The Green Lion

The Hunting of the Greene Lyon.
Attrib Abraham Andrews
Elias Ashmole. Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum. 1652.
Modernised spelling. 2023.


All hail to the noble company
Of true students in holy alchemy,
Whose noble practice doth them teach
To veil their secrets with misty speech;
Might it please your worshipfulness
To hear my silly truthfulness,
Of that practice which I have seen,
In hunting of the Lion Green:
And because you may be appeased,
That is truth, that I have said;
And that you may for surety ween,
That I know well this Lion Green:
I pray your patience to attend
Till you see my short writ end,
Wherein I'll keep my noble Master's read,
Who while he lived stood me in stead;
At his death he made me swear him to,
That all the secrets I should never undo
To no one man, but even spread a cloud
Over my words and writes, and so it shroud,
That they which do this art desire,
Should first know well to rule their fire:
For with good reason it doth stand,
Swords to keep from mad men's hand:
Least one should, kill the other burn,
Or either do some foul shroud turn:
As some have done that I have seen,
As they did hunt this Lion Green.
Whose colour doubtless is not so,
And that your wisdoms well do know;
For no man lives that each hath seen
Upon four feet a Lion coloured Green:
But our Lion wanting maturity,
Is called green for unripeness trust me,
And yet full quickly he can run,
And soon can overtake the Sun:
And suddenly can him devour,
If they be both shut in one tower:
And him eclipse that was so bright,
And make this red to turn to white:
By virtue of his crudity,
And unripe humours which in him be,
And yet within he hath such heat,
That when he hath the Sun up eat,
He bringeth him to more perfection,
Than ever he had by Nature's direction.
This Lion maketh the Sun with so soon
To be joined to his Sister the Moon:
By way of wedding a wondrous thing,
This Lion should cause them to beget a King:
And 'tis as strange that this King's food,
Can be nothing but this Lion's Blood;
And 'tis as true that this is none other,
Than is it the King's Father and Mother.
A wonder, a Lion, and Sun and Moon,
All these three one deed have done:
The Lion is the priest, and the Sun and Moon the wed,
Yet they were both born in the Lion's bed;
And yet this King was begot by none other,
But by Sun and Moon his own Sister and Brother.
"Oh noble Master of pardon, I you pray,
Because I did well-nigh betray
The secret which to me is so dear,
For I thought none but Brothers were here:
Then should I make no doubt,
To have written plainly out,
But for my fealty I must keep aye,
I'll turn my pen another way,
To speak under Benedicite
Of this noble Company:
Which now perceives by this,
That I know what our Lion is.
Although in Science I am no Clerk,
Yet I have laboured in this work:
And truly without any nay,
If you will listen to my lay:
Something thereby you may find,
That well may content your mind,
I will not swear to make you give credence,
For a Philosopher will find here in evidence,
Of the truth, and to men that be Lay,
I skill not greatly what they say.
For they ween that our Lion is
Common Quicksilver, but truly they miss:
And of this purpose evermore shall fail,
And spent his Thrift to little avail,
That weeneth to work his will thereby,
Because he doth so readily fly;
Therefore leave off ere thou begin,
Till thou know better what we mean;
Which when thou dost then wilt thou say
That I have taught thee a good lay,
In that which I have said of thee before,
Wherefore listen and mark well my lore.
When thou hast thy Lion with Sol and Luna well fed,
And laid them cleanly in their Bed;
An easy heat they may not miss,
Till each the other well can kiss;
And that they shroud them in a skin,
Such as an Egg yolk lieth in:
Then must thou draw from thence away,
A right good secret without any nay:
Which must serve to do thee good,
For it is the Lion's Blood:
And therewith must be the King fed,
When he is risen from the dead:
But long time it will be,
Ere his death appear to thee;
And many a sleep thou must lack,
Or thou him see of Colour black.
Take heed you move him not with ire,
But keep him in an easy fire;
Until you see him separate,
From his vile Earth vituperate;
Which will be black and light withal,
Much like the substance of a football:
Your magnet in the midst will be,
Of Colour fair and white trust me;
Then when you see all this thing,
Your fire one degree increasing;
Until you well may see thereby,
Your matter to grow very dry:
Then it is fit without delay,
The excrements be taken away;
Prepare a Bed most bright and shine
For to lodge this young Child in:
And therein let him alone lie,
Till he be thoroughly dry;
Then is time as I do think,
After such drought to give him drink:
But thereof the truth to show,
Is great secret weak I know;
For Philosophers of time old,
The secret of Imbibition never out told;
To create Magnesia they made no care,
In their Books largely to declare;
But how to order it after his creation,
They left poor men without consolation;
So many men thought they had had perfection,
But they found nothing in their Projection:
Therefore they marred what they had made before,
And of Alchemy they would have no more.
