Ancient Psychedelia: Alien Gods & Mushroom Goddesses
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| A savage Dragon lives in the forest, Most venomous he is, yet lacking nothing: When he sees the rays of the Sun and its bright fire, He scatters abroad his poison, And flies upward so fiercely That no living creature can stand before him, Nor is even the Basilisk equal to him. He who hath skill to slay him, wisely Hath escaped from all dangers. Yet all venom, and colours, are multiplied In the hour of his death. His venom becomes the great Medicine. He quickly consumes his venom, For he devours his poisonous tail. All this is performed on his own body, From which flows forth glorious Balm, With all its miraculous virtues. Hereat all the Sages do loudly rejoice. Fig. 8 reads: “Here are two birds, great and strong – the body and spirit; One devours the other. Let the Body be placed in horse-dung, or a warm bath, the Spirit having been extracted from it. The Body has become white by the process, the Spirit red by our Art. All that exists tends towards perfection, and thus is the Philosopher’s Stone prepared.  In India there is a most pleasant wood, In which two birds are bound together. One is of a snowy white; the other is red. They bite each other, and one is slain And devoured by the other. Then both are changed into white doves, And of the Dove is born a Phoenix, Which has left behind blackness and foul death, And has regained a more glorious life. This power was given it by God Himself, That it might live eternally, and never die. It gives us wealth, it preserves our life, And with it we may work great miracles, As also the true Philosophers do plainly inform us |
Fig. 10 reads: “A salamander lives in the fire, which imparts to it a most glorious hue. This is the reiteration, gradation, and amelioration of the Tincture, or Philosopher's Stone; and the whole is called its Augmentation. In all fables we are told That the Salamander is born in the fire; In the fire it has that food and life Which Nature herself has assigned to it. It dwells in a great mountain Which is encompassed by many flames, And one of these is ever smaller than another— Herein the Salamander bathes. The third is greater, the fourth brighter than the rest— In all these the Salamander washes, and is purified. Then he hides him to his cave, But on the way is caught and pierced So that it dies, and yields up its life with its blood. But this, too, happens for its good: For from its blood it wins immortal life, And then death has no more power over it. Its blood is the most precious Medicine upon earth, The same has not it’s like in the world. For this blood drives away all disease In the bodies of metals, Of men, and of beasts. From it the Sages derive their science, And through it they attain the Heavenly Gift, Which is called the Philosopher's Stone, Possessing the power of the whole world. This gift the Sages impart to us with loving hearts, That we may remember them forever. (13) (13) The Book of Lambspring, A Noble Ancient Philosopher, Concerning the Philosophical Stone; rendered into Latin verse by Nicholas Barnaud Delphinas, Doctor of Medicine, a zealous Student of this Art |
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