The British Society for the History of Science

Jacob Boehme's Divine Substance Salitter: Its Nature, Origin, and Relationship to Seventeenth
Century Scientific Theories
Author(s): Lawrence M. Principe and Andrew Weeks
Source: The British Journal for the History of Science, Vol. 22, No. 1 (Mar., 1989), pp. 53-61
Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The British Society for the History of Science
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/4026678
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 BJHS, 1989, 22, 53-61

Jacob Boehme'sDivine SubstanceSalitter:

its Nature, Origin, and Relationshipto Seventeenth
CenturyScientificTheories
LAWRENCE M. PRINCIPE* and ANDREW WEEKSt

The Century between the.death of Copernicus (1543) and the birth of Newton (1642)
witnessed a major reshaping of traditional ways of viewing the universe. The Ptolemaic
system was challenged by Copernican heliocentrism, the Aristotelian world was assailed
by Galilean physics and revived atomism, and theology was troubled by the progressive
distancing of God from the daily operation of His creation. Besides earning this era the
title of 'the Scientific Revolution', the intellectual ferment of these times offered many
world systems as successors to the throne of crumbling Aristotelianism.
During these years of change the notion of a divine substance out of which the world
and its operations arise attracted a number of thinkers. The idea of such a substance
drew upon diverse currents of thought: alchemy, Hermeticism, mysticism, Renaissance
Neoplatonism, as well as mathematics and astronomy. Bruno and Spinoza are the more
famous proponents of a divine substance.
The German mystic and philosopher Jacob Boehme (1575-1624) must be included
among the preeminent proponents of a divine substance. In Boehme's first book manu-
script, Aurora (Morgenrote im Aufgang, 1612), the shoemaker of G6rlitz introduced his
notion of Salitter. For Boehme, the Salitter designated the embodiment of the total
force of the divinity, the compendium of all forces operating in nature and in the human
psyche. The substance Salitter is a matrix of forces that are identified with sensible 'qual-
ities'. The latter interact by means of fundamental oppositions and affinities. Accord-
ingly, the spirit forces operating within Salitter are discernible in many objects of specu-
lation: in the deity, in sensory experience, in vegetable growth, and in the objects of geol-
ogy, astronomy, and meteorology. Salitter animates the supersensible and the sensible;
it is the common denominator of what is conscious and alive and of what appears inani-
mate and inert. Salitter is the embodiment of a world conceived in organic terms.
Previous analyses of Boehme's mystical metaphysics have ignored or glossed over the
significance of the Salitter. It has been dismissed as an example of Boehme's ignorance of
proper alchemical terminology.1 However, we argue that Boehme's choice of Salitter as
*Department of The History of Science, The Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD 21218, U.S.A.
tDirector, Austria-Illinois Exchange Program, Padagogische Akademie des Bundes in No, 67 Miihlgasse,
A-2500 Baden bei Wien, Austria.
1 Will-Erich Peukert, Pansophie, ein Versuch zur Geschichte der Weif?enund Schwarzen Magie, Berlin,
1979, pp. 385-386. Peukert is highly critical of Boehme's use of the terms Salitter and Mercurius. Adolf von
Harleg, Jacob Bohme und die Alchemisten; Ein Beitrag zum VerstdndnisJacob Boehmes, Leipzig, 1882. Cf.
Ernst Bloch, Leipziger Vorlesungen zur Geschichte der Philosophie, Vol. 4, Frankfurt on the Main, 1985, pp.
223 ff. Bloch glosses Salitter as a vague Hermetic term, perhaps 'sulphuric acid'.
 54 Lawrence M. Principe and Andrew Weeks
the paradigmof divinepoweris neitherrandomnoruninformed.Rather,his choiceindi-
catesa considerableunderstanding of practicalalchemy,andstronglysuggestsa linkbet-
ween Boehmeand an influentialalchemistof the earlyseventeenthcentury.
WhenBoehmeraptlycharacterizes the angelsas embodimentsof Salitter,thispercep-
tion placeshis thought,for us, squarelyon the sideof visionarymysticism.Yet the equi-
valentof Salitterremaineda focalpointin the discussionof the naturalworldfor decades
afterBoehme'stime.TheLusatiancobblerandautodidactwas an earlyparticipantin the
seventeenthcenturydiscussionof nitre.
Boehme'sSalitteris identifiedwith the corporealdeterminacyof things,with their
originor 'seed',andwith the powersof fertilityin them:
Thecorporeal dryingis to be calledin thisbooktheDivineSALITTER. Fortheseedof the
entireDivinityis in it, andit is likea motherwhichreceivestheseedandbearsthefruitagain
andagain,in accordance withallqualitiesof theseed.2
Moreover,the Salitteris a matrixof forcesthatgeneratelife andawareness:'Thedry
(herb),sour,andsweetqualitiesarethe Salitterwhichpertainsto the corpus,fromwhich
the corpusis formed.'3
Boehme'spostulationof an all-encompassingdivine substanceis predicatedupon
threeaspectsof his view of the cosmos.Thefirstis his beliefin the mysticalomnipresence
of God: 'Foryou cannotsay: "Whereis God?"Listenyou blindhuman,you live in God
and God in you . . .'4A secondpre-conditionstemsfromBoehme'searlyheliocentrism.
Heliocentrismnecessarilyrejectsthe Aristoteliannotion that the cosmic order can be
held togetherby the 'aspirations'that lay withinthe fourelements.'If the earthwas not
the centreof the universe,then the notion of 'naturalplace',stemmingfromthe geocen-
trichierarchyof elements,had to be revised.In Boehme'ssystem,the Salitter,as the pre-
senceof the divineomnipotence,andservingas thevehicleof God'spower,preservedthe
orderof the cosmos. Finally,his passionaterejectionof the doctrineof creatioex nihilo
requiredthe existenceof a 'primematter'out of which God createdthe world:
Fromwhatsortof materiaor forcedidthegrass,vegetation, andtreesproceed?Whatsortof
substanceandcircumstance [Gelegenheit]wasinvolvedin thiscreation? Thesimpleperson
saysthatGodmadeeverything fromNothing;buthe doesnotknowthisGod,anddoesnot
knowwhatHe is. Whenhe beholdstheearthtogetherwiththedepthsabovetheearth,he
thinks"thatis not God,thereis not God".He hasformedthenotionthatGoddwellsonly
abovetheblueheavenof thestars. . .6
Along with alchemy,Paracelsianismand Neoplatonism,heliocentrismis one of the
majoringredientsof the speculativesystemof Aurora.Convincedthat'theearthrevolves
andturnswith the otherplanetsas in a wheel aroundthe sun',Boehmeranksas an early
2 Jacob Boehme, Morgenrote im Aufgang (Aurora), In: Samtliche Schriften, vol. 1 (ed. Will-Erich Peukert),
Stuttgart, 1955, p. 137.
3 Ibid., p. 89.
4 Ibid., p. 327.
5 Aristotelians maintained that the elements sought (or 'aspired to') their 'natural places' thus preserving
order in the cosmos. Earth, the heaviest element, had its place at the centre of the world, water above it, air yet
higher, and fire, the lightest of all, uppermost. Thus earth always falls through air or water to reach its natural
place, fire rises through air to reach its natural place, and so on.
6 Ibid., p. 308.
 Jacob Boebme's Divine Substance Salitter 55

