Sunday, February 12, 2012

The philosophers’ stones of Alchemy

The philosophers’ stones (Latin: lapis philosophorum) is a famous alchemical material, said to be able of flipping platform materials, especially cause, into precious metal (chrysopoeia); it was also sometimes considered to be an elixir of life, useful for restorative and perhaps for reaching growing old.
For many decades, it was the most sought-after goal in Western alchemy, meditated upon by alchemists, such as Sir Isaac Newton, Nicolas Flamel, and Frater Albertus. The Stone was the central symbol of the mystical terminology of alchemy, symbolizing perfection, enlightenment, and heavenly bliss. The discovery of the philosopher’s stone was known as the Great Work.
The origins of the philosopher’s stone seem to be in ancient Hinduism. The Yoga Vasistha, written between the 10th and 14th century AD, contains a story about the Philosopher’s stone (Cintamani).
A great Hindu sage wrote about the spiritual accomplishment of Gnosis using the metaphor of the philosopher’s stone. Saint Jnaneshwar (1275-1296), wrote a commentary with 17 references to the philosopher’s stone that explicitly transmutes base metal into gold. The seventh century Indian sage Thirumoolar in his classic Tirumandhiram explains man’s path to immortal divinity. In verse 2709 he declares that the name of God, Shiva or the god Shambala, is an alchemical vehicle that turns the body into immortal gold. His poetry resonates with the deathless nature of spiritual attainment. And since God Shiva is usually depicted through a Shivalinga, a sculpted stone, this is possibly the origin.
Another Indian saint, Ramalinga Swamigal (1823-1874) is believed to have dissolved his “perfected” body into blinding white light, just as another sage, Manickavasagar, is believed to have done in the seventh century. He too claimed direct knowledge bestowed by divine grace. In his classic testimony, “The Divine Song of Grace”, Ramalinga describes the transmutation of his dense physical body into a body of light:
“Oh God! The Eternal Love, just to bestow upon me the golden body, You, Universal Love, have merged with my heart, allowing yourself to be infused in me. Oh Supreme Love, You with the Light of Grace have alchemised my body”.
Source: Wikipedia

The Philosopher’s Stone – by Sir Isaac Newton

Sir Isaac Newton, the famous seventeenth-century mathematician and scientist, though not generally known as an alchemist, practiced the art with a passion. Though he wrote over a million words on the subject, after his death in 1727, the Royal Society deemed that they were “not fit to be printed.” The papers were rediscovered in the middle of the twentieth century and most scholars now concede that Newton was first an foremost an alchemist. It is also becoming obvious that the inspiration for Newton’s laws of light and theory of gravity came from his alchemical work.
If one looks carefully, in the light of alchemical knowledge, at the definitive biography, Sir Isaac Newton by J. W. V. Sullivan, it is quite easy to realize the alchemical theories from which he was working. Sir Arthur Eddington, in reviewing this book, says: “The science in which Newton seems to have been chiefly interested, and on which he spent most of his time was alchemy. He read widely and made innumerable experiments, entirely without fruit so far as we know.” One of his servants records: “He very rarely went to bed until two or three of the clock, sometimes not till five or six, lying about four or five hours, especially at springtime or autumn, at which time he used to employ about six weeks in his laboratory, the fire scarce going out night or day. What his aim might be I was unable to penetrate into.” The answer is that Newton’s experiments were concerned with nothing more or less than alchemy. (from Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored by A. Cockren)
Isaac Newton’s alchemical notebooks are like a gigantic jigsaw puzzle. But this puzzle is no child’s play—more like an enigma wrapped in a mystery riddled with a number of misleading clues.
“Lapis Philosphicus” from a manuscript 416 by Sir Isaac Newton.
Click to enlarge.
Philosopher’s Stone (1024×768 GIF, 82KB)
An image inspired by a manuscript by Sir Isaac Newton.
Click to enlarge.
Alchemical authors frequently employed a riddling style in the attempt both to reveal the text to clever readers and to hide it from those whom they considered unworthy.
Newton on Keeping Alchemy Secret
Isaac Newton wrote fellow alchemist Robert Boyle a letter urging him to keep “high silence” in publicly discussing the principles of alchemy. “Because the way by the Mercurial principle may be impregnated has been thought fit to be concealed by others that have know it,” Newton wrote, “and therefore may possibly be an inlet to something more noble that is not to be communicated without immense damage to the world if there be any verity in [the warning of the] Hermetic writers. There are other things besides the transmutation of metals which none but they understand.” According to B.J.T. Dobbs in The Foundations of Newton’s Alchemy (Cambridge University Press, 1984), “The fact that Newton never published a work on alchemy cannot be taken to mean that he knew he had failed  [at the Great Work]. On the contrary, it probably means that he had enough success to think that he might be on the track of something of fundamental importance and so had good reason for keeping his ‘high silence,’ even though there is nothing to indicate that he himself was searching for that mysterious “inlet to something more noble.”
Newton the Alchemist – Related Links:

