Parachemy Volume I: Number 1 Winter 1973
Parachemy Journal of Hermetic Arts and Sciences "The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." ALBERT EINSTEIN CONTENTS Winter 1973 Volume I, Number 1
Editorial ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Parachemy-A New Name with a New Meaning Frater Albertus --------------------- 3 Sacred Books of the Sibyls ---------------------------------------------------------- 4 'The Alchemist's Handbook'-An Alchemical Landmark - Israel Regardie ------------- 5 That Elusive Planet Vulcan - Carl Stahl ---------------------------------------------- 8 Cells-Their Significance and Essential Salts - Arthur Fehres ------------------------- 12 Mercury-The Troublemaker!- Frater Albertus -------------------------------------- 15 Polarity of Known Planets-And Those Yet to be Discovered - Frater Albertus ----- 17 Numbers and Q.B.L. -------------------------------------------------------------- 19 Was It Real Gold or Was It Man-Made? ------------------------------------------ 21 A Brief History of Alchemy - Anon.------------------------------------------------ 22 'Triumphal Chariot of Antimony'-The Old and the New - Robert Bremer ----------- 27 What Is Iridology? - Dr. Gerrit Janssen -------------------------------------------- 29 Questions and Answers ----------------------------------------------------------- 36 Announcements ------------------------------------------------------------------- 40
PARACHEMY is a quarterly publication of Paracelsus Research Society. EDITOR: ROBERT BREMER ART WORK: ALICE WHIPPLE Manuscripts, comments, and questions are invited to be submitted for consideration for publication. These should he sent, typewritten, doublespaced, in triplicate to: Paracelsus Research Society, P. 0. Box 6006, Salt Lake City, Utah 84106. The annual subscription rate is U.S. $7.50 for individuals, U.S. $10.00 for libraries, business firms, and other institutions. For a limited time, individuals paying the $7.50 subscription fee may designate a library or institution of learning to receive one copy of Parachemy without additional charge. Individuals unable to pay the annual subscription fee may, upon verification of their request, receive Parachemy gratis.
All remittances to be made by cheek or money order made out in U.S. dollars. Send your subscription order to: Paracelsus Research Society, P.O. Box 6006, Salt Lake City, Utah 84106. © Copyrighted and printed in the U.S.A.
Editorial As P.R.S. research and related work expand it becomes clear that I must not allow my activities to become over-diversified, thereby serving less than adequately in any area. I feel that my first consideration should be teaching and doing active laboratory research. Important topics yet remain to be put down and published. My teaching abroad, too, brings prolonged absences from P.R.S. headquarters. Thus it becomes apparent that the new and enlarged JOURNAL OF PARACHEMY requires the editorship of a qualified person other than myself. It gives me enormous pleasure to introduce to the readers of PARACHEMY, our editor, Robert Bremer. His newspaper background, contributions to British and American journals of the occult, association and collaboration with creative writers in the motion picture and television field and over a dozen published novels assure my confidence in his ability. His professional literary experience added to years of active interest in subjects dealt with in PARACHEMY provide an unique combination of talents which will be put to use in our service. It will be his work to make PARACHEMY a journal of distinction. Most recently Mr. Bremer edited the new edition of THE ALCHEMIST'S HANDBOOK. Frater Albertus
Introductions can be awkward. But at some time in our lives, each of us his had the experience of being introduced to someone, and almost before we shake hands or utter some polite greeting, we have the instant sensation that we are meeting an old friend. To all of you who read these lines, and who feel an affinity for the alchemical work, Parachemy IS an old friend, and we hope these pages will spark that sense of recognition and realization, whether you be working students of the Paracelsus Research Society, persons of varied occult affiliations, or individual seekers with no affiliation whatsoever to any formal group. It is not the form, but the spirit, that matters. And it is the spirit of this publication that seeks to communicate with you. It seeks more than that.
It invites its readers to participate in the magazine, rather than merely read it. Being "interested" in the occult can become a futile exercise in the exchange of pleasant platitudes unless we really work to increase our knowledge, and then to share it. Those who acquire Parachemy Fellowships will not only be gaining the benefit of the knowledge of others, but are urged to contribute to the pages of the magazine by sharing their own insights and special projects in Alchemy, Astrology and Qabalah. The Occult Sciences are not petrified history. They embody living truths, and like every living thing, they grow. And as we explore them, we grow-in knowledge, in awareness, in nearness to God. Parachemy hopes to share with its readers the hopes, the successes, the vital capacity for growth of the active occultist, without regard to group affiliation or labels of any kind. Articles will range from highly technical treatises on the chemical virtues of antimony, to the simplest, most basic expressions of man's yearning for spiritual progress, for love and brotherhood. We hope that though this issue be totally new to you, you will feel, after reading it, that the handshake it represents is genuine, and that you have met an old friend. Robert Bremer Editor
p. 3
Parachemy A New Name With a New Meaning By Frater Albertus When, in January, 1960, the first Alchemical Laboratory Bulletin appeared, some sceptics predicted a short life for the publication of only a few months to a year or so. They were wrong. The Bulletins appeared without interruption until the last issue in October, 1972. It was then announced that its appearance would change and the number of pages would be increased at the beginning of its fourteenth year, in 1973. The time is now! PARACHEMY, literally meaning "like unto Chemy," goes back to the Egyptian word Khem, "the black land." The original word may have referred to the dark, black soil, or to the darkskinned inhabitants of Africa, which is also known as "the dark continent." At any rate, its meanings are associated with the darkness. Darkness which conceals light-for light came out of the darkness. Parachemy will be "the fountainhead from whence springeth the water of life" in alchemistical language. When one looks at a fountain, one does not see where the water comes from. One sees only the water coming out of an opening, either a trickle or a rushing stream. Its actual source is
concealed from the onlooker. He is aware only of what is available to him, but not from whence it came. With such an analogy, we may look upon Parachemy. Out of the blackness or darkness, concealed from the eyes of the onlooker, there will eventually well forth what was not previously known. It is the purpose of Parachemy to reveal what has hitherto been concealed or held back. The circumstances that made such concealment a necessity in former times, no longer prevail, and therefore the policy of concealment is not applicable to our times. Parachemy, though an offspring of its parent, the Paracelsus Research Society, intends to remain free from any dogmatism. It will not bow to the whims of any individual, or group, or to any organization, that might exert pressure upon it to do their bidding for whatever reason. Parachemy will rely solely upon the promptings of an ever-present consciousness that has its origin in the innermost depths of every being, as a segment of unending wisdom. It may be likened to the "light which shineth in the darkness, but the darkness comprehended it not"-for only the light in which it is presented. will let it become apparent as light. The greatest blessing bestowed upon mankind is to be conscious of that which exists in infinity, even though the limited objective consciousness possess only a partial and incomplete awareness. Out of the still, dark depths of the minds of men, from which the full realization has not yet emerged, man will yet bring to light that which still lies concealed, so that it may become known, understood, and eventually used wisely. This is part of the ever-enduring progression of evolution, which has but one divinely decreed aim: Perfection. This, then, is the aim of Parachemy: To help bring forth the light within man. There are many among mankind who still slumber in the darkness; others who are halfawake, but not fully conscious of what the darkness conceals. We strive to help the light prevail. We extend our hand to all, who, free, from prejudice or bias, will offer their help and assistance to bring about, by just and lawful means, the emergence of man into the light of knowledge and understanding. We shall work together to banish ignorance, that blind belief may be replaced by a confidence, a trust, a true faith in the justice of supreme universal laws. Parachemy endeavors to be a decisive weight in the struggle against ignorance and beliefs based on fear, placing its knowledge on the side of wisdom and understanding. If Parachemy cannot outweigh ignorance by itself, then it shall at least assist in helping to bring about a balance. If nothing else is accomplished by Parachemy, it will deserve to continue to exist for as long as it is useful-for as long as there is a need.
p. 4
SACRED BOOKS OF THE SIBYLS Under the title of "Oracles of the Sibyls" there exists a collection of verses in Greek hexameter in fourteen books, which has long been regarded as an authentic collection of the prophecies of the pagan Sibyls. In Libri Divinarum Rerum, Lactantius quotes Varro as saying that these books are
not all written by one Sibyl, but are called Sibylline because by the ancients all prophetesses were called Sibyls. And Dioddrus Siculus states that the Sibyl was actuated by the Spirit of God and that the name Sibyl signifies "being full of God." As these books accurately, prophesied the mission, teaching, and miracles of Christ as well as his death upon the cross and resurrection, the church fathers accepted and made use of them without hesitation. The original Sibylline Books were kept concealed in the Capitol at Rome, and were lost when it was destroyed by fire in 405 A.D. Cicero bears witness to, their worth saying, "How often has our Senate enjoined the decemvirs to consult the books of the Sibyls," when "portentious events announced to the Romans terrible and disastrous seditions. On all these occasions the diviners and their auspices were in perfect accordance with the prophetic verses of the Sibyl." Thus Sambethe, the most ancient of the Sibyls, is seen to have initiated the, Sibylline Oracles which guided the destinies of ancient Rome as well as the Delphic Oracles which exercised such influence over the evolution of ancient Greece. COMTE DE GABALIS
p. 5
'The Alchemist's Handbook' An Alchemical Landmark By Israel Regardie
[Israel Regardie has won a special place among writers on the occult. His works seem always to strike a much-needed balance. From his pen, THE TREE OF LIFE and THE MIDDLE PILLAR illuminated centuries-old techniques in magical ritual with the light of personal experience in the profound framework of Jungian psychology. His publication of the secret rituals of THE GOLDEN DAWN, an extraordinary act of conscience, balanced out the stultifying secrecy and factionalism of an important but self-defeating Hermetic Order in its latter days. In such recent works as THE EYE IN THE TRIANGLE, Dr. Regardie has ended a long, selfimposed silence to share the benefits of his extensive experience and unique insights. The following article, which will be published in the newly revised edition of THE ALCHEMIST'S HANDBOOK by Frater Albertus, gives us Dr. Regardie's reaction to that work. -Editor.]
This is the age of "how to do it" books. There is one on almost any subject you can think of. Since they fill a variety of needs, they have proven a boon. From them you can learn to paint, sew, plant a herb garden, build a brick barbecue in the backyard, become an interior decorator, or rewire your own home. Almost every imaginable topic has been covered by these books. So if you assumed that this manual* falls in this category, you would be right-save for the simple fact that it is a great deal more. Alchemy has exerted a strange fascination over mankind for centuries. The underlying philosophical theorem was that if the Divine Will had originally acted upon the prima materia to produce the precious metals and all else, why shouldn't the alchemist-purified in mind and body, and an expert in the then known laboratory techniques-seek to emulate the same natural process in a shorter span of time? One has only to read a, good history of chemistry, or to peruse a little of the vast alchemical literanture, to become aware of alchemy's awful seductiveness. Men have left homes and families, squandered fortunes, incurred sickness and disease, ,ambled away prestige, social and other positions, in quest of the goals embodied in the alchemical dreamlongevity, perfect health, and the ability to transmute base metals into gold. One must not be deluded by superficialities here. The alchemical adepts were patently dedicated and God-fearing men, holding the highest spiritual ideals conceivable. It is too bad more practitioners of the Art did not perceive them. Only recently, an ill-informed journalist alleged that the Paracelsus Research Society, which sponsors this manual, offered to teach alchemy in two weeks! How could one be so myopic? Or illiterate? In the early fourteenth century, Bonus of Ferrara spoke of Alchemy as "the key of all good things, the Art of Arts, the Science of Sciences." ' Not only was the alchemist to be concerned with the purification of metals and the elimination of sickness and disease from the human race, but he affirmed that Alchemy as Science and Art provided both a means to synthesize all the other sciences and a training of the intellectual and spiritual faculties. The fascination that Alchemy has always held over mankind has surely been tainted in that rarely were there higher institutions of learning where promising students might study the ancient Art. Or where the proper techniques and methods might be learned as with other arts and sciences. No doubt, after the manner of the mysterious seventeenth century Rosicrucians, individual disciples were selected and trained by the master alchemists. We know that they had assistants and apprenticesfor who would have kept the fires stoked in the furnaces, and washed the unending stream of glass and clay utensils employed in calcining, separating and distilling? Or who would have done all the thousand and one menial things that are so easily performed today that we barely have to think about them? But whether or not these assistants were ever encouraged to learn or to acquire the requisite disciplines and procedures-this is problematical. In the vast literature on the subject, there is nothing that I have ever found that even pretended to demonstrate fundamental principles. Traditional alchemy, with its emphasis on piety, secrecy and allegory, is admittedly obscure. Over the years, I have met many men who could talk a good line about alchemy, but nothing practical ever emerged from them. Nor did anyone volunteer to
demonstrate its basic truths in a laboratory or over the kitchen stove. Not one-until I met the author of this manual some years ago. Not one-until I read the first limited edition of The Alchemist's Handbook, which literally is worth its weight in gold. Incidentally, a few years ago I wrote something in recommendation of this manual, yet expressing criticism of its literary style, its form of expression, its innumerable typographical errors. These minor flaws have been corrected in the revised edition-yet the criticism was silly and arrogant. For even if, theoretically, the book were written in the worst possible style, it would still be unique and a genuine masterpiece. Had it not been written and published, we would be the losers by far. It teaches with clarity, simplicity and accuracy the technical means whereby the Lesser Circulation may be accomplished. It should be a revelation to those who have not previously been introduced to this method of dealing with herbs. The Great Work is said to be essentially an extension of the same process, the ame techniques, with the same universal philosophy. Many an alchemist of former years would have given his eyeteeth-or surely a small fortune -for this information. Many might have been spared disaster and destruction had they been familiar with the data contained in this manual. Descriptions of the alchemical processes are not readily understood in terms of modern chemistry. This is not to say that some formal training in high school or firstyear college chemistry would not be useful. At the very least, it would have provided the dexterity to use the equipment also used in alchemy. But even if it were possible to translate the one system into the terminology of the other, the alchemists are haunted by the fear of revealing too much, too easily, or too soon-thus opening the way to abuse. Modern man has shown himself to be an adept in the art of abusing nature, as all our current emphasis on ecology and environmental pollution has demonstrated. So there is considerable justification for the doubts and cautiousness of the early writers on alchemy and for the allegorical mode of expression they have deliberately chosen. But do not be deceived. Simply as this book is written, alchemy is a hard taskmaster. It demands patient and laborious service. There is no simple or easy path to the Great Work. It requires great dedication of purpose, sincerity and willingness to pursue this path to the bitter end-no matter at what cost. One of the older alchemists stated that the fundamental process of the Great Work is so simple that even women and children could accomplish it. "A woman's work and child's play." Maybe! But it is only after one has arrived at the other shore, as it were, that one can realize that "except ye become as little children, ye cannot enter the kingdom of heaven." Meanwhile, it requires effort, labor and prayer-or their equivalents to attain the simple, child-like state capable of achieving the goals of alchemy. Not many have been blessed with the special genetic or psychological structure, or the perseverance, or the grace of God to find it. But, if you really want to learn the basic principles of practical alchemy, here they are in this wonderful little manual. There is no other book that I have ever encountered in all my long years in this movement that is one fraction as clear or as helpful. Forty years ago, I would have found it far more intriguing and illuminating than Mrs. Atwood's heavy and ponderous tome** on which I exercised my wisdom teeth. Study it-and work at the processes described. Practice is so
much more rewarding and enlightening than a sterile "head-trip,. Ora et labore. Pray and work but work. Without this, you cannot even begin. And this book describes how to go to work, and with what. *The Alchemist's Handbook by Albertus Spagyricus. **Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery by M.A. Atwood.
p. 8
That Elusive Planet Vulcan By Carl W. Stahl [Carl Stahl enjoys an international reputation among both professional astrologers and students of that art. His articles have appeared in virtually every major astrological publication, and he is looked to as an authority in the techniques of sidereal astrology. His researches are always carefully documented-witness the following article-and we are proud to announce he will be a frequent contributor to the Astrology section Of PARACHEMY. --Editor]
When the newspapers of the world publicized Professor Courtens' report that he believes he has discovered a new intra-Mercurial planet, it aroused interest in other places besides the ranks of the astronomers themselves. The professor bases his statement on the results obtained on his expedition to Mexico to study the solar eclipse on March 7, 1970. The photographic plates taken on that expedition, as well as those taken during the 1967 eclipse, seem to provide evidence that such an intraMercurial planet may indeed exist. When the planet Pluto was finally discovered on January 21, 1930 by C. W. Tombaugh, it was by means of photographs of the distant stars. They showed clearly that one of the stars was moving. By scanning photographs of other total eclipses perhaps Vulcan can be discovered in the same way. Professor Courtens estimates that Vulcan is about 500 miles in diameter, about nine million miles from the sun, and with a declination of about twelve degrees from the ecliptic plane. The general public will, of course leap to the conclusion that Professor Courtens is alone in discovering this planet Vulcan. During the past 250 years there have been at least twelve other fairly well authenticated reported sightings of this elusive planet. Nor is the average reader aware that a Vulcan Ephemeris is available based on those twelve prior reported sightings, and that this ephemeris is obtainable from the Paracelsus Research Society, whose students have been using Vulcan's positions in astrological charts and cyclic charts for many years.
This ephemeris gives daily listings of Vulcan's position in the heavens for the years 1967, 1968, 1969, 1970, 1971 and 1972. It also contains tables making it possible for anyone to calculate Vulcan's position from the year 1700 to 2000 A.D. By using the tables from this Vulcan Ephemeris we find that at the time of the total eclipse of the Sun on March 7, 1970, the geocentric longitude of Vulcan was 20 degrees 34 minutes of the zodiacal sign Pisces, while the Sun was in 16 degrees 44 minutes of the same sign. Vulcan here was begining to separate from a superior conjunction of the Sun and was approximately 6,300,000 miles out, or almost halfway towards its greatest elongation from the Sun which is about 12,700,000 miles. The November 2, 1967 eclipse gives us the Sun's position as 9 degrees 37 minutes of the sign Scorpio while Vulcan appears at 15 degrees 57 minutes of Scorpio. This is approximately 9,500,000 miles from the Sun. This, you Will note, agrees closely with Professor Courtens' estimate of 9,000,000 miles. However, Vulcan had reached its greatest elongation on November 1, 1967 at 16 degrees 37 minutes of the sign Scorpio. Both of the preceding examples show that at the time of these eclipses Vulcan was far enough away from the Sun to have registered clearly on photographs taken at these times. In referring to the fairly well authenticated sightings of the planet ulcan crossing the Sun, we begin with that of Dr. Alischer, Faure, France, (Julian Calendar), March 27, 1720. He again sighted a dark body crossing the disk of'the Sun on March 15, 1721 (also Julian Calendar), exactly 353 days after the first sighting. This 353 day period between sightings proved to be very important in determining the motion of Vulcan because it occurs again in the list of Vulcan transits of the Sun. This happened on February 16, 1897 and again on February 4, 1898, a time lapse of exactly 353 days. The 1897 report came from astronomers at Stuttgart, Germany, and the 1898 report from astronomers at Wiesbaden, Germany. It was this coincidence that enabled Professor L. H. Weston to calculate Vulcan's position after his interest was aroused by a sighting that was made by ship's Captain Isbester of the British ship Dalgonar, enroute from Hamburg, Germany to Portland, Oregon, U.S.A. The longitude was 136 degrees west, and latitude 46 degrees north on June 25, 1907, which is about 200 miles off the California coast. When Captain Isbester took the noon observation to declination with the sextant he noticed a very large spot on the disk of the Sun. The spot was large and quite unlike the many commoner Sun spots which he had seen almost daily for many years. In trying to describe this spot, he said: "It looked like an inverted balloon." This remark caused Professor Weston to write: "Now that was the shape Venus appeared to have at ingress and egress at the transits of June 5, 1761, and June 3, 1769. It is well known that both Venus and Mercury, while at internal contact with the Sun's disk at transits, present the appearance of a pear-shaped spot, the small end elevated if the planet is north of the equator."
Isbester gives us the impression that the spot was on the Sun for a full four hours, from about noon until late in the afternoon. Lescarbault, of France, in his observation on March 26, 1859 taken at Noon, G.M.T., also gives four hours for this crossing of the Sun's disk. For those who may be interested we give a list of the transits that Professor Weston compiled and used in developing his tables: OBSERVED TRANSITS OF VULCAN 1. Dr. Alischer, Faure, France (O.S.), March 27, 1720 2. Dr. Alischer, Faure, France (O.S.), March 15, 1721 3. Fritch, Madgeburg, (Bode's Almanac), March 25, 1784 4. Fritch, Madgeburg, Germany, October 10, 1802 5. Stark, Augsburg, October 9, 1819 6. Schmidt, Germany, October 11, 1847 7. Lowe and Sidebotham, England, March 12,1849 8. Dr. Ritter, Hannover, Germany, June 11, 1855 9. M. Lescarbault, France, March 26, 1859, Noon, G.M.T. 10. Astronomers at Stuttgart, Germany, February 16, 1897 11. Astronomers at Wiesbaden, Germany, February 4, 1898 12.Captain Isbester, Lon. 136' W., Lat. 46' N., June 25, 1907, (8h39m p.m. G.M.T.) Esoterically speaking, the Sun veils and the Moon hides Vulcan. At first thought this seems to make no sense. A little consideration, however, soon makes some of the truth apparent. Even physically the Sun veils Vulcan. Its light makes it all but impossible for Vulcan to be seen, either by the naked eye, or with instruments. This much is easily apparent because of Vulcan's closeness to the Sun. But what about the Moon? It is nowhere near Vulcan. It hugs the Earth with its closeness. Vulcan rules the mineral world, from the crystal and the ore, up to the most pure and precious metal and the most precious jewel. The Moon being a dead body, in the sense that no planetary Logos operates in or through it, responds only to its physical mass. In this sense it not only reflects the rays from the Sun but also the potent rays from Vulcan. Then, acting as a relay station, it transfers these influences to the Earth. Since Vulcan rules the mineral world it was quite appropriate that it should be through the hiding of the Sun by the Moon, during total eclipse, that once again led to its being rediscovered. Ptolemy refers to the doctrine of "combustia" in the last sentence of Chapter 7, Book 2, of the Tetrabiblos. This doctrine, in brief, is that when any planet is within a few degrees of the Sun, usually supposed to be 8 degrees 30 minutes, it is in a state of combustia, that is, burned up, and its virtue destroyed by that position. The Vulcan Ephemeris shows that Vulcan never gets more than 8 degrees 11 minutes from the Sun.
In examining cases of combustia, it was found that in less than half the cases this theory held up. In over half the cases it failed to hold up. When the position of Vulcan is calculated and entered in these charts the reason for the successes and failures becomes apparent. The conjunction of Vulcan with Mercury and the Sun appears to have no apparent effect on the nature of either of these bodies. With the other planets, particularly the Moon, its effect seems to to bring out he negative or material nature of the body affected. If we consider that he blacksmith of the gods works in the mineral world, this makes sense. Regarding more recently discovered knowledge about the nature of Vulcan we have as yet barely made a beginning. We do know that in human relationships it has an intensely disruptive influence, similar to, yet quite distinct from, the influence of the planet Pluto. Pluto causes loss through, death or through some dramatic, public incident. Vulcan, on the other hand, seems to sever the bonds of friendship or affection abruptly, and the association seems to end as though it had never existed. This is particularly so of the conlunction of the transiting Vulcan to Venus. Reports coming to us from others, who have used the Vulcan Ephemeris in all types of charts, indicate that it has an influence on the stock market, on the charts of individual industrial companies, and its influence is clearly in those of an inventive nature. Not always in the conventional sense. but always in quite a logical manner when the nature of Vulcan understood. But what I consider the greatest breakthrough occurred in the field of Alchemy, when the Paracelsus Research Society, in its Alchemical Laboratory Bulletin, Vol. II, No. 2, 1970, on pages 20, 21, and 22, published the results of the Vulcan influence on obtaining the three essentials of the Metals.* We wish Professor Courtens the best of luck in pinning down that elusive planet Vulcan, and hope that others will do what they can to bring about this event. *This report, among others, will be made available to those holding Parachemy fellowships. -Ed.
Books On Vulcan Literature dealing with the planet Vulcan is very limited at present as little is known about this elusive little sphere whose orbit is so close to the Sun. The most informative and comprehensive literature available at the present time is that of Carl Stahl. Vulcan the Intra-Mercurial Planet Vulcan Ephemerides-1969-70 1971-72 1973-74
p. 15
Mercury
The Troublemaker! By Frater Albertus That is what alchemists called Mercury. Pseudo-alchemists were even more outspoken. And in all their strong words, it was not common quicksilver of which they spoke. When common mercury is used as a medication, it is a poison, even when highly triturated and administered by a doctor. Why is there such a controversy about mercury, when it is not mercury, while it is mercury? this statement-which seems not only strange but highly illogical-is itself the troublemaker. When alchemists speak of mercury, they speak of the inert potency concealed in the structural substance, which appears in a fluidic state and is called a metal. This in itself is rather unusual. It is precisely this inert potency which is to be freed from a corporeal substance that is known as mercury. Furthermore, it can be obtained not only from metallic mercury (or a metal) but from minerals, plants and animals alike. It is actually known as the spirit of life. Since the search for this elusive mercury has been conducted primarily among metallic substances, and practically without success by all researchers, emphasis has been directed towards the salts, or the crude metallic substances, which alchemists have declared most emphatically to be poisonous. There is weighty evidence against the so-called heavy metals (a loose designation of a group including lead, chromium, cadmium, barium, cobalt, nickel, beryllium, copper, antimony, arsenic, mercury and iron). Mercury, especially, has been shown to produce damage to the nervous system and birth defects. But mercury is not alone in being a troublemaker! The danger of lead in household paints is common knowledge, and its use has been all but eliminated by most manufacturers of paints intended for indoor use. Less well known are the toxic effects of barium, also found in some paints. Its accumulation in the system can produce muscular disorder and kidney damage. An equally alarming list of disorders could be enumerated for each of the heavy metals, associated with the toxic effects they can produce.
But paradoxically, trace amounts of many heavy metals are as vital to human health as they are dangerous in quantity. Copper, zinc, chromium, magnesium, iron, and arsenic are all nutritionally essential. Even lead and mercury may be beneficial in small quantities. So we see, that though nutritional virtues lie concealed within the metals, their various salts or oxides also have a toxic effect, and the entire effect of metals is poisonous if used in the form of solids. Even when they are dissolved with acids, their solutions are highly dangerous. It is no mere poetic image that from these metals, man forges a two-edged sword! If any curative properties are to be found in metallic substances, these must be so exactingly separated from the metal involved, that they prove completely free from any harmful or toxic properties. Up to the present, this has been achieved primarily, if not entirely, by spagyric means. It is here that the critical difference between poison and medicine will have to show. If any validity can be found in the spagyric or alchemical way, it will have to be the way to better medications that have toxics removed from them, thereby becoming harmless in nature, yet are the repositories of powerful healing potential.
p. 17
Polarity of Known Planets And Those Yet To Be Discovered By Frater Albertus Years ago, the Paracelsus Research Society suggested that there were more planets existing in our solar system than had as yet been discovered or acknowledged by modern science, and that furthermore their existence would one day become a matter of commonly accepted fact. Now, with the recently heralded discovery-or it should be said, re-discovery-of Vulcan, the planet nearest the Sun, making the known total of planets ten, science has moved a step further with its conclusion that another trans-Plutonian planet must exist in our solar system. Time and the planetary tides have moved to confirm our original position. A recent report announced new mathematical calculations suggesting that another planet exists, though such a planet has never been seen, in computations issued by scientists at the University of California's Lawrence Livermore Laboratory. The proposed body-dubbed Planet X by scientists - would be three times as large as Saturn and twice as far from the Sun as Neptune. Earth, third nearest to the Sun of the nine known planets, is 80 times smaller than Saturn and nearly three billion miles from Neptune. The calculations which led to Planet X evolved from studies of Halley's Comet, whose orbit contains mysterious deviations, and whose appearance near earth can never be predicted with absolute accuracy. The calculations were made by a team of three scientists at the laboratory. Joseph Brady, a supervisor in numerical techniques, has written about the team's findings for the Journal of the
Astronomical Society of the Pacific. Mr. Brady, an acknowledged authority on Halley's Cornet, said the prediction of new planets based on mathematical calculations was not new. Neptune's location was predicted in 1846 in a similar way. To make his predictions, Mr. Brady used information from previous observations of Halley's Comet, sightings of which have been reported since before the birth of Christ. With the laboratory's enormous computer system, he worked out the planet's probable location. The proposed planet would take about 512 years to orbit the Sun and probably would orbit in a direction opposite to that of the other planets, he said. This raises another question, inasmuch as the law of polarity plays such an important role in the attraction and repulsion of substances, including orbiting bodies. It has been a matter of contention which polarity a planet would have to possess to fit into such an orderly system. We present here a graphic depiction of the planets in,our solar system, according to the Paracelsus Research Society, beginning with the planet nearest the Sun, Vulcan, whose positive polarity is based upon the law that any activity commences with a positive impulse and has as its opposite a properly attuned negative recipient. Such proper attunement would constitute the opposite polarity. Only opposites produce again a positive reaction, requiring a negative recipient to repeat the perpetual motion within the universe. Here, in turn, every outcome of an action returns eventually (after a spherical circumscription) to the source of its impulse, only to repeat itself.
This illustration is given within a circle representing our solar system. The squaring of the circle by planetary influences is set into motion within this circle, though it is depicted here as stationary. When in motion, each would actually represent a proton of a positive nucleus with its negative electron as a shell circumnavigating its center (as in an atom). Since all this takes place within the centrum rerum, which has to include both polarities as one, we have the neutron of our Sun as the hub of all the energy, together with its manifestations as both polarities, i.e., positive and negative.
The sequence outward from the Sun (reading bottom to top on the diagram) is Vulcan, Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto, Adonis, Cronos. Note that Vulcan begins the sequence as positive. The Earth is negative. From the Sun towards the earth, we have the positive impulse by way of Vulcan. From the Earth into space, we have Mars, the negative opposite, terminating again as negative, with Chronos as the negative of Vulcan. +
p.19
Numbers and Q. B. L. By Frater Albertus It has been said that if there were no digits there would be no Qabalah, and. inversely, if there were no Qabalah, there would be no numbers (digits). Since all this may smack too much of obscure speculation, because there is so much controversy among adherents of the various Qabalistic schools of thought, it is little wonder that today's scientifically inclined minds shy away from a system that appears to be of such a vacillating nature. Since only nine digits are known to man, which may repeat themselves in various combinations almost ad infinitum, one cannot help wondering why there should be nine only; no more, no less. It is still an unsolved mystery, and it is very doubtful if there is an answer to be found as to it,, origin, regardless of all the pros and cons that may be raised concerning this system known as Q.B.L. It cannot be denied that there is something strange indeed connected with the placement and other arrangements of numbers and what these portend. We must admit that considerable speculation surrounds and even permeates its whole structure, yet there are known factors to be considered that cannot be brushed aside as meaningless. Among them is the thesis that anything considered by its numerical value when it reaches near perfection, i.e., the state of its ultimate climax as such (for which it was conceived), should total the last and final of all digits, namely, nine. Suppose this were the case. What would that reveal to us? All one could answer would be perhaps: termination. Simply because there is no higher value numerically known than nine. This would terminate it. What, for example, could be understood thereby? It may be supposed that the inherent quality, or its predetermined factor, has reached its fulfillment. This can, perhaps, be explained metaphysically, but there are few exact metaphysicians. Until the training of the metaphysician becomes more precise and exacting, it will continue to'be outweighed by the thorough training of duly qualified scientists. It should be equally possible, however, for the scientist to consider the validity of Qabalistic statements. Have such efforts been undertaken on a scientific basis? Are there at least some indications to be had that would warrant further investigations? Such pioneer work could surely lead to establishment of laws not presently even considered for investigation. We shall cite here one such example from a scientific point of view, taking a recent newspaper article that appeared under the heading: "New Value for Speed of Light." The story is datelined
Washington, November 21, 1972, and was distributed by United Press International (UPI). In a condensed version, it says: The National Bureau of Standards today reported a breakthrough in measurement of the speed of light. Involved is a laser light, a particularly pure form of electromagnetic radiation. The breakthrough, as NBS called it, came when scientists at the Bureau's Boulder, Colorado, laboratories measured the speed of light more accurately than has ever been done before. They arrived at a new speed figure of 186,282.3960 miles per second. The new value, NBS said, is 100 times more accurate than the one that had been accepted for the past fifteen years. The Boulder scientists worked with a laser whose frequency had been stabilized to prevent unwanted shifts. They then measured the frequency by the most accurate standard available oscillations of the cesium atomand the wave length by best current length standard, the wave length of krypton. Multiplying the frequency and wave length figures thus derived, gave them the new value for the speed of light. The speed of light is what scientists call a constant. All electromagnetic radiations, whether low frequency radio waves or high frequency x-rays, travel with the same speed in a vacuum. This constant, representing the maximum speed attainable by anything, appears in many equations describing the behavior of the universe. Therefore, increasingly accurate measurements of the speed of light have a profound effect in many fields. These include calculation of interplanetary distances, tracking of space vehicles, manufacture of precise instruments for gauging minute quantities of air pollutants, and expansion of the number of telecommunication bands. One of the great potentials stemming from discovery of the laser is that pure, concentrated light, unmixed in frequency and wave length, offers tremendously more communications channels than those now available. But only by knowing precisely the frequency and wave length characteristics of laser light can scientists move on to the next step of harnessing it effectively for communications. The new measurement of the speed of light, with what the experiments reveal about laser frequencies and wave lengths, make that step possible, according to NBS. What does the above indicate? How can it be related to numerical interpretation? Let us see. Light was formerly believed to travel at a speed of 186,300 miles per second. If we add up all the digits contained in that figure, they will total nine. According to Qabalistic terminology, this would indicate a termination. If this postulation proves to be accurate, any further refinement of the given figure would have to take place within such termination. This means, any division or multiplication would have to result in an end product of nine. Let us check the end product of the new figure obtained by the laser experiment, to see if the number again terminates in nine. The answer is yes. When all digits of 186,282.3960 are added, we have 45. Adding four plus five, we have the terminus of 9.
Thus far, this would establish a scientific proof arrived at independently, of any Qabalistic knowledge, yet confirming the Qabalistic teaching. Much more needs to be done to help in the correlation of such factors to bring them under strictly scientific classifications, but the above would indicate a step in the right direction.
WAS IT REAL GOLD OR WAS IT MAN-MADE? The following account is taken from the acta of the judicial faculty of Leipzig, whose legal decision was given in August, 1715. (Responsio Jaridica Facultis Juridicae Lipsiensis.) A few years ago a man arrived late in the evening at the residence of the Countess of Erbach, the castle of Tankerstein, and asked to be permitted to enter it, and to hide there a few days, as he had accidentally killed a deer belonging to the Palatine of Palatia, who was, therefore, pursuing him to take his life, and he asked to be protected. The Countess at first refused; but when she saw the man she was so much impressed with his noble appearance that she consented, and the stranger was given a room, where he stayed for a few days. Aft& that he asked for an interview with the Countess, and when admitted to her presence, he expressed his thanks for the protection given to him, and offered that, as a token of his gratitude, he would transmute her silverware into gold. The Countess at first could not believe that such a thing was possible, but she at last consented to have an experiment made with a silver tankard, which the stranger melted and transmuted into gold. She thereupon sent this gold to the city and had it tested by a goldsmith, who found it to be gold of the purest kind. She then permitted the stranger to melt and transmute all her silver spoons, plates, dishes, etc., into gold, which he did, and finally he took his leave and went away, having received a comparatively small sum of money as a gift from the Countess. Soon after this event, the husband of the Countess, who seems to have been a spendthrift, and who had been away from home for several years, serving as an officer in some foreign country, returned, because he had heard that his wife had become suddenly rich. He claimed half of the gold for himself, but the Countess refused to acknowledge his claims. The case came, therefore, before the Court, and the husband supported his claims by the fact that he was the lord of the territory (Dominus territorii) upon which the castle belonging to his wife was located, and that according to the laws of the country all treasures found upon that land were lawfully his. He therefore requested that the gold should be sold, and from the proceeds new silverware should be bought for the Countess, and the surplus be given to him. The defendant claimed that artificially produced gold could not come under the consideration of a law referring to buried treasures, and that therefore the said law could not be applied in her case; that, moreover, the silver had been transmuted into gold for her own benefit. and not for that of another, and she begged the Court to be permitted to remain in undisturbed possession of it. The Court decided in her favor. (From: IN THE PRONAOS OF THE TEMPLE OF WISDOM by Franz Hartmann)
p.37
Questions and Answers
Q. How were the old alchemists able to filter successfully without the use of filter papers such as we have today? A. They used wool threads very effectively. Q. Would you explain what is meant by the term "theriac"? A. Theriac is an antidote for poison, such as bites or other injuries. The Venetian theriac, also formerly known as 'Venice treacle," contained over sixty ingredients. We are not aware of any that mention over sixty ingredients; some give over twenty; others, even less. The original formula i~ a matter of contention. Even pharmacopias differ. Q. Does the Philosopher's Stone remain in a liquid form from the citrine color onward, or does it become a solid? A. It is said to he a solid. Q. What do the ancients mean by the Spirit of Salt? A. Hydrochloric Acid. Q. What did the ancient alchemists mean by "sulphur vive"? A. Literally, "sulphur that is alive." They were referring to crude sulphur from the mine. Q. I've read several times in different books about Potable Gold. To my understanding this means you can drink it. Is this possible? Can you bring a recipe how to make it and give the source? A. "The Alchemical Writings of Edward Kelly" contain the following: A Way of Making Potable Gold.' "There are two kinds of potable gold. one is called Elixir, and is the stone liquefied into oil; the other is extracted melted calx of gold with the red oil of Saturn. All other recipes and methods of alchemists are inept and far from our intention, for whatsoever reduced into a body, the same is crude and undecocted. Nature develops what is good into what is better by the way of alteration. Gold which has passed through alteration or physical solution has not been edduced into something better. Take oil of lead, and circulate for forty days in a steam bath. Distil in retort till more than half has ascended, and then there will be seen in the vessel a white and crystalline water remaining at the bottom, while the oil floats on the surface. Take up this oil, and place the water by itself, as it is worthless; distil this oil slowly two or three times; when quite free from water, circulate for three days, then rectify, and it will be ready." Translated from the Hamburg edition of 1676.
ASTROLOGY
Q. On what law may we base the planetary sequence of the daily three and one-half hour periods, as presented by H. S. Lewis? A. You evidently refer to the hook "Fate and the Cycles of Life," by H. Spencer Lewis. He follows the Hindu Tatwas, where each hour out of twenty~four has a planetary ruler. Instead of using one planet for each hour, H. S. Lewis uses one planet for each three and a half hours, in the same order. Thus, during sunrise on Sunday, not counting Sunday or the day in question during sunrise, when five days are added, we come to Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday., and Friday, which is Venus-ruled. This makes Venus, or "B" as Lewis calls it. the next in line. This is followed by adding five again to Friday. namely. Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, which is Mercury-ruled. or "C" in Lewis's system, to which again five is added and we have Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, which is Moonruled. or "D" in the Lewis version. This is followed by Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, which Saturn rules, or "E" as Lewis has it, which leaves Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday, which has Jupiter or "F" in Lewis's system. The seven periods are concluded by Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday, which is Mars or "G" according to Lewis's planetary disguises, and the whole order repeats itself in the Tatwas order. Although H. S. Lewis clainis his system has nothing to do with astrology, it is only too evident that the entire structure of his system is astrological-Qabalistic.
MISCELLANEOUS Q. During the calendar year, many days are set aside as so-called "Holy Days." If these are "Holy Days," as the name states, why are there so many, not only among the Christian faith, but among all other religions? Could you name two or three that could be said to be of most significance for all peoples? A. This is rather difficult to answer, because some may reject what others prefer to believe. Perhaps it would not be amiss to quote Alice Bailey, who says in her The Reappearance of Christ (pp. 155-56): "The Festival of Easter. This is the festival of the risen, living Christ, the Teacher of all men and the Head of the Spiritual Hierarchy. He is the expression of the love of God. On this day the spiritual Hierarchy, which He guides and directs, will be recognized and the nature of God's love will be emphasized. This festival is determined always by the date of the first full moon of Spring and is the great western and Christian festival. "The Festival of Wesak. This is the festival of the Buddha, the spiritual intermediary between the highest spiritual centre, Shamballa, and the hierarchy. The Buddha is the expression of the wisdom of God, the embodiment of light and the indicator of the divine purpose. This will be fixed annually in relation to the full moon of May, as is at present the case. It is the great eastern festival." No conclusive answer is possible, as there are many other religious festive occasions all over the world. In the end, all have to do with the renewal of life and the enlightenment that proceeds after the first realization has taken place. Q. What is your opinion of the books by Alice Bailey?
A. Their verbose literary style makes it unnecessarily difficult to appreciate their true value. We wish they were more condensed, making them more accessible and attractive to the modern reader, while at the same time clarifying what is needlessly obscure. Q. What is your attitude toward the young generation? A. The cry of youth-der Schrei der Jugend-needs not only to be noticed but heeded, and then answered: Help is at hand-help is forthcoming! Q. Regarding the destruction of Lucifer, making the Law of Polarity possible in the planetary system-was there no polarity in the system before this time, and if so, how did the system operate? Were the planets all of a Positive nature, and if so, was it not then necessary to learn the difference between good and evil, and therefore was it not necessary for Lucifer, or for one of the gods, to be destroyed, so that we could have evil to make the differentiation? We could even assume that the Divine Consciousness contemplated it this way before creation. A. Yes, we may assume this, as you say. As for us-sorry to confess our ignorance-we do not know! Q. When it comes to cancer we are told to beware of "quacks." What one really to understand by that? A. A quack in this case is someone with insufficient knowledge to provide the treatment or "cure." To be able to spot a "quack" look for the following: a special machine or formula kept secret. A quick cure, advertising the suggestion that even in extreme cases surgery does more harm than good. That one has the "only" cure available, and it is not necessary to consult anybody else, because others would not understand anyway. These and similar indications are sure signs of a quack.
Parachemy Volume I: Number 2 Spring 1973
Mutus Liber plate 11 Contents Iron in the Blood p.41 Alchemistical Compositum p.45 Questions and Answers p.57 p. 41
Iron In The Blood By Frater Albertus
When children refuse to eat spinach, it is because of a peculiar taste sensation in their mouth, especially on their teeth, where an abrasive feeling is noticed. Parents, telling the child that spinach is good for them, usually cannot answer the question: "What is good about it?" The reason for this taste sensation is iron. Spinach absorbs not only inorganic iron but other minerals as well. Some plants seem to have a special need or storage facility for certain minerals, not quite known and understood by man. The fact remains that some plants are a depository of mineral contents out of proportion to their own needs. Whether Nature has intended this for its next higher species, the animal, is not known but may be assumed to be the case. Other plants besides spinach show a similar tendency towards iron absorption. Inorganic minerals lack carbon and it is the plant which, with the help of carbon, brings about a metamorphosis of the inorganic substance into an organic. When converted into organic iron it still is iron except that carbon has formed a bond with the mineral. This makes assimilation in the animal body much easier since carbon is the body fuel. Without heat no digestion is possible. The plant relies on solar or artificial warmth for its sustenance. In itself it does not generate enough heat to keep it alive. The body of man creates by constant putrefaction (fermentation) his own heat and in this manner extracts in his own laboratory, the essentials from the food to nourish his blood. A plant produces also heat by putrefaction, but when doing so, dies. Not so with man. He may continue for a long period of time with this inner fermentation process and survive. The blood needs iron. It cannot function properly in the body if there is an iron deficiency. The best and simplest way is to take what nature provides with an iron abundance so that the body may supplement its needs. Among other plants besides spinach, the red beet is known to contain a considerable amount of iron. A recent special report on the concentrated beet in powdered form, says: There are many valuable elements in the beet. When people can take enough concentrated beet either in the form of juice or better yet, a juice which has been carefully dehydrated by a spray-dry process, they obtain all of the valuable elements in the beet. When the beets are grown in rich organic soil that contains all of the necessary humus and minerals including the valuable trace minerals, one taking the powdered beet will obtain many of the vitamins, minerals and trace minerals knownbecause the beet has a quality of picking up something of everything available. "It is well known, of course, that the beet is a wonderful food which contains a high iron content. The beet contains also much potassium, magnesium, phosphorous, calcium, sulphur and iodine. The beet also contains many trace minerals which seem to be very valuable for the human body. We suspect that cobalt, gold, silver, vanadium, all have some function. Many other foods contain iron and yet it is well known that the human body assimilates iron from the beetroot more easily than from almost any other known food. Researchers suspect that there is some catalyst in the beetroot which helps utilize the iron available. This is not true of many other rich sources of iron. "In the concentrated beet are nucleic acids which nourish the cell so that when the cell divides, healthy cells are born. These nutrients offered in the beet have the special ferments that are needed for cell respiration.
"In addition to the minerals and trace minerals mentioned above, research has shown that because the beet contains ample amounts of silicon the mesenchyme cell is activated. "The big factor in the beet is the Anthocyan which influences the metabolism of the cell. The Anthocyans seem to have another function and that is to have a favorable influence on the intestinal milieu. This means that it will be easier for the individual to re-establish his friendly bacteria through the use of the acidophilus milk and acidophilus concentrations plus the use of lactobacillus bifidus in viable form. "The beet in concentration also tends to help the proper pH factor of the intestinal tract which means the proper acid-alkaline balance. The red beets have a pH factor of from 5 to 6." From an alchemistical point of view this is important. When the dried beet is used as an iron supplement, only one of the three essentials is available. Two other essentials, sulphur and mercury are not separated, purified, and added to the purified mineral. Suppose, then, one were to undergo the process known as spagyric. The end product would be a beet concentrate with its three separated and purified essentials, enabling the blood to absorb these blood builders much easier and faster, because the digestion process is not required anymore to separate the essentials. This in itself would indicate an emergency measure, because of lack of iron in the daily food intake. In severe cases of pernicious anemia a more rigorous treatment would be required, not to mention leukemia where the red blood cells, (the iron carriers) are subdued by the white bloodeells. Paracelsus was already aware of this half a thousand years ago, when he advocated a source much more potent that would help in the restoration of iron deficiency in the body. He was referring to native iron. In the process he recommended the separation of the three essentials similar to the vegetable process. Today, science says this cannot be done, so it administers sulphates, phosphates, or chlorides of iron. It should be remembered that such are again only the mineral contents of inorganic iron. The other two spagyric essentials of its spirit and essential oil, or alchemical sulphur, are missing in the preparation of these salts. Such a salt-let us take an example the well known Ferrum Phosphate (phosphate of iron) as found in Dr. Schuessler's cell salts or other remedies-is prepared by using pure iron wire over which phosphoric acid is poured. When the iron wire is dissolved, the phosphoric acid is washed out and the remaining iron wire, now iron salt, is taken medicinally. This is not only a procedure used centuries ago, but presently employed as well in our modern pharmaceuticals. When blood donors are about to leave the place where blood was given they receive a tiny capsule. This, they are told, will help to replenish their blood. Its contents are iron sulphate, made by pouring sulphuric acid over iron wire and then treated, as described, with phosphoric acid. In the method of Paracelsus, the father of our present chemotherapy, we find that not only the salt but its other two essentials have to be freed. This, science is presently not able to accomplish. In the spagyric way, it is possible to derive a tincture of mineral iron, which is not a solution of the iron salts, but an extraction therefrom. It is in such extracts that the potency of iron as a blood builder can be found. It will be assimilated much more easily in the blood stream, than by the digestive process in the stomach.
Why do people drink fruit or vegetable juices and discard the pulp when in need of the food supplements? Because the vital (vitamins) substances are found in its tincture (juices). Strangely enough, when one looks at a bottle of vitamins, it usually reads "Supplemented with the following minerals for daily requirement, etc." A clear indication that deficiencies within the body are not properly supplied by vitamins only. The reason is: vitamins have to be taken continuously, instead of starting the metabolism to extract its own vital essences from the food intake, so that from then on the body can recharge and regenerate the system by itself. It does not matter so much what man eats or drinks, but when he insists that he has to have it, he is addicted to it, whether alcohol, tobacco, coffee, coke, vitamin tablets, or what have you. Only when man is able to take or leave what he wants (or better, has need for), is he free. This means freedom of body, soul, and spirit. Alchemists, since time immemorial, have advocated the spagyric way, as the sensible and truly natural-way to perfect health. Spagyrically prepared supplements contain all three essentials. These are the main building blocks and preservatives for our existence.
p. 45 Alchemistical Compositum By Saint Dunstan The following treatise attributed to St. Dunstan, of whom very little is known, is of interest to alchemical students because of its references to mixtures of various substances with which he worked. The brevity of the sections may not be sufficient to enlighten the reader who gives them only a cursory examination, but our students should find in them some important additional clues. We refer especially to Section IV, which brings to mind the work of the contemporary French alchemist, Armand Barbault, who extracts a valuable essence from the virgin earth with dew. A careful perusal should give alert students many valuable hints. -Frater Albertus
I Take of the best red transparent ore of gold as much as you can have, and drive its spirit from it through a retort: this is the Azoth and the Acetum of the Philosophers, from its proper minera, which openeth radically Sol that is prepared.
II Take the minera of Venus or Saturn, and drive their spirits in a retort; each of these dissolveth gold radically, after its purification. III Take pulverized ore of Saturn, or vulgar Saturn calcined; extract its salt with Acetum or its antinae (? anima); purify it in the best manner, that it may be transparent as crystal, and sweet as honey, and be fluid in heat like wax, and brittle when cold. This is the tree which is cut off, of unwholesome fruits, on which must be inoculated the twigs of Sol. IV Take of that earth which lieth waste in the field, found everywhere in moorish grounds, into which the astrals ejaculate their operations, being adorned with all manner of colors, appearing like a rainbow; extract from it its purest and subtilest. This is the universal menstruum for all; and is all in all. V Take of the ore of Sol and Mercury a like quantity; grind each very well; pour on it the spirit of Mercury, that it stand over three fingers deep. Dissolve and digest it in a gentle warmth. VI Take of the best vitriol, or of the vitriol of Venus; drive their spirits in a retort, whiteand red. With this red spirit, being rectified and sweetened, you may ferment and imbibe the subtle gold calx, and with the white spirit you may dissolve it after it hath been purified. VII Take quick Mercury; purify and dissolve it so long in alcolisated spirit of wine, till its impurity he separated from it, and become into its extreme, transparent, easy, fluid essence, like unto the white gluten of the eagle, and capable to receive the blood of the Red Lion. VIII Extract the salt of the crude and white calcined tartar; purify and clarify it often, till it be as bright as the tear of the eye, and can be brought no higher; therewith you may sharpen its own spirit of wine, which dissolveth Sol and Lune. IX
Take of the rank poisonous matter or stone, called kerg swaden, exuviae, or husk of the metals; drive its spirit very circumspectly; receive it so that it may turn unto water; it reduceth all metals to a potableness, X Take of the air or heavenly dew, being well purified, ten parts, and of subtle gold calx one part; set it in digestion, dissolve, and coagulate it. XI Take the urine of a wholesome man, that drank merely wine; make of it, according to art, the salt of microcosm; purify it very well, which doth so much acuate the spirit of wine that it dissolveth Sol in a moment. XII Take of the best ore of gold; pulverize it very well; seal it with Hermes his seal; set it so long into the vaporous fire till you see it spring up into a white and red rose. XIII This last experiment he calleth the Light. Take, in the name of the Lord, of Hungarish gold, which hath been cast thrice through antimony been laminated most thinly, as much of it as you will, and make with quick Mercury an amalgam; then calcine it most subtily, with flowers of sulphur and spirit of wine burnt, so often till there remaineth a subtle gold calx of a purple color. Take one part of it, and two parts of the above mentioned red matter; grind it very well together for an hour on a warmed marble then cement and calcine well by degrees for three hours in a circle fire. This, work must be iterated three times; then pour on it of the best rectified spirit, that it sand over it three fingers deep. set it in a gentle and warm digestion, for six days to be extracted; then the spirit of wine will be tinged as deep as blood; cant off that tincture, and pour on another as long as it will tinge it. put all these tinged spirits of wine into a vial so that the fourth part only be filled, and seal it hermetically; set it on the vaporous fire of the first degree; let it be of that heat as hot as the sun shineth in July; let it stand thus for forty days-then you shall obtain your wish. The author recommendeth this last experiment very highly, affirming upon his experimental practice that this Aurum Potabile is the highest medicine next unto the universal, and, being taken in appropriated vehicles, cureth all diseases without causing any pains at all. Item.-With. this Aurum Potabile is Antimony prepared, so that it purgeth only downward, and carrieth forth all ill humours without molestation, and is called the purging gold. It is prepared also by the aid of antimony into a diaphoretic gold, to expel by sweating all malignant humours; and Mercurius Vitae is made also with this Potable Gold (if it be kept in a long digestion) ; their dose is according to the quality of the person.
P.57
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. Since we talk of the four elements being within all things, what are these in relation to plants, animals, etc.? What parts of? There is a fifth element, Akashic. Is this the Quintessence? A. The four elements are always the same in essence: Heat, air, liquid, solids or fire, air, water and earth. These are found, no matter in what proportions, in all substances. The fifth element is found within the four but it is not one of the four, but one of the three essentials. This is explained in the P.R.S. curriculum. Akasha is what is found as part of SuperConsciousness. Q. Is coal similar to tartar since it is formed by organic material? Could it be used as this bridge between the vegetable and mineral world? A. Coal is primarily carbon. Tartar may contain carbon as in potassium carbonate. Carbon as such is the bridge between inorganic and organic substance. Carbon contents in the plant world distinguish it from the inorganic mineral which contains no carbon. Q. Is anything lost by allowing Sb203, to boil before pouring? A. Only its sulphurous and arsenic fumes. Q. Do we have no use for the commercially prepared potassium carbonate in the making of the tartar menstruums? A. Yes, you may use it. Q. Would an extract made by using acetone as the menstruum give a fixed extract, seeing that acetone gives an acid reaction to litmus? A. Not necessarily. We know of two types of acetone, one is the commercial, the other prepared alchemically over antimony. Q. Would taking the tincture of juniper berries be more beneficial than taking 7 berries a day? If so, about how many drops should be taken? A. We would say the tincture is more beneficial because some of the essentials within the juniper berry have been separated and are easier to assimilate. As to the dose, that is for your doctor to decide.
Q. Can the alkahest be used medicinally? Yes. ASTROLOGY Q. Do the planets absorb all the rays except the special ray by which they are known?- Or do they absorb the one ray by which they are known and reflect all others? A. They absorb what they need for their sustenance and give off any excess of their needs. MISCELLANEOUS Q. Many occult traditions have given various interpretations as to who and what the Christ is. On the one hand, there is the conception given forth by the Theosophical Society via eadbeater and later Alice Bailey that the Christ is not a being but an office in the Spiritual Hierarchy of this planet-this office being held successively for long periods by greatly exalted souls (the present One sometimes called the Lord Maitreya), and that the One holding this office is always known as the World Teacher. According to this tradition, it is the World Teacher who overshadows or inspires the various Avatars (descending ones) which incarnate at critical times for the welfare of mankind, i.e., Jesus, Krishna, Zoroaster, Hermes, and others. On the other hand, there is the Esoteric Christian tradition emanating from Rudolph Steiner and also Max Heindel which teaches that the Christ is a great Sun Being who ages ago, of His own free will, made the great sacrifice of descending step by step into physical incarnation for three years through the vehicle of Jesus of Nazareth. This was the one and only time this Being had descended so far into dense matter and this incarnation occurred at a turning point when the earth needed a special impetus for an upturn in its spiritual evolution. For it was not so much what the Christ taught, this tradition says, but what He gave. This was His Body and Blood by which the whole earth was regenerated. The Gnostics, again, in the early centuries of this era taught that the entire Biblical Christ story-the birth, baptism, transfiguration, crucifixion, and ascension-was only an allegory depicting the various stages of man's spiritual progress. Christhood or being Christed was the enlightenment or illumination attained upon the fulfillment of one's spiritual evolution or unfoldment. None of these views seems complete in itself. Is it presumptuous to ask if there is a Christ Being? Who and what is He? There is a beautiful invocation which says the Lord of Life is approached through the Christ. Why must the approach to the Lord be made in this way? A. According to the law of polarity any mental concept can be conceived only within the three essentials. No matter how subtle a substance may be it will have to have the spirit (life) within it. These two, body and spirit, are imbued with consciousness (soul). Therefore, a Christ has a being as a Being.
Q. B. L. Q. Should Daath be used in the Tree of Life pattern? Some do, others don't. A. It is said.that Daath refers to a fallen angel. All angels on the Tree of Life end their names with "EL' meaning God. Thus Ra-fa-el pertains to the sun (Ra). In the case of Daath (death) its former name was said to be Te,-uf-el (German Teufel means devil) where our English devil-devi-el-comes from. This son of the heavens (planet) fell from Grace. It is supposed to be now the asteroids between Mars and Jupiter, the remnants of this destroyed planet. That is why the Devil is called a destroyer, having destroyed his physical being and is now eager to have its intelligence incarnate or substantiate itself in matter of any form in order to be active. Only when embodied can the devilish life (spirit) by way of its great degree of intelligence (consciousness) be felt. When entry in matter (body) is denied that, which is formerly of Te-uf-el, or devilish, cannot operate. It is then bound within its own domain (doomed). Q. How do the writers of the Bible account for the life span of individuals to be 500 years or better? A. Their calendars and ours differ. Also, a conscious reincarnation considered a prolongation of the same life span here on earth. Q. In the beginning all was void. Darkness was upon the face of the deep. The light was divided from the darkness. Therefore the light must have been a part of the darkness. If this is true, then there is no darknessif this light was divided from the darkness then there must be darkness left. Does this darkness contain light? The Rosicrucians say light came not from darkness because darkness is the absence of light. Please explain. A. Absence of light does not necessarily refer to that conceived by optics. We also speak of an inner light. This light within is found in the outer darkness. At night one can see "in his mind's eye." Darkness, absence of optical light, does not conceive of light, but has within it darkness, to conceal temporarily the inner light. This is necessary to distinguish between inner and outer light, just as day and night are in essence found within one day.
Parachemy Volume I: Number 3 Summer 1973
Contents Alchemy and Meditation p.61 The Magistery - W.B. 1633 p.65 Concerning Sulphur - Michael Sendivogius 1677 p.67 p.61
Alchemy And Meditation By Robert Bremer The great alchemist Gerhard Dorn wrote the following extraordinary words:
Within the human body there is hidden a certain metaphysical substance, known only to the very few, whose essence it is to need no medicament, for it is itself uncorrupted medicament. It is of a three-fold nature: metaphysical, physical and moral. Thus the attentive reader will conclude that one must pass from the metaphysical to the physical by a philosophic procedure. In our view, this passage constitutes an amazingly concise summary of the alchemical work. Time and again, we encounter persons who suffer from what we call the eilherlor syndrome. To them, either alchemy is a purely physical and futile) laboratory pursuit-or it is a poetic analogy that was never intended to be taken literally. For the latter group, alchemy means we must liken the lead of our gross thoughts into the pure gold of religious platitudes, and that's all there is to it. Men questioned about the physical laboratory apparatus with which alchemists worked, such persons dismiss it blithely, saying, in effect, that if the discovery of phosphorous was made by an alchemist (Hennig Brand), or if the virtues of antimony were illuminated by the work of an alchemist (Basil Valentine), it was merely the result of accidentally stumbling onto important facts after wandering through some vague metaphysical fog. The opposite point of view holds that these men were determined, if rather misguided, pioneers in the field of science, and that their religious speculations are nobody's business but their own, and the less said about them, the better. After all, if a man discovers phosphorous, who cares what he thought about gnomes and spirits? If a man can teach us something about antimony, does it matter that he happened to be a devout member of a religious order? The contemporary notion of priest versus scientist, monk versus nuclear physicist is very strangely inaccurate when we come up against the historical facts of the alchemical work. Science scoffs at the religious pretensions but accepts alchemy's important scientific discoveries. Religion scoffs at the crude athanors and alembics and looks upon it all as a primitive exercise in religious mysticism. Well, who is right? The alchemists were deeply dedicated men who did not suffer from the fissure in our twentieth century souls, namely, that on the one hand there is God, on the other, there is matter, and never the twain shall meet. On the contrary, for the alchemist, God is in the world, and the world is in God. They were not victims of our contemporary blindness; that is why some of them succeeded in their work; that is why some of them have much of importance to convey to us today. Here is another passage from Dorn that demonstrates further the beautiful confluence the alchemist experiences between the physical world and the nonphysical: There is in natural things a certain truth which cannot be seen with the outward eye, but is perceived by the mind alone. The philosophers have known it, and they have found that its power is so great as to work miracles. This miracle, we suggest, is at work in the observation of a rose in your garden. This miracle is at work in the observation of a friend in your heart as well as your eyes. The mysterium coniunctionis of the alchemists, that mysterious marriage of the Sun and the Moon, is a
conjunction of the most extraordinary scope, because it is a conjunction of physical fact with metaphysical reality. This unique vision is not the result of a tersely factual pouring of acetic acid onto calcined stibium. nor is it the result of a mere figurative allusion that one given substance is the Sun and another, the Moon. Just as with physical facts, the quality of the ingredients has an important influence on the result, so in mental terms, the quality of the thought put into the work has a bearing on its ultimate success or failure. Dorn confirms this by saying: In this truth lies the whole art of freeing the spirit from its fetters, in the same way that, as we have said, the mind can be freed from the body. This last phrase-"the mind can be freed from the body"-is, as we see it, a direct reference to the meditative technique of the alchemist. But perhaps our word "technique" is not quite the correct one, for it seems to imply a formula of sorts, a preconceived set of ideas, whereas in truth, spontaneity is of the essence in meditation as it is in alchemy. Meditation is, after all, a kind of fishing into the subconscious for the wellspring of a truth. The conscious mind, selecting its subject or question (the 'bait') dips like a fishhook into the water. But the bait does not seek the fish. The fish seeks the bait. And this is one of the most commonly misunderstood principles in all of metaphysics. We do not meditate. We are 'meditated.' To achieve this, we must be receptive. Who among us is receptive? Even in the privacy of our laboratory, don't we often tend to adjust flasks, measure substances, think in the jargon of the alchemical work as though we were really performing it? After all, 'I have studied for years; I have read the texts. I direct the course of this work.' Only God directs the work. And not one among us has access to the wellsprings of that wisdom unless we are receptive. That is why alchemy is an art as well as a science. It is not only the art of directing the work as we understand it after being instructed by a book or a teacher. it is also the art of receiving the work, i.e., being receptive to it in our hearts, and letting the work refine us, even as we refine our work. That is the confluence of two worlds that the true alchemist experiences. We can, and must, strive for that through years of intellectual, physical and emotional effort, but in the end, we do not make it happen-we let it happen. And only through meditation is this "letting go possible. To quote Dorn once again: Thou wilt never make the One which thou seekest, except first there be made one thing of thyself. This "one thing" is the one-pointed concentration and subsequent meditation of the devoted student. It involves and utilizes every level of his being. It brings those levels to a pitch of alertness previously unknown, and then, once attained, it lets go of them. The technique is familiar to readers acquainted with Zen, with Yoga, with Taoism, and with many other religious disciplines. But it has not been consciously identified with alchemy for the simple reason that alchemy is so widely misunderstood or even ignored, its terminology and methods being so
notoriously obscure and complex. Martin Ruland's Lexicon of Alchemy defines meditatio as follows: The word MEDITATIO is used when a man has an inner dialogue with someone unseen. It may be with God, when He is invoked, or with himself, or with his good angel. Clearly, then, the meditative aspect of the alchemical work is not merely cogitation, or simply sitting down and thinking about the work. To be sure, preliminary organization of the theory of a given procedure is essential; master the theory before the praxis. But meditation goes deeper than this, and involves a much more complex process. The point to be emphasized is that meditation is an inner dialogue. We must select our terms for it with care, in attempting to describe it. The occultist will see it as a profound revelation from the Higher Self. the ceremonial magician, as the Knowledge and Conversation of the Holy Guardian Angel. the religionist as a form of prayer; the skeptic as an hypnotic trance; and the psychologist as a means of coming to terms with the contents of the unconscious. ' Little wonder that the alchemist is said to begin his work with a massa confusa! Both in his mind and in his physIcal labors, he must sort out of the primal chaos a goodly order. If his thoughts are not in order, his substances will not be properly handled. And even at best, if both are in order, he must have the courage to dive deeper into his inner resources to understand the relationship between his own soul and that "soul" of matter with which he works. He can still expect to be attacked on the one hand by skeptical occultists for being too "literal" in using laboratory methods; and on the other by scientifically learned friends for being a religious sentimentalist over a few flasks and retorts. So the alchemist, even today, has his own razor's edge to walk. But the challenge of the work goes beyond trite dismissals and defies the easy categories of those who try to explain it away. The man or woman who enters it with a prayerful and meditative heart can only benefit by its pursuit. Not one writer in this century or in those past can tell us the path is an easy one. Yet as Michael Maler has said: There is in our chemistry a certain noble substance over whose beginning, affliction rules with vinegar, but over whose end, joy rules with mirth. Finally, we draw from the wisdom of Morienus in instructing Khalid: This thing for which you have sought so long is not to be acquired or accomplished by force or passion. It is only to be won by patience and humility and by a determined and most perfect love. For God bestows this divine and immaculate science on his faithful servants, namely those on whom he resolved to bestow it from the original nature of things.... Nor were they able to hold anything back save through the strength granted to them by God, and they themselves could no longer direct their minds save toward the goal appointed for them by God. For God charges those of his servants whom he has purposely chosen that they seek this divine science which is hidden from men, and that they keep it to themselves. This is the science that draws its master away from the suffering of this world and leads to the knowledge of future good.
p.65
The Magistery By W.B. The following short poem was dated December, 1633, and signed only with the initials W.B. It later appeared (in 1651) in a collection of alchemical works compiled by Elias Ashmole titled THEATRUM CHEMICUM BRITANNICUM, Still considered one of the finest collections of alchemical works in English. This short poem exemplifies the efforts of early writers not only to summarize their work but to meditate on it-a point dealt with in another article in this issue-and to direct the reader to meditate as well on the alchemical message implicit in the ancient myths. The fifth stanza urges the student to a careful consideration of the myths of Cadmus and Jason, advice both given and followed three hundred years later by Fulcanelli in his famous work, LE MYSTERE DES CATHEDRALES. We have modernized the poet's spelling. -Editor Through want of skill and reason's light Men stumble at noon day; Whilst busily our Stone they seek, That lieth in the way. Who thus do seek they know not what Is it likely they should find? Or hit the mark whereat they aim Better than can the blind? No, Hermes' sons for Wisdom ask, Your footsteps she'll direct: She'll Nature's way and secret cave And Tree of Life detect. Son and Moon in Hermes' vessel Learn how the colors show; The nature of the elements, And how the daisies grow. Great Python how Apollo slew, Cadmus his hollow oak: His new raised army, and Jason how The fiery steers did yoke. The eagle which aloft doth fly See that thou bring to ground,
And give unto the snake some wings, Which in the earth is found. Then in one room sure bind them both, To fight till they be dead, And that a Prince of Kingdoms three Of both them shall be bred. Which from the cradle to his crown Is fed with his own blood; And though to some it seems strange, He hath no other food. Into his virgin mother's womb Again he enter must; So shall the King by his new birth, Be ten times stronger just. And able is his foes to foil, The dead he will revive: Oh, happy man that understands This medicine to achieve!
p.67 Concerning ...
SULPHUR By Michael Sendivogius Translated from the Latin edition, Frankfurt, 1677
[Through generations and translations, misinformation abounds regarding one Michal Seziwoju whose name has been Latinized to Michael Sendivogius (variously placed chronologically from 1556 to 1636 or 1646). Historians have presented vastly detailed biographies combining useful fact with much mis leading fiction, and in the course of an unquestionably eventful life, Sendivogius has been credited with powers and performances beyond his worth. It was only after his dramatic rescue of the famed Scottish alchemist, Alexander Seton, from imprisonment and torture by the Elector of Saxony, that he gained prominence in the history of alchemy. In gratitude, Seton shared with Sendivogius his precious powder of transmutation, and shortly after Seton's death, Sendivogius married his widow, thus acquiring the secret notes and unpublished writings of the Scottish adept. These he edited and published, sometimes under the name COSMOPOLITA, a title by which Seton had been known, someti . mes under his own anagram of DIVI LESCHI GENUS AMO. The following is taken from NOVUM LUMEN CHYMICUM. Editor] Among the three principles the Sages have justly assigned the first place to Sulphur, as the whole Art is concerned with the manner of its preparation. Sulphur is of three chief kinds: that which tinges or colours; that which congeals mercury; and essential sulphur, which matures it. The properties and preparation of this Sulphur we propose to describe, not in a set treatise, but in a dialogue. . . . We will only say, by way of preface, that Sulphur is more mature than the other principles, and that Mercury cannot be coagulated without it. The aim and object of our Art is to elicit from metals that Sulphur by means of which the Mercury of the Sages is, in the veins of the earth, congealed into silver and gold. in this operation the Sulphur acts the part of the male, and our Mercury that of the female. Of the composition and action of these two are engendered the Mercuries of the Philosophers. In a former dialogue we gave an account of the meeting of Alchemists, which a sudden tempest brought to so abrupt a close. Among those who took a prominent part of the proceedings, was a good friend of the first Alchemist; he was not a bad man, or an impostor, but, as they say, nobody's enemy except his own. yet he was foolish withal, and though really very ignorant, had no small opinion of his own wisdom and learning. He had at the meeting been the foremost champion of the claims of Sulphur to be regarded as the first substance of the Stone, and was satisfied that he would have been able to make good that claim, if the meeting had not been prematurely broken up. So when he got home he resumed his operations on Sulphur in a very confident spirit. He subjected it to distillation, sublimation, calcination, fixation, and to countless other chemical processes, in which he spent much time and money, without arriving at any result whatsoever. His failures at length began to prey on his health and spirits, and in order to recruit the former, and raise the latter, he fell into the habit of taking long walks in the neighborhood of the town where he lived. But wherever he went he could think of nothing but Sulphur. One day, with his mind full of this besetting idea, and being wrought almost to an ecstacy, he entered a certain verdant grove, in which there was abundance not only of trees, herbs, and fruits, but also of animals, birds, minerals, and metals. Of water there was indeed a great scarcity. it was carried to the place by means of aqueducts, and among these was a conduit flowing with water extracted from the rays of the moon-but this water was reserved for the use of the Nymph of the grove. In the grove there were two young men tending oxen and rams, and from them he learned that the grove belonged to the Nymph Venus. The Alchemist was gratified enough, but all his thoughts were absorbed by the subject of Sulphur, and when he remembered the words of the Sages, who
say that the substance is vile and common, and its treatment easy, when he recollected the vast amount of time, labour, and money which he had vainly spent upon it, he lifted up his voice, and in the bitterness of his heart, cursed Sulphur. Now Sulphur was in that grove, though the Alchemist did not know it. But suddenly he heard a voice which said: "My friend, why do you curse Sulphur?" He looked up in bewilderment: nobody was to be seen. "My friend, why are you so sad?" continued the voice. Alchemist: Master, I seek the Philosopher's Stone as one that hungers after bread. Voice: And why thus do you curse Sulphur? Alchemist: My Lord, the Sages call it the substance of the Stone; yet I have spent all my time and labour in vain upon it, and am well nigh reduced to despair. Voice: It is true that Sulphur is the true and chief substance of the Stone. Yet you curse it unjustly. For it lies heavily chained in a dark prison and cannot do as it would. Its hands and feet have been bound, and the doors of the dungeon closed upon it, at the bidding of its mother, Nature, who was angry with it for too readily obeying the summons of every Alchemist. It is now confined in such a perfect labyrinth of a prison, that it can be set free only by those Sages to whom Nature herself has entrusted the secret. Alchemist: Ah! miserable that I am, this is why he was unable to come to me! How very hard and unkind of the mother! When is he to be set at large again? Voice: That can only be by means of hard and perservering labour. Alchemist: Who are his gaolers? Voice: They are of his own kindred, but grievous tyrants. Alchemist: And who are you? Voice: I am the judge and the chief gaoler, and my name is Saturn. Alchemist: Then Sulphur is detained in your prison? Voice: Yes, but I am not his keeper. Alchemist: What does he do in prison? Voice: Whatever his gaolers command. Alchemist: And what can he do,?
Voice: He can perform a thousand things, and is the heart of all. He can perfect metals and minerals, impart understanding to animals, produce flowers in herbs and trees, corrupt and perfect air. in short, he produces all the odours and paints all the colours in the world. Alchemist: Of what substance does he make the flowers? Voice: His guards furnish him with vessels and matter; Sulphur digests it; and according to the diversity of the digestion, and the weight of the matter, he produces choice flowers, having their special odours. Alchemist: Master, is he old? Voice: Know, friend, that Sulphur is the virtue of the world, and though Nature's second-bornyet the oldest of all things. To those who know him, however, he is as obedient as a little child. He is most easily recognized by the vital spirit in animals, the colour in metals, the odour in plants. Without his help his mother can do nothing. Alchemist: Is he the sole heir, or has he any brothers? Voice: He has some brothers who are quite unworthy of him; and a sister that he loves, and who is to him as a mother. Alchemist: Is he always the same? Voice: As to his nature, it is always the same. But in person his heart only is pure: his garments are spotted. Alchemist: Master, was he ever quite free? Voice: Yes, in the days of the great Masters and Sages, whom Nature loved, and to whom she gave the keys of the prison. Alchemist: Who were these wise adepts? Voice: There have been very many, and among them Hermes, who was one and the same with the mother of Sulphur. After him there were kings, princes, a long line of Sages, including Aristotle and Avicenna. All these delivered Sulphur from his bonds. Alchemist: What does he give to them for delivering him? Voice: When he is set free, he binds his gaolers, and gives their three kingdoms to his deliverer. He also gives to him a magic mirror, in which the three parts of the wisdom of the whole world may be seen and known at a glance: and this mirror clearly exhibits the creation of the world, the influences of the celestial virtues on earthly things, and the way in which Nature composes substances by the regulation of heat. With its aid, men may at once understand the motion of the Sun and Moon, and that universal movement by which Nature herself is governed-also the
various degrees of heat, cold, moisture, and dryness, and the virtues of herbs and of all other things. By its means the physician may at once, without consulting an herbarium, tell the exact composition of any given plant or medicinal herb. But now-a-days men are content to trust to the authority of great writers, and no longer attempt to use their own eyes. They quote Aristotle and Galen, as if there was not much more to be learned from the great Book of Nature which is spread open before them. Know that all things on the earth and under the earth are engendered and produced by the three principles, but sometimes by two, unto which the third, nevertheless, adheres. He who knows these three principles, and their proportions as conjoined by Nature, can tell easily by their greater or less coction, the degrees of heat in each subject, and whether they have been well, badly, or passably cooked. For those who know the three principles know also all vegetables sight, taste, and odour, for these senses determine the three principles, and the degree of their decoction. Alchemist: Master, they say that Sulphur is a Medicine. Voice: Nay, you might rather call him a physician, and to him who delivers him out of prison, he gives his blood as a Medicine. Alchemist: How long can a man ward off death by means of this universal Medicine? Voice: Until the time originally appointed. But many Sages who did not take it with proper caution, have died before that time. Alchemist: Do you call it a poison then? Voice: Have you not observed that a great flame swallows up a small one? Men, who had received the Art by the teachings of others, thought that the more powerful the dose they took of our Medicine, the more beneficial would be the effect. They did not consider that one grain of it has strength to penetrate many thousand pounds of metals. Alchemist: How then should they have used it? Voice: They ought to have taken only so much as would have strengthened and nourished, without overwhelming, their natural heat. Alchemist: Master, I know how to make that Medicine. Voice: Blessed are you if you do! For the blood of Sulphur is that inward virtue and dryness which congeals quicksilver into gold and imparts health and perfection to all bodies. But the blood of Sulphur is obtained only by those who can deliver him from prison; and therefore he is so closely imprisoned that he can hardly breathe, lest he should come to the Palace of the King. Alchemist: Is he so closely imprisoned in all metals? Voice: In some his imprisonment is less strict than in others.
