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EmblemeEmblem 25. Of the Secrets of Nature.


The Dragon dyesdies not, except heehe be killdkilled by his brother and Sister,
which are Sol and Luna.

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Engraved by Verovio 2.1.0-dev-[undefined] Atalanta fugiens. Pomum morans Hippom sequens. E xi gu ae E xi gu E xi est non ae non est gu ae est 3 ar tis o pus, ar tis o non ar tis stra vis se pus stra o pus stra Dra co nem Fu vis se Dra vis se Dra co 6 ne co nem Fu nem Fu ne re, ne ser ne re, ne re, ne pat mox re ser pat ser pat 9 di vi vus hu mox re di mox re di vi vi vus hu vus hu mo. mo. mo. 12 Fra ter Fra ter et Fra et ip ip sa so ter et sa so ror jun cti ror jun ip sa so ror 15 si mul il cti si mul jun cti si lius o ra Fu il li us mul il lius o o ra Fu ra Fu 18 ste pre munt, ste pre munt, ste pre nec res fert a nec res munt, nec res li e na ne fert a li fert a li e 21 e na ne na ne cem. cem. cem. Phoe bus Phoe bus Phoe 24 ei fra ei fra bus ei ter, so ror est ter, so fra ter, so ror at Cyn thi ror est at est at 27 a, Py thon Il Cyn thi a, Cyn thi a, Py Py thon Il thon Il lâ, ast O lâ, ast lâ, ast 30 ri on hac ce O ri on O ri on ci dê re ma hac ce ci hac ce ci dê dê re ma re ma 33 nu. nu. nu.

EpigrammeEpigram 25.


To kill the dragon will much art require,
SoeSo sure as never after to respire:
Brother and Sister joyntlyjointly must invade
His life, 'causebecause nothing elselse can him degrade;
Luna his sister is, who Orion Slew,
His brother PhœbusPhoebus Python overthrew.
81110

Discourse 25.


In acquiring the golden fleece the Dragon was first of all to be killed, because -
the labourlabor being attempted by many men, they were overcome by the Dragon -
and destroyddestroyed with deadly poysonpoison: the reason was, because they were not sufficiently
armed against the dragons poysonpoison, nor instructed, by what entrigueintrigue heehe -
might be slayneslain: but Jason (the PhysitianPhysician) neglected noeno manner of reme=
dyesremedies, whereof heehe received severallseveral from Medea (the advice of the mind) and -
amongst those the images of Sol and Luna, which using heehe successefullysuccessfully ob=
taindobtained the victory with the reward, that is, the Golden Fleece. The Dragon there=
fore was slayneslain by Sol and Luna, or the images of them, which the Philosophers
doedo in many places inculcate: for an Author of the Rosary amongst others hathhas it
thus: Hermes; The Dragon dyesdies not, except heehe be killdkilled by his brother and Sister,
not by one alone but by both together, to wittwit, by Sol and Luna. The Philoso=
phers Mercury never dyesdies, except heehe be killdkilled by his Sister, that is, heehe must be
congealdcongealed by Luna or Sol. Note, that the Dragon is Argent vive extracted from bo=
dyesbodies, having in it body, SouleSoul, and Spirit, whereupon heehe saythsays: The Dragon dyesdies -
not, except by his brother and Sister, that is, Sol and Luna, that is, Sulphur ex=
tracted, containing in it the nature of moistnessemoistness and coldnessecoldness according to Luna,
by those the dragon dyesdies, that is, Argent vive extracted from the same bodyesbodies at -
first, which is the Philosophers Aqua permanens, which is made after putre=
faction, and after separation of the Elements, and that water is by another -
name called Aqua fœtidafoetida: these are his words: with whomewhom all the rest doedo -
agree, soeso that there is noeno need to alleadgealleged the authority of every one: the
Epyreans worshippedworshiped the Dragon in the temple of Apollo in coḿemorationcommemoration of -
Python being slayneslain: WarreWar and hatred is genuine to the dragon with the Ele=
phant, whose eyes and throat heehe strikes at, till the Elephant falling on the -
ground kills the dragon with himselfehimself by the weight of his body, by which means
dragons blood is imported into our countryescountries: The Dragon hathhas eyes of the va=
luation of gemmsgems: his sight is very acute and clear, and therefore heehe is much
used for the keeping of treasures, as the apples of the Hesperides, and the gol=
den fleece at Colchos aforesaydaforesaid: The Ancients ascribedascribed a dragon to ÆsculapiusAsculapius
as a HieroglyphickeHieroglyphic: But the Chymists doedo appropriate dragons to their opera=
tions, not indeed really, but allegorically: for a dragon, whether heehe be fixdfixed -
or volatile, allwayesalways denotes Mercury: for this reason Mercury is to be seen with
two serpents twisted about his wand (the Dragon being a great Serpent) and Sa=
turneSaturn with one, which devouresdevours his tayletail, as allsoalso Janus: A Serpent is conse=
crated to