proponent of the Copernican system.7 In one passage of Aurora, the problems posed by
a spinning earth are solved by the 'inner birth', which is said to prevent the seas from
being sloshed off the planet, thus insuring that the earth will not dry out nor be pulverized
by its motion. The implications which Boehme derived from heliocentrism are expressed
in mystical analogies: the central sun is the material likeness of Christ; the force that pro-
ceeds from the sun is like the Holy Spirit. The sun is the 'heart' of all the forces in this
world and has been fashioned of all the stars. The sun stands 'amidst the planets'-
And just as the othersix planetsaregeneralsalongsidethe sun, and givetheirwill over to the
sun,so thatit canruleoverthemandactin them,the angelsgivetheirwill overto the King...8
Although the mystical heliocentrism of Aurora is not developed systematically,9 it is
nonetheless an important element in the larger context of the Salitter. Just as the central
sun rules the revolving planets, Salitter, the matrix of all forces, holds the world together
in its entirety. Salitter embodies the divine forces: it is the matrix and completion of the
seven source-spirits or qualities at work in nature. The first of the seven source-spirits
expresses itself in the quality called herb-a raw, or sour, or dry taste or texture. This
quality and spirit contracts or pulls together in the fluid medium of the spirit world. In a
kind of chain reaction, this leads to a variable series of further forces or qualities, which
gradually renders the inchoate substrate more and more charged with tensions, more ani-
mate, or more sensate, until finally the seventh quality, Corpus, lends the conflation of
forces body, tangibility, or determinacy (Begreiflichkeit).The fact that the source-spirits
are seven in number betokens their correspondence to the seven days of the scriptural
Creation, and to the seven planets at work in the continual creation. (The correspon-
dences can be extended to the seven metals, the seven salts and the seven liberal arts.) The
number seven therefore both extends the domain of the primal qualities-and, at the
same time, encourages a reduction and systematization of all possible forces. After
Aurora, Boehme continued to see nature as a conflation of animating forces, but he
dropped or de-emphasized the term Salitter. In his final great treatise, the divine sub-
stance resurfaced under the name 'Mysterium magnum'-a term derived from Para-
celsian natural philosophy.
Before expounding further upon Boehme's Salitter and its place in the nitre dis-
cussion, it is worth considering how the cobbler of Gorlitz could have become involved
in such a discussion. Boehme's Gorlitz, a medium sized city of about 10 000 inhabitants
in the German territory and Bohemian crownland of Lusatia (die Lausitz) was a centre
of alchemical, mystical and astronomical speculation. Just north of Bohemia, Gorlitz was
on the road that led to Prague, where Rudolph II presided over his court of astronomers
and alchemists around 1600. Bartolomaus Scultetus, the mayor of Gorlitz, was a man of
very broad interests. He had studied mathematics at the universities of Leipzig and
Wittenberg, where he knew the famous Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe. Scultetus and