Alchemist: Why, Lord, is he imprisoned in the metals so tyrrannously? Voice: Because if he once came unto his royal palace, he would no longer fear his guards. He could look from the windows with freedom, and appear before the whole world, for he would be in his own kingdom, though not in that state of highest power whereto he desires to arrive. Alchemist: What is his food? Voice: His food is air, in a digested state, when he is free; but in prison he is compelled to consume it in acrude state. Alchemist: Master, cannot those quarrels between him and his gaolers be composed? Voice: Yes, by a wise and cunning craftsman. Alchemist: Why does he not offer them terms of peace? Voice: He cannot do so by himself: his indignation gets the better of his discretion. Alchemist: Why does he not do so through some commissary? Voice: He who could put an end to their strife would be a wise man, and worthy of undying honour. For if they were friends, they would help, instead of hindering each other, and bring forth immortal things. Alchemist: I will gladly undertake the duty of reconciling them. For am a very learned man, and they could not resist my practical skill. I am a great Sage, and my Alchemistic treatment would quickly bring about the desired end. But tell me, is this the true Sulphur of the Sages? Voice: He is Sulphur; you ought to know whether he is the Sulphur of the Sages. Alchemist: If I find his prison, shall 1 be able to deliver him? Voice: Yes, if you are wise enough to do so. It is easier to deliver him than to find his prison. Alchemist: When I do find him, shall I be able to make him into the Philosopher's Stone? Voice: I am no prophet. But if you follow his mother's advice, and dissolve the Sulphur, you will have the Stone. Alchemist: In what substance is this Sulphur to be found? Voice: In all substances. All things in the world-metals, herbs, trees, animals, stones, are its ore. Alchemist: But out of what substances do the Sages procure it?
Voice: My friend, you press me somewhat too closely. But I may say that though it is everywhere, yet it has certain palaces where the Sages can most conveniently find it; and they worship it when it swims in its sea and sports with Vulcan (god of fire), though there it is disguised in a most poor garb. Now is it in a dark prison, hidden from sight. But it is one only subject, and if you cannot find it at home you will scarcely do so in the forest. Yet, to give you some heart in your research, I will solemnly assure you that it is most perfect in gold and silvermost easily obtained in quicksilver. With these words Saturn departed, and the Alchemist, being weary with walking, fell into a deep sleep, in which he saw the following vision: He beheld in that grove a spring, of water, near which Salt and Sulphur were walking and quarrelling, until at last they began to fight. Salt dealt Sulphur a grievous wound, out of which there flowed, instead of blood, pure, milk white water, that swelled into a great river. In this river the virgin goddess, Diana, came to bathe. and a certain bold prince, who was passing by, was inflamed with great love towards her. which she, perceiving and returning pretended to be sinking under water. The prince bade his attendants assist her. but they excused themselves, saying that the river, though it looked small and all but dried up, was most dangerous. "And," said they, "many of those who have passed here before have perished in it." Then that prince threw off his thick cloak, plunged into the river, and stretched out his arm to save the beautiful Diana; but she grasped it so convulsively that they both sank under water together. Soon afterwards their souls were seen rising upward above the water, and they said, "We have done well, for in no other way could we be delivered from our stained and spotted bodies." Alchemist: Will you ever return into those bodies? Souls: Not while they are so polluted-but when they are cleansed, and the river is dried up by the heat of the sun. Alchemist: What do you do in the meantime? Souls: We soar above the water till the storm and the mists cease. Then the Alchemist thought that he saw a great number of his fellows come to the spot where the body of the Sulphur lay slain by the Salt. and they divided it among themselves, and gave a piece to him also. Then they went home, and began to operate on their (dead) Sulphur, and are at it to this day. Presently Saturn returned, and the Alchemist said: Master, come quickly, I have found Sulphurhelp me to make the Stone. Saturn: Gladly, my friend. Prepare the quicksilver, and the sulphur, and give me the vessel. Alchemist: Oh, I do not want Mercury. It is a delusion and a snare, as my friend the other Alchemist discovered to his smart. Saturn: I can do nothing without quicksilver. Alchemist: Oh no, we will make it of Sulphur only.
So they set to work on that piece of dead sulphur, and sublimed, calcined, and subjected it to all manner of chemical operations. But they produced nothing save little bits of sulphurous tow, such as they use for lighting fires. Then the Alchemist confessed the fruitlessness of his endeavours, and bade Saturn set about the work in his own way. Then Saturn took two kinds of quicksilver, of different substance but one root, washed them with his urine, and called them the sulphurs of sulphurs; then he mixed the fixed with the volatile, after which he placed them in a proper vessel, and set a watch to prevent the sulphur from escaping; afterwards he placed them in a bath of very gentle heat-and thus they made the Philosopher's Stone, which must always follow as the outcome of the right substance. Then the Alchemist took it in his hand, admired its beautiful purple colour, and danced about with it, shouting aloud with joy and delight. Suddenly the glass slipped out of his hand and broke into a thousand pieces; the stone vanished; and the Alchemist awoke with nothing in his hand but some pieces of sulphurous tow. There are a good many Alchemists who, having an extremely favourable opinion of themselves, and fancying that they can hear the grass grow, rail against this Art, because they think that if the Stone were not a mere delusion, they could not have failed to find it. We, for our part, are not over anxious to rob these people of their comfortable conviction. But to men who were worthy (men both of high and low degree) we have repeatedly proved the reality of our Art by incontestable ocular evidence. Let me warn those who wish to follow the true method in studying our Art, always to read with constant reference to natural facts, and never, under any circumstances, to do anything contrary to Nature. If the Sages say that fire does not burn, they must not believe it; for Nature is greater than the Sages; but if they say that it is the property of fire to dry and heat things, they will accept this statement, because it is in accordance with the truth of Nature-and the facts of Nature are always simple and plain. If any one came and taught you to make this Stone, as though he were giving you a recipe for making cheese out of milk, he might speak more plainly than I have done; but I am compelled to veil and conceal my meaning, because of the vow which my Master exacted of me. My last words shall be addressed to you who have already made some progress in this Art. Have you been where the bridegroom has been married to the bride, and the nuptials were celebrated in the house of Nature? Have you heard how the vulgar have seen this Sulphur, as much as have you who have taken such pains to seek it? If you wish that even old women should practice your philosophy, show the dealbation of these sulphurs, and say openly to the common people: Behold, the water is divided, and the Sulphur has gone forth; when it returns it will be whiter than snow, and will congeal the water. Burn the sulphur with imcombustible Sulphur, wash it, and make it white and purple until the Sulphur becomes Mercury, and the Mercury Sulphur, and you can proceed to quicken it with the soul of gold. Our Mercury must be corrected by means of Sulphur otherwise it is unprofitable. A prince without a people is a wretched sight and so is an Alchemist without Sulphur and Mercury. If you understand me, I have spoken. The Alchemist went home, bewailed the broken Stone, and his folly in not asking Saturn about the Salt of the Sages, and the way of distinguishing between it and ordinary salt. The rest he related to his wife.
CONCLUSION Every student of this Art should first carefully read what is said in this and other Treatises-about the creation, operation, properties, and effects of the four elements; otherwise he cannot apprehend the nature of the three principles, or find the substance of the Stone, or understand its development. God has created the elements out of chaos; Nature has evolved the three principles out of the elements; and out of these principles she makes all things, and gives power to her beloved disciples to produce marvelous preparations. If Nature produces metals out of the principles, Art must follow her example. It is one of the rules of Nature to act through intermediate substances. and this book should enable the student to judge what substances are intermediate between the elements and metals, and between metals and the Stone. The difference between gold and water is great, that between water and mercury not so great, and that between gold and mercury very small, for mercury is the habitation of gold, water the habitation of mercury, and sulphur is that which coagulates mercury. The whole arcanum lies hidden in the Sulphur of the Sages, which is also contained in the inmost part of their Mercury, which has to be prepared in a certain way that shall be described on another occasion. I have not written this Treatise with the object of refuting the ancient Sages, but only for the purpose of correcting, explaining, and supplementing their statements. After all, they were only men, and they sometimes did make assertions which can now no longer be maintained. For instance, when Albertus Magnus says that gold was once found to have developed in the teeth of a dead man, he is out of harmony with the possibilities of Nature; for an animal substance can never develop into a mineral. It is true that animals and vegetables contain sulphur and mercury, as well as minerals; but these principles are animal and vegetable, not mineral. If there were no animal sulphur in man, the mercury of his blood could not be congealed into flesh and bones; and if plants contained no vegetable sulphur, their mercury or water (sap) would not be congealed into leaves and flowers. The three kinds of sulphur are essentially the same, but, like the three mercuries, they are differentiated according to the three kingdoms, and cannot act outside their own kingdoms. Each kind of mercury can be coagulated by none but its own sulphur, and if gold was found in the teeth of a dead man, it must have been introduced in an artificial manner-either as gold, or in the shape of some other metal which by the gradual action of its own metallic sulphur on its metallic mercury, was afterwards transmuted into gold. It is mistaken impressions and superstitious notions, like this one of Albertus Magnus, that we have set ourselves to correct in this Treatise, by stating once for all the true facts of animal, vegetable, and mineral development. Let the painstaking student be satisfied to have received a true account of the origin of the Three Principles. There is no greater help towards a successful end than a good beginning. I have in this Treatise started the student on the right road, and given clear and practical directions. With God's blessing, and by dint of diligent and perservering study, one may now fairly hope to reach the glorious goal. But I, having told out all that is lawful for me to utter, now commit myself to the mercy of a loving Creator, who will receive me to Himself; and I commend the gentle and pious Reader to the same great Father of All, to whom be praise and glory, through the endless succession of the ages.
Parachemy Volume I: Number 4 Autumn 1973
V.I.T.R.I.O.L.U.M. Contents Alchemy Throughout The Ages p.80 Questions and Answers p.90 p. 80
Alchemy Throughout The Ages* By Heinz Fischer-Lichtental Munich, Germany
Fundamental Considerations An alchemist is a peculiar man, a lone wolf, possibly with a pointed medieval magician's hat. He vegetates in an attic where it smells like sulphur. Surrounded by an agglomeration of laboratory utensils, he maintains a continuous fire on which different unsavory mixtures are brewed. And all of this to make gold! So much for the surprisingly still existing stereotype of an alchemist. It has been transmitted to a large extent by the tradition which is based on the medieval Dr. Faustus and his contemporaries. Furthermore, this view seems to be confirmed by the enlightenment that took place since the beginning of modern chemistry and in the charmingly-tender to contemplative-romantic casts in the paintings by Karl Spitzweg. The rather meager education and information of past centuries did not enable most people to differentiate between charlatanry and serious alchemistical activity. Also, the powers of the former absolute rulers endangered the freedom of the genuine adept by the attempts to force him to live in complete dependence of and to perform undesirable services for a ruling potentate or to be subjected to much persecution. This explains the fact that the majority of the handed-down alchemistical writings were published either anonymously or under a pseudonym. Furthermore, the trend had already been established by the Arabs and Alexandrians to express themselves in allegories and to embellish their subjects of discussion. The abundance of traditions makes it impossible to penetrate the thicket. All we can hope to do is to establish a historical leitmotiv at the surface of events. The prevalent contemporary view of alchemy and its essential features has been derived from that of the sciences of the 18th and 19th centuries. It was then that the separation of alchemy and chemistry took place which has been perpetuated to the present. The common point of view is that alchemy can be nothing else but a remnant of medieval superstition and mental obscureness when contrasted to the exact science of chemistry. Such a belief is of course understandable. For centuries the charlatanries of defrauding speculators dominated the public scenes in Europe. The seriously and also scientifically working alchemists operated almost exclusively outside of the public view. As the belief in alchemy finally became obscure, the attacks upon it became less strong and specific achievements by certain alchemists in the science of chemistry found recognition and their belief in alchemy was tolerated. However, the chasm of misunderstanding which had been formed seemed to remain irreconcilable. The genuine alchemists not only held on to the theory that all manifestations are based on a primary substance but also that the transmutation of matter from one form into another one is in principle possible. As far as application is concerned the pointed question remains to the present day: "Is it or is it not possible to transmute common metals into gold or silver?" Alchemists have continued to answer this question resolutely with YES. Chemists, on the other hand, had to continuously modify their position in the light of expanding chemical-physical knowledge that gold can be produced synthetically. Also, the newer insights that the single atom does not represent the ultimate indivisible building block of matter fully endorse the correctness of the
alchemistical hypothesis but not its processes of application. It is herein where to the present day and age the differences are to be found. During the Middle Ages the concepts of alchemy and chemistry were inseparable. The basic literal meaning of both words is the same. Only the addition or omittance of the syllable al differentiates their style of writing.** It is a fact that the science of alchemy contained the field of theoretical and applied chemistry. This included the production of metal alloys, the making of glass, pearls, and of artificial gems, the coloring of textiles, and the preparations of medications and cosmetics as well as the distillation of aromatic and alcoholic liquids. This development once started with the simple process of mixing and smelting, However, because alchemy was resting on scientific theories it went beyond the purely practical and in a certain sense mechanical manufacture based upon handed-down practical knowledge. But even in the light of this discussion alchemy has not been done full justice. In Its more profound sense it represents a practical natural philosophy. It represents not only a longing for the understanding of what essentially holds the world together but also an orientation of one's life according to recognized principles. This attitude, in turn, resulted in a close connection to religion. According to the moral maturity of the individual personalities involved, one encounters of course all imaginable variations, from the desire of harmony with the will of God to the purely egotistical point of view, from the pure desire for knowledge to greed and the most brutal exercise of power. To inquire about the origins of alchemy implies to go back to the beginning of creation. Anchored in the latter it represents a functional law of nature and eventually penetrated the consciousness of thinking, observing, and also lonely men. In the course of eternal evolution the insight evolved not only to a laboratory practice but also to a Weltanschauung which we call in its narrow sense alchemy. We are tied to historical standards which lie outside our daily lives. According to contemporary science our earth is about five billion years old. But only a very minute part of this unimaginable long time span has exhibited human life. Still, men have existed since a million years ago. About 30,000 - 40,000 years ago, man has already lived in Europe, i.e., before the last great ice age, These people-friends of alchemy take note of this-were versed in a smelting process of enamel. Maybe they were more interested in it per se, as a leisurely preoccupation, or liked the colorful gloss. Also, the forerunners of our present coins, the so-called rainbow dishes, which were only recently thought of as being of celtic origin and therefore of an earlier vintage, date from them. These dishes are small leaves of pure gold, indented at the center and resembling a tiny dish, engraved with figures reminding one of animal heads and bodies or which have to be viewed as other symbolic depictions. It therefore follows that the metal must have already been known which later was to play a crucial and also fateful role in the history of alchemy. (to be continued next issue) *Translated from "Der Weg der Alchemic durch die Jhrtausende" by Siegfried G. Karsten. **In German.
p.90
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. In an experiment with iron powder, I got a good tincture, but the color did not remain in solution, and finally, after a day or so, the solution became clear. Why. wouldn't the red color remain in solution? A. PARACHEMY stands ready to answer freely and as best it can the questions of sincere students engaged in the pursuit of the alchemical work. But we have selected the above question as typical of many we receive that are framed in such vague terms, that no answer is possible. In what sort of experiment was the writer engaged? What was its purpose? Of what substances did his solution consist? Unfortunately, the questioner supplies none of the pertinent facts. He just wants to know what happened to the red color! We hope that this questioner-and all our readerswill please take note that specific details of one's work must be supplied before specific answers can be given. That is the only safe and sure way by which we, or our readers, can proceed. Q. How does one get the sulphuric acid out of the Sb2S3 with distilled rain water? A. Calcine the Sb2S3. This will rid it of the sulphur, and no sulphuric acid will show. Q. Please clarify the difference between an alchemist and a chemist. Given the laws and formulae, why wouldn't a chemist come up with the same end product as the alchemist? A. A chemist would do so only if he worked alchemistically. Perhaps it could also be phrased this way: A chemist analyzes by decomposing while an alchemist reconstructs what has been decomposed, according to the given laws. Q. A friend gave me the lees (argol?) of red wine. Should I save it? A. Yes. It will prove useful. Q. Has an alchemical Sb2O3 powder been treated with an acid? If so, is it then a fixed powder and would the results be a fixed tincture or a fixed oil? A. It depends. When acetic acid is used it will get us a fixed tincture or residue. When sulphuric acid is used, for instance it will yield an antimony sulphide, which, of course, is not fixed. This goes for phosphoric acid, nitric acids and its like. Q. How do we separate acetic acid from the vinegar of antimony? A. Hardly possible.
Q. We received information earlier that oil of turpentine (instead of spirits of turpentine) is the commercially available volatile sulphur of pine. Experience indicates this commercial oil requires purification prior to cohobation. What technique can be used to purify volatile sulphur? We experimented with adding absolute alcohol to the sulphur (equal volume) and leaving in a sand bath for a week (colorless mixture). After a week, the color changed to yellow. This mixture was then distilled-the distillate was clear, but smelled of turpentine. The oily residue was brown. Would the distillate be a mixture of volatile sulphur and mercury to use in preparing the vegetable stone? A. Yes. However, it does not contain enough of the sulphur you would need. The oily residue needs further rectification. Q. If alcohol is used in the vegetable and mineral (K.M.) kingdoms, please explain why ether is also used as a menstruum. A. Because it is alcohol oxidized (ethyl oxide). Q. Is it safe to mix ether and alcohol? A. Yes, but only if there is no flame or spark nearby. Eliminate the presence of anything that could ignite either the alcohol or the ether. Q. Would you enlighten us as to what was meant by the early alchemists when they made use of such terms as the Black Dragon, the Red Dragon, the Red Lion, the Green Blood of the Red Dragon? A. When alchemists spoke of their Black Dragon, they referred thereby to the black dregs that remain in the work on antimony. From this they extracted the Dragon's Blood or the Blood of the Red Lion. The green color they referred to as their Green Gum or the Green Lion, from which is extracted, again, its essence. However, one must make due allowance when it comes to interpreting alchemistical terminology, as not every alchemist gave the same meaning to each allegorical expression. The Philosopher's Stone, for example, has also been named by some as the Red Lion, etc. Q. What is the relation of the P, V, and K factors to the herbs? How nay we use them? A. The answer is too lengthy to give here. Details may be found in the "Tridosha." Q. You have mentioned, in one of the P.R.S. BULLFTINS, the Schuessler Tissue Salts, which I have used. You stated that the tissue salts were dead, the minerals used, that is. Will you comment on their use and potency? A. Actually, there are more than twelve tissue salts. In Dr. Schuessler's system, only six are given as basic substances. You will notice that Kali (Potassium) and Sodium (Natrium) are among others which are given in three different forms, once as sulphate, then as muriate and
phosphate. In the case of iron (ferrum.), common iron wire is dissolved in phosphoric acid. The remainilrig residue (ferrum. phosphate) is washed and taken as such. To get the full value of iron would require all three essentials found therein, namely its sulphur and mercury as well as its salt. Such mineral preparations are presently not to be had in pharmacies. Q. What can be put in alcohol to absorb the water that may be in it? A. Dehydrated lime or potassium carbonate anhydrous. MISCELLANEOUS Q. What do you mean by "a conscious worker"? Wherein does he differ from an attentive, hardworking, conscientious worker? A. A "conscious worker" is one who knows what he is doing and why. An individual may have all the characteristics you describe attentive, hard-working, conscientious-and still not know what his work is all about in the end. We could liken such a person to those who do work on top secret government projects. They may meet all the qualifications you cite and yet have no idea of the ultimate end product for which they are supplying certain parts. Therefore, they are not "conscious workers." Q. In making contact with someone on the other side, is it necessary for them to lower their consciousness and us to raise ours? A. This is like asking, 'If you have a telephone and I have a telephone, is it necessary for me to call you or for you to call me?" Either situation may prevail. Q. You have said that the intangible, or non-matter, is what scientists call anti-matter. Yet, if we do not err, science has been of the opinion that matter and anti-matter, if they came into contact, would cancel each other out in an explosion. A. Correct. An explosion, however, does not mean annihilation. Assuming such an explosion of matter and anti-matter took place, it would only mean a state of superior refinement of substance into a state of extreme subtlety unknown to us. Inasmuch as no substance can be annihilated but only changed in its atomic structure, the result would be a structure not presently known to men. +
Parachemy Volume II: Number 1-2 Winter/Spring 1974
Contents Alchemy Throughout The Ages p.117 Questions and Answers p.128 The Positive Alchemist - Cockren - back cover p. 117
Alchemy Throughout The Ages* By Heinz Fischer-Lichtental Munich, Germany
(continued from page 80) Eastern Alchemy When did the grand cycle of the present age start? Contemporary historical and archaeological research tends to go definitely beyond the classicists to recognize in the Persian area the real origin of our present civilization. Persopolis, which was plundered and destroyed by Alexander during the 4th Century B.C., represents the familiar climax of that particular historical epoch. Long before that time, large settlements existed in the north-eastern part of Iran "in which art and science had found a safe haven. We may assume with certainty that the foundation of our culture is to be found in ancient Iran! From there the impulses radiated not only to Ur in Chaldea but also to the Assyrians, Phoenicians, Babylonians, and to all other ancient peoples found at the periphery of Eastern historical traditions. The Iranian era was oriented toward the cosmos and in its beginnings it was universally unlimited in its spiritual breadth and freedom. The Egyptian epoch which only unfolded later was referenced to the Sun and is to be considered as the remnant of a much older grand culture which is historically not verifiable. However, it is evident that Egypt, as a former colony of an ancient and lost race, took over the heritage of its matrix and was able to lead it to new creative heights. The Occident was impregnated and enriched by the remnants of preserved wisdom. Even though the ancient Egyptians were versed in crude metallurgy and the melting of glass, the existence of alchemy in its narrow sense cannot be substantiated with the exception of the Tabula Smaragdina, which will be dealt with later. Out of the historical obscurity of the Iranian times of over eight thousand years ago, a mythical figure stands out, namely Zoroaster,** the wise teacher of mankind, His name, which has been modified by several languages, is in its latest version more familiarly known as Zarathustra. Was he perhaps already an alchemist? He is credited with the growing of important cultivated plants such as wheat and grape vine. These two also touch at the origin of Holy Communion which was later to become indigenous with 'Christianity and which in the meantime has embraced the globe as a sacramental act of civilization. The achievements of this ancient sage as a cultivator were more significant than what is commonly known under this classification. He was not only concerned with variations of that which existed, which can be obtained through selection and hybridizing. It was the ability to permanently mold those forces which had previously produced acridity, denatured juices, and excessive sprouting into sweetness and aroma. generous germination and fruit bearing in a plant. To ennoble a genus of plants, to raise it up to the usefulness and joy of mankind, this was his essential accomplishment. In order to create something entirely new in the biological sphere it is insufficient to deal only with the selection of seeds and seedlings and the preparation and fertilizing of the soil by adding the ashes (salts) of certain selected plants. To prevent being stuck with immature results, one has
to utilize the vibrations in resonance of the activating individuality whose consciousness reaches into the ranae of subtle matter. This is the key to the secret why in our contemporary times those uninitiated in the great work have been unable to reach ultimate mastery or, if propitious circumstances prevailed, negative result, still manifested. Forces of a chemical nature can he applied according to prescribed formulas. However, to be a successful alchemist it is not enough also to he a worshipper. Man must have learned to stand in humility before his creator and to go through life in an even-tempered calm and not to lose his inner balance through daily iniquities. Whoever meets such prerequisites is able to obtain, like the adepts of former times, prudent guidance and the blessing of the highest universal consciousness for truly creative accomplishments. It is credible that the ancient Iranian sage was such a blessed personality. We are justified in counting him among the fathers of alchemy. Already prior to Alexander's conquest, Iranian knowledge and wisdom were flowing in a western direction. For example, the Greek mind subsequently became impregnated by Oriental consciousness. Out of the blending of the Iranian, Babylonian. and Egyptian genii emerged the integrated culture of later Hellenism. This in turn created important preconditions for theevolution of occidental alchemy. As proof of the antiquity of the tradition of alchemistical knowledge, the Tabula Smaragdina*** is often quoted with the authorship credited to Hermes Trismegistus. Encyclopedias report that this name was assigned by the ancient Greeks to an Egyptian god who is also known by the name of Thoth (our knowledge of the pronunciation of ancient names of this kind rests upon a weak foundation). More definite knowledge is not readily available. Perhaps the threefold wise Hermes really lived as a human being among the Greeks and considered himself to be the reincarnation of the ibis-headed Egyptian god from whom all original wisdom is supposedly derived. The term hermetic is part of contemporary linguistic usage; Hermes has thus left his mark upon common language. The concept hermetically sealed signifies the completion of a line of thought. Hermetic art, as alchemy is referred to since ancient times. consists in large part of bringing about processes of development and transmutation within tightly sealed vessels, comparable to evolving life within the uterus of a mother. Identical texts of the Tabula. as transmitted by the Greeks, have been found in more recent times during the opening of Egyptian burial grounds in Thebes which proves its pre-Grecian origin. The relevant papyri are preserved in Stockholm and Leyden. The text and its meaning cannot he dealt with in this paper. However, old alchemistical writings not only refer to Hermes, but also to Isis, Horus, Agathodaimon, Moses, and other gods and men cited. One may tend to include also Solomon, the wise king, in this list. But this places us well at the limit of our possibilities to lift the darkness of the historic and prehistoric past. It remains to point out that the invention of the distillation apparatus and the discovery of the chemical properties of sulphur, especially the reaction of suphur vapors on metals, fall into the 1st Century of our chronology. For the old practitioners it must have been a great experience to
recognize how out of the blending of mercury and sulphur something completely different, namely a red mercury sulphide, manifested, which presented itself as totally different in its properties and color. At the end of the classical period it came to that mental strangulation which in its biased earthly orientation is known as the Ptolernaic System. Only Copernicus, whose 500th birthday was celebrated in 1973, was able to break these mental chains. It is with the 2nd Century that the essential alchemy comes forward in more precise terms. Its practice goes back to artisans and physicians and its theory is formulated by gnostic -neoplatonic philosophers. It seems that the alchemistical tradition has found its way now out of the Greek area via Egypt where probably only the Greek-formed Coptic circles were comprehended. Important and revealing historical evidence has been lost with the destruction of the library at Alexandria. The ancient cultural heritage reached in the ensuing centuries the Arabic conquerors who, kindled by Islam, prepared themselves to assume cultural leadership for a considerable time. And once more the world of that time was enriched with mental goods by Iran. Since the middle of the 8th Century, astrologers, astronomers, alchemists, and physicians migrated from the large cities of northeast Persia, which were located on the old overland route to India, to the new cultural centers. Texts in the Arabic language contain evidence of Iranian heritage. Philosophy now experienced through the Islam a mystical recast. Two personalities stand out primarily around the 9th Century in the field of alchemy: the physician al Razi and the scholar Dschabir ibn Hajjan. In Razi we find a practitioner who left objective and thorough records. Dschabir had mastered numerous areas of learning, including the physics of that time. His writings became known in the Occident under the pseudonym of Geber. Comparisons with Indian translations of the writings of both of these Arabs have led in recent times to the realization that Geber was not a specific alchemist. It is probable that a great part of the literary legacy of Razi has been published under the name of Geber. What took place outside the periphery of our old world? Were alchemists also in existence in the Far East? Indians, Tibetans, and the Chinese were supposed to have practised alchemy for millenia. In Delhi a rust-free iron column of 6,000 kg has existed for 2,300 years. about its size and rust-free property only unsuccessful conjectures have been made. All of this still lies outside of the evolving mental horizon. However, it is to be expected that a more extensive interchange of ideas with the help of modern publications will present quite a few surprises.
Alchemy of the Occident Due to the influence of Rome the peoples of the Occident were bound together by unifying structural traits which enabled them to transcend numerous differences, especially with regard to law, Roman-Christian religion, and Latin. The Occident had matured to assume the cultural leadership. There is no need to point out that Arabic science was superior to the Christian at that
time. It is understandable that the Arabs guarded their secrets within confined groups as much as possible. It was not until the Moors were defeated by the Germanic tribes and the great centers of learning of the Spanish Islam fell into Christian hands that their mental wealth became available to the Christian Occident. The most important base was harboured at Toledo which was conquered in the year 1085. Gerhard von Cremona founded there the famous school of translators, through which, among other things, the until then unknowm works of Aristotle were made available in Latin to the West. However, the oldest handed-down alchemistical recipe of the Occident did not originate through this source but out of contacts with the Byzantine (East-Roman) Empire. It is found in the Schedula Diversarium Artium, one of the most valuable technical writings, now about 1,000; years old, of the entire Middle Ages. It was not until the middle of the 12th, Century that the alchemy of the Middle Ages began to flourish. About 100 years later, i.e., around 1250 A.D., it was already established in the whole Occident. Popes and kings came under its spell. Not only scientists and personalities of all educated ranks but also scoundrels and jugglers of fortune became devoted to alchemy although neither sceptics nor adversaries were short in supply. The ethos which emanated from alchemy was adhered to by only a few. Speculation for material gain became predominant. All efforts were oriented toward that mysterious and secret universal tincture with which presumably all diseases were curable and with which all common metals could be transmuted into gold. The latter seemed to be of greatest interest. One learned to differentiate between the so-called gold bugs and the gold birds. The former were descriptive of the pseudoalchemists who were either unable to make gold or who had gotten hold of a little of the tincture and were thus able to put on a show until they ran short of it. The latter were representative of the genuine alchemists who were in possession of the formula for the gold tincture and worked accordingly. The former were only gold-glittering; what mattered to them most was to cunningly catch the others so that they may lay the golden eggs in a gilded cage as long as desired. But even the few genuine alchemists became numerous in the course of time. One can assert that an impressive number of distinguished names of famous alchemists of the Middle Ages are historically provable. To deal with their individual destinies would go too far. We therefore have to confine ourselves to pointing out a few facts. The Dominican Bishop Albert von Bollstedt emerged during the 13th Century as a representative of universal knowledge. Under the name of Albertus Magnus he became the mental focal point among the scientists of his century. On the basis of his own experiments, he verified the feasibility of the transmutation of metals. Around the year 1480 a man was born who made public appearances as an alchemist and who finally faced a dreadful end, namely Dr. Faustus, whose life induced Goethe to write in poetic freedom the world famous drama Faust. The 15th Century was subsequently enriched by a new mysterious personality: Basilius Valentinus. Under his authorship the most important work of alchemy was published, The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. The alleged author is said to have lived in a Benedictine
monastery at Erfurt, Germany. However, one looks in vain for a monk by that name. Original handwritten manuscripts have never been found. None of his congenial contemporaries had heard of him. His writings were not published until the year 1602, about one and a half centuries later; they exhibit such startling insights as to shed doubt about their backdated origin. Much that is contained in his book is also to be found in the earlier writings of Paracelsus (1493-1541) who has been accused of plagiarism. It took several centuries to recognize the genius of this constantly persecuted individuality. If one sufficiently ascertains the totality of this event, one arrives ultimately at an inner assurance. With a probability approaching certainty one can state today that behind Basilius Valentinus stands Theophrastvon Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus! His abundant mental legacy has still not been sufficiently evaluated. The reforms in medicine which were initiated by him will cause discussions and actions in the ensuing decades and centuries. He belongs to us and we belong to him. He has shown the way out of mystical speculations to practical and systematic applications as well as to new research and rewarding tasks. In the time span from 1600 - 1750. the final stage of the old alchemy, conditions became critical. The genuine alchemists, in the face of massive attacks by the natural sciences, further withdrew into the underground. But at the same time they also emphatically demonstrated their alchemistical mastery to the public. The occurrences of these times of the gold makers provide enough material for a series of detective stories. But it is also evident that the transpiring of these events took place systematically. The existence of secret orders is evident. None of the truly knowledgeable disclose their secrets; they rather endure torture or agonizing death. Never does an adept personally perform the various tasks at public demonstrations. All of the work such as the procurement of essential utensils. components, and ingredients is left to outsiders in order to remove from the very beginning any suspicions of secret manipulations. Often times. the tincture with instructions is played into the hands of seemingly suitable laymen. In all instances the gold tincture referred to is actually a powder or a solid substance the color of which varies from a light yellow to a deep red depending upon its method of preparation whereas for the tinging of silver a white powder is used. The technical terms for the conversion of metal are to tinge or to transmute. Sometimes these powders were dissolved in oil. In a few instances they were enclosed in wax prior to their application. Generally, only minute quantites of the tincture are required, the magnitude of which is in a proportion of 1: 50 to 1: 20,000 depending upon the quantity of metal to be tinged. They preferred to transmute mercury and lead, sometimes also tin, copper, iron, sulphur of antimony. and silver. The diverse applicability of most tinctures does not in any way limit their efficaciousness. The application administered was determined by then prevailing circumstances. In all cases, the substances to he transmuted had to be heated, made red hot, or even had to be liquified sometimes. As soon as the tincture is then adaed, the transmutation takes places from an instant to a quarter of an hour, usually under a roaring and sizzling noise, accompanied by an inflating and bubbles, until it comes to rest.
Prominent and exalted persons were often present. The repertoire ranges from the German Emperor Rudolph II in Prague to the King of Prussia, Frederick the Great, in Berlin. from the Brantian physician van Helmont to the officials of the court of Vienna. Protocols, having attested signatures with references to Year, day and hour of occurrence testify to this. Indeed. the Scottish nobleman Alexander Seton has performed transmutations in at least eight major German cities and repeated them in numerous other localities within a two-year period. He was arrested in 1604 in Dresden. was tortured and finally succumbed to his sufferings a few months later. Even today textbooks contain references that Johann Friedrich Boettger discovered porcelain by chance during useless alchemistical experiments, which saved him from the gallows. The fact that prior to this he had in his possession the genuine tincture. that he demonstrated transmutations in Berlin and Dresden, and that he was incarcerated when it became evident that he was unable to produce the tincture, is discreetly suppressed. The mysterious stranger from whom he had obtained the tincture, was wise enough to keep himself in the background and only briefly to appear on the scene under the name of Laskares, as an alleged Greek monk. For up to twenty years later he is suspected to have stood behind similar occurrences without a clear trace of him being evident. The attitudes of the educated people in the natural sciences can be depicted with a short quotation. The following sentence is to be found in Mayer's Konversationslexikon of 1894: ". . . The question if ever gold has been made has to be answered in the negative despite attested to testimony to the contrary." A commentary is unnecessary. The red thread going through the history of alchemy has not been torn till today. The hermetic art has not lost its fascination to those people who are uninhibited and awakened. We are reminded by Frater Albertus of references to the Ingaleses, a married couple who lived in the United States.**** As another example, according to a newspaper report of the year 1927, we took note that a transmutation from lead into gold took place in the apartment of a Dr. Jaegerloh in Breslau, Germany, on the 17th of May, 1923, between 11 and 12 o'clock in the morning. It is also known among congenial individuals that Demeter Georgiewitz Weitzer (1873-1949) of Salzburg, Austria, known under the pen name of G.W. Surya, a researcher of the occult, had produced the gold tincture on several occasions. During the second World War, deeply depressed over the then existing conditions in the world and of his own fate, he tossed the alchemistically produced gold from a bridge into the river. His confidante at that time, the sole witness of that occurrence is probably still alive today. Attention has to be called to another individual who was able to transmute matter in a sovereign manner on his own accord through inner knowledge. As an alchemist he was known under the name of Volpierre. He passed through transition in 1952 and was put to rest in a village cemetery in the vicinity of Mainz, Germany. We can be assured that men are living in the present who have mastered the great mystery. They are not necessarily dependent upon the advances of our civilization. The old masters have proved that much can he achieved with very simple means, as long as the right guidance is at hand.
* Translated by Siegfried G. Karsten from "Der Weg der Alchemie durch die Jahrtausende." ** About 600 B.C. *** It was first conveyed in the Christian Occident in the 11th Century in the Latin text by the British alchemist Hortulanus. **** Richard and Isabella Ingalese were engaged in alchemistical research since 1911. In the year 1917 they were able to produce a white stone, the tincture stone in 1920. After a devoted laboratory practice of fifteen years, involving many sacrifices, the stone had been perfected for medicinal purposes and was used with results that surpassed expectations. See Frater Albertus, Praktische Alchemie im Zwanzigsten Jahrhundert (Salt Lake City: Paracelsus Research Society, 1970).
None ever truly attained to the fruits of this philosophy as the wise declare, without rectitude of intention and the blessing of God on a well tried experience: and it is the reiterated assertion of this grateful truth that has encouraged us, by a natural faith, to pursue the inquiry and recommend it to others who are desirous of instruction. To say that the pursuit is without danger to the illinformed would be presuming too much... But there are many degrees of success in the legitimate path, and every step is progressive where the Rule of Reason is pursued. -Mary Anne Atwood
p. 125
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. Basil Valentine, on page 168 of "THE TRIUMPHAL CHARIOT OF ANTIMONY," deals with the preparation of an oil of antimony. Please explain the portion which says, ". . . and dissolve the sublimed substance in a moist place. Sweeten by removing the salt added to it . . . " A. This refers to the solution by humidity. To sweeten simply means to wash out all acrid matter (alkaline substance) so that a neutral mineral remains, free from its former salts (which helped to sublimate the substance in question). Q. What is the best temperature to macerate with ether? A. Below its boiling point in a cool place. Ether distills at approximately 35o Centigrade, the exact degree varying slightly depending on the altitude.
Q. Please elaborate on the Spirit of Sulphur. A. The Spirit of Sulphur (not to be confused with the Oil of Sulphur) is a clear, light, sour-tasting liquid of a viscous nature. It shows a high addity reading of pH1 and below, yet strangely it is not corrosive to the system as is ordinary sulphuric acid. The Spirit of Sulphur is not mere suphuric acid.
ASTROLOGY Q. According to Bode's law, alternating negative and positive areas occur in a planet's ray at varying distances. Is it possible that the earth at times may be in a minus area and at other times in a plus area of a ray? For example, in the Moon's movement between its apogee and perigee the earth's location might change from a minus to a plus area of the Moon's ray. If this supposition is correct, would it not be quite important to know when the polarity of the earth's location changes? A. The Moon's polarity in itself is negative (magnetic) and the Sun's positive (as are Jupiter, Venus, etc.). It is the alternation between the two that produces the electromagnetic field of energy. Their interplay can be at times more negative and/or positive as terrestrial influences show. Q. What importance should be attached to the influence of the fixed stars? A. The fixed stars are suns and as such they must certainly influence earth in some measure. Their influence is said to he especially noticeable when an exact degree relationship (trine, square, etc.) can be established in relation to planetary positions found in a personal chart. Q. If the Sun revolves around the star Alcyone, does the Sun receive rays that it absorbs and steps down for us, or do we receive only rays from the Sun? A. The Sun not only receives rays from its central source, Alcyone, but from all the suns (stars) making up the zodiacal signs. They are stepped down by the Sun as we face these signs and come under their direct influence (modified by the Sun) at such times.
Back cover
The Positive Alchemist ...
Man's work is not merely to exist on this earth, to scratch ignorantly at its surface, to mutilate Nature in every possible way, to fight and rob his neighbour, but to develop the powers surrounding him, to manipulate those forces that he may truly and deservedly claim his right to inherit the earth. A garden which has been neglected for years and is overgrown with weeds, when taken over by an intelligent human being who will work hand in hand with Nature, may once again become a thing of beauty and joy. Thus the earth, which is man's garden, must be sown and cultivated by him, perfected by his art. -Archibald Cockren
Parachemy Volume II: Number 3 Summer 1974
Contents Easter Egg Experiment p.147 Questions and Answers p.148 The Positive Alchemist - Norton - back cover
Follow up of the Easter Egg Experiment By Siegfried 0. Hansch The purpose of the experiment in question was to test whether eggs selected on a certain day and under specific sidereal influences will remain fresh and intact if kept beyond their normal time of freshness of up to three months duration. The experiment is based on the original article in the
ALCHEMICAL LABORATORY BULLETINS, Vol. II, No. 2, 1970 and a further report in Vol. II, No. 10, 1970. Three eggs laid on each of the respective dates by hens which were kept under natural conditions were selected before, during, and after Easter of 1973, as indicated below. The eggs were then stored on top of a cupboard in my basement laboratory which at that level has an average temperature of 65oF. Even during the summer or winter months did the temperature seldom rise above or fall below 65oF. However, the humidity decreased to between 10% and 15% during the long heating period in the winter. This in turn caused a considerable dehydration in all of the eggs tested. After 360 days they were open on Easter Monday, April 15, 1974. The conditions of the eggs selected on the respective days indicated below were as follows: [Full moon: 17th April, 27o Libra] 1. Wednesday before Easter, April 18, 1973: One egg putrefied, one egg half putrefied, one egg in good condition. 2. Good Friday, April 20, 1973: All three eggs were found in AI condition except for the dehydration noted above. 3. Saturday before Easter, April 21, 1973: All three eggs were found in AI condition. 4. Easter Sunday, April 22, 1973: All three eggs were found in AI condition, no black spots, etc. 5. Easter Monday, April 23, 1973: Two eggs were found in AI condition. One egg is absolutely putrefied with the accompanying smell. Here a mix-up could have occurred on the part of the farmer on whom I had to rely for accurate dating. 6. Wednesday after Easter, April 25, 1973: Two eggs were found in A1 condition. One egg was putrefied. Unfortunately I was unable to obtain eggs for every day of the preceding and the following weeks of Easter of 1973. Consequently a full evaluation and comparison is therefore not possible. However, the fact remains that after 360 days at an ideal decaying temperature, out of the 18 eggs tested, 14 eggs were found to be in AI condition except for a dehydration of the albumen of approximately 35 percent. One egg was half putrefied. In all eggs the yolk had naturally settled to the bottom. No bad smell was noticed in these 14 eggs and they seemed to be fit for human consumption. In order to substantiate past findings, a new test was started again this year with eggs selected at each day of the week just prior and following Easter of 1974.
p.148
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY
Q. Since the mercury is the same throughout the mineral kingdom, could this mercury of sulphur then be used to extract directly from any other of the minerals with the exception of antlmony where the mercury is fixed? A. The mercury of sulphur needs to be rectified many times to become useable for other mineral extractions. It is very hard to come by. It is questionable that you had the mercury of sulphur as you state. Q. To explain the quintessence, could we think of it as a name or symbol? It would seem that different ones of the three essentials can be referred to as the quintessence, and yet it is referred to as the fifth element, or that of vibration? A. The quintessence is one of the three and refers to mercury. Q. When you put acetic acid on the glass, or the calcined ore of antimony, - you get a red tincture. When you distill off the acetic acid, and neutralize the red powder obtained, you can get a fixed oil from it. You can follow the same procedure on the metals. From copper you get a green tincture which, when the acetic acid is distilled off, yields a brownish powder. From Iron Oxide a red tincture, and then a brown powder. From Tin Oxide a blue tincture and then a brown powder. From Silver Oxide a light golden tincture and then a brown powder. From all of these you can extract a fixed oil. My point is this. Is the sedirnent which remains, that has been covered with acetic acid, also fixed? A. Yes. it is the fixed powder from which the fixed tincture is obtained. Q. Certain esotenc traditions speak of a spiritual hierarchy which guides the destiny of this planet and all who are evolving on it. Some have compared it to a board of directors, only with far vaster responsibilities, of course, than any worldly corporate board. The various departments of activity in the world. are said to be divided into seven sections or rays. each under the direction of a Master Guide or "Cohan". Is alchemical activity of the present (such as that at P.R.S.) the special of one of these seven rays? A. No. Q. How were the old alchemists able to filter successfully without the use of filter papers, such as we have today? A. By using wool threads immersed in the liquid and hanging over the container from which the liquid is filtered. Q. We know that Alchemy offers the most beneficial medications available for the physical ailments of man-because these medications are the only ones containing the three essentials.
However, is there also an alchemical therapy for the equally serious emotional and mental disturbances that hinder the well-being of mankind? A. A separation of clean thoughts from impure thoughts followed by similar actions. This brings peace of mind. Q. We have been told that a steam distillation is necessary for extracting the volatile oils from a substance. Can you discuss a little further on volatile oils and our need for them? A. It is one of the three essentials necessary for the completion of a herbal product such as the herbal stone. This oil of sulphur is pure. Q. If our, supposedly, goal was to prove Paracelsus correct by proving that cancer can be cured by the use of Antimony, why has this been dropped and Antimony is being pursued as a preventive medicine? A. It has not been dropped. Investigation is still going on. Q. The Antimony Chloride turned white when hot water was added. Does the hot water release the energy that purified it to white? A. No. Q. You gave us a more simple method of purifying our salt than by prolonged calcination. You mentioned that there was a more simple method than calcination to obtain the purified sulphur, but did not explain this method. A. It is done by leaching with water the gray calcined salt. The filtered water is evaporated and the salt remains behind. Q. The handbook describes a test for alchemical preparations. We took two of our cherished powders and heated them to a glowing red on a copper penny. The wax like consistency did not develop. The penny oxidized which in cooling chipped and flaked all the powders to the winds. Does this indicate a basic failure in the preparation of the herb or will more patience, imbibing and calcination bring the co-mingled three substances to the desired result. A. You should have results as indicated in the handbook.
back cover
The Positive Alchemist ... A perfect Master ye may call him true, Which knoweth his heats high and low. Nothing may let more your desires, Than ignorance of heats of your fires. Of many authors written ye may see, Totum consistit in ignis regimine: (Everything consists in the regimen of the fire) Wherefore in all chapters you must so proceed, That heat work not more nor less than it need; Wherein many of Geber's cooks Deceived were, though they be wise in books. Thomas Norton: Ordinal of Alchemy
Parachemy Volume II: Number 4 Autumn 1974
East - The Initiation of Truth by Rick Grimes Content The Alchemical Work - Armand Barbault p.154 Questions and Answers p.170 East 'The Initation of Truth' - back cover
The Alchemical Work By Armand Barbault It is astonishing, writes Jacques Sadoul in his book, Alchemists and Gold, to find a contemporary alchemist - Armand Barbault - working in the second half of the second half of the twentieth century, who strictly applies mediaeval instructions to his Hermetic work. But this is not the least astonishing of the facts to be learned about this devoted alchemist whose memory is celebrated by Frater Albertus in this issue of Parachemy. Armand Barbault not only followed the mediaeval alchemists in his work, but unlike them, described in plain language both his PRIMA MATERIA, or prime substance, and hs methods of operation. His early work was devoted to the discovery of a tincture comparable to the potable gold of Paracelsus, rather than to the confection of the Philosopher's Stone, which occupied his later years. For this reason, he did not use any of the minerals often referred to by traditional Hermetic writers, but as he says, "quite simply ... a clod of earth." His choice of menstruum was inspired by an illustration in the
MUTUS LIBER depicting two alchemists wringing out cloths that had been stretched between poles overnight to gather the dew. Similarly, Barbault arose early each morning to drag sheets across the grass in order to collect the precious dew. He also made use of the sap of plants as well as dew in maturing his prime substance. The substance itself, described in the following article, was no more than 1800 grams of earth (less than four pounds). His work in this experiment alone spanned more than two decades, and the substance he eventually obtained was tested in modern German pharmaceutical laboratories. There it was found to be efficacious in treating certain maladies and the laboratories began to search for a quicker method of producing a synthetic substance with similar properties, but in vain. As Raymond Abellio writes in his preface to Barbault's book, THE GOLD Of THE THOUSANDTH "Not only did the liquid prove impossible to analyse, but nothing even vaguely resembling it could be discovered. Yet Armand Barbault concealed nothing." We are indebted to Professor Joscelyn Godwin for the translation from the German of the article that follows. -Editor
The Preparation of the Alkahest and the Tinctures of the First Matter For nearly twenty-five years, my wife and I have been on the path of investigating the alchemical elixirs or tinctures. The trials passed and the results obtained make it possible to give a review and a judgment of the work, partially explained in my book, which appeared in 1969 (The Gold of the Thousandth Morning). After the successful preparation of the first Tincture of Potable Gold, and after the practical experience of ten years, I can now approach closer to the heart of the matter, with regard to the knowledge acquired and in the sense of the ancient philosophic tradition.
The Revelation and the First Endeavors If we pass over in silence that which led us to this search, we can say that everything began quite simply with a clod of earth, taken in winter from beneath a lawn. It was carefully freed from all foreign bodies and impurities, and placed in a retort. From springtime onwards, it was enriched with plants and dew, so as to make a turf. This turf was dried, moistened again, and enriched with further additions of plants and dew-this done repeatedly, and in a very simple way which is described in my book. But not everything was so easy as that, for this first operation was the fruit of long reflection and meditation. After long preparation. it was begun only when a revelation was granted to my wife. This revelation or inspiration assured her that we were entrusted with a kind of mission. You know that all the old authors state that one must be "chosen" in order to have real success, with the Alchemical Work, and that even that is not always sufficient to guarantee attainment of the goal. Is it not also said that many are called, but few are chosen? This call, reaching us from the highest spiritual powers, showed us the way we had to follow. As the first trial. we were compelled to renounce the life to which we were accustomed, and move to the place where we could find the Materia Cruda and all the necessary materials for the first preparation. All this took place, needless to say, in the greatest secrecy with regard to the outside
world. Then came the day when we took possession of this Materia Cruda, our raw material; and this was a terrible trial, above all for my wife, for she had to join battle with the Dragon who guards the etheric forces of the Earth, in order that the earth we had obtained should not be simply "dead" earth. It had to be living earth, containing the seeds or the sparks of life, so that the socalled "Turf of the Philosophers" could be produced out of it. This first trial, which can also be regarded as one of the first aspects of the Labors of Hercules, was successfully passed, for the Dragon at bay turned into a Lion. I leave the interpretation of this metaphysical event to initiates: one finds it traditionally in all works of Alchemy. And so it happened that in the depths of winter, on a moonless day and at midnight, my wife and I took possession of our Materia Cruda. This occurred in the year 1948, on the 15th of February, somewhat after midnight.
The Labors of Hercules and Nature Nothing is given in the old authors on the Labors of Hercules. These represent a part of the mystery, and it is left to the neophyte to fathom their meaning on the basis of his own initiation. Must one be silent about these secrets? Certainly one must, if they have been imparted to me by a Master who enjoins one to silence. But in the case of those who believe that they have discovered them themselves, the responsibility is their own. For my part, I believe that this deep knowledge is not transferable; and although I have mentioned the battle with the Dragon, which is part of the secret, it is certain that if the neophyte does not prove worthy he will relinquish this battle and thus not attain victory over the Dragon. Something similar occurs from the moment when the Materia Cruda is in our possession; a material which, as you know, contains as a result of that battle the Spark of Life, the influence of the etheric and spiritual powers, or the Philosophic Seed necessary to the realization of the work. The Adept is then in a position where he must, under the same conditions, gather plants out of doors, early in the morning, place them in a round glass vessel containing dew, and then mix them with the "new earth" (Materia Cruda). It is imperative to capture the life-forces of the chosen plants, so that this does not simply fall back into the earth, as is the normal case when unprepared people gather the plants. This is the continuity that exists between Nature and Man as a perfect union and which allows Nature to render all that she possesses for the realization of the Work-which cannot be performed without the permission of the spiritual powers. Knowledge of the Laws of Nature is then necessary. One must know that at night the young plants take up through their roots the sources of life which contribute to their growth. Growth occurs principally as soon as the Sun rises, and while it draws its circle in the sky, activating the marvelous "green retort" in the plants (photosynthesis). We have to collect plants that have the maximum of vitality, or rising forces, with which we nourish the turf drop by drop so that it may achieve its fullest power. A further part of the Work is to nourish the turf with these plants and bathe it all in dew. We use the sap and the dew which appears in pearls on the tips of leaves and grasses, and which rises to Heaven; for neither plants, nor dew, nor sap obeys the laws of gravity. This is a long accumulation of rising forces, which in time makes possible what Hercules did, when he bore the Earth on his shoulders without feeling its weight. I think I can say no more to show you the importance of those first labors outside, with Nature, at
the moment of sunrise. You will understand, too, why Saint-Germain says in one of his books that it takes a good dozen years to collect the necessary forces, so that the turf becomes the yeast or spore of which I have spoken in my book. This is also the reason my book has the title, The Gold of the Thousandth Morning.
From the Materia Cruda to the Materia Prima And the Work of Art and Nature When secrecies are present. we may think that they refer to the work of the Adept, to the way in which he proceeds, his art and his observations, and that they bring him into dangers which concern only himself, In earlier days one observed silence, and that is understandable; today experimenters patent their findings . . . but in our work one cannot speak thus. Certainly the most ungrateful and difficult time for the pair who are treading the path is the period of preparation, enrichment, enlivening and development of the turf, until it becomes the true yeast or spore. Each year, after the repeated wettings, additions of new plants (maceration), tending, and drying, one observes an alteration in the composition of the turf: it becomes blacker and blacker, and also heavier and heavier. But nothing can give you an idea of the length of time before the first work is finally completed. Who can describe the joy when one day, after pouring over the material another measure of fresh, clear dew, the worker sees this dew become altogether black?-A blackening which becomes more intense until the point where it turns to a viscous, cream-like liquid. He pours this off and keeps it in another vessel. Then the material, remaining in its container, is dried, and another fresh measure of dew is added; and this is repeated sufficiently to complete successfully the first stage of the work. In fact, it does not take long for the dew. now black and viscous, to precipitate a "new earth" on the bottom of its vessel, resembling more a tartaric substance than an earthy one. In this way. the "old earth" (the Materia Cruda)is changed bit by bit into a tartaric substance, which becomes our Materia Prima, now to be calcined. What has taken place? Few adepts know, for it is again a great secret when one says, "Water will become transformed into Earth . . ." - and this is another aspect of the Labors of Hercules. But it is quite simple: The material has become enriched with time, with work, with the long assimilation of antigravitational or rising forces, and it now obeys this rising law. Under the influence of the dew, which swims upwards, it has felt itself gravitating from below to above, and thus obeys the same laws. It has now reached the necessary saturation. The enriched earth rises up, transmutes itself, and is from now onwards in a position to work on materials which are applied to it; it has become an ennobled species of Higher Yeast, or Spore, which is spoken of in the alchemical works without an explanation being given. I do not mention a few singularities of the preparation, for there are some knacks which the experimenter must find out for himself, if he has the patience to go so far. But I can assure you that no substance will have the powers you expect- unless it has been through this state. +
p.170
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. In antimony and other minerals, as well as with metals, there results an unfixed and a fixed product. Could you say something about the fixed vegetable product? A. Vinegar instead of alcohol will produce a fixed tincture. Q. In this preparation process for what was hinted at in Lab A-in gathering plants and herbs for use-will the so-called pollution of the ecology affect the plants-or can this be effectively purified out-or-the thought is that possibly the plant will not be able to grow with the former efficacy? A. The pollution of plants can be caused by animal droppings, decaying carcasses, poisonous gases, or other industrial contamination, cleansing will be necessary. Should a common washing not remove the visible impurity it is best to leave them alone. Should a plant show healthy growth, even in polluted areas, it would indicate a healthy strain able to transmute seemingly contrary substances by inner inertia. Q. Could you please explain what thickness of filter paper and thimbles is best to use in the different aspects of the herbal and universal work? A. No one filter paper will do the work for use in the different aspects of the herbal and universal work. We have found for general purposes, please note, regular coffee filter paper used with plastic cups filters very satisfactory. Q. How could it be possible for man to partake of a universal solvent (philosophical mercury) without doing irreparable harm to himself? A. By way of analogy and just as an analogy, consider the use of alcohol in beverages or concentrated form. Q. Frater, would you explain if you will, why a snowflake crystallizes with only 60o angles. Do the aspects have the effect? The influences as you pointed out come from the 8th house and because a physical manifestation follows law and order, how does this happen? What part does the ruler play? Also, in the laboratory, yesterday you mentioned the ethereal volatile oils that come over with the distillate. Would you care to say more about these at this time? A. Like so many things in nature we have to consider that everything takes place according to law. Interpretation of such laws is another thing. Various reasons can be given in this case but whether a final valid one, is presently to be had is doubtful. When distilling substances containing volatile oils, some of such are carried up and over with the steam. In alcohol or ether extractions more can come over by distillation. Controlled steam distillation where ethereal oils are collected is the best way to obtain ethereal plant oils.
Q. Is a thrice distilled menstruum of alcohol, acetone K.M., etc. satisfactory to use a second time on an entirely different substance? For example, if it is used in producing a tincture from Sb2S3 is it all right to use it again on Sb2O3 or on eggs--or could its being charged by the first substance make this undesirable? A. We recommend an extraction media (menstruum) to be used a second or subsequent times only on the same or closely related substances as you state with antimony. We would not use the same to extract ovum vitelli. Q. When washing with water to sweeten, would distilling off the water instead of letting it evaporate make any significant difference in the result? A. When distilling the water off mostly water comes over, while during open evaporation acids are evaporating with the water, which repeated washings will show. In a mechanical evaporator it can be done quicker and very efficiently. Either process can be used in edulcoration (sweetening). Q. How is phlegm properly removed-by skimming it off? A. Yes, also by fractional distillation. Q. Would it be possible to make a Kerckring Menstruum by first extracting the oil from sal ammoniac with ether and then to circulate the oil with alcohol. Would this be a faster method of making the menstruum? A. If the ether has been removed, yes. Q. An herb is separated into its three parts and purified. It is then recombined and subjected to more heat. Are the resulting crystals the "Seed of the Herb". A. The resulting crystals are not the seed of the herb. These can only be found in the living plant. The process you have described is the redemption of the plant. It has been saved from further propagation in its own realm by a higher intelligence, man, and will serve now in an exalted state in the animal realm . Q. First use Mercury for distillation and then water for a second distillation. Is it good? A. Yes. Alcohol will extract substances that are soluble in alcohol, and water will distill. what is water soluble. It has been found useful where applicable. Q. When a substance is fixed by acetic acid, is the spirit as well as the sulphur and salt contained within the substance that has been fixed. A. The spirit and sulphur, Yes, but not all of the salt in most cases. Consider the fixed salts of antimony that are left from the bulk of glass of antimony salts.
Q. What is the difference between the so-called dry and wet process in alchemy? A. One uses a menstruum (extraction rnedia) in a moist form, while the dry process uses no menstruum at all but relies on the inherent moisture concealed in the substance. Q. Please, with your special tact, can you go over with us the necessity of learning to coax results gently with the fire? As a group, we will not be able to come up with unified and happy results in the lab if one of us is forever turning up the flame under things. as we have it lowered. We do all feel an urgency, but it is because we do not See that a tiny Day in Eternity is so tiny. Thank you. A. Observation and diligence are the best handmaidens. Co-operation in a joint venture is not only necessary but essential. Q. Can an immature glass of antimony be ground and reheated and become GOOD glass, or has it lost some of its virtue by, having been heated? Experience has shown it is almost impossible to get good glass from the second heating. A. It has been done with good results. The controlling of temperatures seems to be the crux to the whole operation.
back cover
East 'THE INITIATION OF TRUTH' "From the east shall come the Son of man. He shall walk forth out of these mountains, and in his right hand he shall bear the Book of Life and in his left shall he have his commencement." In this painting you will see what you can see if only you will look. This represents the initiate as he comes forth from the high places and the low places to reside in all men. (24) Twenty-four square feet, containing (3,456) three thousand four hundred fifty-six square inches. Thus, these digits combined equal the sacred number nine (9). Within this nine are all things manifest in the earth and yet have their completion in man (10). Though their origin be ever with the father. Look and you shall find the matrix of life in four laws and three principals, and see also our glorious mother that hides her seven daughters beneath her veil. Also, the eye of conscience is concealed not by the storm, nor the seven virtues of the Pleiades by darkness. Be still our brother. Herein lies a second key; take these twenty-four about this Son. Render them into sixadd them unto nine and find the one quintessence; which, when combined in one figure is the sun.
Within these twenty-four are sixteen which form, across the heart, across from which men are born, born to discover the seven seals of their being and the knowledge of their soul. From the east the young sun, Apollo rises, -held in the grasp of the mystery ... In the west sits the master with the mystery in the grasp of his hand,-the eagle and the dove at peace in his being.
Parachemy Volume III: Number 1 Winter 1975
West - The Revelation of Masters by Rick Grimes
Medicine & Alchemy in Indian Culture Snow Your Spa At Home
p.190
Medicine And Alchemy In Indian Culture By S. Mahdihassan, Ph.D. In ancient times the Aryans excommunicated the aged to solitary existence in a forest. The ascetic prayed for freedom from diseases and for longevity, the prayers being called
Bhaisbajyani and Ayushyani respectively. Though aged, the exile needed robust health, which in effect meant his rejuvenation. Giving practical expressions to Ayushyani prayers, he discovered Rasayana medicaments to which he assigned priority over those curing ailments. This feature is unique and compared itself only with the aim of alchemy in China. The Indian ascetic developed herbal drugs of rejuvenation, the Chinese ascetics mercurials. When Chinese alchemy was introduced into India, mercurials superseded herbal medicines; but, since they also promised rejuvenation. Rasayana today signifies, as meddicaments-mercurial, and as art-alchemy. I. - The importance of social history many an author has rightly affirmed that the history of medicine is as old as the history of mankind. Moreover, Virchow, one of the makers of modern medical science, has further pointed out "medicine is a social science in its very bone and marrow." Hence, to know the past of medicine is to know the past social history upon which it depends. In ancient times. life's struggles were most severe. To reduce the number of feeders in a family. infanticide of girls was practiced, since women were poor bread earners. Then, every male member had to partake in hunting. cut do-om forest trees, and engage in feudal attacks. The aged, being ill-suited for such strenuous duties, were felt as a burden and ex-communicated to live like a solitary deer of a forest. Thus, asceticism arose from an unavoidable social evil. To be able to exist, he had to collect foodstuffs as forest produce. Vishnu Purana [1], a sacred scripture of the Hindus, informs us that "the anchorites live upon leaves, roots, and (wild) fruits." As a recent observer, Dr. Rock [21 noted that "the religious recluses of Radja Monastry (in Tibet). at an elevation of 10,700 feet, subsist on barley flour in winter, (but) on boiled nettles in summer." Above all, Heraclitus had lived like a typical ascetic. About him we read in Enfield [3] that "he made a choice of a mountainous retreat and lived upon the natural products of the earth. His diet and manner of life brought him dropsy." We can now realize that to be able to roam all over the forest, in search of food plants, the ascetic had to depend upon his bodily strength. A day's rest would be fasting and a long sick leave premature ~leath from starvation. The aged exile needed robust health and could not but pine for the good old days when he was young. Thus, we can pinpoint the ascetic as the one who conceived of rejuvenation, for it was he who needed it most. II. - The two kinds of prayers of the ascetics: The history of medicine reveals that man's earliest treatment depended upon prayers. These served like "invisible drugs." The prayers of the Aryan ascetic have been recorded in Atharva Veda as pertaining to two categories. Sir P. C. Ray [4] .. Vol. 1, p. VIII) points out "one is called Bhaishajyani for curing diseases and driving away demons (which in those days were supposed to cause ailments). The other had for its object the securing of long life and health (and) is known as Avuslivani. a term which later gave place to Rasayana, the Sanskrit equivalent of Alchemy," The word Ayushyani has been translated by Monier-Williams [5] as "giving long life." But one pining for youth, in the first instance. would pray for long life as retaining the vigour of youth. In fact, the ascetic would rather live a shorter life enjoying health than a long lingering one with the infirmities of old age. Thus, his Avushyani prayers implied prayers for a long "rejuvenated life," which virtually meant "eternal Youth." It is obvious that if one can recall youth one can also retain it forever. Thus developed the idea of immortality as eternal youth. It is therefore more comprehensive and also complimentary, to speak of immortality rather than of eternal youth. We can than paraphrase Avushyani prayers as pertaining not merely to long life but to immortality, which fully incorporates rejuvenation.
III. - Energizing drugs: The ascetic's demands were urgent. While he would pray for longevity, he had also to do everything possible to overcome depression, due to his exile. and infirmity, due to his superannuation. What he needed was a real energizer, making him overwork, exhaustion proof, and yet happy. Any intoxicant, hallucinogen, or narcotic would not put him on his legs to be able to serve as his own grocer and his own cook. He had to collect his daily ration in the form of food-plants as forest produce. There are at least three such herbs as real energizers. One is the ephedra plant of which the freshly extracted juice was Soma, the famous drink of immortality among the Aryans. Strange enough, even those who were convinced that Soma, as plant, is ephedra never went deeper to inquire into its active principle or into the properties of ephedrine. Like a typical energizer, it produces insomnia and is a habit former. This has been duly established by Panse[6] and Klages. Ephedra is not found in the mainland of India and the Hindu ascetic later took to Cannabis indica instead. Hence, we can interpret Soma best in the light of other energizers which are in use today. Lloyd [ 7 ] refers to laborers recruited from the Incas tribe of Red Indians, engaged in the mines of Peru and Bolivia. They work the wholle day, practically without food, chewing the leaves of Erythroxylon Coca, which "yields abundance of vital strength," so much so that it not only makes them exhaustion-proof, but also keeps them amiable. Finding it to be a boon, they have made coca "the Divine Plant. The third energizer is Catha edulis, the Khat of Yemeni Arabs. Moser[8] reports that chewing fresh leaves the laborer "performs prodigies of strength and energy. (The drug) exalts the spirits and supports bodily strength (making) the gloomiest man cheerful." For such benefits, theYemeni, as a Moslem, though he could not deify the plant, nevertheless calls it the Flower of Paradise. The Aryan ascetic also lived a most miserable existence and prayed, as in a hymn in Atharva Veda, translated by Griffith[g] that "the many plants that Soma rules deliver (us), the suppliants, from grief and woe." We know that the Coca herb and the Khat phant can make their users feel happy and energetic; and ephedra, the Soma plant, obviously did the same. Max Muller has shown that the ordinary kitchen fire was so useful to the Aryan nomads that it finally became the god, Agni, an important member of the Hindu pantheon. We can now understand that if Khat became the Flower of Paradise to Yemeni Muslims and Coca the Divine Plant to Incas Indians Ephedra became god Soma to the Aryan ascetics. IV. - Rejuvenation of primary interest to the asetic: By now, we are in position to realize that the actual need of the ascetic was robust health. He therefore felt that if he could rejuvenate himself it would be a permanent cure of his "grief and woe." Hence. it waQ; most natural on his part to dream of rejuvenation as well as to crive practical expressions to his dream. Since there have been two kinds of prayers on his, part. Bliaishajyani and Ayushyani. interpreted as curing diseases and as conferring rejuvenation-cum-immortality. we wish to turn to the materialized resultants of the same. Out looking for food plants, he could not miss herbs likely to cure ailments. but more than that. those which he believed could rejuvenate him. The discovery of ephedra belongs to this latter class. Searching for the impossible., the ascetic came to learn the therapeutic properties of so many plants that he is virtually the founder of herbalism. not only in India but also in China. Later on, such knowledge was codified and the earliest Codex is the compilation by Charaka, who figures in Indian Medicine like Hippocrates in that of Greek. Charaka is supposed to have been the court physician of the Scythian King, Kanislika. and lived
about 200 A.D. Sir. P. C. Ray[41; 32), however, assigns him an earlier date. Ray quotes Charaka statin., that "Medicines are also of two kinds. the one promotes strength and vitalitv. the other cures diseases. Whatever promotes longevity and virility is called Rasayana." Corresponding to Avushyani prayers. we now have Rasavana medicine. The unique feature that faces us here is that drugs of rejuvenation are given priority over rugs curing diseases. Thus, Rasayana. having no counterpart in Greek medicine. cannot be translated in that language. nor is there an identical word of Latin origin. Rasayana, the art of rejuvenation, considered as a branch of Indian Medicine, had the same objective as Alchemy in China. Even in China, there were ascetics and they founded alchemy primarily to rejuvenate themselves. V. - The stamp of the ascetic on Indian Medicine: Charaka's works [10] have been translated and annotated in six sumptuous volumes. In Vol. V a whole chapter (on p. 473) begins admitting only "two kinds of medicine, one as promotive of vigour in the healthy, the other as destructive of disease in the ailing." The former division is called Rasavana, which is not to be mistaken for aphrodisiacs which are known as xajikarana. Rasayanas are specifically meant for the aged. Charaka mentions the preparation "Cyavana Prasa," as conceived and tried upon himself, by the sage Cyavana. "It is celebrated as the highest Rasayana. By its use Cyavana, though grown very old, became young once again. By recourse to this vitalization, the great sages. such as Cyavana and others, regained their youth, became most attractive to women, and acquired the capacity to bear all hardships," the last virtue being quite indispensable to the lonely ascetic. Charaka gives several recipes of such medicaments. These are mixtures of herbal ingredients and also calcined metals. Calcination was invariably done by means of plants, According to its makeup, a calcined metal has a herbo-metallic preparation. This is so important as to require due confirmation. The Maharaja of Gonda [11], academically qualified as a graduate of medicine from the Edinburgh University, writes that the ancient Hindus "have described the method of transferring the properties of vegetable cures to certain metals, which intensify their efficacy and retain it a long time." It is beyond common sense to conceive herbs passing their therapeutic properties to metals. This is really an unsuccessful attempt to rationalize ideas demanding specialized reasoning. VI. - The significance of calcined metals: When herbalism arose, it was part of herbal-magic. It was the days of Animism. Even a plant and a metal was endowed with soul. This was the real active principle which passed from a herb to its consumer, like a vitamin from food into the body of man. Some herbs carried a larger quantum of soul and ephedra was one of them. Taking its juice daily, life would be prolonged on every potion consumed. Later on came Dualism, when everything became dual-natured. including the soul. We can call one sub-soul. Yang-soul, or male-soul, or Spirit; and the other Yin-soul, or male-soul. or the Soul, or Soul-specific. Plants were rich in Spirit for they grow fast enough, but poor in Soul-specific as they are delicate and easily scorched by heat. Reverse is the case with a metal. It is solid, hard, and heat-resistant. As such, its Soul-specific is greater in ratio than its Spirit; a metal hardly shows any power of growth. If we calcine a metal with a herb at a certain temperature, the metal is killed. or merely deprived its Spirit, leaving its body intact as a corpse. The same heat would totally destroy the herb and set its Spirit hovering. The impact of herbal Spirit on the body of the dead metal would resurrect the latter ld the calcined metal would revive as a Resurrected Body, or Soulincorporate., where body and soul constitute two-as-one. Gold is a fossil metal; but, if we calcine it with a herb, it will become a herbo-auric entity, with body already everlasting, now owning a
soul which is evergrowing, like a plant. For such reasons, calcined gold must have been amongst the first preparations, as I [12] ventured to explain. It must be mentioned that Charaka does refer to calcined gold amongst the Rasavanas. VII - Mercurials as alchemical preparations: Indian Rasayana was an off-shoot of herbalism, or of herbal-magic. The Chinese developed mineral-magic. They started with the archaic idea if Blood = Soul, then Redness = Soul; and, since nothing approaches blood in its coloration better than cinnabar, Cinnabar = Soul. Dualism expected two sub-souls of cinnabar., and these proved to be sulphur and mercury, which alchemy recognized as the fundamental elements of all metals. Only when we understand cinnabar as soul of minerals can we appreciate how sulphur and mercury become important as sub-souls. Cinnabar was not everlasting; its sub-souls constituted a loose mixture. To recondition cinnabar, or so unite sulphur and mercury that these remain in perfect balance, as also in a nascent or activated condition, would yield an entity which confers immortality, or makes everything grow forever. This would be Elixir, a mercurial preparation, first conceived in China. There is no cinnabar in India. Hence, there was no mercurial Rasavana until alchemy was introduced there from China. But theoretically. calcined metals, as herbometallic preparations, were equal to sulpho-mercurials,. and, when the latter were introduced, the ideal Rasayana became a preparation of vermilion or synthetic cinnabar called Makara-Dhwaja, which is still sold in India. Thus, drugs of rejuvenation in India were always called Rasavanas. First they were herbal, next herbo-metallic, and lastly sulpho-mercurial. Inasmuch as alchemy in China recognized rejuvenation-cumimmortality as its primary aim, mercurial alchemy was easily assimilated by the corresponding branch of Indian medicine or Rasayana. It is to this later stage that Sir. P. C. Ray's remark applies, stating that Ayushyani (prayers for longevity) later gave place to Rasayana (which finally became) the Sanskrit equivalent of alchemy." Briefly stated, Rasayana medicaments were first herbal, next herbomineral, finally mercurial. REFERENCES [11 BALLANTYNE, J. C. (1898), Quotes Vishnu Purana in his Vedanta Sara, p. 6 Pub. Christ. Lit. Soc. for India, Madras. [31] ENFIELD, W. (1819), History of Philosophy. Vol. 1, p. 443. London.
p. 198
Snow By Alec Gathercole One of nature's products looked at with mixed feelings is snow. Some have pleasant thoughts when witnessing the flakes floating down, covering the countryside with a pure white blanket on a Christmas morning. For a skier it can cause exciting and pleasurable thoughts of anticipation, as he pictures himself swishing down the slopes. A researcher may see beauty in the shape of a magnified and photographed snowflake. Others may feel disdain when inconvenienced by the build-up of snow on the pathways and roads, which delays or restricts their movements and interferes with their daily activities and comforts. Such are but some of the effects caused by the physical appearance of snow. But what of the inner concept-the virtue found within the manifestation of POWDER SNOW and the effects of this gift from the heavens. There are those who are working with snow in a most unusual way, seeking to find and to use the beneficial energy that is to be found within it. Several beneficial uses for snow have been found. The application does not require an extensive education nor special equipment but does involve an awareness, a knowledge, of the natural laws and their use. One such fundamental or natural law is "Wherever an affliction occurs, thereabouts may be found a cure." This principle was applied while on a family vacation at a ski resort at Mount Bulla in Victoria, Australia, during school term holidays, which commenced August 25th of 1972. Mount Bulla is situated some one-hundred miles from any industrial area, so the air was crisp and pure, which is significant to those who are using the fundamental laws. The first day, there was much activity, as there was a clear, blue sky and the sun shone brightly upon the freshly fallen snow. There were skiers about who were inexperienced and many of these newcomers were not protected from the snow's glare. They suffered inflamed eyes, burnt faces, and cracked lips. Aid, in the way of pharmaceutical products and protective equipment, was available for the prevention of this type of injury. However, there was no evidence of snow itself being used as an aid, even by the experienced exponent of the slopes, simple as the application is. For the prevention or the cure of snow blindness, several drops of water thawed from snow at body temperature and used as an eyewash at regular intervals will give protection against snow blindness or relieve the inflammation caused by it. An eyedropper may be used to insert the fluid. If the water has not been denatured before using, there will be a reaction; and this should be anticipated. For, as soon as the fluid comes in contact with the eye, there will be experienced a stinging sensation, similar to when an eyelash has been displaced, causing the closing of the eyelid firmly. Within seconds, however, this disappears and the soothing sensation of the eye having been oiled will be experienced; along with relief, should this be used for the suffering of inflammation. This application may be repeated as often as required. When the smarting
sensation no longer occurs, it is a sign that sufficient has been used for the present, either as a preventative or as a cure. The effects of burning during outdoor activities may be avoided without the use of cosmetics, which prevent the skin from becoming naturally accustomed to exposure, by simply scooping up some snow in the hand and rubbing it onto the unprotected areas, including the eyes. This will give the complexion that wonderful tanned glow, so much sought after by lovers of the outdoors. There is one important detail to be noted by those attempting to verify these facts. Only the powdered snow, thawed at about body temperature, will have this therapeutic effect. First falls of snow that are in contact with the ground soon loose the virtuous quality contained within. The use of such snow as this may cause some to discard the thesis without further investigation. The dedicated seeker will find that snow, having the virtue described. may be found at any time in the snow fields. To find it, one may have to leave the paths and ski runs, which are packed or iced, and seek for it where a subsequent snowfall occured. This new snow may be sealed by a frozen crust. BY breaking through this crust to the powdered snow beneath it, a virtuous water may be had from it. Frozen snow or ice is of no avail. Some falls of snow will contain more virtue than others, but within all powdered snow there is found the beneficial virtue described. This may be tested by application to the normal healthy eye, as the reaction previously described will occur if the water from the powdered snow retains its virtue. It has proven worth the effort to collect and store a quart (litre) for the home apothecary as an eye wash, which can be used for all discomforts of the eye throughout all seasons. It stores well in a stoppered glass bottle. It is demonstrable that the crippling effects of frostbite, causing on occasions the removal of limbs, can in most cases be completely avoided. All practitioners involved in treating this injury should be instructed in snowpacking the afflicted parts, and thereby restore the limb back to normal healthy circulation. This is not an ice pack procedure. It involves encasing the injured area and beyond in a cocoon of this powdered snow until the circulation recommences to flow through the affected area. The rest of the body needs to be properly clothed to keep the body temperature within the normal range. Judge not in haste, for through experience new portals will open. Those who may have suffered injury through exposure and become aware of this application will shudder at their ignorance in time of need. For the hardy one or those who wish to be, the therapeutic value of the snow walk should be tested. The body should be clothed so as not to become chilled, while the feet are to be bare. Walk barefoot in the fresh snow until the feet are chilled. Without drying or rubbing the feet, only brush off the loose snow before pulling on dry woollen socks and shoes. Then, gently exercise, (indoors if preferred) until the feet regain their normal temperature. This takes some will power the first time it is tried. but, after only several outings, one will be surprised at the length of time it is possible to walk in the snow barefoot. This should be done on consecutive days. One will be pleased at the feeling of exhilaration. obtained.
