Alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone
July 1st 2008 16:41
ALCHEMY
NATE BARTLING
Let me start off by saying that, at first, this was a study on the subject of Alchemy for a class paper. As of the time of writing, this has become not only a passion, but also something I could seriously consider a life long pursuit. In studying, I have found limitless accounts of hidden knowledge and information that can lead one to finding the secret of secrets, as far as mankind is concerned. The paper goes through the initial stages of the history and the philosophy of Alchemy. I would love to write more, but for your own consideration I have kept it condensed into something that might open the door of questioning on the subject. I hope that by the end of the paper you will have your eyes opened in the same way I have to a world of hidden arcane knowledge. Enjoy!
Summary of the Hermetic Art Alchemy
The pursuit of Alchemy, in modern times, is thought as a silly, fruitless, simplistic, study of old, uninformed, science. This thought, is the key to its success. Alchemy, simply stated, is the pursuit of the fabled Philosopher’s Stone. The stone, when constructed correctly, is supposed to grant the creator with three powers. These powers include:
1. The ability to turn any amount of base metal into a limitless larger amount of the most pure gold imaginable.
2. The ability of attaining immortality and a cure-all for all death, pain, and disease. The Elixir of Life is something that has been pursued since the dawn of man.
The Great Art follows seven different stages that both represent the transmutation of the metal and the soul. I will give a brief account of these now, and delve into them in greater length at the appropriate time.
1. Calcination- Spiritually, this first stage represents the break down of the ego and breaking attachment from material possessions. Physically it is the initial break down of a base metal using fire to remove impurities.
2. Dissolution- spiritually, this second stage is a further breaking down of our false ideals by total immersion into the unconscious, or rejected part of our minds. Physically this is the dissolving of the ashes from the Calcination stage in water.
3. Separation- Spiritually, this third stage is the process of, after breaking down all that we know and taking away the impurities, we start over and reintegrating what we choose to take as truth. Physically, this is the stage of isolation of the components of Dissolution by filtration, and then discarding any ungenuine or unworthy material.
4. Conjunction- The forth stage spiritually, is the empowerment of our true selves, which is, the union of both our masculine and feminine sides of our personality into a new belief system or an intuitive state of consciousness. Physically, it is the recombination of the saved elements from Separation into a new substance.
5. Fermentation- This fifth stage spiritually, is the inspiration of spiritual power from Above that reanimates, energizes, and enlightens the Alchemist. This can be attained through intense prayer, desire for mystical union, breakdown of the personality, transpersonal therapy, psychedelic drugs, and deep meditation. Physically, this is the growth of bacteria in an organic solution.
6. Distillation- The sixth stage spiritually, is the agitation and sublimation of psychic forces, which is necessary to ensure that no impurities from the inflated ego or deeply submerged id are incorporated into the next, final stage. Physically, this is the boiling and condensation of the fermented solution to increase its purity.
7. Coagulation- This is the seventh and final step in the alchemical process. Spiritually, this step is the release of the Astral Body, or soul, which is called the Philosopher’s Stone. Using this stone the alchemists believed they could exist on all levels of reality. Physically, this is the precipitation or sublimation of the purified Ferment from Distillation. The red powder attained from this final process is also called the Philosopher’s Stone, and is said to instantly perfect any substance to which it was added.
I understand that at first this parallel of spirituality and chemistry might not seem to have much to do with each other, but stick with me, because these have gone hand in hand in Alchemy for thousands of years. I will deeper explain the correlation later in the paper.
So you might be asking “O.k. so if there are people out there who have been able to turn metal into gold, why, not only is this looked upon as a lost mythological fallacy, or if it is true, why isn’t anyone doing it?”
The answer to that question is very interesting. People seem to have figured out the secrets of Alchemy throughout time. They have even written about figuring it out, but Alchemy is an esoteric subject that is meant to be concealed from public knowledge. All accounts I have come across involving someone figuring out the Stone, either involve shrouding it in a symbolic puzzle that only the most learned will be able to understand, or not allowing any sort of explanation on the subject. I suppose it makes quite a bit of sense that if it was possible to make gold, not everyone should be able to do it. If every country created unlimited supplies of gold, gold would literally be worth nothing. Its value comes from its perfection and rarity, and exploiting that at any point along history would have dire consequences. So the art has been downplayed and hidden. Its’ secrets were only passed along from single man to single man who had to swear an oath to God to keep its’ secrets secure.