7 Boehme, op. cit. (2), p. 376. The acceptance of heliocentrism is a surprising position for a Lutheran of
Boehme's time, for Luther himself had harshly condemned Copernicus and his system.
8 Boehme, op. cit. (2), pp. 76, 77, 80, 148.
9 Cf. Pierre Degaye, 'Dieu et la Nature dans l'Aurore naissante de Jacob Boehme,' in Antoine Faivre and
Rolf Christian Zimmermann, Epochen der Naturmystik, Berlin, 1979, pp. 125-156.
56 Lawrence M. Principe and Andrew Weeks

other citizens of Gorlitz followed the latest developmentsin the new astronomy.
Scultetushadwritten(albeitwithlittlesuccess)on thenatureof comets,10andhadcorres-
pondedwith JohannesKepler.The lattervisitedGorlitzin 1607 and recruiteda young
amanuensisto copy the Astronomianova."1Moreover,the mayor and most of the
medicaldoctorsof the citywereParacelsians.Scultetushimselfeditedandpublishedone
of Paracelsus'treatiseson the plague.
Another citizen of Gorlitzwas a theosophistby the name of AbrahamBehem.12
Behem (a variant of 'Boehme')influencedthe importantGermanspeculativemystic
ValentinWeigel. It is possible that Behemmay have been an older kinsmanof Jacob
Boehme(thenamewas too commonin UpperLusatiato permita certainconclusion).It
appearsthat the obscureBehemwas one of the medicaldoctorswho were once ques-
tionedby the city councilundersuspicionof belongingto the 'sectaParacelsi.'13Whatis
certainis that his notion of a celestialor supercelestial'birth'-a kind of Neoplatonic
emanation-is also foundin the writingsof JacobBoehme.
Nitre, variouslyknownas saltpetre(salpetrae),sal nitre(salnitri),earthsalt (salter-
rae),or in Boehme'sGerman,Salitter,figuredimportantlyin severalscientifictheoriesof
the seventeenthcentury.This salt, which systematicchemistrynow calls potassium
nitrate,had been studiedby alchemistsfor centuriesbeforeBoehme.Salitterhad also
revolutionizedwarfareby its use in the manufactureof gunpowder.In the seventeenth
centurynitre acquireda new significance.Not only was its importanceincreasedby
findingsin the still infantfieldof modernchemistry,but it also becamecentralto some
importanttheoriesof naturalphenomena.
Boehme's use of the term Salitterfalls squarelyin the alchemicaltradition. In
alchemy,the threeprinciplesMercury,SulphurandSaltareconsideredto be theessential
ingredientsof all materials.These principlesare not to be confusedwith the common
substancesof the samenames(quicksilver,brimstoneand commonsalt).Theprinciples
are designated'Mercury','Sulphur'and 'Salt' becausethe common substanceshave
roughlyanalogousproperties.14By the same measure,Boehmenamesthe divineforce
Salitternot becauseit is actualsaltpetre,but ratherbecausecommonsaltpetremanifests
propertiesthat are analogousto the divinesubstance(videinfra).
Auroradrawsan importantdistinctionbetweentwo types of Salitter,one celestial
andthe otherearthly;the formeris pureandclear,the latteris dark,stinkingandpoison-
ous. Out of the former,the angeliccreaturesare shaped.Transparentand sexless,they