The beneficial effects of the snow walk give an improved functioning of the circulation and the metabolism as well as the ability to easily adapt to changes in temperature during ordinary daily activities-yet another joy to be had by such an effort. One or two weeks will acclimatize a normal healthy body. Chillblains and other circulatory disorders have been corrected by the above applications.
p. 200
Your Spa At Home By Frater Albertus People of means who could afford to travel to famous European Spas did so because of the health-giving effects of the waters, Some such mineral waters, as they are called, have very tonic effects on the skin which in turn relates this exhilarating effect through the capillaries. When such tonic waters are drunk, the effect from inside the body with the outer stimulus are most beneficial for the entire circulatory system. Specific organs, low on minerals for their proper functions, may thus be helped with such mineral waters. There is much pro and con about the effect of these mineral waters due to the many substances found in them. It has been proven for thousands of years as the records left us indicate, that bathing in waters rich in minerals is helfful to the body as a whole, and some organs or parts of the body especially. It needs only a verification by those who have made such test. Better still. by, testing it personally. As everyone cannot afford to travel to those places which are endowed by nature with mineral waters, the next best thing is to find out what these waters contain and then to reproduce their mineral consistency as closely as possible. One such factor observed is that most of these waters come very warm. even hot, out of the ground. Some of the minerals that otherwise would not be soluble in cold water are brought to the surface and become in this way useful to the body. Thermal (hot) spring effects can now be produced at home with whirlbaths. whereby the water is agitated and minerals added to the water are circulated in the bathtub and actually massage the skin. This does not mean so-called bubble baths or scented waters, or bath salts, which have practically no other purpose than to soften hard water. Prepared minerals used in such a manner are of a therapeutic nature, as they have a similarity to minerals contained in natural spring waters, and are of an additional benefit to the user as he has the choice of several mineral mixtures that relate to different physical conditions. Flabby tissues, poor circulation under the skin, which causes dermatological disorders' or rheumatic conditions, which are not always relieved by warm water alone, do respond to the penetrating effects of minerals in solution, even to those insoluble in water but which do come in contact with the skin causing physical reactions.
Research and observations have brought to light that mineral combinations, when added to the water, do bring about effects similar to those of natural origin. This does not mean that such effects are producing the same results under any conditions, just as not everyone taking the baths in natural springs is in every case relieved from their former symptoms. Those seeking additional help in physical therapy with minerals added to the water in which they bathe-which should not be confused with a strict cleansing procedure of personal hygiene-may add mineral baths to other means of therapy employed. No claim is made that such mineral additions are a cure-all for physical discomforts, but the beneficial effects observed by those who have used them are sufficient to encourage their use where applicable and so desired. A refreshing and exhilarating mineral bath is well worth its first try to establish whether or not personal effects on the body are noticed. It is very unlikely that immediate results will be observed in all cases, especially in those cases where a prolonged and perhaps even a systematic bathing with minerals may be required. In such cases, your doctor is the best source for professional information. Where there is no whirlbath mechanism available, minerals are added to the water while the bathtub is filled. Vigorous agitation of the water, with the hands or other available means is recommended to dissolve the minerals. Usual duration of immersion in water is about 10-15 minutes. Care should be exercised to avoid all drafts while taking the bath. Vigorous rubbing with a good towel should follow before dressing. Where applicable, a good rub down or massage with either a beneficial liniment or lotion will enhance the effect of mineral baths.
Parachemy Volume III: Number 2 Spring 1975
The Resurrection of Christ - Rick Grimes
Contents Frater Albertus' Mineral Salts p.207 That Elusive Planet Vulcan p.211 Theriac - back cover
p.207
Frater Albertus' Mineral Salts Mineral Salts In Solution
In a small brochure published recently by Paralab, it was announced hat Mineral Salts, different from those known as Dr. Schuessler's Mineral Salts or Tissue Remedies, will soon be available. The difference between presently used mineral salts and those under the Paralab label is that the former do not contain the essential substance referred to as the vital or living essence, and the latter do contain such in solution. Dr. Schuessler lists twelve mineral salts which are actually derived from only six basic minerals in the form of precipitation as sulfates, muriates, and phosphates. By contrast, each one of Frater Albertus' Mineral Salts in solution consist of a different mineral, i.e. aluminum, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, potassium, sodium, zinc, etc. Human blood contains many more minerals than listed here, but the ones indicated are important building blocks in the formation of tissues. Chemically speaking, there is no difference if iron is derived from a plant or metal-that is, to the chemist there is no difference in pure iron, no matter if derived from organic or inorganic substance. However, this is still a matter of dispute with those following a non-orthodox procedure based upon observation on living organisms. One should not lose sight of the fact that chemistry can reveal what a substance contains, but it is beyond the realm of chemistry to determine what curative or beneficial effects such analysis has upon living organisms. This belongs to biology, pharmacy, and medicine. Only clinical evaluation can give us the proof. So, too, can simple tests at home, as long as non-toxic substances are used to experiment with. After careful extraction and reunification, mineral salts in solution are attenuated, including their essential substances. Mineral salts in solution are nontoxic in their greatly diluted form. In fact, a chemical analysis will show hardly any substantial traces of minerals and practically none of the other essentials mentioned previously. Inevitably the question will be asked: How can such an extremely weak solution be of any benefit? The answer is: Such mineral salt attenuations work in a dynamic manner upon the tissues. Only personal tests and observations can either substantiate this or refute it entirely. The following tabulation of mineral salts is only a very elementary listing of symptoms that may show beneficial reactions from the use of such mineral salt solutions. One is reminded of the mineral contents found in the waters of natural health spas in Europe and elsewhere. Results from drinking these mineral waters can only be attributed to what such waters contain in minerals in solution and which the body can tolerate and make use of in a beneficial and dynamic manner for the pathological symptoms prevailing. Calcium could show its dynamic effects upon bone structures where calcium plays an important part. It could also show effects on the spleen. Copper could show a dynamic affinity towards the reproductive organs, the kidneys, and probably the thyroid gland. Iron could relate to further oxygenation of the blood and in the replacement of blood corpuscles. In case of inflammation, due to lack of sufficient oxygen, it could show relief from such symptoms. The gall bladder could be influenced thereby beneficially.
Magnesium and Aluminum could be related to the nervous system and could prove valuable in the relief of tension with magnesium in the spinal nervous system and aluminum in the sympathetic nervous system. Potassium could indicate an important media for the dissolution of coagulations leading to the formation of kidney stones or similar substances causing obstructions in various organs. Sodium could reveal itself as an excellent flushing agent when mixed with body fluids, helpful in cleansing tissues and removing waste matter by opening the pores. It could also function as an essential mineral in the further assimilation of food after the regular metabolism of food has occurred. Zinc could help produce additional energy, showing especially in the brain cells and tissues. It may be compared-this is given here only as an analogy-to the immersion of zinc plates which, when immersed in weak acid, produce a stimulating electric current. Further research could bring to light other mineral and metallic salts and their essential constituents that are benefically effective pathologically. In regard to Dr. Schuessler's twelve tissue remedies that should also contain the essentials found in mineral salts in solution, some of these minerals are difficult to work with because of their lack of essentials, which have to be freed from sources other than the basically lifeless mineral salts of which they consist, In the meantime those who have used mineral or tissue salts will find that mineral salts in solution are presenting additional possibilities not previously available in dry form. NOTE: It may be of interest to those who lay claim to planetary influences upon minerals and metals that such are said to correspond as follows: Aluminium to the Moon Magnesium to Mercury Copper to Venus Iron to Mars Sodium to Jupiter Calcium to Saturn Potassium to Uranus Zinc to Neptune Minerals, it is said, differ from metals in the above interpretation. For instance. the metal Antimony is also related to Uranus as is the mineral Potassium. Likewise, the metal Lead is associated with Calcium to Saturn. Magnesium and Quicksilver share the same planetary ray influence of Mercury, while Sodium and Tin are supposed to come under Jupiterian influence. +
p.211
That Elusive Planet Vulcan Again
By Carl W. Stahl In the May 1974 issue of Horoscope, Charles A. Jayne, a well known astrologer, has an article titled, "How Serious Is The Energy Crisis?" We are not concerned here with the article as such, but what does concern us is that he mentions the planet Vulcan as a contributor to the effects of that crisis. Naturally we are always interested when anyone mentions Vulcan, pro or con,. derogatory or not. The reason we say derogatory is that Jayne says: "The period used by both the late Weston and Carl Stahl is probably wrong." He then goes on to state that every 115 years there is an inferior conjunction of Vulcan to the Sun with a deviation of only 0.067 per day. To further quote Jayne: "Now if we add 115 years to March 26, 1859, we reach March 26, 1974!" We go along with Jayne's inferior conjunction of Vulcan and the Sun March 26, 1859 and, using Greenwich Mean Time at noon we come up with both the Sun and Vulcan at 5 degrees 18 minutes 36 seconds of tropical Aries. We must, however, point out that if you look in our Vulcan Ephemeris for March 1974 you will come up with an inferior conjunction of Vulcan and the Sun on March 23, 1974 at 8 hours 35 minutes Universal Time at Greenwich, in 2 degrees 20 minutes of the sign Aries. Not bad for tables that were never intended to be more than approximate. Those of you who have been using the position of Vulcan in your natal and transit charts are already aware that Vulcan does have some influence on events, emotions, and thought itself. In astrology we have found that those who have Vulcan closely aspected with the other planets, particularly if those planets or Vulcan are in the foreground, i.e., within ten degrees of the rising degree, the midheaven, the descending degree, or the anti-midheaven (1st, 10th, 7th, and 4th), are natural leaders in what ever field planets and angle indicate. We could go on and list numerous other effects and influences of Vulcan but we are aware that to do so would not add to the practical knowledge and understanding of the majority of you. The reason we say is that we must be versed in the basic principles of astrology before we can understand how to use such a speculative force as that indicated by Vulcan I am also aware from letters I have received that many of you would like to correct this lack of knowledge and understanding about astrology's use in your daily life but are confused about where to get this information. In order to help you gain this knowledge, such information will 'be presented in a series of articles (which will give you these basic principles and more.) Today, February 20, 1975, while working on this article, we received a letter we feel must be shared with you. This woman, a self-taught astrologer and a good one, has been using Vulcan in her charts and has had results. Perhaps the best thing to do would be to give you some extracts from her letter. Remember, when reading the following, that she has never studied at P.R.S. "I have been using Vulcan in all of my Sidereal Solar Returns and Sidereal Lunar Returns for the past year and a half. In EVERY chart where the Return Vulcan has been placed close to an angle, I have found that during that chart period I will experience some very major and sweeping shift or change which relates directly to the angle that Vulcan is placed on. For an example: Vulcan conjunction I.C. (I.C. equals home and family)-during this configuration, combined with various transits, such things as deaths effecting the whole family have occurred. A recent Sidereal Lunar Return with Sun, Vulcan, I.C., conjunct pulled the place I was living right out underneath me and
I found myself with 21 days to find a new apartment and move. This Return aspect was compounded when the transiting Sun moved to an exact conjunction with the Sidereal Lunar Return Vulcan, which was conjunct (1 degree orb) the Sidereal Lunar Return LC, angle. "I have also found that in the charts of catastrophic events it will usually be found to contain a group, such as Vulcan and Sun combined with some other planet such as Mars." (Here the writer shows a combination chart of a natal and three novians which is quite impressive. We will go into more detail on this when we have contacted the writer for more clarification). "I think I can confidently say that Vulcan definitely has an effect, and a very drastic one. I rather feel that it doesn't have a real definite personality of its own, but that it takes on the personality of the planets it aspects. In the legend of Vulcan it is said that Vulcan loved Venus and hated her lover Ares. Take Ares to be Mars and contemplate it for awhile. I can only conclude that Vulcan is not only the cause of combustion, but is behind most really devastating or sweeping changes in our lives. There aren't many times in each life when such events/changes occur, but the chances of a return Vulcan falling on an angle is rare in itself. Uranian influences don't really fit to what some people try to push them to. I believe that many instances of change have been pushed onto Uranus that truly belong to the realm of Vulcan." The enthusiasm of this woman over her discoveries is quite contagious. She is a self-taught astrologer and I can assure you that, from this letter alone, one is made aware that she knows about what she is writing. If we could only infect a few of you with this contagion, we would consider the time used in writing this article well spent. As more information, some of it from you readers we hope, comes in we will keep you informed. We shall also make an attempt to correlate this information into a form that you can use.
Two men looked out from behind prison bars. One saw mud, the other saw stars.
back cover
Theriac At one time Theriac was used rather extensively. Andromachus, who was the personal physician of Nero, is supposedly to have originated in Rome the formula for Theriac as an antidote against poisons, such as snake bites for instance. Theriac contained 64 different ingredients, some of them very costly. In 1529 in Nuremberg, Germany, the city fathers made it mandatory that Theriac could be produced only with the express permission and supervision by the city council. In other words, it had to have the official sanction so that no substitutes or inferior ingredients could be used. The last recorded public preparation took place in 1754 at the Nuremberg Apotheke "To the Golden Orb' under solemn ceremonies, as was the case when Theriac was made up either at the Marcus Square in Venice, Italy, or for that matter anywhere else. It was
"official" in the various pharmacopoeias but-has been taken out because of the costly ingredients and the cumbersome mode of production. The solemn rites attached to it, during its preparation, may have been another reason for its being left out of subsequent editions of the official pharmacopoeias, as not being scientific. Nevertheless, Theriac was known as "The" medicine.
Parachemy Volume III: Number 3 Summer 1975
Jacob Boehme
Contents That's What It Is! p.230 Colloidal Gold as an Alchemical preparation p.234 Astrology for the Neophyte p.241 Questions and Answers p.247 Jacob Boehme - back cover p.230
That's What It Is! (What's Going On In The Minds Of People)
In the last issue of PARACHEMY there was disclosed the psychic condition of the average citizen of West Germany, according to reports from psychiatrists and psychologists. Dr. Gunter Ammon, head of the Psychoanalysis Academy (DAP), on opening the Dusseldorf Psychoanalysis Teaching and Research Institute stated that one West German in ten is already mentally "dead" and that approximately six million persons require psychiatric treatment, though there are only one thousand fully trained therapists in the whole of the Federal Republic. At least sixty thousand psychotherapists are required to guarantee adequate psychiatric care throughout the Federal Republic. Central and Federal state governments were sharply criticized for not having recognized the seriousness of the situation. The Academy claims that one patient in two consulting a doctor at present is already suffering from psychosomatic complaints involving a physical reaction to mental processes. The aim is to remedy what is described as a disastrous state of affairs by encouraging further development of and full information about psychoanalytical research in both theory and practice. This psychic condition is alarming when one considers the magnitude of the number of people involved. For, such a condition does not exist only in West Germany but is found nearly all over the world, with perhaps the exception of those fortunate countries where haste and pressure have not, as yet, made such inroads. And it is a terrifying condition when one considers that an increase is very likely because of the ever-increasing pressure brought upon individuals as a result of the accelerated tempo of life. Within the announcement, a statement was made that people who take tranquilizers, drugs, go to church, practice yoga, join in metaphysical societies, or esoterical and philosophical groups, etc. are ending up in only too many cases as nervous wrecks, dissatisfied or disillusioned. Some, when reading such a statement as this, may have taken offense at the inclusion of the church, the practice of yoga, and the metaphysical societies, or esoterical and philosophical groups being in it. Yet, if the situation is considered without partiality, it is evident that many who do go to church, who do practice yoga, and who do join metaphysical societies, or esoterical and philosophical groups have not found peace of mind. Rather, a great number of these people find instead a disillusionment and do become nervous wrecks. There are some, perhaps, who would declare that, through one of such of these systems, peace of mind has been found, giving happiness. But there is a question that needs to he carefully considered by all: Why, if peace of mind is found, is there still a searching for it? The answer that the PRS gives to the prevailing and alarming psychic condition and to all who are seeking peace of mind is that the majority of the people are too much concerned with external conditions and not enough, by far, with their own inner life. This will, in many cases, be refuted immediately by such statements as the church does, the practice of Yoga does, and the metaphysical societies, or esoterical and philosophical groups do stress this fact, through these systems people are taught to accomplish just such an inner awareness. Yes, such a teaching does take place through these systems, though rarely is accomplishment known and demonstrated. It is important that we direct our attention to the word "system." For, it is here where the trouble begins. Many claim to have the sole and only answer and when such needs verification as to its merit, only too often a so-called proof is attempted by citing former authorities and emphasizing the
transmission of such authority. Each has his or her own system and unfortunately these systems do not always coincide. When they do not, differences are aired and before long accusations are made. Instead of such systems easing the strain and calming the troubled waters, the opposite takes place and the mental strain increases. Whereas, a tranquility is needed to help soothe the rushing impulses of the every day strife for more and better material gains. The basic answer to this would seem to be found in an unconventional approachto use the best available information from any and all sources and to produce a universal outline (not system) that is applicable to all concerned, regardless of religion, creed, philosophy, etc., an outline that is universal in its application as is, by analogy, arithmetic, geography, and history. What could such an outline contain? First of all, cyclic events that have occurred and can be verified will have to be tabulated and evaluated. Events that have occurred in the past can not be removed from history. for such are facts. When such global cyclic events have been established, a reduction to smaller cyclic events will have to be found and verified. Such verification is the heart of any and all further projection. Just as in mathematics a factor can be determined before it takes place so will future events he calculated, based upon prevailing evidence. To accomplish this, many systems within a valid outline may then he used. We know this can be accomplished with the help of many such systems, just as in arithmetic many systems are employed, ranging from the simple systems of addition and subtraction, multiplication and division to the more advanced systems of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, etc. To go about systematically means to follow according to chosen laws that which is to be employed. Each system serves a specific function and may, in accordance with need, serve as a means but is not in itself the one and only way by which a positive result may be obtained within a given outline. By use of such a valid outline, man may come to see life as it is-the false as false, the true as truerather than, according to his conditioned thinking, merely accept what it is he but believes or even desires to be false and to be true. If an undivided attention were to be given to the understanding of life as it is then "to search" may not be necessary . . . To seek what is desired is an endless search for then man's mind is continuously projecting that which is to be sought and, in the conflict and struggle to reach it, he does not see that which is before him, around him, and with him. According to the law of polarity, any system can be made to work, as has been demonstrated at the PRS curriculum. However, care should be taken that the difference between a supposition and a fact be realized. It should not be supposed that when the two become merged identical results will be produced. Nor should it be supposed-that a system based on supposition will produce results identical to a system based on fact. It is here where the greatest danger is to be found, as is only too evident in religions which are exclusively based upon belief and not knowledge, as are most philosophical dissertations. It is extremely difficult to find even one religious creed that does not begin with I (or we) believe . . . To the best of the availing knowledge concerning religious or philosophic creeds, none is known that begins with I (or we) know . . . Many illusions are retained within such religious or other concepts that will not stand their ground when put to the test. As an example, one may have a belief and upon such a belief build a system which may be stretched to the ridiculous. Systems have been built upon such simple assertions as "two can live as cheaply as one" or "four hands can accomplish more than two hands". Theoretically, the soundness of such postulations
can not be proven. Neither can theoretical religious theorems be proven. As an example, let us take the following simple assertion of "figures don't lie". This is one of such an accepted and popular quoted saying, used only too often by insurance companies, statisticians, and others. Are figures always infallible? They are not. Usually, people do not care to investigate for themselves and come up with proof to satisfy themselves. They expect others to do it for them, because in most cases they are not even able to arrive at their own conclusion for lack of knowledge. On the other hand, there are others who have knowledge but do not act upon it. There is no virtue in knowledge without action. Such an assertion as "figures don't lie" can theoretically be proven to be unsound and it can be shown that the basis upon which its system rests does not always produce identical results. If one man were to build a boat in one year, twelve men could build it in one month. Up to here this seems to be quite acceptable. But . . . if we continue this system and find out if it is based upon fact, we will see that it is not workable, though one may believe it as far as one is willing to believe it. If twelve men could build this boat in one month, then 360 men could build it in one day and 8,640 men could accomplish the same in one hour. In one minute, 518,400 men would be able to build this boat and, lo and behold, 31,104,000 men could build this whole thing in one second! If one were to go further, the entire 'boat could be built by 1,866,240,000 men in the twinkling of an eye. And all of this is possible ... because "figures don't lie!" If man would only find contentment in the fact that he lives in a natural world and would content himself with natural things, he would not become so confused and mentally disturbed by stressing the supernatural as common occurrences. There are many things that man does not understand for the simple reason that he does not make sufficient efforts to stay with his feet on the ground no matter how high his head is dwelling in the clouds. Only after man has found himself as a dweller on this planet, as. he makes an effort to know life as it is, will he find out more-but not before. Man's work is here on this earth and the most important of all known facts is to find out first of all why he is who he is. This is possible with presently known and available facts, which are based upon an outline which employs various systems whereby the end results are identical. This is important because the facts emerging coincide irregardless of the system or systems used. Therefore, many systems can be employed. It is not the system used that is of prime importance but the outline upon which a system is based. Such an outline is of a natural occurrence and can be substantiated by the available facts, and these we have to have first before any further assumptions, beliefs, or such have any sound basis to rest upon. Any belief is valid when projected from available laws at hand and the knowledge of how to use them. As long as man prefers to speculate rather than use what is, available to him at a given time and employ gainfully such, much time and effort is spent to hardly any avail, with resulting confusion, worry, and increased uncertainty producing mental illness because of the stress building up out of proportion to the capabilities of man to cope with it. Without any claim to a special system, the PRS is in a position to assist those who ask to be assisted and can inform them as to the fundamental laws, which enable man to find himself and to prove the validity by practical demonstrative evidence. The PRS does not claim to be the only one who can present such an outline but certainly has established sufficient results with individuals who have put such an outline to the test and thereby enriched their lives both on the
physical and mental planes of awareness. Such evidence is undisputably to be had by those who have attended PRS resident studies on subjective and demonstrable laboratory results.
All men who are instructed in fundamental truths speak the same language, for they are inhabitants of the same country. - Saint Germain
p.234
Colloidal Gold As An Alchemical Preparation By S. Mahdihassan In order to specify an alchemical preparation, it has to be distinguished from others which are not. This becomes easy enough when we go into the theories supporting each of the two categories of medicaments. Simples, or individual drugs, be it a herb, Soma, a mineral, like redochre, or a metal, like gold, were assumed to contain a quantum of soul as their active principle. When such a drug was taken, the strength of the medicine passed into the system of the consumer, much as vitamins do to enrich our body. Soma, really Ephedra, was assumed to be so rich in soul content that taking it regularly kept deferring death, making man practically immortal. The idea of each and every substance being endowed with soul was initiated by Animism. When Dualism came later on, though the presence of soul in a herb and a metal was confirmed, everything now became dualnatured with soul as a whole-a mixture of a male-soul and a femalesoul, their ratio differing from case to case. The male-soul was virtually growthsoul responsible for life-span. The female-soul was corporeal-soul which imparted form and specificity. Ephedra was rich in male-soul, which made it a perennial plant; but its femalesGul was poor, revealing it as a delicate herb. On the contrary, a metal, like copper, was solid and heavy, due to a powerful female-soul; but it was liable to rust and it was unable to repair itself, much less to grow at all, for its male-soul was weak. But if a metal and a herb be calcined together, at a critical temperature, differential heating would drive away their weaker souls, leaving only the stronger ones behind. The resistant souls would then be the male-soul of the herb and the femalesoul of the metal. At the same time, maintaining proper heat becomes a decisive factor. The powerful pair of souls would then fuse as equals into unity, to constitute a hermaphrodite soul. Thus, the male and female souls, being together, the system becomes self-productive. When such a herbo-metallic complex, with a hermaphrodite soul, is taken as a drug, the accepting system never lacks the presence of soul and is therefore bound to become everlasting; thus, man can become immortal. When the same substance is seeded into mercury, the latter
becomes everlasting as metal which is gold. But the resultant gold is also the carrier of an evergrowing soul so that the same transferred into a potful of mercury, in turn, changes the latter into gold. Thus, alchemical gold. like the original herbo-mineral substance, is a hermaphrodite by constitution and a ferment by function. The alchemist by word and by illustration never failed to convey such to be his belief. Thus, whereas ordinary gold used as a Simple, recommended by Animism, would prolong life in the long run, alchemical gold could do that all at once, as a single dose drug of immortality. The active principle in the former case was additive, in the latter multiplicative, where even a homeopathic dose should suffice once for all. Since alchemical gold was ferment-gold and, as such, live-gold, the alchemist was overcautious in melting it before he parted with it definitely as dead-gold. This of course was good as bullion-gold but no longer an ideal drug for immortality. We have learnt of the genesis of alchemical gold. Virtually it was the growthsoul of a plant that transplanted itself into a base metal, be it copper or mercury. In other words, it is a case of reincarnation, when the vehicle itself is changed say from copper into gold, Then it seems far easier to take dead-gold, as such, and revive it as live-gold, which alchemical gold really is. And the reviving agency would again be the growth-soul of some herb. This would be a case of resurrection, for the vehicle remains unchanged in form, only dead-gold is being enlivened to become live-gold. That the special technique of alchemy consisted in bringing about a herbometallic complex, with a herbal soul transferred to a metallic body, can be supported by documentary evidence. In this connection His Highness the MAHARADJA OF GONDAL, writes that the ancient Hindus "have described the method of transferring the properties of vegetable cures to certain metals which intensify their efficacy and retain it a long time." The Maharadja was the only Indian Prince who had been academically qualified as a graduate in medicine from a British University, and as such was selfconscious of his scientific training. He therefore tried to give his statement a rationalistic form. He has thereby attempted the impossible, for no one can conceive how vegetable cures can migrate into metals. On the contrary, in the light of Animism-cum-Dualism it is easy to see how the growth-soul of a plant can occupy a metallic body. Moreover, controlled heating means repeated heating to produce the best end product. In the case of Mica preparation, I know it has to be calcined sometimes as often as 1000 times. On account of it, the Burmese name for alchemy is Aggya, with the root Ag meaning Fire, while Aggya itself signifies " a pursuit implying work with fire." In confirmation we have enough pictures of medieval European alchemists each seated before a furnace and his laboratory full of crucibles and tongs. By now it must be clear that the first preparation the alchemist succeeded in making was a herbo-metallic complex and that every alchemical preparation must contain an ever-increasing soul as the active principle. The next preparation was alchemical gold. Now this can be made by mixing a herbo-metallic complex with a metal or mercury, but it can also be made by taking ordinary gold and treating it with a plant juice so that the revived gold becomes ferment-gold. It is the latter preparation that is being discussed here. Its procedure can be further endorsed by mysticism. PHILO maintains that impacts of a soul on matter makes it soul-like. Applying it to our case, the growth-soul of a plant incorporated in gold would make it grow as a ferment. Only in this light,
can we appreciate how calcining a metal, or powdering it, to destroy its physical or material nature, and at the same time infusing growth-soul con-ling from a herb, ultimately changes the inert material as bullion-gold into an active soul-like gold. We are now fully prepared to face alchemical preparations of gold coming dut of copper. That alchemy consisted in imitating creation was clearly recognized by DANTE during whose times alchemy was a favorite hobby. Even his recognition seems to have been ignored by modern authorities on the history of alchemy. Now the reciprocal of creation is resurrection. Here the body fully exists as such, needing only soul to enliven it. In imitating creation, a base metal was first given the form of gold and this became livegold or ferment-gold. But we can start with the fossil-gold already existing and see if it can be enlivened by a soul, which comes from a vegetable and transmigrates into the body of a "metal," to give rise to a vegetable-metal complex, or better spoken of as a herbo-metallic one. We have seen that heating, or calcining, is an important condition. Overheating would drive away the herbal soul far too soon and the metal would not be resusitated. To revive dead-gold into live-gold would be imitating resurrection rather than creation. The final product would again be endowed with an ever increasing soul, and thus identical with the herbo-metallic complex considered before. Dead-gold, however, can only be revived if a herb can donate its soul. For this we can take a powerful soul of a special herb, or subject dead-gold to the integrated impacts of weaker souls coming from less powerful donors. This would be more practical though time-consuming. The above theory in essence is supported by mysticism when PHIL0 maintains that the impacts of soul on matter can make it soul-like. A herbal soul produces impacts on dead-gold and finally revives it. It is tested on fire where it dies. It is revived again with fresh juice rich in soul. This killing and reviving is repeated until the material vehicle becomes soul-like. We started with metallic gold and herbal extract, we ended by realizing that the metal became soul-like and a female-soul, which then accepted the growthinducing soul, or the male-soul of the herb. The two become equal and fuse into unity. We are now fully informed to appreciate an important technique of practical alchemy. For some years, I had the honor of being the Private Secretary of Maharaja SIR KISHEN PERSHAD, G.C.L.E., a former Prime Minister of Hyderabad State, India. Being an old gentleman at the time, he encouraged an expectation of making a gold preparation against general debility. For this purpose, one Tola (11. 6 Grams) of gold leaves were taken and triturated with herbal extracts in a mortar and pestle of hard black granite. The yellow powder gradually became greyish and finally brick-red. When the color did not improve further, the preparation was declared as perfect. One can see that the reddish-gold powder was really colloidal gold. If I remember right, it took some three months to prepare, working about five hours a day. That it is a time-consuming and labor-involving process is obvious but the technique is as simpleas one can wish. Another method is obviously the older-that of calcining gold with herbal juices. Here gold filings are preferred and placed as a core within a ball of freshly pounded herbs. The "vegetable ball" is wrapped up in a cloth and further covered with a thick layer of fine clay. This ball is allowed to dry and then calcined at a definite heat. Cow dung cakes are used as fuel, never charcoal, since the former gives relatively low heat. I had the temperature indirectly measured and estimated it as being about 400oC, although the external heat was much higher. Heating is continued' for
about four hours, adding fresh dung-cakes as required. Finally, it is left overnight. The next day the gold filings are roughly ground in a hard mortar and pestle and again placed in a fresh ball of pounded herbs, and then the calcining is repeated as before. This process is carried on some forty times. Here grinding is reduced to the minimum but firing is increased correspondingly. Sir R. N. CHOPRA2 mentions three synonyms for the gold preparation: Swarna 11hasma (a Sanskrit term), Gold Kushta (the latter being a Persian word), and Reduced Gold. He gives the chemical analysis of one such preparation with 96.7% gold. But as expected, there are other minerals coming from the ashes of plants used in calcining. I well remember reading that Prof. STOCKLASA, the famous Agricultural Chemist of Prague, found gold in the ash of some plants. Ele ultimately traced it to their habitat in Bohemia where the soil contained traces of gold. What is worthwhile knowing is the form in which gold was present. Any ionizable salt of gold would have killed the herb long before it could grow to have been collected. Presumably, it must have existed there as colloidal gold, resulting from Vitamin C of the plant acting on any absorbed gold salt. Likewise, any alchemical preparation of gold is valuable, not only on account of its gold content but also on account of its colloidal nature. I miss such emphasis in the literature on gold preparations sold even today in India and Pakistan. I have to report on three of them here. The first preparation was sold by the SULAIMANI DAWAKHANA, Jhangia, Multan District, West Pakistan. It was a brick-red powder. Fig. 1 shows it magnified 7.500 times under an electron microscope. The second was made by Dr. PURSHOTHAN DEV MULTANI, Head of the Ayurvedic Section of the Unani Hospital, Hyderabad, India, and was kindly presented to me when I visited him. This again was identical in color with sample No. 1. Fig. 2 gives its picture as magnified also 7.500 times. The third preparation was undertaken by the late KAKIM NOOR MOHAMMAD KNAN at Karachi. He came from Ajmir and had almost ruined himself as an enthusiastic alchemist. He was therefore fully qualified to make Such a preparation. He undertook this work at my request so that I could learn the method of its preparation. It looked brick-red as well but the particles were larger when magnified. Knowing that the real quality of a gold preparation depends upon the fineness of its particles, I was on the lookout for a process which could atomize metallic gold by proper physical means. This happened to be mentioned by E. A. SMITH3 in his interesting article "Fine Grinding of Pharmaceuticals." He writes that it is generally believed that "some materials can change their properties as they become finer. Graphite, for example, which the text book describes as chemically inert, becomes reaclive A when reduced to very fine sizes; and I well remembered by unloading a mill, in which I was attempting to grind this mineral as fine as possible, to discover that when it was brought into air it tended to burn spontaneously at fineness beyond about 400 M2/g. One does not associate spontaneous activity of this kind with pure carbon in crystalline form." It may be added that there exists on the market an alchemical preparation of diamond, which is also carbon, reduced to a powder as smooth to the touch as though it was butter. It is, however, made to order, which is undertaken by an Ayurvedic drug house at Gondal, India, at a fabulously high price. Of the Karachi gold preparation I had enough to send to Mr. SMITH for further atomization. This was kindly returned as a much finer powder, shown in Fig. 3B, to be compared with the original in Fig. 3A. I felt that the magnification of 7.500 times needed further enlargement. Some of the Karachi powder was sent to Prof. Dr. G. W. RATHENAU, Director of Philips Research Laboratories, Eindhoven, Holland, who kindly had it magnified 37.500 times.
This is shown in Fig. 4. 1 take this opportunity of thanking him again. The pictures reproduced here as Figs. 1 to 3 were prepared by Dr. S. N. RUDHLESDEN, Principal Scientific Officer of the British Ceramic Research Association, Stoke-on-Trent, and to him, as to the Director, Dr. N. F. ASTBURY, my thanks are due. Last but not least, my thanks to Mr. E. A. SMITH in London. Humble as the contents of this article are, it has taken me some years to collect representative samples and to contact foreign specialists since nowhere in Pakistan could I find an electron microscope, without which more of the pictures could have been offered. There is another method of measuring particle size, most recently described by Dr. PEARSON4. He uses a special electronic device, "Coulter Counter," of Coulter Electronics Ltd., Dunstable, England, which is worthwhile in trying to establish the particle size of such preparations as have been shown here by an electron microscope. + (Apologies for the quality, but the originals were not much better-RD)
REFERENCES 1. RHAGVAT SINWEE, A Short History of Aryan Medical Science, Gondal, 1937, p. 137. 2. CHOPRA, R. N. Indigeneous Drugs of India, 1958, Calcutta. 3. SMITH, E A. Fine Grinding of Pharmaceuticals, Manfg. Chemist., May 1966, p. 42. 4. PEARSON, J. T. and W. N. PITKETHLY, The Pharmacist in Industry, Chemistry in Britain, Aug. 1969, p. 360.
p.241
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl When beginning any undertaking, whether your role is that of teacher or student, it is proper procedure to pause for a time in the invocation of the God of your heart. So before beginning to study let us pause in the silence. You as a student, to become a properly attuned recipient, and we as your teacher being with you in spirit, praying that we are capable of performing this instruction in a positive manner. In the final analysis we can only give off that which we have. What follows will be astrology as we see it. It cannot be otherwise. If it were, we would he denying our own individuality. We would be a hollow shell, a sham, and a delusion.
Following invocation comes contemplation which reveals to us how separate the body of astrology into its various parts and, in the process of putting these parts back together again, we shall attain a transmutation of these essentials into a purified whole. Unless we thoroughly understand all the basic parts of the body of astrology, we will be incapable of putting together a coherent whole. The result of this contemplation is seen in the preparation which follows. Through preparation we obtain knowledge which leads to understanding and eventually to wisdom. So come, let us first lay bare the essentials of that symbolic knowledge which is called astrology. In the olden days no one would have been admitted to the study of alchemy who was not experienced in the knowledge and use of astrology. For how could he learn anything of alchemy, when alchemical books and papers are filled with astrological symbols, unless he knew something of astrology? Of alchemy it has been said, "Know the theory first." The same -an be said of astrology, "Know the theory first." This we shall attempt give you in the following lessons. By the grace of God there shall be a meeting of minds and an interchange of ideas. First we must understand that in astrology, being a symbolical science, all its knowledge is revealed by the symbols that make up its whole. It matters not whether these be the symbols of the planets, the constellations, the aspects, the elements, or the essentials. All together constitute the body of knowledge known as astrology. This being so, the ancients must have left some plans as to which sequence should be followed when using this symbolical knoweldge. They did, designating the planets as the basic symbols. From them could be deduced the basic meanings behind the science of the stars. Once the student has these basic meanings fixed in his mind, he is then ready to take another step forward. In the beginning of these instructions we shall use only the Sun, the Moon, and the five planets of the ancients. We are doing this because it is vitally necessary that you understand the influences of these planets before attempting to understand the influences of the more recently discovered planets. This applies especially to their rulerships and exaltations. In the following pages we give the seven planets of the ancients along with some hints as to their influences. We must approach these influences in an objective manner. Unless we can use the knowledge we are about to gain in everyday life, we are wasting our time. Make no mistake, the mundane leads to the spiritual. Man crawls before he walks, and walks before be can run, and then he may run when he should have remained motionless. The Sun The Sun signifies our mental creative ability and the strength of our life force. When close to an angle it gives an irresistable urge to shine, to attain both fame and honor. Our vanity and ambition can often be determined from the Sun's place in our birth chart. The Sun indicates our pride in, as well as the results of, our creative thought and efforts. It shows our vital reserve and how our mind affects our health. Success and honor bring energy in abundance. Failure and dishonor often bring sickness and even death. The Sun signifies our search for fame, honor, sex, and conquest. Close to an angle it causes pride, egotism, vanity, and self-centered esteem. It is
the Sun, not Mars, who is the true War Lord. The story of Hercules and his twelve labors represents the Sun's passage through the twelve divisions of the zodiac. The ancients worshipped the Sun as the physical representation, the body, of God. Both religion and sports come under the Sun. Both seek identification with the supreme; one spiritually, the other physically. Sportsmen and military commanders have the same goal. Both seek victory, honor, and decorations, along with the parades and the pomp of the triumphal occasions that follow. The Sun is said to signify the heart as the seat of the soul. As such it signifies the Self, the positive half of the ego. It indicates what one is at heart, one's inner aims, desires, and vital interests. It is the positive and the Moon the negative significator of sex. Whichever of the luminaries is the most powerfully placed will indicate which characteristic predominates in the individual. There are very few pure types since most of us are mixture of both the positive and negative. We must not consider either the Solar or Lunar oriented person superior to the other. Just as both male and female have their function in life, so do Solar and Lunar type personalities. To summarize: The Sun is the significator of creative thought, ambition, success, honor, and fame. Pure thought is Solar. Tiphereth, the sixth Sephirah and the thirtieth Path on the Tree of Life, is identified with the Sun. Its color is yellow, its metal gold, and its archangel is Raphael. The Moon The Moon signifies emotion. Man, proud of his reasoning ability, overlooks the fact that he and the majority of mankind still react to their emotions and not to their thoughts. Can you rightly claim, that even when you carefully reason something out, that you then follow reason in your decision and not emotion? Our reactions to our daily life are shown by-the position of our natal Moon, the constellation it is in, and the aspects it makes to the planets and the Sun. It shows our moods, daily habits, manners, deportment, personal aversions, gestures, method of eating, way of talking, gestures, facial expression and those things we crave. The Moon indicates the pride we take in our personal appearance and what we do to enhance it. Ruling the emotions, it directly reacts on our health. Frustration and despair can bring on a bout with the flu or even the common cold. We must look to the Moon for answers to problems related to sex. Basically the meaning of the Moon is sensation and response to it, Its position in the chart shows where the person is too close and too tied up with his feelings to have clear insight on things. This is where he reacts without forethought, on impulse. The Lunar position shows where the native is brought into intimate involvement with every detail of his daily life. The Moon, as the psychological center of desire, denotes the ego in its negative expression and as such is concerned with the personal and intimate affairs and actions of one's private life. It has to do with the erotic and family life of both sexes. The sexual urges, hidden in the subconsious, express themselves in personal mannerisms. Laughter, tears, humor, anger, tenderness, all are reactions of the Moon to inner or outer stimuli. The subconscious mind, the storehouse of memory, comes under the Moon. Yesod, the ninth Sephirah and the thirteenth Path on the Tree of Life, is given to the Moon. Its color is violet, its metal is silver, and its Archangel is Gabriel.
Mercury Mercury is the significator of acquisitiveness. It rules communication not thought. It concerns itself with words and language which are used in communication but has no creativity of its own. Writing, literature, and study come under Mercury. One form of communication is travel, whether it be physical or by means of thought forms, and both come under Mercury. It rules a person's mental attitude and the mechanics of thought. It has nothing to do with a person's brilliance or stupidity because it has nothing to do with intelligence which comes under the Sun. Mental activity comes under Mercury whether it is reading, learning, debating, writing, advertising, persuasion, business affairs, mathematics, or mechanical abilities. It also rules our ability to take in and give off knowledge. The Roman god, Mercury, was the patron of traders and thieves. The merchant operates within the law, while the thief operates outside the law, but they are both motivated by the desire for gain. From this we see that Mercury signifies the acquisitive faculty, which in affliction becomes greed and dishonesty. We can usually determine the nature of our natural business, profession or trade from Mercury's position in the horoscope and from its aspects with the other planets. The desire to make money (Mercury) and to be loved (Venus) arecravings that are closest to the heart of most people just as these planets are closest to the Sun. Education, particularly that which seeks to train us to become efficient professional and business men, so. we can earn a living, come under Mercury. It is the bridge between the ego and the objective world and without it we would he at a constant loss for words. Identification comes under Mercury and includes, among other things, your Social Security Number, Driver's license, telephone number, address, nickname, everything expressed in word and number as well as in documentary form. Mercury on an angle at birth brings monetary success and every transit to it brings you to the attention of someone for either good or bad. Hod, the eighth Sephirah and the twelfth Path on the Tree of Life, is identified with Mercury. Its color is orange, its metal is quicksilver, and its archangel is Michael. Venus Venus is the planet of love and brotherhood. Those having Venus on an angle at birth are friendly, affectionate, soft-spoken, and mild. Venus recognizes no caste, color, creed, or race as being different from the other. Sympathy comes under Venus, whether it ranges from social compassion to feeling sorry for some one. It is our Venus which causes us to really care about social injustice and the underprivileged. Venus is the mirror of the soul. Venus signifies the love of a mother for her child, of one man for another in true buddy fashion, and of a father for his son. Venus stands for true love, harmony, peace, and tenderness. Venus is our love for flowers, natural beauty, scenes, artistic creations, children in general, pets, colors, or what have you. True love gives, it never takes, and Venus is true love. Venus seeks to unify and those strongly under Venus tend to herd together. Venus has to do with life and death, joy and sadness, pleasure and pain, as in crying for joy. Flowers decorate both weddings and funerals. Venus is prominent at the time of childbirth.
Netzach, the seventh Sephirah and the fourteenth Path, is identified with Venus. Its color is green, its metal is copper, and its archangel is Haniel. Mars Mars is energy and near an angle gives it to excess. It also shows the person's strength and skill in self defense as well as his mechanical ability. An angular Mars, especially if aspected by the Moon, makes the native loud, coarse, vulgar, aggressive, and impatient. A background Mars may be just as dangerous as it means a repressed personality which may compensate by violence. Mars is the planet of competition and uses any means available to eliminate that competition if necessary or possible. The true Martian is noisy. He grunts heavily, speaks with a deep voice, and is a natural snorer. His best qualities are initiative, leadership, efficiency, and perseverance. Mars is brave and courageous. He knows no fear. His worst quality is that he refuses to be outdone. Mars feels that the only logical end of any contest is victory, hence they are bad losers. Mars personifies pain, and in our charts shows where we get hurt. Mars reacts to trouble with action. It strikes out, it slams doors, it breaks things, but it does something. Those responding to the physical aspect of Mars lack both a sense of humor and an understanding of spiritual things. Mars is passion. Geburah, fifth Sephirah and twenty-fifth Path, is connected with Mars. Its color is red, its metal is iron, and its archangel is Khamael. Jupiter Jupiter signifies expansion. In its simplest form this is a direct result of eating and Jupiter is concerned with nutrition and growth. Jupiter's position and aspects indicate how we enjoy ourselves. If with the benefics we will enjoy life to the utmost, if with the malefics there will be no enjoyment. Religion, judgment, ritual, prayer, formal oaths, all divination come under Jupiter. Jupiter rules the display of wealth and its spending, not its getting. Jupiter is a copycat not a creator. It signifies esteem, the respect we receive from others. It is an aspect of keeping up with the Joneses and with waste. To be socially worthy means not having to earn a living. It means wearing a white collar, the creased trouser, and the latest style. For whatever is mod is Jupiterian. An angular Jupiter indicates that one is a conformist, doing what is expected of him in his station in life. Love to Jupiter is 'being loved, not loving. Being mothered and well fed is his idea of the peak of love. Jupiter is the nice guy, the all American boy. He knows it is more important whom you know than what you know. The planet of good fortune is the planetary example that wishful, constructive thinking has a way of coming true. Jupiter rules medicine. This probably goes back to when the only doctors were priests. If they were any good at all in healing, they became exempted from all work and thus became the second profession, the first being religion. Chesed, the fourth Sephirah and the twenty-first Path, is associated with Jupiter. Its color is blue, its metal is tin, and its archangel is Tzadkiel. Saturn
Saturn signifies that area where we have a lack. It is the planet of want, hunger, grasping, and greed. It slows down and hinders the normal functions of any planet that it aspects. Saturn restricts and hinders all growth. It corrupts every planet it aspects and the awareness of this causes the native anguish and sorrow. Saturn signifies fear, cowardice, and the hatred which fear brings. Fear and love cannot exist together. Fear brings resistance, dislike, and condemnation which bars all understanding. To understand we must learn to love that which we seek to understand. Saturn is the planet of self preservation, self denial, toil, worry, loneliness, and burdens. Saturn is the planet of Law, rules, regulations, boundaries, limita tion, inferiority, the status quo, and tradition. Saturn restricts in order to use. Saturn wishes to be self-sustaining and has to put emotional distance between itself and other people. Saturn demands privacy. Saturn refuses to go along blindly with the majority. To do so would involve him too closely with others. Saturn rules both filth and cleanliness and most victims of compulsive neuroses are constantly washing themselves. Saturn rules money and money is connected with filth. Since Saturn wants to hang onto everything, even its own waste (constipation), it is the planet of wealth. If you make every cent you can, and get rid of as little of it as possible, you will eventually become rich. To Saturn love is possession. If the loved one desires to break away, he is punished for his own good. A strong natal Saturn may mean fear of life, which results in the native building fences and safeguards around himself to keep others out. Binah, the third Sephirah and the thirty-second Path is equated to Saturn. Its color is black, its metal is lead, and its archangel is Tzaphkiel. Having given you some brief hints on the influences of the planets in the natal chart, we find that the next step is to ascertain what planets rule what constellations. We give a table below which list the ancient method. Meditate on it. In our next article we will show how to find out the influences of the constellations. Study the planetary influences and make them a part of yourselves. Ancient Method of Planetary Rulership + Sun Leo -Mercury Virgo + Venus Libra -Mars Scorpio + Jupiter Sagittarius -Saturn Capricorn Cancer Moon Gemini Mercury + Taurus Venus Aries Mars + Pisces Jupiter Aquarius Saturn +
p.247
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. I understand that the PRS is engaged primarily in alchemical research. This I understand to be actual laboratory work. Is this the case or is there also spiritual alchemy involved in the PRS teachings? A. The PRS emphasizes demonstrable alchemical laboratory alchemy. The reason is that too much emphasis is placed by others over a too greater length of time on what some call spiritual alchemy, what we say is a misnomer and should be referred to as mental alchemy. Q. Was it by chance that each of us was drawn to the work at PRS was there a definite, even karmic, reason in each case? A. This question has been asked many times. Those involved are inclined towards the latter. Q. Metals and minerals come dead or alive. A sure source of live minerals and metals is their ore. Last year we started with the ore of antimony. Yet when we calcined the black powder, to obtain the white powder, Sb203 did not we kill it? 1) In other words, did not we drive off the mercury of antimony by excessive heat? If the answer is affirmative, then seems that we might as well have started with Sb203 obtained through any chernical supply house. 2) Can excessive heat also drive off the sulphur from Sb203. In that case, we must ask the factory under what heat the white powder has been produced. This, however, is mostly a question of theoretical interest, since we may assurne that the factory, in order to save energy.. produced the white Powder at a reasonably low heat. 3) It appears, therefore, that when we come to the point where we desire to produce the fixed alkahest from the antimony, we had better use a white powder which has been produced under a sufficiently low heat, in order to still preserve some of the alkahest in the metal. In fact, it seems that we had better start directly with the ore in this case so that we, ourselves, can take the necessary precautions to prevent the alkahest from escaping. 4) Or perhaps, the above arguments are (relatively) invalid, due to the fact that the alkahest in antimony is (relatively) fixed in antimony and therefore will not be driven off by any heat within reasonable limits. 5) Will any alkahest serve as a Universal Menstruum within the mineral kingdom? A. 1) Antimony oxide can be derived by various ways and means. The alchemistical approach is slow and prolonged calcination. Chemical firms use different processes. The unusual thing about the mercury of antimony, alchemists tell us, is that it is fixed. That is what makes antimony so highly unusual to the alchemists. 2) Antimony trioxide does not contain any more sulphur. It has been driven off by calcination. Very little, if any, will be left if the process is carefully conducted. 3) When the source of your antimonial product is uncertain, starting with the ore is to be preferred.
4) You are on the right track to answer your own previous questions and then some. 5) No. There are many alkahests in the mineral kingdom but only one philosophical mercury. Q. Into how many parts can water be separated or divided different one from the other? A. We have presently been able to come up with twelve separate such parts. Q. How would the four elements be separated in the antimony work? How would we identify the four elements? A. Air in its spirit, earth in its mineral salt, fire in its sulphur, and water in its radical moisture which separates from the spirit or mercury by distillation. Q. Could you elaborate on the uses of the tartaric alkahest? A. It is very useful for the extraction of essential extracts from minerals. Gold will yield its essence to it. Q. What are the V, P, and K factors in the herbal kingdom? A. According to the Tridosha, the V-Vat is air, P-Pit is fire, and K-Kaph is water. These factors apply to all three kingdoms. Q. Where vitriol is mentioned in alchemical operations, could ferrous suphate crystals be used (FeS047H20)? A. It usually refers to ferrous sulphate and not to ferric. When the turquoise-colored crystals change to brown, the ferrous state has changed to the ferric. Q. Can sulphuric acid be removed from antimony vinegar? Following Basil's instructions in making antimony vinegar, I seem to get menstruums that are contaminated with sulphur. Can this be done without picking up the crude sulphur that creates sulphuric acid when coming in contact with water? A. If the vinegar of antimony is made from crude ore, it is very difficult to remove the suphuric acid thus formed. It is different when calcined ore is used, as the sulphur is driven off. This should he done under vacuum to exclude all additional entry of moisture. As long as there is some sulphur left in the antimony, when water is added some sulphuric acid will form. A sulphurous acid can be had from antimony but this has to be accomplished without the addition of any water or moisture from the air. This would be a dry distillation. Q. Will there be a future class which will research gem stones or crystals? I feel sure there is special correspondence within them or qualities hidden in them of value to man-spiritually and materially. Will you comment? A. Yes. This subject is included in the PRS curriculum.
Q. What three substances are joined, "Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored," besides the salt? Is it the philosophical mercury and the potable gold or the philosophic gold (page 126), or the red and white mercurys extracted from the golden water? A. The philosophical gold is used. In rare cases the oil of gold is used. Since the philosophical gold yields both mercury and sulphur, it is the natural thing to use in most cases. "Praxis Spagyrica Philosophica" shows how the entire process may be accomplished with the metal gold. Even then, the philosophical mercury is derived from another metal, as gold, as it is to be had, has no more mercury in it but has to 'be revived or quickened with the mercury to be transformed into a stone. Q. Does The Alkahest actually look like a clear and golden-colored water when it first comes over and, if so, does it have to be distilled after it comes over as per Cockren in "Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored," page 120. A. Yes. The first that comes over is the water or the flood, as the old ones called it. Then comes the golden water. This has to be distilled again, as our experiments have proven. Q. On page 196 of "The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony," there is a description of how to compose the fire stone. There is a part of this on which I have been working and find difficult to understand and work with. Namely, "Pour to it red oil of vitriol, made over iron, and highly rectified. Please discuss. A. This refers to the oil derived from vitriol of iron. Common iron pyrite or fools gold is an excellent source to obtain it from. Q. In making an herbal stone, can we talk of a completed stone that is unfixed and one that is fixed? A. Yes. Q. Can we talk of a tartaric acid salt extracted from other plants than just grape? As, for example, from apples. 1 would assume their vibrations would not be so high. A. Yes.
back cover
Jacob Boehme The Cobbler of Goerlitz in Silesia, as he was referred to by those who scorned his simple ways because he was a shoemaker by trade, has become an honorary title by now,. as it denotes the Teutonic Mystic or the Teutonic Giant. Jacob Boehme was a contemporary of Paracelsus. He
accomplished in mental alchemy what Paracelsus proved in his laboratory and as a physician. Boehme was the physician of the soul while Paracelsus healed the bodies of men. Seldom has one penetrated the depths of the soul of men as Boehme did with his simple and yet profound explanations of the mysteries that enshroud theosophical concepts. His books were sought after in all countries where people looked for enlightenment. When King Charles the First of England finished reading one of his works, it is said that he exclaimed, "God be praised that men still exist that can give testimony about God and his works from personal experience." Theologists, politicians, even revolutionaries came under the influence of the profound thoughts of Boehme. Karl Marx and Engels wrote about him saying, 'We is a dark (hard to fathom) soul but of an immense depth." In one of his works, Boehme said, "You will find no book that will reveal more to you of the Divine Wisdom than a green and blooming meadow. There you can see, smell, and taste of the Power of God." His work AURORA is truly a golden dawn of an upcoming expansion of consciousness, which became unmistakably evident by the upheaval it created among the clergy. He was maligned, even condemned, by the Pastor. of Goerlitz as a heretic and forbidden to write anymore. For six years, Boehme did not write, and he had to leave the city and do something else for a living. He traveled to Prague and Dresden where he found entry into circles of nobility, Medical doctors and alchemists eagerly listened to his teachings, which were so profound that his fame spread from country to country. To this very day, Boehme's books are reprinted, and he is as well known today as he was four hundred years ago. As he entered into the great beyond on the fateful night of the 16th to the 17th of November 1624, his last words were "Now I shall enter into Paradise."
Parachemy Volume III: Number 4 Autumn 1975
Paracelsus
Astrology For The Neophyte - The Influence of the Constellations p.258 Hen Eggs - The Elements and Their Influence p.274 Informative Interchange - p.278 Vinegar of Antimony; Sandbath , Question and Answers p.281 Paracelsus - back cover p. 258
Astrology for the Neophyte Influence of the Constellations By Carl W. Stahl
In the first part of this series we gave you a somewhat condensed version of the planetary influences. If it has been some time since you read it, we suggest that you reread it before continuing to read the instructions which follow. At any rate it would be a good idea to have it handy so you can refer to it as we go along. It is important that you understand the method we are using, for it is only through understanding that we can attain wisdom. The Table of Planetary Rulerships, with which we ended the previous lesson, gives us our first hints as to how to determine the influence of the constellations. The ancients held that the astrological influences of the constellations were the same as, or at least similar to, one or others of the planets in diurnal (day) and nocturnal (night) houses. The table we have given lists the day houses as positive and the night houses as negative. Since the planetary rulers are merely similar to the constellations in influence and not exactly the same, the ancients gave us another Table to help us determine the influence of the constellations. They called it, TABLE OF EXALTATIONS. Below we give a version of it. EXALTATION DEGREES OF THE CONSTELLATIONS Planet Constellation Degree Sun Aries 19 Moon Taurus 3 Mercury Virgo 15 Venus Pisces 27 Mars Capricorn 28 Jupiter Cancer 15 Saturn Libra 21 When a planet is in the opposite house to that of its exaltation, it is said to be in its fall, a position of great weakness. A planet in the house opposite to its rulership is said to be in its detriment, also a position of weakness. Besides the preceding we have two more tables to consider if we are to give an accurate reading of the influences of the constellations. These are the Elements and the Quadruplicities. The elements are Air, Fire, Water, and Earth, three of each as shown in the following table. THE ELEMENTS AIR Libra, Aquarius, Gemini FIRE Sagittarius, Aries, Leo WATER Scorpio, Pisces, Cancer EARTH Capricorn, Taurus, Virgo AIR. Spiritual, abstract thought and ideas, artistic. FIRE. Idealistic, energizing and mentally creative. WATER. Emotional and receptive, and imaginative. EARTH. Practical and material, commercial and physical.
Then we have the quadruplicities. Here the zodiac is divided into three groups of four constellations. THE QUADRUPLICITIES CARDINAL Libra, Capricorn, Aries, Cancer FIXED Scorpio, Aquarius, Taurus, Leo MUTABLE Sagittarius, Pisces, Gemini, Virgo The Cardinal constellations are the busy bees of the zodiac. Always busy, seldom thinking, they accept society as it is and work hard to succeed in the framework that society demands of them. They are expediters who drive the remainder of society before them in a desire for wealth and power. The Mutable constellations are those who are caught between the drive of the Cardinal and the inertia of the Fixed. They are in a constant state of indecision not knowing which way to turn. They are quite intellectual but thought, in and of itself, is actionless. Thought only leads to action when activated by desire. The Fixed constellations are seldom influenced by tradition, the opinions of others, conventions, nor the status quo. Only the truth influences them and they are the ones who influence the world's thoughts and ideas toward change. Now let us use this information in determining how we should find out what the influences of the constellations are. The ancients held that the influence of the Sun was similar to the constellation Leo so they called the Sun its ruler. If you recall what we have been saying, you understand that this was not to be taken literally but as an indication of how to determine Leo's influence. No planet is exalted here. Saturn, as ruler of Aquarius, is in its detriment (Uranus if you use the modern rulerships). It is Fire and Fixed. LEO. Natives of Leo have strong mental creative abilities along with a strong life force and an irresistable urge to shine. Being Fire they have much energy, are idealistic and creative. Being Fixed they have the ability 259 to think for themselves and. are not swayed by the opinions of others. As natural born leaders they have superb confidence in themselves, believing that they are infallible in whatever task they set for themselves. They are ambitious, egotistical, filled with self love, and seek identification with the supreme. Religious leaders and military commanders have the same goal. Both seek victory, ho'nor, decorations and the padeants that follow. The man of God spiritually, the other, physically. Leo is the 19th Path on the Tree of Life. The influence of the, Moon was held'to be similar to that of the contellation Cancer so it was said to be its ruler, Jupiter is exalted in Cancer and Saturn, a ruler of the opposite constellation Capricorn, is in ,it detriment here. It is Cardinal and Water.
CANCER. Natives of Cancer are extremely emotional, sensitive, and highly imaginative. So imagnative, in fact, that they have great difficulty at times in distinguishing the real from the unreal. They are constantly in a state of craving and their greatest craving is the approval of others. Be cause of Jupiter's exaltation here and because Cancer is a Cardinal con stellation, they tend to success in trade, business, and the professions. They are moody, extremely sensitive to their environment and to their personal appearance. They are concerned with the intimate, personal and private affairs being extremely egocentric and have a tendency to take everything in a personal way. The sexual urges are strong. They easily reach into the subconscious, coming up with answers to solve their problems from this storehouse of the memory. Cancer is the 18th Path on the Tree of Life. The constellations Gemini and Virgo were considered to have an influence similar to that of Mercury. Gemini being its positive, or day house, and Virgo its negative, or night house. None of the original seven planets has its exaltation in either of these constellations while Jupiter is in its fall in Virgo, and its detriment in Gemini. Gemini is Air end Mutable. Virgo is Earth and Mutable. GEMINI. They are talkative, dexterous, high-strung, easily startled, restless, and intellectual. They are given to writing, literature and study. Being Air they are not inclined to dig into the practical aspects requiring too deep or prolonged thought, but like their symbol (two boys of school age) they are apt to jump to conclusions without real thought. They are interested in business, mathematics, and mechanical things. Being prone to abstract thought they are not too good in daily affairs. If afflicted they could as easily become thieves as legitimate business men or women. Being Mutable they are not overly ambitious and can be quite easily manipulated. Gemini is the 17th Path on the Tree of Life. VIRGO. Since Virgo is of the element of Earth, they are more practical and less given to flights of fancy as are those under Gemini. They are great planners and can go into such detail that they split the proverbial hair. They are good speakers and teachers, and because of their ability to go into great detail are able to impart to others the truth behind the outward appearance. Being Mutable they are not inclined to be overly ambitious and usually are more successful in working for others than in being their own boss. They are inclined to be shy and retiring but in spite of this quite brave and courageous. Virgo is the 20th Path on the Tree of Life. Venus, the significator of love, was thought to have the same influence as the constellations of Taurus and Libra. Through observation the ancients found that those of these constellations were amorous, sociable, meek, gentle, and peace loying. They were courteous and disinclined to hard work but quite skilled in the arts. Taurus is Fixed and Earthy. The Moon is exalted here. Libra is Cardinal and Airy. Saturn is exalted here. TAURUS. They have a warm, affectionate nature and an intense interest in philosophy and psychology. They are patient and understanding. They have great endurance and a. love for the truth. They
are preoccupied with sex which is the one thing that can really goad them to action. They are mild and inoffensive otherwise, being the meekest children of the zcdiac. They love large families and have love to spare for all mankind. Being Fixed their ideas are original and they change their mind for no one. Only the truth can inove them. Being Earth they are quite practical and material. Taurus is the 16th Path on the Tree of Life. LIBRA. Saturn being exalted here they are not as outgoing nor as apparently loving as their Taurus counterparts. They do, however, have a love for all mankind. Saturn makes them forgetful, apt to appear sullen and taciturn with a desire for secrecy. They excel in the arts having great joy in painting, drawing, sculpture, and decorating. They love the social life and take a great delight in the theater, ballrooms, music halls, and the social world in general. Being Cardinal they are great expediters of the rules of the establishment. They lead by example. Being Air they incline to abstract thought and have great difficulty in being practical. Libra is the 22nd Path on the Tree of Life. The ancients considered Mars as the ruler of Aries and Scorpio because the natives of these constellations were aggressive, having a great desire to lead and to conquer. The Sun is exalted in Aries. The Moon falls in Scorpio. Aries is Fire and Cardinal. Scorpio is Water and Fixed. ARIES. Because the Sun is exalted here Aries has an urge to lead. They are mentally aggressive, imperious and positive. They like to, induce others to do the actual physical leading, especially in battle, remaining in the background directing and controlling others. They love to compete, in fact life is a contest to them which they must win. The competition must be eliminated at all costs. In spite of his penchant for the rear in combat Aries is very courageous. He prefers the rear because it enables him to better direct the course of events. Aries is the 15th Path on the Tree of Life. SCORPIO. They express more closely the negative expression of Mars. They fight for the sheer love of combat. If they cannot fight physically they will attack verbally, through writing, or any other way they can, because fight they must. Life would be boredom indeed if there were nothing to fight about. Being Fixed they are slow to change their attitude about anything and, although quite physical in approach, they make up their own minds and stick to it. Both Aries and Scorpio are quite accident prone and are quick to anger. Scorpio is the 24th Path on the Tree of Life. Jupiter was considered as the ruler of Sagittarius and Pisces because it was found that they, like Jupiter, aspired to the best of all things. Sagittarlus is Fire and Mutable. Mercury is in its detriment here. Pisces is Water and Mutable. Venus is exalted and Mercury is in its fall here. SAGITTARIUS.
They are idealists, upholders of law and order, and aspire to the best in all fields of human endeavor. They have great reverence for that which is dignified, noble, respectable, honorable, distinguished, and academic. Hence they are often found in the professions, churches, and diplomatic fields. Being Fiery they prefer to work in mental fields rather than in those requiring physical effort. Being Mutable they lack ambition and if they cannot succeed themselves like to, be seen in the company of those who do. Sagittarius is the 25th Path on the Tree of Life. PISCES. They express the more negative side of Jupiter and the best that they aspire to is more sensual and artistic. They aspire to luxury, food, wines, and soft easy living. They are inclined to gamble, hate work, and are experts in the art of make believe and flattery. Venus being exalted here gives them a social bent and a desire to be with others at social events and large gatherings. Since Mercury is in its fall they abhor mathematics, business, and feel that if they can only find the right ritual or contact the right people they will have it made. Being Water they are quite, emotional and receptive. Being Mutable they lack ambition and are easily led. Pisces is the 29th Path on the Tree of Life. Saturn, the planet of restriction, was given as the ruler of Capricorn and Aquarius because they were known to be solitary, frugal with money and food, and kept themselves aloof from others. They had an interest in studying the unusual and occult. Mars is exalted in Capricorn and the Moon is in its detriment there. It is Earth and Cardinal. Under some methods Mercury is exalted in Aquarius but in most it is Virgo. The Sun has its detriment here. It is Air and Fixed. CAPRICORN. They are frugal with their money, their food, and their choice of words as well as all things in general. Being Earth they are highly practical and are attracted by science, astrology, the occult, and magic and may be prominent in masonic and other secret societies, Most have some musical ability. Since Mars is exalted here, they are quite forceful and energetic and being, Cardinal have leadership ability, in fact Saturn is usually identified with the establishment and things as they are, being reluctant to change. Moon. in detriment here freezes the emotions and they are not very demonstrative. It is the 26th Path on the Tree. AQUARIUS. The positive constellation of Saturn is noted for its inventive genius along with its astronomical and mathematical ability. They have unusual interests and a sympathetic understanding of human nature being always ready to lend a willing ear to the troubles of others. Since the Sun is in its detriment they have none of the false pride, ambition, and desire for prestige that goes with Leo. If we allow that Mercury is exalted here we see that, being Air, it obtains knowledge without effort. Being Mutable ties in with its lack of ambition and desire for fame and honor. It is the 28th Path on the Tree of Life. We hope that the foregoing brief paragraphs will enable you to go on and write up quite sizeable explanations on the influence of the constellations.
p. 274
Hen Eggs The Elements and Their Influence By Siegfried 0. Hansch In further experimentation with hen eggs a second Easter Egg Experiment was conducted, similar to the one described in the original report of such an experiment and which appeared in the ALCHEMISTICAL LABORATORY BULLETINS Vol. II, No. 2, 1970 and Vol. 11, No. 10, 1972 as well as my own report in PARACHEMY Vol. II, No. 3, 1974. The conditions were again minutely observed. Two fresh laid eggs from each day, before and after Easter 1974, were selected in that MARS year. From April 9th, the Tuesday before Good Friday, through the Easter week and through April 20, 1974, two fresh laid eggs from each day were selected. On April 9, 1975, after 359 days of storage, the eggs were opened before two witnesses. The eggs during this period were again stored on top of a high cupboard in the basement laboratory. The temperature was 65o to 70o F. (18o- 20o C.). All eggs, with the exception of one, were in AI condition. Some dehydration occurred in all eggs. The one egg from Wednesday before Easter, April 10th, was putrified. Those eggs from April 16th, the Tuesday before Easter, through April 20th were absolutely dehydrated and hardened - no liquid! All other eggs had some liquid in them. Another experiment involved a selection of fresh eggs laid during the influence of a water sign, Scorpio, from October 27, 1974 through November 11, 1974. After a period of 165 days of storage, under the same conditions as in the above experiment, these eggs were opened, April 9, 1975. All eggs were in excellent condition. Very little dehydration occurred and all eggs had an ordinary, fresh smell. Here there is a good indication that the influence of the water element combined with the fire element in this Mars year produced this extraordinary pure state. Conclusion: Despite ideal putrefaction temperatures of 65o-70oF., all eggs used and stored for 359 days in the Easter Egg Experiment, with the one exception and the dehydration that occurred, and all eggs used and stored for 165 days in the other experiment, with no exceptions and only slight dehydration, were in excellent condition, The influence of the FIRE element during the Cardinal sign of Aries and the WATER element during the fixed sign of Scorpio and the influence of MARS as ruler of this particular year, being
the influences under which these eggs were selected, is noteworthy and merits our attention. Such is indicative of the importance of the influence of the elements and the signs of the Zodiac. Their influence should at all times be considered in our alchemistical laboratory work. In comparison, I should like to point out that the Canadian EGG Marketing Board in June 1974 had to destroy over 20 million eggs after 6 months of ideal storage in cool houses, which made life for the Minister of Agriculture most difficult.
(left)Eggs laid and placed in storage (359 days) during influence of fire element. (right)Eggs laid and placed in storage (165 days) during influence of water element.
p.278
Informative Interchange No Sulphuric Acid in Vinegar of Antimony I would like to make a comment about the Vinegar of Sb2S3 The experiment procedure that was chosen is found on page 171 of Waite's translation of The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. After the tincture was poured off and filtered several times, it was distilled to dryness, returned to the gummy residue, and again distilled. A clear vinegar of Ph 2.5 was obtained each time. Both the tincture and the vinegar were subjected to the following tests to determine if any sulfuric acid (H2SO4) were present. First, a quantitative test for H2SO4 is made by adding 1 ml. of tincture of Sb2S3 to 1 ml. of a saturated solution of Barium acetate, This is a positive test if the reaction takes place and Barium sulphate precipitates. No precipitate formed, and so the test was considered negative in both the tincture and the vinegar. Secondly, it may be added that H2SO4 does not easily evaporate nor distill and, because the residue could be taken to dryness, no H2SO4 was formed in this experiment.
Thirdly, each were heated in the presence of mercury and did not dissolve the mercury. Vinegar of Antimony (flash evaporated) was heated (boiled) with a drop of mercury. It did not dissolve the mercury. Fourthly*, an extract of vinegar (tincture) before distillation, when heated, did not dissolve mercury added to it to see if sulphuric acid is present-in this case the mercury would dissolve. The mercury had not dissolved so the tincture does not contain sulphuric acid. These experimental tests show that the tincture and the vinegar of Antimony distilled out of the tincture do not contain any H2SO4 (sulphuric acid) and in this case the Ph 2.5 of the tincture and the vinegar of Antimony are NOT CORROSIVE. An important fact has emerged in the above mentioned experiment. The test has shown no sulphuric acid to be present. In the last issue of Parachemy mention was made that sulphuric acid could form. This would apply when the container is left unstoppered and the water and air could act as oxidizing agents upon the antimony trisulphide in due time to form some sulphuric acid. We are indeed very happy to bring this announcement as given above that tests have shown no sulphuric acid to be contained in the antimonial acid or vinegar of Antimony. -Dale Halverstadt, U.S.A. *These tests were made at the PRS Laboratories.
P.279
SANDBATH Construction of an energy-saving, alchemistical-working sandbath After completion of my first soxhlet extractions-circulations and macerations, I noticed, particularly with my seven basic tinctures, that the niacerations seemed to be considerably, more potent. From the ancient Arabs we learn where to find our missing link. They used almost exclusively the heat of the sun, which matures the menstruum gradually. Our physicists and chemists also tell us that heat per se is an energy of motion, which moves the molecules and atoms. The higher the temperature the quicker and faster these molecules and atoms move and integrate. Pauling states: "Each 10o Celsius raise in temperature brings about a DOPPELING of the chemical reaction." (!) Consequently, a raise of temperature of 20oC. (70oF.) brings a reaction which is 22 = 4 times, at 100oC. (212o F.) a reaction of 2
= 1024 times. Since in all alchemistical processes time is taken and the work proceeds gradually, this distinguishes the alchemistical approach and may explain some of the difference in results obtained by an alchemistical procedure as opposed to the procedure of the chemist of today.
When laboratory work is planned ahead of time, 80% to 85% of the work can be carried out with a slow, gentle heat, even in the metallic kingdom. Further, magnetization is, under such circumstances, much easier cared out, especially when we are still a little "green" on this subject. After operating two Fast-fryers for two months, I was somewhat astonished to see my electric bill! For some time, I also observed that most of the heat escapes to the top and that the flasks are still cool on the upper part, even at a relatively high setting. Too, there was the problem of not having enough room for all the different flasks and bottles. In consequence of all of this, I constructed a very simple and most efficient sandbath from aluminum tin and 2" Styrofoam. Styrofoam is used as an insulator on all sides including the bottom and top. An old icebox or refrigerator could also be used but it must have a metal interior. The overall size of the sandbath is 40" long by 2o" wide and 22" deep. First, it is filled with 2" and. Then, a heating cable as is used to protect waterpipes from freezing or that which is used on roofs to prevent ice from building up is placed on the 2" layer of fine sand. The new plastic shielded type of heating cable is only 1/4 the price of a lead shielded one. When the heating cable is placed on top of the 2" fine sand in neat rows, care needs to be taken to ensure that the cables do not touch, as this would increase the heat too much and it is possible that this would cause them to burn out. Another 2" of fine sand is used to cover the heating cables.
The 4" of sand maintain and retain the heat and there remains 16" of clearance inside the sandbath, which is sufficient room for most gallon and other bottles. The top piece of Styrofoam is loose and serves as a lid. This can be punctured to allow a bottle or flask neck to be outside the sandbath, giving better circulation. When these punctured areas are not in use, the areas need to be carefully sealed, otherwise a great loss of heat will occur. The heating cable is plugged into a simple and inexpensive timer. The timer can be set for any time and cuts out after as many hours as it is set for, repeating the cycle on a 24 hour basis. The cable uses only 240 watts per hour, which works out in a seven hour period to 1680 watts at approximately 2.5 cents per kilowatt, not even 5 cents for the 24 hour period. The old axiom is followed: "LET THE KING WORK IN THE DAY AND REST AT NIGHT. The cycle begins with sunrise and ends seven hours later. The temperature in the sandbath varies from a low of 32oC. (90oF.) to a high of 60o-65o C. (140o-150o F). If the lid is left open for any length of time, the temperature naturally stays lower.
