The Prima Materia

So i was thinking about the prime matter of this work...It is contained within ALL the 4 elements and we need it to start the work.The only common thing i can come up with that connects fire,air and water is Oxygen.As for the earth,there are quite a lot of oxides within it which means they bring oxygen within them.So,the first matter(since it has to be a rock/ore/mineral) will probably have to be an oxide or something that can turn into an oxide somehow.Here is a picture of this ore but i cant tell much about it from the pic

http://postimg.org/image/dt0ywuso1/

The comments of the author that are linked to this picture are:

"This is a sample of the First Matter, a sample of this ore which contains in its breast the Sun and Moon of our Philosophers, as well as the Salt in an infinitesimal dose. Hermes, Paracelsus, Albert the Great, J.-B. Porta, etc., have called it cinnabar, either designating it overtly by its name or describing the method of making it artificially. Certain reader believed that the Master Kamala-Jnana refuted this ore categorically. This is not true at all; Kamala-Jnana simply said it should not be treated like the industrial ore. It is thus that it is analogous but not equal, similar but not identical."

Any ideas?

There are two fist matters on classic alchemy the cinnabar "red dragon" and the antimony "black dragon":

nope

Very enlightening Thor

To the limit of my understanding the first matter that alchemist refer to is THE first matter period. The book of Genesis in the Holy Bible states that second only to light, the very first matter was water which God also separated into earth. There for water can have earth not only extracted from ,but actually created from it.

This quote says it best "According to Avicenna and Aristotle, you will not succeed in the work unless you extract water from air, earth from water, and fire from earth."

This means that from air you can get water (precipitation) from the water via putrefaction you get earth. From earth and water you get a salt which can kindle the astral fire.

Thus I have displayed the 4 elements,the first matter,and the male (solid salt) and female (mercurial water) to you.

Iron pyrite. Fool's gold. The one true prima materia.

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