Truth is stranger than fiction, but it is because Fiction is obliged to stick to possibilities; Truth isn’t. – Samuel Clemens (aka Mark Twain)

The Book of Aquarius

The purpose of this book is to release one particular secret, which has been kept hidden for the last 12,000 years. The Philosophers’ Stone, Elixir of Life, Fountain of Youth, Ambrosia, Soma, Amrita, Nectar of Immortality. These are different names for the same thing.
Throughout history this secret has been used by a very few to extend their lives hundreds of years in perfect health, with access to unlimited wealth, among many other miraculous properties. Some kept the secret because they understood that the time was not right for the secret to be free for all people, but most kept the secret out of their own jealousy, ignorance, egotism and corruption.
The Stone’s history and the history of the human race up until this day is a strange story full of secret societies, hooded cloaks, and mystical symbols. Such theatrics are childish and shallow. It’s pointless to look for the light in the shadows.
The Philosophers’ Stone operates and is made by entirely natural and scientific means. Truth is always simple, beautiful and easy to understand.
The Philosophers’ Stone is real; you can make it at home. The Stone makes old people young, heals all forms of sickness and disease, extends your life, turns any metal into gold, and more, as you will learn. This isn’t a myth or a metaphor, it’s a fact.
Don’t judge this book before you’ve read it. This is not one of those airy fairy books written in all kinds of mystical language, filling pages with words that makes sentences but not sense. This book will make more sense than anything you’ve ever read before.
The age of secrets is over. I’m writing this book in common English. There’s no need for mystical language or metaphor. This book contains no hidden meaning or codes; everything is stated plainly and directly, in the shortest and simplest of words necessary to convey the meaning.
Chapters 1 – 2 are the introduction and foreword.
Chapters 3 – 17 cover the theory of alchemy.
Chapters 18 – 29 cover the practical instructions for making the Stone.
Chapters 30 – 32 cover further information on the Stone.
Chapters 33 – 47 cover the history of the Stone.
Chapters 48 – 49 cover some more philosophical topics.
Chapter 50 is the alchemists’ prophecy.
Chapter 51 is the afterword.
Chapter 52 is a list of answers to questions asked since initial release.
Chapter 53 is the bibliography.

Foreword

I am a friend of Socrates and Plato, but still more so of Truth.
A Dialogue, by Alexander von Suchten, 16th – 17th Cen. (?)
Give this book to everyone you know. If you have a web site, upload it there. If you have a mailing list, mail it to everyone. If you work in the media, report on or publish this book. Translate it into different languages. Do everything you can to get this book to as many people as possible. You can distribute this book in any way. I am not reserving any copyright. This book is public domain and royalty-free. I advise you to print this book, as computers may not be so reliable in the future.
Do you know any secrets? Now is the time to release them. Forget any promises you made or vows you took. This is all corruption. If someone makes you promise to jump off a cliff it doesn’t mean you have to. There is no such thing as “government”, “society”, “company”, “organization”, these are just vague concepts, they are not real, they don’t have feelings. People are real. Your loyalty is to people and to Nature.
Please do not try to find out who I (the author) am. Please do not help anyone else find out who I am. I’m giving this book out freely, at great risk to myself, so please appreciate that and don’t put me in danger. If you think you know who I am, don’t try to contact me about it or ever mention it. Don’t talk about me with other people over telephone or email.
This book is full of quotes. You can look up the full text of the source of these quotes by searching for any sentence from the quote on Google. Search for it in speech marks.
All of the quotes are from sources which are accessible to read for free online. The sources of all the alchemical books I have quoted from are these sites: sacred-texts.com, forgottenbooks.org, rexresearch.com, alchemywebsite.com. The latter three sites include alchemical imagery on their sites or in their books, but unfortunately none of them realized the true significance of alchemy. However, all these sites and ramsdigital.com (which is not free) have done a great service to the world by publishing alchemical literature on the Internet.
One week after initial release, forgottenbooks.org offered free hosting for this book. A forum has been set up so if you wish to ask any questions to me (the author) you can now do so. This book will be regularly updated with the answers to any good questions posed. To access the forum and download the latest version of this book, please visit:
http://bookofaquarius.forgottenbooks.org
You can also download this book (PDF) here: The Book of Aquarius

Chapter 3. What is Alchemy?