10 Ernst-Heinz Lemper,Jacob Bohme; Leben und Werk, Berlin, 1976, pp. 39-45, 120-125.
11 Ernst Koch, 'Moscowiter in der Oberlausitz und M. Bartolomaus in Gorlitz' (pts. 1 and 2), Neues
Lausitzisches Magazin (1907), 83, 1; (1910), 86, 1.
12 Winfried Zeller, 'Naturmystik und Theologie bei Valentin Weigel,' In: Epochen der Naturmystik: Her-
metische Tradition im wissenschaftlichen Fortschritt, Berlin, 1979, pp. 120-121.
13 Koch, NLM (1907), 83, 75 ff.
14 Each material has its own proper Mercury, Sulphur, and Salt. Whatever part gives the whole fusibility
or metallicity (for example) would be called its Mercury (quicksilver is liquid and metallic); whatever gives
inflammability or colour would be called its Sulphur (brimstone takes fire readily and is bright yellow); and
whatever gives solidity or brittleness would be called its Salt (common salt is hard and brittle). The Mercury-
Sulphur-Salt triad also presented a material analogy to the human Spirit-Soul-Body trichotomy, as well as
to the Divine Trinity.
 Jacob Boehme's Divine Substance Salitter 57

are immaterial embodiments of the manifold qualifying forces of a divine 'all-force' (All-
Kraft). The divine forces bring forth celestial fruits, flowers, and vegetation; the earthly
forces vainly strive to follow suit. But debased though it is, the earthly Salitter can dimly
attest to the power of its divine counterpart by producing all sorts of useful and pleasant
fruits and plants.15
The heavenly-earthly duality of Salitter recalls the double existence of objects in the
Platonic doctrine of Ideas. This doctrine, that objects perceptible to the senses are only
material reflections of their immaterial Ideas, was adapted into aspects of both Medieval
Christian theology and alchemy. Material objects are not considered only per se, but
rather as beings-in-becoming; that is, all material creation is in a state of being perfected,
approaching its ideal state. In theology, man constantly strives to overcome the limita-
tions of a nature corrupted by Original Sin, and so to approach perfection.'6 In alchemy,
metals grow and mature in the earth, and are gradually purged of impurities and 'super-
fluities', increasing in perfection until they become gold. Likewise, Boehme's 'earthly
stinking' Salitter is only a material reflection, a crude copy, striving to imitate the immate-
rial 'celestial, pure' Salitter. (An eschatological touch is added to this transcendent purity
by Boehme's references to the 'crystalline sea' at the end of the world, an allusion to
Revelation 4:6.)
However, there exists another level of analogy, for the two types of Salitter also
correspond to stages in the production of saltpetre."7Before the discovery and exploita-
tion of the enormous mineral nitrate deposits in South America, saltpetre was obtained
by extracting 'nitrous earth'. This nitrous earth was soil gathered from stables and
slaughterhouses, where bacterial action had oxidized animal matters, especially nitro-
gen-rich urine, into nitrates.18The nitrous earth was first boiled with water to remove the
water-soluble compounds; when evaporated, the extracts yielded a brown residue of
crude nitre, called, at this stage, sal terrae.19Since the nitrous earth contained putrescent
animal matters which were partially drawn off in the aqueous extraction, this sal terrae
was indeed a 'stinking' substance. This crude nitre was then purified by treatment with
wood ashes, whereby potassium carbonate in the ash converted calcium nitrate (formed
by reaction of lime with the bacterially produced nitrate) to potassium nitrate and
insoluble calcium carbonate. The ashes simultaneously absorbed much of the organic