The advantage of this sandbath over most other inexpensive arrangements is that over 20 times as much can be placed into it and it is possible with such a sandbath as this to have a genuine rising and falling of the menstruum within a 24 hour period. The latter in itself is of great importance, being of special significance in work that proceeds alchemistically. -Siegfried 0. Hansch, Canada
"The word "discipline" means "to learn". A "disciple" is one who learns, not who conforms, not who obeys; he is one who is constantly learning. And when learning ceases and becomes merely accumulation of knowledge then disorder begins." -Krishnamurti
p.281
Questions and Answers Q. You mentioned to us that Sulphur was related to the planet Vulcan. Your first attribution was Platinum. Also, my notes show nothing for Pluto, Adonis, and Chronos. Would you comment on this please. A. Planetary influences are attributed to all three kingdoms-vegetable, mineral, and metal. In the case of Vulcan, the mineral referred to is Sulphur and the metal is Platinum. Pluto is associated with Uranium, Adonis with Aluminum, and Chronos with Silicon. Q. When two planets are in opposition to each other, what is the difference in the aspect's effect if one of the planets is the overtone of the other? A. The different polarity. Q. Is there a difference between Borate 99.5 and Borax 99.5? A. Both refer to sodium Borate. Q. How long should it take to extract vinegar from raw antimony ore with distilled rain water using a soxhlet extractor? A. It varies. Some have extracted it within weeks. Others found it to take months. Q. What is the difference between the alkahest, prima materia, and first matter? A. The last two are the same and have been explained or interpreted in various ways, meaning the substance out of which originated sulphur, salt, and mercury. Again, the mercury is referred to by some as the prima materia without which nothing may be accomplished in the laboratory. The word alkahest is also used in different ways. There are many alkahests but only one
Philosophical Mercury. An alkahest is a solvent and may be derived from vegetable, mineral, and metallic sources. The alkahest, the Philosophical Mercury, is derived from metals. Q. Is the color of a flower any indication as to the ray it is influenced by? How would you determine this. Also, some flowers change color. A. Not necessarily. The ray absorbed by a flower is not one but many. Its excess is given up and may or may not be the opaqueness of the color we see in a flower. Q. An acetate produces a fixed spirit but does it necessarily produce a fixed oil? A. No.
Back cover
Paracelsus CONCERNING THE DEATH OF NATURAL THINGS The death of all natural things is nothing else but an alteration and removal of their powers and virtues, an overthrow of their potencies for evil or for good, an overwhelming and blotting out of their former nature, and the generation of a new and different nature.* For it should be known that many things which in life were good, and had their own virtues, retain little or none of that virtue when they are dead, but appear altogether fatuous and powerless. So, on the other hand, many things in their life are evil, but in death, or after they have been mortified, they display a manifold power and efficacy, and do much good. We could recount many examples of this, but that is altogether foreign to our purpose. Yet, in order that you may see that I do not write from my mere opinion, however plausible, but from my experience, it is well that I should adduce one example with which I will quiet and silence the sophists who say that nothing can be gained from dead things, nor anything ought to be sought or found in them. The cause of this assertion is that they value at nothing the preparations of the alchemists, by which many great secrets of this kind are discovered. For look at Mercury, live and crude sulphur, and crude antimony; as they are brought from the mines, that is, while they are still living, how small is their virtue, how lightly and tardily do they exercise their influence. Indeed, they bring more evil than good, and are rather a poison than a medicine. But if, by the industry of a skilled alchemist, they are corrupted into their first substance and prudently prepared (that is, if the Mercury be coagulated, precipitated, sublimated, resolved, and turned into oil; the sulphur be sublimated, calcined, reverberated and turned into oil; and, in like manner, Venus be sublimated, calcined, reverberated, and turned into oil), you see what usefulness, what power and virtue, and what rapid efficiency they afford and display, so that none can fully speak or write of it. For their manifold virtues are not to be investigated, nor can anyone search them out. Every alchemist, therefore, and every faithful physician, ought to
seek into these three things during his whole life, and even up to his death should play with them and find his pastime in them. Most assuredly they will nobly compensate him for all his labour, study, and expense. *Death is the mother of tinctures, for tinctures proceed from the mortification of the body, in which the colours are contained, even as in a seed there are green, yellow, black, blue, and purple colours, which are, nevertheless, invisible until the seed has perished in the earth, and till the sun has prepared and produced them, so that what was first hidden from the senses is now revealed to them-De Icteritiis. From THE HERMETIC AND ALCHEMICAL WRITINGS OF PARACELSUS, Vol. I, pgs. 138-139.
Parachemy Volume IV: Number 1 Winter 1976
Frater Albertus by Rick Grimes
Contents Astrology For The Neophyte p.292 Biography of McGregor Mathers p.305 Informative Interchange - Mother's Birthday Chart Erection System p.306 Questions and Answers p.308
p.292
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl
The Moon In The Constellations Ancient astrology was a Moon based astrology. By this we mean that the Moon, in the; affairs of man, held the dominant position of importance and was considered of more practical use in forecasting influences than the Sun. True, the Sun gave life and indicated the spiritual impulses of a man's soul but the Moon, the significator of the physical and, emotional side of man's nature, was the most easily seen and its influence on the daily life was quite apparent. Hence they designated a person as being under Aries when the Moon was in Aries (not the Sun) since these people are given to outbursts of anger, irritation, and other violent emotional methods of expressing themselves, especially if the Moon is angular (i.e., close to the ascendant, midheaven, descendant, or anti-midheaven, the latter being also designated as the nadir). Keeping in mind that the Moon, on the Tree of Life, is the ninth Sephira which has rule over the sex organs and is assigned the color violet and that it is also the 13th Path which signifies the subconscious mind and is assigned the color blue, we have a basis for determining the esoteric as well as the exoteric meaning of the Moon in the constellations. We must of course blend this with what we have so far learned about the Moon's influence. Keywords are probably the easiest way for the beginner to blend the influence of the Moon, Sun, and planets in the constellations. Keep in mind here that it is the Moon that influences the constellation. Put another way, we might say that this is as well as the Moon can give off the influence of the constellation. The planets, and also humanity, can only give off, or reflect, what they have to the degree in which they have it. In other words, Moon in Aries, is interpreted as Moon conjunction Mars. The following keywords should help you in this: emotions, moods, feelings, disposition, sexual cravings, mind, subconscious mind, and imagination. LIBRA. Here love is expressed through feeling and emotion. The normally aloof and somewhat standoffish native now enjoys physical contact and the physical expression of the love nature. They mix freely and indulge the physical expression of love as well as the more general love for all and, the brotherhood of man. They have a love for stylish attire, somewhat garish but always in good taste. They move gracefully and have a charming manner which endears them to others. The Moon here does not give too much energy nor the urge to indulge in physical effort. Because Saturn is exalted here, these natives swing from exalted love to depression, despondency, and a feeling of loneliness. They make good diplomats but not being overly ambitious they may be taken advantage of by those more ruthless than themselves. SCORPIO. Here the feelings, emotions, and actions take on the fiery qualities of Mars. The native is quick to anger, easily irritated, and his sexual instincts are easily aroused. Their sexual encounters are apt to be turbulent, heated, and passionate. Because the Moon is in its fall here, he native may have a malicious and jealous streak, being envious and sarcastic. The imaginative Moon makes them wonderful story tellers, especialIv of adventure and mystery. Women with the Moon here are
more daring than their sisters and, because of their freedom from taboos and generally loose morals, are very popular with men. SAGITTARIUS. Here emotion and joy express themselves easily and the native expresses his joy of living by being popular and prosperous. They are addicted to religion, churchianity, and morality. They tend to live moral and respected lives. Sex has a spiritual connotation and they demand more than mere physical satisfaction. They have a tendency to preach their particular brand of morals and to insist that others conform to their way of thinking. Desiring the good things of life, they tend to become health faddists and may be non-smokers, non-drinkers, and may even become vegetarians. CAPRICORN. The Moon, being debilitated here, is not able to inflict its fluctuating brand of emotionalism and moods on the native. It makes for a steady diet of depression, melancholy, and indolence. The feelings, being slowed down by the leaden Saturn, are depressed and the native hesitates to express his feelings or emotions, having a fear of rejection and embarrassment. Most of the restriction the native experiences is the result of his own failure or inability to express himself constructively. The native accepts life at face value believing that only toil and effort can bring him to the goal he is seeking. They are sexually active and quite sensual. AQUARIUS. The Aquarian expresses the positive aspect of Saturn and the feeling and emotions, while restrained and somewhat cool, still never give way to the deep feelings of depression and melancholy that are exhibited by the Moon in Capricorn native. The Aquarian, along with its more modern ruler Uranus, is ever seeking freedom. The Moon here indicates the desire for freedom of sexual expression. Since the Aquarian has a unique ability for meditation, this position gives them a strongly developed intuition and the ability to plumb the depths of the subconscious mind and come up with the right answers. PISCES. Remembering that the Moon signifies craving, we find that here, in the house of Jupiter's negative expression, the native craves the best but finds it hard to distinguish between the negative good and the positive good. They swing, from spiritual ecstacy to degradation. They may make excellent healers and can use their hands to restore others to health. In sexual matters they demand a spiritual response from their mates that is hard to produce. Being capable of great spirituality, they are also capable of great self deception. ARIES. As in Scorpio, the Moon in Aries, makes the native erotical easily and quickly aroused. Being cardinal, this is of short duration. They are quick to anger and, once they have acted on the cause
of the irritation, as quick to forget. They are brusque, loud, and lack shyness. They are quick to act and find it difficult to sit still. They squirm, when restrained, and rebel against the slightest restriction. Imagination and worry go hand in hand and they have a tendency to go off halfcocked, without thinking, to do something about their worries. TAURUS. Natives of this constellation tend to lead quiet and simple lives. The Moon here increases their desire for sexual gratification and the domestic life. They are gentle, humorous, easy-going, with a tendency to be lazy, seeking comfort before all else. Love and companionship is ever uppermost in their minds and they have great sex appeal, making friends easily with the opposite sex. They seldom stray from the home fires and love large families. They have a craving for knowledge and study is their second great love. GEMINI. These natives have a tendency to go overboard for the tall tale. Imagination loves to embellish what may be a simple fact. They may be writers of fiction where the truth is not an essential ingredient. Unless emotionally carried away, sex may be more a matter of words or thought rather than action. Emotion, as opposed to reason, makes facts a hinderance and an abomination. They make good orators, lawyers, story tellers, and actors and they like to speak from the lecture platform. They have no difficulty in making their feelmigs and emotions known. CANCER. The native is soft, tender, sensitive, gentle, yielding, dependent, effeminate, and graceful. Every shade of emotion appears instantly on their faces. They are sympathetic and will patiently listen to any tale of woe. Women find the men of this constellation very attractive. They are extremely sex oriented. They are constantly on the move and tend to take many journeys and have many affairs, They are appearance oriented and quite clothes conscious. Jupiter, exalted on the 15th degree of Cancer, gives them emotions and feelings of a high moral character. LEO. The Moon here has reached the home of the Sun. They are constantly demanding to be the center of attention and they become it. They speak with authority and others listen. Being impulsive, they tend to judge prematurely. They condemn, exaggerate, and are inclined to be prejudiced. They are ardent, forthright, impulsive, and passionate in the sex act. The creative thought is overcome by feelings and emotion. They are very conscious of their appearance. Women with the Moon here act and usually look like a queen. They are impetuous, hot tempered, but seldom violent. They love their children and will sacrifice everything for their material success. VIRGO. Emotions and feeling interfere with the thought processes. The analytical Virgo swings from one extreme to another, never seeming to be able to decide which method to use. However, once the
mind is quiet, they are capable of picking up extra sensory impressions. Being strongly imaginative, they live in inner worlds of their own. Being clairvoyant and clairaudient, they have a knowledge of what others are thinking about. They are gentle, patient, discerning, and intelligent. Their sex life may be more imaginary than real. If you take the foregoing brief paragraphs as given and use them in chart interpretation, you will lose most of their value. The information given in this series of articles should be a start in learning the true astrology.
p.305
Review Of A Biography Of McGregor Mathers SWORD OF WISDOM, By Ithell Colquhoun. (London, Neville Spearman, 1975. 307 pp. $4.95 net) American edition to be published by Putnam. Temporarily made available in the U.S.A. by Samuel Weiser.
McGregor Mathers was one of the prime movers of the celebrated Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn. Though it had a brief stormy life, its effects on the world through its membership, which was never very large, have been extensive beyond belief. For the first time ever, we are given insights into the history and character of McGregor Mathers. Miss Colquhoun, who was a cousin of the chief of a G.D. Temple long after Mathers died, has marshalled the basic elements of Mathers' biography. There is a great deal missing, though this is no reflection on Miss Colquhoun who has done a yeoman's job. One of the most commendable features that intrigued me is her profound dispassion and objectivity while expressing her empathy and even devotion to Mathers himself. Mathers' marriage with Moina Bergson was childless and apparently sexless. But between them, they produced the extraordinary mass of esoteric material comprising the magical work of the R.R. et A.C., an Inner Order of which the G.D. was the outer garment. Two things stand out clearly-that he was always flat broke, which was common knowledge, and that he was prone to celibacy, which I had never suspected previously. This is curious because his horoscope shows Scorpio rising; Mars, the ruler of the ascendant, is found in Virgo in the 10th House. Despite having a fine analytical mind, he must have been a bit prissy because of this. Since, however, Mars is the uppermost figure in his chart, the old rumors that he was a martinet, autocratic, and dictatorial may have had some validity. The author has reproduced Mathers' natal horoscope, which is most useful in helping to evaluate much of the biographical data. There is a great amount of surprising material in the book altogether apart from the biography of Mathers. The author's comments about A. E. Walte and William B. Yeats, amongst others, are
positively revealing. She is highly critical, rightly so, on the one hand, but on the other contributes some vital insights on the topics of magic, alchemy, Enochiana, and of all, things Tantra. Her suggestions that there may have been an inner orally transmitted teaching concerning Tantra within the upper echelons of the G.D. came as a complete surprise. However, her ideas are not lightly to be put aside; they pack too much authority. In a word, this is a book of the utmost significance to anyone interested :ii practical occultism or magic. I have been screaming, as it were, for years for a biography of Mathers. My wish has finally been granted, and I am grateful. Many other students will find much in here to be equally grateful the author for what is manifestly her labor of love. - Dr. Israel Regardie
p.306
Informative Interchange The Mother's Birthday System Of Chart Erection In the practice of astrology a fairly exact chart is a necessity. What is needed is a simple method that gives results. Paul G. Clancy, the originator of just such a method, called it the Mother's Birthday System. This method is accurate in about 70% of the births it is used on. However, if birth time is unknown, we have found that this method gives a chart that seems to work even though it may not be the exact time of birth. We give this method and in addition to it three basic rules, for if you would all use this method on your own charts, especially those of you who have accurate birth times, we might be able to work out a method that worked almost all the time. Only the mother's birthday is the date considered. To the Moon's position at noon G.M.T., add 13 degrees of longitude for each year from the mother's, birth date and the date of the child's birth using proportion to obtain the number of degrees for part of a year. Add the number of degrees so obtained to the mother's moon position after having first reduced the noon position into degrees of a circle starting with Aries zero degrees. If more than 360 degrees subtract 360 degrees before using the new Moon position as the midheaven in a man's chart and the Nadir in a women's chart. Look up Ascendant and other house cusps in a Tables of Houses for the Latitude of birth. When checked with known birth times this usually gave a time within 30 minutes or less of the accepted birth time, but this did not always give the M.C. in a man's chart nor the Nadir in a wornan's. When the person knows whether they were born from noon to midnight, or from midnight to noon, this posed no problem. For others we give the following three rules. Rule 1. When a person folds his hands in his lap naturally, the thumb that will overlap in a birth from noon to midnight will be the right thumb. In a midnight to noon birth it will be the left thumb that overlaps.
Rule 2. When gripping a pestle and grinding something in a mortar, the one who naturally uses a counter-clockwise motion was born in the period from noon to midrnight. The person who does this in a clockwise motion was born in the period from midnight to noon. Rule 3. When folding the arms, it will be found that in those born from Noon. to midnight the right hand rests outside and over the left biceps while the left hand is tucked under the right arm. In those born from midnight to noon the reverse is the case. Problem: Given the mother's birthdate as June 14, 1888 and the child's as March 13, 1914 find the midheaven and ascendant of the child's chart for a Latitude of 43 degrees North Latitude. The Moon at G.M.T. Noon was 19o12' Leo. Midheaven of birthchart, rectified by other methods, is 23.4 degrees Cancer, Ascendant 19o33' Libra. To change Leo 19o12' degrees to part of circle we proceed as follows. Child's birthdate 13 days 3 months 1914 year minus Mother 14 days 6 months 1888 year equals 0 days 9 months 25 years 1 month 1.1o 25 years 2 month 2.2 X 13o 3 month 3.3 325.0 degrees 4 month 4.3 + 9.8 degrees for 9 months 5 month 5.4 334.8 degrees Mean motion of Moon 6 month 6.5 +139.2 degrees Moon at noon Mother's Birthdate 7 month 7.6 474.0 8 month 8.7 -360.0 one circle 9 month 9.8 114.0 degrees or 24 degrees sign Cancer. Midheaven in a male birth. 10 month 10.8 11 month 11.9 M.C. 24o Cancer Asc. 20o03' Libra, for 43 degrees N. Lat. Having proceeded this far the actual finding of the time of birth is a mere matter of adding and subtracting. A reversal of the figures usually used. Let us see how this works. Looking in a table of houses we find that an M.C. 24o Cancer gives a local sidereal time of 7h 43m 33s. (1) 7h 43m 33s L.S.T. + 5 35 36 Correction to place + 13 19 09 RAMC Greenwich +24 00 00 37 19 09 -23 21 06 ST 3-13-14 13h 58m 03s Approx. GMT
(2) 13h 58m 03s G.M.T. Birth +23 21 06 S.T. 3-13-14 37 19 09 -24 00 00 13 19 09 - 5 35 36 Correction to place 7h 43m 33s L.S.T. (3) 7h 55m 45s C.S.T. p.m. + 6 00 00 Corr. to GMT 13 55 45 G.M.T. A.T. + 2m 18s Acceleration +23 21 06 S.T. 3-13-14 37 19 49 -24 00 00 13 19 09 RAMC Grn. - 5 35 36 Corr. to place 7h 43m 33s RAMC place Longitude used was 83o54' West. 15) 83 (5h 75 8 X 4 equals 32 minutes 15) 54 (3 min. 45 9 X 4 equals 36 seconds 5h 32m + 3m 36s 5h 35m 36s Correction to place. -Carl W. Stahl
p.308
Questions and Answers Q. Will you comment on Mary Baker Eddy's concept of healing through Mind. As I understand her Doctrine, the Scientific Man, our higher self, is a perfect emanation of Divinity. Through a proper understanding of this fact and through exercise of will the body, a reflection of the Divine Ray of Divinity is brought to perfection. Walter Russel makes a similar assertion in a more scientific way. I understand him to say that at the center of our physical being there is what he calls the zero point where matter meets antimatter. It is at this point of absolute stillness that God's Will and man's will become as one.
When the individual Realizes this and enters into the absolute stillness of anti-matter, he discovers who he is, that he is not his body. He discovers that his body is but a material reflection of his true self. When he discovers this, he has gained control of his body and can heal himself "mentally" and has access to all knowledge. Will you comment on this in reference to our studies? A. What needs healing? The physical being, the body. What brings about sickness? The absence of sufficient Spirit (Life) in the blood which is the carrier of the spirit of life, the same spirit that was breathed into the nostrils of man during his formation. When the soul (consciousnessmind) becomes aware of such a shortage it will set about replenishing and restoring the missing vitality of the blood. This can be done by the use of available spirit as found in food or medication or directly by appealing to the source of the Universial Spirit which permeates all substance. When the first attempts fail and man has tried all his available knowledge then and only then may he make a direct appeal to the Supreme Consciousness (God) for the blessing of the Spirit from on High wherein the fullness is to be found. This is the last highest recourse to which man should appeal, only after he himself has made all possible effort to live a life which will let him retain a healthy body. Q. If soul evolves through the mineral and plant and animal world, and even though it is under a herd consciousness, when we kill a mouse or step on ants, etc., and if this is intentional, are we building negative karma? A. There is a difference between killing for food to sustain life in us and wanton killing for sport (?). A vegetable destroyed before it can propagate its own species cannot fulfill its measure of creation and produces want of its kind. If consumed for food and sufficient seed is left to procreate, it is different. It is the mind of the operator that determines what the outcome (karma) will be as he shows his reverence for life in all things. Q. What would be the best furnace to purchase for home use for advanced Alchemy experiments? A. Pottery kilns have proven very effective and usually cost less than laboratory furnaces. Q. What is Menstruum Metallorum? A. The mercury of the metals. Q. At what point does the vinegar of antimony become the pure fixed spiit of antimony? A. After putrefaction and redistillation. Q. How do you make Aqua Fortis using 1/2 Nitre and 1/2 Vitriol? What vitriol in this sense-iron or copper sulphate? A. The old ones used native copper sulphate and distilled from that their "water". Nitre was potassium nitrate not sodium nitrate.
Q. What is the best method to distill off the angel water from tartar or potassium carbonate without having the flask or retort break almost every time? A. A gentle distillation under vacuum in a water bath works very well. Q. Which method would be better to extract the white and red mercuries PbS (Galena): 1) Dry Method, No Menstrum 2) Rain Water 3) Glacial Acetic Acid 4) Fixed Vinegar of Antimony? A. We found the dry method very successful. Q. On page 126 when the three principles were conjoined, did Cockren have his Mercury and Sulphur separate or were they together in the form of Philosophic Gold and then added to the salt of Galena? A. Separate. Q. How did you purify the salt of Galena to prepare it for the conjunction? A. By calcination. Q. If the salt remaining in an extraction of Antimony after precipitation is always poisonous and should be discarded, would this also apply when you atlempt to make the stone with Galenawould the body, the salt also be poisonous? A. No. During the process of the making of a stone, the salt undergoes a change or literally a transmutation.
Parachemy Volume IV: Number 2 Spring 1976
The Stone of Shalom
Essence of Copper p.314 Astrology For The Neophyte - The Sun p.323 Information Interchange - A Medicine Out Of Commom Sulphyr; Oil of Egg p.327 Questions and Answers p.330
Essence of Copper (The Alchemical Sulphur or Oil) By Frater Albertus There are two basic ways to extract the essence from copper. The first deals with the metal or its salts and the second with its natural state as an ore. The first is found to be more pure, since it
has the other extraneous substances removed by way of smelting or otherwise. Reagents are the purest form of the substance in question, as the analysis on the labels will indicate. Salts of copper, such as nitrates, sulphates, chlorides etc., need to be freed from it when an extraction of its essence is attempted. This can be done by calcination, repeated washings, and crystallization. Tests for acid contents should be made with litmus and must show neutral. The metal has to be as free as possible from all foreign substances to assure a true end product. When native metals (ores) are used, it should be remembered that they, are not pure. Gangue and other metals are usually combined with them. Azurite. malachite, etc., are copper ores but they show at least trace elements of other metals that need to be and should be removed before an extraction is made as the now copper substances will likewise yield their essence when extracted. When using native metals, calcination, to drive off their sulphurous and other volatile impurities, should precede any extraction. All ores should be ground as fine as possible by manual or mechanical means and then be subjected to repeated washings until the ore remains on the bottom of the container. When followed by the calcination as described above. the remaining impurities, such as arsenic volatile particles, will be removed. After the ore becomes more subtle, it will then yield easier to extraction of its essence. However, depending on the condition of the ore. it will usually turn to a dark, blackish color during the state of oxidation. In the end, it will show a copper tint to the dark oxide, for this is what it will be. This native oxide differs from the cupric oxide in our work. The basic difference to be found is that one has gone to the metallic state by way of fusion while the other still retains its natural, not fused (smelted) character. As far as the extract in form of its oil is concerned, it will not show too much difference in appearance, smell, or medicinal potency. There is with the latter this exception: a certain amount of the alchemical mercurial substance will be carried into it, when judiciously extracted. Since in the end several washings and evaporations are taking place, there is little likelihood that this mercurial substance will be retained. The reason for this is its high volatility. Those who are able to retain this mercury substance in a separate container will have a coveted vehicle for future extractions. The essence of copper in form of an oil (alchemical sulphur) is the object of this treatise. Its quality is noticeably oily. So is its taste. At one time it will mix with ethyl and on another occasion it will separate and sink to the bottom. This is due to the medium used to extract the essence. When carefully extracted, it will form a homogeneous tincture with alcohol. It would have to be absolute or rectified anhydrous alcohol in order to bring the proper extraction about. When ethyl oxide (ether) is used, it will yield the oil when all the ether has been distilled out or evaporated. The residue is the oil of copper. The remarkable fact is that the oil can be extracted even from the metallic copper. It should be remembered that the extreme heat during the smelting process would normally let any oily substance evaporate. In hermetic language it reads: "That which is essential cannot be destroyed by fire. It can only be purified." Indicating that an essential part of any substance goes through a process of purification and not destruction. What is being dissolved or evaporated is, in this case, only nonessential.
Various degrees of fire make possible various stages of manifestation. This all important fact cannot be overemphasized. Especially during the calcination is the regulation of heat of great concern. Some metals yield to a state of flux sooner than others. Various melting points give proof to this end. Some metallic ores, flux easier than others. For this reason, great care should be used while calcining ores. However, if the objective is only the extraction of the essential oil then it is not of any importance. Still, it should be remembered that, at one time or another, the mercurial substance also needs to be extracted. This information is inserted here to show how important it will be at such a time. And certainly, he who goes through the time consuming procedure to calcine an ore would not use all this time to get only an essential oil from it when a similar result can be gotten by using an already prepared Reagent or other commercially prepared oxide, from which can be extracted the alchemical sulphur only. The oil of copper represents the essential quality of the metal. The body wherein it is contained the salts - are not of any use for us presently. They represent still poisonous salts. The virtue of copper, and for that matter, any metal or mineral, is to be found in its essence and not in the body thereof. No matter how poisonous a substance may be, its inherent virtue, when properly extracted and purified, is nonpoisonous. Arsenic and antimony, for instance, certainly need to be listed as poisonous. Yet, they will yield an extract which does not show any venomous qualities, as has been proven by those who have been taking this very oil of antimony and have not experienced any ill effects. On the contrary, beneficial results became manifest. The essential oil of antimony, although taken from a very poisonous body (metal or ore), is proof of the results to be obtained. In like manner will other metals yield their essence.
p. 323
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl The Sun In The Constellations The Sun is what one is at heart, indicating the nature of one's inner goals, aspirations, and interests. It signifies the life, vitality, and the inner character. In the foreground it causes selfcenteredness, pride, vanity, the desire for fame, honor and renown. It also gives a love of display and a yearning for personal recognition. The Sun symbolizes the "God of our Hearts" and it appears that this God wants to be worshipped and so it tries to excel in mentally creative and sportive ways. KEYWORDS. Glory, fame, honor, mental creation, life, superiority, vitality, self centeredness, pride, honesty, candor, integrity. Sidereal ARIES (April 14th-May 15th) LIBRA (Oct. 18th-Nov. 17th) TAURUS (May 15th-June 15th) SCORPIO (Nov. 17th-Dec., 16th) GEMINI (June 15th-July 17th) SAGITTARIUS (Dec, 16thJan. 14th) CANCER (July 17th-Aug. 17th) CAPRICORN (Jan. 14th-Feb. 13th) LEO (Aug. 17th-
Sept. 17th) AQUARIUS (Feb. 13th-Mar. 15th) VIRGO (Sept. 17th-Oct. 18th) PISCES (Mar. 15th-April 14th) LIBRA. They excel at painting, sculpturing, sketching, decorating, fashion designers, florists, and entertainers. This portion of the zodiac includes some of the most beautiful and peace loving of humans. They have the herd instinct highly developed and enjoy the company of others, being usually found at fashionable social events where they enjoy themselves. Since Saturn is exalted here, they have a tendency to appear sullen and taciturn. This also makes them absent minded and forgetful. With the Sun in its fall here, the native is not overly ambitious nor egotistical. Mediation is their strong point. They have the ability to tie up loose ends and bring about agreement and peace when all others have failed. SCORPIO. The night house of Mars has the fighting instincts, rashness, and outspokenness of its ruler. The fixed star Antares, the heart of the Scorpion, lies at 15 degrees and is known as "the rival of Mars." The native fights for the sheer love of fighting, whether it be physical, verbal, or , written. The more primitive types will make their own trouble when they can find none handy. They are adventurous and foolhardy in their search for danger. SAGITTARIUS. Under Jupiter are born some of the most moral and law abiding of people. They fear public opinion, are socially ambitious, and try to associate with the best people. They seek the company of church dignitaries, government officials, and other successful people. They join church societies, vigilante committees, and other organizations where they can impose their own type of morality on others. Being fire, he is quite idealistic and in all his messing around in others lives is ever searching for the goal of spiritual perfection. They excel as philosophers, scholars, physicians, and professional men in general. CAPRICORN. The native approaches life negatively and with pessimism. He avoids publicity and may have a hard childhood. They are stingy and usually live a frugal, economical life. They bring economy to bear in all their phases of existence and hate waste. They prefer the status quo, hate change, and seldom entertain or accept entertainment from others, for this would make them beholden to others. They keep others at a distance. They like serious literature and are fond of good music and may even compose it. The native limits his whole existence by a belief in things as they apparently are. Once he sees the devil as he really is great occult progress is possible. AQUARIUS. Aquarius appears to be more intimately related to Uranus than to Saturn whose night house it is. They love to travel off the beaten path. Being serious minded, sensitive and sympathetic, they
take an interest in the daily affairs of life and are always ready to help by word or deed those who seek aid. They are soft spoken, intelligent, humorous and knowledgeable. They feel the same about a president or king as they do about the poorest and most wretched of mankind. Both are God's children and must be treated as equals. They have a feeling about the fitness of things and seem able to see the inside of machinery and determine what makes it tick. All knowledge is his province and he can go into the silence and come back with the answer. PISCES. As the negative, or night house, of Jupiter these natives are easy-going, calm, unruffled, and placid. They love pleasure, avoid responsibility, and have an attraction for mystery. They have the neptunian quality of being able to play a part to the utmost. They greet strangers as old friends, royally make a big fuss over them, and only the gleam that occasionally escapes from their eyes betrays the game they are playing. They are great at make-believe, deceit, and flattery. They enjoy good food and entertainment. They love to make money with as little physical effort as possible and may love to gamble. Knowledge is absorbed rather than learned and mysticism and occultism have a strong fascination for them. ARIES. Being the day house of Mars, with the Sun exalted here, these natives are the most aggressive and domineering of all people. Mars gives a desire for power, violence, and force, while the Sun gives ambition with a* craving for fame, supremacy, leadership, and a desire to occupy the highest posts of authority. They are uncomfortable taking orders from others, They must rule. They are egocentric, proud, intolerant, and seldom admit to a mistake. They are critical of others but resent criticism of themselves. Being fiery, they are proud as the Devil himself and on the lower stages put themselves first, trampling on others to reach the heights of success. Aries directs others, Scorpio leads in person. TAURUS. The Moon is exalted here and the peaceful Venus rules so it is no surprise that these natives incline to the peaceful enjoyment of life. They seek to know and can attain knowledge through contemplation, study, and patient and prolonged effort at their favorite occupation and hobbies. Through contemplation they are able to tear away the veil of the apparent and reveal the truth in all its simplicity. Taureans seldom read fiction 'as truth is their eternal quest. They speak the truth and expect it from others. They manage to control their tempers regardless of how much turmoil they are exposed to. They can hear the still voice in the silence. They love the human form and prefer the company of any type of human to the grandeur of nature. Only the call of love can tear them away from their philosophical pursuits. GEMINI. They are versatile, excelling at gymnastics, traveling, craftsmanship, manual dexterity, writing, dancing, singing, mathematics, and in all means of communication. Mercury, the ruler, being the god of thieves and merchants, the ancients held that falsehood and theft were also attributes of
Gemini. They are not religiously inclined. Their symbol, the Twins, indicates their desire in having an alter ego to share their time with them. They live mostly in their minds and are at the whim of the changing winds of thought, changing their plans and opinions from day to day, and even from minute to minute. They love to sway the minds of others by their thought or as vocalists. They constantly seek variety, usually by travel. Discrimination is the lesson they must learn. CANCER. The Moon is the significator of the imagination and those born with her in the foreground, as well as with the Sun in Cancer, have imaginations so strong that they sometimes mistake their own mental thought forms for reality and may suffer from illusion. They make good writers, actors, painters, poets, and reporters of the imaginative type. Since the Moon is a dead body, Cancerians often have a feeling of emptiness. They have a tendency to play a part, trying to inflate their egos. Cancer signifies the mother principle and it is always HIS or HER home, HIS children, HIS relatives, etc. The Moon signifies the etheric as against the strictly physical which is indicated by the ascendant. LEO. Since the Sun rules Leo, the children of this constellation take it for granted that they were born to rule hence honor is their just reward. They feel that they are the chosen of the Lord and have a mission to perform. The "Little King," or Regulus, at 5 degrees Leo is the principal fixed star. Both Alexander The Great and Napoleon I were born with the Sun in conjunction with this star. Although generous to a fault, Leo's prime interest is in themselves or in their creations. What they say may be brief but it carries an air of authority that defies contradiction. Danger has great fascination for them and they love to play with fire. Whenever they enter an assemblage of people, one can almost hear the blare of trumpets announcing them. VIRGO. Mercury is exalted in this, its night house, making the native pure in heart and deed. They are conscientious in all things and firm believers that honesty is the best policy. They are intelligent, quick learners, possessing great knowledge and the ability to use it. They are skilled with their hands, possessing mechanical ability, lacking only ambition. They succeed better when working for others and make good engineers, draftsmen, mechanics, factory workers, clerks, school teachers, orators, professors, and others who work with the mind. They are excellent strategists and can plan schemes down to the smallest details. They shun society and parties being more at home in study or workshop. They are highly nervous and some part of their body must be moving at all times. Service is their key to progress. +
Informative Interchange "The Preparation of a Medicine out of Common Sulphyr"*
"Take common Sulphyr, and grind it small. Then grind it with three parts of calcined Vitriol, put it together into a high Cucurbite, and Sublime it in sand till nothing will Sublime more. Take then these Flowers, put them into a glass and pour on them a common Aqua Vitae Tartari, which hath been dissolved in a Cellar, so that it swim on top of it a hands breadth. Place it in a convenient heat, and the sulphyr will open itself in a few hours, and become transparent red like a Ruby. This being done, pour off the extraction into another glass, and put to it very good distilled Vinegar, and the Sulphyr falls to the bottom with a great stink. Pour off the Aqua Vitae, and edulcorate well the sulphyr, and dry gently. Put this Sulphyr again into another Glass Cucurbite, and pour upon it Spirit of Wine, which is prepared with Philosophical Tartar. Set it to heat for three days, the Spirit of Wine imbibeth again that excellent Tincture of the Sulphyr. Then pour off the Extraction and draw off the Spirit of Wine with a pretty strong fire in sand, and here will come over with it a pleasant sweet smelling Aqua Vitae. Having done so, rectify the Oil in Balneo Mariae, and draw off the Spirit of Wine gently, and the Aqua Vitae Sulphuris remaineth in the bottom. The Use of this Medicine: "Six or eight drops of this Oil being taken in a Spoonful of Wine, are good for those that are in a Consumption. It is good likewise for Coughs, openeth the Breast, and Ulcers of the Breast, and also imposthumes: it relieveth against whatsoever may occasion any putrefaction in a man's body, if the use of it be continued for some time." In several of the old alchemical treaties, Collectanea Chemica, to name one, all suggest that the best way to extract the spirit and oil of sulphur is by setting the sulphur on fire under a campana or bell. The smoke and fumes are trapped and recitfied. Some suggest other ways: The Last Will and Testament of Basil Valentine, p. 442, where he extracts the oil of sulphur with "spirit of wine prepared with Philosophical Tartar in three days." If one does not have all of the proper equipment nor knowledge of preparing such a menstruum, one might obtain a fine spirit and oil of sulphur by this process: Finely powder good sulphur vive, put into flask 9/10 empty, and cover with about one inch of spirit of wine. Allow it to macerate in a warm place for a long while, then in a cool place for a long while. The moon may help you if you will let her. Don't watch for a tincture so much, rather for crystals to grow. When you see them, warm the flask, pour off the menstruum, filter, cool, and watch the crystals regrow. If you are lucky, the crystals and oil will be ice crystal clear. The menstruum will be no longer soluble in S. W. and all will be a great solution. George Starkey or Basil Valentine can tell you about all of its virtues and doses. If it doesn't work, macerate the S W (spirit of wine) and sulphur again for awhile. It took me two years to do it the first time, and is a problem for all with little patience. The value is that it requires no more equipment than a couple of jars and a funnel to filter. If you make your sulphur preparation as I have described and choose to take it as a medication then watch the kidney area of the iris to make sure you are not accumulating sulphur in the body.
The spirit and oil of sulphur will not harm the body. Crude sulphur will be stored in the body and is harmful.
Oil of Egg Paracelsus (Paracelsus, Franz Hartmann) talks about extracting the Ens of Herbs (spirit and soul) by placing an herb in saturated solution of undistilled angel water, then gently pouring over this the Spirit of Wine, allowing it to macerate until the Ens rise into the Spirit of Wine and gently separating the two. The same can be used on the yolks of hard boiled eggs to extract the oil of egg. If done carefully and with a dozen or so eggs, one may find the oil not only mixing with the alcohol and the angel water, but also droplets of pure oil floating between the two which means that it is only a matter of separation of the oil to obtain it. Rather than bothering with removing the oil tincting the angel water and the S W, just add more egg yolks for the extraction of more oil. - Dale Halverstadt, U.S.A. *The Last Will and Testament of Basil Valentine, 'Manual Operations" p. 442 by Basil Valentine, Pub. by London 1671.
For further information regarding the Ens, see Paracelsus: Life and Prophecies, Franz Hartmann, M.D., Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1973, pages 208 212, The Elixir of Life, Appendix section of THE LIFE AND TEACHINGS OF PARACELSUS. Here information is given concerning the Primum Ens, which Paracelsus has said is the source of all life. Paracelsus maintained that the human body could be rejuvenated to a certain extent by a fresh supply of vitality and his aim was to find a means by which such a supply could be obtained and used to protect and prolong the process of life. Nature provides us with remedies for such purposes and the Primum Ens, Paracelsus said, is such a remedy. He speaks of the fabulous halcyon and its rejuvenation - how its own substance is renewed by drawing its nutriment from the Primum Ens. So, he says, may man rejuvenate his constitution by purifying it so that it may be able to receive without any interruption the life-giving influence of the divine spirit. The medium through which life acts consists of elementary substances that are found in Nature and which form the quintessence of all things and, according to Paracelsus, there are some substances in which this quintessence is contained in greater quantities than in others, and from which it may more easily be extracted. Two such substances are the herb called melissa and the human blood. The preparation for the Primum Ens Melissae and the Primum Ens Sanquinis are given. - Ed. + p.330
Questions and Answers Q. Has the index been completed yet for THE TRIUMPHAL CHARIOT OF ANTIMONY?
A. Yes, but not published as yet. Q. Which is better, burial or cremation? Why? A. "Better" depends upon prevailing circumstances. Q. Please pronounce the ineffable name of the God of the Hebrews. Is this the lost word or is it AUM? A. The ineffable name is associated with Jod-He-Vau-He. Q. What does it mean to calcine under a muffle? What would the equivalent be today of a muffle? A. It refers to a muffle furnace where the heat is enclosed in a muffle and is not an open fire or source of heat. Q. Is a vacuum necessary or desirable to extract the white and red mercury? A. Not necessary but highly recommended as less heat is required. Q. Can we distill sulfur in a closed flask (retort) to get the spirit and oil of sulfur in greater quantity? A. Yes. Q. Can a good glass of Sb be made using fume Sb and Sb2S3 as a fluxing agent? A. Yes. Q. Can one use the radical vegetable menstruum to fix and to corporify the spirit of wine in a one step process after the salt of tartar has been purified? A. Not very well. To fix the spirit of wine is a different process, as you will know by now. Q. Why not purify the calcined tartar with ethanol and water rather than having to calcine so many times? A. Prolonged calcination opens up the pores of the tartar more so than a purification. It is a matter of calcination. Q. On page 70 of THE TRIUMPHAL CHARIOT OF ANTIMONY: "If the spirit of wine be added to aqua fortis there will be a strong effervessence, and these two substances will not agree; but if they be properly united by means of philosophical distillation, they will form a highly useful compound." I have put them together and they explode. First, what is he making and must they be put together without allowing them to explode?
A. This has to be handled very carefully. Both are very much alive and of contrary nature. A drop by drop method is usually best. Q. In our ordinary daily use of the metallic tinctures, is it preferable that we use them in the fixed form? A. Fixed medications work on fixed diseases, unfixed ones on the contrary diseases. Great judgment shonld be used here. Q. Please give us a simple way to hermetically seal a flask, and still be able to open it when needed, such as for adding to contents, and then resealing again. A. When using a gentle heat of digestion place a cork stopper on a longnecked flask, then immerse the top of the neck in molten wax. It will solidify at once after removal. Where greater heat is required, the glass needs to be fused and broken when adding more to the contents, and then resealed. This depends of course on the substance used. An inflammable one cannot be brought near a flame or sparking equipment. Some glues like epoxies work very well in some instances. Q. About how many degrees of heat are there in the Ist degree, 2nd degree, 3rd degree and 4th degree? A. The first degree is associated with the water bath temperature, the second with the sandbath, the third formerly with the heat of ashes and the fourth with open fire. Q. How is the vegetable stone used to extract the quintessence of the plant world? Will the stone extract the quintessence from only the herb from which it was made? A. It is used by immersion in a macerating herb. It will extract from any herb and does not need to be the one the stone is made from. Q. Both distilled water and absolute alcohol seem to have a "magnetic" affinity for substance macerated in them. Does distilled water and absolute alcohol have the same "magnetic" affinity for thoughts and feelings? In other words, if there is noise and confusion around the preparation of an alchemical experiment, will this be communicated to these two substances and conversely can these two substances be "sharpened" alchemically by prayer? A. It has been found repeatedly that noise by way of its sound waves did interfere with some lab procedures. A prayerful attitude of the laborant certainly reveals composure and thoughtfulness, a tremendous help to "sharpen" one's undertaking. Q. Do we know why Iron is the only metal which can be attracted by a Magnet? A. We do know "how" iron is attracted to the magnet. As to "why" we do not know. Sorry.
Q. Will you please elaborate on what you said about giving and thl "Living Philosopher's Stone"? A. To give means more than just to distribute. The Philosopher's Stone is said to replenish itself, like an enzyme. So does enlightened man not lose by giving of what is his, but regenerates himself.
ASTROLOGY Q. How does one reconcile the difference in the Tropical and Sidereal Zodiacs? The planets are in different houses and some are even different degrees? A. Read the article by Carl Stahl on this subject in the next issue of Parachemy. Q. In regard to a planet's cycle in one's personal life and using Saturn's 30 year cycle, does this cycle start at birth and is the first 15 years positive and the next 15 years negative? A. Since you use the word cycle, yes, the first one half of a cycle is positive. Q. What are the Cardinal Sins and Virtues for overtones of planets? A. Such belong to the same category, only more pronounced and yet more subtle. For example, Mercury - envious, benevolent; Uranus treacherous, generous. Q. Could we have a more thorough explanation of the cycles - spiritual and material? The seven and the twelve. A. Spiritual as you say indicates a seven-phase mental cycle. The twelve-phase cycle is of a material manifestation. See also "Men and the Cycles of the Universe" by Frater Albertus, published by P.R.S. Q. Which has the greater effect upon one, the one or the overtone? A. Should you refer by one as one of the seven planets, then it would be the one. However, the planetary intelligence prevailing, either one of the seven or overtone is the correct one and gives more in-depth information. See also. the previous question.
QABALAH Q. It would seem that the King and Queen Scales represent differing levels of reality, consciousness, spheres of being. Is this correct? On one level the Moon is Blue and rules Sagittarius, on the other the Moon is Violet and rules Cancer. Would you please comment. A. The importance of color as it affects us has been neglected to a great degree. It is the intelligence of the moon (clear and pure) upon the influence of Sagittarius (inspirational) by way
of the Jupiter (blue) influence that forms a different awareness than the moon (clear and pure) upon Cancer (tenacious) by way of its own placement in Cancer. Q. The Alchemist's Handbook page 42: "Vital Life Force or quintessence can only be separated through alchemy." Does it follow that there are 7 (or 4) types or variations of V.L.F. (quintessence)? Isn't this what page 44 says: "Out of the Cosmic retort rises the V.L.F. to let the qabalistic Tree of Life grow"? Then does: 1) The V.L.F. in Air contain mostly the Saturn-Mercury type? Air 2) The V.L.F. in Earth contain mostly the Venus-Moon type? Earth 3) The V.L.F. in Heat contain mostly the Jupiter-Sun type? Fire 4) The V.L.F. in Water contain mostly the Mars type? Water Then V.L.F. actually comes in each color and all variations thereof? But do not all these variations of V.L.F. emanate from ONE, PRIME force? Alchemist's Handbook, page 12: "Life Force ... is an EMANATION of Nous." My understanding is that Nous primarily comes from the sun, or is reflected by it, to the earth but that nolthing pervades ALL. So what is the relation between Nous and Nolthing? Please comment on this and the preceeding. A. There is only one universal spirit or life throughout. In our solar system this life force is adjusted by way of our sun to maintain life upon our earth, or for this matter, upon all planets. Life can present itself in manifold manifestations. When we speak of life force, we are referring to energy meeting resistance thereby creating a field of force, such as in our sun, also known as Nous, emanating from our sun as part of the universal life or spirit. As far as the four elements are concerned, this emanation permeates all of them.
PURE SWEET OIL OF ANTIMONY By Frater Albertus
Take Sb2S3, finely pulverized, and put into thimble of soxhlet extractor. Add vinegar of Antimony into bottom flask. Extract until vinegar turns red and all vinegar has been extracted out of the Sb2S3. Filter. Place filtrate in sandbath for 40 days. When it has turned black as ink, it has gone into solution. Take this and distill vinegar out over moderate heat. It will come over clear while at the bottom remains a dirty substance. Pulverize this and wash with distilled rain water. Dry gently and place in circulatory vessel. Add spirits of wine (absolute alcohol) to cover substance 2-3 inches. Close vessel and put in sandbath for two months. When the alcohol turns red, pour out extract, filter. Sediment is of no further use. Distill filtrate gently - the alcohol will distill and carry the antimonial tincture with it. The distillation flask looks like gold but will lose the gold color again. Take the distillate and circulate for 10 days. During this circulation the oil
separates and sinks to the bottom. Place in separatory funnel and you have the pure sweet oil of Antimony - free from all corrosion.
Parachemy Volume IV: Number 3 Autumn 1976
The Fool
Contents Astrology For The Neophyte - The Mercury p.344 Informative Interchange - Sidereal v Tropical Astrology p.356 Questions and Answers p.358 The Fool - back cover
p.344
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl
Mercury In The Constellations In astrology the planet Mercury is known as the messenger of the gods. The gods of course being the other planets of this Solar System. In a somewhat similar manner the Sephirah on the Tree of Life are referred to as the gods on the Tree. A simple way in which you can practice what is usually called Esoteric Astrology is to get an understanding of the Sephirah for planetary meanings and the Paths for both the planets that are equated with them and the constellations and use these in your Esoteric interpretations of the elements of your birth chart. You will be surprised how simple and easy this becomes with a little practice. Once you have obtained the basic understanding of astrology, which we hope to furnish you. then we shall attempt to help you master this further step toward the spiritual use of astrology. But we stray and must get back to Mercury. It is the position of our Mercury in our chart which indicates how our intellectual imagination functions. Whenever Mercury appears on one of the four angles of our charts it brings us to the attention of others. When we pay attention to our environment, we are able through the use of concentration to change our environment into one that more closely serves our purpose, whatever that may be. Mercury also rules our acquisitive nature. The desire for money, land, knowledge, titles or whatever are Mercury in nature. Truth and falsehood are two sides of the Mlercurial coin. It is concerned with all forms of communication from simple sign language to the spoken word and the written word. Being the planet of acquisitiveness, which is a form of greediness, it rules both the thief and the businessman whose only difference is their mode of operation. The thief operates outside the law, the businessman inside it. LIBRA. Mercury here enables the native to express himself more easily and to bring to the attention of others his inner feelings and thoughts about brotherhood and the unity of love. This enables the native to express beauty in all its forms. This may range from art, sculpture, poetry and written works about the beauty that love brings into the life to raising flowers, interior decorating or any other avenue in which love and beauty can be expressed and brought into the life. Mercury also makes this lover of peace into a seeker after gain. He seeks to turn his art into the commercial field attempting to serve both his god-given talent and mammon. SCORPIO. Mercury, in whatever constellation it is in, serves as a ready channel for the forces emanating from that constellation. Mercury, as the messenger of the gods, is neutral and serves only as a carrier of whatever planet it may be aspecting or whatever constellation it may be passing through. Here it carries the impulsive, energetic, fiery and passionate Martian energy. The basic nature of Mars is to attack and with Mercury here he attacks by all means of communication. Sarcasm, irritation, anger and brutalare used in the native's struggle to overcome the competition. Fighting in ring for money is one of the indications of this Mercury position. It also gives physical and mechanical ability. If afflicted it gives the usually outspoken Mars slyness and cunning. SAGITTARIUS.
The vision, idealism and expansive wish fulfillment of his native finds ready means and ability to bring his wishes down to earth through the channel furnished by Mercury. Idealism and dreams are abstract things being difficult to bring into practical completion in the objective world. The idealistic goal of Sagittarius is here broken into its basic essentials and then they are recombined, a step at a time, into something useful and practical. The result being positive if Mercury is not afflicted, negative if it is afflicted. The truth that was intended to help and guide mankind can, under affliction, become something distorted and harmful. Native could succeed in philosophy, religion, medicine or business. CAPRICORN. The native of Capricorn is taciturn, silent and even sullen Mercury furnishes a channel so he can express these attitudes to others. His is a philosophy of toil and labor. Only that which is obtained the "hard way" has real value. The saying, "A penny saved is a penny earned," is pure Saturn born in a Capricornian's mind. Mercury here enables them to spread this philosophy of hard work and denial to a world which largely ignores them. In this constellation the two planets of acquisition, Saturn and Mercury, could very well lead to success in amassing wealth. If you always take in and never give out you are certain to accumulate a bundle. You will also become constipated. AQUARIUS. Mercury is as one in the home of a friend here. Because furnishes a ready channel for the native's inspirational and intuitive ideas, Mercury makes it possible for these otherwise abstract imaginings to see the light of day in an objective setting and being put to practical use. Without Mercury the native would be unable to bring them to the attention of others. It also enables the native to gain monetarily as well as in the understanding of nature's laws. The true Aquarian attempts to follow Bacon's advice and "Make all knowledge his province." He is acutely aware that knowledge leads understanding and understanding to wisdom. PISCES. Mercury, being in the contellation opposite its exaltation, is much weakened here. Feeling, imagination and disorder rather than common sense manifest through the Mercurian channel to the outside world. It is by focusing through attention and concentration, the imagination and expansive influence of Jupiter and the feeling of brotherhood and the unity of love (Venus is exalted here), that natives of this constellation will achieve success and happiness. And, who knows, they may even gain a fair share of worldly goods if such be their Karma. These natives have the ability to make their wishes come true. They are convincing talkers and can project to others whatever image of themselves they wish to assume for the moment. ARIES. The Sun being exalted here the native's Mercurial attitude would be one of leadership. Being ruled by Mars they would brook no interference with their plans and actions. They are very competitive and 'will attempt to eliminate those who present obstacles to them. Mercury
furnishes a ready channel for the native's ideas, his creative effort and his drive for fame and power. He has the ability to bring about, on the physical plane, his imaginings and mental creations. This position of Mercury, especially if it Is on an angle of the chart, brings the native to the attention of others and they (Aries) are quick to use this interest to further their own ends. They have mechanical ability, are inclined to be irritable and quarrelsome. They use their zest and energy to advance themselves into leadership positions. TAURUS. The native tends toward the study of philosophy and the teaching of it. His philosophy of love and unity is communicated to others by every means available to him. Not being content with this some Taurus natives will found schools of thought to spread their philosophy and to gain material wealth and power in the process. The Moon is exalted here and this, combined with Mercury, may give the native a busy mouth although a pleasant one. Words and compliments come easily from their tongues and social affairs and parties find him much in demand. The words they speak are, for the most part, gentle and inoffensive. GEMINI. Mercury rules this constellation which means it can best distribute its influence without any distortion. They are quick to speak, can conjure up wonderful arguments pro and con, and then they can as quickly drop the whole thing and do nothing about it, Thinking, debating, comparing and sifting meanings keel) them busy and happy. Because of their fast reactions, they excel in gymnastics, dancing, athletics, writing, and mathematics. Since their creative thoughts (Sun) and their thought processes (Mercury) are so similar, to think is to do. Being an Airy constellation the native has a tendency to skim mentally whatever he is considering rather than give it real, in depth, thought. They also like to gild the lily and embellish events. CANCER. Because they are so imaginative Mercury here gives them a tendency to tell tall tales and change fact to enhance their own egos. They make good fiction writers. actors, poets, painters and reporters. With both Moon and Mercury, on the angles these can be the busiest people on earth, rushing about without necessarily accomplishing anything of a practical nature, The Moon. being a dead body. constantly seeks to be like the Sun and with the aid of Mercury and their own imagination they often build a make believe life that is more real to them than their actual daily life . Good at trading in both domestic and foreign goods. They make good merchants, travelers and may gain success in writing, especially fiction. LEO. Mercury here blends with the Sun to produce an instantaneous "thought result chain." The advanced Leo type has a unique ability to bring the creative life force down to earth to produce practical results in his environment and that of otbers. The Biblical phrase, "Let your light shine," applies in a particular way to Leo, for they most clearly reflect that great orb in the heavens. Mercury here gives them great facility to provide leadership and attain fame and
fortune. The Sun, as ruler of Leo, wishes to shed his light, his philosophy, so that it reaches as many others as possible. They make good heads of business, politicians, religious leaders and in other fields that attract their attention. VIRGO. Mercury rules and is exalted here so naturally Virgo is the epitomy of Mercurian talents, attitudes and efficiency. Unless Mercury is afflicted here these natives are honest and just in all things, even business. Being a constellation of Earth they are more practical and less impatient than their Gemini brothers and sisters. They are excellent planners going into step by step detail when they start a project. They make excellent clerks, professors, teachers, engineers, mechanics, draftsmen and those occupations requiring skill with the hands. Being Mutable they are without ambition and in spite of all this attention to detail rarely become leaders of others in either business or government. +
p.356
Informative Interchange Sidereal Versus Tropical Astrology We have been asked to explain briefly the difference between Sidereal and Tropical astrology. Briefly put, the difference is the starting point on the Great Circle of the Ecliptic which is the apparent path of the Sun. The Tropical Zodiac starts at the point where the Sun crosses the equator, moving from south to north, on the first day of Spring. In tropical astrology this point is called zero degrees of the sign Aries. Each year the Sun crosses the equator at a point about 50 seconds of arc further to the west. This is why the tropical zodiac is called the moving zodiac. The sidereal zodiac, on the other hand, is eternally fixed in space and is measured from what the ancients called the marking or "Peg" stars which are the Pleaides in 5 degrees of Taurus, Aldebaran in 15 degrees of Taurus, Regulus in 5 degrees of Leo, Spica in 29 degrees of Virgo, and Antares in 15 degrees of Scorpio. Donald Bradley, the great research astrologer, has demonstrated through the use of mundane charts, that the true position of Spica for the Epoch of 1950 is 29o06'05" of the constellation Virgo, This means that the true mean Synetic Vernal Point for the Epoch of 1950 is Pisces 5o57'28.64". This indicates that the difference between the two zodiacs was 24o 02'31.26" at the Epoch of 1950. The sidereal zodiac at this time was lagging behind the tropical, or moving zodiac, by slightly more than 24 degrees. In May 1949, Cyril Fagan, the father of sidereal astrology, rediscovered the true meaning of the Exaltation degrees and the original Hypsomata (Exaltations) zodiac. During the lunar year commencing April 4, B.C. 786 (1st Nisan) and ending March 23rd, B.C. 785, for the latitude of Babylon, all the planets of the ancients appeared in the degrees of their exaltations, either in the New Moon chart of the beginning of the lunar year or at the time of their heliacal rising or setting. The heliacal risings and settings of the planets were so called because they happened
only immediately after sunset or immediately before sunrise. They were named after Helios, the Sun. More information can be obtained on this from, Zodiacs Old and New, by Cyril Fagan, or from his more recent book, Astrological Origins, both published by Llewellyn Publications. We must remember that the ancients used a naked-eye or visual astronomy, and that their day began at sunset. At this time of day the stars began to appear on the eastern horizon as the Sun sank from view on the western horizon. Because the stars and planets were invisible during the daylight, ancient astronomy and astrology were lunar. Unless they could see it they did not include it in their records. The New Moon of the ancients referred to the first appearance of the lunar crescent as it appeared in the west after sunset. They never referred to the exact conjunction of the Sun and Moon, known to astronomers as the syzgy. Since at this time the Moon was hidden by the Sun's light and was invisible this, the last day of the lunar month, was considered a period of great evil because at this time eclipses of the Sun can occur. Let us once more briefly state the rationale of sidereal astrology. The stars and planets can only be seen at night. When the ancients talked about any particular constellation. they did so because at that time the Moon, particularly the Full Moon, was in it. They could never tell where the Sun was because its light hid the stars. but by knowing where the Moon was, in relationship to the Sun, and especially when the Moon was full and rose in the Past when the Sun sank in the west, they could determine the exact lime of the Full Moon and thus would also know the position of the Sun in the constellations. It is for these reasons that Egyptian astronomy was aptly called Full Moon astrology. I trust that this explains somewhat the type of astrology that we are bringing to your attention and that this explains the different days of the Sun's entry into the constellations as opposed to its entry into the signs. - Carl W. Stahl, U.S.A. +
p.358
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. In going through the past egg materials we found a bottle labeled "the seed of 12 eggs." What is the seed of an egg? Another label reads "the semen of egg." Will you comment on this? A. It is the sperm. Q. In reference to the change of acetic acid to acetone when brought in contact with limestone, could one make an alchemical axiom to the effect that though a fixed substance cannot be unfixed it can be transmuted?
A. In your way of thinking yes. Q. Pages 78-79 of The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony is a mineral, made of a terrestrial vapor changed into water which sidereal change is the true Star of Antimony. This water has been extracted from elementary earth by the Stars and the fire which is contained in the air. This tangible essence encloses a large quantity of predominating sulfur after it comes mercury, and of salt there is least of all, yet it has enough salt to make it hard and immalleable. Please explain. A. It refers to the three essentials and their proportions wherein all minerals and metals differ. Q. You mentioned brackish water. Is brackish water beginning to ferment it? Is there a way to get the Spirit from water without the addition sugar in some form? In other words, is it possible to ferment water in natural state? A. Yes. Q. Is there an inner counterpart to vinegar as a fixing agent? In other words, is there an objective way of fixing a state of consciousness in a way that is analogous to fixing of an oil? A. Introversion - withdrawing to within - could be used as analogy. Q. On page 196 of The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, instructions are given to obtain the red oil of vitriol of Iron. What menstruum is used to obtain this oil? Is it the fixed oil of iron we are after? A. It is not the fixed oil referred to but the alchemistical sulphur of Iron. KM and any of the alkahests will do. Q. What is the difference between the leached out salt of an herb and the fused herb (whole herb) that is obtained at high (approx. 1200oF. to 1500oF.) temperatures. A. The whole herb contains the sulphur which shows when subjected to extraction with alcohol in form of a tincture. An extracted and then leached herb does not.
ASTR0L0GY Q. When the planet Mercury starts its apparent backward (retrograde) motion, what is the significance in terms of Alchemy, particularly in starting experiments at this time? A. It is said to be somewhat retarding, mental activity requiring additional concentration. Q. Can you tell us anything in regard to the Comet Rohouter, thespiritual implications now and in the future? What are the alchemical implicalions? How will it affect a child being born at thi's time? A. Comets have been interpreted as harbingers of difficulties because their path is interfering with gravitational forces of planets.
Q. What i's the relationship between the four fixed signs and the four Gospels? A. Their fixed duration of the influences. Taurus, decisive (Matthew); Leo, organizing (Mark) Scorpio, solidifying (Luke); and Aquarius. concentrative (John). Q. At one time you stated, "At the time we are born it is predestined the time we shall die - unless by accident. Why should not an accident be predestined? Is no one supposed to die by accident? A. Man's free choice may interfere with celestial mechanics, just like he interferes with terrestrial mechanics. Q. Will you please explain the influences of planets when retrograde? A. Their intelligence is in a motion of retrospect. Q. On the 1/7 of Grand Cycle the blue cycle goes inlo the black cycle instead of the green cycle. Can you explain this. A. Check the dates when one begins and the other ends and you have the answer. Q. Do the cycles start in Sagittarius because of Atlantis being destroyed at that time? A. No, it just so happened that such could have taken place. Cycles do not happen because of events but events take place during cycles. Q. What is hidden in the bowels of Aries? A. Energy. Q. Since there is always a definite cycle for everything and since the PRS is always aware of this, could you explain the cycle for the beginning of the Cultural Research Centers in the United States so we will have an idea as to when the actual physical structure with faculty should he functioning? A. Two things are requisite for the beginning: a) Those conscious about the work involved and b) Their own dates of births and prevailing cyclic influences in harmony with the five basic laws given.
QABALAH Q. Will you explain what you mean when you say that the consciousness of DAATH can only function through resistance? What does this particular kind of resislance meaan psychologically in terms of our limited consciousness? Does this mean that God, also can only function through resistance? How is this particular kind of resistance consciously controlled? A. By the free agency of choice of an individual possessing the will to resist or to concede.
Q. Is there a QBL of the English Alphabet? There are several possible arrangements which have suggested thernselves. Is there a correct and lawfully sound interpretation of the ABC alphabet? A. Out of the many attempted arrangements, the sound interpretation is the QBL. If one uses the Chinese system, then it would be based on theirs. Intermixing usually causes confusion. Q. Is 1he placement of elements altered in the Queen Scale, fire being found in Aries through Cancer (as suggested by the arrangements of colors. A. Only the mother letter Shin refers to the element fire. Double and single letters refer respectively to planets and signs and their intelligences and influences. Q. Are the planetary rulerships altered in the Queen Scale - Uranus ruling Aries and Taurus, Sun ruling Gemini and Cancer (as suggested by the arrangement of colors)? A. No. The intelligence manifests as a subray in such cases and takes the place similar to a decan in the twelve cycle chart. Q. There is a simple logic in the emergence of the Sephiroth's colors on the Tree of Life. But the logic ceases when the order of the Hebrew alphabet is altered and seems to be lacking in the emergence of color on the Tree of Life. Why, for instance, do not the elemental colors flow down first, then the planetary colors, then the colors symbolizing the signs? A. The Queen Scale does make this difference by its three categories of letters to supplement the King Scale's emergence of colors which are one of the three types of symbols known. Q. On the keyboard the gray planet Vulcan is positive and Saturn is half note. Will you explain how to determine our note.) A. Find your planetary ruler in your sun sign. See the four zodiacal systems in Men and the Cycles of the Universe, published by PRS. Q. If the numbers according to Sephiroth and Metzlah were plotted according to day, starting with the first day of the year (either calendar or personal year) would the cycles thus formed be meaningful? A. They would have a meaning to you, based upon the system one chooses. One can make any system work for a time.
MISCELLANE0US Q. You have talked about directing Spirit and you have related Spirit and Will. What i's the physical center of Will or Spirit? How does one begin to learn to direct Will towards consciousness or toward the body?
A. Spirit is centered in the blood of the body. Will is an extension of consciousness and the heart has been suggested as the physical center of the mind (not brain), Q. What do you mean by a conscious worker? Wherein does he differ from an attentive, hardworkl'ng, conscientious worker? A. A conscious worker knows what he is doing and why. A conscientious worker may work diligently and may not know why he is doing what lie does conscientiously, like one working on a secret government project not being conscious of what the items he works on is, for the end product is unknown to him. Q. When we lose ourselves in the state of rest and we are contemplation, why is it we do not bring back to the objective what we were contemplating? What is wrong here? A. What one loses one may find again. Why should it not be possible during contemplation to remain conscious? We may not be conscious of outer disturbances and still have an awareness of our contemplation. Q. You have said previously that the Heart is the center of Consciousness. How does one become conscious of this? Will you comment further on heart consciousness and brain consciousness? What can one do to increase heart consciousness? A. Brain consciousness is related to limited objective knowledge. Heart consciousness is related to that not known previously but becomes revealed to the inner of man but NOT by book learning or hearing it on the outside from others. Learn to be still and listen to the still small voice and try not to let the brain argue with the superior consciousness you do not know about. as it is trying to reveal itself within you. Q. Is laboratory work a form of Yoga and what part, if any, does Yoga play in Alchemy? A. Uniting the mental and physical with sufficient energy is a uniting of what we attempt. Q. May we have some information about anti-matter? A. The process involved to transmute any of the four states of matter into one beyond the thermal stage stated erroneously as its annihilation, which is not possible as no matter can be destroyed but only changed, in this case anti-opposed to the four known states of matter at present. Q. Should we pursue the study, interpretation, etc. of dreams? A. If it serves a specific purpose, as for instance Carl Jung pursued.
Back cover
The Fool
The meaning attributed to the word Fool varies considerably. Sayings that have become almost proverbs, beginning with "anyone's fool," "fooling around won't help any, "don't be foolish," and many more, indicate that a state of mind is referred to as absurd. To do a foolish thing may he an outcome of both an ignorant or thoroughly contemplated decision. Since both the known and unknown are contemplated, any decision made deals with an anticipation of the fulfillment or accomplishment of an objective the mind is obsessed with. Consequences are generally not taken into consideration. Only the final result of an anticipation is predominant. When the result does not coincide with the anticipation, one speaks of a foolish thing. Therefore, to have been fooled means to have been betrayed. This can be a self betrayal or may be the result of an outward coercion. If one is told something that is not as presented, such can be of a twofold nature. It is either a misrepresentation to deceive or meant to mislead one's thought in a different direction. The first would be usually based upon selfish desires while the second is meant to be a corrective measure when the irrational approach is corrected. April fool jokes belong to the latter. The question "Are you easily being fooled?" is a very profound one, especially when it comes to promises made that are not fulfilled. To what category do you belong? Are you a fool or are you easily being fooled?
Parachemy Volume IV: Number 4 Fall 1976
'The Mysterious Prophecy' Figure 26 from the Prophecies of Paracelsus
An Interview With Eugene Canseliet p.366 Vegetable Radical Menstruum p.372 Astrology For The Neophyte - Venus p.376 Questions and Answers p.386 The Mysterious Prophecy - back cover p. 366
An Interview With Eugene Canseliet By Frater Albertus
It may be of interest to you to know that I have just now returned from Europe where Fulcanelli's only pupil, Eugene Canseliet, and I have met at his home to clarify some topics that have caused misunderstandings among those who have read his books and explanations he previously gave about some of his personal alchemistical concepts. On August 17th of this year Signore Augusto Pancaldi of Ascona and I took the Orient Express from Domodossella, Italy, to Paris. It had been arranged by Sign. Villa-Santa of Lugano that I should meet Fulcanelli's only student, Eugene Canseliet, in his home near Beauvair, an hour's train ride from the Gare de Lyon in Paris. Since Canseliet spoke no English, Sign. Pancaldi who speaks four languages fluently and who is himself active in laboratory alchemy, was to act as interpreter and to help with the difficult alchemistical language barrier. When we arrived at the previously arranged time, Madame Canseliet informed us that she knew nothing of our coming and we were told Monsieur, Canseliet was not at home. This appeared to be a ruse to prevent him from being disturbed. However, she agreed that we could return later, since she did know how to reach him. We returned later and were received by him as he unlocked the chain from the gate and ushered us into his house and the not-too-large living room. Canseliet is small of stature, bald in front with the sparse hair left on the sides and back of his head hanging down in long strands to his neck. The three of us were sitting at the round table, and after the formalities were concluded and the conversation became animated, Canseliet consented to answer the questions I had prepared on the train from Paris to Beauvais. Sign. Pancaldi began to read the questions and wrote down precisely the answers Canseliet gave to avoid any misunderstandings later. When some of the original French words of Canseliet's are placed in my notes in parentheses it is only to compare meanings and show that the translation from the French has the same meaning. I began by asking: "Monsieur Canseliet, you have become famous in Europe through your alchemistical literary efforts, especially by publishing Fulcanelli's two books. Since only one has been translated into English, your name is not as well known in the U.S.A. as in your native France. I will give only an authentic version of our personal meeting here in your house. May I ask you for additional information?" A. Yes, because alchemy does not change in itself (immutable Alchemy is the great harmony. In a sense it is also the art of music as well as the priestly art that requires a constant purification because the alchemist has to be in constant unison (soit au diapason) with his matter and the Cosmic. All this has to be in absolute purity exactly as Rulandus said in his Lexicon: alchemia est impuri separatio. . . Alchemy consists of three parts: 1.) To be in harmony with the matter to be worked with. 2.) This harmony has to be also within the alchemist. 3.) To be in harmony with the Cosmic. All of these three have to be in harmony as one.
This harmony can be considerably intruded upon by waves which disturb the weather (meteora) as can be noticed by the constantly clouded sky and the presently continued drought. We do the same in the laboratory that the old ones did, except that we have the advantage of better technical equipment but lack what the old one's had, a closer relationship with nature. They also had the advantage of the four seasons that were not so disturbed as we experience now. When the sky is covered, the Universal Spirit can't descend. Q. Your name, Canseliet, has become almost synonymous with that of Fulcanelli. Is this because you are the only person who, can be named as his pupil? A. I have been the only (le seul) pupil of Fulcanelli. Q. Did you work theoretically with Fulcanelli or were you only his helper in practical alchemistical laboratory work, or both? A. We, Fulcanelli and myself, were engaged only in speculative alchemy. I have seen quite a few things while I was with Fulcanelli. I did him many favors that made it possible for me to watch him often while he worked. I did not work with him. I only observed. It was in 1915 when I got to know Fulcanelli. I was then 16 years old and it happened through a servant of his who said to me: "I am going to introduce you to a very interesting person," and that was Fulcanelli. Q. When did you see Fulcanelli last? A. I was around Fulcanelli for 15 years. Fulcanelli left in 1930, the year when "Demeuvres Philosophales" (Dwellings of the Philosophers) was published. Do you know "Le Mystere des Cathedrales?" It has been translated into English but I am not convinced that it is a good translation, especially since I don't speak English. In 1932 Jules Champagne died, whose portrait you see hanging there on the wall. He was the one who made all the drawings in the book. Q. Do you know where Fulcanelli originated? Where he came from? A. No. I only know that he had a large circle of friends, among them Ferdinand Lesseps (builder of the Suez Canal) and Pierre Curie to mention only a few well-known names. Q. Do you know where Fulcanelli is now, or do you have any clues? A. In 1922 he visited me several times in Sarcelles. When he left in 1930, he was an old man (un vieillard) but when I saw him again in 1952 he looked hardly 50 years old. Q. Whom do you consider the best informed alchemist alive in Europe or generally? A. I don't know any (Je ne connais pas). Q. Are you in contact with other alchemists here on earth? If yes, with whom?
A. I don't know any. There was Barbault and Savaret, but otherwise I know only students of alchemy, and I am an older student, one of the oldest who works with the younger students because alchemy is above all the art of fire. Q. What do you think of Armand Barbault and his spagyric method of production since we both, you and I knew him personally? A. This is spagyric chemistry. I know personally from him that he wanted to work in such a way. His "Turba" is not the prima materia of the philosophers. One cannot take it seriously (ce n'est pas serieux). One cannot make out of plant leftovers (dachets vegeteux) something useful, but there are fields where personal conviction plays a part and everyone works according to his beliefs. Q. What do you see in the future concerning the practical laboratory alchemy? A. I believe youth (les Jeunes) will enter into it (s'y mettre). For more than 20 years I have observed that the future of alchemy belongs to youth. The philosopher with his stone is always in the presence and this presence contains both past and future. Q. Would you be willing that we, you and I, perform jointly some practical laboratory experiments in your laboratory, or whatever place you would choose? A. I can see no difficulty as soon as the laboratory is ready, but not at this time of the year. Mr. Pancaldi then said to Canseliet: "I can take care of the preliminaries for this joint project. It is up to you to suggest which way you would like to prepare the philosophical mercury either by the dry or the wet method, since both can be used. The time is depending on our presence next year from the beginning of June until August." A. I prefer the dry way. Do you know that the philosophical mercury can only be produced at the proper time? This time is considered within traditional alchemy as spring because only the philosophical mercury that is produced during this time is the philosophical mercury. Therefore, to know the correct time is of importance. Q. Are you acquainted with the product of the philosophical mercury both the wet and dry way and are you prepared to prove it? A. No. In my opinion most traditional texts speak of the wet and dry way, only to use it as a trick to conceal the dry way from obtaining the philosophical mercury. The philosophical mercury can only be made the dry way. Mr. Pancaldi interrupted and pointing to me said: "He can use a glass container for either the dry or wet way, to which, Canseliet answered only with, "No." Q. What do, you understand under philosophical mercury?
A. The soul (l'ame), this is the minute part (la partie minuscule) that can be obtained from the mass during the sublimation in the dry way. This also called the little fish (le petit poisson=la remore) that becomes a stone. Q. Did Fulcanelli prove in the laboratory how to produce the philosophical mercury, and did you personally handle the same? If Yes, would recognize at once the philosophical mercury if I were to show it to you? A. Yes, I have watched. Yes, I have handled the philosophical mercury. Yes, I would recognize the philosophical mercury if one would show some. Q. Were you an eyewitness while Fulcanelli made the gold transmutation? A. Yes. I was present with Gaston Sauvage and Jules Champagne. The transmutation was made in the Usine a Gaz de Sarcelles where I was employed. The transmutation was performed by myself under the direction of Fulcanelli. I received three small pieces of the transmuting stone (pierre transmutatoire). This transmuting stone consisted of one part gold and one part philosophical stone. Q. Did Fulcanelli make any other transmutation with only you present? A. No. He did not make any transmutation with only myself present. I know only of the one at Sarcelles. Q. Do you continue to teach your pupils what Fulcanelli has taught you? A. I am the headmaster (chef d'ecole) similar to Andre Breton. My contact with the pupils is through books and considerable correspondence. I am also visited by many people and if I would not from time to time act that I am not available at home, I would not be able to do very much (sinon je ne ferais plus rien). I have also considerable correspondence with Italians. Q. Have you had any personal alchemical success in the laboratory after Fulcanelli left you, which others can testify to? A. Yes. Formerly, when I was more engaged in experimenting than at present, I have caused an Aurora Borealis. The last coction I have not as yet accomplished except for the sequence of color and that of the planets which can't be followed in an earthenware vessel. One can, however, by the harmonious noises and whistling sounds make a comparison without a chromatic scale. One may say chromatic because of its color relationship to the musical scale. This last coction I have not been able to complete because the time which the old ones called "the week of the weeks" (la semaine de la semaine) has not been favored by the weather, because of the distortion of the air by the various waves. This is the reason why my last coction simply will not take place or can take place.
