Pseudo-Geber's Summa Perfectionis tells us ceration is "the mollification of an hard thing, not fusible unto liquefaction" and stresses the importance of correct humidity in the process. Ceration is performed by continuously adding a liquid by imbibition to a hard, dry substance while it is heated. This typically results in making the substance softer, becoming like molten wax.

Pernety's 1787 Mytho-Hermetic dictionary defines it somewhat differently as the time when matter passes from black to gray and then to white. This is accomplished by continuous cooking. Ceration may be synonymous with similar terms for alchemical burning processes. Incineration, for example is listed by Manly P. Hall