One of the most beautiful and interesting alchemical catechisms of the Renaissance, attributed to the great Swiss physician, alchemist, initiate and philosopher Paracelsus (Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus Von Hohenheim). We propose it to our readers in the English translation of the American mystic and esotericist Arthur Edward Waite, which he published in 1894. «What is the chief study of a Philosopher?». «It is the investigation of the operations of Nature». «What is the end of Nature?». «God, Who is also its beginning». «What should receive the most careful attention of the Philosopher?». «Assuredly, the end of Nature, and this is by no means to be looked for in the vulgar metals, because, these having issued already from the hands of the fashioner, it is no longer to be found therein».