You know that for such a week the following traditional requirements have to exist during spring: beautiful weather so the sky is clear (ciel decouvert) and also, the second quarter of the moon going towards the full moon is not always so easy to bring together with the first. Q. Do you still teach practical laboratory alchemy? A. I teach through books and personal contact. Science and the university are my territory and not so-called occult circles. Q. Do your students teach? A. L'association culturelle de l'universite de Paris gave me recognition with the title 'savant' and I am proud of it. Q. Would you allow me to photograph your alchemistical laboratory so posterity would have a picture of it? A. Just now I am moving my laboratory. I can't very well manage the stairs to the top anymore. You can see the new fireplace at the end of the garden. As you know, the chimney is an important part of the laboratory. Q. Are you presently using any of your own alchemical preparations for your personal health? A. Yes. Thanks to this alchemical preparation I am still here. In 1974 I had a heart attack. Thanks to the 'niter' which I produce as a pink salt out of the dew in spring could I recover. Since Mr. Pancaldi and myself had another appointment the same evening in Paris, we left, after spending the afternoon with Canseliet in his home, to meet with Prof. Dr. Monod-Herzen, the eminent French physicist, who showed considerable interest in laboratory alchemy. It was not only a pleasant meeting but a highly stimulating and interesting one, since the professor has spent his entire life to discover the origin of light from the physicists' point of view while not ignoring what alchemy could reveal as possible additional information. Soon after, we were invited to make the personal acquaintance of Signore Julio Villa-Santa of Lugano, who also had an interview with Canseliet some years ago, to compare his interview with ours. It showed no marked difference. The former was used in a Round Table discussion over the Swiss Radio Network. Both Sign. Villa-Santa and his wife, the former Countess Sophia Tekeli de Scel, are keen students of alchemy and are looking forward to next year and the joint experiments of Canseliet and myself near Beauvais, France. +
p.372
Vegetable Radical Menstruum By Dale Halverstadt
"Process II is that of preparing the vegetable radical menstruum. - Of the vegetable or herb used, one takes the best kind. This is placed in weak acetic acid and rectified spirits of wine. Equal parts of both liquids are used. This mixture is placed in an alembic and distilled. It is digested again and the complete process of mixture and distillation repeated two more times, making a total of three. Finally, as a result of these constant firings, a penitent spirit will come over. There should remain behind, in the alembic, a small amount of dead earth and nitrum, (saltpeter). It will then be necessary to make two or three cohobations - i.e., combining the dead earth with the spirit or essence. In this manner, the vegetable radical menstruum is prepared. By placing other herbs in this menstruum, their essential oils can easily be obtained and, thereby, invaluable elixirs and medications prepared."1 In this paragraph taken from the second edition of Frater Albertus' Alchemist's Handbook, the Vegetable Radical Menstruum (V.R.M.) preparation is described. The following are the efforts, results, and insights of that menstruum preparation by the author. Of the best kind of vegetable or herb to be used in this work, in all probability the vegetable referred to would be that which is equivalent to man in the animal kingdom and to gold in the mineral kingdom. Basil Valentine would say that such an herb is the grape.2 The V.R.M might be looked at somewhat like the alcohols extracted from various herbs or grains, i.e., some work better than others to use as a menstruum. Chemically speaking, the union of ethyl alcohol and acetic acid produces an ester called ethyl acetate (also called acetic ether or vinegar naphtha) having the chemical form CH3COOCH205. It has a characteristically fruity odor. Its vapors may be irritating to mucous membranes, while prolonged inhalation may cause renal, hepatic damage.3 Ethyl acetate can be bought from any organic chemical stockroom. I found it to be almost totally useless to extract the essentials of various herbs. A 95% grain alcohol (500 ml) was added to a good apple vinegar (500 ml) plus 10 mI of H2SO4 (sulfuric acid). (The old alchemists used vitriol, CuSO4 - copper sulfate.) The sulfuric acid should push the reaction and give a much higher yield (the vitriol also has a spirit within it that will give some added power to the menstruum). The vitriol would be alive and thus, if the menstruum were strong enough, would extract this spirit as well and work like NH4Cl (ammonium chloride) in the K.M. From a chemical point of view, the release of the SO4 ions present in this tend to work as a catalyst. They do not enter into the reaction but in the end more of the ester formed. H2S04 (sulfuric acid) will provide this increase. CuSO4 (vitriol) should also provide this. (The author has never had access to CUSO4 ore and could not research it.) Marriage is important for the vinegar and alcohol. One will want to digest the vinegar and alcohol together for some period of time to complete the equilibrium of all the products. The above was allowed to stand for a month and then the spirit was distilled out at about 60 degrees C. To distill out the V.R.M. spirit will cause the remaining products to become out of alance. Redigest and they will again seek their balance. We also want to work with the vinegar and alcohol until they will not separate. The H2SO4 sulfuric acid) is hydroscopic (that is, it attracts water) and helps also to push for the marriage.
After all the V.R.M. spirit has been distilled out, there will remain behind some alcohol, acetic acid, and watery phlegm. This we do not want. However, they will distill out. Also left behind are fixed salts, oils, and dead earth - this we do want the spirit to be several times exposed to (just as Dr. Kerckringius makes his K.M.) to give the V.R.M. the spirit of the oil and Once you distill out the V.R.M spirit, this will also contain some water and alcohol (unless you have extremely high quality distillation equipment) that needs to be removed, just as when you take wine and want the alcohol from that. You first distill out the spirit and then rectify (re-distill) several times. In the fall 1975 Sexta Class, it was demonstrated that this V.R.M. had the extracting power to draw a tincture from a fermenting herband did not have the power to draw a tincture from a freshly macerating herb. A fermenting herb is one that is releasing its own spirit (making alcohol), such as when wine is being made from grapes and water, while a macerating herb is one that is soaking in water, such as when tea is being made. The disadvantage of this menstruum is that though it is still an ether it is water soluble and tends to mix with the water of the macerating herb. This can be circumvented by using angel water rather than water in which to maceraie the herb or to, add this spirit directly over a dried herb. One should be able to prepare a yet higher form of V.R.M. by using a highly rectified grape wine alcohol and a grape vinegar. Also, much can be learned by making one's own wine and vinegar in the process of making such a menstruum, if one wants to go to the effort. A vinegar may be made from an unpasteurized wine or from a grape juice. Either will work for our V.R.M. The best is the wine vinegar. Dr. Bronner's Red Wine Grape Vinegar, 100 grain concentration, is the best commercial product I know of. Look to your health food stores. Those who choose to work with apple vinegar may obtain a fine apple vinegar from most health foodstores, and a quart of 95% grain alcohol may be obtained from most liquor stores. One needs to see what one is doing when making the V.R.M. from several standpoints so that more is accomplished than )ust a project. First, one is marrying the unfixed spirit of the vegetable kingdom to the fixed spirit of the vegetable kingdom This spirit is yet more ethereal than either of the first two spirits. Second, it will become a better tool as it is used more and more, as one puts it over more and more herbs, for in the process it becomes more refined. Third, it will itself manifest with more and more healing properties as it is used to extract the virtues of various healing plants. Fourth, how far one can take sucha menstruum is only to be answered by how far one will take it. There is always more to be done to improve it. All that is required is the ability to distill in the way of lab equipment. Such a menstruum can be a valuable teacher and guide. It is an easy project to work with for if one makes a mistake with it it will be easy to re-distill or even start over.
Fifth, one might use such a menstruum in the mineral kingdom, as Dr. Kerckringius described and used the Kerckringius menstruum in the Triumphal Chariot of Antimony by a similar process .4 Lastly, I might suggest that the nitrum, (saltpeter) seems to be any purified salt of an herb rather than the ore itself. Using the salt of grape wine and grape vinegar is therefore K2CO3 (potassium carbonate) not KNO3 (potassium nitrate). As to the quantity of vinegar and alcohol that one will need to begin with, it must be remembered that it is a poor reaction even under good conditions. Using my recipe, one may expect to start with ten times as much vinegar and twice as much alcohol as you plan to finish with. There is much less fixed spirit in vinegar than the unfixed in the alcohol. A liter of vinegar might give you about 100 ml in the end, if you do well. These are the results, insights, and efforts on the V.R.M. of the author up to this time. Clearly, more time and effort spent on this project will reveal even more. It is hoped that such beginnings will enable others to use this tool and push beyond this point. 1. Frater Albertus, Alchemists' Handbook, Samuel Weiser, N.Y. 1974, p. 68. 2 Basil Valentine, His Last Will and Testament, IS.G. and II.G. 1671, p. 311. 3 The Merck Index, Eighth Edition, Pub. by Merck Co., Ralway, N.J., U.S.A. 1968, p. 430. 4 Basil Valentine's, The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony with quotations by Dr. Theodore Kerckringius, Trans. by A. E. Waite, Vincent Publications Go., 1962, p. 97.
p.376
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl Venus In The Constellations Venus is the planet of love. It is those who express love during this particular Earth Cycle who do, the most good for mankind and who reap the greatest rewards in spiritual progress. But what do we mean by love? True love gives, it does not take. So a good test might be if someone said, "I love you!" to determine if that person intends to give or to take. Love is never sex. Sex is a physical and emotional response and comes under the Moon. It is true that one may have sex with another because they love them but this does not mean that love is sex. The love is in the giving. When Venus is in aspect with other planets it seeks to give itself according to the nature of the planet it aspects. Venus with the Sun gives self love which could increase our creativity. With the Moon the love seeks to express itself sexually. With Mercury love seeks to communicate itself to others. With Mars it brings a touch of tenderness to what would otherwise be, simple assault. With Jupiter we have an expansive and joyous outpouring of love. With Saturn it brings a ray of trust and devotion into a dark and dreary existence. With Uranus love seeks new horizons and freedom of expression. With Neptune love seeks the ideal that may never be realized. With Pluto love expresses itself in the silence and solitude.
VENUS IN LIBRA. Venus is at home here and the native having the goddess of love here is amongst the most peaceful and gentle of human beings. They find it easy to make friends being themselves lovable and loving. They enjoy the company of others and become quite despondent when not able to enjoy the presence of their friends. They have no, desire to be alone and are only happy when with others. Venus here makes the native charming, delightful and generous to the extreme. The helping hand of friendship is extended to all. VENUS IN SCORPIO. Venus is not at home in the house of Mars. The best it can do here is to bring a measure of consideration for others into what is otherwise sheer aggression. The passionate urges are strong, especially if this constellation appears in the foreground of the chart. In the background these passionate urges may lie concealed and dormant. This position may incline the brief periods of generosity instead of always taking without regard for others. The native should seek to understand and help others to get the most out of this position of Venus. VENUS IN SAGITTARIUS. The native finds joy and pleasure when in the company of his many friends. They attract others who are gentle, peaceful, law abiding and generous. They have compassion and sympathy for all, seeking ways in which they can extend their happiness and love to others. The sky is the limit where their friends are concerned and even strangers are welcomed with open arms. Under this influence the native gives on all levels of consciousness. VENUS IN CAPRICORN. The spirit of love finds it hard to, express its true nature when under the seal of Saturn. Fear and timidity restrict the native's attempts to manifest love. The native's greatest fear is to be embarrassed and to avoid this all expressions of love are hidden under a veil of unconcern. Yet once these natives find their true love, or become married, their partnership is of long duration and usually both parties are faithful to the end. VENUS IN PISCES. Venus is exalted in Pisces, the night house of Jupiter, and much of the Piscean desire to, be in the company of others and to indulge themselves is due to this fact. This position causes them to accept others at their face value with the result that they reap trouble, frustration, misery and humiliation when their friends turn out to have feet of clay. They must be carfeful not to waste their love on those who will repay it with contempt and dislike. To seek the impossible dream is the fate of many with Venus here. VENUS IN ARIES.
The native impulsively goes off in every direction where love is concerned. They aggressively explore every contact in their efforts to pin down love as a material manifestation. Their passionate nature is softened by the presence of the goddess of love but in the main it still expresses as assault and ownership. This Mars rule constellation finds it extremely difficult to give rather than take. Sun exalted here gives them the drive to excel in what they call love. VENUS IN TAURUS. The native is in love with love. Those more spiritually inclined seek to look behind the veil of nature to uncover her laws. The always gentle, peace loving, friendly, meek and sociable native of this constellation becomes even more so. They now have such an excess of love that they become in love with themselves. It is almost impossible for them to pass a mirror without stopping to admire themselves. However this does not mean that they love all humanity less. VENUS IN GEMINI. Love here is mostly semantics. The native of Gemini is loath to dig too deeply into anything and certainly not into the emotions. The symbol of this constellation is that of twin boys of school age. We know the immature attitude of young boys toward the opposite sex. So love becomes a matter of discussion, poetry and analysis. It is rather a matter of buddy, buddy than a great love for all humanity. This native requires an alter ego, a constant companion and friend or he becomes extremely lonely. The native is generous, honest and sympathetic toward others. VENUS IN CANCER. Venus here makes the native demonstrative, coy, flirtatious, betraying their amorous feelings by smiles, gestures, tone of voice and an irresistable desire to fondle and caress the object of their desires. Natives of this imaginative constellation can create an entire love affair from a word or a gesture that the object of their desire has carelessly, without ulterior intent, made. They have a strong desire to love and be loved. Reason has no foundation here. They are, however, generous, sympathetic and kind to others. VENUS IN LEO. The love that Leo gives is usually to himself. Self love is the mainspring of his expression. That and a desire to be loved. They always have to maintain friends, companions and lovers in their immediate vicinity. They shine in the presence of those who admire and look up to them. They seek to, surround themselves with beauty and perfection. In their own regal way they seek to extend the hand of brotherhood and understanding to those who are able to survive in their circle of influence. Venus softens the Sun's arrogance somewhat. VENUS IN VIRGO.
The normally critical Virgo now tempers his criticism with love, understanding and sympathy. Venus is not at home here and the Virgo native is shy and retiring in his expression of love. Virgo, is more at home on the planes of communication and thought. In spite of this Virgo always has a hand out to assist others and with Venus here he can become the world's baby sitter. His normal curiosity now becomes a real search for those he can tell. His love is expressed in words, poetry and love letters which are masterpieces of the literate art. His normal efficiency suffers from a desire on the native's part to tarry on love's path.
p. 386
Questions And Answers ALCHEMY Q. Is Acetone obtained alchemically by pouring alcohol over glass of Antimony (fixed) by the spirit of antimony which itself is fixed? A. Yes. This is one way to get the acetone of the sages. Q. Why should argol preparations never be taken with water? Is it the acidity of the stomach that makes the difference? How about cell salts, Kali Phos., etc.? A. Argol preparations are bases (alkalis). Any acid causes a reaction. When used as cell salts, such are highly attenuated and do not act in the same manner when used per se. Q. Why do foods which test acid in a natural state supposedly have an opposite or an alkaline reaction on the body when eaten? A. Hyperacidity can produce a counter-reaction in the metabolism at times. Q. For heart diseases we use sulfur and salt combined. Correct? For arthritis we use the oil of the shell calcium. Correct? For cancer is there any part of the egg that is of value? A. A perfect or near perfect medication contains all three. It is the salts which differ. Q. Do we understand this correctly in terms of Sb2O3 Antimony found in Nature has a volatile and non-volatile (fixed) mercury. Commercial house Antimony has only the non-volatile (fixed) mercury. Chemically pure antimony tri-oxide has only the non-volatile (fixed) mercury. A. The mercury in antimony is fixed in the regulus and in the glass. Q. You have mentioned that the human body produces its own alcohol. Will you comment on how it is produced and on what its purpose is in the human body? Could it be considered alchemically as Human Spirit? Would there be any value in attempting to make this human alcohol in the laboratory for use as a menstruum?
A. Starches and sugars produce alcohol. It is the (carbon) fuel that keeps the body temperature constant. It is spirit only in a different vehicle in the plant world than in the animal world where the vehicle for the spirit is blood. The spirit itself is the same no matter what vehicle it is found in. Q. Can one use the red sulfur (Colcotar of Vitriol) of the Kermes to obtain the flowers of Sb? A. Yes. Q. Arbor Vitae means Tree of Life. Does this mean that the ornamental shrub has an herbal or alchemical secret hidden within it? The same question might be asked concerning Waldmeister, or Master of the Woods, and Queen of the Meadow? A. The ancients attributed to the Juniper family a preservative similar to the oil of cedar (sulphur) which resists corruption. Q. Will you comment on the effect of vinegar on the human body? I am thinking about the apple cider vinegar and honey combination recommended by health food people. I have read that wine vinegar is not "good" for the body. Will you comment on this in relation to the fact that vinegar is the fixed vegetable spirit? A. Both vinegar and honey have function to perform. Vinegar fixes and is used in fixed (chronic) illness or diseases. Vinegar can be good or not good depending on the pathology involved. Q. To make the dead Sb alive you must impregnate it with live Sb. Will you comment on this please? A. A So-called dead substance can only be revived by the addition of spirit (life). This means its own alkahest or that derived from other metals. Q. Three oils occur and are accepted by orthodoxy - mineral, vegetable, and animal. Yet in nature none of these will intermix. Is this fact easily explained alchemically? A. Chemically they can be intermixed, yet nature produces them separate. Q. In case of Arthritis, would you use a fixed or unfixed oil of Calcium and Antimony. A. This depends on more than just one question. The history of the patient has to be taken into consideration and his present status of acuteness. Q. Can I distill Aqua Regia seven times over to form a workable metallic menstruum using glassware apparatus without danger? A. It may be used as a solvent but not as a menstruum in the alchemical sense.
Q. Am I right in assuming that Paligenesis, the Medieval technique of resurrecting a plant from its ashes, is in reality nothing more than a symbolic representation of the lesser circulation? A. It is more than a symbolic representation. Q. Would an alchemicalization of the salt known as Zinc Oxide be successful for curing diseases of the skins such as leprosy and, if so, how would the medication be prepared? What results could be expected from an elixir made of chaulmoogra oil or DDS? A. The ingredients mentioned have been used formerly and to an extent even today in allopathic practice. Q. The Orientals speak of using Ginseng as an Elixir of Life or Universal Panacea. Does this imply submitting Ginseng to the process of the lesser circulation? How would such a vegetable elixir compare with the results obtained from a successful metallic working? A. A metallic elixir is more potent.
ASTROLOGY Q. Will you give us more light on what will take place on May 7, 1986? A. Cycle charts should be able to do that for you. Q. Is the mineral, aluminum, governed principally by Jupiter or Mars? A. By neither. Q. Should work be started on a Saturn herb on a Saturday? (Neg.) or would starting on a Thursday or Friday (Positive) give more assurance of success? Also, wouldn't any time in Libra be a relatively poor tz . me to start on a Saturn herb (Saturn square Libra)? A. The day indicated by name to the planet involved is the day the herbcomes under. Q. Does the starting of a new project in a favorable period encourage the important subsequent stages in reaching the objective to also come in good periods ... and visa versa? A. Normally, yes. Q. How may we be able to tell the difference of the soul personality of identical twins when a horoscope does not show it? A. Individuals may seem identicals. Personalities always show the difference in personal behavior patterns.
Q. We were advised to take each herb on its proper time, during its natural period. If an herb (say Melissa) were taken every day (and only on Thursday was it consumed during an "F" period) would the effects be beneficial, static, or adverse? A. Depending on the pathological condition, it could be both. Generally, when taken as advocated in class, it could be beneficial.
QABALAH Q. In trying to understand the Tree of Life on a personal level, I came up with the idea of placing my Natal Planets in their corresponding Sephiroth. Would the Part of Fortune be placed in Malkuth, the North Node of the Moon be placed in Chokmah, and the Natal Mid-Heaven be placed in Kether? This personalizes the Mezlas, creating 22 new planetary aspects or relationships. Will you comment on this? A. It would be interesting to see your own setup in this case before future comments could be forthcoming. Q. Will you comment on the philosophic implications of the 1-2-4-8 16-32-64 numerical progression as it relates to the 32 paths and to the 64 hexagrams of the I Ching? Will you comment on the validity of making a correlation between the 1 Ching and the Tree of Life? Can you suggest where I may receive a lawful interpretation of the I Ching? A. One can mix and come up with a mix-up. A lawful interpretation can only be found by becoming acquainted with the laws involved and that means careful study and application of the laws to prove them to be valid.
MISCELLANEOUS Q. You have used the expression "the other side" a number of times. Is "the other side" the same thing as the Astral Plane? A. There are various names given, the realm of the dead, paradise, etc. One usually chooses the expression that is suitable individually. Q. Are the rays, or emanations, given off by an object synonymous to its "aura" or the vibrations of Nous, created by thought, to create the object? Is this a situation similar to that expressed by the saying, "which came first, the chicken or the egg?" A. Rays given off are the excess of prevailing inherent energies. Since energy is an extension of life (spirit) upon matter, both are essential, It is not known which came first in essence. Q. Would you say a few more words on enzymes please?
A. Enzymes are to be found in all three kingdoms, i.e., plant, animal, and mineral. Their outer appearance may differ one from the other but all have the same alchemistical function to perform. Q. What are the 5 basic laws? Are they invocation, contemplation, preparation, use, and dose? A. Can be applied or synonymous to the five basic laws of the astrocyclic pulsation that provide the answer as to why I am who I am. Q.It is many years now since we were first inspired by what was told us of Brother Amo and his earlier years, and how he was specially prepared in a hidden school for the life of service which he rendered, Could you tell us more of Brother Amo, also some of the work he performed? A. Hopefully before long we can reveal the entire story in English.
Back cover
The Mysterious Prophecy "The Sybil bath been mindful of thee when she placed the 'F,' and right well art thou now standing in the rose; for thou art ripe and time bath brought thee. What the Sybil saith of thee shall be accomplished and even more shall be said of thee. The summer that bringeth roses is that contrary time wherein all things are divided; which is an indication that man was building on sand. This must pass away, and thou shalt set it upon the rock that many will be astounded. For when the time cometh, also therewith cometh that wherefore the time bath come."
Parachemy Volume V: Number 1 Winter 1977
Materia: by Leandro Della Piana
Contents The Philosophical Mercury p.394 The Four Elements - Earth p.398 Astrology For The Neophyte - Mars p.402 A True Method to Obtain Oleum Vitelli from "Easter Eggs" Without Breaking the Shells p.411 Questions and Answers p.414 The Alchemical Transmutation of Substance - back cover
p.394
The Philosophical Mercury By Frater Albertus The dream of all alchemistical aspirants begins with obtaining the philosophical mercury, the elusive substance that is needed to make the philosopher's stone. Very few have been able to bring this age old dream to a realization. Books tell us of the stories of those who have made such attempts and their trials, disappointments, and heartbreaks. A few claimed to have reached their coveted quest, at least of producing the philosophical mercury so that the actual or Great Work could commence, for without the philosophical mercury it would be impossible to reach their goal. One will have to ask: Is there really such a substance to be had? If so, what is it like? Can it be produced in our day and above all, is it known that someone has really produced it just recently? If this cannot be answered in the affirmative, there is no need in going on, because so much has been written and retold about all this that it becomes almost superfluous to write anymore about it. Fortunately, this question can be answered in the affirmative. Yes, the philosophical mercury can be produced in our own day, and it can still be accomplished by those who have become initiated into this alchemistical procedure. Again, another question may arise. Why are there so few who have accomplished this and why the secrecy about it? Looking back. it will he noticed that those in ages gone by have held this a well guarded secret. If one takes into consideration prevailing circumstances where greed of potentates and those in authority practically held sway over what was to be taught and what people had to think, one can very easily form an image as to what would have happened if the power attributed to the Philosopher's Stone had fallen into greedy hands. It seems strange at first that thousands of volumes about this elusive philosophical mercury and the philosopher's stone have been written mostly from hearsay and, by comparison, very little evidence is available of those who have testified to their acomplishments. Again and again the same individuals are cited and quoted, and these comprise an extremely small minority when compared with those who write and embellish the results of successful laboratory alchemists. My all this secrecy in our own times when freedom of thought and speech are inalienable rights of individuals? Why not proclaim openly how to produce this philosophical mercury and make it known to the scientific world for the benefit of all concerned? Such questions are valid. Well then, what is the answer? The answer is: How to produce the philosophical mercury can be found in chemical text books. Immediately, this will be denied by those who say that they have looked in vain for such information in chemical, physical, or pharmaceutical texts. And still the answer stands. I have before me the text of the section on Chemistry in the Encyclopedia Britannica of 1771* where the process is outlined, though even unknown to the author thereof that what he came up with is
indeed the philosophical mercury. Since the latter is a product produced in the chemist's laboratory, it will have to stand up to an impartial chemical analysis, as any substance will have to. The strangest of all things is that the chemist's work to analyze and even synthesize substances seems to end there, as a physical or pharmaceutical evaluation exceeds the chemist's normal procedures. A chemist can produce an analysis, but it is beyond his work to evaluate the possibilities that perhaps only a physicist is able to come up with. Whereas any therapeutic values only medical evaluation can produce. It is this shifting from one to the other with each one not being conversant with what they are dealing (that can lead to such final accomplishment as a Philosopher's Stone) that has caused the furor among scientists and the outcoming denial that such substance known as philosophical mercury can be produced. Yet, the very ones making such denials find the procedures to produce it in their textbooks to this very day. The only thing such scientists lack is a training in natural philosophy. Science as a whole has removed itself too much from the inherent love of wisdom that nature reveals in all her products and substitutes its own opinions, based upon the knowledge received primarily from the very natural phenomena it brushes aside as superstition. Well then, what about the philosophical mercury that has been obtained by some, such as students of the Paracelsus Research Society? Why don't they tell about it? For the very same reason as anciently, because those ready to receive it do receive it and since it is a strictly personal matter keep it strictly as such. Why should they give something to anyone who is not ready to receive it? How do they know others are not ready to receive it? By a simple token, and a very simple one at that. Such would have received it in the same direct way by revelation. Some will exclaim, "Good grief! Now religious revelation enters into this thing." A revelation is nothing else but making known what was not known before. All training and assistance in the studies of students at the Paracelsus Research Laboratory is prelimary to receiving such self revelation. It is of tremendous help to associate with those of like mind who can assist us to receive such revelation in a direct way. In such a manner, it becomes a strictly personal affair with a hi her intelligence, and there will be no misunderstanding among those who have :,one independently, one not knowing of the other, through such identical revelation. And that is the final proof. Those who have received such do not keep silent among themselves but commune very openly, freely, and sincerely with each other. A strange thing has happened to some who, out of exuberance or whatever reason, prematurely prided themselves on their accomplishment. After a while, they have had a lapse of memory, if one would call it such, and have in vain tried to recover what they have lost. It becomes unintelligible to them and to those unto whom they have told it. Strange indeed. But who can explain all that goes on in the mind of man. Man should have control over all this but he does not always exert it. And that is the reason why those who do produce the philosophical mercury keep their mouths shut to those unto whom the same revelation has not as yet come. Gladly, they will assist earnest seekers so they, too, will go through such personal experience, but one should keep in mind that such is strictly a personal experience.
Granted, there are many alkahests of which the philosophical mercury is the highest, and many of such alkahests may he known to laboratory alchemists and can be worked with. However, there is but one philosophical mercury, and those who have obtained it for and by them elves are entering into the realm of the alchemists that will make things possible that only the help of the philosophical mercury can bring about. As of this writing, there are about a good half a dozen PRS students that are living proof of what has been set forth herein. Indeed, this is a small number out of the many hundreds of PRS students all over the world. Still, it is a testimony that the philosophical mercury can he obtained and worked with in our very own day. When one considers that the PRS only began to openly teach laboratory alchemy in 1962, which was at the very time when the seven planets were all conjunct in Aquarius, this averages with some students to be a length of time of only between nine and twelve years. The editor of "Light," a British Publication, wrote about Archibald Cockren, with whom he was personally acquainted: "It was after forty years (so he told me) of labour, theoretical and practical that he had at last discovered the ALKAHEST, the Universal Solvent." I might add that some think that all they have to do is to read alchemical books, equip a laboratory, and in space of a few months come up with the philosophical mercury. No wonder that there are so few that are persevering and keep on working, even with ever-present failures staring at them, and, as some of the younger generation call them, are being a kook. *Edinburg, printed for A. Bell and C. Macfarquhar and sold by Colin Macfarquhar at his printing office Nicelson Street. MDCCLXXI.
p. 398
The Four Elements By Frater K.H.
Earth The tyro in pursuit of the vegetable stone will eventually come across the phrase, "the four elements." In all the jargon as used by the old alchemists, the one subject that casts so much confusion is the meaning of these elements, their interpretation in the light of practical work, and the meaning of their existence. What are these four elements? Why only four? Where do they come from? And most basic of all, how do they relate to the work as performed in the laboratory? The ancients gave qualities or characteristics to these four so-called elements. Later science addressed itself to the subject and a host of elements, numbering well over 100, were identified and catalogued.
Those who have been fortunate to have been exposed to this work are already aware of the fact that these 100 and some odd elements can actually be reduced to four in number. Essentially, we are speaking of solids, liquids, gases, and thermal energy. This much, many students of the PRS are already aware of. Our dear editor requested that a comparison be made with the four seasons. This opens up a host of other comparisons that could make this article non-ending, so we will have to stick to essentials for the sake of brevity. At this time, we are entering into the winter season, the time of death, stillness, and mortification. On page 267 of The Hermetic Museum, Philalethes speaks of the dissolution whereby the subject becomes whitened through the medium of fire and water and to quote, "the fire which I show you is water." We should keep in mind, having picked winter as a starting point in the grand cycle of events, that winter is only the culmination of fall. For the sake of this subject, we have arrested this progression. so as to establish a point of reference. This author, by no means, is presented as having anything but an imperfect knowledge of this subject and begs your patience and indulgence. We feel certain that there will be points of contention, especially as regards arrangement of the elements relative to the four seasons. Yet, this subject material, as presented, represents the culmination of roughly a year's intense research, meditation, and prayerful supplication. Of the four elements, there are four qualities: earth, dry; water, cold; fire, hot; and air, moist. Some have given a dual aspect in writing of these elements and they have listed them in the following manner: fire as hot and dry; air, warm and moist; water, cold and wet; earth, cold and dry. Now, we get into it. Of these four subjects, it becomes manifestly apparent to the tyro that in actuality there are only two elements of actual and real subject matter. Right, you guessed it earth and water. The other two are so ethereal that only specialized conditions or environments will make them apparent to the worker in the fields where that which is sown must be reaped. A very clear and concise example would be if we took a cube of ice as a starting point. Let us imagine that by special refrigeration this cube of ice has been super cooled. The reason for staying with this medium will become apparent as we examine this cube. In a cold room we are able to handle it and weigh it. The surface may be inscribed with a sharp instrument. It is dense and may be reduced to a fine powder by pounding and, for all practical purposes, fulfills the requirements known as earth. If this cube of ice were touched with the bare finger, in view of its super cooled condition we would be in for a startling surprise. There would be no sensation of cold. Some of you have already guessed it - the sensation would be a sharp, burning pain. But wait, something is wrong here. How could something that is cold burn? And here we are. We have actually experienced, in a crude sort of way, the hidden fire that the old alchemists spoke of when they referred to their earth. That this earth contained fire and water. That this earth was actually and for all practical purposes fire and water. Winter ideally corresponds to the condition previously described. Scientists, through the use of the refracting electron microscope, have been able to verify that atomic motion lessens and becomes still the colder the subject gets. In wintertime, all life that is exposed coagulates, congeals, and mortifies. It is a time of death and resting. How many of us have stepped out on a cold, clear night when the moon shone down on a frosty snow, the air absolutely still, not a breath and have felt that all matter had been temporarily arrested? This earth of ours goes
through these cyclic seasons, which are four in number and which correspond to the four elements, each season predominated by one particular elemental activity. Do we now begin to see here a grand alchemical rotation upon this mysterious earth of the philosophers within the retort of our atmosphere? To return to the subject of the cube of ice, an interesting philosophical point of view arises as related to chemistry and it goes like this: What dried the water and where did the moisture go? From the hermetic point of view, we would be correct in saying the subject contained hidden fire and that this fire, allowed to dominate, dried all moisture, thereby coagulating into a solid form. Well, here comes the barrage of questions. We are, of course, referring to the scientific fact that water is actually air, if you will, two gases. This air is highly flammable, containing within it it's own secret fire. We call it hydrogen. It is ethereal and escapes to heaven at every opportunity. If the proper conditions are provided, this air, hydrogen, can in turn become water and earth. There are very few who are not aware of liquid hydrogen. The other air, oxygen, is life-giving and this, too, has a secret fire. This air, oxygen, can be reduced to a liquid, water and a solid earth. These two airs, in combination with each other, become water, H2O. In the hermetic philosophy, all subjects that are in common use have hidden within them the greatest marvels of God's creation; and mankind blinded, the soul in darkness, stumbles about little perceiving the possibility and the grandeur within the humble drop of water. When Paracelsus spoke of earth or made references to earth, he also stated that the object of the tyro was to separate the "scoria" (filth or dirt) from the earth. Unless this was done, the filth would carry over and degrade the operation and the subject upon which the tyro worked. In our work upon the vegetable stone, it quickly becomes evident that not any "earth" or "salt" will do the job. The purer and the more refined earth became, the less scoria was present, the body appeared salt-like, white, pure, and crystalline in nature. A true and proper receptacle for the masculine sulphur. This vegetable salt appears quite lifeless and has been shown to be devoid of cohesion. Earth either has life within it or else it is dead. If lifeless, it can be resurrected from the dead by the reuniting of three into one, spirit and soul reanimating the body. Of the four elements, earth is always with us and is more or less homogenized with life-giving water. The desert is a fearful place in summer. Yet, when the first of infrequent rains arrive, overnight a profusion of plant life appears. Water gives life and contains the essential philosophic seed in which life may germinate. It needs only a proper receptacle. Nature will do the rest. In the first chapters of the book of Genesis, we read of the primordial water upon which the spirit of God moved. The heavens separated and earth appeared out of the water. From the hermetic point of view, earth and water are synonymous and inseparable. This is to he understood in the sense as just referred to - that earth came out of water. Have we not read time and time again how the old alchemists stated that earth was dry yet contained a hidden water? This earth upon which we live is alive and experiences a continual rotation of the elements, both in its journey around the sun and within the 24-hour rotation of the earth upon its axis.
Referring back to the cube of ice, it would be an interesting point of speculation to consider how a man or woman would work, having never experienced heat of a sufficient degree to melt ice, and have this individual peruse manuscripts stating that a mysterious water could be dissolved from this frigid earth. Wouldn't this person, having never known water dissolved from ice, laugh and say how preposterous a thing this is? Wouldn't others, who are more serious, seek to find ways of releasing this hidden water locked within this earth (ice cube)? All this may, to some, sound a bit exaggerated or even far-fetched. It nevertheless emphasizes the point that results are determined by how we view things. As we all are aware, this cube of ice or earth, if heated, will resolve into a liquid, water. Further heating causes air or a gas which if allowed to cool again becomes water. Thus, by fire we have rotated our elements. Yet, we have worked upon one subject only, in one vessel, with one fire. Philalethes, in his treatise on page 234 of The Hermetic Museum, admonishes us to consider only three elements in actuality. He goes on to state that crude fire, which is corrosive and destructive, is not an element; but that the fire as related to alchemically is the result of action or activity by two separate principles, one acting upon the other. The fire of fermentation when making wine is not evident except by the thermal radiation. Yet, this fire is taking place within a nature which is dynamically opposed to it, namely water, H2O, The fire of our celestial sun, working upon the seemingly cold lifeless winter earth, causes a rotation of the moisture, which at springtime heats the waters of winter in which the seeds of all things are nurtured, and begins a new life cycle. The dry earth of the vegetable stone begins to absorb its own proper mercurial water of life and by this internal hidden fire this water is dried up, fixed in such a way that it will never again depart its proper earth. In the end, earth and water have again become one and thus begins a new beginning. The Four Elements - Water
"Most happy is the son of that man," says the author of the Golden Calf, "who, by his prayers, obtains this art of arts, unto the glory of God. For it is most certain that this Mystery can be known no other way, unless it be drawn and imbibed from God, the Fountain of Fountains ... happy is he to whom the Royal Way in which he is to walk shall be shown by some expert in this Arcanum. So also the New Light of Alchemy assures us that the "commendable art" is "the gift of God, and truly it is not to be attained to but by the alone favour of God." The Hermetical Triumph describes it as "a divine science" which is communicated from God, and that only "to those who will make a good use of it." The mode in which it is imparted is like that of all revelation, an "illumination of Mind," for "the knowledge of our Magistry," says the Key of the Secret Philosophy, comes by "the inspiration of Heaven," and "this truth is acknowledged by all Philosophers." Azoth or The Star in the East by A.E. Waite
p.402
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl Mars In The Constellations Mars adds energy to the constellation which it is in. Since the energy is physical in nature the presence of Mars tends to upset the equilibrium by speeding things up. Keeping in mind the basic premise, that it is the planet which influences the constellation, we note that all constellations will be read as though Mars were conjunct their ruler and the planets in exaltation, if any. In the natal chart Mars shows where we feel pain and where we are most easily injured. Its position also indicates how we give pain and injury to others. It pinpoints our aggressive or attack mechanism. Saturn on the other hand, indicates where and how we attempt to protect ourselves by withdrawal and caution. A setting up of fences and barriers instead of attack. Mars' energy expresses itself strongest in Aries and Scorpio, where it rules, and in Capricorn, where it is exalted. At this point we wish to emphasize that the true purpose of these articles is to teach you to think for yourself where astrology is concerned. We are trying to show you how to take the basic building blocks, namely the influences of the planets, constellations, exaltation, elements and qualities, tying these together into a cohesive whole. In this article we take the influence of Mars and try to determine its influence in the constellations. Unless you try to determine for yourself why we give the influence we do, none of us will gain any 'understanding of astrological influences. When Mars is in aspect with other planets it tends toward assault and taking according to the nature of the planet aspected. Mars aspecting the Moon tends toward sexual or bodily assault. With the Sun, physical rather than mental creation. With Mercury, anger, aggression, and action are expressed by one or all means of communication available to the native. With Venus love is expressed physically and through action. With Jupiter joy and expansiveness are aggressively sought with a tendency to overdo and overspend. With Saturn action and energy are controlled and directed to useful work. With Uranus there is an aggressive search for freedom and new horizons to conquer. With Neptune imagination is aggressively transmuted into reality. With Pluto an aggressive search for the voice in the silence. The competitive instinct belongs to Mars who tries to outdo, overcome, or eliminate all rivals. The best qualities of Mars are initiative, leadership, perserverance, efficiency, and action. Regardless of what happens, Mars reacts with action. It strikes out at.whatever attempts to frustrate it. MARS IN LIBRA. Love responds to its lower physical aspect. The person has a tendency to take rather than give. There will be a desire to indulge in the more outdoors type of living and the clothing may be practical and sturdy rather than artistic and mode. Instead of the helping hand for others, force will be used if necessary to extract a price for any favors granted. When the Martian energy is sublimated and purified through love for others then the native can use the fire of Mars in spreading the gospel of love and brotherhood throughout the earth. If this purification fails to take place then everything the native touches is tainted with the desires and lust of the flesh. MARS IN SCORPIO. This position of Mars gives abundance of energy and unless the person puts it to use constructively it will manifest destructively. It is the nature of Scorpio to attack to attain their
ends. Scorpio is the natural fighter of the zodiac. He would rather fight than eat or drink; and he enjoys both these physical enjoyments. Unless the excessive energy can be channeled into constructive ends; such as sports, requiring physical contact, and even vicarious release of pent up energy through watching violence on television and the movies, the lid will blow with resulting violence. MARS IN SAGITTARIUS. This position of Mars makes the native a free spender and a natural born athlete. The expansive Jupiterian influence reacts to the impulsiveness of the Martian energy and they literally try to burn each other up. The Jupiterian impulse to expand is fed by the fire of Mars and, unless controlled, results in a day of reckoning when there are only ashes left. If used to expand business or profession, the native will be successful in his chosen field. Gives a tendency toward a philosophy of "might makes right," which could lead to all kinds of trouble and troublemaking until channeled constructively. MARS IN CAPRICORN. Under the restrictive influence of Cap: icorn the Mars energy and drive can be brought under control to produce constructive work. A typical example of energy under restriction is the gasoline engine. Here the explosive power of gasoline is restricted and controlled to do useful work. It is the same with our lives. If we can control and direct our energies we will produce an enormous amount of useful or destructive work depending on the aspects in effect and our own character. It is not to be thought that Mars energy is always negative because here, in the sheath of Saturn, he makes this otherwise inert and cautious constellation brave, courageous, and an energetic striver for success. MARS IN AQUARIUS. Energy can be used here to uncover the secrets of nature or to destroy what has already been built up. To some, freedom means the absence of all restraint, while to others it means sane and constructive research into that which will help others overcome the restriction of disease and poverty. Uncontrolled, it could bring about a rampant tearing down of everything civilization has built up. Properly directed it opens the far horizons of the mind. At any rate the native approacbes his own search for freedom energetically and without restraint. MARS IN PISCES. You will have an expansive and/or imaginative approach to the use of this Martian energy. If your response is to Jupiter, remembering that Pisces is the negative or night house of this planet, then you will have to curb your tendency to give, give and to spend, spend. Under Neptune you will pursue your dreams and imaginative tendencies with vigor aggression, and action. If constructively used both planets, or aspects, of Pisces could bring success and attainment into your life. If approached negatively failure and disillusionment will follow. MARS IN ARIES.
This position of Mars bestows both energy and leadership qualities. The native is aggressive in his pursuit of success and leadership in whatever field he may be interested in. The outcome of his ventures is according to how the native channels and directs this excess energy and aggressive force. Anger and irritation must be sublimed into constructive channels to bring about useful and energetic beginnings. MARS IN TAURUS. The native's excess energies can be used eitheir to promote and spread the ideal of love and brotherhood to all mankind or it can be deflected into the physical expression of love and lust. The passions are strong and easily aroused and as easily satisfied on the physical plane. The spiritual love of Venus is at a disadvantage here but since love gives, it will here give itself physically rather than not manifest at all. Sculpture and. art could be ways to use this physical force constructively. MARS IN GEMINI. The Mercury faculties of communication, criticism, travel, and mathematics are vigorously stimulated with Mars here. There is a tendency for the native to react impulsively with anger, irritation, and sarcasm when pushed too far. Properly directed it gives ability for an immense amount of research, lecturing, writing, traveling and other means of communication for profit. There is a tendency to impulsive and sarcastic remarks both orally and in writing. It makes the mind sharp and aggressive in its pursuit of knowledge and communication. MARS IN CANCER. Mars is in his fall here which weakens his positive drive. Frustration and irritation go hand in hand causing the native to vent his spleen on those around him. The excess of Martian energy causes the native to feel that he is being pushed into bringing his imaginings and day dreams into physical manifestation with the result that, when he fails to bring this into reality, anger and irritation take over as a means of relieving the emotions. This done, the cycle usually starts over until another head of steam is built up with the usual explosion. MARS IN LEO. Here the normally mentally directed creative powers are directed in a physical direction. The physical fire of Mars and the spiritual fire of the Sun may be transmuted to produce results on the soul level. However, this will more normally produce creations that manifest physically. There is an aggressive drive to attain leadership in whatever sphere the native may he functioning on. This excess of energy will cause the native to seek ways of releasing it and anger, irritation and a lack of caution could be a means of doing this. MARS IN VIRGO. Properly used this extra energy gives the native a tremendous capacity for work, especially in the area of communication, analyzing, criticism, planning, clerical and even research. Handicraft and
work where skill and detail are required are also good areas to release this energy which gives mechanical aptitude. Negatively it manifests as destruc tive criticism, sarcasm, irritation, angry outbursts and a general condenma tion of everyone and everything that gets in the way when they are in this mood. +
P.411 Informative Interchange
A True Method to Obtain Oleum Vitelli from "Easter Eggs" Without Breaking the Shells Some things are apparently discovered by accident and so was this one. It concerns six chicken eggs which were laid from Wednesday, the 18th of April, till Easter Monday, the 23rd of April, 1973, one on each day. [Full moon: 17th April; 27o Libra] It was assumed that these six eggs had not turned bad as another six eggs of the same dates had been opened by myself on Saturday, the 2nd of March, 1974, as was witnessed by Frater Albertus and the 4th year students of PRS (Australia). All six eggs were found to be good. There was no putrid smell and the taste of the partly dehydrated orange yolk was perfectly normal. It was noticed, though, that there was no egg white. It seemed to have turned into gas. The six unopened eggs were kept in the same cupboard in an egg carton without refrigeration and, as before, went through another hot Australian summer. These eggs were looked at only spasmodically. On one such occasion, during the winter of 1975, about 21/2 years after they had been laid, it was noticed that tiny droplets of yellow liquid had appeared on the WHOLE surface of the eggshell. This liquid proved to be oil of egg, oleum vitelli, although impure. The eggs were then placed on a test-tube stand and transferred to the lounge room, which allowed daily observation. It looked as if the eggs were sweating, as the oil seemed to come through "pores" of the shell. Within a week the droplets grew big enough to run down, forming still bigger droplets as they joined with those lower down. When a drop formed at the bottom of the eggs, it was collected in a small vial before it would fall down. The eggs were "milked" this way for approximately 3 weeks when the sweating stopped. Each egg yielded 5 to 6 drops of oil. It was further observed that the eggs started sweating in reverse order as they were laid and that sweating increased with a warmer room temperature. When the eggs had ceased sweating they were put back in the carton and in the same cupboard again to he left there until time to take them to the quinta class the end of February 1976. I never looked at the eggs again until at that class. What a surprise it was for Frater Albertus and all quinta students to see that the eggs had started sweating again. (Most likely because Australian summers are warmer than room temperature.) This time the quantity of oil was so small that it was not worthwhile collecting. Last observation: As of October 1976, the eggs (eggshells?) have become as light as a chicken feather. +
- Arthur G. Fehres, Australia
p.414
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. In the preparation of the ore for dry distillation is there at any time a menstruum used? A. Yes. It can be water, adds, alkaline waters, or any -of others to prepare such ores as you mention. Q. How is Mercury Sublimate prepared? Some say this is the secret fire. A. Mercury Sublimate is what the name indicates, sublimated quicksilver, similar to sublimated sulfur (flowers of sulfur). Q. Which one of the following is the Alchemist's secret fire? IS it (1) White Mercury [Alkahest], (2) Red Mercury, (3) White and Red Mercury after separation, purification, and cohobation, (5) Mercury Sublimate, or (6) Balneum Mariae? A. Usually your number 1. Q. Is the green lion derived from galena? A. Yes, it can also he derived from galena. Q. How would you make glass of antimony and arsenic, using both. What proportion? How is the arsenic later removed? A. By mixing both in any suitable proportion. We advise against it as the arsenic fumes given off can he fatal. Q. What would be the best of Jacob Boehme's works on physical Alchemy? A. Boehme does not go particularly into physical alchemy in his works, though if one has the key it can be found in all of is works. Q. On page 127, Cockren says, "ferment of Mercury is added." Does he mean the Red and White together (Philosophic Gold), the Red separately, or the White separately? A. He refers to the ferment of gold - gold dissolved in the philosophical mercury. Q. Do the Old and New Testament have a great deal of physical alchemy contained therein?
A. Yes. Q. Can one develop a tolerance or immunity to continued use of intermediate level doses of preparations from herbal stones? From the antimonial preparations? A. It is possible. After all, such substances are used to obtain a balance. When this has been achieved, the purpose has been fulfilled. Q. Is the Quintessence variable in quality according to the individual unit's state of inner involvement? A. No. It is strictly a matter of know how. The effect upon the inner does vary. Q. Can the vinegar of antimony be taken as a medication without the addition of some other ingredient? A. Yes. Q. Is it possible to obtain glass from a herb by subjecting it to intense heat after calcination? A. Yes. Some inorganic minerals will fuse. Q. Please describe the characteristics of substances included by alchemists in the mineral kingdom. What distinguishes minerals alchemically from metals and plants and animals? A. There is no difference. Iron in a plant is the same iron found in minerals because that is where plants take it from. Q. Do you have any comments on Soma (Hoama) Armanita Muscaria, the Sacred Mushroom? A. Leave your hands off it. Q. Is there an intelligent, semi-intelligent, or at least conscious entity inherent in the herb that we are processing that is capable of affecting our consciousness positively or negatively? Does the herb resist our purification of it ... or can the herb be strong enough to resist our work with it? A. Both are possible. Q. In the purification process within ourselves: We can purify our body which is salt. We can purify our thoughts - our sulphur. Please enlarge on how we purify our spirit or life force - our Mercury. A. By purifying the blood which is the carrier of spirit (Life).
Q. Since in the proposed extraction of Antimony ore with distilled rainwater the extract will have a very low concentration, would not a maceration, where the powdered ore is in constant suspension, be much more effective? The suspension could be kept up by automatic stirring or by a vibrator. A. Absolutely.
QABALAH Q. How would the Qabalistic Tree of Life look if the planet Lucifer were still contained in our solar system? Is is not true that right now we have to deal with a destruct and hence defunct solar system? Will it ever be set into order again? When? A. It would have a planet between Mars and Jupiter and not look like the present Tree of Life. We are still suffering under this destruct influence to some extent. When it will be restored we don't know.
backcover
The Alchemical Transmutation of Substance The entire process of nature is an alchemical one where Transmutation occurs. There is a change from one thing into another as matter is broken down, separated, by degree purified, and then reunited into a new form. The acorn becomes the oak, the caterpillar the butterfly. In the body itself a natural alchemical transmutation takes place and the body is restored by the changes which occur within it. That nature should err is impossible. That man does err is not only possible but a fact. The process of alchemical transmutation that is demonstrated in the laboratory causes us to know that man can assist nature and make restitution for that which he has fouled up. Man, knowing the fundamental laws of the Alchemist of Nature, may not only restore that which he has defiled but may, when he applies the laws with understanding by way of art and science, accomplish in a short time that which takes nature a very long time. Everything is continuously changing, however slowly. When the transition is complete from one thing into another, there is the death of one thing and the birth of another. Birth is the child of death. Life is eternal, having no beginning and no end, as it manifests through the ever-changing and ever-evolving forms of substance, steadily unfolding cyclically the truth and beauty which is in it. Life, by its activity, reveals the signature of a substance's essential nature. The signature is not the essential nature no more than is a person's signature or name in itself the essence of the person. The essential nature of any substance, that which is of value in it, lies concealed and only partially revealed within the tangible and intangible signature of substance. Man, by the art and science of Alchemy, may not only lawfully transmute any substance but, as well, assist to bring about a much more highly evolved transmutation of substance, thereby enabling the potential of the essential nature in substance to be realized tangibly and its virtue or value, where before
hidden or unknown or but partially realized, put to practical use for the benefit of all upon the earth. The seed of substance cannot be annihilated. It is eternally present but not always tangibly manifest. Its seedling can be improved upon or it can be degraded, such as when grafting or hybridization is undertaken and there results from the experiment that which is more superior or inferior to the original, or as when the mind may be beneficially improved by means of additional knowledge or detrimentally changed by instilling into it that which restricts it or proves harmful. The issue of death affects us greatly. Man in his ignorance may cause the birth of that which is inferior or in his knowledge and understanding that which is superior to that which was before. In death itself there is nothing to be feared. It is but part of the natural alchemical transmutation of a substance. From it can come a new seedling which in a better way manifests the essential nature of its seed. Within the seed itself is found the essential value and within the seedling the seed.
Parachemy Volume V: Number 2 Spring 1977
Separation by Leandro Della Piana
Contents The Four Elements - Water p.421 Astrology For the Neophyte - Jupiter p.426 The Water of Life p.429 The Hermetic Bookshelf: Hans W. Nintzel p.434 Questions and Answers p.438 Separation - back cover
p. 423
The Four Elements By Frater K.H. Water The element water represents another mystery within the four phases which we are covering. All hermetic philosophers have spoken with one accord when they stated that water is the seed of all things. To he more definitive, common water saturated by any type of crystalline salt, ordinary table salt for example, will manifest a crystalline growth. All manner of minerals that are water soluble can be grown in this fashion. The water has become our nurturing menstruum, and whatever is placed therein will grow. We do not limit this to the growth of mineral crystals alone, seeds and even the animal embryo cannot grow and be nurtured without water. Thus, simply put, water has become the repository for growth. If any of these various growing things were exposed to crude air, they will, in the case of crystals, cease growth immediately, and with the animal embryo, death ensues. In short, where there is no growth there is death or a cessation of activity. If we take a plant substance, any seed, and nurture it in a moist, damp earth, it will, if permitted, reach a state of maturity where it can bear the crude air. This also applies to the animal embryo, which only after birth can survive in the air. As we work upon our subject within the retort, our water menstruum is periodically elevated and becomes air, whereby through a subtle process celestial influences prevail and this that we now call air is thereby strengthened. As this circulation completes its cycle, air again becomes water and imparts to the waters below a new strength which was not there before. As a quick example, we need only to refer to water that has evaporated from the oceans and received new strength while in the air as vapor and clouds. A new substance is added at this time which we call niter and is so absolutely necessary for the growth of the vegetable seed. Thus, fire is added to water whereby coagulation is possible once a proper earth becomes available. Thus, the waters of spring, the spring rains, prepare the seed in the ground, dormant and now putrifying from winter just past. Water also has another very interesting property about which so many of the hermetic philosophers spoke. They would state in different ways that water contained within all the colors of the rainbow and that it was the action of light upon water which revealed that which was already in the water. Even in the Bible, we find reference to the tree of life, and how it was nourished by living water. As we look at the tree as pictured in the Qabala, we see all the colors contained within this tree, and that it too is nourished by our philosophic water. Centered in the heart of this tree, we find that light which radiates in all directions and thereby reveals to us those colors we see at the extremities. This light comes from the sun, Tiphareth, and its color is yellow. Water has been assigned the color blue because it reveals itself in this spectrum. Our secret fire, the sun, at the center of the tree circulates this water into air and we now have the color yellow. This mysterious air by way of this fire is fixed into earth whose color is green. Thus, we find that the colors blue
and yellow make green, and this is why it is called the tree of life. We find here revealed those things which constitute life. What we are really seeking in the water is an enzyme, which for lack of proper definition we will call life. This is the activity which conjoined to the other essentials will then produce whatever nature intended. For example, in the human body we find that all foods including water become water. This occurs by special inner-transmutation whereby water is no longer H
Let us ask ourselves a searching question: If vegetable matter, by separation into the three essentials and properly purified, can, by spagyric treatment, 'become the vegetable stone, why does ingestion of the very same vegetable matter by an animal body become flesh, blood, and bone? In both cases, the three essentials were spagyrically separated and purified. Some incredibly wonderful process has taken place in each instance, transforming our substances into something they were not before. We must be more vigorous in our self-analysis and ask the question more often. We were not meant to be machines performing mechanical operations and obtaining mechanical results. Springtime has been called by some the rebirth. Yet, we are in danger of certain misconceptions here. That which has matured or aged in fall, died in winter, is not reborn in spring. The old must pass away to make room for the new. Only the seeds lain down in fall will reappear in the springtime; they are the germ of the old. That which has died disintegrates into the essentials of earth and will never again reappear in its previous form. Springtime is the birth of that which is new and fresh. The waters of spring have been recharged through the winter and in spring they again nurture new seed. This new seed consists of earth or more precisely, salt, freshly prepared and coagulated from the essential water of the parent now decayed. The sulphur, too, has been prepared by way of water and earth from the old parent. Thus, the seed is new, having been prepared by nature through the art of water. The Four Elements - Air
There is a time in every man's education when he arrives at the conviction that envy is ignorance; that imitation is suicide; that he must take himself, for better or for worse, as his portion; that, though the wide universe is full of good, no kernel of nourishing corn can come to him but through his toil bestowed upon that plot of ground which is given him to till. - EMERSON
p.426
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl Jupiter In The Constellations Jupiter is the planet of expansion. It is called the Greater Benefic; the planet of good fortune and luck. Those strongly under Jupiter have the ability to bringabout the fulfillment of their dreams and wishes. This is because they are experts at prayer (wishing) and constructive thinldng. Ritual and ceremonial magic come under Jupiter as do priests and religion peddlers. The 10th Key or the llth card of the Tarot come under Jupiter. In fact it is called the Wheel of Fortune and has to
do with astrocyclic pulsations. In our birth charts it represents our ability to enjoy ourselves. If in aspect to the Moon our joy is vocal and loud. If with Saturn we may display no sign of joy depending on whether either planet is on an angle of the chart. Jupiter with the Sun and the native aspires to success and honor. With Mercury it brings ease and facility in communicating with others. With Venus we have love and happiness in our contacts with others. With Mars it inclines to energetic expansion. With Saturn we have restrained optimism. Uranus brings unexpected progress and gain. In aspect with Neptune the ability to make our dreams come true. With Pluto secret joy, happinessand individual success. Those with Jupiter strong radiate an aura of success and confidence in others as well. We have said that Jupiter signifies expansion and the simplest form of this comes when we over eat. We get fat and then require the restriction of Saturn to get back into shape again. We have said that Jupiter rules religion and prayer. I think you will agree that there is more fervent praying in a crap game and other forms of gambling than is found in most churches. Some key words that apply to Jupiter are: Humor, joy, expansiveness, enthusiastic, optimistic, idealistic, honor, esteem, belonging. respect, conforming, compliance, prayer, medicine, worship, wish fulfillment and ritual. JUPITER IN LIBRA. Happiness and love go hand in hand and the native shares his happiness and love with others. Friendship and understanding are the two most important aspects of the life. Native mingles socially with the cream of society and the beautiful in all walks of life. Success can come with almost no effort as this position of Jupiter inclines others to bestow gifts and favors on the native. Friendship, love and brotherhood are the rallying points and everyone is used for whatever he can contribute to the success and honor of the native. The love given or received under this influence is always upright conventional and moral. What others think about his action is very important. JUPITER IN SCORPIO. Jupiter here gives the native a cloak of respectability. The usually untidy, vulgar, and uncouth native gives the appearance of neatness, culture and morality. This combination of Jupiter and Mars gives drive, energy and an aggressive nature, always neatly hidden behind the cloak of civilization. Gives tremendous vitality and healing power. This is the iron fist in the velvet glove. The native starts out all his ventures in a spirit of good fellowship and comradery. As obstacles crop up, which cannot he removed by reasonableness, the native reverts more and more to force and aggression to attain his ends. Always within the law, if possible, otherwise sheer naked force is resorted to. JUPITER IN SAGITTARIUS. Jupiter here reflects the idealistic and noble nature of this constellation. The native is joyous and radiates his good humor over all who come his way. They share in the joy and happiness that are the lot of those with Jupiter unafflicted. All doors to honor and success are open to them. Others go out of their way to assist them in accomplishing their desires. They have an optimism that no amount of apparent failure can dim. Each day is another opportunity to enjoy the goodness that
only heaven can bestow. For are we not all God's children? Always in the back of the native's mind is the knowledge that someday he will return, to his father's kingdom. JUPITER IN CAPRICORN. The expansive influence of Jupiter here loosens some o& the restrictions of Saturn and the native becomes aware that the influence of those in authority, or who are placed above him I can make life easier and success more likely of accomplishment. Every dollar earned and every step up the ladder must still he earned but there will be an optim ism and ability to look ahead that is lacking when Jupiter is placed elsewhere in the chart of the Capricornian. The native reaches out to encompass the joy and success that Jupiter promises but being so strongly Saturnian he will still tend to limit himself. Not because he is forced to but because this is his innate nature. JUPITER IN AQUARIUS. The native's horizons and understanding are expansive and wide. Joy and happiness come from the search to unveil nature's secrets. Money comes easily and goes as quickly for the native understands the true purpose of wealth, which is to expand man's physical and mental well being. There is no hoarding here. He may achieve prominence and fame as a result of his search for the underlying laws of the universe. Those seeking knowledge and understanding will come far distances to study under the native. A tendency to take a chance could he misused here giving too much reliance on gambling rather than earning. JUPITER IN PISCES. Jupiter here increases the native's already relaxed state of mind. Others seek your company and you will always be popular because of your happy and joyous state of mind. If you respond to the Neptunian side of this constellation you will find that you easily see through the apparent in life to the real. This makes the mystic approach to life the natural one for you. Because day dreams and other visions are so real to you there is no problem in bringing them to reality. Remember, what man can envision he can do. Negatively this position could bring about utter relaxation with no accomplishment. JUPITER IN ARIES. The aggressiveness of Mars is here veiled behind the expansive approach of Jupiter. Diplomacy and a desire to belong enable the native to blend power and acceptability. The iron fist in the velvet glove approach. There is good physical coordination and an immense amount of energy that can be used to further the career and seeking out of those who may help advance the native's fortunes. There is joy in victory and in leading others. Here judgment is blended with power giving the native true leadership abilities. JUPITER IN TAURUS. The approach to life is one of continual joy and love for one's fellow man. The expansive and idealistic search for spiritual knowledge is met with unusual success. Here the veil of Isis is
quickly penetrated by means of cyclic pulsations and the use of nature's laws. Pp-ace and contentment quickly bring about that relaxed state of mind required to attain the stillness and to hear the still voice of the soul. Physical as well as spiritual success come your way. Whether it is one or both depends on how you concentrate your attention. Justice and love for others should determine the goals you seek. JUPITER IN GEMINI. Jupiter here gives the native of Gemini the ability to slow down enough to really get at the truth behind appearances. Both Mercury constellations are business and communications oriented. This position gives selfconfidence and technical know-how. Native finds it easy to communicate his ideas to others and to put the expansive influence of Jupiter to work in making both profits and friends. Joy, under this position, is the acquisition of things and knowledge. If you choose things, you get material success. If you choose knowledge, you will eventually attain understanding and perhaps even wisdom. JUPITER IN CANCER. Jupiter in the constellation of its exaltation is now in its most powerful position. Success and honor come as a matter of course. Others look up to you and you treat them with justice and compassion. Laughter comes easily and life is joyous and filled with contentment. You have natural leadership abilities, particularly in the field of trade and business. The professions hold their doors open for you. Others see in you what they hope to be and extend a helping hand that makes progress quick and sure. You have only to beware of over-expansion which physically becomes obesity. JUPITER IN LEO. Every inch a king. Here the natural ruler is cloaked with the judgment and justice of true royalty. Although pride and honor are important to the native he still puts the well being and needs of others above his own. The spiritual life has a strong attraction but regardless of which the native chooses success and honor will come his way. Religion holds a high place in the life as do high ideals and goals. Spiritual gold, since you can take it with you, is preferable to material gold which must stay here when you leave. These people are optimistic and self confident, having no thought of failure. Capable of real creative thoughts and actions. JUPITER IN VIRGO. Virgo, the server of mankind, is here bathed in a sort of blue light of fame and success. This is all very disconcerting to the natural critic of the zodiac. Now everything appears to be good and this apparent good is an almost instant ladder to success. The native now finds it easy to communicate to others his inmost ideas and plans. More amazing is the fact that they understand what he is saying. Shyness must give place to confidence. The native sees the broader picture and goes to work on bringing it into effect on the physical level. Learn to use those who approach you for help. Charity is a two way street. It is equally good to receive as it is to give.
p.429
The Water Of Life In the 1976 American Sexta Class, a theoretical study of water was undertaken, which was followed by the application of a practical demonstration of those aspects of it that were possible to work with within the limited class period. This article is a brief report which, through the combined efforts of students in this class, sets forth simply, without elaboration or intensive elucidation, an abbreviated form of the theory and, as it was demonstrated and known by this class, the results of this theory applied. Primarily, attention is given to the results which show that the water, as it is worked with and subjected to separation, purification, and cohobation, undergoes changes and manifests interesting differences. All else in this report is given only to provide an idea.and to present somewhat of a picture of that from which such results stem. The changes and manifested differences in the water were observed and extended from the commencement, in these particular experiments, of the water in a stage of putrefaction, as it underwent separation and purification, and finally to the water in a stage of reunification or cohobation. Two experiments were conducted. The purpose of the first experiment was to obtain the True Universal Gur. The purpose of the second experiment was to produce the Archaeus of Water. Two important procedures that differed were used in the work with the water. The purpose of the work determines which procedure is to be used and the procedure brings about those results that are of use and of value in the specific work undertaken. The two procedures should not be confused for they serve two different purposes. The True Universal Gur Within water is found the universal seed. Within water is found that which is called the primamateria, the pre-adamic earth, the true universal gur, which contains all the seeds of the mineral, plant, and animal kingdoms. The time within the class period allowed only that work which resulted in obtaining a small portion of substance, tannish in color, designated as the true universal gur. Further experimentation is being conducted and will be conducted by students of this class to further substantiate the results which manifested during the class instruction, to test such a substance by subjecting it to clinical evaluation to find out if it will yield and demonstrate certain manifestations when imbibed with waters according to prescribed procedures. This work begins, according to the procedure given in Annulus Plotonis by Kirchweger, by collecting the precipitation of dew, rain, snow, hail, or frost. The use of rainwater is highly recommended. It is advisable that it be collected at a time when the atmosphere is clear and clean and preferably during a lightning and thunder storm, as there is more nitrogen (niter) -429- found in the precipitation at this time, which is of great importance in the work. Therefore, the kind of water that is used will make a difference in the results; and it is important that the water be caught before it comes in contact with the earth or any matter upon it. This water is to be filtered,
placed in a glass container covered lightly to permit air to enter and to keep contaminants out, set m a warm (digestive), isolated place, and left to stand for one month. The implanted Archaeus spirit (life) within the water causes the water to begin to get a little warmer, to undergo putrefaction, which brings about a separation of the subtle from the coarse. The water turns turpid, smelly, and slimy. There appears in the water that which is sponge-like, a brown sediment which forms at the top and falls when sufficient has gathered. This appears to be like fine wool and is slimy to the touch. In the experiment conducted during the class period, 3000 ml. of putrefied snow water, that had been first thoroughly shaken, was used. It showed .a pH reading of 5.0. By slow distillation, 750 ml. of water was separated and stored in a glass bottle. This water, the first one-fourth was labeled "fire and air of water" and showed a pH reading of 5. 1. A further separation of 2106 ml., approximately three-fourths of the water, was distilled and stored in a glass bottle. This water was labeled "water of water" and showed a pH reading of 4.0. The residue remaining, of a thin, honey-like consistency, was decanted and gently dried. This substance was tannish in color and showed a pH reading of 8.0. When dry, this substance or earth powder was placed in a glass bottle and labeled the "true universal gur." Thus the substance: Putrefied Snow water pH 5.0 The one substance divided: First One-Fourth pH 5.1 Approx. Three-Fourths pH 4.0 Residue Remaining pH 8.0 The Archaeus of Water Water which is highly rectified, that is, by distillation undergoes separation, purification, and cohobation by way of art and correct knowledge, can he used to great benefit as a menstruum for all kingdoms and has in itself, when taken medicinally, curative virtues. The degree of rectification (refinement) is of great importance, for its usefulness and success as a menstruum for each of the three kingdoms is dependent upon the degree of its rectification. The water to he worked with is again that which has been collected from atmospheric precipitation and has undergone the stage of putrefication There is first a separation of the water into four divisions, designated as fire of water, air of water, water of water, and earth of water. In water we find all the elemental qualities in one. There is a further separation of each of the four divisions into three divisions, designated as sulphur of fire of water, mercury of fire of water, and salt of fire of water until there is obtained twelve divisions of the separated water. The three essentials are found in everything that nature produces. As separation occurs, purification takes place. Purification is an extension of separation. The cohobation of the waters is in reverse order.
In the experiment conducted during the class period, 2000 nil. of putrefied snow water, showing a pH reading of 5.0 was used. By a gentle distillation, the first one-fourth (500 ml.) of water was separated, stored in a glass bottle and labeled "fire of water" (pH 5.0). A second one-fourth (500 ml.) of water was separated, stored in a glass bottle and labeled "air of water" (pH 5.0). A third one-fourth (500 ml.) of water was separated, stored in a glass bottle and labeled "water of water" (pH 5.0). The last one-fourth (483 ml., somewhat less because of a slight evaporation and a residue which remained in the distillation flask) of water was separated, stored in a glass bottle and labeled "earth of water" (pH 5.0). A residue, having a thin, honey-like consistency, remained in the distillation flask, which was decanted, gently dried, and labeled "true universal gur." The above four divisions of water - fire, air, water, and earth of water, were each separated into three divisions, designated first as "sulphur of fire of water," second that of "mercury of fire of water," and third that of "salt of fire of water." The remaining three elements, air of water, water of water, and earth of water, were separated into the three essentials, giving, when the separation was complete, twelve divisions of water. The first onethird (1662/3 ml) was distilled from each of the 500 nil., which represented the sulphur; the second onethird (166 2/3 ml.) was distilled, which represented the mercury; and the final one-third (166 2/3 ml.) was distilled, which represented the salt. When the water was first divided into the four elements, there was observed a slight but significant differentiation in the colorr and quality of the water. For example, the first one-fourth (fire of water) appeared very clear and sparkling in contradistinction to the last one-fourth (earth of water) which appeared slightly cloudy and was of a more viscous nature. At a later stage, as the twelve separated divisions of water were poured during the process of cohobation, there was observed a difference in the quality of these waters as well. There was a variation, a considerable variation in some instances, in the rate of time of the distillation of the elements into their three essentials. When tested with an electronic pH meter, the twelve separated divisions of water showed different readings. An interesting point is the difference in the consciousness (sulphur) readings in the earth, water, air, and fire elements. For example, the sulphur of earth of water showed a pH reading of 3.6 while the sulphur of fire of water showed a pH reading of 6.5. Also, such is noteworthy when one considers that the pH reading of the original water showed 5.0. These and other results are presented for comparison and study in Tables I and II. In Table 1, the results of the PH readings of the water after separation and division into twelve and during the process of cohobation and finally after cohobation are given, along with the pH readings of the separated divisions of water and the gur in the first experiment. Table II shows in a simpler and less detailed form the pH readings, beginning with the original water, through the separation and purification process, and ending with its cohobation which gives the Archaeus.
Because there was some doubt as to the cleanliness of the equipment used in the distillation of the water of water into the sulphur, mercury, and salt, this fact is included. While it has no effect on the results given in regard to the other three elements and their further separation, it is possible that, should the equipment not have been clean, this would have some effect, especially in the last stages of the cohobative process and in the result of the cohobation itself. Thus, it cannot be stated with certainty that this water acually did attain .2 more acidity through the distillation procedure. This calls to our attention the great importance of cleanliness in our work., in both the outer and inner laboratory. With the above possible and unintentional exception, the changes that took place with the one substance, water, transpired by way of the processes of separation, purification, and cohobation with only the application of heat and with nothing foreign added to the substance itself. The changes which manifested and the differences which are shown to exist within but this one substance, water, are meaningful and significant - not only in what is revealed thereby and the correspondences that may arise from this as pertains to further work with it and with self but in the use of its virtues as they become known and understood and applied for the good of all. The results, as given within this report, are important for such makes it possible for us to begin to see the value, the virtues, that are within living water. It is this value, found in the water during its stage of separation and purification as well as in its cohobative stage, which, when once it becomes cognizable, may become, when utilized with understanding, useful and effect some benefit for the good of all upon this earth. +
... when man has found God, his own Eternal and Infinite Self, and has thrown away his smaller self, he has himself become the Truth, the Life, the Way, and no longer needs any other way to God. - BHAGAVAN DAS
If that which thou seekest thou findest not within thee, thou wilt never find it without thee. Alipili The truth which we seek must be the truth of direct experience, in which the distinction between subject and object has ceased to exist. Only a disinterested search can result in Truth, for every form of self-interest will lead onIr to a creation which will serve that self-interest.- N. Sri Ram
p. 434
The Hermetic Bookshelf In Pursuit Of Gold by Lapidus A Review by Hans W. Nintzel With the relative scarcity of new books dealing with alchemy, it is pleasant to report that Weiser is distributing "In Pursuit of Gold." The author preferring to remain anonymous assumes the nom-de-plume of "Lapidus." The title page indicates that there are "additions and extractions by Stephen Skinner." Mr. Skinner presided over Askin press in London and published Arch Magazine. These two organizations produced a series of items dealing with Enochian Magick, Qabala and Alchemy. The latter was a reproduction of "The Archidoxes of Paracelsus." With that in mind, it is not a far step to conclude that Mr. Skinner might even be "Lapidus." While some may feel it is unimportant who the author is, it is actually quite important. In this case credentials have some bearing as to the factuality of the writings. However, the reader can certainly draw some conclusions having read the book. The table of contents list such chapter headings as: "Sophic Fire" "The Secret Book " The Secrets of Antimony," "The Green Lion," "Consummation of the Hermetic Marriage," "The Use of the Stone" and others. The dust jacket has words to the effect that this is a book by a practicing alchemist and is the first such book to take a totally physical approach to the science of alchemy. The book is indicated as being not mere conjectures or theories but "actual detailed analysis of a number of texts which have been either quoted in full or systematically reduced in length by the elimination of irrelevant and misleading material." This last piece of information causes some immediate concern as an analysis, no matter how detailed, of other writings is still in my opinioin, conjecture and theory. I would say further that ALL alchemistical writings will remain that, conjecture and theory, until the reader puts the theory to practice and proves that it is indeed fact. Until then, the laboratory work, it is only interesting theorems. So, Lapidus runs the risk of analyzing spurious writings and digesting them for the readers of his book. Naturally, it is implied that as a practicing alchemist he is able to discern the chaff from the wheat. Perhaps. This is not meant to denigrate this book. It has definite value as will be pointed out. It is merely my desire to insert the necessary caveats to not swallow whole this book or any other dealing with alchemy. The writings of the ancient alchemists were nor meant to be crystal clear. It was not intended to put anything on a silver platter. True, the thread of veracity and the clues are to
be found, but they do not jump out and declare themselves. The reader can, at best, by poring over many tomes of alchemical lore, pick out commonalities and tie together similar threads. Happily, this is just what Lapidus does in his book. There is little original material except for some analysis, as indicated, of the writings of others. For this alone, the book has great worth. Lapidus presents to us the entire text of "The Secret Book" of Artephius. This is one alchernist who seems to be respected by others. John Pontanus also praises Artephius and Lapidus includes excerpts from Pontanus' writings. Since this material is rather rare, this is a service indeed to the student. The book also includes many plates from Michael Maier's "Atalanta Fugiens" which are of great interest also. Finally, in the same vein, Lapidus reproduces Ripley's poem "The Twelve Gates," and has a great deal of material from the writings of Sigismond Bacstrom. The latter published a slim volume called "Bacstrom's Alchemical Anthology." This book has been referred to as being a "Rosetta Stone of Alchemy." And indeed it is. Since only 500 or less copies were produced, the material in Lapidus book is most welcome. Lapidus uses the technique that the good Doctor used. That is, Bacstrom took a subject, such as Mercury. Then, in that chapter, he had 20-25 quotations from as many authors on the subject of Mercury. A sentence, a paragraph or a page of explanation of the term "Mercury" as given by such authors as Lully, Vade Mecum, Bloomfield, Paracelsus, Valentine etc. The reader could then synopsize all these writings under a particular heading and get a very good notion or, as least a better understanding of what was meant by that term. Lapidus aims to explain the terms "Sophic Fire" and "Secret Fire." He uses Artephius and a Bacstrom like technique on Bacstrom's Anthology. Although he seems to get things mixed up a bit, the reader should be able to figure out what these two terms mean. At least as Lapidus understands them. The book concludes in the same vein by presenting a set of questions and answers attributed to Paracelsus entitled "The Theory of Alchemy." The book has a few other features such as a glossary and a listing of materials needed for alchemical experiments. The glossary does not offer anything new and in some cases is not what one might call "direct." For example, the definition of "Red Man" is: Iron, or occasionally gold or copper. Another entry is "Earth" defined by: Metals are often referred to as "earth." The "Alchemists Handbook" of Frater Albertus is by far the superior in these matters and can be considered indispensable." Lapidus clearly means well with these insertions but just doesn't do all that much for those who have read other alchemystical works. Of course, the tyro will find it all new and exciting. Aside from occasional lapses into the turgid and obfuscated writings Lapidus is trying to clear up, such as in the chapter on "Sophic Fire," we find: "The Secret Fire which might be termed the fiery water dissolves the metals: this latter is a salt nitrate, often termed vinegar, to be found everywhere easily and never valued, yet never mentioned in any alchemical treatise by name," the book does a valuable service to the student and even to the "expert" If nothing else, the material described, since it is so rare, is welcome indeed. Lapidus' conclusions on certain matters (Green Lion, Secret Fire, etc.) may or may not be valid. Nonetheless, he leads the reader to follow a certain technique in synthesizing the writings of others in a way that enables one to draw definite conclusions. The final truth or proof of these conclusions, of course, can be only revealed in the laboratory.
In summary, Lapidus whoever he€ or she is, does seem to have a grasp on the fundamentals of alchemy. This background enables a reasonable analysis to be done on the writings presented in the book and allows the reader a modicum of confidence that the conclusions DO seem reasonable as well. For those who have never been exposed to Artephius' writings or those of Bacstrom, the book is highly recommended. For those who have read material by these two excellent writers, perhaps a different viewpoint can reveal new vistas. In other words, it is my opinion that the book is valuable and I recommend reading it.
