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> Seeing the far-reaching importance of the author’s researches and discoveries it is necessary that some account should be given of his career, and of those
qualifications in the wide field of physiology which entitle him to consideration in questions of the treatment of human ailments. After the necessary period of training he was, in 1904, certificated at the National Hospital for
Paralysis and Epilepsy as fully qualified for all purposes of massage, remedial exercises, and electrical treatment. From this hospital he passed on to the staff of the Great Northern Central Hospital, where he remained for several years. From 1908
onwards, however, he was able to devote part of his time to the private practice in which he then for the first time established himself in the West End of London. This practice had necessarily to be given up during the War. The
years 1915 and 1916 found him in complete charge of all electrical, massage, manipulative, and remedial exercises at the Russian Hospital for British Officers in South Audley Street, London. This hospital, it may be stated, was opened by the Russian
nobility resident in London, and was wholly maintained by Russian money. From there he passed on in a similar capacity (1917—18) to the Prisoners of War Hospital. He was at the same time attached to the Millbank Military Hospital. In 1918, he was
transferred to the Australian Army, and was on the Peace Conference Staff of the Australian Prime Minister in 1919. Since then, that is to say for the past twenty years, he has been in permanent private practice in the West End of London.
For over twenty years he has been a keen student of the sciences of metallurgy, No-chemistry, and bacteriology, and it will thus be seen that in the claims he now advances in this book he writes with that measure of authority which a life
devoted to the alleviation of suffering, and to the effective treatment of human ailments, undoubtedly confers on him. It is given to few men to make such momentous discoveries as have rewarded his persistent work and patience. His
work has, indeed, to my knowledge, often been pursued under conditions of great difficulty and disappointment. May what he has accomplished in the interests of science and of the human race bring him the reward which he deserves—the reward of general
recognition and appreciation of the results achieved. DUDLEY B. MYERS. PART I
HISTORICAL
CHAPTER I BEGINNINGS OF ALCHEMY To most of us the word
‘alchemy’ calls up the picture of a medieval and slightly sinister laboratory in which an aged, black-robed wizard brooded over the crucibles and alembics that were to bring within his reach the Philosophers’ Stone, and with that discovery the formula
for the elixir of life and the transmutation of metals. But one can scarcely dismiss so lightly the science—or art, if you will—which won to its service the lifelong devotion of men of culture and attainment from every race and clime over a period of
hundreds, or, indeed, thousands, of years, for the beginnings of alchemy are hidden in the mists of time. Such a science is something far more than an outlet for a few eccentric old men in their dotage. What was the motive behind
the constant strivings, the never-failing patience in the unravelling of the mysteries, the tenacity of purpose in the face of persecution and ridicule through the countless ages that led the alchemist to pursue undaunted his appointed way? Something far
greater, surely, than a mere vainglorious desire to transmute the base metals into gold, or to brew a potion to prolong a little longer this earthly span, for the devotees of alchemy in the main cared little for these things. The accounts of their lives
almost without exception lead us to believe that they were concerned with things spiritual rather than with things temporal. Rather were these men inspired by a vision, a vision of man made perfect, of man freed from disease and the limitations of
warring faculties both mental and physical, standing as a god in the realization of a power that even at this very moment of time is lying hidden in the deeper strata of his consciousness, a vision of man made truly in the image and likeness of the one
Divine Life in all its Perfection, Beauty, and Harmony. To appreciate and understand these adepts’ visions it is necessary to trace to some extent the history of their cult, so let us for a space step back into the past to catch a
glimpse of these men, of their work and ideals, and more important still, of the possibilities that their life-work might bring to those who to-day are seeking for fuller knowledge and wider horizons. References are to be found in
the myths and legends of China. From a book written by Edward Chalmers Werner, a late member of the Chinese Government’s Historiological Bureau, Peking, comes this quotation from old Chinese records: ‘Chang Tao-Ling, the first
Taoist pope, was born in A.D. 35 in the reign of the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti of the Han dynasty. His birthplace is variously given as the T’ien-mu Shan, “Eye of Heaven Mountain,” in Lin-an-Hsien in Chekiang, and Feng-yang Eu in Anhui. He devoted himself
wholly to study and meditation, declining all offers to enter the service of the State. He preferred to take up his abode in the mountains of Western China where he persevered in the study of alchemy and in cultivating the virtues of purity and mental
abstraction. From the hands of Lao Tzu he received supernaturally a mystic treatise, by following the instructions in which he was successful in his search for the Elixir of Life.’ This reference demonstrates that alchemy was
studied in China as early as the commencement of the Christian era, so that its origin must probably lie far back in Chinese history. From China we must now travel to Egypt, whence alchemy as known in the West seems to have sprung.
