Robert Ambelain, born in Paris in 1907 and died in 1997, was a French writer specialising in esotericism, the occult and astrology. A man of letters, historian and associate member of the Gens de Lettres and the Association des écrivains de langue française "Mer outre-mer", he is the author of 42 books, some written under the pseudonym Aurifer, the name he used within the Martinist Order, inspired by Gnostic, Judeo-Christian mysticism. Alchemy was a particularly fruitful strand of his studies.

This Glossary of principal alchemical terms is contained in Spiritual Alchemy, 1961.

The symbolic terminology just covered, and what will follow, employs words and expressions that bear no direct relation to their equivalents in common language. It is therefore advisable that the researcher learn, before the final reading, how to interpret the real meanings of the text. It is thus indispensable to define what is meant by certain essential words, which are the names of the constituent elements of the Prima Materia and of its evolution towards the ultimate stage, Gold, symbol of perfection within the bosom of Metallic Life.

Water: one of the four Elements of the Ancients. It has nothing in common with common water.

Refining: an operation by which everything foreign to a metal is separated from it. It is practised particularly on gold and silver.

Trees: a tree bearing moons signifies the Lesser Magistery, the Stone at white. If it bears suns, it is the Great Work, the Stone at red. If it bears the symbols of the seven metals or the signs of the sun, the moon and 5 stars, it then concerns the unique matter from which metals are born.

Albification: calcination to white or to red.

Aludel: an apparatus composed of superimposed vessels communicating with one another, used to carry out a slow sublimation.

Amalgamation: the intimate union of different metallic elements into a whole that is highly homogeneous and very malleable.

Angel: symbolises sublimation, the ascent of a volatile principle, as in the figures of the "Viatorium spagyricum".

Animals: in general, when two animals of the same species but of different sex are encountered — such as lion and lioness, dog and bitch — they signify Sulphur and Mercury prepared in view of the work, or alternatively the fixed and the volatile. The male then represents the fixed, Sulphur, and the female the volatile, Mercury. United, the animals express conjunction, the nuptials, the marriage. If they are fighting: fixation of the volatile or volatilisation of the fixed. As in the figures of Basil Valentine, "The Twelve Keys of Philosophy". Animals may furthermore symbolise the Elements: Earth (lion or bull), Air (eagle), Water (fish, whale), Fire (dragon, salamander). If a terrestrial animal appears in a hermetic image alongside an aerial animal, they signify the fixed and the volatile respectively.

Apollo: the sun, gold.

Eagle: symbol of volatilisation and also of the acids used in the Work. An eagle devouring a lion signifies the volatilisation of the fixed by means of the volatile. Two eagles fighting have the same meaning.

Silver of the Sages: the Mercury of the philosophers.

Air: one of the four Elements of the Ancients. It bears no relation to the air we breathe.

Athanor: a reverberatory furnace.

Bath: symbol of the dissolution of gold and silver, of the purification of these two metals.

Bain-marie: an apparatus arranged so that the vessel containing the matter is immersed in hot water.

White: Stone at White, a still imperfect stone, of which all the transmutatory possibilities have not yet been developed or obtained.

Calcination: the reduction of bodies to calx; it may be dry or wet.

Hot: one of the four elementary qualities of Nature.

Chamber: symbol of the Philosophical Egg, when the King and Queen are enclosed within it (Sulphur and Mercury).

Dog: symbol of Sulphur, of Gold. A dog devoured by a wolf signifies the purification of Gold by antimony. Dog and bitch associated signify the fixed and the volatile.

Chaos: symbol of the Unity of Matter and also of the colour black, the "First stage of the Work", of putrefaction.

Alembic head: a glass cavity fitted with a spout, which is fitted to the neck of the cucurbit in order to distil mineral spirits. Alembic head, hood and alembic are roughly the same thing.

Cementation: an operation by which, through the use of mineral powders called cement, metals are purified to the point where only the purest metallic substance remains.

Swan: symbol of the Work at White, the second stage after putrefaction and iridescence. The latter does not feature in the classical ternary of the Great Work: black, red, white.

Circulatory: see Pelican.

Circulation: consists in making liquids circulate in a closed vessel by means of a slow heat.

Circumference: Unity of Matter, Universal Harmony.

Cucurbit: a gourd-shaped vessel open at the top, which is covered with an alembic head for the distillation of vegetable or other matter.

Cohobation: the act of returning the distilled metallic spirit onto its residue.