Thus do old Fathers hide it from a Clerk,
Because in it consisteth the whole subtle work;
Which if ye list of me to know,
I shall not fail the truth to show.
When your pure matter in the glass is fit,
Before that you your vessel shut;
A portion of your Lion's sweat
Must be given it for to eat:
And they must be grounded so well together,
That each from other will flee now whither;
Then must you seal up your Glass,
And in his Furnace where he was,
You must set them there to dry.
Which being done then truly,
You must prepare like a good Physician,
For another Imbibition:
But evermore look that you dry
Up all his drink, that none lie by,
For if you make him drink too free,
The longer will your working be,
And if you let him be too dry,
Then for thirst your Child may die;
Wherefore the mean to hold is best,
Twixt overmoist and too much rost [roft];
Six times thy Imbibitions make,
The seventh that Saboath's rest betake:
Eight days 'twixt ilke day of the six,
To dry up moist and make it fix;
Then at the ninth time thy Glass up seal,
And let him stand six weeks each deal:
With his heat tempered so right,
That Blackness passed he may grow white;
And so the seventh week rest him still,
Till thou Ferment after thy will;
Which if thou wilt Ferment for White,
Thereby thou gainst no great profit;
For I assure thee thou needest not dread,
To proceed with fire till all be Red;
Then must thou proceed as did Philosophers old
To prepare thy Ferment of pure Gold,
Which how to do though secret that it be,
Yet will I truly teach it thee.
In the next Chapter as erst I did say,
That so the truth find you may,
Therefore of Charity and for our Lord's sake,
Let no man from my writings take
One word, nor add thereto,
For certainly if that he do,
He shall show malice from the which I am free,
Meaning truth and not subtlety;
Which I refer to the Judgment
Of those which ken the Philosophers intent:
Now listen me with all your might,
How to prepare your Ferment right.
O noble Work of works that God has wrought,
Whereby each thing of things are forth aye brought;
And fitted to their generation,
By a noble Fermentation;
Which Ferment must be of such a thing,
As was the works beginning;
And if thou do progress aright
When thou hast brought the work to white;
And then to stay is thy intent,
Do after my Commandment;
Work Luna by herself alone,
With the blood of the Green Lion:
As erst thou didst in the beginning,
And of three didst make one thing,
Orderly yielding forth right,
Till thy Magnet show full white;
So must thou work all thy Ferment,
Both White and Red, else were it shent.
Red by itself and so the White,
With the Lions Blood must be deight;
And if thou wilt follow my lore,
Set in thy Ferment the same hour,
Of Sol for Red, of Luna for White,
Each by himself let work tight;
So shall thy Ferment be ready edress,
To feed the King with a good mess
Of meats that fit for his digestion,
And well agreeing to his Complexion;
If he be of Color White,
Feed him then with Luna bright;
If his flesh be perfect Red,
Then with the Sun he must be fed,
Your Ferment one fourth part must be,
Into your Magnet made evenly,
And join them warm and not cold,
For raw to ripe you may be bold
Have disagreement so have heat and cold:
Therefore put them warm into thy Glass,
Then seal it up even as it was:
And Circle all till it be won,
By passing degrees every each one:
Both black and white, and also red,
Then of the Fire here have no dread;
For he will never dread the fire,
But ever abide thy desire.
And here a secret to thee I must show,
How to Multiply that thou must know,
Or else it will be over much pain
For thee to begin thy work again:
I say to thee that in no fashion,
It's so well Multiplied as with continual Fermentation:
And sure far it will be exalted at the last,
And in Projection run full fast:
Therefore in the fire keep Ferment always,
That thy Medicine augment mayst aye;
For if the maid do not her leaven save,
Then of her Neighbors she must needs go crave;
Or she must stay till she can make more,
Remember the Proverb that store is no sore:
Thus have I taught thee a lesson, full of truth,
If thou be wicked therefore my heart is reuth:
Remember God his blessing he can take,
When he hath given it, if abuse any you make,
For surely if thou be a Clerk,
Thou wilt find truth in this work:
But if so be that thou be lay,
And understand not what I say,
Keep Counsel then and leave thy Toy,
For it befits no Lymmer loy,
To meddle with such great secrecy:
As is this high Philosophy.
My Counsel take, for thou shalt find it true,
Leave off seeking this Lion to pursue,
For him to hunt that is a pretty wile,
Yet by his Craft he doth most Folk beguile,
And them devour and leave them full of care,
Wherefore I bid thee to beware.
And Counsel give thee as my friend,
And so my Hunting here I end.
Praying God that made us we may notmiss
To dwell with him in his Heavenly bliss.