The great Egyptian adept king, named by the Greeks Hermes Trismegistus, is thought to have been the founder of the art. Reputed to have lived about 1900 B.C., he was highly celebrated for his wisdom and skill in the operation of nature, but of the
works attributed to him only a few fragments escaped the destroying hand of the Emperor Diocletian in the third century A.D., namely, the Asclepian Dialogues and the Divine Poemanda. If we may judge from these fragments (both preserved in the Latin by
Fianus and translated into English by Dr. Everard) it would seem to be of inestimable loss to the world that none of these works have survived in their entirety. The famous Smaragdine Table of Hermes (Tabula Smaragdina) I have
placed at the beginning of this book, for although it would be difficult to prove its origin, yet it still represents a good example of Hermetic phraseology. There have been various stories of the origin of the ‘Tract, one being that the original emerald
slab upon which the precepts were said to be inscribcd in Phoenician characters was discovered in the tomb of Hermes by Alexander the Great. In the Berne edition (1545) of the Summa Perfectionis the Latin version is printed under the heading:
‘The Emerald Tables of Hermes the Thrice Great concerning Chymistry, Translator unknown. The words of the Secrets of Hermes which were written on the Tablet of Emerald found between his hands in a dark cave wherein his body was discovered
buried.’ An Arabic version of the text was discovered in a work ascribed to Jabir, which was probably made about the ninth century. In any case it must be one of the oldest alchemical fragments known, and that it is a piece of
Hermetic teaching I have no doubt, as it corresponds to teaching in the Poemanda and ‘Fragments of a Faith Forgotten’ in relation to the teaching of the thrice-greatest Hermes. It also teaches the unity of matter and the truth that all form is a
manifestation from one root, the Aether, which teaching corroborates the theory of our present-day scientists. This table, in conjunction with the Tractatus Aureus or Golden Treatise which I have inserted at the end of this book, is well worth reading,
particularly in the light of my elucidation of the general alchemical symbolism. Unhappily, it is all that remains to us of the Egyptian sacred art. The third century A.D. seems to have been a period when the science was widely
practised, but it was also during this century, in the year 296, that Diocletian sought out and burnt all the Egyptian books on alchemy and the other occult sciences, and in so doing destroyed all evidence of progress made up to that date. In the fourth
century Zosimus the Panopolite wrote his express treatise on ‘The Divine Art of Making Gold and Silver,’ and in the fifth Morienus, a hermit of Rome, left his native city and set out to seek the sage Adfar, a solitary adept whose
fame had reached him from Alexandria. He found him, and after gaining his confidence became his disciple. After the death of his patron Morienus came into touch with King Calid, and a very attractive work purporting to be a dialogue between himself and
the King is still extant under the name of Morienus. In this century Cedrenus also appeared, a magician who professed alchemy. The next name of note, that of Geber, occurs in or about A.D. 750. Geber’s true name was
Abou Moussah Djfar—Al Sofi, or The Wise. Born at Houran in Mesoptamia, he is generally esteemed by adepts as the greatest of them all after Hermes. Of the five hundred treatises said to have been composed by him only three remain to posterity—’The Sum of
the Perfect Magistery,’ ‘The Investigation of Perfection,’ and his’ Testament.’ It is to him, too, that we are indebted for the first mention of corrosive sublimate, red oxide of mercury and nitrate of silver. Skilfully indeed did Geber veil his
discovery, for from his mysterious style of writing we derive the word’ geber’ or gibberish, but those who have really understood Geber, his adept compeers, declare with one accord that he has declared the truth, albeit disguisedly, with great acuteness
and precision. Rhasis, another Arabian alchemist, became famous for his practical displays in the art of transmutation of base metals into gold. In the tenth century Al Farabi enjoyed the
reputation of being the most learned man of his age, and another great alchemist of this century was Avicenna, whose real name was Ebu Cinna. Born at Bokara in A.D. 980, he was the last of Egyptian Philosophers of note.