81110

Discourse 25.

ÆsculapiusAsculapius the SonneSon of Apollo, the inventerinventor of medicine (Philo=
sophicallPhilosophical medicine) in which formeform heehe is reported to be brought from Epi=
daurus to Rome, and there allwayesalways worshippedworshiped for the cessation of the -
pestilence caused by him, as was supposed: But the Philosophers dragon is
allwayesalways most vigilant and lively, nor easily to be wounded, both by rea=
son of the thicknessethickness of his skinneskin, and the sharpnessesharpness of his teeth -
and poysonpoison, wherewith heehe is armed: For though coḿoncommon dragons are saydsaid
to be voydvoid of poysonpoison, yet this is not without it, venting it upon any one
in his way, if heehe be not warily managed: HeeHe can therefore be rarely over=
come by force, except the craft of his consanguine relations be allsoalso added: For
the Poet saydsaid truelytruly, It is a safe and usuallusual way to deceive by the name -
of a freindfriend, yet though it be a safe and usuallusual way, it is a crime, which is soeso
elswhereelsewhere, and in other businesses, not here. JuglersJugglers and Mountebanks are saydsaid to -
kill and expellexpel wormesworms out of children by the powder of such other wormesworms, that
is, brethren by brothers and Sisters, soeso here the dragon must be killed by the
brother and Sister together, that is, by Sol and Luna: from whence it appears
that the dragon is allsoalso one of the PlanettsPlanets, to wittwit, Mercury extracted from
bodyesbodies, as hathhas been allreadyalready manifested by the Rosary: Some of the Græ=
ciansGrecians doedo affirmeaffirm, that, in the reignereign of HerodesHerod King of JudæaJudea, a dragon -
fell in love with a mariageablemarriageable and beautifullbeautiful maydmaid, and lay with her in bed,
and that Tiberius the EmperourEmperor delighted in another, which heehe coḿonlycommonly
fed with his owneown hand: SoeSo allsoalso the PhilosophicallPhilosophical dragon, if heehe be -
rightly handled, leaves his fiercenessefierceness, and becomes a freindfriend to man, though
heehe be malitiousmalicious, if otherwise. Xanthus the historian is a wittnessewitness with -
Pliny, that the young of a dragon being killdkilled was restored by the parent
to life with the herbeherb, which heehe calls Balin: which notwithstanding I as=
cribe to a PhilosophicallPhilosophical allegory, rather than true history, for life is re=
stordrestored to a dead dragon, and death to a living by course in ChymicallChymical processes onelyonly:
But some man may enquire, where and how the dragon must be taken? -
The Philosophers answer by a verse most concisely,

Dant Rebis montes, dracones, terraꝗ, fontes:

But you may see Tacitus of the way of taking him, with what care and
industry many men watchdwatched to take a mighty dragon observdobserved in Africa,
and bring him to the EmperourEmperor Tiberius, namely the dragons accusto=
med way amongst stones being enclosed and by degrees straightened, -
where heehe was stopdstopped by nettsnets and cords, and at length made tame by clubs -
and stripes, and as a burthenburden of many carts brought to a ship, in which heehe
was carryedcarried to Rome . . . . . . . . . . .
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