Crown: symbol of chemical royalty, of metallic perfection. In "la Margharita Preciosa" the six metals are first presented as slaves, bare-headed at the feet of the King, Gold. But then, after the Transmutation, they are depicted wearing a crown. Hence, in Spiritual Alchemy, the phrase of L.C. de Saint Martin: "Every man is his own King", meaning that every man carries within himself the possibility of returning to his lost royalty, on the spiritual and angelic plane.

Crow: One of the first stages of the Work, putrefaction.

Chrysopoeia: The Philosopher's Stone, the Great Work accomplished.

Crucible: a vessel of refractory clay, flared upwards, intended for the fusion of metals or hard bodies.

Decrepitation: the act of heating common salt in a crucible to drive out the moisture.

Dephlegmation: consists in separating the water contained in bodies (or phlegm) by evaporation or distillation.

Diana: see moon.

Digestion: disaggregation, involution and maturation of the matter, obtained by exposing the containing vessel to the heat of the bain-marie for a suitable length of time.

Distillation: an operation during which the subtle parts of solid and liquid bodies are separated, or alternatively the spirit of the matter that envelops them.

Dragon: a dragon biting its own tail, the Unity of Matter. A dragon in flames, the symbol of Fire. Several dragons fighting, putrefaction. A wingless dragon, the Fixed. A winged dragon, the Volatile.

Hermaphrodite: the result of the conjunction of Sulphur with Mercury, also called Rebis.

Scythe: symbol of Fire.

Phoenix: symbol of the red colour of the Work. The Egg of the Phoenix is the philosophical egg. The Phoenix is also Sulphur and the Mercury of the Sages, united and conjoined at the ultimate end of the Work.

Flowers: represent the colours in the course of the Work.

Fixed: metallic Sulphur or dog of Corascene.

Fountain: three fountains normally represent the three Principles: Sulphur, Mercury and Salt. There are yet other aspects to this word.

Cold: one of the four elementary qualities of Nature.

Wheel Fire: first phase of the second Work, a gentle and slow fire.

Sand Fire: interposition of sand between the fire and the vessel containing the matter to be treated.

Secret Fire: universal spirit enclosed within the bosom of metallic darkness, a spark of life enclosed in all that is in its primitive natural state.

Jupiter: symbol of tin.

Lion: alone, symbol of the Fixed, of Sulphur. Winged, the Volatile, Mercury. The lion also represents the Mineral, Green Vitriol, from which oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid) is extracted. The lion opposed to three other animals symbolises Earth. It is also the symbol of Chrysopoeia.

Lioness: the Volatile, Mercury.

Liquation: the Philosophical Egg.

Liquefaction: or deliquescence, the natural resolution of salts into water through exposure in a damp place.

Moon: the Volatile, Mercury, the Gold of the Sages.

Wolf: the symbol of antimony.

Lute: a thick, unctuous layer made of various materials, intended to seal the joints connecting different vessels together.

Marmorising: trituration of materials on marble with the aid of a pestle. Also called porphyrising.

Mars: iron; the orange tint of the Work.

Matrass: an earthen vessel, round, oval or flattened, fitted with a long neck. The prepared material is placed in it to cook over a low flame.

Marriage: union of Sulphur and Mercury, of the Fixed and the Volatile. The officiating priest represents Salt, the means of union between the two.

Mercury: one of the occult constituent Principles of Matter. It has nothing in common with the common body of that name. » also a symbol of Silver prepared for the final Egg.

Menstruum: mineral and vegetable waters with dissolving properties. Corrosive.

Mountain: the Philosophers' furnace; the summit of the Philosophical Egg.

Mortification: alteration of matter by trituration or by the addition of an active element.

Black: also symbolised by the raven, an image of putrefaction.

Neptune: water.

Nuptials: see marriage.

Gold of the Sages: philosophical Sulphur.

Palace: entry into the closed Palace: discovery of the silver capable of effecting the reduction of the Fixed, of "reincrudation" into a form analogous to that of its primitive substance. It also designates access to the Living Gold, Gold of the Sages or philosophical Gold, if it concerns access to the closed Palace of the King. Conversely, it designates the Living Silver, the Silver of the Sages or philosophical Mercury, if it concerns entry into the closed Palace of the Queen.

Balloon: a large, round glass vessel intended to receive the products of distillation.

Pelican: a closed cucurbit fitted with two hollow handles connecting the head to the body. It is also called a circulatory vessel on account of its function.