CHAPTER II EARLY EUROPEAN ALCHEMISTS About the period of the first Crusades alchemy shifted its centre to Spain, to which country it had
been introduced by the Moors. In the twelfth century Artephius wrote ‘The Art of Prolonging Human Life,’ and is reported to have lived throughout a period of one thousand years. He himself affirms this: ‘I, Artephius, having
learnt all the art in the book of Hermes, was once as others, envious, but having now lived one thousand years or thereabouts (which thousand years have already passed over me since my nativity, by the grace of God alone, and the use of this admirable
quintessence), as I have seen, through this long space of time, that men have been unable to perfect the same magistery on account of the obscurity of the words of the philosophers, moved by pity and good conscience, I have resolved, in these my last
days, to publish in all sincerity and truly, so that men may have nothing more to desire concerning this work. I except one thing only, which is not lawful that I should write, because it can be revealed truly only by God, or by a master. Nevertheless,
this likewise may be learned from this book, provided one be not stiff-necked and have a little experience.’ Of the thirteenth-century literature, a work called ‘Tesero’ was attributed to Alphonso, King of Castile in 1272:
William de Loris wrote ‘Le Roman de Rose’ in about 1282, assisted by Jean de Meung, who also wrote ‘The Remonstrance of Nature to the Wandering Alchemist,’ and ‘TheReply of the Alchemist to Nature.’ Peter d’Apona, born near Padua in
1250, wrote several books on ‘magic,’ and was accused by the Inquisition of possessing seven spirits, each enclosed in a crystal vessel, who taught him the seven liberal arts and sciences. He died upon the rack. Among other famous
names appearing about this period is that of Arnold de Villeneuve or Villanova, whose most famous work is found in the ‘Theatrum Chemicum.’ He studied medicine in Paris, but was also a theologian and alchemist. Like his friend, Peter d’Apona, he
was thought to obtain his knowledge from the devil and was charged by many with magical practices. Although he did not himself fall into the hands of the Inquisition, his books were condemned to be burnt in Tarragona by that body on account of their
heretical content. For Villanova maintained that works of faith and charity were more acceptable in the eyes of God than the Sacrificial Mass! The authority of Albertus Magnns (1234—1314) is undoubtedly to be respected, since
he renounced all material advantages to devote the greater part of a long life to the study of philosophy in the seclusion of a cloister. When Albertus died, his fame descended to his ‘sainted pupil’ Aquinas, who in his ‘Thesaurus Alchimae’ to his
friend the Abbot Reginald, speaks openly of the successes of Albertus and himself in the art of transmutation. Raymond Lully is one of the alchemists about whose life there is so much conflicting evidence that it is practically certain that
his name was used as a cover by a second adept either at the same or a later period. He was probably born in Majorca about 1235,and after a somewhat dissolute youth, he was induced, apparently by the tragic termination of an unsuccessful love affair, to
turn his thoughts to religion. He became imbued with a burning desire to spread the gospel among the followers of Mohammed, and to this end devoted years to the study of Mohammedan writings, the better to refute the Moslem teachings. He travelled widely,
not only in Europe, but in Africa and Asia, where his religious zeal nearly cost him his life on more than one occasion. He is said to have become acquainted with Arnold de Villanova and the Universal Science somewhat late in life, when his study of
alchemy and the discovery of the Philosophers’ Stone increased his former fame as a zealous Christian. According to one story his reputation eventually reached John Cremer, Abbot of Westminster at the time, who after working
at alchemy for thirty years, had still failed to achieve his aim, the Philosophers’ Stone. Cremer therefore sought out Lully in Italy, and having gained his confidence, persuaded him to come to England, where he introduced him to Edward II. Lully, being
a great champion of Christendom, agreed to transmute base metals into gold on condition that Edward carried on the Crusades with the money. He was given a room in the Tower for his work, and it is estimated that he transmuted 50,000 pounds worth of gold.