Questions and Answers ALCHEMY Q. When you mentioned 7 rectifications ... did you mean of the White Mercury only or rectify both the Red and White Mercury before their conjunction? A. The mercury primarily. Q. How long do you keep the Red and White Mercury separate? A. As you please. Q. When using ethanol over angel water, can this be distilled angel water? Would you please repeat the points on this process being a transmutation? A. If you use distilled angel water, the salt is left behind and it will extract very little essence with the help of ethanol. This is no transmutation, only a separation. Q. What is the alchemistical, philosophical Acetone of the Ancients and how is it prepared? A. It is a fixed spirit derived from inorganic substances. The preparation is taught to our students. Q. According to the U.S. Dispensatory, 23rd Edition, 1943: Acetone is found in small amounts in normal urine, in blood, etc. (1) What are the alchemical implications of this? (2) How is acetone synthesized in the human body and what is its purpose? The U.S. Dispensatory also notes that Acetone is mildly intoxicating, somewhat similar to alcohol in effect, but not toxic. (3) Why is it not possible to use an acetone menstruum for a tincture in the same way one uses alcohol and use this tincture medicinally? A. (1) It is the product of an alchemical implication. (2) It is synthesized in the human body through alcohol upon the fixed spirit (acetum) and forms a compound. (3) You may do so. Use caution and good judgment. Q. How does Paralab prepare Natrium Kalium and Ferrum tissue salts?
A. By separating the three essentials and recombining them. Thereafter, by dilution to the required X. Q. What is the Sodium-Potassium ratio for the body? Is it 4 to 1? If tissue salts containing these two were taken, would the ratio be important? If Ferrum Phosphate were also taken, what should that ratio be compared to the SodiumPotassium ratio? A. This depends on the individual constituents required to balance the intake and to keep this balance of all tissues. Q. Is the true, correct way to make KM with tartar instead of ammonia and spirit of wine only? The KM would then contain animal, vegetable, and mineral? Or does ammonia contain animal vegetable, and mineral within itself? Refer to page 97, Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, 1894 edition. A. The Kerkring Menstruum is made as he describes it. Any other menstruum would not be Kerkring. Q. Why do the crystals formed from the Acetone-soda wash not dry? If we get a tincture from these crystals, would it be considered fixed? A. These crystals are very hydroscopic. They are not fixed. Q. Can we make a liquid stone of herbs? A. A liquid is no stone but a stone may contain liquid. Q. Is it correct to say that when Acetic Acid is added to the Sodium Hydroxide and Antimony Solution and the Hydrogen Sulphite is released that all the Elemental Sulphur is released with the Hydrogen Sulphite and therefore what is available is only the Oil of Antimony? In other words, can we obtain both the Oil of Antimony and the Oil of Sulphur together from the precipitate, or only the Oil of Antimony? A. You will have both in combination if the Antimony has not been calcined. Q. We believe Antimony to be a most potent medication. So far our knowledge of this is based on accounts five hundred and more years old. How can we come up with something more definite? A. By testing and clinical evaluation. Q. What would be the result of using a Sal Ammoniac tincture to extract Antimony rather than the KM menstruum? Is it only a matter of being able to identify the presence of Oil of Antimony? What would be the combined effects of Oil of Antimony and Oil of Sal Ammoniac present in the same tincture? A. In some cases disastrous.
Q. If you have a substance of fixed nature, make an oxide and make it unfixed first, can you then fix it by acetic acid? A. If you can unfix it as you state, it can be fixed again with acetic acid. Q. Why doesn't wine vinegar (mother) form a liver on it like is formed on apple vinegar? A. It does form in wine vinegar. Without it there would be no vinegar. Q. Why are all liquids obtained from Pharmacies that have used an herb and cold press it clear? A. Not all cold pressed liquids are clear. Filtration will help do that. Q. Regarding winestone in water, the tartar menstruum process, i.e., when 19% alcohol is imbibed, distilled off, etc., flask broke. Dissolved a little of this in water and filtered in case of glass bits. Tincture developed. Have been taking 7 drops on Sundays or when kidneys ached. No more than once a week. Seems to be effective but your words in class have frightened me off. A. Potassium carbonate in minute doses is not harmful when taken for relief of kidney pains, provided no other complications are present. Your physician should be consulted first. Q. In a natural cycle where water nourishes seed into grape (example), grape juice into winealcohol, then wine-vinegar, on into acetic acid, what is the very next phase or transmutation of acetic acid? A. All changes take place through the interaction of other substances or compounds. Further interactions on acetic acid can produce acetic anhydrate, ethyl acetate and many more. Q. What is the maximum temperature which can be applied to an airtight flask which contains a small portion of moisture? Example: One-tenth oil? (Without danger of explosion) A. Moisture under heat will cause expansion and pressure. The small portion depends on the size of the container. A quick pressure relief is the best remedy before an explosion. Q. There has been much recent talk of using vitamin B 17 as an effective medication in the treatment of cancer. Since the center of peach pits is a major source of B 17 would an Elixir made from peach pits prove even more effective? A. It needs more evaluation at present to establish its purported value. Q. In the Winter 1976 Parachemy you wrote an article on extracting the oil of copper. I find the article very unclear. Could you write explicitly again what it is you are trying to say in the article? A. Yes, we shall make another attempt and then give the results step by step of our own research procedure here at PRS.
Q. Does the Philosopher's Stone remain in a liquid form from the citrine color onward, or does it become a solid? A. It is said to be a solid. Q. What do the ancients mean by the Spirit of Salt? A. Hydrochloric Add. Q. How may Alchemy be proven to be a science that can mass produce medicines when it seems that planetary influences affect the manufacture of the medicine. In our present medicines it does not apparently have any effect - also other products. Alchemy seems to be an individual approach for self purification. Is this true? A. Everything is under planetary influences whether it is known, believed or what not. It is the knowledge about these influences, when properly applied, that makes the difference. It does not matter if this is applied alchemically or otherwise. Q. In speaking of the two kinds of antimony, I understood you to say that the medicinal purpose is to heal man and the alchemical purpose is to heal sick metals. Please explain this healing of sick metals. A. Elevation from inferior to superior similar to illness into health. MISCELLANEOUS Q. Will you say something about meditation? How does one concentrate the mind? How does one still the mind? How does one direct the mind in contemplation? Mention has been made in the Alchemical Laboratory Bulletins about yoga. Is there some kind of yogic meditation that would be of benefit to us? A. To concentrate does not mean that one meditates. One cannot still the mind. It is ever becoming as part of the All Mind. Contemplation is a thorough consideration. Various kinds of yoga claim to assist in the above. Please note that there are several kinds mentioned. Q. Most schools teach that survival of the fittest is the determining factor in evolution. Schools such as the PRS teach that progress is made through evolution and not revolution. Survival of the fittest implies warfare. In nature destructive catastrophies such as earthquakes, cyclones, etc., might be compared to revolution. Does revolution have a justified place in progress? A. Absolutely. Revolution is but a reoccurrence of evolution. Re means again. If evolution is diverted one way or another, then it has to undergo again (re) evolution in a different way. Q. How should we understand truth? When does part truth become acceptable? At what cost should we insert truth - at the risk of offending others?
A. You are confusing facts with truth. There is only one truth available to men according to the law of polarity, as explained in the prima class. Q. How does relativity enter in the PRS curriculum?Is it considered at all? How do you interpret relativity? I am somewhat confused by the constant use of this word and its reference to Albert Einstein. A. Relativity is but an extension of the law of polarity. Just as Philosophy combines the extension of science and reason into logic so it can be said that the relative value of philosophy is logic as it becomes cognate on all planes of awareness expressed by the word. When taken at its full value, it is the word which creates. Through the spoken word is created the image of that which is comprehended only by its relative polarity. When extended into actuality, we create its awareness on the tangible plane as a tool to be used, for which it was conceived, created and made manifest. Q. How does a person raise his "vibrations" - by prayer, by diet, by good deeds? A. By living a clean life within and without. Q. How may a rock or tree have a soul? A. Every substance has a degree of consciousness within it and that is its soul. Q. What will be the form of that which has everlasting life? A. Any form has a segment of life everlasting within it. Q. Can something inanimate have everlasting life? A. There is no inanimate substance. Life is found in any and all particles of physical substance. + -
(Back cover) Separation Separation is the segregation of one thing from another. It is the dissolution of the one into the many and again the many into the one. Separation Is like unto a mother from which all generation proceeds. That which comes forth by way of separation shows itself as being different than that from which it originates. Thus, from the no-thing comes something. From the formless comes form, just as from milk comes cheese. Though different from the original, the something which comes forth carries with It a germ of the original, becoming then a something having a dual nature - that which is tangible and that which is intangible, that which is of form and that which is of the formless. that which is terrestrial and that which is celestial. "Separation Is the great divider, which gives to everything its form and its essence." Separation is the revealer of the three principles, sulphur, mercury, and salt and the liberator of the pure from the impure, of the noble life from the ignoble life.
From the chaos, the first matter, separation begins. There comes forth from the chaos four distinct elements, fire, air, water, and earth. That which grows is of the element of fire; that which nourishe's Is from the element of air; that which consumes is from the element of water; and that which is fixed, which is as a terminus, is from the element of earth. It is when there is a dying that separation begins. Dying Is a dissolving and disintegration which serves to cause to appear that which is but was not until that which was disappears. The formless becomes- form. The form becomes formless. Substance changes its form, Its body, becoming a different receptacle wherein life burns. This dying is a putrefaction which is the cause of all life, for it gives the Impetus to separation, which begets the generation of all things, unfolding the essence of life in multifarious ways. Life begets life. Life itself is as a burning, consuming fire that nourishes itself with itself, revealing through its generation a diversity of nature which, in a final separation, will rest in that essence wherein it originated. As with any fire, there is that Which is the cause of it and that which is as a fuel for it. Life manifests because there is an interaction of the three essentials, mercury, sulphur, and salt or spirit, soul, and body. That which is electrical and seeking, which is as a burning power, is like unto Spirit, Life. That which is generative and moving, which generates power and is as a light and sound, is like unto Soul, Mind. And that which is magnetic and attracting, which is as a fuel which burns, is like unto Salt, Body. Man may be The Separator of the lesser world, himself, and the greater world wherein he moves and has his being. Man may come to know in himself and in the greater world what it is that gives growth, what it is that nourishes, that which consumes, and that which is of a fixed nature. He may know that which impels all life, the power of life, and the glory that is revealed in that which burns. Death is an ending of something, though even that which is dead can again be given life, be revitalized, caused to be vital once again. Whereas, dying is a giving up, an offering up of that which is Inferior in demonstration so that there may be manifested that which is superior to It - the more abundant life under the control of that which is noble. Through separation, man may come to know the pure from the Impure, the noble from the ignoble; he may begin to die to the mortal life, which limits, and awake to the Immortal life which is without limit and eternal.
Parachemy Volume V: Number 3 Summer 1977
Purification - Leandro Della Piana
Contents The Four Elements - Air p.451 Astrology For The Neophyte - Saturn p.464 Do Chemicals Have Memory? p.458 Questions and Answers p.459 Purification - back cover
p.451
The Four Elements By Frater K.H. Air In our previous article on the elements, we pointed out how air, as described by some of the philosophers, is moist and hot. It would also be correct to say that air is cold and dry, cold and moist, or any combination of the four complexions found within the four elements. Air also may be found to express itself as a singular complexion of hot, cold, wet, or dry. Of the four so-called elements, air alone possesses this singular unique attribute by which the philosophic work is made possible. For example, many of us have at one time or another, whether in chemistry or demonstration film, witnessed a process called cryogenics. By this method air in a super cooled state will instantly freeze any object placed within it by reducing the temperature to sub zero. It is interesting that scientists term air a liquid when in this state, therefore calling it liquid air. As another example, we will step to the opposite extreme and find air now in a super heated state, as in atomic explosion where fusion takes place. Even at the lesser scale, super heated air will cause liquefication of most metals. Thus, by demonstrating two extremes which the element air is capable of, we can begin to grasp some significance of what the philosophers had in mind. Our whole problem in this work is that we do not really understand or even comprehend what this element really is. In the philosophic work there are a number of "baths" which were and can he employed by the hermetic student. The emersing and surrounding effect of air as a bath produces unique properties and characteristics upon the subject. Is not this earth surrounded by an air bath and does it not at different times display all the complexions singular and dual at one time or another? Is not our earth, therefore, a fit subject to contemplate in this manner and to realize what an incredible work of hermetic art our heavenly creator is producing? Thus, our element of air becomes before our very eyes a chameleon, able to change its complexion from moment to moment by whatever agency it is subject to. In a previously discussed element we gave the example of the cube of ice and presented it to you as an earth by way of analogy. This earth, when heated, is resolved into water because this earth contained water. Raise the heat a little more and our water has now become air and by way of inspection we would find that its complexion is dual, both hot and moist. However, we can and do, under slightly altered conditions, find that our air which was previously hot and moist can also be cold and moist. We need only remind ourselves of how penetrating the air becomes when the day is cold and moist. Oh, how we shiver and there just never seems to be enough warm clothing! We must understand that philosophically our vegetable substance upon which we are working, will only change its matter by way of the element air. More specifically, we should observe that what we are working upon and separating by way of this element reveals itself to us in its
unfixed state. Thus, by the miracle of air, God has permitted us to separate spagyrically the lighter from the heavier, the ethereal from the gross. Once again, we are faced with understanding complexions or graduations of our substance. The heavier our subject is the more weight it has and the more fixed it is and less subject to intervention by the element air. Thus, before our eyes our vegetable work separates itself, the lighter from the heavier; and by God's grace we are permitted to see that which needs yet to be fixed. The great mystery, which so disturbs the mind of many a tyro, is how to fix the unfixed by way of fire. When confronted by the book of Genesis from the Holy Bible, the subject is liable to be even more bewildering. Does it not say in the first chapter that the spirit of God moved the surface of the waters? When God's holy spirit, as it were, brooded upon his primordial waters, the lighter was separated from the heavier. The heavens from the earth. By this primordial distillation, we find the element of air first revealed. Of the four seasons, summer is the one in which all growth reaches for its greatest maturity. All growing things must have gained a certain degree of strength, thereby they can sustain growth into the element air. All plants on the surface of our earth reach us through the air at this time to whatever height has been predetermined by our creator for that particular seed. The animal kingdom, as well at the plant, obey this law of growth. There is much that appears before our eyes which really has little meaning to us. As an example, if we travel in the mountains and observe the vegetation there, we will see that there is a definite limitation to growth. Vegetation matter in these higher reaches is not able to sustain the growth which its cousins enjoy at the lower levels. As we consider these thoughts from the hermetic point of view, there is a key here which should have great meaning to us. Anyone who has traveled or climbed to the higher levels of some mountains can tell us from personal experience that the element air is colder and dryer. We would suggest a thought at this point for your contemplation: that it is the invisible fire which has dried this element air and produces a similar effect on vegetation at these levels. The wood of trees and shrubs bears the signature of intensive drying. Fire is hidden in the air element and, philosophically speaking, justifies the expression of mountain climbers which they call windburn. It is interesting that this burning effect of the wind or air can occur at either high or low altitudes. Again from the philosophical point of view, it is the fire in the element air that produces this drying effect (coagulation), no matter if the air is hot, dry, or cold. Haven't most of us rummaged through the freezer compartment and found, at one time or another, some food that was completely dried out by what we call freezer burn? Isn't it interesting that whoever coined this expression should have chosen the word burn which denotes fire and heat? Those who have successfully brought their vegetable stone to some degree of conclusion will be able to appreciate that what they have was possible by way of the element air. Without the many unique virtues which this element possesses, that peculiar calcination would not be possible. In short, the vegetable stone owes its existence to the element air. Do we not now see that this element will become whatever we want it to be? This incredible virtuosity of our air is the very reason why so much confusion exists considering this subject. Of the four elements, air is the most misunderstood. In our work upon the vegetable stone, it is the air which slowly calcines our earth with its hidden fire. (We might use the word occult fire in
place of hidden fire, but we dislike using the word occult, as its meaning has become sloppy and bears connotations which would make Webster cringe.) Contained within the three elements water, air, and earth is our hidden fire not obvious to the eye. We are now confronted with an immensity, as we apprehend that there is a mysterious shifting back and forth of It. This It is God's great secret which He bestows by grace upon his sons and daughters who earnestly love Him. Only by sincere supplication and daily practice in the "School of the Holy Spirit" will this grand mystery he made known to the tyro. We would ask you a question: What is your relationship to your work upon the vegetable stone? Do you comprehend what the meaning of this effort is and, more to the point, why you are making this effort? If your work at any point is mechanical, we would ask that you consider pausing and propose this question to yourself: Why am I doing this? Plants and animals grow by way of the air element. This also holds true for the vegetable stone. Our earth is actually resuscitated and begins to breathe by way of inhalation and exhalation of the air. As the process draws toward completion, the pulse rate of the stone increases and life begins. So it is that in time the three essentials become evenly distributed and a new wonder becomes manifest to our eyes. Our vegetable stone has become living and is able to bear the elements on its own accord. It is born from the retort which was its womb. The little work is so ignored and so greatly misunderstood. If we know That which is First, we would also know That which is Last. Even in the Holy Bible, it is stated "That which is Last will become First." We will have to travel by the roadway of hard experience and soul searching sacrifice, willing to give all, on nothing more than the promise of the sages. This promise was given with the. understanding that we should practice daily in the school of the Holy Spirit. The Four Elements - Fire
p.464
Astrology For The Neophyte By Carl W. Stahl Saturn In The Constellations Saturn is the planet of restriction. It slows down and hinders the free action of the planets it aspects and the constellations it is in. Its basic purpose is to restrict, or contain, in order to use other planetary energies constructively. In time there is over restriction, extreme crystalization sets in, and all progress ceases. The reason Mars is exalted in Capricorn is that here the Martian energy is restricted for useful work. The gasoline engine, the steam engine and the heating of water for steam or water heating of homes are a few examples. In this respect Saturn performs a useful purpose. Saturn strong people try to keep emotional distance between themselves and others. The reason for this is that Saturn strong people cannot handle emotions of any kind. Theirs is the stiff upper lip don't break down philosophy. When Saturn aspects the Moon it seems to prevent the person from attaining emotional maturity. With the Sun it restricts the vitality and
the life force available to the native. With Mercury it restricts the ability to communicate with others. With Venus there is a restriction on our ability to love mainly because love is a two way street and the Saturn strong person is unable to hold up his end. Aspecting Mars we find that aggression and leadership qualities are restricted, sometimes to the extent of bringing actual fear and cowardice into the picture. With Jupiter it restricts our joy, pleasure and financial growth. With Uranus it restricts freedom of expression and our mental growth. With Neptune we find it difficult to bring our dreams and aspirations into practical expression. With Pluto it increases the native's desire for seclusion and helps alienate him from the mainstream of life. Some keywords of Saturn are: Want, greed, jealousy, inferiority complex, hunger, restriction, grasping, fear, cowardice, corruption, burdens, worry, toil, loneliness and self denial. In our charts it indicates that which we lack. SATURN IN LIBRA. Although Saturn is exalted in Libra this does not prevent it from restricting the love nature and making the native timid in affairs of the heart and even prevents him or her from making lasting relationships with others. There is always th e fear of giving too much and then in being embarrassed when the other person rejects this offer of love. Th tragedy of this is that timidity prevents the person from living a complete and normal life. These natives have a tendency to be forgetful. They must always retain within themselves a certain secret place where they think secret thoughts. A tendency to straddle the fence. SATURN IN SCORPIO. Saturn here dampens the aggressiveness of the native making the normally fearless person cautious and fearful. Scorpio normally will go out of his way to pick a fight whether it be physically or mentally. Now, however, the native restricts himself by picking only on those weaker than himself. This repression of energy causes frustration and this pent up energy may be released by outburst of anger or assault. By tht proper use of self-discipline, orderand method the native must learn to control and direct the energy at his disposal into constructive work. Construction rather than destruction must be the goal. SATURN IN SAGITTARIUS. The normally outgoing, enthusiastical native becomes staid and over cautious in his approach to life. The confidence which enables him to be successful in life is now replaced by tinifdity. He now restricts himself in the belief that "you get what you earn" philosophy. He shuns those who could help him and believes in a do it yourself code of life. Too much energy is wasted in preparing for a rainy day. The law and order attitude of Saturn should be put to work doing things that require precision, accuracy, neatness and perfection. Expression of joy and happiness are restrainedand at a minimum. SATURN IN CAPRICORN. Work, toil and struggle are the key words that this native uses to attain success. With or without the presence of Saturn they use the work ethnic.. Unless it is done the hard way it scarcely merits
attention. Experience is the only teacher and the harder the lesson learned the more value it has. The native has an abundance of patience and perserverance. Skimping and saving is a way of life. Accuracy, cleanliness and simplicity are things the normal native of Capricorn understands. Only underaffliction do dirt, disease and falsehood prevail. SATURN IN AQUARIUS. Under this influence the somewhat unstable and eccentric native is more sober and inclined to take the hard road over the intuitive one. Long and persistent testing precedes any new discoveries. What should be a joyand an opening of new horizons becomes drudgery and toil. Gone is the inspiration and the pleasure of opening new horizons. Timidity and repetition combine with secrecyand reserve to slow down any new laws that await discovery. Saturn does not deny all results, in whatever field the native may search, it simply makes whatever the native gains the result of long and painstaking work. SATURN IN PISCES. The usually relaxed and happy Piscian becomes frustrated and uptight under the influence of the restrictive andconcentrative Saturn. No longer is he the generous, free spending, happy go lucky person. Now he puts his nose to the grindstone. and, although he may do so reluctantly, saves his money for a rainy day. There can be no gambling under this influence because the native is being tested to see if he ran operate, orhow hecan operate, under the restrictive influence of Saturn. Only a fife of earning will enable him to overcome this ban on his power to expand as far as he would wish. SATURN IN ARIES. Everything that makes Aries the aggressive leader of men is here inhibited. The disinclination which makes him slow in getting out of bed in the morning will be increased here to the point of actual laziness. Where he would normally dash in where angels fear to tread now his approach becomes one of cautious timidity. This position causes the native to make careful plans and totest all eventualities before going ahead with his projects. Fear and cowardice could creep into the fearless heart of the native. Energy and vitality are restricted. SATURN IN TAURUS. Saturn here restricts the native's normal love life. He hesitates to extend the hand of friendship for fear it will be repulsed. His emotional life is juvenile and immature. If in one of the inactive places it may even lead to perversion and cruelty. Sex and love, which are the Taurean's real existence, are now secret, hidden things. No longer is it the joyous, uninhibited normal function but something dirty which has to he hidden from the sight and sound of others. Shuns association with members of the opposite sex. SATURN IN GEMINI.
Communication, conversation, business and even the thought processes are slowed down by this position of Saturn. The volative native is now bowed down by the leaden weight of Saturn's inhibitions. Everything must be checked and counter checked before any action can be taken. Gemin~ who normally hates the effort of digging for deeper meanings, now is slowed to a dragging walk where he formerly flew. Because he is normally impatient the native makes mistakes and may even be inclined to shade the truth if falsehood could advance his goals and desires. Patience and accurate work still pay off if the native tries. SATURN IN CANCER. Saturn is in its detriment here. It restricts the emotional development causing the native to be emotionally immature with the result thathe remains constantly at a juvenile level. His imagination remains at the childhood level and he finds it impossible to cope with his own and other people's emotions. Fear of the future replaces the wonderful day dreams and imaginative experiences which are Cancer's normal mental fare. Sex becomes a thing to be hidden, suppressed or done only behind locked doors. The normal processes of the subconscious mind are perverted and bring out only warped and anemic results. SATURN IN LEO. The natural leadership ability of Leo is restricted as the native doubts his own abilities. Vitality is at a low ebb and the light of the Sun finds difficulty both in reaching and in being reflected by the native. Gloom replaces the natural exuberance of the native and he finds it frustrating to slow down his naturally outgoing nature to comply with the lead of Saturn which replaces the gold of the Sun. Happiness here depends on whether the native can transmute the lead of Saturn into the true gold. As the alchemists are fond of saying: "Our gold and our Mercury." SATURN IN VIRGO. All plans must be checked and rechecked. The superb planner becomes a worry wart. Confidence in his abilities is gone and the normally shy Virgo becomes even more of a recluse. Virgo is normally brave and courageous but he now becomes tinfid and afraid. His ability to communicate is warped and it is only by keeping things down to simple basics that he can manage to function at all. Fle seeks to regulate his life by a rigid set of rules from which he is afraid to stray. He seeks to find out what others have &-dd and done in similar circumstances and the result is that what little is accomplished is old hat. Nothing new or inspirational can come about under this influence.
p.458 Do Chemicals Have Memory? Recently a friend who is in charge of manufacturing different chemicals in a large manufacturing plant had discussed a problem he was encountering with one of their reactors. It seemed this particular reactor had been used in the manufacturing of a particular chemical but for some
reason it started giving bad batches regardless of how careful the additives were metered in and the running temperatures were adhered to. In between trying the different batches they would give the reactor a quick flushing out with water. Yet, again when they tried, the chemical would not behave as it had done for months before. When considering the different possibilities of why this would be so, we asked ourselves if it is possible for chemicals to learn an effect, in this case one that was undesirable, and then pass this information on to those chemicals that come into contact with it. In this case, because the reactor was only quickly flushed out with water, there would still he traces - if only parts per million - of the chemical that had gone outlaw. A course of action was embarked upon to try and destroy any trace of the old chemical that could be clinging anywhere within the vessel. High temperature steam was injected for several hours and the vessel was flushed with boiling water several times until there was no possibility of any remaining chemical clinging within. The result was that when they put the vessel on line, they had the reaction they wanted originally. This idea of chemicals having memory is not new by any means. Many chemical reactions can be speeded up, if a portion of the end result that is desired is added to the substance. For centuries of time, anyone making vinegar has found that by adding "Mother of Vinegar," which is a stringy curd-like substance that forms in old vinegar, to cider the oxidation process is hastened, as it would appear as if the curd-like substance passes on this information of how to react very quickly to the new cider. This is called "seeding the process." Anyone familiar with baking bread does the same thing when they take dough that has already risen and add a portion of it to the new batch that is being worked upon. Again, this bread will rise quicker than if one were to start out without adding the old to it. The oxidation of linseed oil is another example of memory in chemicals. It may take some time for the oxidation to take place the first time but, if removed from the light regardless of how long, the next time it is exposed the process will have quickened. Perhaps when working in your lab, you will be able to use this information to advantage on some projects. - Canada
People are like stained glass windows. They glow and sparkle when it is sunny and bright but when the sun. goes down their true beauty is revealed only if there is a light from within. p.459
Questions And Answers ALCHEMY Q. Can I separate the Sulphur from Mercury by placing them in a distillation flask just as I did to separate them from the Salt but excluding the menstruum, and then subject them to moderate heat until the Vapor travels to a closed flask leaving the Oil behind? Should this Oil then be
calcined in the same manner as Salt before re-uniting it with the other Principles? Is this process essential to success in Animal and Metallic workings? A. The oil is not calcined. Q. Can I produce the Radical Metallic Menstruum by placing equal parts of Copper Sulphate and Potassium Nitrate in a distillation flask and, subjecting this mixture to seven distillations at decreasing temperatures, discard the residum after each distillation, or should the residue be kept, purified by calcination, and returned to its original source? Should this be done at the end of the project or throughout? A. Your description above will not produce what you are after. Q. In the past few months, I've heard a lot about dew, rainwater, potassium, vinegar and butter of antimony, etc. Either I was asleep or in a fog, or they were not dealt with in Quinta two to three years ago. Could you elaborate? A. The report on water separation in the last issue should answer part of your question. As to potassium, this refers to the work on tartar. Vinegar of antimony and the making of butter of antimony are taught in the quinta and sexta. Some classes have been somewhat slower to absorb what is taught and therefore are behind, but all are given in the end how to come up with them. Q, Oil? Tincture? on top of Sb vinegar . . . could this be used medicinally? What about the KM tincture also? A. The vinegar of antimony is used to fix the antimony. It can also be used for gangrene, as Basil Valentine mentions. besides other applications, provided it is the pure vinegar of antimony. The froth or scum that may floating on top during the putrefaction, is not an oil or the tincture looked for. The tincture of the KM or residue after the KM has been distilled off should not be used medicinally a,, it contains some substances that can he very harmful. The resulting KM distillate is to be used as an extraction media only. Q. Regarding iron ore and the distillation of crystals as in the jar, I am rather confused as to which is what in the three parts of the distillation. First part: Enzyme? Should it be kept so airtight? What is trying to escape? I can see there is more water from the air in it than anything, but to grow the enzyme I think it needs mercury, sulphur, and salt of the iron - as well as from the air. Would it be the sulphur, mercury, and salt of the mercury of iron plus the fixed sulphur and mercury from the water? Second part: This, from which much of the volatile part has escaped as it is open is, I presume, the less volatile part of the water from the air (more earth of water and some water of water)??? The oil has separated and seems the heavier part, which is strange to me compared with the third part. Third part: What part of the water does this contain? The water of water? Or mercury in which the oil can dissolve? Is this mercury of the iron in here more than in the others? Some must be in the first one if it is an iron enzyme. It was from crystals like these - without so much water from the air - that I obtained what I think was the Philosophical Mercury. At a very low temperature under vacuum, after the water had gone and before the dry crystals melted, puffs of vapor came over and condensed into a lemon liquid. There was too little to collect and it evaporated quickly. Could this be so?
A. Such crystals were not distilled but grown. Enzymatic growth is to be taken in the sense of reproducing its own kind. When exposed to air these crystals will go from the ferrous to the ferric state. The three essentials are contained within such natural grown crystals. What escapes is the H20. There is hardly any oil separation except by skillful extraction. It is possible, as you explain, to free an alkahest from the pure iron. But it would have to be just such virgin iron. Q. Archibald Cockren and alchemists before him mention potable gold. It states that only the philosophical mercury can dissolve it and make it drinkable, and do no harm but good. Could such be used in arthritic cases where salts of gold injections are given? Besides have those who have been referred to in Parachemy as having the philosophical mercury been able to make such potable gold? A. Gold will dissolve in the philosophical mercury, especially when made previously into its salt. We do not know of anyone having received potable gold for arthritic therapy, because it has not been available for medical evaluation. We have one report where potable gold has been obtained by a student. As to the PRS, yes, it is made here in small quantities for research purposes. Due to the high cost of gold, it is very expensive; but, neverthless, can be made available to qualified institutions willing to run such tests. MISCELLANEOUS Q. Frater in the Spring 1976 Parachemy you give a preparation for oil of Antimony which is almost identical to Basil Valentine's preparation, page 144-146 Waite's Edition of The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. Why was he not given credit for his earlier work? A. There was no intention to mislead or to take credit for this formula. It simply states again what is known among alchemists. Prior to Basil Valentine, alchemists had the formula for this procedure of how to make one of the various oils of antimony. So, Basil could have been accused of plagiarism which was as far from his intention than is mine. These things are common property of all alchemists and none would dare to claim to be the sole originator. Q. In the Mass of the Catholic Church, the Priest during the Offertory, goes to the Epistle's side of the altar, blesses the water by means of the sign of the cross and pours WINE and WATER into the chalice, with the prayer, "Grant that, by THE MYSTERY of this WATER and WINE, we may be made partakers of His Divinity Who vouchsafed to become partaker of our humanity . . ." Aside from the rather simple and exoteric symbolism taught by the Catholic Church on this regard, it is obvious that a deeper (ESOTERIC) symbolism is hidden in the letter of thi's ritual, and specifically the Alchemical symbolism must have a great deal to do in "diving" into the "MYSTERY" . . . Will you please give a comprehensive ALCHEMICAL interpretation of this WINE and WATER symbolism, and if at all possible of the symbolism of The Mass as a whole? A. You have this answer already. Q. I can do away with this Duality in certain restricted fields, like mental, moral, and aesthetic; but not practically. How do I do it practically?
A. It is much easier to be confronted on the practical side than anywhere else. Make comparisons and you have the law of duality reveal itself. Q. The work: How can we pursue it? Is there a method, i.e., meditation? A. First one has to know what the work consists of before one can commence it. A contact with those who do know certainly will help. This contact has to he found first. Q. Use of words: The exciting = the manifested + unmanifested patterns (in contrast to manifested patterns that can be sensed directly). These unmanifested patterns, I shall call ABSTRACT PATTERNS. It these ABSTRACT are "true" (i.e., minimal - by minimal, I mean the "smallest" abstract pattern that yields the given phenomena i.e. 1 have in mind the true laws of nature and fulfilled in experience) then they must also exist. Thus they are not nonexisting. The question is can all such patterns be sensed (experienced) in nonphysical states of consciousness? A. A state of consciousness reveals itself always within and without by experience. There is no other way.
back cover
Purification Purification arises out of separation, out of the various processes that transpire during the work with separation. To cleanse is purification, but the work of purification is more than a degree of cleansing, however great. Dissolution, which is a separation, a decomposition, a breaking up is an important process of purification. That which is not essential is. set apart from that which is essential. That which is pure is freed from that which is not pure. There is a natural fire and a hidden fire in man that brings about through calcination, putrefaction, distillation, and sublimation a cleansing, subtilization, and rectification which reveals a sublime state of substance. Only that which has stood the test of fire has been purified. Only that which meets the test of love, which encompasses the greatest good for all concerned, is pure. Unless there is first seen what it is that is to undergo purification, the work which leads to its attainment cannot commence. The color black may represent that which is the beginning of the work. It may stand for the body that is to be worked with, whether this be a specific body in the vegetable, mineral, or animal kingdom or the body which is called man. What applies to one body may, in a similar way, be applied to all other bodies. Just as a plant consists of components which taken together manifests in a certain way a distinctive characteristic and essence so in a corresponding way does man. Through the physical, emotional, and mental components of man, there manifests characteristics and an essence which distinguishes each, which we call personality.
and the power of the greater life - the lesser and ignoble way of life is dissolved, separated from, prepared and cleansed for the greater and noble way of life. This white salt is a living stone. It is the lesser work. To begin the greater work, the philosophical mercury is needed. It cannot enter into the work until the lesser work is undertaken. Until man has prepared himself through separation and purification, he is not able to receive the philosophical mercury whereby he may with knowledge and understanding transmute the lesser into the greater thereby revealing in all substance the value which is in it. Before man can draw forth from other substance that which is of value and lasting, he must first have within himself the stone which will not be dissolved, which ever replenishes itself as it serves to transmute all that is base into the sublime. Man must realize the greater life within first. This realization comes because there is a love for purification, for that which is pure. Then, it Is possible for the greater life to reveal Its goodness outwardly.
Parachemy Volume V: Number 4 Fall 1977
Cohobation - Leandro Della Piana
Contents Interviews With Frater Albertus p.466 Uranus In The Constellations p.474 Meditation And The Western Tradition p.477 The Four Elements - Fire p.488 Informative Interchange: Electro-Magnetism; Gur p.492 Cohobation - backcover
p.466
Interviews With Frater Albertus Frater Albertus has been interviewed in various countries. He has given interviews over several German Radio Networks and a live television interview was given at the Hotel Zeppelin in Stuttgart. Germany. In other countries, India, Australia, etc., many questions have been asked publicly about alchemy and related subjects. Frater Albertus' opinions and statements are based upon knowledge and above all his personal experience. In a report to Ciba-Geigy, the International Swiss Pharmaceutical Co., he has been referred to by a Swiss investigator as one of the greatest living experts on alchemy. We are bringing in the following some excerpts from various interviews and open forum questions.
Q. Why have you not given to the public like Scientology, Transcendental Meditation, or as teachers from India and the likes? Look at all the followers such have and the money they have made. A. The PRS is in the open. However, we do no proselytise like the ones you have just mentioned. Besides, we are not interested in having a large number of followers nor in making a lot of money because of them. Q. You have said on several occasions that the PRS will not be in the open much longer. Has the height of the PRS work been reached by now? A. I don't think so. We are heading for the climax in the near future. Before the PRS will disappear again, relatively soon I might add, there are some very important things yet in store for those who have worked on themselves within the framework of the PRS. Q. I have been told that you can be rather outspoken and even tempestuous at time. How does this compare to your generally rather easy-going nature? A. It all depends on how one looks at things. Some have the idea that if one is easy to get along with and is very patient this is a sign of weakness. When I stand my ground, and I have to make this quite plain to some at times, they are surprised when I put my foot down. I have even been told that I am not the same person any more and, as one did put it - believe it or not - evil spirits get hold of me. Maybe they get the surprise of their lives. I can coo with the babies, cuddle the young children, have fun with the younger people, and laugh with the adults; but when there is a time to be tough, and this does not happen very often, well, it happens so seldom that those who are involved don't expect it coming from me. Q. Do you claim or have you hinted that you are an exalted master? A. Good Heavens, no! How many times have I said in private and all over the world: "I am a little nobody and my name is of no importance." There is work for me to do and this I try to do. Q. At times you are very evasive to questions. Right now I have the feeling.
A. I know, I know! What would you do when people come to you with questions you have no answer for. You see, some expect me to answer a question they have just because I said I would. But what is meant by that is that any question deserves an answer and I have an answer to any asked me, of which the most common answer perhaps is "I don't know." And there you have your answer. It was not said that I have the answer that is expected, only that an attempt has been made to give an answer. But I do admit that I have been avoiding some answers to questions and will continue to do so simply because one can do more harm than good to answer things prematurely, especially to those who may not grasp the asdwer correctly. Q. What is this work you've mentioned? I mean specifically. A. To teach and practice alchemy with an emphasis on laboratory alchemy. Q. Who authorized you to do this, or by whom were you commissioned? A. Let me say: By no mortal being. Q. Are you saying a heavenly messenger told you? A. I don't know what you mean by heavenly messenger. (Frater Albertus articulated you.) Q. Well, if it was no mortal being that would leave only an immortal one! Right? A. In your way of thinking you may call it that. Q. Why only in my way of thinking? A. Because what you envision by what you say may not be what someone else envisions. Q. Frater Albertus, you were to have met with Mr. Canseliet of France for an alchemical experiment. What became of that? A. Canseliet wrote, after he gave me his personal promise, that he could not participate. He did not write why or give me an explanation. One can draw his own conclusions. Q. Do you think that Canseliet as Fulcanelli's only student could have revealed something during such experiments that he was not allowed to reveal? A. What I am going to say now you can draw your own conclusions from. This information I have directly from France, namely, that there is doubt about Canseliet's claims about Fulcanelli whose real name is Julien Hubert Champagne who was the master of J. Baucher. Besides the foreword of the Mystere des Cathedrales was written by Fulcanelli and not Canseliet. I have experienced personally the shroud of mystery French students of the occult cover themselves with. At one time, a meeting had been arranged between Dr. Encause Jr. (Papus), the head of the French qabalists, and myself in Paris during 1964. Upon my arrival, I found instead a note that he had to leave the day before and that a meeting with someone else had been arranged instead.
The outcome was, a refusal to witness some demonstration to prove my claims if they were willing to prove theirs with their own chosen observers. Q. What about your travels to foreign countries. Do you teach only or are there other things connected with them, like when you go to India? There is talk about an Ashram you were supposed to have visited frequently. A. My primary objective during my travels is to teach those who have asked me to come to them and who have made all preparations for such teachings. This means providing facilities including a laboratory for practical demonstrations. As to India, there is more than that to it, as some of the ancient sanscrit writings need to be brought into the light of today's alchemistical concepts. Here, too, I am again somewhat evasive as I have been accused of, and rightfully so, because it will be a few years before more will be made known publicly and what will have to be written about. Q. Talking about your writings, there are different opinions about your books. Take your last one, The Alchemist of the Rocky Mountains. I have been told that this is strictly autobiographical. Is this so? A. Let me put it this way. The book was not written for those who have been students with the PRS. It is fiction and was written for those who needed some more information on the possibilities of practical laboratory alchemy and its prerequisites. There is a smattering of strictly personal information woven in its contents, yes, I admit. But the general theme is fiction. That should answer it in a way that is not evasive. Q. Are you contemplating the writing of more books? A. Yes, a publisher in Europe is waiting for one right now. My problem is time. There are several books that need to be written and published about concrete alchemistical laboratory results. Of these, there are many and very important ones on hand. But I need time and an undisturbed place to get it done. This is my most important problem at present concerning books. Q. There is some talk going around that you have hidden charges for your teachings. A. I have not had nor have I now any charges direct or indirect whereby I am paid for my teachings when instructing in classes given by the PRS. Only the last years, when going overseas, have my traveling expenses including accommodations been provided for by those who have asked us to come. Us means my wife and myself. Sometimes these expenses are paid fully. At other times, I pay personally the travel expenses for my wife. In years gone by, all expenses were paid by myself. But there has never been any payment for teaching students. Some money has been collected at times after classes ended among students and such has been donated the PRS or to the Student Fund as was specified. Furthermore, none of the officers of the PRS are paid any wages or salaries. Even royalties I have received from publishers and of our own publications I have turned over to the PRS. Only once did a one time officer of the PRS ask for one half of the royalties of one book which he helped to translate into a foreign language. That is the only case I know. At present, as in the past, officers have actually put some of their own money into the PRS to keep it financially afloat.
Q. What will become of all the belongings of the PRS when the time comes, as you've stated, and the PRS disappears again? I mean all your elaborate equipment or any royalties from your books and such. A. The articles of incorporation as a nonprofit educational institution state that in such a case everything will go to the State of Utah to be given to schools, colleges, or universities as the case may be. Q. You are teaching how to prepare medications from plants, minerals, even metals, also from animals if I am not mistaken. Isn't this dangerous? Could your students not use them or give them to others with fatal results? A. What you say is not correct. What is taught is that we are doing research. This means we are trying to re-establish if what former alchemists have claimed that they have accomplished is factual. In other words, can it be done again today. After this has been proven, only then can a medicinal evaluation take place. And this can be done only by qualified medical or pharmaceutical individuals or groups. No student is given permission to make such tests when he is not legally qualified. In fact, students have to agree not to use any of the research results while at the PRS studying in any way or manner on their own or any other person including animals. The PRS does research only and makes such results available to all who qualify legally for whatever use may he appropriate. Please note that the PRS does not manufacture, sell, prescribe, or dispense any medications. We are doing alchemistical research only. Q. Do you teach how to make gold? A. No. Q. But in a book, The Occult Explosion, by Nat Friedman it is stated explicitly that the PRS is teaching in a two week course how to transmute lead into gold. A. Anyone can make any claim but to substantiate it is another thing. We have not claimed at any time that we will teach how to transmute lead into gold. Q. But I have read some of your own statements saying that you can make potable gold and have taught some of your students how to do that. Right? A. Yes. I consent to that. Q. Well, how will you explain this: I have been told that some of your students know how to prepare the philosophical mercury. But in this particular case I know of, this man could not make the gold dissolve so it would become potable gold. Shouldn't philosophical mercury dissolve the gold? A. Yes, it should have dissolved it. Q. Well, why didn't it work with him?
A. It was too crude. It has to be refined, so it will dissolve the gold without vacuum below 30o Centigrade, if it has been handled properly. It most assuredly will dissolve the gold as I have personally experienced and those who were with me, when this was done, can testify to. Q. Why is this not known to the medical profession who are still injecting salt of gold solutions to patients when these are toxic and even prove fatal? A. I do not know. Perhaps no one told them how it is prepared or no one has cared to accept such a statement. Besides, more research needs to be done on this matter as far as the PRS is concerned to make it available on a broader basis. Q. Are students whom you teach sworn to secrecy or do they have to give an oath not to reveal what you teach them of your alchemical secrets? A. No one has to give an oath or anything of the sort you've just mentioned. Anyone attending PRS classes can tell anyone what they hear or see. Q. I have talked to some of your students but they too, are rather evasive at times. A. I can't help that, as everyone is free to do and say as they please. Most likely they are cautious to whom they talk. I really don't know. You will have to ask them yourself. Q. In another book, PSI Resumee,* you are mentioned rather lengthily by the author who interviewed you in Salt Lake City and rather favorably. Since he is connected with one of Vienna's largest daily newspapers, why does he not bring your results in the open so the public can be informed? A. I don't know. But come to think of it, a newspaper brings daily news that is followed by more news. One has read one thing today and recollects later that it was in the paper. In his book he has a much more permanent record for the public who cares to read it, I think. Don't you think so. too? Q. That's possible. Would you please tell me if the people that come to you that includes also those of course that you see in other countries - are required to have a certain education before they are accepted by you? A. No, there are no such requirements. Since what we teach is presentIy not taught in colleges and universities, there are no set requirements. The closest was formerly taught as Natural History which is practically non-existing nowadays at universities. Q. Do you really believe that Alchemy is of any value today in our scientifically enlightened age? Is alchemy not outdated and a speculative borderline pseudo science? Just look at the results of our chemistry today and the clumsy things alchemists performed before chemistry came of age. A. I don't agree with you when you think of alchemy only as the forerunner of our present chemistry. Chemistry is only an outcome of alchemy. So is mineralogy, botany, pharmacy, in
fact all other branches of the arts and sciences. Alchemy comprises the natural process of evolution and is not confined to chemistry only. Q. But that is certainly not what the books say. Take any dictionary or encyclopedia, that will A. Excuse me, that is what the books say. But who says so in the books? Are those who write and make such statements qualified to do so? Could it not be that they just take what others said before them and just repeat what they, themselves, have not investigated? Q. Do you believe that you could correct this? A. Yes. To a certain extent, yes. Q. Then why did you not do it? A. Nobody asked me to. Q. Well, this is a strange statement. A. I don't think so. As long as those who write these things claim that they know about all this, how can I expect that they will take my word for it? Q. Why don't you give some public lectures and enlighten the public on these issues? A. Do you think it would do much good? I have my doubts about it. You know why? Because people going to public lectures expect at once some miracles or wonders to be performed when the word alchemy is mentioned. They want or expect to see some transmutation or such things. You know, like yogis that perform some physical feat or others with magical performances. You see, the alchemy we teach has nothing to do with circus-like performances. It is strictly a personal experience, and a very highly personal experience, and is not fit for public demonstrations. So sorry to disappoint you again. Q. Are you sponsored by other organizations direct or indirectly? A. No. The PRS is not connected with any mundane organizations whatever. Q. Are there any others besides mundane? A. I do not know of any other such organizations. Q. What about heavenly organizations then? A. One could hardly envision any organizations as we understand here on earth to exist in another sense somewhere else. At least I can't. It would then be of a mundane character.
Q. The Austrian poet and writer Hans Sterneder mentions that you made at one time the acquaintance of a person on the street who told you various things about yourself and your future that have come true. All this was to have taken place when you were still very young. Has this got something to do with it? A. There have been several occasions in my life where I have met people similar to the one you mentioned now, but that has nothing to do with my doing the work I am engaged in. Q. In your last book, The Alchemist of the Rocky Mountains, you relate a story about Nuristan. I have looked all over to find such a country but I can't find it. This, too, was then all fictitious? A. No. It is not fictitious. There actually exists such a part in Afghanistan not too far from Kabul its capital city. Not too far means about 100 miles. Nuristan is a state or county within Afghanistan. The Hindu Kush where it raises up towards the Western Himalayas to the Karakoram Mountains will give you an idea where to find it. About 70,000 Nuristani live in the very high valleys of the Hindu Kush who are mostly blonde. A very unusual occurrance that gives much to think about. Any detailed map of Afghanistan will show you Nuristan. Such a place as Nuristan exists to this very day, but it is very little known when you compare it to other more widely known areas or places in Afghanistan, and can he found between 70o-72o longitude and close to 36o latitude. Q. I'll have to look this up when I get back. A. You can do this right here. See this, I had this map out some days ago and haven't put it back on file. There, right here is Nuristan, the province, and places like Kamdesh and Uama that do exist like here, and here it is. Q. I'll be darned. I give you an apology. Really, I thought this whole name was made up by you. A. No. I did not make up this story about Nuristan in Afghanistan. Q. Then tell me, why is there so much secrecy about all this? A. I don't know what you mean by that. Q. I mean, you know, things that are not told openly, that are kept secret like this place of the - I don't recall the, names - something like Chagrims or the like, where all this transmutation business went on. A. What difference would it make where it takes place as long as it does take place. By the way, Nuristan means: Land of the Light. That could speak for itself. Q. Could you give me the exact location of this place you've mentioned in your book? A. No, I can not. Some of these things just have to wait for a while. Q. What about the place in India? Could you tell me about that?
A. Yes. The Ashram is at the Shastri Villa, Naihati W.B. India, where the Bhattacharya is presently continuing the work of his illustrious father Benoytosh. The ancient Tridosha has a very capable doctor as proponent there. I should mention also his devoted assistants. We are presently preparing a tour in which we both will visit the U.S.A. and Europe and perhaps Australia, if time permits. Q. Will there be open public lectures? A. Yes, in a sense, but not with the usual ballyhoo that some people from India use to arouse attention. Q. When will that be? A. It has been scheduled for 1979. *Paul Uccusic, "PSI-Resumee," Ariston Verlag, Geneva.
p.474
Uranus In The Constellations By Carl W. Stahl With Uranus we deal with the first planet beyond the seven planets of the ancients. Not that they were unaware of Uranus, Nepune, Pluto and other planets still more distant from the Sun. It was simply that they did not apply. Perhaps we should say mankind was not yet ready for their particular rate of vibration. Even now very few are capable of responding to these outer planets without in some way perverting the energy they receive. The position of Uranus, in our charts, shows where and how we are different from others. Our originality and inventiveness are indicated by Uranus. It shows the way in which our urge for freedom will manifest itself. Some keywords of Uranus are: freedom, change, revolution, unexpected, original, drastic, different, individual, inventive, truth and new birth. Uranus aspecting the Moon gives free and original emotional expression. Aspecting the Sun it gives original creative thought. With Mercury it gives new and original methods of communicating. With Venus original ideas on love and friendship. With Mars original and new uses of aggression and action. With Jupiter original ways to joy and expansion. With Saturn new and original methods of using restriction to produce results. With Neptune original daydreams and methods of imaging. With Pluto origial methods of obtaining insight and illumination. Since Uranus takes seven years to pass through one constellation it is the first of the generation gaps. This is so because each constellation it enters will have an entirely different idea of what is new, original and the truth. The search for freedom will be shaded by the constellation Uranus is in. LIBRA.
You will seek space from the monotony of everyday living by a search for love, friendship and brotherhood throughout the circle of your environment. You will welcome to your heart all who think, feel and are as you. Your approach to life will be a sharing of love yet there will always be a part of you that stands aloof from the actual act, an impersonal you. Permanent ties with others are the exception rather than the rule. You will have your own ideas about God and immortality. SCORPIO. Your temper is apt to be erratic and unexpected displays of the same may occur at any time. The proper use of this energy is to put it to work helping yourself solve the problems of truth, understanding and freedom of soul and body. Only those are truly free who think their own thoughts, go their own way and find new uses for old processes and ideas. Because of a tendency to want to impose our ways on others we can easily become tyrannical and overbearing. SAGITTARIUS. The intuitive and original methods of Uranus make it possible with this position to break the bonds of convention and to bring about success in those areas which you consider desirable and good. You may attain ideas that the average person scarcely dares dream about. Luck rides with you on all that you attempt to do. Your approach to life and the professions is joyous, unusual, changeable and eccentric. If you will reach out for truth and freedom you will find help in unusual places. CAPRICORN. The normally reserved native reaches out for truth and understanding. Restriction becomes a tool to be used in the search for freedom of expression and for progress in and through life. Practical methods are found to use the knowledge and understanding that this position of Uranus brings. Nothing can be used without some restriction being applied and it is the proper use and degree that foreshadows success on an planes of manifestation. Freedom on all planes of consciousness of which the native is capable of reaching. AQUARIUS. The planet of freedom here brings freedom from the restraint of tradition and the past. The native seeks the truth without regard to what others in authority may have said or expounded about it. The true reality behind the apparent is here sought. "My way" is what the native stresses and he may be so blinded in defending his way that sometimes he loses his way in a jumble of words. A wonderful opportunity to discover nature's laws and bring them to practical fruition. One who may niake the truth visible to others. PISCES. Uranus here risks being used simply to bring about new and original ways of enjoying the relaxing things in life. New methods of preparing food, new kinds of drink, new waysof enjoying life. But beyond this the native has the ability to tune in on the cycles of life and by this means
bring joy and happiness in the lives of others. Nature's laws, properly used, always lead to success in whatever form the director thereof wishes. A tendency to gamble and take chances with unexpected results. ARIES. Leadership ability and initiative that involve more than the physical level of consciousness. Because of your intuitive faculties you have the ability to sense the result of acions appplied and this could make you a gifted and farsighted leader. Ability to foretell other's reactions to your actions. This makes for a good tactician. You must watch your almost automatic reaction to all problems with force, whether it is to people or things. Force must be diluted with understanding that others also have rights as well as obligations. TAURUS. The normally placid and peace loving native may become eccentric and unpredictable in his search for love and companionship. Love on a higher level could replace the more normal expression on a physical level. Love, friendship and companions are sought for everywhere the native may travel. Physical love, although still strong, takes a back seat to the search for an impersonal love that exists only on the mental and soul levels. Only love that is expressed on all levels of consciousness of which the native is capable is true love. GEMINI. Native finds it easy to understand the ideas that others are directing his way. He still finds it difficult to look more deeply into any subject that comes to his :attention. Now, however, the intuitive qualities of the planet Uranus gives him the ability to grasp at a glance what would normally have been skipped over entirely. Because of your unique ability to communicate our ideas to others you find it easy to use this knowledge for profit as well as increasing the world's knowledge. Tendency to, seek to shock others with your knowledge rather than put it to practical use. CANCER. You have original moods and. feelings that seem strange and eccentric to others. You seem to feel that things are so and they are. The intuition of Uranus works emotionally instead of through the thinking apparatus. Your imagination may take you to the far corners of the universe and conversely only as far as your next emotional contact. You may have a tendency to, strange dress and behavior which will get you talked about. The humdrum life is not for you and you will wander far in your search for emotional contacts. LEO. Your leadership qualities are enhanced by your intuitive understanding of truth and freedom. You realize that it is not enough to rule, you must be an enlightened ruler. Your approach to ruling others is original as well as different. The Leo strong person finds it difficult not to
attempt to rule those he contacts. It is as natural as breathing but this position gives you knowledge, understanding and possibly even wisdom which may make it possible for you to do your thing without imposing your will on others. VIRGO. Natives ability to plan is here enhanced by an intuitive understanding of what the end result will be. Shortcuts in doing the job are the natural result of this position of Uranus. Intuition supersedes thought and surpasses the speed of light where problems or schemes are concerned. The native must learn to enter the silence to obtain the most from this position, for only when all is quiet does the soul consciousness respond to requests for knowledge and understanding. Because of their quick response to all problems they make excellent businessmen if so inclined.
QUOTATIONS FROM THE PYMANDER Listen within yourself and look into the infinitude of Space and Time. There can be heard the songs of the Constellations, the voices of the Numbers, and the harmonies of the Spheres. To know divine thought, 0 souls, you descend and painfully ascend the path of the seven planets and of their seven heavens. The sleep of the body is the sober watchfulness of the mind and the shutting of my eyes reveals the true Light. Holy is God, who is determined that He shall be known, and who is known by His own to whom He reveals Himself.
p.477
Meditation And The Western Tradition By Hans W. Nintzel The Psalmist said: "My meditation on him will be sweet. I will be glad the Lord" (Ps. 104-34) "Give ear to my words oh Lord, consider my meditations" (Ps. 5-1). We even find the idea of meditation in the very first book of the Bible where we read: "And Isaac went out into the field to meditate" (Gen. 24-63). In the New Testament Jesus gives advice along these lines as: "But thou, when thou prayest enter into thy closet and when thou shut thy door, pray to the Father which is in secret and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly" (Matt. 6 6). This admonition was adumbrated centuries before in the Old Testament, Psalms 46-10, "Be still. And know that I AM God." The ancient Hebrew canonical text, the Zohar, refers to two kinds of prayer. Those that are words of the mouth and "the Prayer of Silence," those that are the secret meditations of the heart. The Prayer of Silence is said to be a silent, unexpressed and
inexpressible type of Prayer which conceals the Mystery of Perfect Union in the Divine Essence. Further, that the Prayer of Silence is actually spoken by the Divine Voice within us. (Zohar Pt. 1, fol 169a) Meditation, or Dhyana Yoga, is spoken of extensively in both the Bhagavad Gita and the, Upanishads. In the former (V1, 9-14) we find very precise instructions on how to meditate. The idea should be clear now that meditation is a very old practice and once was, or still is, espoused by the leading world religions. This is all well and good but it would perhaps seem that such a subject is a little out of place in a publication dealing with alchemy, qabalah and astro-cyclical pulsations. Not that the alchemistical student is not a religious person per se, but meditation, well, it sounds so Eastern. This is the western tradition we speak of in these pages. Can there be a connection between meditation and the subjects listed foregoing? Can there be a place in the life of the alchemical student for meditation? It is the purpose of this article to show that not only is there a connection between all western tradition disciplines but that meditation should be a sine qua non in ANY spiritual pursuit, Alchemy or otherwise. There is certainly a wealth of evidence that there are benefits outside these recondite pursuits through use of meditation. The quotes from the Sacred texts bear this out. The American prophet, Edgar Cayce in his readings often talked of the importance of meditation. For example: "For ye must learn to meditate just as ye have learned to walk, talk" (281-41). Again, "Through meditation may the greater help be gained" (287-2). In the "Secret of the, Golden Flower," translated by Wilhelm we read: "Children take heed! If for a day you do not practice meditation, the light streams out, who knows wither. If you only meditate for a quarter of an hour, by it you can do away with ten thousand aeons and a thousand births. All methods end in quietness. This marvelous magic cannot be fathomed." In his book Raja Yoga the great master of Yoga, Vivekenanda said: "The meditative state is the highest state of existence." One of the early German qabalists was Eleazar of Worms (1165-1238). He was the spiritual leader of a group of qabalists that were ecstatics in nature. They heavily 'were into' meditation and contemplation. Another well known qabalist was Abraham ben Samuel, better known as Abulafia. Born in Spain in 1240, Abulafia wrote extensively on the qabalah. In his writings, he laid down rules for body posture to be followed by the student as he meditated on the Sephiroth. of the Tree of Life. He also prescribed a precise breathing discipline to be followed. Such disciplines are, of course, also at the heart of every Yoga system and various others as well. Interestingly, the Sephiroth, particularly those of the middle pillar, seem to correspond nicely with the psychic centers known as cakras or chakras. The Sephira MaIkuth corresponds with the Muladhara cakra and Kether with the Sahasrara. Kether, the receptable for downpouring light and the Sahasrara cakra the end of the journey for the rising Kundalini whence enlightenment is received. It might be argued that Yesod, being associated with the reproductive organs, is a better correspondence for the Muladhara and that Malkuth might correspond with the Kundalini. It could lead to some interesting discoveries to follow this out. The Kundalini, of course, is that energy sleeping at the base of the spine. It is likened to a serpent coiled three and one-half times. The idea of Yogic exercises is to awaken the slumbering Kundalini and cause it to, ascend the spinal column or middle pillar. As it passes through the
various cakras, or Sephiroth, these psychic centers are awakened and add to the spiritual growth of the practitioner. Not too long ago, there lived a husband and wife, Richard and Isabella Ingalese who were spiritual teachers. They were, in addition, alchemists and, according to a little booklet entitled "They Made the Philosopher's Stone," they tell a marvelous account of how in fact they produced that Opus Magnum, the Stone. The Ingalese' books were many and covered diverse topics dealing with the occult arts, qabalah, alchemy and the like. In one of these, "The History and Power of the Mind" Richard Ingalese had much to say about meditation. The right kind and the wrong kind. Ordinary and "philosophical" meditation. Amongst other things he wrote "You go into meditation for the purpose of receiving knowledge from the highest source of knowledge. " There are few who, have not heard of Albertus Magnus. This noted alchemist wrote on minerals and metals and in one of his tracts "De Adhaerendo Deo" we find a most insightful exposition of what might be called the "mechanics" of what meditation is. He wrote:"When St. John says that God is a Spirit and that he must be worshipped in Spirit", he means that the mind must be cleared of all images. 'When thou prayest, shut thy doors.' That is, the doors of thy senses ... keep them barred and bolted against all phantasms and images. Nothing pleases God more than a mind free from all distractions and occupations. Such a mind is, in a manner, transformed into God for it can think of nothing and understand nothing except God, other creatures and itself it only sees in God. He who penetrates into himself, and so transcends himself, ascends truly to God. He whom I love and desire is above all that is sensible and all that is intelligible sense and imagination cannot bring us to Him, but only the desire of a pure heart. This brings us into the darkness of the mind, whereby we can ascend to the contemplation of even the mysteries of the Trinity. Do not think about the world or thy friends, nor about the past, present or future; but consider thyself to be outside the world and alone with God, as if thy soul were already separated from the body, and no longer have any interest in peace or war, or the state of the world. Leave the body and fix thy gaze on the uncreated Light. Let nothing come between thee and God." What Albertus Magnus is saying, of course, is that God is not corporeal and therefore cannot be communicated with via corporeal means. Yet, there IS a link to facilitate communication between man and God. This link is Mind. Through mind, man and God may interconnect. Unite. It is in this spiritual meeting ground of the mind that the manifestation of the Divine may blend with the essence of the mundane. The process for this is meditation. Basil Valentine was a Benedictine Monk and an alchemist. In his book the "Triumphal, Chariot of Antimony" he speaks of correct and incorrect meditation. One of the five prerequisites he poses for success in alchemy is contemplation. Contemplation is a higher form of meditation. Valentine discovered incredible curative powers in a mineral-metal substance known as antimony. A substance that was known to be poisonous. He used various preparations of this substance to cure both physical and spiritual disorders of his brother monks. And where did the information come from that Valentine possessed on how to treat the substance to wring from it curative powers? While the precise answer was never directly given, Valentine indicates the information did come to him from God. It is not a difficult conclusion to reach that his revelations occurred during this contemplative state he suggests.
Let us look once more at the Qabalah and its connection with meditation. We find Leo Schaya, a respected writer on the subject, indicating that Chokmah, the second Sephira on the Tree of Life, has a second meaning in addition to the well known one of "wisdom." This second meaning, in phonetic Hebrew, is Mahshabah, which is translated as either "thought" or, more aptly, "meditation." The Tree is usually represented as a uni-planar, flat lineal figure. However, qabalistic studies reveal the Tree to he operative in four planes or the "Four Worlds" as thy are called. These worlds, Atziluth, Briah, Yetzirah and Assiah, actually represent levels of consciousness. The meditations on the paths of the Tree are designed to "change" these levels of consciousness. Aleister Crowley even defined "Magick" as the ability to cause changes, in consciousness, by Will, Denning and Phillips discuss this aspect in their book "The Magical Philosophy" which is the third in a series of five books dealing with magic, etc. In the appendix of this volume are to be found a series of exercises called "Path Workings." These are easily discerned to be meditative practices. The end of the exercises is to integrate the various worlds or levels of consciousness. Note that the word Yoga means to join or to unite. From "yoke." Unite what? Why these levels of consciousness. To integrate them. Alain Danielou declares Yoga to be THE method of reintegration, in his book of the same name. Concerning changes of consciousness, Paul Brunton in "The Secret Path" had this to say: "You cannot show my intellect that God, the Absolute, the Spirit, call it what you may, exists, but you can show this to me by changing my consciousness (i.e., raising the level of consciousness) until it can participate in the consciousness of God within me." Carl, Jung, the great Swiss psychologist and student of alchemy, was also a proponent of meditation as a means of integration of these levels of consciousness. In Ralph Metzner's "Maps of Consciousness," we read: "The work of alchemy consisted in integrating and transmuting these (the four) elements, these levels of consciousness. They need to be integrated because in the normal condition of man they are in a state of conflict and confusion. " This state of confusion that Metzner speaks of could well be what the ancient alchemists meant when they referred to "chaos" or "nigredo," the blackness. Metzner further went on to identify this disorganized state of mind as being that condition Gurdjieff had in mind when he talked of the individual being besieged by "many 'I's'." J. F. C. Fuller, a one-time disciple of the Golden Dawn and a sometime biographer of Aleister Crowley, wrote a book on Yoga. In it he wrote; "The key to deliverance is meditation which opens the lock of concentration; then the door of attainment swings open and the aspirant enters a higher dimension of consciousness the super-conscious world." The integration process, of these various worlds, can be perhaps equated to those alchemical states known as solution and coagulation. Solve' et Coagula. It must be borne in mind that there ARE two aspects to, alchemy, the practical and the spiritual. Terms that apply to one aspect may well apply, in a different sense, to the other aspect. C. C. Zain points this out in his book on Spiritual Alchemy and A. E. Waite, that prolific translator of arcane texts also makes a case for this. However, Waite may have vacillated from a stand on practical alchemy to one on spiritual
alchemy. Paracelsus also had some thoughts on this subject and is quoted by Carl Jung in "Alchemical Studies" (Vol. XIII of his collected works) as follows: "The impure animate body must be purified through the separation of the elements." Sounds like Metzner! Paracelsus went on to say: "this is done by your meditatng on it." Dave Edwards in his fine book "Dare to Make Magic" posed an interesting question. He said that yes, it certainly was necessary to perform magic so that one may raise his/her level of consciousness. Then he asked, "Why should we want to raise our level of consciousness?" The foregoing a recurrent theme of the early mystical writer Plotinius, seems to answer the questions nicely. We need to raise our levels of consciousness (and integrate them) in order to perceive the workings of a higher order. We cannot observe the workings of the machinery of the universe whilst still stationed at Malkuth. The veils of Paroketh must be rent and the abyss crossed ere we fathom the mysteries concealed by the black veils of Binah. In other words, to become more spiritual, we need to pullaway from the mundane toward the spiritual realms. As we progress through the spheres, our vision becomes less clouded and our understanding increases. The way to become attuned to vibrations of a higher order is to volitionally try and merge with them. One way of doing this is, of course, meditation. Therefore, it would be well to view meditation as a discipline quite eclectic and not posited on the east or west exclusively. It is a part of qabalah and alchemy. Charles Ponce in his book "The Kabbalah" reached a startling conclusion on a venerable old tome of alchemy, the Aesch Mezareph. He says, " (It is) an ancient alchemical treatise and it is unclear whether it is the product of Hebrew or Christian Kabbalism(!) It sets out the system of the Sephiroth in alchemical terms but was probably intended more as a meditational instrument than as a textbook of alchemy." I think the point should be made by now that the ancient qabalists and alchemists not only advocated meditation, but they practiced it. While their rationale may certainly have, differed the end result, in the main, was enlightenment. Consider what a blessing this could be as we pore over the obscure and misleading words of the ancients. If the good Lord would shed some light on these writings, why we might be able to utilize them for good purposes. Well then, we have a fine recommendation from the very writers of these works on how to overcome that dilemma. Meditate. Resting our case that meditation should be part of the daily practice of every alchemistical student, let us see just what meditation is. And isn't. The very word may conjure up a vision of loin-clothed yogis, eyes closed, legs wrapped about the back of the neck and off in a trance. Actually, this IS a possible form of meditation and it DOES have eastern roots as well as western roots. Today the eastern "flavor" is dominant as we have a plethora of teachers, Gurus and masters of all sorts "pushing" meditation. Yet, there is an air of unattachment about it all. The Maharishi mahesh Yogi himself declares his 'Transcendental Meditation" to be non-secular with no "isms" attached, A private researcher, Dr. Hugh Drummond is quoted in the March 1976 issue of Mother Jones magazine as saying, "The physiological benefits (more on the physiological benefits later) of meditation are pretty well established and appear to be independent of any particular method, ideology or cosmology." And so it is.
Meditation is the language of the heart. The Prayer of Silence. The outward prayer may be forced, embellished or even faked. The inner prayer cannot. No human can hear this and make a judgment, or be fooled. It is between you and that which IS The Creator. This idea is so, beautifully expressed by a Sufi poet and mystic, Jalal Ud Din Rumi who lived from 1207 to 1273. He was the spearhead of the Sufi movement as we know it today. In his mystical writings was the following beautiful passage which, while not necessarily referring to meditation per se, captures an essence. This prose is as follows: "A voice came from God to Moses.... I am not purified by their praises, 'Tis they who become pure and shining thereby. I regard not the outside and the words, I regard the inside and the state of the heart. I look at the heart if it be humble, Though the words may be the reverse of humble. Because the heart is substance and the words accidents. Accidents are only a means, substance is the final cause. A burning heart is what I want; consort with burning. Kindle in thy heart the flame of love." In more practical terms, meditation is a method of withdrawing from the outer to the inner. It is a way of stilling the mind. It is a state of activepassivity if you will. That is, while stilling the mind, one is actively "waiing," anticipating. An observed with expectancy, hushed expectancy. It is in the very real sense of the word, a communion. A meeting in the mind of the mundane and the Divine. In this place does enlightenment dawn. In this hushed stillness can we hear the voice of the One that pervades all. It is when we block out the outer distractions and noises that we hear what we yearn to hear. Our beloved. Our maker. "How" to do it is easy enough. There are actually several "types" of meditative practices. How they differ is only in technique. One such method is that of Transcendental Meditation. Here, one is given a mantra in an initiatory ceremony. The mantra is a word or a phrase, usually in Sanskrit. The TM-er will sit quietly and allow his or her personal mantra, for such it is, to "come." It wells up from the inner being and "sounds" in the body. The "repetition" of the Mantra helps block out the distracting influences and has an influence of its own. That is, the mantra is especially selected for the practitioner by someone well versed in this technique. Thus, the mantra will have a particularly beneficial "resonant" effect on the practitioner. Almost like tuning a circuit to its natural frequency. This is one use of a mantra. Another way is not so much as an "aid" but as a preamble. The recitation of a particular mantra prior to meditation (as opposed to during meditation ala TM) will set the mood as it were. Every Indian child is taught a "universal" mantra known as the "Gayatri" mantra. This mantra is supposedly the "highest" mantra there is. Interestingly, Gayatri is Devi Gayatri or a feminine aspect of Diety. Mother Gayatri. Further, She is a solar deity and would correspond to Tiphareth on the Tree of Life. At this sphere we also find the Christ consciousness. So, on a Hebrew glyph, we find the Eastern concept of a feminine God equated to the Christian concept of the aspect of God which corresponds to the Egyptian slain God Osiris
and there we go! Let me add that I have personally found the practice of meditation preceded by the Gayatri mantra an efficacious method. I can recommend it from my experience with it. But by all means try your particular likes first. They will all result, one day, in what Patanjali said was the breakthrough of the duality of devotion into the unity of self and God. R. Straughn In his book "Meditation Techniques of the Kabalists, Vedantans and Taoists" writes: The object of meditation then, is to lead you back to our proper identity, to your proper role. That of an uninvolved seer (se-er) and Willer of events. In Jane Roberts book "The Nature of Personality" this idea is dilated upon to some length. That we are the authors of the play, the director, the stage setters and the audience. Then we forget all by playing all the roles of all the characters simultaneously. Straughn also has a provocative little item in the same book. He provides information on Dhumo Breathing, a technique espoused by Lama Govinda and mentioned in the "Tibetan Book of the Dead." Basically, this technique is used to raise the body heat, amongst other things. Straughn makes the following statement in his exposition on the Dhumo: "The ambitous student, armed with what has been given here, should try to work out the correspondences between the breathing exercises and the sublimation of the procreative agent with the literature on alchemy, for they both deal with the same subject. A fact missed by those who, believing Yoga to deal basically with asanas and meditation, fail to grasp its alchemical aspect ... the sublimation of the procreative agent: Mercury." Meditation is really a very simple practice. It is one thing that can be done in the privacy of a room, whilst alone in a forest and, for those more adept at the subject, in a crowd unbeknownst to those present. However, many are too prone to complicate that which is simple. Father Elias, a member of the Carmelite Order in Haifa Israel, described it thusly: "In the first phase of meditation, we are alone in the dark room of the universe. We may think about God, we may talk about Him but He remains a distant object in our minds. In the second phase of meditation, all of a sudden God makes His presence felt in the darkness. He begins to illuminate our souls. he makes us aware of His presence, analagous to the awareness we have of the objects around us. Love has entered a new phase. It is love between Two. We become aware that God loves US!" In 'Practice of the Presence', Joel Goldsmith refers to meditation as ". . . an invitation for God to speak to us." Roy Eugene Davis in his "An Easy Guide to Meditation" reinforces R. Straughn's thoughts by saying ". . . we appear (in meditation) to be at the center of it all, as the witness or the observed." The practitioner of meditation will one day observe an interesting phenomena. He will look forward to, nay yearn, for the moment of meditation. For some, it is the only time for a little "peace and quiet." Yet, it is more than that, much more. And even though, at the onset, meditation may seem a chore, it will soon become a much desired practice. The Irish mystic George Russell, writing under the pen name of AE, eloquently expressed -his feeling in his beautiful and lyric book, "The Candle of Vision." Referring to meditation he said, "The dark caverns of the brain begin to grow luminous. We are creating our own light. By heat of will and aspiration we are transmuting what is gross in the subtle aethers through which the mind works. As the dark bar of metal begins to glow, at first redly, and then at white heat, or as ice melts and is alternately fluid, vapor, gas and at last, radiant energy, so do these others become purified
and alchemically changed into luminous essences, and they make a new vesture for the soul and link us to a mid world, or heavenward, where, they too have their own home. How quick the mind is now! How vivid is the imagination! We are lifted above the tumult of the body. The heat of the blood disappears below us. We draw nigher to ourselves. The heart longs for the hour of meditation and hurries to it; and, when it comes, we rise within ourselves as a diver too long under the sea arises to breathe the air, to see the light. We have invoked the God and we are answered according to, the promise of old." Russell was indeed a mystic but I bet he had an athanor hidden away in a closet! A different view on the subject, a "now" view, is offered by Edwin C. Steinbrecher his book "Guide Meditation." This technique is a departure from what we might call "classical" meditation. It involves the use of a Guide as found on what can be called the "astral level." The idea is to seek out someone or something that has been through it all before and can help us along, put us in touch with the data we seek. Steinbrecher explains his technique this way: "Guide Meditation is the product of the mingling of a number of spiritual and philosophical streams; astrology, tarot, alchemy, analytical psychology, qabalah and the Western Tradition which encompasses the Graeco-Judaeo-Christian spiritual heritage of the West. The Guide Mediation is a transformative process concerned with assimilating the disparate energies which exist in the human unconscious into the unified wholeness that is the awakened, enlightened being inherent in each of us, thus ending the illusions which cause separation, guilt and judgment." J. J. van der Leeuw said exactly the same thing, only in different terms and using a different "method" in his book, "Conquest of Illusion." It might be well at this juncture to clear up, as best we can, the misunderstanding that often arises between what is known as "concentration" and meditation. The two are totally different but the difference, while real, is subtle. In "Concentration" Ernest Woods writes: "Meditation is a complete flow of thought about an object which you have concentrated on." As an example, Woods postulates a flower. We concentrate on it thinking, as it were, of its color, its petals, scent and letting in these related areas of thought. This is concentrating. Then the thoughts might go "Come in little flower, into my lonely mind. And as you meditate with the flower, soon you will be worshipping the flower and saying: 'Wonderful flower. Holy flower, forgive me, forgive my contumely and my pride. And the flower will forgive. And there will be love and ecstacy. That is meditation." Patanjali put it succintly: "Concentration is the binding of the mind to one place. Meditation is continued effort there." And Woods again, in a different book: "Mind and Memory Training" states: "Concentration ends where meditation begins. Concentration involved contraction of the field of mental vision but meditation involves its expansion. Concentration is the unwavering focussing of the attention on any object to the exclusion of any other object. One starts by thinking about an object, the narrowing down the field so that one thinks of the object until finally the whole consciousness is filled with this object." Rammurti Mishra would add: "And we become the object" (Fundamentals of Yoga). In his definitive work on the subject "Concentration and Meditation," Christmas Humphrey defined the purpose of meditation being to: "dominate the lower separative self, to develop the mind's own higher faculties towards a vision of life's essential unity and to unite this dual process into one continuous spiritual unfolding." In "Yoga and Western Psychology," Geraldine Coster formulates a set of 'steps' for meditation. These are: (1) Sense of direction, or the will, (2)
the instrument of thought or the mind (3)for the object on which concentration is being attempted and (4) inobtrusive ideas or distractions. She further quantifies stages in the meditative process as being (a) selection of a subject (b) deliberation and (c) contemplation, She indicates that this is an awareness of the object as thought. The mind being transformed into the object. These three stages correspond nicely to what Mishra defined as (a) Conscious Mind (b) Sub-conscious mind and (c) Super-conscious mind. These stages, dharana, dhyana and samadhi may also correspond to those levels of the mind known as alpha, delta and theta levels. Let us briefly examine some of the more or less "mechanical" aspects of mediation. What typeshould he used? What paraphenalia, if any? As to the former, W. Y. Evans-Wentz sets out a number of aphorisms in "Tibetan Yoga and Secret Doctrines" that apply well. These are (listed under 'Ten Best Things') "(1) For one of little intellect, the best meditation is complete concentration of the mind on a single object (2) For one of ordinary intellect, the best meditation is unbroken concentration of the mind on the two dualistic concepts, phenomena/noumena and consciousness and (3) for one of superior intellect, the best meditation is to remain in mental quiesence, the mind devoid of all thought processes, knowing that the meditator, the object of meditation, and the act of meditating constitute an inseparable entity." This is as good a starting place as any but seems a little rigid. The really best thing is to try ANYthing. You will soon get the hang of it. Just DO it. How about posture, clothing, incense and so on? The answer here is there is really no hard and fast "correct" set of rules. What ever turns you on! If glowing candles or incense helps to create an atmosphere conducive to meditating, do it. Fresh flowers "feel right?" Go get some fresh flowers but remember this is a daily discipline and daily fresh flowers could be a little troublesome. As for clothing, the less clothing the better. Binding garments and such are really impediments and distractions. Up, tight about nudity? Wear a robe or a blanket. What KIND of incense? Some say Sandalwood is conducive towards meditation. Can't prove it by me. I just like one that smells nice! Beads? Why not. Must they be Sandalwood or must they be rudrnksha? Who says so? And posture. Well now, this IS an important point. The better the posture, the better will be the results. The "Lotus" posture is best. Why? well if you consider the body to be a mass of electrical and nervous energies, the position of the parts of the body can make for good or poor "conduction" of these energies. They can also "shunt" energy to where it is best utilized. Maybe not the best analogy but it should do. If you cannot, for physical or other reasons sit in a Lotus posture, do, a free Lotus. How about simply sitting cross-legged? Or even in a chair. Really, the asanas are good, but many of us are just not oriented or physically constructed for a full Lotus or "the Thunderer." The "God" position may be just what the doctor ordered! (i.e., sitting "normally" upright in a chair). The main thing is to keep the spine straight. The ancient Yogis postulated some reasons for various postures and "mudras" (finger positions or gestures). The idea of the Lotus position, or at least a cross-legged posture is that it is an aid to the inspiration of breath as a regulatory device. Maintaining equilibrium was to regulate the vital heat of the body while maintaining an erect spinal column regulated the nervous fluids pervading the body and bending (slightly forward) of the neck help regulate the breath's expiration. Finally, the pressing of the tongue against the roof of the mouth and focusing the gaze caused the vital forces to enter the median nerve, the Sushumna. In other words, the erect spinal column along with the latter discipline aided in raising the Kundalini.
