A Modern Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery

Part IV: The Hermetic Practice

Chapter 3: The Six Keys of Eudoxus, Part 2

Introduction: The Six Keys of Eudoxus unlock the alchemical transformation of the soul’s essence into the philosopher’s stone. This section unveils the final three Keys—terrification, fermentation, and multiplication—guiding the adept to divine unity through sacred operations.

The Fourth Key: Terrification of the Spirit

The Fourth Key transforms the soul’s essence, the “great Alchaest,” into a solid earth through gentle boiling. This mercurial water, carrying its own Sulphur, coagulates into a fertile “Land of Promise,” as Hermes instructs: “The power is integral when turned into earth.” The adept must patiently moisten and dry this earth, augmenting its virtue and fertility, as Eudoxus warns: “If marks of coagulation fail, you erred in prior operations.”

This terrification, a reiteration of earlier purifications, ensures the soul’s essence becomes a stable, radiant form, ready for further transformation, marking the completion of the Second Work’s foundation.

The Fifth Key: Fermentation of the Stone

The Fifth Key ferments the Stone with a “perfect body,” creating a medicine of the third order. Like dough leavened with yeast, as Hermes compares, the adept unites the purified essence with a ferment to form a new, potent substance. This process, requiring precise proportions, transforms the Stone into a leaven capable of infinite multiplication, as Eudoxus notes: “The whole confection becomes a ferment for new matter.”

The adept, guided by nature’s laws, ensures the soul’s essence, now a “philosophical paste,” matures into a radiant form, embodying divine potency and ready for further enhancement.

The Sixth Key: Multiplication and Projection

The Sixth Key multiplies the Stone’s virtues through repeated dissolution and coagulation, as Eirenaeus describes: “Join one part of the Perfect Matter with Mercury, and in seven days, its virtue increases a thousandfold.” Each cycle—three days, one day, then an hour—augments the Stone’s power exponentially, creating the “Arabian Elixir.”

For projection, the adept combines the Stone with molten gold or silver, then projects this powder onto purified mercury, transforming it into pure metal. Eudoxus advises gradual projection to avoid loss, ensuring the Stone’s tincture perfects the base metal into divine gold or silver.

Closing: This chapter unveils the final three Keys of Eudoxus, transforming the soul’s essence into the philosopher’s stone through sacred alchemy. The journey into its broader implications deepens in our next post, unveiling further secrets of this sacred art.