“If any one complain of the difficulty of our Art, let him know that in itself it is perfectly simple, and can present no obstacle to those who love God, and are held worthy by Him of this knowledge.” - Anonymous. The Golden Tract Concerning The Stone of the Philosophers
Alchemy is “celestial agriculture”
- do things at right timing, right food and soil and fertilizer and water ….
- You grow the Stone
Alchemists often described their work in agricultural metaphors, casting themselves as gardeners of the minerals.
A famous analogy: “We cannot make a tree, but if we find the seed, plant it in the right soil and nurture it, we can grow one. In the same way, we can ‘grow’ gold from the right seed… if the Work is carried out in a manner that allows Nature to bring it to perfection.” .
Here the alchemist’s role is like a diligent farmer: he does not create the life-force (just as a farmer doesn’t create the seed), but provides the conditions – the proper soil, warmth, and timing – for Nature’s latent perfection to unfold. Many alchemists held that metals contain “seeds” of gold; the Art simply places those seeds in fertile ground and tends them. “The same thing happens with metallic natures, and so gold may be made to produce seed, by a wise and judicious Artist who knows how to assist Nature,” wrote Sendivogius . Nature, in turn, agrees to the partnership.
The legendary adept Salomon Trismosin is credited with the phrase: “If you help me, I will help you. As you will do, so will do I.” – Nature to the Alchemist .