As our final "look" at meditation and the western tradition, let us now bring this spiritual discipline, for such it is, into the laboratory. Perhaps, just as alchemy can be demonstrated, we can find actual physical evidence of benefits provided by meditation. First of all we can consider a mental aspect. Dr. F. I. Regardie in his book "Twelve Steps to Spiritual Enlighenment" indicates that the act of concentration leads to the development of the will and an enhancement of the image-building process. That is, the ability to visualize is improved, a function of great importance to anyone treading the path of the magician. That this is so is verified by Dr. Roberto Assagioli in his book "An Act of Will." We find there a series of exercises designed to strengthen the will and we discern that they are, largely, concentration and meditative type exercises. For further occular evidence we can cite several scientific studies that have been performed. It is true that the bulk of these did concern themselves with Transcendental type of Meditation, but meditation it is. In SCIENCE Magazine, the March, 1970 issue, a study conducted by Dr. Robert Kieth Wallace of the Dept, of Physiology, School of Medicine, Center for the Health Sciences in Los Angeles was featured. The summary of this study is as follows: Oxygen consumption, heart rate, skin resistance and electro-encephalograph measurements were recorded before, during and after the practice of TM by subjects. There were significant changes between the control period and the meditation period in all measurements. During meditation, oxygen consumption and heart rate decreased, skin resistance increased and the electroencephalograph showed specific changes in certain frequencies. These results seem to distinguish the state produced by TM from commonly encountered states of consciousness and suggest that TM has practical applications. Tests at the Harvard Medical Unit of Boston Memorial Hospital showed that oxygen consumption dropped sharply and carbon dioxide elimination also decreased sharply during meditation. In the April 1974 issue of "Psychology Today" we find that while using meditators in a study of blood pressure, Herbert Benson noted that 19 of his 20 volunteers had given up the use of drugs. According to their own testimony, changes in consciousness due to marijuana, LSD and heroin had become very distasteful since their introduction to meditation. Studies by the U.S. Army, the Greens at Menninger and countless other very rigid, very scientific studies show there ARE physical, measurable benefits to be gained by meditating. Even children benefit as shown by a study in the Eastchester N.Y. public schools, conducted by F. G. Driscoll, supt. of schools. Tests showed that students who meditated were less anxious about taking tests, improved their grades and got along better with fellow students AND parents. We are all on a beautiful spiritual quest utilizing the rigors of qabalah and alchemy to aid in finding Truth. The truth about nature and the truth about ourselves, why we are who we are. Whence we came, whither we go. At the same time we need to be concerned about the care, and feeding of the bodies that house these egos, these souls. Now if indeed meditation not only provides the meeting place for Divine communication but in fact provides mental and physical benefits, it would seem that practicing meditation should become a part of our daily curriculum. The evidence is overwhelming from all sides. Those who advocate physical enhancement through meditation prove it with their galvanic devices and electro-encephalographs. Even the mental aspects of growth in will and visualization are a praxis that can be observed. And for spiritual growth? Countless millions will attest to a new serenity, a new peace of mind, to
enlightenment and, at last, a merging into the vast and all pervading SOURCE. That which IS. God. Jehovah. Allah. Lord. Krisna. Brahm. The Solar Logos Gayatri. By whatever name we use, we are enabled now to feel the fullness of the love of the Father for the Child, to hear, to speak and be heard. Given this, shouldn't WE be meditating? Turn inward for your voyage! For all your arts, You will not find the Stone In foreign parts. - Angelus Silesius +
According to Orpheus, all existence is suspended from one immeasurable good - the Sovereign Principle. The cause of all things, denominated The One, iq also the good and the first; the good because it is the source, the manifestation of the virtues; the first because it is the summit of all natures, anterior to both the gods and nature. The Orphic concept of God is one of thhe noblest ever conceived by the human reason - Deity is no longer a person or an anthropomorphic entity abiding in some empyreal sphere, administering despotic powers over mundane affairs. God is revealed as an eternally-abiding good, an ever-flowing fountain of truth and law, omnipotent unity, omniscient reality. In this interpretation Deity is not a being, but the source of beings; not light, but the source of light; not mind, but the source of mind; the hidden origin of all revealed things. - TWELVE WORLD TEACHERS, Manly P. Hall.
p. 488
The Four Elements By Frater K.H.
Fire The preceding three elements so far discussed symbolize one primary hidden basic activity of one essential force or motion, one essential quality. This invisible quality or activity has been slowly preparing our vegetable matter. Thus, our fire is invisible and not perceptible to the senses. We refer here to the activity of fire in a philosophical sense rather than to the common thermal energy with which we are so familiar. Fire is the last of our elements and as the last it will be first, as it was first. In our philosophical effort we must learn to deal with and distinguish between two fires or sulphurs. One originates in our substance and the other plays a part but does not enter into our substance. If you find yourself objecting to the vagueness and indirection of the above, you'll have to console yourself as we are merely restating the works of the sages.
To further confuse the issue we'll quote from the Hermetic Museum, "The New Chemical Light," page 137: "This element is the most passive of all, and resembles a chariot: when it is drawn it moves; when it is not drawn, it stands still. It exists imperceptibly in all things; and of it is fashioned the vital rational soul, which distinguishes man from all other animals, and makes him like God. This rational soul was divinely infused into his vital spirit by God, and entitles him to be regarded as a microcosm, or small world by himself. But the fire which surrounds the Throne of God is of an infinitely pure and simple essence, and this is the reason that no impure soul can know God, and that no human eye can penetrate this essential fire, for fire is the death and destruction of everything composite - and all material substances are of this nature." The philosophical fire used in the preparation of the philosopher's vegetable matter is of a nature that requires a philosophical bent of mind, For thousands of years men and women have struggled vainly to understand the nature of this secret fire. Due to its uniqueness, none could by pointing say that fire would be discerned or evident by observation alone. A unique quality is required to penetrate the obvious and commonplace. That which all students search for has been hidden in the obvious and commonplace areas of life. We stress the word commonplace, as until the student is enlightened that which is common will always remain so. This is one reason why the sages and philosophers so loved the "common folV; they were so close to IT. We may spend our entire lives busily separating common substances in one way or another and for one of many purposes. For example, can one recall how many cups of coffee or tea have passed through one's lips before the meaning of the word tincture became evident? What is tincture? Where does it come from? Why is that which is tincture combustible? Soul is tincture! To some this statement is commonplace; to others who know the meaning this is a strong statement. One could devote a whole book to tincture alone and not be finished. All work upon the vegetable matter pales into insignificance in comparison to the finished product which is pure living tincture. If it were dead there would be no tincture and it would not be capable of generating life, separating the pure from the impure, for tincture reveals to us the presence of life. The fire for which the student so earnestly looks is hidden in this mysterious product, tincture. There is the menstruum and that essence which tinctures it. When the subject has completed digestion, the entire body becomes a tingling living mass. As long as tincture can be separated into two substances the work is not complete. The union of male and female has not yet taken place. There are degrees of maturity within our subject as relates to its tincture. It is the attribute of discernment which is required when we regard tincture and its degree of maturity. So it is during the past three seasons of winter, spring and summer that our invisible fire has been working in a most commonplace manner to mature our earth. It is in the fall season that the tinctures, as regarding degrees of maturity, are permitted to become evident. The colors of fall are the first visible sign of the invisible activity which has been going on. It is for this reason we should be cheered and comforted by the glorious sight of color which nature unfolds. The season of fall speaks to us and says agmy activity is your justification that your efforts are not in vain and there is reason for hope and God is not dead, as the detractions of life would have one and all believe." This life is a virtue received at the hands of our creator and given to all without stint.
Thus it is, we as living beings are what we are due to the degree of fire and maturity of our living tincture. We are all at various stages (not evolution) or degrees of living maturity, which has been determined by the proportions of raw materials available and the degree of the maturing fire present at the time of conception. Would not our success or failure in the work of the vegetable stone also be predetermined by the same law of proportion and fire? Do we hear a tiny troubled voice speaking? "But I am not a vegetable matter, a potato or carrot, 1 am a living body of flesh, blood and bone, I'm human!" Whether we wish to acknowledge it or not, all are under this same law and that which grows must obey or perish. By now a new spirit of inquiry should be developing within the mind of the reader, and those who are perceptive. are already aware that we have deliberately ommited speaking of another phase. It is most unfortunate that so many always tend to identify functions of soul, mind and body from the viewpoint of the body alone. We shall begin at this point of reference, as commonly accepted by the general concept of our society. All of the foregoing as presented, pertained to the body only as a growing and maturing entity. This physical body must obey the same laws of maturity as any vegetable matter. This holds true for the three kingdoms, as all have some proportion of the three essentials, sulphur, salt, and mercury. The inner invisible fire matures these three essentials and thereby the physical body is built up to the age of maturity. At this point a decline begins, unless THAT which is missing is supplied; the inner thermal activity begins to decline and, if not replenished, the physical body will experience a break down. Of the three elements fire came first and is also the last. We mention three elements as fire is common to earth, air and water. This missing or suppressed ingredient accounts for the frigidity and decline which we call old age. We must stress that all these points touched upon should be viewed through hermetic philosophy only, as no other frame of reference will suffice. God made man from the dust of the earth and to the dust he shall return. So it is that animal man and woman must obey the law "that which nature produces must die." Fall is upon us and a sense of cold and death from winter is in the air. We look about but here is no escape. We see the first leaves, gloriously colored, begin their slow final journey to earth. No form or shape as produced by nature without the assistance of art can be permanent. The eye of the soul stares transfixed by the outward appearance of things as they are not. We shudder with an inward fear that comes upon us unbidden and we tremble at the implication of our thoughts. Within the mind a voice seems to echo back and forth loudly protesting, "I can not rest for I have no peace." There is a sense of desperation that somehow we have missed that which is IT. A haunting voice rises to the surface and cries "have we deceived ourselves?" Nature will continue its silent and invisible work no matter what our state of rnind and that mysterious IT will continue to circulate as the four elements. Obviously, we are in desperate need of a superior guide to, help us penetrate into the secret fountain of nature. Our failures are proof enough that our faculties are ill equipped to go this journey alone. Thus, we must answer the question where, how, and to whom must we turn. This
is the crux upon which our success or failure must hang, as that which is IT comes out of the one and to one it must return. So it is in the vegetable stone, our fire completes the work and of four there remains only one. We will see in our final labor the hidden -tincture, now revealed in its maturity. It was born in water, strengthened by air, matured by fire, to become our fiery vegetable stone, earth. It was in death (dissolution as in fermentation) that our substance separated into the three essentials. We witnessed the spirit separating from the body and tincture (soul) now appeared in our menstruum saturated by this living spirit. The body (salt) drops below and we see the separation of the three essentials performed by the hand of nature alone. The essential point is this: without water the above separation would not be possible. This separation was brought about by the invisible fire which is the active prin ciple and became manifest to our eyes as tincture or sulphur. The work is ended when that which is volatile becomes fixed and the fixed volatile. Thereby two materials coalesce together and become a living substance such as that which did not exist before.
p.492
Informative Interchange Electro-Magnetism Extracts from Madame H. P. Blavatsky's book, "Isis Unveiled" . . . About Paracelsus Electro-magnetism, the so-called discovery of Prof. Oersted, has been used by Paracelsus, who was one of the greatest chemists of his time. He was a genius and he created a new epoch in the history of medicine. He was the founder of the School of Animal Magnetism, and the discoverer of the occult properties of the magnet. Anton Mesmer imported it from Germany to Paris. Mesmerists and healers invoke the testimony of the deaf, the lame, the diseased and dying who were cured or restored to life by simple manipulations and the apostles "laying on of hands." The full views of Paracelsus on the occult properties of the magnet were explained partially in his famous book ARCHI DAX ARUM, in which he describes the wonderful tincture, a medicine extracted from the magnet and called MAGISTERIUM MAGNETIS, and partially in the DE ENTE DEI and DE ENTE ASTORUM. But the explanations given were in a dictum unintelligible to the profane. "Every peasant 'sees,' he said, that a magnet will attract iron, but a wise man must enquire for himself . . . I have discovered that the magnet, besides this visible power, that of attracting iron, possesses another and concealed power." He demonstrated further that in man lies hidden a "sidereal force" which is that of emanation from the stars and celestial bodies of which the spiritual form of man - the astral spirit - is composed. The identity of essence which we may term the spirit of the cometary matter always stands in direct relation with the stars from which it was drawn and thus there exists a mutual attraction
between the two, both being magnetic. The identical composition of the earth and all other planetary bodies and man's terrestrial body was a fundamental idea in his philosophy "the body comes from the elements, the astral spirit from the stars ... Man eats and drinks of the elements for the sustenance of his blood and flesh; from the stars are the intellect and thoughts sustained in his spirit." We must bear in mind that Paracelsus was the discoverer of hydrogen and knew well all its properties and composition long before any of the orthodox academicians ever thought of it; that he had studied astrology and astronomy as all the fire-philosophers did, and if he did assert that man is in direct affinity with Stars, he knew well what he asserted. "In our dreams," says Paracelsus, "we are like plants which have also the elementary and vital body, but possess not the spirit. In our sleep the astral body is free and can by the elasticity of its nature either hover round in proximity with its sleeping vehicle or soar higher to hold converse with its starry parents and even communicate with its brothers at greater distances. Dreams of prophetic character, prescience, and present wants are the faculties of astral spirit. To our elementary or grosser body these gifts are not imparted, for at death it descends into the bottom of the earth and is reunited to the physical elements while the several spirits return to the stars. The animals, he adds, have also their presentiments for they too have an astral body." Van Helmont who was a disciple of Paracelsus says much the same, though his theories on magnetism are more largely developed and still more carefully elaborated. The MAGNALE MAGNUM, the means by which the secret magnetic properties "enables one to affect mutually another" is attributed by him to that universal sympathy which exists in all doings in nature. The cause produces the effect, the effect refers itself back to the cause, and both are reciprocated. "Magnetism," he says, "is an unknown property of heavenly nature very much resembling the stars and not at all impeded by any boundaries of space and time. Every created being possesses his own celestial power and is closely allied with heaven. This magic power of man which thus can operate externally, lies, as it were, hidden in the inner man. This magical wisdom and strength thus sleeps, but by a mere suggestion is roused into activity and becomes more living, the more the outer man of flesh and darkness is repressed ... and this I say, the Kabalistic art effects; it brings back to the soul that magical yet natural strength, which like a startled sleep had left it." - India +
Gur . . . EL Gohr (The Essence) A friend who has done extensive research in the historical background of Alchemy and who is well versed in languages suggests the word Gur (see Parachemy, Spring 1977) is a bad literation of the Persian Gohr which means essence. When the whole operation to inject a secular version of The Mysteries into Europe was begun, it proved impossible to suggest the network of associations available in Arabic and Persian from a chosen tri-lateral root. The nearest the French could get to it was the pun (argot) and the English
stretched this to two factors, the pun and what Cockneys still call backslang a secret language unintelligible to the uninitiated. El Gohr (The Essence) became Gohr-El, then Grel, then Grail. Making the Gur and searching for The Grail are possibly the same activity. Canada +
We are here to add what we can to life; not to get what we can from it. - WILLIAM OSLER
The world does not consist of happenings only; it contains life as well, and to the life in the world, so far as it comes within my reach, I have to be a relation which is not only passive but active. By placing myself in the service of that which lives I reach an activity, exerted, upon the world which has meaning and purpose. - ALBERT SCHWEITZER
back cover
Cohobation All life is the manifestation of a single mystery. From The One Mystery comes forth The One Life to perform The One Work through Its operations of Separation, Purification, and Cohobation - to manifest without, or to give birth to, that which lies concealed within The Mystery Itself. Through proportion, weight, and mass, innumerable manifestations appear out of The Mystery to reveal that the Essence of this One Mysterious Life is an Orderly, Intelligent Energy. The Light a subtle, rapid vibration, of a volatile nature - and The Darkness - a dense, slow vibration, of a fixed nature - are of this Intelligent Energy which embraces the infinite quality and quantity of The Sound of The Mystery Itself. The Sound of The Mystery resounds and The Earth and its myriad forms are as Its Echo. The Mediator of The Sound is The Intelligence. From the union of The Intelligence's Light - a pure, conscious energy - and Darkness - the womb which gives birth to all that is - there is created The Course of Divine Being. Thus, The Mediator, The Divine Intelligence, through Its Revelator, The Light, from out of Its Darkness, brings forth Below The Revelation of The Reality Above. In the center of Light and Darkness it is. Between Heaven and Earth it is. In the midst of The Earth, existing as an intermediary between the kingdoms above it and the kingdoms below it, it is. It is that which is called Self-Consciousness, an intelligent awareness of self and the world of
self. Upon the Human Kingdom it has been bestowed. Through its mediating influence, this intelligence has brought forth the grandeur and wonder of ages past and present. In impure, ignorant, and delusive surroundings, it has brought forth destruction and suffering for all upon the earth. The Mediating Intelligence of the Human Kingdom is privileged to consciously assist in The Great Work of The One Life - to reveal the joyous Truth of The Living Reality. Yet this mediating intelligence has much work to do before there comes forth through its operation of cohobation the manifestation of that which is truly representative of The Truth. Cohobation is to distill again from the same or a similar substance, to extract, to give off in drops, to let fall in drops. Cohobation implies unification. In order for anything to come forth, there exists, in some Tanner, a state of union, or amalgamation, which makes possible the issuance of a new manifestation. Different amalgamations produce different manifestations. Identical amalgamations under different conditions produce different results. When there exists in the amalgamation that which is extraneous to it, there comes forth from such a union that which is not a pure issue of it but is, because of the impurity of the union itself, but a distortion or a manifestation which is misrepresentative. In our world of time, The One Life reveals The Truth of The Mystery drop by drop. At the core of The Mystery's infinite depths is That which impels mankind ever onward to discover what is hidden within it and to formulate what is seen of It. Striving for perfection, those who will consciously assist in The Work will ceaselessly, drop by drop, loosen and cast off that which is extraneous and detrimental to it. Out of Love for It, there will he extracted drop by drop from The Mystery Itself the Beauty of Its Sound.
Parachemy Volume VI: Number 1 Winter 1978
The Philosopher's Stone - from The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall
Contents Interviews With Frater Albertus p.498 Fixed Oil of Sulphur p.504 Neptune In The Constellations p.509 The Noble Eightfold Path p.511 Informative Interchange - Simple Vacuum Extraction Method p.515
p.498
Interviews With Frater Albertus Interviews With Frater Albertus commenced in the Fall 1977 issue of Parachemy, Vol. V, Number 4, and will continue in future issues. The material presented is excerpted from various interviews that have taken place and from questions asked in open forum sessions held in the United States, Europe, Australia, India, and other countries.
Q. When will you lecture with the Dr. from India? Will you both stress subjects of a general or a specific nature? A. In 1979. Emphasis will be placed on the Tridosha, the ancient Indian teaching of how to know about your physical functions and how to control them. Q. What about alchemy? A. Tridosh is Alchemy, because all evolution has but one aim and that is perfection of the species relating to the three essentials in alchemy. Q. You've said something about the philosophical mercury as one of the three essentials. Can you elaborate on this? A. Let us talk about the universal mercury or universal Spirit, which is the same. What is known as philosophical mercury is but an emanation of the universal mercury. In physics you would call it an isotope for want of better terminology. Q. In that case it would have physical properties. Right? A. Yes. Q. If that is the case, it would have to withstand a chemical analysis. A. Of course. Q. What is this analysis? I mean what does it show? A. This question is somewhat difficult to answer. Q. Why? A. Because so much is involved. Not everything can be subjected to tests, as we understand them, and yield what is expected. Nevertheless, a chemical analysis in your sense of wording it is possible. It would fall under the definition of a gas that can be liquified. It distills over at about 28-30 degrees C. This would fall into the category of such as dimethyl esters and the likes, but it is not such. That is why it is so difficult to give it a specific place. It can also distill over at a much higher temperature and still be the same, only it is more impure. So, you see, it is not quite
as easy to be specific about it in your sense of an analysis. Let me add, if you expect to get the same result by subjecting a homeopathic preparation to an analysis as you would an allopathic one, you will find you do not. You cannot expect the same results. Q. Why? A. Because in a homeopathic preparation you find hardly any chemical substance by analysis but there is in it the inherent dynamics too subtle to detect by conventional means. So, it is very difficult to place the so-called philosophical mercury in such a category as one might expect to place it. Q. Then it is a comparatively simple matter as far as the constituency of the philosophical mercury is concerned. Maybe it is already a kn ' own substance but not recognized as such. Perhaps a simple acid or alkali? A. You know what, I have a letter from a student- who attended Prima class in Europe who claimed to have made a plant stone of enormous size, even larger than a baseball. He has it all figured out. Let me get his letter. Here, I quote from it: "The whole thing is very easy to understand: "Mercurius philosophorum "The mercurius is a strange thing, and since it has a chemical basis, it consists of certain elements. "If the mercurius is set free in putrefaction - for example by acetum distillatum on vitriol, there remains the Caput mortuum and SCHWEFELSAURE* (German) is set free about 5 % in concentration. "Another example: for the production of highly concentrated SCHWEFELSAURE the FeO and FESO4, remains as red caput mortuum and the SCHWEFELSAURE is produced (in Industry). "In the book of Bernus: Alchemie and lleilkunst you read on page 113 about a 9-day process in which Gold is produced. Silver and copper are solved in SALPETERSAURE** and then the solution is cooked in SCHWEFSAURE. After one week gold is produced. "That all means, that MERCURIUS PHILOSOPHORUM is SCHWEFELSAURE. The process lasts the longer the less SCHWEFELSAURE is in the Mercurial-Water. That is why the Adepts gave new mercurius once a week in many cases. (on both normal ways.)" Q. Can this claim be substantiated? A. What is here mentioned as either sulphurous or sulphuricacid has been substantiated, as it is presently produced even industrially. But it is definitely not "The" philosophical mercury alchemists speak of. Flow could this be the substance mentioned that does not wet ones hands and can he used to pour over gold and make it potable. I shudder with horror just to think of someone drinking such a potion of corrosive acid. Sulphuric acid is just about the strongest acid there is. You can see for yourself how quickly one can jump to conclusions. One has to be introduced, initiated, as they called it formely, into the still prevailing secrets of alchemistical laboratory procedures until they are secret no more.
Q. This sounds sensible. I admit it would really be a catastrophe if one were to mistake sulphuric acid as the philosophical mercury. This I can see. But what about the real philosophical mercury? Have you got some? A. Yes. Q. Would you show it to me and demonstrate how it works upon gold? A. Yes. Q. Oh good! Go ahead, I can hardly wait! A. Turn off your tape recorder. Q. Can I take my camera and take some pictures? A. Of course. Why not? When you see what goes on, it is no secret anymore. You may even take some pictures or slides. Q. There seems to be danger involved in making statements like the one just mentioned. Why is it that people jump to conclusions so easily? A. There can be many reasons, but one seems to be common in nearly all cases of those who enter upon a new course of knowledge and understanding which opens up new horizons. Usually, it does not take too long before one becomes conscious of former inadequacies and wants to let others know of newly found knowledge. It may be overwhehningly new to the beginner but later will turn out to be rudimentary compared to all that which is yet to come. I have seen people that attended a class or two start preparing alchemistical medications - that is what they called it - but they did not even know the difference between a spagyrically and alchemistically prepared medication. Worse yet, they would administer them unto others. Some gave cabalistical readings and in reality hardly knew what they were talking about. But any kind of tarot cards and what have you and other mysterious mumbo jumbo had to help. But most of all I shudder when I see those who did not know anything about astrology, except perhaps the signs and names of the Zodiac and a smattering of astrological booklearning, hang out their shingles and proclaim themselves professional astrologers. Just think what they are doing to some innocent, unsuspecting souls. Q. But you are teaching Alchemy, Cabalah, and Astrology. What about that? A. You are right. At the PRS these three, that you have just mentioned, are taught. Please listen carefully. I said: They are being taught. Q. Well, what is the difference? A. The difference is that what is taught is subject to investigation and verification by the students themselves. We begin with elementary instructions and continue gradually over a period of years
with more advanced teachings for each and everyone to apply in their own life for verification. All instructions are strictly individualistic and we issue no diplomas or certificates of completion. It is too sad to note tliat those who went out on their own have taken what was taught at the PRS and changed and altered what was given to them to suit their own fancies and liking before they even became aware of what was going on inside the PRS. Q. Frater Albertus, don't you give professional advice as an Astrologer, Gabalist, and Alchemist? A. Good Heavens, No! I am a teacher. Period. I am teaching individuals how to find their own personality and thereafter they have to find for themselves if what they were taught is valid in their daily lives. Never have I given professional advice in any of the three subjects that we have discussed. By professional advice I mean one who receives payment in money or receives remuneration in any form because of a legally accredited status. Q. But you could go as a professional if you wanted to. A. Some have suggested that I should do that. Q. But? A. I have refused and will continue to refuse because the responsibility connected with it is so enormous that those who are engaged in such pursuits, if they did know, would think twice before getting involved in making easy money. Q. Do you believe that all astrologers, I mean professional astrologers, are bad and swindlers? A. Of course not. There are some that are very honest and sincere, especially those who are qualified. I have talked about those who imagine themselves to be competent and are deluded by their own illusions about themselves. But then, they are so convinced about their abilities that it becomes useless to talk to them about it. When one asks them, they know all about it. Except they don't know about their own selfs. And that is the great pity. They tell their clients what they should or should not do and all this before there is proof on hand as this concerns the future. One wonders why they could not predict their own future any better when one observes how they, excuse my pig latin, "louse up" their own lives. Too often, it turns out to be either a misinterpretation or just plain ignorance about the laws of celestial mechanics and their lawful manifestations - come with me to the laboratory and I will show you the philosophical mercury. *Sulphuric Acid **Nitric Acid
p.504
Fixed Oil Of Sulphur Sulphur at first sight appears to be somewhat different than the other minerals. It is of a single nature (homogeneous), i.e., S, as opposed to the other minerals, for example Sb2S3 which is a compound (heterogeneous). In order to separate the oil of antimony, the fixed salt is first made and from this salt is made the separation. Yet, nothing has been said about a fixed salt of sulphur. This does not, however, prevent it from existing, No analysis of the salt has been conducted by the writer, hence the actual structure of the compound is unknown, yet the oil may be separated therefrom with little effort but with no little patience. The following method is the result of practical laboratory experimentation and not idle speculation. It would be very pleasing if some students would attempt the preparation and report their findings and refinements., and any additional thoughts they may have on the subject. Fill a soxhlet extractor thimble with crude sulphur and place in the extraction chamber. Extract the sulphur with glacial acetic acid or a 6N acetic acid until the acid is of a deep red color and boils violently. At this point, the solution has become saturated and some of the salt precipitates and this is the reason why it boils violently. Allow the solution to cool and place in a retort and remove the vinegar. Dissolve the red powder in distilled rain water, filter out impurities and gently evaporate the water. Repeat this process until the powder is completely neutralized. (This is extremely important.) The vinegar which was distilled from the red powder should then be used once again to extract the sulphur. Repeat the extraction until no more powder is obtained. Take all the red, neutralized powder obtained and separate the essentials according to art and you will have the oil of sulphur. This last sentence sounds simple but it is here where many errors are made. To be more specific, place the dried, neutralized red powder to about 3/4 of an inch depth in a retort and form a good vacuum. Slowly raise the heat over several days until a liquid begins to distill. This should be of a yellow color. Gradually raise the heat until all the liquid has distilled from the sulphur. (This should take about two weeks at the proper heat.) If too much heat is applied, the retort may burst and your efforts be wasted. If too little heat is used, no result will manifest. Take all the yellow liquid obtained and by using a very slow distillation separate the spirit which will distill first as a clear water. When all the spirit is distilled, take another receiver and increase the heat until a yellow oil will distill. This is the true oil or sulphur of sulphur. Those who have read Collectanea Chemica will know something of its medicinal value. However it is advised that your results be first checked for purity by someone qualified in the subject before actually ingesting the substance.
The clear spirit, when sufficiently purified, is an excellent solvent for sulphur, and here considerable experimentation, and research is open to an enquiring mind. Above is a diagram of the apparatus suitable for the last distillation if a retort is not available. This apparatus does in fact have some advantages over a retort in that it has better cooling, and this distillation may be monitored by means of the vacuum pressure gauge, which is helpful in regulating the heat. Hints on experimental practice: 1) Note in the diagram that the flask is not resting on the hotplate. The reason for this is to prevent breaking or the cracking of the flask when the temperature is quite high. Experience speaks here.) 2) The flask is flat bottomed. This allows a larger quantity of red powder to be as close to the heat source as is feasible and facilitates an easier distillation. 3) When ball and socket joints with the required clamps are used, a pressure greater than that of the atmosphere may be used. This will allow the distillation to proceed somewhat faster. The pressure gauge is needed to monitor the pressure so that the flask will not explode. (The glassware will be safe to a pressure of at least 10 inches of Mercury.) 4) At the beginning of the distillation, a strong vacuum is advised since this will allow the distillation to proceed a little faster. 5) The first note is the most important. The others can be used as the student sees fit or as is possible with the available apparatus. It is the basic principle of how to separate the Mercury and Sulphur from the Salt that this article attempts to convey. There are doubtless many changes which can be made for one reason or another, but regardless of differing experimental technique the proof is in the pudding, so to speak, i.e., so long as the goal is obtained then the method is largely irrelevant. Those who have read of the medicinal value of the oil of sulphur will surely regard this as a most worthy goal and make determined efforts to obtain it.
p.509
Neptune In The Constellations By Carl W. Stahl Neptune is where the native is aware of his limitations and incapacities. This leads to frustration and a desire to draw inward and away from the objective world into an imaginary world of his own built of day drearns'and fancies, On the other hand it may lead, through contemplation and meditation, to the knowledge that the world as we know it is simply a mirror image of the only true world, the spiritual. Those strongly under Neptune, as when it appears close to an angle, or in close aspect with the Sun or the Moon, have a tendency to play a part. The world of imagining and make believe are more real to them than that in which they spend their waking moments. Keywords are; sensation, craving for rhythm, music, operas, dancing, spiritualism, mysticism, occultism, gambling, drinking, drug addiction, reading mysteries and sex novels, illusion, delusion, hypnosis, visions, mother complexes, day dreaming, the obscure, the mysterious, transcendental and imaginative. Fantasy with emotional overtones are the result of Neptune aspecting the Moon. In aspect with the Sun creative thought is fed by day dreams and the imagination. With Mercury fantasy and imagination interfere with, or in some cases aid, the ability to communicate with others. With Venus the possibility of an imaginative and ideal love. With Mars imagination leads to many new ways to use energy, some practical and some impractical. With Jupiter an imaginative and mystical approach to cycles and ritual. With Saturn restriction shapes the day dreams and may produce practical results, or frustration. With Uranus dreams and imagination may lead to a successful search for freedom of the soul and mind. With Pluto use of the silence and withdrawal within oneself could lead to illumination. LIBRA. Since Neptune looks at things from a different point of view we find that these natives approach love, friendship and brotherhood with a whole hearted disregard for the conventions and standards that serve as guidelines for the majority. Idealism, fantasy and the desire to play a part are all interwoven into an unreal tapestry. If you can see behind the sham of life into the true reality you will be well on your way toward returning to the creator who conceived this world in which we live. Do not allow yourself to be duped out of your spiritual heritage. SCORPIO. The native tends to be frustrated by the imaginative Neptune in this position. Instead of being able to strike out forthrightly and aggressively he finds himself filled with vague delusions and impractical day dreams. Idealistic ideas tend to put a damper on the native's practical approach to life. If you want it you get it, it's as simple as that. If you stop to consider others you hold yourself back from material success. Native would do well to try to compromise between the two viewpoints and advance on both levels. SAGITTARIUS.
Native finds it easy to radiate an aura of success and financial ability far beyond his real worth. Neptune's position always marks the area where the native can really play a part convincingly. He can either expand here in a material and financial success, though somewhat dubious a manner, or he can awaken to the inner meaning of life and begin to live it here and now, while assisting others to do likewise. Danger here that the native may think himself the god-sent founder of a new religion seeking to persuade others that his is the only way. CAPRICORN. Those with Neptune here are uniquely fitted to solve the problem of the real and the unreal. Capricorn insists on the practical approach to life's problem, i.e., material success; but Neptune wants to unveil the reality behind the apparent scene. If properly handled this brings spiritual enlightenment and initiation. Here the native's dreams could take him up the mountain and tempt him as Christ was tempted with an offer of all the world's goods. The wise man refuses the treasures that age corrupts and settles for those he can lay up in heaven. AQUARIUS. Here creative genius and creative imagination go hand in hand. To the one who is ready the door lies open to understanding and wisdom. The practical and the spiritual go hand in hand to create a soul personality that lies harmoniously between spiritual and earthly realms. Whatever you imagine you can create. You have this god given gift of creativity. Use it to better yourself and others. Always share your lot with others and lend a hand to those less imaginative than yourself. In this direction lies progressand enlightenment. PISCES. The illusive Piscean becomes even more illusive and inclined to play a part to the hilt. He can be anything that any one may desire. Make your wants known and immediately he becomes that person. They particularly delight in making sport of strangers who are unaware of their theatrical ability. Danger of allowing themselves to become too closely allied with the character they have adopted. Tendency to confuse their mystical inclinations with the god-he,ad itself leads to messiah complex. ARIES. The normal leadership qualities of Aries are here extended from the physical to the higher levels. Insight, imagination and a peculiar spiritual understanding can give the native power on many levels of consciousness. If the native insists on the lower levels of leadership he can become quite frustrated, impractical and one who misleads others to their own detriment. If an advanced individual, the gates of heaven lie open before him. A happy-go-lucky and opportunistic approach to life. TAURUS.
The practical, knowledgeable, philosophic approach to life now becomes an impractical, idealistic and imaginative approach to frustration. The point reached on the Path, is of course, the final interpreter of the use we make of this illusive planet's influence. To those who sincerely seek the way it could open the doors of understanding. Particularly an understanding of one's place in the scheme of the brotherhood of man and one's unity with the Divine whole. For are we all not brothers? As we do unto one so we do unto all god's creatures. GEMINI. The visionary Neptune finds difficulty in bringing through its true spirituality in this constellation. Mercury, its ruler, tends to insist that the image making faculties be used to confuse and confound both the native and others. Depending on the state of development this position can be used to either advance spiritually or to frustrate oneself on the material plane. Communication can be extrasensory or just simply fouled up. Gives ability to sell dreams to others and perhaps to mislead themselves as well. CANCER. The planet of imaging in the constellation of the imagina tion leads to a somewhat emotional, confused and frustrated way of life. The vague and dreamy qualities of Neptune find nothing of substance to provide a practical footing in this constellation. The emotions are constantly interfering with the ideals the native desires to bring to practical fruition. Frustration, emotionalism and an overdeveloped imagination hinder rather than help in this. A special effort must be made to take the fantasies in rein and to work hard for understanding the role of the emotions in the life. LEO. This makes either an imaginative leader or a confused and frustrated one. Which it is depends on the native's understanding of nature's laws. If the truth behind the veil of nature is penetrated he can successfully and confidently rule his own destiny and that of others. If not, then he can only lead himself, and those who depend on him for leadership, astray. The creative power must be used constructively to build your life according to nature's laws. Imagination lends scope io your outlook and could put you in the forefront of the leaders of your time. VIRGO. Virgo's ascetic, frugal, precise and orderly way of life bends, and sometimes vanishes completely under this expansive and imaginative influence. All the rules of system go before the vague and dreams of progress and success. Even the ability to communicate with others becomes somewhat of a hassle. To the truly spiritual and idealistic this brings an opportunity to uncover and reveal to others the true laws of nature. System and order on the higher levels replaces merely physical and materialistic orderliness. +
p.511
THE NOBLE EIGHTFOLD PATH 1. The holding of right attitude, at all times free from prejudice, illusion, superstition, doubts, fears, and animosities. 2. The living of the highest standard of conduct which the mind can conceive; living the truth one knows. 3. The control of speech so that it is always true, simple, gentle, and entirely honest. 4. Right conduct. Honest, just, and enlightened relationship with other living things. 5. The practice of harmlessness. To live without hurting, either by killing or injuring physically, or the causing of sorrow, either mental or emotional. 6. Perseverance in noble action. The overcoming of all of the illusional life. 7. Right thinking. The directing of the mind toward the understanding of the supreme wisdom. 8. Right meditation. The practice of the inner experience.
p.515
Modification of a Simple Vacuum Extraction Method In the Alchemical Laboratory Bulletins, Vol. II, No. 1, 1970, pages 6-7, is an interesting "Simple Vacuum Extraction Method" which when modified a little permits, by means of a very simple and cheap glass apparatus and heating source, a smoothly running reflux extraction. Efficient heating by a simple bulb is possible bypainting the inside wall of the inner stove tube white to get maximum reflection and by painting the bottom of the erlemneyer flask black to obtain maximum light absorption by the erlemneyer flask, which is converted into heat. A 50 watt lamp bulb is more than enough for a regular, gentle boiling process of about 150 cc Spiritus fermenti. The heating source is very regular, without danger of burning, and very cheap: 20 set ups with 150 mI of alcohol corresponds with 1000 watts! The circulations or extractions are started as follows: Heat the erlemneyer flask with the alcohol and the tube (but without the upper stopper) above a low burning bunsen until the vapours are leaving the tube. Do not burn the black paint at the bottom of the flask. The process of ascending vapours can easily be followed by feeling with the hand the rising heat. Once the vapours come out, remove the system quickly from above the flame. Put the rubber stopper in the tube and hold this in place with one hand while with the other hand the tube is cooled by means of a wet cloth. When the system is put above the light bulb, you will in each case have to arrange for the right distance between the bulb and the flask in order to obtain a gentle boiling. A pressure meter as used in the Bulletin article is not necessary. If the tube has a cold upper part of about 10 to 20 cm, the principle of the cold stove tube wall (from James Watt in physics) holds, which means that the vapour pressure in a closed space is determined by the temperature of the coldest wall. This one can cheek by feeling. Sometimes, the boiling process is not so smooth and regular, but if it is not too vehement, it is all right.
A) Rubber stopper B) 12mm glass tube C) Rubber stopper D) Flask bottom painted black E) Glass fibers F) 13cm, galvanized stove tube G) 50 watt bulb H) 17cm galvanized stove tube I) Lamp socket j) Wooden plank Circulations or extractions set up in this simple way can go on for weeks without control. At one time, when I worked with sophisticated apparatus in various laboratories, I never used nor had any idea of such simple techniques. I even have to admit that this technique is better than others with cooling water, vacuum pumps, thermostatically controlled heating sources, etc. And yet it is so simple. - Belgium +
Parachemy Volume VI: Number 2 Spring 1978
From the book "Softly I Answered and Said."(sic)
Contents Interviews With Frater Albertus p.522 Philosophical Mercury p.526 Pluto In The Constellations p.537 Informative Interchange: The Distillation of Volatile Oils p.540 Schamayim - back cover
p.522
Interviews With Frater Albertus
Q. Have you any real gold to work with? A. Yes. This is pure gold without any alloy. Now watch when I pour this clear liquid over it. Q. What is it? A. The philosophical mercury. Q. May I smell it? A. Yes. Q. It reminds me of something but I can't recall what right now. A. Now watch it. (The philosophical mercury was poured over some gold.) Q. It dissolves it all right. But it is getting darker. It is not a gold color anymore! Why is that? A. It is a very strong colloidal gold solution. Q. What now? A. This is your Potable Gold. A few drops in a glass of wine will do the trick. Q. You mean this is the real potable gold? A. Yes. That is it. Q. Well, I'll be darned. That reminds me about something else. I understand you were in a film made in Australia. Does that show what I just saw here? A. No. The film you refer to was made in Melbourne, Australia, but it dealt with the theoretical aspects of astrology, cycles, and some alchemy. There was no laboratory alchemy involved. Q. What about this film. Has it been shown in the U.S.A.? A. Not that I know of. Actually, it was funded by the Australian Government. I understand that before it was completed with the technical things, such as background music and illustrative matters, it did not emerge finished from the cutting room, because a change of Government or some sort of governmental change did cut off the final financial subsidy. I have not heard again from Stephens Productions in Melbourne what has become of it. Q. What was the title of this movie? A. Hora Shastri, which loosely translated means the science of time (or the hours).
Q. It would be interesting to know what became of it, especially since in the recent issue of PHENOMENA, the Canadian Bulletin of Astrological News & Information, a lengthy interview with you was published that deals with astrology and alchemy. To me, it is interesting to see how these two are lately becoming mentioned in the same breath. A. I am rather reluctant to give interviews because when these are published or aired they are not always what was said or indicated. There were, for instance, some interviews over the German National Radio Network in Stuttgart with a, reporter asking questions from Frankfurt which I answered from the Stuttgart Radio Station, a two-way unrehearsed question and answer sesslon. It was amazing to hear how questions can be put just to purposely entrap one to suit a reporter's fancy. After this broadcast, I was asked twice to go to the studio for live and, as I said, unrehearsed sessions. The end result was that the reporter asked questions that were aimed quite frankly to ridicule but certainly not to assist the media to get a fair appraisal of things under question. A similar incident happened during the 1973 Alchemistical Convention in Germany when television equipment was moved into the Hotel Zeppelin at Stuttgart so I could give a televised interview. The reporter or quizmaster, if you will, did ask prior to the interview with myself some of the people who were attending some questions. One should remember that many people came to hear and see what was going on during the three days of lectures, etc., so not everyone was conversant with the subject, at least sufficiently to answer all questions. Anyway, when it came to the actual telecast with me, the same thing happened as in the previous interviews mentioned. Catch questions were put to me that were not found in the outline shown to me and what I was supposedly to be asked so that I could answer as I saw fit. There were also some taped interviews during the convention from radio stations in other cities. Some told me later, who had heard these broadcasts, that some were accurate while others always had some changes made. Q. I have to mention again to you the book, "The Occult Explosion" by Friedman, who starts his book by saying that you are teaching in a two week course how to transmute lead into gold. A. Forgive me when I have to sigh as I do. You know, it is people like you've mentioned who do give a black eye to alchemy. I have never given Nat Friedman an interview, nor have I met the man. This shows you how one can get entangled in things one does not know anything about. Q. Maybe there are things said or written about you that can hurt your cause. A. Maybe? Someone showed me an article in a well known German magazine where the writer whom I had met in Vienna referred to me, but this time in all sincerity, as "Der Weise von Utah" - "The Sage of Utah." This I resent just as emphatically. Can't you see, the media has a difficult time to hold its balance. And then they wonder why I am reluctant to give interviews.
Alchemy is described by Paracelsus as an art in which Vulcan (the fire of Nature) is the active artist. By this art the pure is separated from the impure, and things are made to grow out of primordial matter (A'kasa). Alchemy renders perfect what Nature has left imperfect, and purifies all things by the power of the spirit that is contained in them. PARACELSUS by Franz Hartmann, M.D.
Philosophical Mercury The two words which make up the title of this treatise have caused much controversy for thousands of years. There are many scholars who vehemently deny even the possibility of the existence of such a substance and they ridicule and deride any person who would entertain such ideas. Other people "believe" that the mercury of the philosophers exists but have no certain knowledge one way or the other, rather they rely on the opinions of others expressed verbally or in the many books which deal with this elusive substance. Again, others have actively sought the "mercury" but for some reason have not found it and have in due course lost their belief in its existence. To those who successfully persevere comes a happiness which they are hardly able to express, and the door opens to far wider vistas. The sages agree that of the three kingdoms only in one is the true mercury found, that of the mineral kingdom. In order to discuss the prep aration of the mercury a discussion of the manner of formation of metals and minerals is a necessary precursor. Here is a brief extract of Basil Valentine: "Let me tell you, then, that all metals and all minerals grow in the same way from the same root, and that thus all metals have a common origin. This first principle is a mere vapour extracted from the elementary earth through the heavenly planets, and, as it were, divided by the side real distillation of the Macrocosmos. This sidereal hot infusion, descending from on high into those things which are below, with the aero-sulphureous property, so acts and works as to engraft on them in a spiritual and invisible manner a certain strength and virtue. This vapour afterwards resolves itself in the earth into a kind of water, and out of this mineral water all metals are generated and perfected. The mineral vapour becomes this or that metal according as one or the other of the three first principles predominates, i.e., according as they have much or little mercury, sulphur, or salt, or an unequal mixture of their weights. Hence, some metals are fixed, and some are not fixed; some are permanent and unchangeable; some are volatile and variable, as you may see in gold, silver, copper, iron, tin, and lead. "Besides these metals, other minerals are generated from these three principles; according to the proportion of the ingredients, we have vitriol, antimony, marcasite, electrum, and many other minerals. "In its very first astrum, or star, and its first substance, gold has more perfect sulphur, and more perfect mercury than the other metals and minerals. Hence its operative virtue is much stronger and more po tent, as it is also more efficacious than the stars of the other metals." It is clear to see that in order to make the perfect philosophical mercury, gold then is the best substance to begin with. Unfortunately, there are two major drawbacks when using gold. The first is the expense and the second is the difficulty in actually separating the three principles of gold. Silver, the next most perfect metal has similar difficulties. even if not quite to the same degree. The other metals (Cu, Fe, Pb, Hg, Sn), are less expensive and easier to work with.
However, the mercury contained therein is much less pure and perfect than that of gold. It would seem then that the search for the philosophical mercury is not an easy one. Fortunately, there is a solution. If the mercury from one of the less perfect metals is obtained and this then is purified and perfected, then a philosophical mercury would be obtained. This is the method by which the author has obtained the mercury from Pb, Cii and Hg. Prepare the salt of the metal you wish to work with according to art. (This can be found in many books which write of the Stone of the Philosophers.) Then effect a separation of the three principles by means of Vulcan.
The apparatus shown in the illustration was found to be effective in this separation. A is the reaction vessel containing the prepared salt. B is the heating mantle contoured to fit A and to provide even heat. C is a receiver where first the phlegm and then the Sulphur is collected after being cooled by condensor D. E is a still head. F is a coil of glass tubing running into a receiver. G is a beaker supporting the coil and receiver, and containing acetone in which is dissolved dry ice (frozen CO2) the mixture of which will create a temperature of - 80o Celsius. The volatile mercury will be driven through the condenser but it is so volatile that it will not be condensed (a white fume or smoke will be seen to pass through the still head), but rather will be condensed by the extreme cold of the acetone dry ice mixture. The oil (or sulphur) will be collected in C, since it will be condensed (for the most part) by condenser D. The salt will remain in A except for those salts which are sublimed during the separation. Make certain that these are collected and retained since they have been elevated and hence considerably purified.
The mercury then is distilled very slowly seven to ten times. If all the operations have been completed successfully, the Mercury of the Philosophers will be obtained. This mercury, when combined with the purified sulphur and salt, will yield (in due time) the true king of medicine. The above purified mercury will also dissolve the body of gold to prepare the wondrous aurum potable. It is interesting to note that when a thermometer is placed in the still head, the temperature will not go above 35o Celcius during the whole operation. This indicates that the substance passing over is indeed very volatile. When a further distillation is effected, the temperature in the still head (i.e. the boiling point of the liquid) will probably be below 30oCelcius. Eventually it will distill at room temperature, 20o-25o Celcius, 68o-77o Fahrenheit. Since the mercury will boil at this temperature, it is ESSENTIAL that the vessel containing the mercury is carefully and tightly sealed or it will no longer be in your possession. Also, when the 7-10 distillations are being performed, great care must be taken to prevent losses of the mercury. It can literally disappear without the operator being aware of its passing until it is too late. If an ice bath (i.e. place the receiver in a dish half filled with ice and a little water) is used to cool the receiver when doing these distillations, there is less chance of large losses. Once this elusive substance has been obtained, it would be very disappointing to have it disappear into "thin air." So take a little care. When preparing the cooling solution considerable diligence must be employed. Place the receiver into the beaker and then half fill the beaker with acetone. Place a small piece of dry ice (about the size of a cork) into the acetone and considerable bubbling will ensue. If too much dry ice is added, the acetone will most likely bubble up and out of the beaker. Rather, hold the small piece of dry ice with a pair of tongs (your fingers would suffer severe frostbite) just below the surface of the acetone until it dissolves. Repeat this process until the temperature reaches - 70o to- 80o Celcius as measured by a thermometer. In all likelihood it will not be possible to run this system under vacuum because pressure will build up. This will mean some loss of spirit. However, because the separation can be effected on pounds of salt so that several ounces of spirit and sulphur may be obtained in the space of about 9-12 hours, this will not be a major problem. There are many other facets of this whole process which could be examined in detail, but since you can't make a horse drink even after leading him to water, what has been said will be sufficient. A little care, patience, and practice is all that is needed to achieve your goal. Remember, all things come to he or she who is patient, but if you sit on your posterior it will take a long time!
p.537
Pluto In The Constellations By Carl W. Stahl Pluto is the planet of beginnings and endings. As with everything, this can be viewed from two points of view. Here we are concerned with the physical (etheric or astral) and the spiritual (creative mind). To the spiritually oriented person the physical death or transition is really rebirth and escape from a prison composed of a body of clay, feelings and mental gyrations which apparently lead nowhere and have no apparent real purpose. To the one who enjoys the physical, emotional and mental experiences, or believes it is all there is to existence, death is, of course, a calmaity. An ending to all that is and might have been. Pluto is the planet of Cosmic Consciousness. Those strongly under its influence eventually reach a point where they come "eyeball to eyeball" in confrontation with themselves. They see themselves as they are; not necessarily separating from this experience with feelings of pride, nor with the knowledge of a job well done. Although this also may be one of the results of the illumination you obtain when this happens. Once this Super Conscious state has been reached all knowledge is at the disposal of the Soul. The natal Pluto also represents man's anti-social attitude, his desire to be free from all ties to others. The Pluto strong person tries to live a secluded existence free from interference from all mankind. Pluto aspecting the Moon brings shyness into relations with women and in the sexual act. With the Sun the native seeks seclusion rather than fame and his most creative moments occur in solitude. With Mercury a need to contemplate in solitude and his best work is done in seclusion. With Venus a desire for a spiritual love. With Mars there is rebellion against the establishment. With Jupiter the native expands his inner horizons through contemplation and meditation. With Saturn strict discipline and denial may lead to the source of inner illumination. With Uranus solitude and seclusion may illuminate the mind and release inner knowledge, thus expanding the horizons while appearing to withdraw from life. With Neptune imagination and understanding of the real behind the apparent could be a result of meditation. Remember that the planet which is closest to an angle of the chart is the planet whose influence colors the nature of the planet aspected. KEYWORDS. Beginnings, endings, birth, death, divorce, a singling out process, detachment, isolation, antisocial attitude, miracles, the unexpected. LIBRA. Pluto puts a damper on the native's social life except for those in which solitude and detachment from the general public are concerned. He may meet with a selected few to study the laws of nature and -hare a restricted ideal of love and brotherhood. Because of his desire for solitude he could be very difficult to get along with, brushing off all attempts of others to share his life and his studies. An abstract love would be easier for this person to relate to than a one to one situation. SCORPIO.
Pluto here makes the native a born rebel. Though he may fight for an ideal or a cause he does so alone. It is against his nature to join with groups and when forced to do so he breaks off the association as soon as possible. This is the sign of the born guerrilla fighter whether to aid society or to fight it. His tactics are "hit and run." When confined, whether by actual walls or by circumstances, his first instinct is to escape, by brute force if necessary. SAGITTARIUS. Because of Pluto here you will tend to be less boisterous and expansive than is normal for this constellation. You will have high ideals and will attempt to live up to them but you will do so in the solitude of your own home and the silence of your own heart. The usual easy going comradeship of Sagittarius will be lacking in your makeup, and you may even be considered sullen and taciturn. Illumination is possible when you learn to look within for the answers you seek. CAPRICORN. Pluto here brings an intense desire for solitude, a need to keep separate from others. If the restrictions of everyday living become too frustrating you will seek freedom through rebellion and further withdrawal within yourself. Capricorn usually accepts hard work and restriction as a way of life. Pluto brings a desire for freedom, hence the native is in a constant struggle between the world and his spiritual aspirations. A struggle between soul and matter. AQUARIUS. The concentrative energy of this constellation and the withdrawal of Pluto create an ideal situation for the attainment of Cosmic Consciousness. The native's actions appear abrupt and eccentric to others. The craving for solitude to attain spiritual illumination could become such an obsession that every effort will be made to keep others at arms length. Ability to acquire an understanding of nature's laws and the further ability to put them to practical use. PISCES. The usual easy going acceptance of others and a desire for the social life is lacking here. The native seeks seclusion and quietness in order to attain his spiritual and religious ends. By the aid of ritual and meditation great strides in development of the soul personality are made. Pluto here seeks to reveal the truth as he sees it, rather than concealing it under the veil of superstition. Expansion of the idealistic side of the nature. ARIES. Power and leadership always bring about isolation from those led, but Pluto here makes this almost an obsession. The Arian reluctance to associate itself with those having more ability than themselves here extends to all mankind. They rebel at all restriction. Their only desire is to be free hence they seek to set themselves above all others. Where this is impossible they must ever be in a state of rebellion to attain this end.
TAURUS. Venus unites, Pluto separates. The native is constantly seeking to overcome this division. Inwardly he seeks companionship and understanding from others but because he also seeks solitude and freedom from restriction he rebuffs those who seek to contact and who might help him. Both would be friends and lovers are rebuffed by this anti-social attitude. Peace comes only when the native turns inward and beholds the wonders of all creation within himself. GEMINI. Native has the ability to communicate on the higher levels. Thought transference and projection are distinct possibilities. But it must be kept on an impersonal level for the presence or involvement of too many brings up the native's defences and he withdraws into the solitude of his own soul, shutting out those he might otherwise benefit or communicate with to the advantage of both. CANCER. To the already sensitive and imaginative native of Cancer, Pluto brings a desire for solitude which makes the native even more touchy and his feelings more easily hurt. He finds persecution where only friendship was intended. Resentment against the home environment and against the restriction of everyday life is a constant irritation making the native brusk, moody and rebellious. They may attempt to flee to the ends of the earth to escape boredom only to flee back again when there they find the same boredom, not knowing that the fault is within them. LEO. Pluto here, because it separates the native from others, becomes rebellion against authority as well as against all those who would share his lot in life. Born to rule, he fights against the restriction of ruling as strongly as he fights again all involvement. He seeks to withdraw from all that might interfere with his solitude. Sun, ruler of Leo, brings illumination and the native, when he discovers this, easily attains it by simply withdrawing into silent meditation. VIRGO. Pluto here increases the shyness and retiring nature of the native. Their feeling of embarrassment is even more acute. They suffer a feeling of humiliation and shame that is usually wholly imaginary. Properly used, this position of Pluto brings the ability to tune in on higher planes. ESP is a distinct possibility if natal aspects assist. Knowledge and the ability to put it to practical use are here indicated once the native overcomes his shyness and anti-social attitude toward others.
Know that our Mercury is before the eyes of all men, though it is known to few. When it is prepared, its splendour is most admirable; but the sight is vouchsafed to none, save the sons of
knowledge. Do not despise it, therefore, when you see it in sordid guise; for if you do, you will never accomplish our Magistry and if you can change its countenance, the transformation will he glorious. For our water is a most pure virgin, and is loved of many, but meets all her wooers in foul garments, in order that she may be able to distinguish the worthy from the unworthy. Our beautiful maiden abounds in inward hidden graces; unlike the immodest woman who meets her lover, in splendid garments. To those who do not despise her foul exterior, she then appears in all her beauty, and brings them an infinite dower of riches and health. Our Queen is pure above measure, and her splendour like that of a celestial being - and so indeed she is called by the Sages, who also style her their quintessence. Her brilliancy is such as baffles imagination, and, if you would have any idea of it, you must see it with your own eyes. Our water is serene, crystalline, pure, and beautiful though it can assume its true form only through the aid of our Art. In that form it is our sea, our hidden fountain, from which gold derives it birth by natural descent; yet it is also stronger than gold, and overcomes it, wherefore gold is united to it, and is washed in it, and the two together grow up into a strong hero, whorn neither Pope nor Emperor can buy for a price. Hence you should, above all things, seek this water, by means of which (wth the solitary addition of a clean and perfect body) the Stone may be prepared. - THE FOUNT OF CHEMICAL TRUTH by Philalethes
p.540
Informative Interchange The Distillation of Volatile Oils The same technique given for circulations and extractions in Informative Interchange, pg. 515, of the Winter issue of Parachemy Volume VI; Number 1 may be used for the distillation of volatile liquids, when there is only one volatile liquid and the residue is a viscous oil or solid.
A distillation in a retort above a 60 watt bulb goes slow, without risk of overheating, and is very regular. The vacuum in it is always based on the same principle: the driving out of air by the vapors of the liquid which is to be distilled. The distillation of alcohol from a viscous non-volatile oil is started as follows: The mixture (100 ml.) is put in a 250 ml. retort. In the receiving vessel, which is tightly fitted by means of a rubber stopper to the sidearm of the retort, there is placed 20 to 30 ml. of alcohol. This alcohol has to be heated by a smooth flame. Do not heat brutally but start caressing the vessel with the flame until a strong boiling begins. Then you will see that the vapors rise gradually in the sidearm and that
the condensating alcohol drops back into the vessel so that the temperature of the sidearm increases. (See the direction of the arrows in the diagram.) The vapors will fill the retort, which looks like a drizzle. The alcohol in the vessel has to boil until the walls, including the neck of the retort, will show condensating alcohol and the wall feels hot when touched. In the meantime, the retort should stay above the heating light. Once this stage is finished, remove the flame quickly. Put the stopper on the retort while the other hand cools the receiving vessel and sidearm by means of a wet cloth. After a short time, the distillation will start. The rate of the distillation may be controlled by the power of the light, the distance between the light and the retort. A dry cloth placed around the retort will increase the distillation rate. Usually, the rate of distillation is controlled to distill 5 to 10 drops a minute. There are about 20 drops in a ml. If, for instance, 10 drops needs one minute, one needs 200 minutes or approximately 3 hours for 100 ml. In the meantime, you can sleep upon both ears . . . that is, the distillation will work perfectly well without assistance. Fine oils of metals can be obtained using this simple technique. - Belgium
back cover
Schamayim In alchemy there are three symbolic substances: mercury, sulphur, and salt. To these was added a fourth mysterious life principle called Azoth. Concerning the first three, Herr von Welling has written: "There are three basic chemical substances which are called by the philosophers salt, sulphur, and mercury, but which are not to be confounded in any way with the crude salt, sulphur, and mercury taken from the earth or secured from the apothecary. Salt, sulphur, and mercury each has a triune nature, for each of these substances contains, in reality, also the other two substances, according to the secret arcanum of the wise. The body of salt is, therefore, threefold, namely salt, sulphur, and mercury; but in the body of salt one of the three (salt) predominates. Mercury is likewise composed of salt, sulphur, and mercury with the latter element predominating. Sulphur, similarly, is actually salt, sulphur, and mercury, with sulphur predominating. These nine divisions - 3 times 3, plus Azoth (the mysterious universal life force) equals 10, the sacred decad of Pythagoras. Concerning the nature of Azoth there is much controversy. Some view it as the invisible, eternal fire; others as electricity; still others as magnetism. Transcendentalists refer to it as the astral light. "The Universe is surrounded by the sphere of the stars. Beyond that sphere is the sphere of Schamayim, which is the Divine fiery water, the first outflow of the Word of God, the flaming river pouring from the presence of the Eternal. Schamayim, the fiery androgynous water, divides. The fire becomes the solar fire and the water becomes the lunar water. Schamayim is the universal mercury - sometimes called Azoth - the measureless spirit of life. The spiritual fiery original water Schamayim comes through Eden (in Hebrew, vapor) and pours itself into four
main rivers (the elements). This is the river of living water - Azoth (the fiery mercurial essence) that flows out from the throne of God and the Lamb. In this Eden (vaporous essence or mist) is the spiritual earth (incomprehensible and intangible), or the dust Aphar, out of which God formed Adam min Haadamah, the spiritual body of man, which body must sometime become revealed." From THE SECRET TEACHINGS OF ALL AGES by Manly Palmer Hall, pg. CLV.
Parachemy Volume VI: Number 3 Summer 1978
Harmonious Conception of the Light of Nature - The Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Centuries.
Why Alchemy? p.548 Dephlegmated Spirit of Wine p.557 Questions and Answers p.562 p.548
Why Alchemy? Let us ask a few more questions: Why isn't the Alchemical Practice evident in the lives of those students who purport to practice this art? What secret ingredient, if any, is missing? And how is it to be applied? Where is one to find this thing that makes the Alchemical Practice possible? Is it to be found near at hand or far away? These and other questions are exemplary of a student's confusion in the maze called Alchemy.
First of all, one must clear up the bafflement that exists between the terms "spagyric" and "alchemy." For those who are not aware of the term "spagyric" it means "to separate the pure from the impure." On the face of it, many are already aware of this term and its meaning, but only in an impersonal way. Assuredly, some have made attempts to separate a tincture into its parts, the menstruum and that which it contains. This generalized practice of separating substances into degrees of purity is useful throughout the field of chemistry. We are, however, purporting to go much further than this simplified generalization. All too many students cannot distinguish between that which is pure and the impure which hides It. We have arrived at what may be called the seed crux which determines the success or failure in this our quest. This bestowed ability is, if we may use the term, the missing secret ingredient which determines our progress. Unless the student is able to ascertain exactly what it is that is pure, how is he or she to know what is impure? It follows that simple observation, book reading, or instruction is not enough. All too many have had years of exposure to the three methods mentioned and are still not able to apply a clear, accurate judgment on this issue. We would propose that it is the inability to ascertain exactly what it is that is pure as a reason so many fail in their effort to commence a true beginning. Here we can have a play on words by asking, "Have you been able to separate the truth from what is false?" The Hermetic Philosophers all agree on the importance of this singular point - of separating true from false. It is useless for us to begin an alchemical effort unless we are able to distinguish between these two. In the last analysis, the life of the student must reflect this ability of separation. Once the student can differentiate the one from the other, then he or she may set about the alchemical practice. There is, however, one fly in the ointment: one must be able to consistently choose the true in preference to the false. We have now arrived at the point of personal involvement and must begin this effort of separation upon ourselves before it can be applied in an objective, alchemical way. This is a totally personal experience which is possible only by way of inspiration. It is upon this one point the Hermetical Philosophers are adamant. The truth or falseness of this statement, too, will become evident by spagyric application of a personal nature. As an example of our discussion, we may use astrology. In these times, most are somewhat familiar with this practice. We pose the following question: If one were to apply the spagyric principle to astrology, which is the true procedure as opposed to the false? Can one tell if there a difference between all the methods as they have been presented from so many diverse sources? How is one to know the True Way when students are confronted by so many different ways? When one is exposed to the truth, will he or she even recognize it as such? Even more to the point, will the one so exposed be able to accept it as such? It is for these reasons that we propose a serious personal search - a re-search - on the part of each one, to be conducted within their own house. If our lives fail to reflect an inspired scrutiny of all that which comes before us and
instead the waters become more and more murky, we have some proof that we are not working spagyrically. There are many books on the subject of alchemy, available in every so-called occult bookstore. A brief perusal of most of these editions quickly reveals that the authors are dealing with this subject from the mental aspect, not realizing there is a corresponding physical polarity. Is there one book covering the mental side that treats this subject from the spagyric point of view? Are instructions given as to how to proceed to a recognition of that which is useful? Are the guides given infallible? We have asked some rather pointed questions to caution students and interested parties that there is something wrong with our inner spagyric application if what has been separated proves to be useless to us. Correct judgment is mostly impossible under the burden of so much diverse material; and, if we are to reorient our lives, we will have to know how and what to separate out. In time, our true self will emerge - no longer burdened by the debris of every imaginable sort, accumulated from all corners of our personal experience with life. Many students run from one subject to another not realizing they are involuntarily increasing their burdens rather than removing them. Some may find objection to our usage of good, bad, clean, evil, etc. However this may be, we are following the time-honored tradition that has been set forth by the Hermetic Philosophers of old. A quote from the Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, Volume 1, Page 20, by A. E. Waite will serve our purpose. "The last age shall be illuminated clearly and compensated for all its losses by the gift of grace and the reward of The Spirit of Truth, in the meantime, Vice will not be able to suppress Good." Nature is constantly in the process of spagyrically separating the useful from that which is not so. If this were not the case, then our first meal of the day would also be our last, as only that which is useful can be of service to our body. This is Why Alchemy will teach us discernment and we shall in time be able to reject evil for good, the impure for the pure.
p.557
Dephlegmated Spirit of Wine I take this occasion to acquaint you with the way I employ to obtain dephlegmed spirit of wine; especially since the practice of the common way of frequent rectifications is (not to mention other inconveniences) wont to prove either exceeding tedious, or insufficient. Put then about an inch thick of tartar calcined to whiteness (for I find it not necessary to reduce it to a salt) and very dry, into the bottom of a tall and slender glass body, and pour on it as much spirit of wine, that has been but once rectified, as will, when they have been shaken together, swim above the tartar a finger's breadth (more or less in proportion to the tartar you put in) and then the head and receiver being carefully fastened on again, in a gentle heat draw off the spirit of wine, shifting if you please the receiver, when about half is come over, and if need be, rectifying once more all
that you distil upon dry calx of tartar as before. Whether or no you may meet with this method in some chymical books, I know not: but it seems, that either it has not been clearly taught, or has been proposed by suspecting authors, or else among other processes, by being found in whose company it has been discredited. For the most ancient and experienced distillers I have met with, have either contented themselves to follow the common way of repeated rectifications, though thereby they lose much time, and much spirit of wine; or else have had recourse to peculiar vessels of such a height, as besides that they are neither easily nor cheaply to be procured, do not, as far as I have hitherto seen, excuse the need of reiterated rectifications. Whereas, when we considered, that the fixed salt of tartar readily imbibes aqueous bodies, and that yet it will not at all mix with pure spirit of wine, it was easy to conclude, that the phlegmatic part of the spirit of wine would be soaked up by the alcalizate salt, whereby the inflammable part would be freed from it. And accordingly when we proceeded after the manner above prescribed, we found, that the liquor, that was produced upon the first rectification from the salt, being fired in a warm silver-spoon, did not leave behind it one drop of phlegm, or so much as the least moisture upon the spoon; nay, and indeed did endure a severer examen, to which for curiosity's sake we thought fit to put it. And when the distillation was carefully made, we found by frequently (for trial-sake) shifting the receiver, that all the spirit that ascended was (to sense) equally pure, since that which came up last of all, even till the calx seemed to begin to grow dry, by beginning to cleave at the top, did bum all away, as well as that which came over first. And having for further trial taken out the calcined tartar, and distilled it with a good fire, it yielded us pretty store of a nauseous and strongly scented liquor, which seemed to be but phlegm, both to the taste, and by its not being at all inflammable, though carefully tried. The same calx of tartar being kept in some earthen vessel upon the fire till it be well dried, which will require a good heat, may be employed more than once in this operation. And it was not needlesly that we prescribed bodies tall and slender; for we found not the experiment to succeed in large and low ones, and much less in retorts, in which the phlegm is wont to rise together with the spirit; yet we found, that provided the distillation were made with a sufficiently mild heat, a glass, though very broad, and but moderately high, would serve the turn so far, as that the first half that ascended (the other being very weak) proved a spirit, that in a silver-spoon would burn perfectly all away. And because white calx of tartar is sometimes not so easy to be procured, we will add, that we have for trialsake sometimes substituted quicklime, or salt of pot-ashes (made by a single solution, filtration, and coagulation) with no bad success, especially in case of removing the receiver before the ascension of the last part of the liquor, though even that itself has sometimes from quick-lime come up inflammable enough. And therefore this alcohol of wine we peculiarly call the alcalizate spirit of wine; and the rather, because spiritus vini tartarizatus, which perhaps may be thought the properest name for it, is employed by eminent chymical writers to signify a different thing. And a practicable way of making such an alcalized and pure spirit of wine we thought not unfit to teach you here once for all, in regard the menstruum is so highly useful, not only for tinctures, extracts, and many other chymical operations, but in the making of divers philosophical experiments, and particularly some of those, which you may meet with in our writings. And an eminently ingenious person (but to me a stranger) chancing to get sight of this essay, was pleased to give me thanks for this last part of it; because, though he had very often made use of salt of tartar to improve spirit of wine, yet he did it before, not to dephlegm the weaker liquor, but to acuate the strong with the alcali: which though I deny not to be a thing feasible, yet (as I told him) unless it be skilfully attempted, the highly rectified liquor, that is poured on, will rather leave some of its most spiritous parts behind, than carry up so fixed a salt.1
If it were proposed to free weak spirit of wine, or aqua vitae, from a great part of its phlegm, the generality of distillers would think it not to be effected but by the help of fire and a furnace, an alembick, or some other distillatory vessels; and yet, without the help of any of an these instruments, I have sometimes taken pleasure to dephlegm brandy (as they call weak spirits of wine of the first distillation) only by putting it into salt of tartar. For considering the faculty this alkalizate body has to attract (as men commonly speak) or imbibe the aqueous particles that swim in the air, and resolve itself, with them into that liquor that the chymists call oil of tartar per deliquium, there seemed sufficient reason to expect, that the same salt, being put very dry into phlegmatick spirit of wine, would embody with the phlegmatick parts, with which, if it were not over-charged, it would probably keep them separate from the more spirituous liquor; since such oil of tartar as I have just now mentioned, and dephlegmed spirit of wine, will swim upon one another without mixing; and accordingly, I have sometimes taken pleasure, by putting a sufficient proportion of dry salt of tartar into brandy, and leaving it there for some time (for the experiment will, to be completed, require some while) to make some separation of a great part of the phlegm, which by degrees dissolving the salt, will reduce again part of it into a liquor that will keep its surface distinct from that of its supernatant spirit, and if confounded therewith, by the shaking of the glass, would speedily part from it, and regain its own station; and if you would have a separation of the phlegm begin to appear quickly, you may compass what you intend, by tying up a convenient quantity of dry salt of tartar in a dry rag of linen cloth, and immersing it a little while in the brandy, and then lifting it up a little above the liquor; for the phlegmatick parts being copiously imbibed in the salt, which will be thereby resolved into a ponderous liquor, will in drops (whose descent will be distinguishable enough, if the glass be held against the light) fall to the bottom of the spirit of wine. And lest you should suspect, that this descent comes not from their weight, but from the force they acquire in falling through the air, you may keep the rag immersed beneath the surface of the liquor, and yet may perceive the efflux and subsidence of the lixivium. we have been speaking of.2 These instances bring into my mind another chymical experiment, that I have seen made by the same gentleman, which was, that by putting into weak spirit of wine a sufficient quantity of salt of tartar, he quickly dephlegmed the spirit without distillation, or so much as heat. And this will the better illustrate the Cartesian explication, because it is manifest, by the change that will be made of the most part of salt of tartar into a liquor, that will not mix with the now dephlegmed spirit of wine, that the reason for the operation is, that the aqueous particles of the phlegmatick spirit, finding, it seems, more convenience, or facility, to continue their motion among the fixed corpuscles of the salt, than the vinous ones of the spirit, pass into the alkaly, and dissolve it; and thereby desert the liquor, through which they were diffused before. And I know another saline body, that so unites with water, as not to be, by the eye, distinguishable from it, and yet is of such a texture, that water is so much less disposed to mingle with it, than with spirit of wine itself, that it will forsake the body it kept in agitation, to pass into this spirit; and so leave that which it kept in the form of a liquor before, to appear in the form of a consistent body; which instance comes from what nearer, than the former, to the experiment of glaciation.3 And to let you see, Pyrophilus, by one plain, and yet noble instance, that the knowledge of the specific qualities of things, skilfully applied to preparations, may perform, with ease, what neither costly materials, nor elaborate processes are able to effect; give me leave to inform you, that, whereas chymists and physicians have not been able by infusing the true glass of antimony
(made per se) in spirit of wine, or the richest cordial liquors, nor yet by torturing it after several tedious and artificial manners, to deprive it of its emetick quality; that vomitive faculty, of antimonial glass, may be corrected by so slight a way, as that of digesting it with pure spirit of vinegar, till the menstruum be highly tinged. For if you gently abstract all the liquor, and on the remaining yellow or red powder you digest well dephlegmated spirit of wine; you may after a while obtain a noble and not emetick tincture; of which though Basilius Valentinus prescribes but five or six drops for a dose, yet a domestick of mine having, out of curiosity, taken to the quantity of thirty drops at a time, he found it not at all vomitive. And this tincture we the rather mention, because, not only Basilius Valentinus, but other skillful persons, highly extol it for several diseases.4 1-Extract from The Works of the Honourable Robert Boyle (1627-1691), Vol. I, Pages 332, 333, London ~CLXXII (1772). 2 Ibid., Vol. Ill, Page 462. 3 Ibid., Vol. Ill, Page 749 4 Ibid., Vol. II, Pages 146, 147.
p.562
Questions and Answers Q. Is Sal Gammae ever used in the Greater Work? If so, please explain. A. Sal Gammae is rock salt as it comes out of the mines. A stone can also be made from it but should not be confused with the "great work." Q. In case of ferrous sulfate crystals that we calcine to red giving the crocus of iron, if these are obtained from a chemical supply, are these dead? A. If made from common iron, like cast iron, etc., yes. Q. If they are dead, what is an efficient method to come up with an aliveness in them? Is it not possible to revivify these commercially made dead salts? A. Yes, with an alkahest. Q. After they are calcined to the red, then extracted, washed, then distilled, would the mercury obtained from the sulphurous earth be alive enough to revivify the dead earth, thereby making what was dead alive by art? Or must a virgin substance be the only way to obtain an alive substance? A. Yes.
