Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupecissa in the Late Middle Ages by Leah Devun
Author:Leah Devun [Devun, Leah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780231145398
Google: xL6rAgAAQBAJ
Published: 2013-12-01T09:07:17.603430+00:00
THE NATURAL AND THE ARTIFICIAL
Although Rupescissa praised nature and pondered the transcendence of natural wonders, he also expressed a lack of faith in natureâs ability to manufacture its products flawlessly. By pointing out (corrupted) natureâs inadequacy, Rupescissa provided a rationale for the art of the alchemist as the helper or corrector of nature. A close reading of Rupescissaâs alchemical writings reveals a fascinating interpretation of the relationship between nature and human craft. On the one hand, Rupescissa admitted the inability of human craft to rival the products of the natural world. On the other hand, he heralded the alchemist as a worker of âmiraclesâ to the âcureâ of nature.
In one passage of De quinta essentia, Rupescissa portrayed the alchemist as a mere imitator of nature who, despite his efforts, could not match the quality of natural creations. Rupescissa warned that although the human-made quintessence was pure and incorruptible, and although its actions mirrored those of the fifth element in the heavens, quintessence âis not entirely brought to the incorruptibility of heaven, just as artifice does not approach nature. But nevertheless it is incorruptible in comparison to a composition made from the four elements.â35 Such a distinction between the quality of the manufactured quintessence and that of the natural heavenly quintessence was necessary, Rupescissa argued, because if quintessence were totally incorruptible like the heavens, it would preserve the human body forever, against the wishes of the âcreator of human nature,â Jesus Christ. Human artifice was therefore limited in its ability to produce the incorruptible quality of the heavens, just as artifice was unable to equal nature.
Although Rupescissa maintained that artificial things were inferior to natural ones, he also suggested in several passages of De quinta essentia that alchemists could serve as conduits for a more perfect form of nature and, as a result, improve upon corrupted nature. In Rupescissaâs discussion, nature is the model for the art of the alchemist, but, in some cases, artificial products may actually be superior to natural ones. Rupescissaâs instructions for preparing the âquintessence of bloodâ reveal this paradox. According to Rupescissa, the quintessence had to be âextracted through human artifice from the body of nature created by God.â36 Although the quintessence was made by God in the natural world, it still needed to be obtained and refined by means of human art. Both stages of preparationânatural and artificialâwere necessary to complete the quintessence and receive its benefits. Rupescissa explained that the quintessence of blood could be used to heal wounds and cure illness because âthis extraordinary quintessence is the greatest thing of nature to be had, since in it is the marvelous virtue of our starry heaven and it performs the most divine miracles to the cure of nature, just as I will teach below.â37
Rupescissa here alludes to the âperfected natureâ of the quintessence, which has the âmarvelous virtue of our starry heaven.â Perfected nature perfects the quintessence so that it is able to bring about marvelous cures; this idea asserts the power of a higher order of nature that operates in the realm of alchemical medicine.
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