The History of Alchemy
Our great story starts nearly four thousand years ago in ancient Egypt at around 1900 BC. The story begins with Hermes. The story has no clear-cut facts about Hermes, only general ideas on who and what he was. Some stories state that Hermes was the Greek version of the Egyptian moon god Thoth. He has also been stated as being a great king, or not even having existed at all. Regardless of the background of Hermes, his figurehead plays a crucial role in the history of Alchemy.
“Hermes Trismegistus”, as he was referred to, meant “thrice-great”, as he was know for having preeminence as a great priest, philosopher, and king. His works are said to be the foundation of all alchemical workings. The most important of these being the legendary “Emerald Table”(or tablet), in which Hermes gives cryptic instructions on the transmutation of gold and the soul. I have included the translation from Sir Isaac Newton below to give a better understanding of not only the obscure hidden meaning underlying the text, but also to show the credibility of the legendary document. If the man repeatable called “the greatest genius to ever live” took much of his life to study this text, we are in no position to offer our own skepticism on the matter.
The Sir Isaac Newton translation of the Hermetic Emerald Table
“1. Tis true without lying, certain & most true.
2. That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing.
3. And as all things have been & arose from one by the meditation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
4. The Sun is its father, the moon its mother,
5. The wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth its nurse.
6. The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
7. Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
7. Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.
8. It ascends from the earth to the heaven & again it descends to the earth and receives the force of things superior & inferior.
9. By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world & thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
10. Its force is above all force, for it vanquishes every subtle thing & penetrates every solid thing.
11. So was the world created.
12. From this are & do come admirable adaptations where of the means (or process) is here in this.
13. Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world.
14. That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished & ended.”(Hermes, time unknown)
As you can tell from the document, there is much to be interpreted from the initial symbolic writings. The secret of Alchemy is one shrouded in deep symbolism, and, is said to be made visible only to those who have the right mind and heart to deserve it. The Emerald Table is the basis for not only alchemy, but also all Hermetic study and philosophy. So with much controversy about the original origins of the document, we next head to the mystic land of ancient Arabia.
Alchemy was going strong by the third century A.D. in Arabia. With evidence of some of the oldest alchemical texts ever know dating to this period. Even though it was widely practiced at the time, in the year 296 Diocletian (Roman Emperor 244-311 A.D.) sought out and destroyed all Egyptian books on Alchemy and the other Hermetic sciences, thus destroying all evidence of any progress made up to that point. The next to contribute was the esteemed Zosimus the Panopolite, who was credited with the treatise “The Divine Art of Making Gold and Silver” which helped set the stage for alchemists throughout time.
Following him we have Gerber of Mesopotamia, who was known throughout his time as “the wise one.” Gerber seems to be one of the few who discovered the recipe for the Philosopher’s Stone. His skillful way of veiling his discoveries was in itself an art to decode. The term “gibberish” comes from Gerber’s secret way of writing. He is credited with the first mention of such important compounds as corrosive sublimate, red oxide of mercury, and nitrate of silver.
Following the large bulge of Arabian interest in Alchemy, were the European nations. Spain was the new center of the lost art with thousands of practitioners yearning for the hidden secrets of the Stone. “The Art of Prolonging Human Life” was written in the twelfth century with an unknown author using the name Artephius. Artephius was said to have lived over one thousand years, and succeeded in also creating the fabled Stone. He stated:
"I, Artephius, having learnt all the art in the book of Hermes, was once as others, envious, but having now lived one thousand years or thereabouts (which thousand years have already passed over me since my nativity, by the grace of God alone and the use of this admirable Quintessence), as I have seen, through this long space of time, that men have been unable to perfect the same magistry on account of the obscurity of the words of the philosophers, moved by pity and good conscience, I have resolved, in these my last days, to publish in all sincerity and truly, so that men may have nothing more to desire concerning this work. I accept one thing only, which is not lawful that I should write, because it can be revealed truly only by God or by a master. Nevertheless, this likewise may be learned from this book, provided one be not stiff-necked and have a little experience."(Artephius)
This is one of the first accounts of someone claiming to have deciphered the immortality aspect of the Stone.