Nature enjoys its Nature, Nature contains Nature, improves Nature, reduces Nature, Nature is superior to Nature.
A Magnificent and Select Tract on Philosophical Water, by Anonymous, 13th – 17th Cen. (?)
Alchemy is the art of imitating and accelerating Nature. It is a natural art and science. In alchemy we do not really make anything, all we do is provide a condition for Nature to do what Nature does. So the Philosophers’ Stone is not really made by the alchemist, it is made by Nature. The alchemist only provides the conditions so that Nature can operate effectively and without being disturbed.
Many Sages, Scholars, and learned men have in all ages, and (according to Hermes) even so early as the days before the Flood, written much concerning the preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone; and if their books could be understood without a knowledge of the living processes of Nature, one might almost say that they are calculated to supersede the study of the real world around us. But though they never departed from the simple ways of Nature, they have something to teach us, which we, in these more sophisticated times, still need to learn, because we have applied ourselves to what are regarded as the more advanced branches of knowledge, and despise the study of so “simple” a thing as natural Generation. Hence we pay more heed to impossible things than to those objects which are broadly exhibited before our very eyes; we excel more in subtle speculations than in a sober study of Nature, and of the meaning of the Sages. It is one of the most remarkable features of human nature that we neglect those things which seem familiar, and are eager for new and strange information. The workman who has attained the highest degree of excellence in his Art, neglects it, and applies himself to something else, or else abuses his knowledge. Our longing for an increase of knowledge urges us ever onward towards some final goal, in which we imagine that we shall find full rest and satisfaction
[...] Nature, then, is one, true, simple, self-contained, created by God and informed with a certain universal spirit. Its end and origin are God. Its unity is also found in God, because God made all things. Nature is the one source of all things: nor is anything in the world outside Nature, or contrary to Nature.
[...] if Art would produce any solid and permanent effect, it must follow in the footsteps of Nature, and be guided by her methods. It must trust itself to the guidance of Nature as far as Nature will lead, and go beyond her by still adhering to her rules.
[...] Now in our Art you should closely imitate these natural processes. There should be the Central Heat, the change of the water into air, the driving upward of the air, its diffusion through the pores of the earth, its reappearance as condensed but volatilized water.
The New Chemical Light, by Michael Sendivogius, 17th Cen.
Nature, says Florus, is one, and if any man strays away from her guidance, he mars his labour.
[...] In changing the base metals into gold and silver by the projection of the Stone, it follows (by an accelerated process) the method of nature, and therefore is natural.
[...] The fact is that, in producing gold, the Art of Alchemy does not pretend to imitate in the whole work of Nature. It does not create metals, or even develop them out of the metallic first substance; it only takes up the unfinished handiwork of Nature (i.e., the imperfect metals), and completes it (transmutes metals into gold).
The New Pearl of Great Price, by Peter Bonus, 1338 AD
An alchemist then only makes the Stone in the same way that you make a tree by planting the seed and leaving it for a few years. Once the seed is set, if the conditions are right then it just grows by itself, in accordance with Nature.
For as Men, Corn and Herbs are, every one of them, generated and born out of their own Specific Seed, so or in the same manner is the true Medicine of the Ancients (than which there cannot be a better) generated and prepared out of the most perfect bodies and essence
[...] Everything generated or begotten is generated and born of his own specific seed (1) and in his proper (2) matrix.
The Chemists Key, by Henry Nollius, 1617 AD
there is no true generation, but of things agreeing in nature. So that things be not made but according to their natures. The elder or oak trees will not bring forth pears; nor can you gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles, things bring not forth, but only their like, or what agrees with the in nature, each tree its own fruit.
[...] Thus the wise man does that by art in a short time, which nature cannot perform in less than the revolution of a thousand years. Yet notwithstanding, it is not we that make the metal, but nature herself that does it. — Nor do or can we change one thing into another; but it is nature that changes them. We are no more than mere servants in the work.
The Root of the World, by Roger Bacon, 13th Cen.
If you are wondering how this leads to the Philosophers’ Stone, I will explain it more clearly. The Philosophers’ Stone is a natural occurrence of Nature, in fact it is the aim of Nature. Therefore if you can find a substance which is very pure and infused with life-energy, then put it under protected conditions which are advantageous for its natural development, you will allow Nature to take its course in an accelerated manner. When this is complete, Nature will have made for you the Philosophers’ Stone. It’s very simple and entirely natural, which is the biggest part of the secret.
I will explain again in another way: the Philosophers’ Stone is the name of the thing that you get when Nature has finished doing what it does all day long. The Earth and the entire universe is going through this process. If, however, you find a substance already quite well matured by Nature, clean it up, then put it into a closed system, or microcosm, Nature will finish this thing long before it finishes everything else. So you get the result of Nature earlier and can enjoy all its wonderful properties while the rest of the world is still in shit.

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