab ipsa anima longe degenerans, idcirco ferunt opus esse excellentiori medio, scilicet, quod sit quasi non corpus, sed quasi iam anima, sive quasi non anima, et quasi iam corpus, quo videlicet anima corpori conectatur.
Medium autem tale fingunt esse spiritum mundi, scilicet, quem dicimus essentiam quintam: quia non ex quatuor elementis, sed quoddam quintum super illa aut praeter illa subsistens. Talis igitur spiritus necessario requiritur tanquam medium, quo animae caelestes insint corpori crassiori, et mirificas dotes largiantur.
Hic quidem spiritus talis fere est in corpore mundi, qualis in humano corpore noster: sicut enim animae nostrae vires per spiritum adhibentur membris, sic virtus animae mundi per quintam essentiam dilatatur per omnia: nihil enim reperitur in toto mundo quod eius virtutis scintilla careat. Magis tamen ac maxime infunditur his, qui huiusmodi spiritus plurimum hauserint: hauritur autem per radios stellarum, quatenus res his se reddunt conformes.
Per hunc itaque spiritum omnis occulta proprietas propagatur, in herbas, lapides et metalla, et in animantia, per solem, per lunam, per planetas, perque stellas planetis sublimiores.
Potest autem hic spiritus nobis prodesse magis, si quis illum sciverit ab aliis elementis plurimum segregare: aut saltem his rebus plurimum uti, quae hoc spiritu plurimum abundant. Si quidem res, in quibus spiritus ille minus immergitur corpori, ac minus cohibetur materia, potentius perfectiusque agunt, tum etiam propitius generant sibi simile: est enim omnis generativa et seminaria virtus in eo: quare Alchymistae nituntur eum spiritum ex auro argentoque secernere: quem rite segregatum et extractum, si postea illum cuivis eiusdem generis materiae, hoc est, cuivis metallorum adhibuerint, aurum statim argentumve conficient.
Et nos illud facere novimus, et aliquando vidimus: sed non plus auri fabricare potuimus, nisi quantum erat illud auri pondus, de quo spiritum extraximus. Nam cum sit ille spiritus forma extensa et non intensa, non potest ultra suam mensuram imperfectum corpus in perfectum permutare; quod tamen fieri posse alio artificio non inficior.
Close translation
Democritus and Orpheus, and many of the Pythagoreans, having searched most diligently into the powers of the celestial world and the natures of the lower world, said that all things are full of gods. And not without reason — since there is no thing so outstanding in its powers that, widowed of divine help, it is content with its own nature alone.
By "gods" they meant the divine powers diffused through things. Zoroaster called these divine lures; Synesius, symbolic enticements; others called them lives, and others still souls. And they said that the powers of things depend on these, because it belongs to soul alone to extend itself out of one matter into other things, upon which it operates — just as a man extends his intellect toward intelligible things, and his imagination toward imaginable things.
And this is what they meant when they said that the soul of one being goes out and enters into another, and fascinates it, and hinders its operations — in the way that the diamond hinders the magnet, so that it does not draw iron.
Now since soul is the first moving thing, and (as they say) is moved of its own accord and by itself, whereas body, or matter, is by itself ineffective for motion and falls far short of soul — for this reason they hold that a more excellent medium is needed. Something that is, as it were, not body but already soul; or as it were not soul, and as it were already body: something by which soul may be joined to body.
They imagine such a medium to be the spirit of the world — that is, what we call the quintessence. For it is not drawn from the four elements, but is a certain fifth thing, subsisting above them, or beyond them.
Such a spirit, then, is necessarily required as a medium, by which the celestial souls may be present in the grosser body and may bestow their marvellous gifts. This spirit is in the body of the world just as ours is in the human body. For as the powers of our soul are applied to the limbs by means of the spirit, so the power of the soul of the world is spread through all things by means of the quintessence — for nothing is found in the whole world that lacks a spark of its power.
But it is poured most of all into those things that have drawn the most of this kind of spirit. And it is drawn in through the rays of the stars, insofar as things make themselves conformable to them.
Through this spirit, then, every hidden property is propagated into herbs, stones, metals and living things — through the sun, through the moon, through the planets, and through the stars higher than the planets.
This spirit can be of more use to us if someone knows how to separate it, as far as possible, from the other elements — or at least if he makes the greatest use of those things that abound most in this spirit. For those things in which that spirit is less immersed in body, and less confined by matter, act more powerfully and more perfectly, and also generate their like more readily. For every generative and seminal power is in it.
This is why the alchemists strive to separate this spirit out from gold and silver. Once it has been properly separated and extracted, if they then apply it to any matter of the same kind — that is, to any of the metals — they will at once make gold, or silver.
And we know how to do this, and have seen it done. But we could not make more gold than the weight of that gold from which we extracted the spirit. For since that spirit is a form extended and not intensified, it cannot change an imperfect body beyond its own measure into a perfect one. Though I do not deny that this may be possible by another art.
Modern rendering
Democritus, Orpheus and many of the Pythagoreans studied the powers of the heavens and the natures of the lower world very closely, and concluded that everything is full of gods. And with reason: nothing is so powerful that, cut off from divine help, it can get by on its own nature alone.
By "gods" they meant the divine powers spread through things. Zoroaster called them divine lures; Synesius, symbolic enticements; others called them lives, and others souls. They held that the powers of things depend on these, because only soul can reach out of one material thing into others and act on them — the way a person reaches out with the intellect toward what can be understood, and with the imagination toward what can be imagined.
This is what they meant by saying that one being's soul goes out, enters another, fascinates it, and blocks what it does — the way a diamond blocks a magnet so it can't draw iron.
Soul is the first thing that moves, and (they say) moves of its own accord. Body, or matter, can't produce motion on its own and falls far short of soul. So something better is needed in between. Something that is not quite body but already soul — or not quite soul and already body. Something that can join soul to body.
They take that in-between thing to be the spirit of the world — what we call the quintessence. It isn't made from the four elements. It's a fifth thing, existing above them, or outside them.
A spirit like this has to be there in the middle, so that the celestial souls can be present in the coarser body and hand over their remarkable gifts. This spirit is in the body of the world the same way ours is in the human body. Our soul's powers reach the limbs through spirit; the world-soul's power spreads through everything through the quintessence. Nothing in the whole world lacks a spark of it.
It's concentrated most in whatever has taken up the most of this spirit. And it's taken up through the rays of the stars, to the degree a thing makes itself match them.
So every hidden property spreads through this spirit into herbs, stones, metals and living things — by way of the sun, the moon, the planets, and the stars above the planets.
This spirit is more useful to us if you know how to separate it out from the other elements as far as possible — or at least if you work mostly with the things richest in it. Where the spirit is less sunk into body and less hemmed in by matter, things act more powerfully and more completely, and reproduce more readily. All the power of generation and seed is in it.
This is why alchemists work to separate this spirit out of gold and silver. Once it's properly separated and extracted, if they then apply it to matter of the same kind — any of the metals — they immediately produce gold or silver.
We know how to do this, and we've seen it done. But we couldn't produce any more gold than the weight of the gold we pulled the spirit out of. That spirit is a form spread out rather than concentrated, so it can't convert more imperfect body into perfect than its own measure allows. Though I don't deny it might be possible by some other art.