15 Boehme, op. cit. (2), p. 55.

16 Boehme writes that 'the devil infected and spoiled the Salitter from which Adam was made.' Op. cit. (2),
p. 55.
17 See the excellent study, 'The Production of Saltpeter in the Middle Ages' by A.R. Williams, Ambix,
(1975), 22, 125.
18 Starting in the fifteenth century artificialnitre beds were being constructed. These beds consisted of piles
of earth, dung and lime, generally watered frequently with urine. The contents of these piles, after being sub-
jected to natural bacterial action for many months, would be artificial 'nitrous earth'.
19 The saline residue at this point would have consisted of several salts, with calcium, sodium, and potas-
sium nitrates and sodium chloride predominating.
58 Lawrence M. Principe and Andrew Weeks

matter, and after filtration, a pure liquor was obtained. Its fractional crystallization
yielded saltpetre in the form of white, transparent crystals.20
A complex set of interrelationships among the various 'nitres' presents itself. First,
Boehme's Salitter is analogous to chemical saltpetre-through this analogy the divine
substance received its name. Second, within divine Salitter there exist two analogous
forms, a lower 'earthly' Salitter and a higher 'heavenly' Salitter. Finally, this duality in
Boehme's Salitter (heavenly-earthly) is analogous to a duality in chemical saltpetre
(purified-crude).
Boehme's choice of saltpetre as the paradigm for divine power is made clearer by a
consideration of the chemical and physical properties of the material saltpetre, potassium
nitrate. When treated in various ways, this salt gives rise to diverse properties and
powers. After its isolation and purification, saltpetre appears as a white crystalline
material. In this form it feels cold and astringent on the tongue by virtue of its negative
heat of solution; it was therefore often termed a 'frigorific salt'. However, upon being
heated strongly in a retort (often with vitriol, i.e., ferrous or cupric sulphate), it gives
forth red fumes (nitrogen dioxide) as a 'fiery spirit' (aqua fortis, or nitric acid) collects in
the receiver. This acid, combined with 'spirit of common salt' (hydrochloric acid), gives
aqua regia, a fuming liquid of such great solvent power that it can dissolve gold, the inde-
structible rex metallorum. When mixed with spirit of wine (ethanol), corrosive nitric acid
yields a 'dulcified spirit of nitre' (ethyl nitrite) which is non-corrosive and has the pungent
aroma of sweet apples. Boehme states that the qualities of cold and astringent, sweet, and
bitter like a 'hellish fire' arise from the divine Salitter.2' Thus, potassium nitrate can give
rise to the kind of qualities that infuse and animate Boehme's divine substance.
Other properties of this salt also correspond to mystical forces in Boehme's system.
When thrown upon a burning coal, nitre violently deflagrates in a flash, a correlative of
Boehme's Schrack or flash that elevates things to a higher level of being. Applied to
plants, saltpetre exerts a powerful fertilizing effect, thereby imitating the creative powers
of the divine Salitter. The most prevalent use of nitre was, of course, in the preparation
of gunpowder. The earliest Western references (mid-thirteenth century) to black powder
are found in the Liber ignium of Marcus Graecus and the Opus maius of Roger Bacon.
Bacon was impressed by the awesome power of sal petrae:
By a devicemadeof a sizeas smallas a humanthumb,by theforceof thatsaltcalledsal petrae,
sucha horriblenoiseis producedin the ruptureof sucha smallthingas a littleparchmentthat
it is felt to surpassthe noise of violentthunder,and its light surpassesthe greatestflashesof
lightning.22

20 Since the difference in the solubility of potassium nitrate in cold water versus boiling water is much
greater than the difference for the other salts present, fractional crystallization is an efficient means of separa-
tion. Even after the Chilean nitrate deposits were exploited, fractional crystallization was still employed in the
manufacture of saltpetre. The native material (predominantly sodium nitrate, often called 'sodanitre') was dis-
solved in boiling water together with an equimolar quantity of potassium chloride, and upon cooling, potas-
sium nitrate crystallized out leaving sodium chloride in solution.
21 Boehme, op. cit. (2), pp. 85-88.
22 Roger Bacon, Opus maius (ed. J. H. Bridges), 3 vols, Oxford, 1897-1900, vol. 2, p. 218.
 Jacob Boehme's Divine Substance Salitter 59

