the real meaning here is the sense of true knowledge of the original
mind. This can be known from the symbolism of water as explained in
the following text.
As for "spirit-fire" and Logos, this seems even less appropriate, since
the fire of spirit here just means awareness and does not at this point
differentiate between the original spirit and the conscious spirit. The
sacred and the profane are mixed, and the spirit does not deserve the
name of Logos yet. This is the very reason for the alchemy: to refine the
sacred, pure primal spirit out of the profane, conditioned conscious spirit.
The earth of attention is translated by Wilhelm as "thought-earth" and
identified with intuition, but thought and intuition properly belong to the
realm symbolized by fire, not that of earth; Water and fire, real
knowledge and conscious knowledge, primal unity and present
awareness, are brought together in the medium of earth, which stands for
attention, concentration, intent, or will; Here it is identified with the
celestial mind, which means that it is innocent of temporal conditioning.
In other texts this is called pure attention or true intent. Since earth is
the medium, it must be purified before it can absorb the pure essences of
water and fire to combine them. If the focus of attention is itself already
biased by the activity of an unruly consciousness; then it may not be able
to draw that consciousness to an orderly reality of which it is as yet
unconscious.
