The Ballad of the Four Queens

Once upon a time,
long long ago,
there was only one Queen
surrounding Her King
from every direction
she had no color,
she had no form

He called Her
My Endless Power
She called Him
My Shining Eye

Love was their Law

Then, much later,
the Queen split in two
like a hatching egg:
two Queens there were
one Black
one Red
at the opposite sides
of the world
two twin sisters
outwardly enemies
inwardly friends
facing two Kings

Much time passed
(or perhaps not )
each Queen
filled to the brim
split in two:
two seeds each

Hearts & Diamonds
Club & Spades

each on one side
of the vast world
eternally revolving
in the magical wheel
like a snake
eating its tail

Four Queens
Four Kings
and no one
in the Center

Then, after aeons
of mad play
the Kings turned
into Knaves
serving their Queens

and the Story began...

The Wheel of Fortune

Steadiness is an illusion.

Things always change.

They move up, or down.

Learn to hearken

to the sound of the Wheel.

You cannot stop it.

Move on.

Ouroboros

A Snake eating its own tail.

Does he know it?

I think not.

The beginning does not remember
the end,
yet the end is all in the beginning,
and the beginning in the end.

Let the beginning know the end
the end know the beginning.

Let each end be the beginning,
each beginning to be the end.

Kill the gap between the two.

Cut the Ouroboros,
go beyond the insanity of Time,

be free at last.

The Seed and the Fruit

How can anything be multiplied without a seed?

Hearken what the Sages tell you.

You cannot go beyond that.

The Work is simply to identify the proper seed, and let it grow.

Each seed its own fruit.

Why forcing the hand of Nature? You can simply be a good farmer in Her lands, help Her gently to bring the seed to fructify.

Anything else I call violence.

The Work is this: to learn the Law that links the Seed to the Fruit.

Aqua Regia

A true alchemist must know the function of corrosive waters, particularly Aqua Regia

Aqua Regia dissolves gold, thereby separating it from impurities. Later, one can recover the metal by precipitating the solution.

Do you know how to use Aqua Regia without burning yourself?
Do you know where to find it and how to apply it?

Use the corrosive waters with utmost delicacy, and do not complain if you have burnt your hands:

it will be your own fault.