Three centurieslater, Paracelsusattributedthe detonationof thunderto saltpetreand

comparedthe flash of lightningto Christ'ssecond coming.23Thus, the divine power
frequentlyassociatedwith thunderand lightningwas manifestin saltpetre.
Thewidespreadnaturaloccurrencesof saltpetreprobablyaddedimpetusto its incor-
porationin Boehme'ssystemas an imageof the omnipresentdivinepower. Its apparent
ubiquityis notedby severalauthors.RobertBoyle,observingthat nitreis to be 'foundin
so greata numberof CompoundBodies,Vegetable,Animal,and even Mineral,'calls it
'the most Catholickof Salts.'24The sourceof saltpetreappearedto be the air itself, for
earthfromwhichall the nitratehadbeenextractedwouldyielda new quantityof the salt
afterremaininguntouchedby anythingsaveairfor severalmonths.25Bythe shoresof the
NeusiedlerLake,southeastof Vienna,saltpetrewas collectedby the bushelfromthe sur-
faceof the ground,whereit mysteriously'descendedlike dew' duringthe night,andvan-
ishedagain'into the air'shortlyaftersunrise.26
To the historianof science,the most significant'nitresystem'is not JacobBoehme's
but John Mayow's. In 1674, Mayow publishedhis Tractatusquinquemedico-physici,
which containedthe tract 'De sal nitro et spiritu nitro-aereo'.In this work Mayow
endeavouredto show that combustionand respirationaredependentupon an activein-
gredientin the air, which he termedthe 'nitro-aerialspirit'.This spirit is not saltpetre
itself dispersedthroughoutthe air, but ratheran etherealparticulatematerialjoinedto
inertair particles.This samesubstanceis also fixedin saltpetre;henceits characteristic
propertiesof supportingcombustionin a vacuum,and of deflagratingwith flammable
substances.
HenryGuerlachas pointedout that theoriesdealingwith a nitroussubstancein the
air were 'widelycurrentin the seventeenthcentury.'Guerlachas cited convincingevi-
dence that the inspirationfor these systems (includingMayow's) lies in the treatise
Novum lumenchymicum,writtenby the ScottishalchemistAlexanderSeton,but pub-
lishedunderthe nameof MichaelSendivogiusin 1604.27Just as Mayow noted that the
nitro-aerialparticlesmustbe presentin the air for the maintenanceof animallife, Seton
wrote of a 'hiddenfood of life' containedin the air.28Significantly,Setonconnectedthis

23 Paracelsus, Simtliche Werke, III, Jena, 1930, pp. 950-954. For Paracelsus on nitre see the study by
Allen G. Debus, 'The Paracelsian Aerial Niter,' Isis, (1964), 55, pp. 43-61.
24 Robert Boyle, 'A Physico-Chymical Essay, containing An Experiment with some Considerations touch-
ing the differing parts and Redintegration of Saltpetre,' In: Certain Physiological Essays, London, 1661,
pp. 107-108.
25 The extracted earth would still retain any insoluble organic matter, and thus further bacterial action
would produce new nitrates.
26 This practice of collecting nitre (for use in saltlicks and for curing meats) is recounted with awe by Anton
Kirchweger (Microscopium Basilii Valentini, Berlin, 1790). The nitre in the area is now somewhat depleted by
generations of collecting and changes in the watertable, but in earlier centuries the fenny soil around the lake
was saturated with nitrates. At night when the temperature fell, the salts crystallized out of solution and
appeared as an efflorescence on the ground. Shortly after daybreak, as the temperature rose, the salt deposits
redissolved, thus appearing to vanish miraculously by the warmth of the sun.
27 Henry Guerlac, 'John Mayow and the Aerial Nitre,' Actes du Septieme Congres International d'Histoire
des Sciences, Jerusalem, 1953, pp. 332-349; 'The Poets' Nitre', Isis, (1954), 45, p. 243.
28 Creatus homo de terra, ex aere vivit: est enim in aere occultus vitae cibus, . . . Michael Sendivogius
(Alexander Seton) Novum lumen chymicum, In: Musaeum hermeticum, Frankfurt, 1678, p. 579.
60 Lawrence M. Principe and Andrew Weeks