Q. It seems that the saying that nothing is destroyed by fire, only substance is purified, applies here. That is, if one takes a dead salt or crystal in this case, opens it, purifies it, reduces it to its first matter by distillation, this, when returned to earth, is revivified? A. No. Q. We take an acetate, distill the acetic off (flash evaporator) under vacuum. The sulphur thickens to a heavy oil consistency. Evaporation is stopped. Distilled water is added and evaporation by distillation is resumed. This is again taken to the thick oil state. More distilled water is added. Now, the pH increases towards neutral. Here is the first question: When the smell changes from the acetic smell to the individual smell of the sulphur (that is, lead acetate smells different than the antimony acetate), how can we tell when to stop? In the case of the antimony, it begins to smell like the vinegar of antimony instead of acetic. A. When you get the pH 7, or close to it, then stop. Q. How can we be sure we haven't "distilled the strength out of it" besides the smell? A. By testing its solvency on other substances of a similar nature. Q. The distillate from the distilled water washing smells like the vinegar of antimony. Is it the same? If it is, then one would then separate the salts from this water by distillation and by repeated distillation we would sharpen the water? A. Yes. Q. When the sulphur is dry, as in Basil, one circulates this sulphur with K.M. until the golden tincture shows. This will come over when the K.M. and the sulphur have been amalgamated (as the Old Ones say). Is the purpose here to make the fixed volatile? A. As you put it, yes. Q. Can you omit the K.M. circulation altogether and then distill? A. Yes, but the result will not be the same. Q. When you take this washed acetate with KM, distill the K.M. off, and slowly raise the heat, first comes a clear water, very sharp (we will call this #1). Then comes a golden colored oil (we will call this #2). The #1 is clear in all the example experiments. The #2 is not always the same color but varies according to what sulphur we are using. Is the first one (#1) what is called the lunar water and the second (#2) the alchemical sulphur? A. The first no, #2 part of it. Q. The two together making philosophical gold (from antimony in this case). The remaining earth is now black. To purify this earth and to purify the mercury, do we grind the earth and put
back the distillates together on the earth and distill under vacuum to purify - or do we just use #1 water alone to accomplish the whitening of the earth? Is there a leaching process useful here? It seems that putting all three together is more like the herbal work. A. The two mentioned above do not make the philosophical gold. The great work is similar to the little work as all three have to be used. Q. So far in my experiments, the two waters have been kept separate #1 and #2). Is the #1 water the useless phlegm the Old Ones talk of? I think not, but it seems like it could be just chemical water, that is, as opposed to the physical water that would be left from the washing. A. # 1 yes. Q. Do we have to circulate the acetate or sulphur with KM? What do we get if we just distill the sulphur when it is washed and dry? Without circulating it first? A. We don't get the same result. Q. The unfixed oil of antimony was made with acetone. Evaporated all the acetone. Added spirit of wine (200 proof). When this is evaporated to a thick solid oil and then distilled, you get an oil. Can you help me see the difference between the distilled oil just mentioned and the tincture in the spirit of wine? Especially in respect to dose. Understanding, of course, that these are potent things, would it still be a fixed oil? Is the difference that of a tincture and an alchemical oil? Is this again the philosophical gold (the distilled oil)? A. The tincture has the oil in solution. They are not fixed and it is not the philosophical gold. Q. The acetic acid that is removed from the acetate, if the substance started with was a virgin ore, would you then have a strong mineral vinegar, as Basil calls for? Or is that which he refers to the vinegar of antimony? Can you use this, the acetic acid removed from the acetate, when Basil calls for a strong mineral vinegar? A. It is neither. Q. What is the difference between the vinegar of antimony and the two waters #1 and #2? Is it only that one is fixed and the other unfixed? It seems that the distilled oil is very volatile, not as the vinegar of antimony. Is it that one is the Alcahest of antimony (vinegar) and the other the Mercury? Basil calls the oil distilled from antimony the quintessence. Is the quintessence the same as the mercury? A. The vinegar of antimony is prepared differently and is fixed and fixes what it comes in contact with. The Alkahest and Mercury are the same. The quintessence of antimony is its oil. Q. What is the medicinal value of Oil and Vinegar of Uranium? A. Not established.
Q. What precautions against radiation are necessary when performing alchemical experiments with Uranium ore? A. Those required by Federal Regulations. Q. Since coal is a fossil fuel of primarily vegetable matter, the radical vegetable menstruum will obviously suffice to separate its principles. The resultant Elixir, under Saturn, would clearly be useful for treating diseases of the skeletal system. Would the Vegetable Stone made from coal be a diamond? St. Germain and Cagliostro were reputed to have made innumerable diamonds by alchemical means. Was this their secret? At what temperature should the kiln be set to produce such a Stone in perfection? Can a diamond, produced by natural means, as opposed to art, be used to remove impurities of herbs in maceration? Is this a workable hint concerning the occult properties of gems and precious stones? A. The Vegetable Stone would not be a diamond. The making of precious stones requires the philosophical mercury. Q. Must one separate the True Universal Gur into animal, mineral, and vegetable components before attempting to mold it into the life form of a particular kingdom; or will it automatically take on the characteristics of the kingdom in which it is formed? If this separation is actually necessary, how is it performed? A. The Gur is separated and retains its characteristics. Q. The importance of water to all life has caused us to wonder if the procedure taught to us using rain water to obtain an Archaeus could also be used on the salt water to make it usable for drinking and growing purposes? A. It would still have to be distilled.
Parachemy Volume VI: Number 4 Fall 1978
The Greater Vision
Contents Interviews With Frater Albertus p.571 Questions and Answers p.591
p.571
Interviews With Frater Albertus Q. Frater, did you know that it is said you are connected with magic? A. Definitely!
Q. Then you admit that you are conducting magical exercises? A. Nothing of the kind. Q. But you just said ... A. You got me all wrong. Let me ask you a question. What does the word "magic" really mean to you? Q. It refers to extraordinary feats, things we can't reasonably explain, like miracles. A. Simply stated, magic is referring to wisdom. A magi is a wise one. Yes, I am connected with that which refers to wisdom, as this is of utmost importance to me. Q. In the latest issue of "Fate Magazine"* someone wrote about you and said that you have written books about magic. What do you have to say about that? A. How many times have I stated anybody can write about others as it pleases them. I have written no books on magic as it is commonly understood, and have no intention of doing so. Q. I have this magazine here with me. May I quote from it? A. Go ahead. Q. "In years past Frater Albertus has written several straight magical texts." End of quotation. A. OK. Now what do you want me to say? Q. When statements are made as this one given in "Fate Magazine," one would suppose that such are proven or at least well founded. A. If such are proven and well founded, OK, but if they are just the imagination of those who write them or perhaps even are the outcome of sensational contemplations to arouse readers' interest, I prefer not to get involved. Q. You've just mentioned imagination. You know that a lot of daydreaming is nothing else but imagination. What about dreams? A. Yes, indeed. But don't throw all dreams into one category. There are also what are known as prophetic dreams, where one is shown what he did not know before; in fact what may yet have to come about. The imagination ot the individual has nothing to do, with this at all. Here we deal with facts that are predetermined as they already exist in one state of awareness and will again manifest in another person's state of awareness in a futuristic state. Q. But how can one distinguish between such dreams or imagination?
A. The Jewish Talmud says: "A dream that is not understood is like a letter that has not been opened." Q. What about the dreams individuals have about their own future? A. It would not be correct to speak here of dreams because it is usually here where the imagination enters. It is a form of projection into a futuristic state that can but may not be actualized, depending on the events ahead of time. Q. Then you don't believe in daydreaming or visualizing future individual's ability to bring its realization about? A. Of course I do. What has been brought about which concerns PRS, Paralab, and Phameres, let us say, had its beginning in what you've called the dream state, where it was shown ahead of time what should come about provided the individual involved will also project his own activities connected with it in a likewise manner. Let me try and explain it this way: What good is a letter if you don't open it. You don't know what it contains. Even after you have opened it and you don't comply with its contents what good was the letter? You may apply this to dreams likewise. Q. May I ask you something of a perhaps personal nature? A. Go ahead. Q. Do you have now or did you have in the past any such dreams that you're following up that have not yet come into being? I mean, that have not as yet materialized like PRS, Paralab and Phameres? A. Yes, I have had such a dream, as you call it, that has not had its fulfillment as such, not because my imagination is not active; on the contrary, I am very much occupied with it in its various stages. Q. Would you mind if I were to ask you what this is? A. Actually it is no secret because to a small group of PRS students it was already revealed in 1972 in Europe. Q. Well, what was it? A. It concerns the combination of the activities of PRS, Paralab and Phameres as one unit. Q. As one unit? How's that? How can they be one unit? A. This, too, will have to be a dream come true, because it is the fulfillment or completion of each segment merged into a harmonious one. However, each will have to function as a complete entity before such a merger becomes possible. When this has been established, it will then be
made known, not only here but in several locations in various countries all over the world - and made available to all concerned. Such "places" will be found to play an important part in the Eves of those who are in search of the miraculous, as it has been rightfully so named. Q. Would you please be a little bit more specific? A. Are you asking me to go into details right now? Q. Yes, if you will please. A. Well, I am a little reluctant to do just that. However, let me put it this way so that you can get at least a general idea and some of the various things connected with it that are of primary importance. *September 1978 issue, pages 104-105.
p.591
Questions And Answers Q. Sal ammoniac (extracted with alcohol) should be distilled three times in making KM. Each time you distill there is a very dark residue left in the distillation flask. Even when the sal ammoniac is sublimed three times and then distilled there is still a dark residue left. Over a period of two or three years I saved this dark residue from distilling sal ammoniac until I had a 250 ml flask almost full. I never knew if it had any use or value but saved it as some people save string - reluctant to throw it out but skeptical of its value. Comments please! A. Save it but don't use it for anything at present, except for charging the KM by adding pure alcohol to it and redistilling. Q. My understanding is that an alcohol tincture of a mineral is beneficial and circulates through the body quickly because there is an affinity between the blood and the spirit in the alcohol! What is the purpose of striving for the "Dexterous Distillation," or the oil of antimony, when oil and alcohol do not mix! Doesn't just a tincture suffice for our purposes? A. In most cases a tincture suffices, but the oil of antimony does indeed mix with alcohol in its first stage, similar to an ethereal plant oil that mixes with alcohol. Q. Mineral tinctures made with ether have considerable impurities! Can a mineral tincture be made with nitric or sulphuric acid - then wash out the acid and then make an alcohol tincture? And would this tincture be an unfixed tincture? A. It would be an unfixed tincture but not a pure mineral tincture per se, as one would work with nitrates and sulphates of the mineral in question.
Q. What compound of chemical elements or what element most closely resembles Gur in nature? A. Alkaline substances. Q. When the acetone menstrum over the antimony fume has been precipitated with a supersaturate solution of an alkali base and filtered and this filtered residue dried and the oil of antimony extracted from this by alcohol in a soxhlet extractor, will the remaining material in the soxhlet thimble yield any vinegar or fixed spirit after this material is dried and a dry distillation is attempted? A. No. Q. What is the sulphur of Mars? Magnetite? Lodestone? Pyrite? A. In iron pyrite and those mentioned here it is crude sulphur, in parachemy it is the oil (alchemical sulphur). Q. Would Pitchblende be more or less significant, alchemically speaking, as say Galena? A. Pitchblende would yield radium, Galena lead, but both would have the alchemical mercury. Q. For alchemical operations can we purchase aqua fortis, nitre, vitriol, rectified spirits of turpentine? A. Yes, you can but it would be necessary to know how they were produced in the first place. Q. Are quartz crucibles and flasks used in alchemical operations? A. Yes, they can endure more heat. Q. How closely related, if at all, are turpentine and amber? A. Both are from the pine and fir trees originally. Q. Is a Leibig straight condenser better than a coiled condenser when extracting The Alkahest? A. A liebig condenser does not cool as much as a coil condenser in this case. Q. Can I lute a crucible so that it would be air tight in a strong fire? A. Yes, but it depends on what's in it that could burn. Q. Is there any difference between philosophic mercury and what some Sages call animated Mercury? A. No.
Q. In Prima class it was given that Sun = Sol = the Giver of Life. I also have written in my notes that Sun = that which keeps you alive Sulphur. This is also supported by the fact that the first three letters of the word Sulphur is almost Sol. Since Mercury = Life of Spirit, we draw the following conclusion: Sulphur is the giver of Mercury. Is this correct? A. Your conclusion has merit. Q. Is the water, the 'Flood' obtained when you don't use a menstruum? A. Yes. Q. You have been asked many times about the Philosophical Mercury, I am sure of that. I would like to know, can it be made out of anything or is there something special required to produce the Philosophical Mercury from - or, by any chance, is it a substance known already, perhaps only under another name, or names? A. The Philosophical Mercury can be obtained from any metal. In some metals the mercury is unripe, as some alchemists called it, whereas in gold it is most ripe. Q. When Von Bernus attempted to produce the Philosophical Mercury, he observed a poisoning effect - "the flies are falling down dead." The same is mentioned in the article in the Encyclopedia Britannica. Volatile lead compounds may distill over and escape into the air. Could you please point out the danger? A. It was not von Bernus but Richert in the Black Forest who had this experience. There is grave danger working with lead and its compounds if one does not know how to handle them. Q. When you speak of the Prince of Peace returning in 1986 in "The Alchemist of the Rocky Mountains," do you refer to Jesus or a great Avatar having attained the Christ consciousness? A. No, this was not indicated in the quotation from the "Alchemist of the Rocky Mountains". A prince of peace can be anyone whose mission it will be to help in the establishment of peace on earth at a given period. +
Parachemy Volume VII: Number 1 Winter 1979
Salt
Contents The Philosophical Mercury p.601 Questions and Answers p.618 Salt - back cover
The Philosophical Mercury Liber enim Librum aperit* In the last several issues of PARACHEMY many hints and clues have been given concerning the nature and isolation of the Philosophical Mercury. In this article an attempt is made to piece together these hints and references to show how the Philosophical Mercury might be obtained. The first important reference was given in an article on the Philosophical Mercury by Frater Albertus: "I have before me the text of the section on Chemistry in the Encyclopedia Brittanica of 1771 where the process is outlined, though even unknown to the author thereof what he came up with is indeed the philosophical mercury."1 The one problem with this reference is that, unfortunately, no page number was given. It would be very easy to overlook the particular process because the entire section is filled with various processes dealing with a multitude of substances. So one must either have the eyes to see or a second piece of information. Not having the eyes, a second hint was looked for. This hint came in the form of a question in a recent issue of PARACHEMY which is quoted in full: "Q. When Von Bernus attempted to produce the Philosophical Mercury, he observed a poisoning effect 'the flies are falling down dead.' The same is mentioned in the article in the Encyclopedia Brittanica. Volatile lead compounds may distill over and escape into the air. Could you please point out the danger?"2 With this new piece of information the task of finding the reference made by Frater Albertus was made easier. All that was necessary to do was to go through all the processes that dealt with lead and see which ones mentioned the poisonous qualities of lead. For those who do not have access to this work, what was found is quoted almost entirely here: "Reduce a quantity of ceruse into powder; put it into a matras; pour on it twelve or fifteen times as much distilled vinegar; set the matras in a sandbath; leave the matter in digestion for a day, shaking it from time to time: then decant your liquor, and keep it apart. Pour fresh vinegar on what is left in the matras, and digest as before. Proceed thus till you have dissolved one half, or two thirds, of the ceruse. "Evaporate to a pellicle the liquors you poured off from the ceruse, and set them in a cool place. Greyish crystals will shoot therein. Decant the liquor from the crystals; evaporate it again to a pellicle, and set it by to crystallise. Proceed thus evaporating and crystallising, as long as any crystals will shoot. Dissolve your crystals in distilled vinegar, and evaporate the solution, which will then shoot into whiter and purer crystals. This is the salt, or sugar of lead. "Lead is easily dissolved by the acid of vinegar. If it be barely exposed to the vapour of that acid, its surface is corroded, and converted into a kind of calax or white rust, much used in painting, and is known by the name of ceruse, or white lead . . . "The salt of lead hath a saccharine taste, which hath procured it the name also of sugar of lead. For this reason, when wine begins to turn sour, the sure way to cure it of that disagreeable taste, is to substitute a sweet one which is not disagreeable to the taste, by mixing therewith ceruse, litharge, or some such preparation of lead; for the acid of the wine dissolves the lead, and therewith forms a sugar of lead, which remains mixed with the wine, and bath a taste which, joined with that of the wine, is not unpleasant. But, as lead is one of the most dangerous poisons we know, this method ought never to be practiced; and whoever uses such a pernicious drug
deserves to be most severly punished. Yet some thing very like this happens every day, and must needs have very bad consequences; while there is nobody to blame, and those to whom the thing may prove fatal can have no mistrust of it. "Salt of lead may be decompounded by distillation without additament. In order to perform this, you must put the salt of lead into a glass or stone retort, leaving a full third thereof empty, and distil in a reverberating furnace with degrees of fire. A spirit rises, which fins the receiver with clouds. When nothing more will come over with a fire that makes the retort red-hot, let the vessels cool, and then unlute them. You will find in the receiver an austere liquor, which is inflammable; or, at least, an inflammable spirit may be obtained from it, if about one half thereof be drawn off by distillation in a glass alembic. The retort in which the salt of lead was decompounded contains, at the end of the operation, a blackish matter: this is lead, which will resume its metallic form on being melted in a crucible; because the acid by which it was dissolved, and from which it hath been separated, being of a very oily nature, hath left in it a sufficient quantity of phlogiston. 'What is most remarkable in this decomposition of salt of lead, is the inflammable spirit which it yields, though the vinegar which entered into the composition of the salt seemed to contain none at all."3 We also find a similar process in "The Art of Distillation" which is quoted in its entirety: "Take the Calx of Saturn, or else Minium, pour upon it so much Spirit of Vinegar that may cover it four fingers breadth, digest them in a warm place the space of twenty four hours, often stirring them that the matter settle not too thick in the bottom: then decant the Menstruum, and pour on more, digest it as before, and this do so often until all the saltness be extracted. Filter and clarify all the Menstruum being put together, then evaporate it half away, and set the other part in a cold place till it crystalize. These Crystals dissolve again in fresh Spirit of Vinegar, filter and coagulate the Liquor again into Crystals, and this do so often until they be sufficiently impregnated with the salt Armoniak of the Vinegar as with their proper ferment. Digest them in a temperate Balneo, that they may be resolved into a Liquor like Oil. Then distill this Liquor in Sand in a Retort, with a large receiver annexed to it, and well closed that no Spirits evaporate, together with the Observation of the degrees of the fire: then there will distill forth a Spirit of such a fragrant smell that the fragrancy of all flowers, and compounded perfumes are not to be compared to it. After Distillation when all things are cold takeout, and cast away the black feces which is of no use. Then separate the yellow Oil, which swims on the top of the Spirit, and the blood red Oil which sinks to the bottom of it: Separate the flegm. from the Spirit in Balneo. Thou shalt by this means have a most fragrant Spirit that even ravisheth the senses, and so Balsamicall, that it cures all old and new sores inward and outward, and so cordiall that the dying are with admiration revived with it. "They that have this medicine need scarce use any other either for inward, or outward griefs." 4 And again: II "Take the mineral of Venus or Saturn, and drive their spirits in a retort; each of these dissolveth gold radically, after its purification. III
"Take pulverised ore of Saturn, or vulgar Saturn calcined; its salt with Acetum or its antinae (anima?); purify it in the best manner, that it may be transparent as crystal, and sweet as honey, and be fluid in heat like wax, and brittle when cold. This is the tree which is cut off, of unwholesome fruits, on which must be inoculated the twigs of Sol.5 It can not be mistaken that the three quotes above are talking about the same thing. But is it the Philosophical Mercury? There are two reasons why a conclusion can be drawn that it is: the quote by Frater Albertus given earlier and the reference to the odor of the distillate in the second quote, "... there will distill forth a Spirit of such a fragrant smell that the fragrancy of all flowers, and compounded perfumes are not to be compared to it.".6 Compare this to the following quotes from several sources of different times and places. The first is from the modern alchemist Archibald Cockren: "A friend has described this odour as resembling the dewy earth on a June morning with the hint of growing flowers in the air, the breath of the wind over heather and hill, and the sweet smell of the rain on the parched earth."7 From "The Testament of Cremer" we find a similar passage: "When this happy event takes place, the whole house will be filled with a most wonderfully sweet fragrance; then will be the day of the Nativity of the most blessed Preparation.."8 We also find in "Le Livre Des Figures Hieroglifiques de Nioclas Flamel" the following: "Finalement je trouvay ce que je desirolis, ce que je reconnus aussi tost par la senteur forte."(sic) Which translated reads, "Finally I have found what I desired, which I immediately recognized by the strong scent." (la senteur can also be translated as odor or perfume). And finally in an interview with Frater Albertus we find a reference to the smell of the Philosophical Mercury. The quote is as follows: "Q. What is it? A. The Philosophical Mercury. Q. May I smell it? A. Yes. Q. It reminds me of something but I can't recall what right now."10 So from all the above quotes, the conclusion is that the Philosophical Mercury can be obtained from the Salt of Saturn, also called Sugar of Lead (lead acetate), by a dry distillation followed by successive rectifications. However, it isn't enough to pull a series of quotes together and leave it at that. The final proof of this statement is to be found in the laboratory, where practical experimentation will either prove or disprove the above hypothesis. Those who are prepared and ready will take advantage of this article and either prove or disprove for themselves the veracity of it, and by so doing take us further by sharing with us the results of their experiments. REFERENCES *One book opens another. -Rhasis 1 Frater Albertus, "The Philosophical Mercury," Parachemy, Vol. V, No. 1, p. 395. 2 Questions and Answers," Parachemy, Vol. VI, No. 4, p. 592. 3 "Chemistry," Encyclopedia Britannica, 1771, Vol. 1, pp. 169-170. 4 John French, The Art of Distillation, (London: Richard Cotes, 1651), Book 3, pp. 73-74. 5 The Alchemical Writings of Edward Kelly, ed. and trans. A. E. Waite, (New York: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1973), p. Ivi. This work (Saint Dunstan of the Stone of the Philosophers) can also be found in Parachemy, Vol. I, No. 2, p. 45, under the title of "Alchemistical Compositum." 6 French, op. cit., p.74. 7 Archibald Cockren Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored, (Calif., Health Research Reprints,
1963), p. 123. 8 The Hermetic Museum, ed. and trans. A.E. Waite, (New York: Samuel Weiser Inc., 1974), Vol, 11, pp. 75-76. 9 Claude Gagnon, Description du Livre des Figures Hieroglyphiques .... (Montreal: Les Editions de l'Aurore, 1977), p. 89. 10 'Interviews with Frater Albertus' Parachemy, Vol. VI No. 2, p. 522.
p.618
Questions And Answers Q. Is is possible to buy the Sb2O3 from a manufacturer without learning too late it might be the wrong kind? A. Yes, indeed. Q. What is the powder of Algarath or mercurious vitae? A. Algarath is antimony oxychloride. It is a white amorphorous powder insoluble in water or alcohol. Mercurious vitae is living mercury - quicksilver. Q. Omphacium is unripe grape juice. Basil, Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, page 109, uses it on antimony glass to open the glass or something. Can you speak of what this is doing to the glass? And once I have extracted the juice of the unripe grapes, do they need to be distilled or worked with in some way before using? A. It is the potassium contained in unripe grape juice that helps in the fusion of the glass while imparting at the same time some of the essence of tartar. Q. Please comment on the medical values of the spirit of sulphur versus sulphur of sulphur. Also, can the spirit of sulphur dissolve our various minerals and metals? Under what conditions? A. Spirit of sulphur is a clear liquid whereas oil of sulphur is a viscous yellowish tinted oil. The medicinal values are that oil of sulphur is a preservative for the flesh of the body and spirit of sulphur, because of its penetrative nature, becomes an excellent agent to help disperse various medicines added to it. Q. What is the liquid obtained when I place a purified salt in a cool, moist place for a period of time? Example: K2C03, Juniper berry salt. A. Some salts are very hygroscopic and attract from the moist air essential substances like free nitrogen to enrich the distillate therefrom.
Q. Basil in The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony seems to suggest in several places that the oils of antimony fixed are without venom and the unfixed oils still have some venom. Please comment on this. See pages 36, 89, 127-128. A. When some of the salts are found within a tincture such are toxic. See also further along more on this question. Q. Regarding Cockren's Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored, page 126, what was the ratio of Philosophic Gold to the salt? A. There is no set ratio because the salt will absorb as much of the philosophic gold as it finds is needed to fully saturate it for further action. Q. Basil talks about 1) venetian earth 2) clay of the sages 3) oil of vitriol 4) oil of red vitriol 5) St. Benedict's cordial, page 164 of Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. What do these things mean? A. 1) borax 2) Balus Alba 3) true oil of sulphur 4) true oil of iron 5) As the name indicates, a cordial. Q. I have used to make the herbal tinctures 90 proof vodka. Will I reduce its potency if I would dilute the vodka with water so that it will be 40 to 50 proof and then use it to make the tinctures? A. It will only weaken the extraction media and may take somewhat longer to extract the herb. Q. How much is the potency of an herbal tincture increased when after calcination of its plant part the salt is added to the tincture? A. The mineral contents will increase the potency. Q. Can an herb come under the influence of two planets? It was mentioned in an herbal book that certain plants are to be found under the influence of the Moon and Jupiter. Please comment. A. There have been several disputed opinions on this matter by various authors. When more of the seven planets are taken into account, the other half tone value will then make a correction possible. Q. We have the garden sage and the mountain sage which to my understanding are different. Is this correct? A. Yes. Garden sage is under Jupiter; Mountain sage under Venus. Q. Is it essential that only the crude black ore of antimony be used for medical preparations? A. As the primary substance from which all other preparations Are made, it should be used to assure that the substances are kept alive.
Q. Is the seed destroyed in Red Antimony Sulphide? A. No. Q. Is there a maximum temperature in making glass of antimony? A. Yes, when the temperature is too high, antimony glass will volatilize. Q. Is the golden color antimony trioxide suitable for medicinal purposes? A. Yes. Q. Basil Valentinus writes, "Dissolve and nourish the red lion with the blood of the green lion, since the fixed blood of the red lion is made from the volatile blood of the green one, which makes them both of the same nature." Is this a true statement, properly translated? Would you elucidate a little please? A. It is a correct translation which has been substantiated in the laboratory. Q. When by slow distillation on low heat and under a vacuum one has drawn off the KM from the colored tincture of the glass of Antimony (prepared in the Soxhlet), why does one then have to raise the heat and, after changing receivers, drive the oil of Antimony over? What is NOT purified in the residue left after all the KM is driven off? I suspect a process here regarding purification not yet explained to us? Comment please. A. Some of the glass of antimony particles can be thrown down and remain behind when further distillations are made. This goes also for the fixed antimony, when some residue remains after the oil or tincture has been removed. Q. When Alchemists refer to proportions, e.g. 2 to 1, does this invariably mean by weight? Not ever by volume, if volume is not specifically stated? A. It refers mostly to weight. When volume is called for, it will be specified. Q. Did I hear you right when you said that the body converts its iron intake into manganese? A. We do not recall such an incident, unless a specific case was considered by way of comparison. Q. Please comment on the uses of the Para Theriac and in what ways it can benefit those who take it. I have heard that it is even effective against diabetes. Is this true? A. Para Theriac now renamed Tincture Paracelsus, because of FDA regulations, is said to have been used in addition to other medications and alone against diabetes. However, these are individual testimonies and cannot be considered clinical evaluation. The overwhelming majority of claims that have been made by users is the benefit of invigorated circulation in the body.
Q. Regarding antimony extracted with acetone. What is left in the fluid after precipitation? Is it salt of antimony and useful for medication? A. Salts of antimony should never be used as medication except under the strict supervision of a qualified doctor. Q. Can we purchase oil of tartar for alchemical purposes or do we have to make it? A. It would be a boon to mankind if oil of tartar could be purchased like oil of wintergreen and such. Unfortunately, very few even know how to make it for themselves. Q. Regarding 'Angel Water': 1) Can you collect more 'Angel water' from argol or the vine? 2) Would calcined oak or oak bark draw 'Angel Water?' 3) Should you discontinue collecting 'Angel Water' when the sun rises and resume when the sun sets? 4) Can you drink 'Angel Water' without harmful results? A. 1) After the argol has been recalcined. 2) If it contains potassium. 3) Let not the sun shine on it as it would evaporate. 4) Do not drink it! One drop in a glass of water is permissable, as it is highly alkaline. Q. What significance is there in the fact that Taoist alchemists talk of five elements: earth, air, fire, water, and wood? A. Wood is used as an example as it consists of the four elements. Q. Hyssop appears to be used several times in the Holy Bible: John 19:29, Jesus is given sour wine and hyssop while on the cross; Psalms 5L7, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean." Ex. 12.11 Moses called to take a lamb and kill it at passover - "And take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel." Please comment on the meaning and the value of such an herb having such religious focus. A. Many herbs are mentioned in the bible. As it says above: "Purge" me with Hyssop indicates the quality of the herb and in its religious sense a cleansing or purging of the body and soul are considered essential. Q. If acetic acid is used for a menstruum on antimony (or any metal), how can its poisonous nature be removed? A. By distilling and washing it to a neutral state. Q. In one of the previous classes you talked about the Shroud of Turin. It shows a number of remarkable features, e.g. the nail through the proper space in the wrist (the 'space of Destot') and not the palm, and a very noble face, like one imagines the face of a righteous king. What is the Shroud of Turin?
A. A piece of cloth believed to be the one in which Jesus the Christ was wrapped when he was taken from the cross. It is unusual but still of questionable origin.
back cover
SALT Each and every thing is the Salt of the earth, and its beauty is here for us to experience. The manifestation of Salt differs with each kingdom, and within each kingdom Salt differs from one plant to another, from one metal and mineral to another, from one animal to another, as it differs from one human to another. In accordance with the law of polarity, Salt has its dual aspects. It is tangible in that it is known in a solid form; it is intangible in that it is known by a subtle essence it imparts, a vital and particular quality that distinguishes it. The solid substance of Salt, the body, is of no value without its intangible counterpart, for the value itself is in the essence, the spirit and soul, that is found within the solid form. A body with little vitality or poor in quality is not of much worth. It is as the Salt which has lost its savor. It is too weak or deficient in essence to retain for much longer its form or to serve some useful purpose. In the ever on-going process of evolution it is replaced by that which is superior to it. Continually the state, the body, of all things changes, due to various causes. When the process of purification is the cause of such a change, there is witnessed a remarkable transformation of Salt. It takes on a new body and its old body is cast away, for there is no longer anything of value in it. What is of value is now found within the new body, and it is possible, in this transformed body, for there to be an essence more potent in its vitalness and of a finer and more useful quality. The transformation of Salt through the process of purification takes place in all of the kingdoms, though the manner of such a transformation varies according to the substance worked with. The purification of Salt, of its body, soul, and spirit, makes possible changes on earth that are especially beneficial. A beauty can be seen in all the Salt that is of the earth, in the old that is passing away and in the new that is appearing. In its time, the old served a useful purpose. With the new, there can be a rejoicing in each effort that is required to bring about and to establish bodies having in them more vital and finer qualities. Just as we may, in a certain manner, see and know our own body with its own particular weight and dimensions, so we may, in a certain manner, see and know what kind of essence is attracted to it. Through a sincere effort, not only can we ensure that we do not lose our savor, but we can strive to secure within us a greater vitality and those finer qualities especially needed in our world at this time.
Parachemy Volume VII: Number 2 Spring 1979
Mercury
Contents Interviews With Frater Albertus Report on Bee Pollen p.639 Questions and Answers p.646 Mercury - back cover
p.626
Interviews With Frater Albertus Q. Frater Albertus, you have written quite openly about the Philosophical Mercury in PARACHEMY. On the other hand, you stated that this could not be done. I refer to the "Alchemist's Handbook," for instance. How can you explain this? A. What has been said or written about the Philosophical Mercury is sufficient to introduce those ready for it, that is, to produce the Philosophical Mercury so that the next step of the work before them in the mineral kingdom can be commenced. Up to this point, there is only the first of three applications discussed. I refer to the separation. Those who followed this by the letter soon had found out that this was only a beginning, because when this crude mercury was poured over metallic gold, for instance, it did not dissolve it but only extracted a tincture. The reason for this is that the following, or second step, that of purification had either not been attempted or completed. Only after the purification of the Philosophical Mercury has been accomplished will the gold dissolve. Then the third step ofcohobation has taken place. So, you see, there is indeed more to it. Q. Does one not have to use the salts of gold? A. Yes, one may use the salt of gold. Q. What is really meant by that? A. Usually gold chloride. Q. But to dissolve gold chloride is no problem. Even water will dissolve this. A. Right. This just shows you that one can get carried away very easily by one's imagination and make up all kinds of statements that are not in accordance with alchemistical precepts. So you see, there is nothing revealed by us that is not already to be had otherwise in books on alchemy. It is the correct understanding of what one knows up to a certain point that makes all the difference. And here we can only help those individually who are ready for it. Q. While you were teaching in Australia, I was told that you filmed such an instance where gold was dissolved and the hissing and boiling noise was seen and heard. A. This is correct as to the latter part of it, but it did not dissolve all of the gold. Besides, it was not metallic gold but the gold chloride. When this was filmed, we were informed that metallic gold would be dissolved. Here again no distinction was made between the salts of gold and metallic gold. Q. Talking about filming, have you ever heard any more about the motion picture that was made in Australia where you appeared in it? A. Yes, we were shown the motion picture in the studio on a large screen when we were there during February, 1979. There had been a delay because of finances. It has only the background
musical score missing and some illustrations are being shot at the studio at present. It should be quite interesting. It is called "Hora Shastri!' Loosely translated, it means the science of time. Q. Will it be shown in the U.S.A. A. I have no idea about its distribution. Q. Why is it that so many of the Australian students have come to the USA when you are teaching them down under? A. In 1978 we did not go to Australia. This was one of the reasons why so many came to the USA. They did not want to miss out on any class. In fact, this did show itself by their endeavors when we returned this year in 1979. Q. Can you be more specific. What is meant by "their" endeavors? A. It is the first time in all the years of our teaching in the open that we could delegate three separate classes to perform a definite assignment. I said classes, not one or two of a class but an entire class. In fact, three separate classes, where each class works as a unit. Q. I don't understand what you mean. A. A pharmaceutical museum in Europe was promised an exhibit on antimony quite some time ago. Unfortunately, time and circumstances prevented this on my part. Even some individually approached could not get around to accomplishing this. This is why the teamwork of those three Australian classes is so outstanding, especially when one considers that these students live not all in the same city or state. Some are in West Australia, Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, etc. Still, they work each on their special assignment for an entire project. Q. Don't you think the students here in the USA could have done the same? A. Indeed they could have. Unfortunately, they did not. This does not mean that they are not considerate or thoughtful. Look around you here in this office. When we returned from Australia, I thought I had come to a different office. You know what it looked like before. All this refurbishing from floor to ceiling and everything else in here was done by some students without being told. They did all this on, their own. This shows that some are very thoughtful and do this for the benefit of all concerned. Q. Could you please shed some light on some of the new systems of healing_ that have appeared lately, especially what is known as MacroBiotics? A. To my knowledge there have been no new systems of therapeutics added to the ones already known. As to MacroBiotics, this is only a different name that someone made up - one would have to guess for whatever reasons. Perhaps, because such a person had difficulties with either pronouncing or spelling the word Homeopathy. So, you see, this is just another one of such cases where people want to make the uninformed believe that they have a new system of therapeutics.
Q. Don't you have a new and different system? You call yours spagyric. A. If you mean by system a mode of preparation, you would be correct, but only in so far as this system differs from generally used systems in present day pharmacy. The spagyric way of preparing medications is perhaps the oldest one of all officially used preparations for medicines. Please note what I say now: It is not another system of thereapeutics but is a different mode of preparing medications that can be used in any of the therapeutic systems from Allopathy, Homeopathy, Naturopathy to what have you. Q. Why do people do such things and make you believe that what they have is new when it is not new at all? A. Good old King Solomon, for sure, had a tremendous knowledge in the machinations of men when he said, "There is nothing new under the sun." We still have pretenders among us, as you can see. Top
p.639
Report On Bee Pollen - Anon. 1. Bee Pollen - What is it? The function of a flower is to produce seed and a grain of pollen is the male germ of the flower or plant. As plants flower, this germ (or sperm) is transferred by wind or insect from the anther of a stamen to the stigma of a pistel (style). When the pollen grain reaches the ovary, it fertilizes an oville and this union culminates in the generation of a seed of that plant. This simplified explanation does not do justice to portray the amazing potential power encased in the tiny speck that is a grain of pollen. When one visualizes the massive tree which results from the germinated seed of an oak or a redwood, then one can better appreciate the power latent within a single pollen grain - a speck measuring only .002" and that takes 2.5 billion grains to fill one tablespoon. In the scheme of things, bees fill a vital roll for they are the primary means by which many plants and trees are pollinated and hence reproduce. In fact, because bees are so thorough and diligent of their search for nectar and pollen for the hive, they are the most efficient and only dependable pollinators. The bee's hairy legs are perfectly adapted for the job of pollination and for the job of carrying back to the hive the little 'pellets of pollen they use for food. As the bee travels from flower to flower, she gathers from each some pollen which is mixed with nectar and certain stomach juices to hold the grains together. Eventually a small pellet is formed composed of pollen weighing about 10 mg and containing around 2,000,000 grains of pollen which was collected from perhaps 200 500 flowers in a half hour period. One thousand two hundred of these pellets will fill a tablespoon, weigh approximately 12 gms. and will contain the 2.5 billion grains of pollen mentioned above.
A bee will carry two of the pellets at a time back to the hive. In the course of a year, bees collecting pollen for a hive will gather and store up to 60 or 80 pounds of pollen. Other bees will gather nectar in a sack in their stomach which will be converted to honey in the comb. Pollen will be converted to bees bread by lactic fermentation in the comb cells. Royal jelly, food for the queen, is also primarily pollen. Some hives collect pollen in excess of its needs for food and if the apiarist wishes, he can install a pollen trap at the entry of the hive which will knock the pellet of pollen off the bees legs as she passes through it. The pellets drop into a screen covered tray. Periodically this tray will be removed from the hive and emptied. This then is the source of our present day bee pollen. It is estimated that the annual world production of bee pollen could be in excess of 300,000 tons. At present, world use by man is probably not over 1,600 tons per annum. II. Pollen Through The Ages THE ANCIENTS. There are innumerable references to pollen and honey by the ancients. It seems that plant pollen as collected by the bees or blown by the wind and often in conjunction with honey, has been referred to in the ancient texts and mythologies of almost all civilizations. A very brief outline of these follows. The Egyptians seemed to hold bees, pollen and honey in great esteem as many temples and obelisks carried inscriptions extolling their virtues. Ancient Indian, Greek, Roman, Chinese and the middle Eastern Civiliza tions all recognized the medicinal virtues and food value of pollen and honey. Early European peoples used pollen and honey together to make an alcoholic beverage somewhat similar to today's mead wine. Worldwide use of pollen and honey has continued up to the present, however, in the last 100 years the emphasis has been on honey. A MODERN REDISCOVERING OF THE VIRTUES OF POLLEN. A revival of interest in pollen has been slowly developing since the early 1940's when U.S. biochemists began analyzing the contents of pollen to discover the causative agent of pollen allergies in people. To their surprise. they learned that pollen was extremely nutritious and contained amazingly high percentages of protein, vitamins and minerals when compared to all other plant and animal sources. Also around this time (1945) a report from Russian biologist Nicholas Tsitin was published stating that of the 150 Russian centigenarians who replied to a questionnaire inquiring about their age, occupation, and principal foods, all replied that honey was their principal food. Further investigation by the Longevity Institute of the USSR revealed that it wasn't only honey that was eaten. In fact, it was the waste matter found in the bottom of bee hives. This waste matter was largely bee pollen mixed with some honey droppings. In 1952 a Swedish railway clerk, Gosta CarIsson, produced the first pollen collection machine and started collecting pollen on a large scale.
During the 1960's word of the virtues of pollen was carried through out Europe. In Sweden alone some 4,000 physicians were prescribing pollen and pollen extracts to their patients. In the last 5 years or so, the U.S. health food industry has been promoting the virtues of bee pollen and a strong surge of interest and research has resulted. From all appearances, pollen is again on its way to experiencing the universal acclaim that the ancients once accorded it. III. Composition of Pollen Today's resurgance of interest in bee pollen is a resultant of hundreds of studies made by scientists on the composition and effects on animal life of pollen. These studies have demonstrated that bee pollen is an unequalled storehouse of nutrients. A. Protein Pollens range from 10% - 35% protein with average around 18%. The protein is composed of various amino acids. A breakdown of the 8 essential amino acids (the human body produces all the amino acids it needs except these 8) of a 19% protein pollen is below compared with other food sources of protein. Figures are in percent/grams.
Meat (beef) Eggs Cheese Pollen
Isoleusine Leusine Lysine Methionine 0.93 1.28 1.45 0.42 0.85 1.17 0.93 0.39 1.74 2.63 2.34 0.80 4.5 6.7 5.7 1.82
Meat (beef) Eggs Cheese Pollen
Phenylalamine Threonine Triptophane Valine 0.66 0.81 0.20 0.91 0.69 0.67 0.20 0.90 1.43 1.38 0.34 2.05 3.9 4.0 1.3 5.7
It is evident that pollen is indeed a high quality source of protein. Its only peer in this category are some strains of nutritional yeast. B. Vitamins As in protein content, pollens from plant to plant vary in their vitamin content, but all seem to contain significant amounts of water soluable vitamins. The B Vitamin content in one gram of raw pollen according to Vivino and Palmer, 1944, is as follows: B1 Thiamine 9.2 mg. B2 Riboflavin 18.50 mg. B6 Pyridoxine 5. m g. Nicotinic acid 200. mg. Pantothenic acid 30-50 mg. (1 gram has 1,000 milligrams) Later research shows that additional vitamins as C, inositol rutin, Vitamin E, biotin, folic acid, Vitamin B-12 and Vitamin K are also found in pollen. C. Minerals Up to 50 minerals are found in pollen. When ignited and ashed, the pollen will vary from 2 0/0 10 0/0 ash by weight. In one example, a pollen yielding 2.67o/0 ash showed 20.71/0 potassium,
13.6% phosphorus, 10.5.0/0 calcium, 6.7% magnesium, .07% iron and traces of copper. Manganese, zinc, cobalt, silica, sodium, sulfur and titanium are also normally found in pollen. D. Enzymes and Coenzymes As the pollen grain is the initiator of the complex activities of plant reproduction, the enzyme variety is very considerable. Amalase, dehydragenase, catalase, diastase, cozymase, pectase, sucrase, phosphatase and diaphorase are found. Lactic acid is also a constituent - a factor important in the lactic fermentation of pollen to make bee bread. A fact of particular interest to the student of alchemy is that K. Okonuki found that the alcoholic fermentation brought about by pollen was identical with that of yeast. E. Sugar, Fats Bee pollen contains a large percentage of sugars. The main ones are sucrose, fructose, pentose and glucose. Fats, gums, oils and sterols are also present. One analysis of chamomile pollen showed fats and gums 8 %, and sugar 69 % F. Miscellaneous Compounds Other components of interest in pollen are hormones, fiber, pigments, nucleoproteins, RNA and DNA. A final component that should be looked at is the inextractable portion of the pollen grain. This is the extremely resistent exterior membrane known as Pollenine. This shell of the pollen grain is extremely durable and will often resist decay and weather for thousands, and even millions of years. This resistance to decay is useful to paleontologists and geologists, as many deposits are dated primarily by microscopic analysis of pollen grains found in them. This protective membrane is also of interest to those who would use bee pollen as a nutritional supplement or those who would attempt to make extractions from bee pollen - especially its sulfur. IV. Medicinal Attributes of Pollen Bee pollen as a medicine has been researched quite thoroughly in the past 20 30 years and several hundred articles and books have been published regarding these findings. Very briefly, the major areas of research and now applications are as follows: 1. Success in treating prostrate problems is quite well established. 2. Cancer cell growth is retarded according to a number of studies. 3. Certain bacteria are killed by particular compounds in bee pollen. 4. Allergies are cured by bee pollen. One physician, a Dr. Conway, reports 60,000 persons helped at his clinic alone. Wind blown pollen does not seem to be a help in allergy cases. The pollen gathered by the bees must be used according to the practioners. 5. Longevity increased substantially and senility and other factors encountered in the old are ameliorated. 6. Improved digestion and assimulation of nutrients. 7. Rejuvenation of skin - removes blemishes and wrinkles in skin in many people. 8. Athletes in many nations report great increases in endurance or strength. World class runners in Finland and USSR are reportedly helped greatly by bee pollen. Before bee pollen was added
to the Finnish teams regime, they had one runner in the Top 100 worldwide. After 4 years of pollen in diet, the number rose to 23. This in a country of 4 million. V. Sources of Pollen and Pollen Products A. Sources. Pollen in the U.S. comes from many sources. The largest supplier is at present Spain, which provides about 50 1/0 to the total. England, Australia, Canada and of course, the U.S. itself, provide the bulk of the rest. Health food stores, rarely drug stores, and many mail order natural foods and vitamin companies are the normal source of supply. B. Quality - a most important factor. Bee pollen should be kept clean and dry to avoid bacteria and spoilage. Spanish pollen in many cases should be avoided. It often is not clean, insect larvae can often times be found in it, sometimes is 2-3 years old, etc. The best import quality seems to be from Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Britain. For best results the interested buyer should get to know his source whenever possible. C. Price. The price of bee pollen, like most agricultural comodities, varies from year to year according to supply and demand. At present 1 lb. containers cost from $5.00 - $10.00. The price is not bad when one considers that the pound will contain roughly 100 billion grains of pollen, each containing the power to germinate a seed of a plant or tree. D. Dosage. The recommended dosage varies from expert to expert, but most agree that 1 teaspoon a day is fine for a start, and that you can work up to 1-3 tablespoons a day in 3 months according to your constitution and needs. E. Whole pollen vs. extractions or tablets. A matter best left up to the individual. Cernelle of Sweden (remember Gosta CarIsson?) has a vast amount of literature on their products - all extractions. They also use pollen direct from the plant and not bee collected as they did 20 years ago. The health food stores will often have tracts on their bee pollen pellets or compressed pollen tablets. VI. Some Comments on Areas of Interest to Students of Alchemy. Bee pollen in quantity as we have it today has been available only since 1952 when apiarists began using pollen traps. Thus we can now investigate and do research on the virtues of bee pollen without having to resort to the arduous and perhaps painful collection procedures required in ages gone by. It doesn't take much imagination to see the possibilities. Spirit - Bee pollen or bee pollen and honey can be easily fermented to produce alcohol. Sulfur - Bee pollen extractions with water, alcohol, acetone and ether as solvents is recorded in detail in the scientific literature. There is perhaps more detailed information available here that an interested student can glean on what compounds (oils, fats, waxes) can be extracted by which solvent than in just about any other plant substance.
Salt - Bee pollen when ignited will yield a 2 % - 10 % by weight in organic ash much of which will be water soluble. That bee pollen is a unique blend of the animal and plant kingdom would seem to be significant. The bee, while collecting the pollen, periodically adds nectar and disgorges on the pollen a drop of her saliva to make the pollen grains sticky and adhere to their pollen baskets, thus adding to them enzymes. This factor was recognized in a research article authored by two French scientists. Chauvin and Lenormand, who noted that pollen gathered by hand from plants had only a fraction of the amount of a growth stimulant that bee gathered pollen had. Further changes occur to the pollen chemistry when it is further modified to become bee bread or royal jelly. Thus, as tartar is a product representing the plant and mineral kingdoms, bee pollen is a product representing the plant and animal kingdoms. What benefits that might accrue if handled properly in the laboratory, can only be surmised and is not at present known.
p.646
Questions And Answers Q. Would you suggest an available substitute for boli-armeni? A. Kaolin. Q. Where the spirit of sea salt is called for in certain formulas, can we use health store sea salt? A. If it is the sea salt that is sold in health stores, we can see no difference. Q. Is there any iron in wine? A. A small amount, yes. Q. White Marcasites: Alum, Cobalt, Bismuth, Wolfram, White Arsenic; Red Marcasites: Antimony, Vitriol, Realgar, Orpiment, Cinnabar. Is the preceding correct? A. As far as you went, yes. Q. Is antimony the only sun marcasite, or is realgar and orpiment also? A. What do you mean by sun marcasite? Antimony and arsenic are not identified with the sun in this sense. Q. What is Kibric? What is Zubec? A. Kibric is that from which Mercury comes. The Stone is also called Kibric. Zubec, also Zubach, is the mastery of the white during the confection of the Stone. Q. What is Crocus Martis? What is Argilla? A. Iron sulphate and regular potters clay of which there are over one dozen different ones. Q. On page 150 of The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, Basil talks of extracting the living Mercury of Antimony which is quite different from the fixed spirit, vinegar. Please clarify these two more for us. A. Valentine claims that regular quicksilver can also be obtained from antimony besides the fixed spirit of antimony or vinegar of antimony. Q. What does a working vegetable stone look like? A. It looks like a white or very light gray pebble and is hard. Q. What is meant by "extraction by solution?"
A. When a substance has gone into solution and from it an extract or tincture has been made. Q. To what planetary influence does the grape belong? And tartar? A. Both belong to the sun. Q. Of the three essentials, is memory most closely associated with Philosophical Sulphur? A. In your way of analogy, yes. Q. Could you say something about the process of forgetting? In books on occult philosophy one usually finds very little information on FORGETTING. A. One can only forget what one knows. This is done by knowing what is, or has become, of minor importance and loses its former priority. This is a natural sequence of events and thereby becomes forgotten, or stashed away, until or unless it has to be 'gotten' out again for a given time to be 'restored' again in the category of the forgotten. Q. Has any work been done on identifying the chemical structure of the Philosophical Mercury and its physical properties (boiling point, melting point, density molecular weight, etc?) Has anything been written or done on this? A. Yes, it has become a complicated fact because of its simplicity. Due to its temperature range before condensation, it is rated a gas and has equivalents to such gas or gas listed and known to chemistry. Q. I almost find it hard to believe that by doing a dry distillation on lead acetate and by successive redistillations you can get the Philosophical Mercury. I take it that you have to start with lead sulphide (Galena) so that the lead is "living." One way I was thinking of doing it would be to take Galena and calcine (roast) it to turn it into an oxide, then using acetic acid gotten from red-wine vinegar produce the acetate. Take this lead acetate and then do the dry distillation on it by using the apparatus set up given in PARACHEMY, Vol. VI, No. 2, Page 527. Then rectify. Is this the way (or one of the ways) the PRS teaches it? A. Yes. Q. Can acetic acid be used to open up all the metals? I guess what I mean is by doing a dry distillation on any metal acetate can you get the Philosophical Mercury (as long as the metal is living?) A. Yes. Q. Concerning the Philosopher's Stone, all one needs is the Philosophical Mercury, the Sulphur of the Lead and the Salt of the Lead. Is this correct? A. Yes. This does not exclude other metals. Q. Are alchemists part of the occult brotherhood who are working with the Masters of Wisdom? A. What occult Brotherhood and what Masters of Wisdom? Your question is too obscure. Q. Do you believe that there was any age where man was a higher form of life than he is in this age? A. As you should know by now, hopefully, the PRS is not interested in 'beliefs' but what is to be known so it can eventually be understood. Q. Various organizations and groups teach that the over-soul exists either above us or on a plane compatible with it and that we are connected to it. The more man perfects they teach, the closer this Higher Self comes down until finally there is a total integration. Since the Divine Self resides within us, what were they referring to? The reason for the separation they claim is that perfection cannot coexist with imperfection. A. As far as you, or any mortal man is concerned, there is but 'yourself,' and this is neither low or high. 'Yourself' is subject to influences of a superior consciousness that enables 'yourself' to rise to higher levels of consciousness, but it is the same 'yourself' and none other that is raised.
Q. What was Jesus the Christ referring to when he is recorded to have said, "I and My Father are one," and "No man cometh unto the Father except by me?" A. If yours is a theological question, you should call upon the proper institution in your behalf. If it is a mystical one, only 'you' can find that answer, as it is not based upon religious belief but personal knowledge, i.e., experience. Q. If life is limitless and timeless and all of our lives or incarnations are happening simultaneously, then isn't karma an illusion? 2) In other words, as long as we believe that we have to balance a previous act, then we in fact do have to? 3) Once we wake up and find ourselves, don't we in fact "transcend" this karma by effecting the past and the future in the now moment? A. 1) No. 2) The law of cause and effect is everpresent to mortal man. 3) Yes, after the law has been compensated for its violations. Q. Discuss River Pebble, Rock Crystal, SiO, please. A. Both may contain SiO2 and could be found in rivers due to natural phenomena. Q. The alchemical writings all speak about the "First Matter." Can you tell us how we go about finding this "First Matter?' A. This is a very loosely used term by alchemistical writers. According to Einstein, Energy is matter, which we would further expound by saying that Energy is found within matter (alchemistical spirit, life). If we can release this Energy, we have 'that' which is 'first' in matter.
back cover
Mercury The Universal Spirit permeates all of the Earth. Mercury is this Spirit, the vitalness of One Life, which like a pure river of water, clear as crystal, flows from One Source and enters into all things. Various descriptive characteristics are attributed to this Mercury according to individual viewpoints. But just as each thing is found to have its own particular savor so is this Mercury distinguished by a savor that is unequalled in the conscious experience. It is known by a special sweetness, a sweetness like unto honey. It matters not where man and woman find themselves upon earth, for this sweetness of Life is to be found and known everywhere. Man and woman choose their own experience of Life. When what is chosen is in accord with selfish and narrowminded pursuits, what is sweet is experienced as being bitter; and at the same time there is a craving for more and more of it - of that power, which, when it comes, only too often fills such ones with a greater bitterness. The sweetness of Mercury is tasted of in that which is known to be Good. In this Good the sweetness of Life is savored. No longer are there cravings, for there is known the fulfillment of a sweet peace. Throughout all kingdoms the sweetness of Mercury is and can be experienced.
It is man and woman who cause, through ignorance and lack of understanding, a bitterness to be attached to the pureness and sweetness of Life. As there comes a sincere and humble receptiveness to know and to understand Good, there comes experiences of It, for as each is ready so is there given to each to know the sweetness of a Good Life. With each breath the sweetness of Life is given to us to experience. If we know it not, then we alone are responsible for the experience that is contrary to it, for we have in our own particular way set ourselves apart from it. In doing so we experience a bitterness. When we humble ourselves and childlike eagerly and trustingly ask to know that Life which is Good, Its sweetness reveals Itself.
Parachemy Volume VII: Number 3 Summer 1979
Sulphur
Questions And Answers Q. Which of the four elements correspond to carbon, oxygen, nitrogen and hydrogen? A. The applied correspondence is usually carbon: earth, oxygen: water, nitrogen: air and hydrogen: fire. Q. In doing experiments with antimony, wouldn't the wealth of information in the older Laboratory Alchemical Bulletins be an excellent source of information for us? A. Yes, but no written information will take the place of practical instruction.
Q. Example for animals: 1 part earth (Gur) to 2 parts of first 1/4 (Fire and Air and Water). How do we get equal parts when one is liquid volume and the other is weight or measure? A. One part earth can be any amount as long as the liquid mixture is in proportion, as this is used continuously to moisten the Gur until more of the liquid mixture is required. Q. Please comment on steps 16 and 17 of the "unfixed process" of the alkahest of tartar. Step 16: Distill slowly the spirit out. Step 17: When retort is dry, pour in again. If you distill to dryness, the alcohol as well as the water would come over. Do we pour the alcohol only back into the retort? A. Pour the entire distillate back. Q. Early in Basil's Triumphal Chariot of Antimony he talks of fermenting wine and beer. Is it also possible to ferment minerals and antimony specifically? How can one go about this? Page 27 of the Triumphal Chariot of Antimony. A. Read the instructions on how to prepare the vinegar of antimony when the word putrefaction is mentioned. Q. We have been given two models for evolution. One is expressed: Synthesis + + Thesis
Antithesis
... which is strictly a cause and effect or action - opposition - reaction process. In the laboratory works we have seen that analysis must precede synthesis. Things must be reduced to their components before they can be recombined by art into a more evolved form. It should be possible to integrate these two. The question is: How should analysis be introduced into the dialectic diagram to permit application of the art to living? A. A separation of each before purification is needed before a synthesis can be obtained. The analysis of each is needed to determine; its pureness. Q. How pure was the ammonium sulfate that the ancients extracted out of wine? How could they get phosphoric acid out of wine with vacuum? A. It is not known to us. Q. What is the Crown of Eternal Life? Is it the same as the 1000 petalled Lotus of the Hindus? Of what use is it?
A. It is a symbolic saying meaning that timed intervals, as we know them, will have no meaning anymore as all intervals are by then found only consciously within the unlimited or eternity. Q. How is fear overcome, especially fear of death? Is death a friend or foe? A. That depends on the thoughts of an individual. If his life was one of doing good, he enjoys life here and will continue wherever it may continue, as he is friendly towards life. He who knows his own thoughts and actions to be contrary may fear its continuation. A change can overcome fear. Q. If each one of the 12 planets ruled 2 hours in each day, would this conflict with H. Spencer Lewis in his "Self Mastery and Fate with the Cycles of Life?" (Chart D, page 144.) A. Yes. It would have to be applied according to the law of polarity between sunrise and noon and midnight to show the polarity of all the planets. Q. Please clarify the phases of the moon as it effects the water separation and distillation. A. The polarity of the phases of the moon, positive when waxing and negative when waning, will show on water which is negative. Q. The item marked appeared in last week's "Newsweek." In it the writer states that in 1982 all the nine planets of the solar system will be allgned on the same side of the sun. The writers warn that this planetary line up will result in major earthquakes in California and other areas. They go on in the article to outline how they have arrived at this conclusion, because of great magnetic activity, etc. The article is very interesting, but I would like to hear your comments about what you think might result world-wise as a result of such a line up of planets all on one side of the sun. A. Consider the influences of the signs and their respective duration as well as aspects. Q. Please comment on the difference between King and Queen scale, especially plotting our individual course. A. The Queen scale gives us our path and the King scale our goal. To plot one's course depends on the choice one makes as the path one begins his life's journey upon is not necessarily the only path that leads to one's goal. The Intelligence of the metzIah is to be considered if it corresponds with one's own intelligence. If one has become conscious where he is at present, he may choose. He who does not know anything about it will be guided unknown to him, unless an inner opposition brings a stop about. Q. On the cycles from 1973 to 1988 it has decentralization of World Power. In view of conditions in the world today, does it look as though this is happening? A. One needs only to follow events. It could not be any plainer.
Q. I have a camphor plant at home. Would this be different medicinally than the tridosha camphor tree? A. Yes. Q. Citrus fluids are not listed in any of the usual books. What plants would such be under and what are their main virtues? Are Cumquats, Oranges, Lemons and Grapefruit all the same? A. Culpeper mentions their planetary rulers and virtues. They are not all the same, though closely related. Q. When does the birth of a tree take place, i.e., when does the tree achieve its "own life?" a) When the apple falls from the tree? b) When the seed begins to sprout? c) When the bee deposits the pollen? ("C" rejected because the preceding is seen in analogy to the fact that a child is born at the moment when the umbilical cord is severed.) A. A tree does not achieve its 'own life.' The fruit is contained within the seed. In the case of a tree it 'is' the life of the tree, and not a plant or shrub, as soon as germination begins. Q. The negative seems to be necessary in order for the positive to manifest. If so, how does the knowledge of evil or the demonic side fit in with our study of the angelic or good? Will it be profitable to know evil as well as good? A. It certainly has proven profitable. However, it depends on how much or how little one profits thereby. Q. I have come to the conclusion that love is complete within itself. It is not only thinking, emotion or doing but all three. This being so, how does the statement, "Every positive contains its own negative," fit in? A. Love in its 'true' essence is not a fact constantly subject to changes according to the law of polarity. Since love is truth, which is not a fact, it therefore has 'overcome' the law of positive and negative. That is why so little is to be had of love which is truth.
Back cover
Sulphur It is Sulphur that gathers together and fashions all that is of the Earth, unfolding in manifold and distinctive ways Itself. The nature of Sulphur is both tangible and intangible. In its tangible aspect it is an oil and is to be found in all substance, the amount contained varying with different substance. In its intangible aspect it is consciousness, and consciousness is found in all substance in varying degrees.
Sulphur characterizes each thing in a particular way while Salt provides a matrix and Mercury gives animation. The proportion of Salt, Mercury and Sulphur in any thing gives an individual uniqueness. The mystery of the Unknown is Known through the interaction of this triune principle, the operation of the three essentials, Salt, Mercury and Sulphur -in all substance. Each of the three essentials are of a triune principle. One correspondence of the triune principle of Sulphur is Salt - Subconsciousness, Mercury - Consciousness, and Sulphur Superconsciousness or Cosmic Consciousness. As well, Sulphur which is a triune Consciousness has an organ, the Brain (Salt), through which it operates and an Intelligence (Mercury). which empowers its manifestations. Within Salt there is an inherent infinite potential which the operation of Sulphur directs and Mercury enlivens. Just as there are to be found different grades of oils, such as an essential oil and an ethereal oil, so are there to be found different grades of consciousness, such as subconsciousness and superconsciousness or cosmic conclousness. And as there are know to be many diversified qualities of oil, each having a distinct characteristic, so in a similar way are there known to be minds that vary in degree of consciousness and differ in quality. To anoint with oil can give a healing to the body and to the mind. Such an administration is both physically and psychologically applied. The anointing with oil ceremonially, particularly in a sacred administration, can be an outer verification of an inner transformation in the expansion of consciousness and the greater responsibilities that accompany it. Cosmic Consciousness corresponds to the Alchemistical Sulphur toward which the individual mind with its present degree and quality of consciousness evolves.
Parachemy Volume VII: Number 4 Fall 1979
The Alchemistical Tree of Life from Slendor Solis
Informative Interchange - Kirlian Photography p.703 Kiln for the Distillation of Acetic Antimony from Ore p.704 Questions and Answers p.706 Perfection - back cover p.703
Informative Interchange KIRLIAN PHOTOGRAPHY High voltage photography has become very popular and "respectable" over the last few years. It was discovered around the nineteen hundreds, but the procedure was further developed some 35
years later by a Russian family, the Kirlians. Its applications are many and certainly open up a new world in every sense of the word. We have experimented with this kind of photography for some time, using various spagyric and alchemical preparations, such as herbal salts, volatile oils, and herbal extracts, as well as leaves from plants, flowers, mineral and fingers. When we started, we had no idea what our results were going to be like, especially as we used some very primitive, homemade equipment; but, to our surprise, the results were quite remarkable. Even today, in the West or Russia no one has been able to satisfactorily interpret the true meaning of the Kirlian photographs from fingers, plants, or minerals. A great deal more research needs to be done, especially in the field of interpretation.
Figure 1 - True Love Within Me Not Asking for Anything in Return. Figure 2 - In Tune With the Infinite. The photographs taken of finger tips will differ greatly in color emanations, depending on the thought pattern of the subject. Different thoughts will produce an auric color change from a bright red and blue to a light pink and white. (See Figures 1 and 2: unfortunately, the vivid red and blue colors cannot be seen in these black and white reproductions.) When taking photographs of finger tips, there is no need for the earth wire. Simply place the finger on the film and apply the current for one second. The time factor would vary from one subject to another.
Kirlian Photography - Basic Equipment With our experiments, we used a copper electrode. See Figure 3, Kirlian Photography Basic Equipment. On the copper electrode we placed a piece of window glass 3 mm thick. This was covered with black plastic. The film is then placed on the plastic with the emulsion side up. The object is next placed on the film. If the object is a coin or leaf, it win have to be "earthed" or grounded by means of a wire attached to a waterpipe or in contact with the ground. When liquids are used for testing, we placed a few drops on to a small piece of blotting paper, let this dry thoroughly and then placed it on the film. The film used was Kodak color print format 35 mm. Many other types of film and electrodes can be used. To make a screen, various metals with different values of conductibility are available. One would have to experiment. There are several different high voltage units on the market. We used one made by Edmund Scientific Instrument Co., USA. Most valuable results were obtained using approximately 15-25 K.V. Many good books are now available in book shops and libraries on this fascinating subject. The uses are many and varied and will be of benefit in medical diagnosis in time to come.
p.704 CHEAP SELF-BUILT KILN FOR THE DISTILLATION OF ACETIC ANTIMONY FROM THE PUTREFACTION PORRIDGE OF ANTIMONY ORE Distilling the liquid of antimony ore in a common way, the last liquid condensed on the still head falls mostly back into the distillation vessel. The last drops are much richer in vinegar, so it is better not to lose these valuable drops. Besides, it is difficult to distill the liquid out of a porridge with a heating force placed under the vessel. If one looks at the old pictures of distillation apparatus used by the alchemists and old chemists, one often sees that the vessel is completely set in an oven with a very practical still head, which is to be envied. Now, such is no longer made; and to have one made would most likely be very expensive. It is possible to simulate this kind of distillation kiln in an easy and cheap way with commonly obtainable materials. At the same time, the two disadvantages of a common distillation set
disappear: the last drops of the distilling liquid are saved, and the whole vessel is equally warmed on all sides so that the splashings of the black porridge is nearly completely avoided. The kiln is carefully constructed by means of isolation bricks (very light porous bricks, not the heavy refractory bricks), cemented with common brick clay. The outer dimensions of the kiln are constructed 30 cm x 30 cm x 50 cm (height) without the cover. The inner dimensions are about 18 cm x 18 cm x 42 cm. It is clear that the proportion between inner and outer dimensions depends on the dimensions of the bricks used. Allow for an opening (2) on the right side through which a glass sidearm (9) can pass. The opening is square and the opening between the glass tube and the walls of the opening are filled up with glass fibers (2). At the bottom of the kiln, a 1000 watt heating spare part (3), heating wire on a porcelain plate, is connected with two iron wires (4). Don't use copper wires because these will quickly be burned. Outside the oven, the wires are connected to common insulated electricity wires. Take care not to insulate the wires with plastic.
A tripod (5) is used that comes about 8 em above the heating element. Upon this is placed a porcelain dish with white or yellow sand (not clay) (6), wherein the vessel (7) is put. The sandbath is used to avoid overheating of the bottom of the vessel. The vessel used is one of 1 liter with a socket B24, a common still head with a stopper (8) with socket B24, a tube with a male and fernale socket B24 (9), and a corresponding Leibig cooler (10). When the kiln is well closed, a temperature of 240oC can be obtained in a few hours, which is high enough for this purpose. A rheostat is not used to control the beatings. As a matter of fact, the temperature, in the vessel can only surpass a little bit above the 100 degrees C, as long as there is liquid in the vessel. Distillation goes very smoothly in this way. Generally, a three to four hour heating is sufficient to extract all the liquid, and no further control is needed. What can be done is to control, from time to time, the pH, but take care about the interpretation of such readings. Sometimes, a strong, aggressive smell comes over with the liquid, which is due to the presence of sulphur dioxide (SO2), which gives with the phlegm (water) the sulphurous
acid (SO2+ H20=H2SO3) and not sulphuric acid (H2SO4). Normally if you let stand for a time, all SO2, and also H2SO3 will disappear. An easy test is made by adding a few drops of the distillate to a concentrated Barium chloride solution. If a white precipitation is seen, then you may conclude there is still sulphurous acid in the solution. +
Questions And Answers Q. Did Cockren, using a variant of the humid way, produce a Mercury with "Clipped Wings?" After initial separation from the golden liquid was the Mercury so actuated it could immediately dissolve gold without further rectification? Is not the clue Cockren found hidden in a religious discourse in The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony? A. The Mercury can be so actuated from the golden liquid after its proper rectification and will then accomplish the dissolving of the gold. Q. On page 126, paragraph 3, Cockren says the black dregs are calcined to a redness "and carefully separated and treated until it became a white salt." I'm assuming Cockren used lead sulphide (Galena) to get his Philosophical Mercury. This would mean that the black dregs are lead and when it goes to red lead (Pb204) Is this correct? From here he says it was carefully separated and treated to form a white salt. Does he mean to take the red lead and form lead acetate again? If not, what salt of lead is he talking about? A. It can be so treated and resolved into acetate again until all the virtues of the lead are extracted. Q. On page 127, paragraph 2, Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored by Cockren, the ferment or mercury is gold dissolved in the Philosophical Mercury. To form this ferment is metallic gold dissolved in the Philosophical Mercury or is a gold salt used? If you use a salt, is it AuCl3 (Gold III Chloride) Also, how much of the ferment is to be added each time? A. It is best to use no salt but the metal. When using salts, the hydrochloric acid can not be entirely removed, as the gold goes back to its metallic state. Q. In Cockren, page 121, paragraph 3, line 4, he mentions obtaining " a salt from the calcined metal by a special process." And again, page 122, paragraph 2, line 5 - "sublimated by a special process." What are these two special processes? A. The first is an acetate and the second is during the dry distillation when the sublimate shows. Q. If the unfixed tincture of Antimony has no spirit, why does it give us energy?
A. I have found no statement made that unfixed tincture of antimony has no spirit. It certainly has. Q. I have two soxhlet extractors at home, neither of which drain completely from the soxhlet chamber when the flow over occurs. Why? A. The pressure could be insufficient; the syphon tube clogged, or an airlock is in the syphon tube. Try raising the heat. Q. Can transcending the mind, as in meditation, help expand the mind? A. Mind is an extension of consciousness that adds to our thoughts new ideas. Thought can expand by way of the influence of the mind, as a channel for consciousness. Q. Would you agree that the neutralized lye is in fact sodium acetate? A. Not very, well, as it is neutralized. To be an acetate needs the action of the acid beyond the neutralized state. Q. The final result so far in the Kermes process I have come up with, after Acetic acid conversion to acetate and then K.M. extraction, is mainly a hydroscopic water and alcohol soluble salt which gives off SO2 on slight heating. What can I do with this salt? A. Kermes is no acetate. It is an antimony oxysulfide from which an antimony acetate can be produced. You can extract either an unfixed or antimony and natural sulphur tincture from it. Q. Regarding the electromagnetic principle which was mentioned for transport of the future. Does this relate to harmonic sounds as used by John Worrel Keely in the early part of this century? A. At present I am not acquainted with J. W. Keely's theory. Even your reference to electromagnetic principles is vague. It needs further elaboration from you in what specific context it is to be placed. Q. Would the unfixed tincture of antimony used with the oil of copper be capable of dissolving kidney stones? A. I don't know. Tartarus would. Q. Is the universal spirit the same spirit we find in the vegetable world, animal world, and mineral world? Or is it contained within these spirits? Or what is the difference between them? A. It is. The difference is the vehicle wherein it is found within its respective category, as alcohol, blood, or alkahest.
Q. On page 173 of The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony, Kerkring has a footnote further clarifying Basil's method of extracting Vinegar of Antimony. He says, "mix that which is sublimed with fresh antimony." When Basil and Kerkring talk of sublimation, are they referring to sublimation of the ore or sublimation of the Spirit (Vinegar) A. In this case, the spirit that "rose forth" from the antimony. Q. When I heated my "ore" (actually thoroughly calcined Red Kermes, Sb2O3) after distillation of the sour water, I could get no sublimation of the Sb2O3 after 4 hours at very high heat in a sandbath. Perhaps, I should have used Sb2S3 but then a high heat would have sublimed SO2 and left the regulus and probably produced some sulphuric acid through SO2, dissolving in the already distilled off water. Your comments please. A. We have found no sulphuric acid. If you thoroughly calcined the Kermes, there is little likelihood of any sulphur dioxide (SO2) converting into sulphuric acid. Q. Which of the following is correct? (a) Order of 7 year Jupiter cycle: Sun, Moon, Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn. (b) Order of 7 year Jupiter cycle: Jupiter, Venus, Saturn, Sun, Moon, Mars and Mercury. A. Both can be correct, depending on what they are used for. Tell us what you are determining and maybe we can assist you. Q. In what way, if at all, would a person born of Southern latitudes differ from one originating in Northern latitudes, both having the same sign but different season of birth? A. The season does not make any difference. Libra is still Libra and so is its sign influence. Q. Is there a specific number of conscious assistants which you would like to have for Tri-Star? If so, how many? A. There is no specific number. Q. If we fail a test is there always another chance in this life? A. Yes. Q. Apart from the instruction given in the Prima class and the notes taken on the Qabala is there a suggestion as to how one can study it fur ther and immerse oneself in it? What books would you suggest? A. We prefer not to suggest any books, as those left out of the many that could be mentioned may be the ones that have special appeal. In the end, the QBL is a means toward an end but not the end. Q. What is an Alchemist?
A. An alchemist is not a fool, but one who has attained selfmastery Q. What differentiates an Alchemist from others who are enlightened Yogi Masters, Sufi Masters, etc.? A. There is no differentiation except by name. An alchemist is an alchemist, an enlightened one. Even this reveals itself by degree in a name. Q. If it takes an enlightened person to keep a fourth way school alive, will there be an enlightened one to take over for Tri-Star after you leave? A. Most certainly.
back cover
Perfection To be perfect is relative. A perfect state of being is a measurement taken from' a certain perspective, from a degree of conscious expansion or a plateau of evolution that is attained within an infinite Life of achievement. Where is the beginning or end of Ideals or the beginning or end of Perfection? Who is to say that simply to be is not the perfect state of an Ideal carried out by an Idea? Simply To Be is no small thing. It is a condition that the majority of beings regard as a natural event, an occurrence quite commonplace for a given time. Yet, there is to be found in such a simple being the wonderment that one exists at all. And how perfectly one exists, despite the prevailing circumstances and conditions that would cause one to think otherwise.. The very consciousness of one's existence, however difficult, is to be marveled at. For such a consciousness itself is able to experience all manner of stimuli. It can reason, feel, and activate. It is imbued with a power that. can create for itself and all others all manner of experiences. Who is to say that to be conscious as man and woman is not a plateau of perfection in the universal scheme? If one has ever climbed a mountain only to find another still higher to be scaled, then there is some understanding and a glimpse of the infiniteness of what is called Perfection. Alchemy is evolution and evolution itself will carry one on to higher and higher plateaus of perfection. It is Alchemy or Parachemy (or Parachemistry), as it is known today, that will move all things toward an unfoldment of a greater and greater perfection, for it is a reaching beyond to Ideals presently unknown and an implementation of Ideas that for many seem radical presently but will become for many, in time, but commonplace. The Ideal of perfection will always be grander than what is to be experienced in the present state, and the Ideas will always be plentiful as to how to achieve such a state, with but a very few actually applied in a manner that will assure success. The problem is not the attainment of Perfection. The problem is in one's attitude toward Perfection. Perfection, being relative, can never be wholly attained. It is an unending line one
moves along. One's attitude toward Perfection can cause one to be diseased or out of harmony continuously, simply because there is found to be no end to perfection itself, and all efforts toward it then are but experiences which fall short. This is the result of "placing" ourselves into the future and measuring where we are by where we think we should be. Or "Placing" ourselves into the past and measuring where we are by where we think we should have been by now. We are where we are. Here, we will experience a state of perfection, if we will but allow ourselves to do so. There is to be found in us, with us, and around us that which is perfect. Yesterday it was not perfect. Tomorrow it will not be perfect. Now It is.
