Lux Esoterica (Nifiluz)

The Book without Words In the late seventeenth century, a mysterious alchemical treatise appeared in the French port city of La Rochelle that would challenge the limits of textual hermeneutics. First published in 1677, the Mutus Liber —"The Silent Book"—stands as one of the most remarkable and radical monuments of the Hermetic tradition. Attributed to the pseudonymous author Altus (a name meaning "high" or "deep," believed by historians to be a cryptogram for the French publisher Jacob Saulat), the book contains no text other than a brief title page, a dedication, and a few scriptural references to the Book of Genesis. The entire work consists of fifteen highly detailed, copperplate engravings that outline the complete preparation of the Philosopher's Stone. By abandoning the use of written language, the author of the Mutus Liber constructed the ultimate barrier against the profane. The manuscript asserts that the secrets of the laboratory work ca...