aerialsubstanceto saltpetre,claimingthat the vital partof the air is also found fixedin
saltpetre.Setonstatedthat
when rainis produced,it receivesthatpowerof life fromthe air andjoinsit to the sal niterof
the earth-because thesalnitreof theearthis likecalcinedtartar(potassiumcarbonate)which,
drawingairto itselfby its own dryness,convertsthe airinto water29-the sal nitreof the earth
has a similarpower of attracting,for it was once air, and is now joinedto the fatnessof the
earth.30
Mayow wrotein a verysimilarway that
(nitre)seemsto consistof saltof threekinds,of whichone, the mostactive,is derivedfromthe
air, and it has an etherealandfierynature.31
The othertwo kindsof salt in nitre(accordingto Mayow)arethe 'salinevehicle'for
the nitro-aerialparticlesandthe 'fixedsaltsof the earth'withwhichthe formertwo com-
bine. Theselattertwo salts may well be equatedwith Seton's'sal nitreof the earth'and
'fatnessof the earth',respectively.
Boehme'sSalitter,althoughmoremetaphysicalin naturethanSeton's'food of life'or
Mayow's completelyphysical 'nitro-aerialspirit', is clearly part of this currentof
thought.What could have drawnthe cobblerof G6rlitzinto the nitre discussion?We
have alreadynoted the importanceof G6rlitzas a centreof alchemicaland mystical
speculation.We also know that AlexanderSetontravelledthroughCentralEuropedur-
ing 1602-1603, stoppingin Zurich,Basel,Strasbourg,Frankfurton the Main,Cologne,
Hamburg,Munichand finallyDresden,wherehe was imprisonedand torturedin late
1603.32 Everywherehe went, Setonarguedanddemonstratedin favourof his alchemical
art.His whereaboutsbetweenhis departurefromMunichandhis arrivalin Dresdenare
not known.Perhapshe stoppedin Gorlitzandrelatedhis ideason nitreto the Paracelsian
doctorsof the city. Thus,Boehmecouldhaveheardof Seton'stheoryof nitredirectlyor
indirectly.Reflectingon the propertiesof nitre,he could have concludedthat it was a
clearlikenessof the divinepower.
We cannotproveconclusivelythat SetoninfluencedBoehmein this manner;yet the
contactwould explainthe cobbler'sknowledgeof nitre,his subsequentchoiceof Salitter
as the divine substance,and the similaritybetween his and Seton'snotions of nitre.
Seton'ssal nitreexistsbothin the air,whereit is the 'powerof life',andfixedin saltpetre.
Analogously,Boehme'sdivineSalittermaintainsthe life and orderof the macrocosm,
while the terrestrialSalitterdimlyreflectsits divinecounterpart.
29 Potassium carbonate, originally produced by strongly calcining potassium bitartrate (tartar, a deposit
found in wine barrels), is a highly hygroscopic salt, and is thus capable of attracting enough water vapour from
the air to dissolve itself. This process, seen with alchemical eyes, was considered a transformation of air into
water.
30 ... quando pluvia fit, accipit ex aere illam vim vitae, & conjugit illam cum sale nitro terrae, (quia sal nitri
terrae est instar calcinati Tartari,sua siccitate aerem ad se trabens, qui aer in eo resolvitur in aquam: Talem vim
attrahendi habet ille sal nitri terrae, qui etiam aer fuit, & est conjunctus pinguedini terrae). Sendivogius (Seton),
Novum lumen, p. 581.
31 John Mayow, 'On Sal Nitrum and the Nitro-aerial Spirit,' in Medico-Physical Works, Alembic Club
reprint no. 17, London, 1957, p. 33.
32 See John Ferguson, Biblioteca chemica, Glasgow, 1906, vol. 2, pp. 374-376 for an account of the life
of Seton, and numerous references.
 JacobBoebme'sDivine SubstanceSalitter 61
Inconclusion,Boehme's choiceof Salitter as theparadigm is not
of divinecreativity
haphazard: it demonstrates a knowlege of both and
theoretical practicalalchemy. The
roleof Salitter classifies
as a 'life-force' Boehme's systemwiththephysical
metaphysical
nitretheoriesof Seton,Sendivogius, Thruston,Mayow,Hooke,EntandDigby,which
attributedthemaintenance of lifeto a nitroussubstanceintheair.Wehavesuggested the
possibilityof Seton'spresencein Gorlitzin 1603 andof his influenceuponBoehme.
Although Boehme's Aurorarecallsthesixteenthcenturyworksof mensuchasBrunoand
Paracelsus,its divinesubstance, Salitter,continuedto playa rolein seventeenthcentury
theories.Accordingly,
scientific Boehme's bridgesthegulfbetween
notionof theSalitter
Hermeticnaturalism andmechanistic science.