The next great accomplisher of the art was Albertus Magnus. He was a Dominican friar and priest who was one of the first to peacefully combine science and religion. Albertus is said to have succeeded in creating the Stone despite numerous sources discrediting his findings. Magnus is credited with the discovery of the element arsenic. An ambitious apprentice named Thomas Aquinas followed him. The same Thomas Aquinas that has a church right on Lincoln Way in Ames. Aquinas, in his “Thesaurus Alchimae,” talks freely about his and Magnus’s success in the transmutation process.
Raymond Lully is another medieval alchemist who has quite an interesting story. In short, Lully, with the help of Arnold de Villanova, is said to have also figured out the mystery of the Philosopher’s Stone. It is said that John Cremer, an Abbot of Westminster, introduced Lully to King Edward II. Lully agreed to transmute gold for the king on the condition that the king uses the gold to fuel the Crusades. He was given space in the Tower of London for the task, and is estimated to have transmuted 50,000 pounds of gold for the king. This is more then needed to keep the Christian Crusades fueled for a good while. Lully is said to have lived to be 150 at the time of his death, but was said to still be able to run and jump like a young man at the time.
Things changed during the fourteenth century. The apparent possibilities of creating gold caused many men to focus their attention to the lost art. It also caused rich men filled with greed to lose their fortunes giving gold, silver, and other precious substances to alchemists, in hopes of having it multiplied. Because of this and other reasons, the pope at the time outlawed alchemical practices with death as a consequence. This stifled much alchemical practice in the area for the time being.
In England, around the general time, there lived a man named Roger Bacon. Bacon was one of the greatest minds to ever live, with progression in chemistry, optics, philosophy, and alchemy. He created the spectacles and achromatic lenses, and the theory of the telescope. He also called attention to the chemical role played by air in combustion. He has multiple writings on the subject of alchemy, and they support that he had attained the Stone. He was seen in his time not as a scientist, but as a great magician, who gained his knowledge from the devil. Countless numbers of times throughout history have people making progression in the sciences been seen as witches and wizards with death as a consequence. His is one of those tales.
The history of alchemy could literally go on for hundreds of pages, with thousands of stories of the worlds greatest minds finding a secret that normal man could not reproduce. Minds like Robert Boyle, Edward Kelley, Claude Duval, Ernest Rutherford, and of course Isaac Newton, have shown that alchemy is not some hooky, unreachable dream, but rather a very hidden, very secret, way of life that should not be taken lightly. Even if you discredit the dozens of stories of mortal men attaining immortality, and the ability to create gold from worthless scrap metals, you still have to respect the fact that, if it were not for alchemy, there would be no modern civilization, as we know it today. Alchemy has allowed men a holy grail to pursue throughout the history of humanity, with the reward being something that should not be disclosed. Even Newton spent most of his time studying occult practices with mathematics and science being second to his life long pursuit. Alchemy has a place in history as one of the most important subjects to have ever been considered.
The Philosophy of Alchemy
Alchemy is, at first glance, a science. Taking a little more time to explore, it becomes something far greater. Being an esoteric art, alchemy is said to hold the keys for a mortal man to attain immortal consequences. Through out time it has been a cornerstone for philosophers, sages, and any intellectually driven persons. The promised prize at the end was both immortality and infinite riches. These are enough to drive any man. I will divide this section into two parts: the philosophy of the physical Philosopher’s Stone, and the philosophy of the spiritual Philosopher’s Stone.
The Philosophy of the Physical Philosopher’s Stone
This part of the Stone has been the most sought after of all the three. This is the Philosopher’s Stone that allows the possessor to transmute base metals into pure, perfect gold. Mankind’s greed has always put this at the top of the list, with thousands of men trying to attain the perfected calculations to make the transmutation possible.
The primitive idea is that, you take something that has much imperfection, say some lead or any other imperfect metal, and you take the imperfections out. After this is accomplished, you break the metal down to its elemental forms and finally create a new metal that is perfect and without corruption.