Rain: symbol of the White colour in the Work, or albification. It is also the image of condensation in the course of realisation.

Priest: by marrying a man and a woman, a King or a Queen, he symbolises the Principle of Salt.

Prima Materia: the Prime Matter of the Hermetic Work.

Projection: the action of transmitting a mineral in fusion to the active charge of a cleansing and transmutatory powder.

Square: symbol of the four elements.

Boy: dressed in royal garb or simply crowned, he symbolises the Philosopher's Stone, and at other times the Work at the red stage.

King and Queen: see man and woman.

Rebis: a result of the amalgam of the Gold of the Sages; a double matter, at once moist and dry, having received from Nature and Art a double occult property, exactly balanced.

Receiver: here denotes a glass balloon.

Residue: what remains in a vessel after distillation. Synonymous with faeces, dead earth, damned earth, caput mortuus.

Rectification: final distillation to obtain an extremely pure metallic spirit. It is obtained over a very strong fire.

Reverberation: exaltation of the internal energy of the metallic spirit through the action of violent fire on the matter containing this spirit. Total desiccation.

Rose: designates the red colour, the final stage of the Work. A white rose and a red rose: union of the Fixed with the Volatile. The rose is the emblem of the entire Hermetic Art.

Red: the final stage of the Great Work; symbolises Fire.

Rubification: the action of destroying combustible Sulphur and obtaining incombustible Sulphur. Principle of Aurification within the mineral.

Magic Ruby: an energetic agent of igneous subtlety, clothed in the colour or the manifold properties of Fire. Also called oil of Christ, oil of Crystal; it is then symbolised by the Heraldic Lizard or the Salamander that lives in fire and feeds upon it.

Salamander: symbol of Fire; sometimes denotes the red colour of the final stage of the Work, or also the white colour that precedes it. Magic Ruby.

Salt: also called Arsenic; one of the four mysterious principles composing bodies. It has nothing in common with common salt. See the union between Sulphur and Mercury in metals; from it there derives, just as from the reciprocal action of spirit and soul, or of soul and psychic double, the body of men is constituted. Salt may be compared to the "total" in the addition of two factors.

Saturn: designates lead; equally the black colour of the Work at the stage of putrefaction, synonymous with raven. The time of trials on the physical plane.

Skeleton: putrefaction; the black colour of the Work, synonymous with raven.

Dry: one of the four elementary qualities of Nature.

Sepulchre: Philosophical Egg.

Serpent: same meanings as the dragon. Three serpents designate the three Principles: Salt, Sulphur, Mercury. Two serpents on the Caduceus: Sulphur and Mercury of the Sages; the winged serpent the Volatile, the wingless one the Fixed. The crucified serpent designates the fixation of the Volatile.

Sphere: designates the Unity of Matter.

Sun: sometimes indicates ordinary gold prepared for the Work; at other times designates the Sulphur of the Sages.

Sword: symbol of Fire.

Parting: an operation consisting in separating silver from gold by means of saltpetre. It is a refining process.

Retort: a glass vessel, round with a downward-turned beak, used to distil matter in the course of the Work.

Stratification: superimposition, in alternating layers, of various materials subjected to violent fire in a closed crucible. The amalgam is then effected by fusion, but the superimposition is not left to chance; it must be rational and scientific.

Sublimation: violent or slow. The slow is the better. The matter is enclosed in a vessel with a long neck, over a low fire, so that the subtle (pure) parts separate from the coarse (impure) parts, rising from the bottom of the vessel towards the top.

Earth: one of the four Elements of the Ancients. It has nothing to do with the ground we walk upon.

Triangle: symbol of the three mysterious constituent principles of metals: Salt, Sulphur and Mercury.

Bird: rising into the sky — volatilisation, ascension, sublimation. Diving towards the ground — precipitation or condensation. Both images united in the same figure — distillation. Birds opposed to terrestrial animals indicate Air or the Volatile.

Moist: one of the four elementary qualities of Nature.

Man or Woman: Sulphur and Mercury. Naked, they designate impure gold and silver. Their Nuptials: conjunction of Sulphur and Mercury. Enclosed in a sepulchre, these two principles united in the Philosophical Egg.

Venus: designates copper.

Volatilisation: the action of transforming a solid into gas or heat. Separation of the Volatile Elements from the Fixed ones.

Vulcan: symbol of ordinary fire.

Sulphur: one of the occult constituent Principles of Matter. It has nothing in common with the common body of that name. It is also the symbol of Gold prepared for the final Work.