Philosopher’s Stone Part Seven:

Clavicula (Little Key of Llull) — The True Argent Vive and Its Multiplication

Philosopher’s Stone Part Seven:

Clavicula (Little Key of Llull) — The True Argent Vive and Its Multiplication

Bibliographic Introduction

The Clavicula, or Little Key of Llull, is a short pseudoepigraphic treatise from the 14th century, attributed to Ramon Llull but almost certainly composed by a later alchemist. It is positioned as a companion to the Testamentum, declaring that without this “little key,” the rest of Llull’s alchemical corpus cannot be understood. Though brief, it serves as a clear catechism of central doctrines: the rejection of vulgar mercury, the necessity of argent vive extracted from Sol and Luna, and the stages of color transformation leading to multiplication of the Stone.

Philosophical Mercury in the Clavicula

The text insists on a strict distinction between vulgar quicksilver and the true argent vive of the philosophers:

“Argent vive Vulgar cannot be the Argent vive of the Philosophers, whatever Art it be prepared with, for the Vulgar cannot be detained in the Fire, but by another Argent vive corporeal which is hot and dry, and more digested.” (Clavicula, Ch. 1)

This true mercury is described as hot, dry, corporeal, and fixed, in contrast to the cold and moist vulgar mercury. It is extracted from Sol and Luna themselves, not from mines or apothecaries’ shops:

“Unless you take the Argent vive of these two [Sol and Luna], you go on to the Practick as blind men without eyes and sense.” (Clavicula, Prologue)

Philosophical mercury here is defined as a metallic essence, a humidity concealed within gold and silver, drawn out through art, capable of union with vulgar mercury to render it stable and medicinal.

Extracting the Method

The Clavicula gives more operational detail than the Testamentum. Its method includes:

Reduction of Bodies: Sol and Luna must be reduced into their first matter, their hidden argent vive.
Amalgamation: Vulgar mercury is united with this extracted mercury, which dries its cold humidity and fixes it.
Putrefaction: The mixture blackens like coal — the “eclipse” of Luna and Sol.
Color Progression: Black → grey-brown → white → red.
Calx viva: A quick slime or white powder is formed, the “mine” of the philosophers.
Multiplication: This powder can be projected infinitely, multiplying silver or gold beyond natural ore.

The text includes recipes: calcination of Luna on porphyry, imbibition with oil of tartar, extraction of mercury by corrosive “stinking menstruals” of vitriol and saltpeter, and sublimation with alembics. These details show that the author was acquainted with laboratory practice, though expressed in allegorical terms.

Evidence of Practice

Unlike Arnaldus or the Epistle genre, the Clavicula uses specific procedures: rectifying corrosive menstrua, drying calxes, stirring precipitates with boiling water, observing the precipitation of metallic mercury. Such imagery suggests contact with actual metallurgical operations. While the recipes are not straightforwardly workable, they reflect an operator’s memory of chemical manipulations, cloaked in allegory.

Contribution to the Stone Tradition

The Clavicula makes several key contributions:

Explicit Rejection of Vulgar Mercury: Only mercury extracted from Sol and Luna counts.
Doctrinal Clarity: Argent vive is hot, dry, fixed — the opposite of vulgar quicksilver.
Multiplication Doctrine: Once true mercury is prepared, its powder can multiply infinitely.
Operational Detail: Provides a clearer laboratory sequence than the Testamentum.

In contrast to the Testamentum’s broader allegory, the Clavicula attempts to present a direct manual, though still couched in secrecy.

Deciphered Method

Summarized, the Clavicula’s method is:

Calcine Luna or Sol, grind on porphyry, imbibe with philosophical solvents.
Extract argent vive from the calx using a rectified corrosive menstrual.
Unite this true mercury with vulgar mercury by amalgamation.
Putrefy under gentle fire, observe blackening and subsequent whitening.
Obtain calx viva (white powder), capable of reducing vulgar mercury into true metals.
Multiply the powder infinitely, projecting into molten silver or gold.

Philosophical mercury here is the argent vive extracted from Sol and Luna, hot, dry, fixed, and medicinal.

Conclusion

The Clavicula or Little Key of Llull crystallizes the pseudo-Llullian doctrine: the philosophers’ mercury is not vulgar quicksilver, but a fixed metallic humidity drawn from Sol and Luna themselves. Its method emphasizes amalgamation, color stages, and multiplication, giving more practical imagery than the Testamentum. Though brief, it served as a catechism for later adepts, reinforcing the definition of true mercury and warning against the errors of vulgar interpretation.

Mine came from RAMs.

Author / Text	Philosophical Mercury	Preparation Steps	Union Method	Fire / Heat	Color Signs	Product Claims
Zosimos of Panopolis (c. 300 CE)	“Divine water” in the kerotakis; volatile spirit ascending and descending	Calcination, sublimation, distillation, washing	Circulation in sealed vessel; dissolution and recombination	Gentle, regulated heating; moist fire	Blackening, whitening, reddening	Tincture, purification of metals; spiritual rebirth
Emerald Tablet (Arabic/Latin, 9th–12th c.)	“One Thing” mediating heaven and earth; volatile principle implied	None explicit; “separate the subtle from the gross”	Circulation: ascent and descent of the subtle	Not named; implied gentle force	None specified; allegorical “glory of the whole”	Perfection of all things; universal power
Turba Philosophorum (12th c., Arabic → Latin)	Permanent water: vinegar/gum/spume of Luna; volatile-fixative solvent	Putrefaction 40 days; washing; imbibition; coagulation	Copper (sometimes with lead/tin) dissolved in permanent water	Gentle fire; sealed vessel; staged regimen	Blackening → Whitening → Reddening → Tyrian purple	Tincture of metals; Stone “not a stone”; invariable color
Artephius, Secret Book (12th c.)	Hidden mercury within antimony; combined with gold	Dissolution of Sol/Luna in “living water” (moist fire); putrefaction	Antimony + mercury + gold in one vessel	Gentle, continuous heat (“hen brooding eggs”)	Black → White → Red	Incombustible oil; multiplicative tincture; longevity
Pseudo-Geber, Summa Perfectionis (13th c.)	Purified, sublimed, partly fixed quicksilver	Repeated sublimation with salts/vitriols; fixation of volatile	Mercury + purified sulfur joined in vessel	“Convenient fire”: moderate, continuous decoction	Black → White → Red	Philosophers’ Stone (Elixir); projection of metals; medicinal virtues
Arnaldus de Villanova, Epistle (late 13th–early 14th c.)	Hidden mercurial humidity within metallic bodies; not common quicksilver	Dissolution, putrefaction	Unite body and hidden mercury in vessel	Gentle, continuous fire	Black → White → Red	Incombustible Stone; tincture of metals
*Pseudo-Llull, Testamentum* (14th c.)**	Philosophical water: metallic phlegm; first water of mercury; middle nature uniting extremes	Dissolution in water; decoction; separation of phlegm; imbibition	Union of Sol and argent vive via middle nature	Continuous gentle fire; decoction, filtration	Black → Pale chaff → White → Red	Red powder tincts silver into gold; Stone of projection
*Pseudo-Llull, Clavicula* (14th c.)**	Fixed, hot, dry argent vive extracted from Sol and Luna; not vulgar quicksilver	Calcination of Sol/Luna; imbibition; extraction with corrosive menstrual; amalgamation	True mercury unites with vulgar mercury, fixing it	Gentle fire in degrees; staged regimen	Black → Grey → White → Red	Calx viva; infinite multiplication; projection into Sol or Luna