The way this is accomplished is through first understanding the alchemist’s belief about the way matter is made up. I will include an excerpt from Edward Kelly’s “The Stone of the Philosophers” due to his perfect steps to explaining it.
“(1) All genuine and judicious philosophers have traced back things to their first principles, that is to say, those comprehended in the threefold division of Nature. The generation of animals they have attributed to a mingling of the male and female in sexual union; that of vegetables to their own proper seed; while as the principle of minerals they have assigned earth and viscous water.
(2) All specific and individual things which fall under a certain class, obey the general laws and are referable to the first principles of the class to which they belong.
(3) Thus, every animal is the product of sexual union; every plant, of its proper seed; every mineral, of the mixture of its generic earth and water.
(4) Hence, an unchangeable law of Nature regulates the generation of everything within the limits of its own particular genus.
(5) It follows that, with reference to their origin, animals are generically distinct from vegetables and minerals; the same difference exists respectively between vegetables and minerals and the two other natural kingdoms.
(6) The common and universal matter of these three principles is called Chaos.
(7) Chaos contains within itself the four elements of all that is, viz., fire, air, water, and earth, by the mixture and motion of which the forms of all earthly things are impressed upon their subjects.
(8) These elements have four qualities: heat, coldness, humidity, and dryness. The first inheres in fire, the second in water, the third in air, and the fourth in earth.
(9) By means of these qualities, the elements act upon each other, and motion takes place.
(10) Elements either act upon each other, or are acted on, and are called either active or passive.
(11) Active elements are those, which, in a compound, impress upon the passive a certain specific character, according to the strength and extent of their motion. These are water and fire.
(12) The passive elements - earth and air - are those, which by their inactive qualities readily receive the impressions of the aforesaid active elements.
(13) The four elements are distinguished, not only by their activity and passivity, but also by the priority and posteriority of their motions.
(14) Priority and posteriority are here predicated either with references to the position of the whole sphere, or the importance of the result or aim of the motion.
(15) In space, heavy objects tend downwards, and light objects upwards; those that are neither light nor heavy hold an intermediate position.
(16) In this way, even among the passive elements, earth holds a higher place than air, because it delights more in rest; for the less motion, the more passivity.
(17) The excellence of result has reference to perfection and imperfection, the mature being more perfect than the immature. Now, maturity is altogether due to the heat of fire. Hence fire holds the highest place among active elements.
(18) Among the passive elements, the first place belongs to that which is most passive, i.e., which is most quickly and easily influenced. In a compound, earth is first passively affected, then air.
(19) Similarly, in every compound, the perfecting element acts last; for perfection is a transition from immaturity to maturity.
(20) Maturity being caused by heat, cold is the cause of immaturity.
(21) It is clear, then, that the elements, or remote first principles of animals, vegetables, and minerals, in Chaos, are susceptible of active movements in fire and water, and of passive movements in earth and air. Water acts on earth, and transmutes it into its own nature; fire heats air, and also changes it into its own likeness.
(22) The active elements may be called male, while the passive elements represent the female principle.
(23) Any compound belonging to any of these three kingdoms - animal, vegetable, mineral - is female in so far as it is earth and air, and male in so far as it is fire and water.
(24) Only that which has consistency is sensuously perceptible. Elementary fire and air, being naturally subtle, cannot be seen.
(25) Only two elements, water and earth, are visible, and earth is called the hiding-place of fire, water the abode of air.
(26) In these two elements we have the broad law of limitation, which divides the male from the female.
(27) The first matter of vegetables is the water and earth hidden in its seed, these being more water than earth.
(28) The first matter of animals is the mixture of the male and female sperm, which embodies more moisture than dryness.
(29) The first matter of minerals is a kind of viscous water, mingled with pure and impure earth.
(30) Impure earth is combustible sulphur, which hinders all fusion, and superficially matures the water joined to it, as we see in the minor minerals, marcasite, magnesia, antimony, etc.
(31) Pure earth is that which so unites the smallest parts of its aforesaid water that the fiercest fire cannot separate them, so that either both remain fixed or are volatilized.
(32) Of this viscous water and fusible earth, or sulphur, is composed that which is called quicksilver, the first matter of the metals.
(33) Metals are nothing but Mercury digested by different degrees of heat.”(Edward Kelly, 1500’s)
So as you can see, the alchemist believes that all things are made up of different combinations of Earth, Wind, Water, Fire, or the Chaos as a whole. If you break down all things into these simple ingredients it is not too hard to see how the alchemist works. There are male and female, just as is the animal and plant world. These corresponding elements control and describe all early beliefs in alchemy and early chemistry. They must partake of life, reproduction, death, and resurrection. The whole point of the procedure is to create gold, which the philosophers stated as pure fire. The same way water vapor can become water or ice; the fire element can also be converted.
So a decent synopsis of the belief of making gold is: everything is comprised of combinations of the four elements. If you can break something down to the pure element forms, you can revert those elements into any form that you see fit. Now the trick of perfecting the art is a completely inverse set of rules. It’s easy to say everything is made up of four elements, but to figure out how to create pure elements from these metals is a life long journey. The true key to figuring out the Stone’s mystery is through mastery of the furnace, and the regulation of fire. These are the trials men have spent millennia perfecting.
The Philosophy of the Spiritual Philosopher’s Stone
The quest for the Philosopher’s Stone has always had many draws to it. Not only can one attain the mastery to create gold, but also is promised, through the process, to reach a point of spiritual purity, or spiritual gold. The way this happens to the soul is parallel with the transmutation of the base metals into gold. So the theory on spiritual gold is this: there are two different sets of laws, the material, and the nonmaterial. These two are both governed by namely the same metaphoric regulations. The sun being the desired product of your labor in both is believed. The sun is supposed to, in the material world, represent the sun in the sky, the source of all life and energy on the planet. The sun in the nonmaterial world represents god. So, the metal and also the soul can become perfect if they are broken down to their original elements and cleansed of all imperfections, and then finally reawakened using the infusing of the Sun. The entire process is supposed to resemble the life, death, and resurrection. From the life of the imperfect metal or soul, you must kill it and remove all impurities. This removal is the death. After you have it has been put to death you must decide what is important for it to keep. After you have figured out the perfect elements of either, you resurrect it using only the perfected elements, thus creating your final goal, the Philosopher’s Stone.
I understand this long strung metaphorical analogy might be hard to follow, as it was with me at first, but I assure you, they took great time and care figuring this out. Even if it doesn’t match up with today’s modern way of doing things, either through science or spirituality, I have become a believer of the Philosopher’s Stone. Alchemy was also the framework for all modern science, medicine, and spirituality. For everyone from kings, to popes, to Isaac Newton practicing the lost art, through out the course of thousands of years, there is little room to question its validity as an infinitely enriching part of life and history.
The process to actually acquire the physical Philosopher’s Stone is long and very complex. I would have loved to go through and explained the whole of it, but I am not knowledgeable enough on the science of it all to claim I fully understand. I will include passages following this paper that, if you are so incline, you can read to get a better scientific understanding of the subject.
| 130 |
| Vote |
Add To: 
subscribe to this blog
Comment by Anonymous
this is ramesh raju kalidindi,
i find ALCHEMY "elixir of life" formulas in red, white, yellow colours.
i have clear formulas, samples, practical notes.
contact us:
thankyou,
gpmmrc.ramesh.kalidindi@gmail .com
ramanjaneyarajukalidindi@gmai l.com
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous
alchemy is an olden chemistry, in indian culture it is called ksheera sagara madanam, means some heavens people doing the project of sea mixing process with sulfhur,salt,mercury.
it is the base & main formula in alchemy. born from all metels and minerals. the alchemy results are "elixir of life" it gives good health and 200 years more long life. the "philosopher stone" gives pure gold and platinum. the open secreat is how to form a gold mine, naturally we creat that.these all making from liquid metel mercury. some people know that, they make philosopher stone.
we watch in this secreat codes in egypt pyramid pictures and arab culture.put some powder of philosopher stone mix with wax, put on melted position lead, the formula putrification of lead, converted to gold.the metel transmuted to gold.
Your text goes hereit is real olden chemistry. i have the formula. i practise it,i find "elixir of life" .next project is making of philosopher stone. any further communication please contact my web site www.gpmmrc@twitter.com, r244225@gmail.com
thankyou. Your text goes here
Comment by Anonymous
Comment by Anonymous