After a time, however, Edward became avaricious, and to compel Lully to carry on the work of transmutation made him prisoner, although with Cremer’s aid he was able to escape from the Tower and return to the Continent. Records state that he lived to be
one hundred and fifty years of age and was eventually killed by the Saracens in Asia. At that age lie is reputed to have been able to run and jump like a young man. The enormous output of writings attributed to Lully (they total
about 486 treatises on a variety of subjects ranging from grammar and rhetoric to medicine and theology) also seems to suggest that the name Lully was merely a pseudonym. It was about this time that the science fell into grave
disrepute, for the alchemist’s claim to transmute metals offered great possibilities to any rogue with sufficient plausibility and lack of scruple to exploit the credulity or greed of his fellow-men, and there proved to be no lack either of charlatans or
victims. Rich merchants and others greedy for gain were induced to entrust to the alleged alchemists gold, silver, and precious stones—which they lost—in the hope of getting them multiplied, and Acts of Parliament were passed in England and Pope’s Bulls
issued over Christendom to forbid the practice of alchemy on pain of death, although Pope John XXII is said to have practised the art himself and to have enriched the public treasury by this means. In the fourteenth century lived
the two Isaacs Hollandus, father and son, Dutch adepts, who wrote ‘De Triplici Ordinari Exiliris et Lapidis Theoria’ and ‘Mineralia Opera Sue de Lapide Philosophico.’ The details of their operations on metals are the most explicit that have been
given, and because of this very lucidity have been discounted. John Read, for instance, Professor of Chemistry, in his ‘ Prelude to Chemistry, an Outline of Alchemy,’ dismisses the writing of the Hollandus pair in a few words, possibly because their
clarity of detail led him to suspect a blind. Alas, how blind sometimes are our experts themselves CHAPTER III THE STORY OF NICHOLAS FLAMEL In the whole
history of alchemy surely one of the most interesting stories is that of Nicholas Flamel (1330-1 418), the most successful and most celebrated of France's adepts, and I am accordingly giving in his own words the account of the discovery which proved be
the turning point in his life: "I, Nicholas Flamel, Scrivener, living in Paris in the year of our Lord 1399 in the Notary Street, near St. James of the Boucherie, though I learned not much Latin, because of the poverty of my
parents who, notwithstanding, were even by those who envy me most, accounted honest and good people: yet by the blessing of God I have not wanted an understanding of the books of the philosophers, but learned them and attained to a certain kind of
knowledge, even of their hidden secrets. For which cause's sake, there shall not any moment of my life pass wherein, remembering this so vast good, I will not render thanks to this my good and gracious God. After the death of my parents, I Nicholas
Flamel, got my living by the art of writing, ingrossing and the like, and in the course of time there fell into my hands a gilded book, very old and large, which cost me only two florins. It was not made of paper or parchment as other books are, but of
admirable rinds, as it seemed to me, of young trees; the cover of it was brass, well bound, and graven all over with a strange sort of letters, which I took to be Greek characters, or some such like. This I know, that I could not read them; but as to the
matter that was written within, it was engraven, as I suppose, with an iron pencil, or graven upon the said bark leaves; done admirably well, and in fair neat Latin letters, and curiously coloured. "The book contained thrice
seven leaves, so numbered at the top of each folio, every seventh leaf having painted images and figures instead of writing. On the first of these seven leaves there was depicted a virgin who was being swallowed by serpents; on the second a Cross upon
which a serpent was crucified; on the last a wilderness watered by many fair fountains, out of which came a number of serpents, running here and there. On the first written leaf the following words were inscribed in great characters of gold “Abraham the
Jew, Prince, Priest, Levite, Astrologer and Philosopher, unto the Jewish nation scattered through France by the wrath of God, wishing health in the name of the God of Israel.” "Thereafter followed great execrations and
maledictions, with the word Maranatha repeated over and over, poured forth against anyone who should glance within, unless he were priest or scribe.
"The person who sold me this book must have known its value as much and as little as I who bought it. My suspicion is that it was either stolen from the miserable Jews or found hidden somewhere in the old place of their abode. On
the second leaf the said Abraham consoled his people, praying them to avoid vices and idolatry more than all and await with patience the Messiah to come, who would vanquish all kings of the earth and thereafter reign, with those who were his own, in
eternal glory. Without doubt this Abraham was a man of great understanding. On the third and rest of the written leaves he taught them the transmutation of metals in plain words, to help his captive nation in paying tribute to Roman Emperors and for
other objects which I shall not disclose. He painted the vessels on the margin, discovered the colours, with all the rest of the work, but concerning the Prime Agent he uttered no word, advising them only that he had figured and emblazoned it with great
care in the fourth and fifth leaves. But all his skill notwithstanding, no one could interpret the designs unless he was far advanced in Jewish kabalah and well studied in the book of the Philosophers. It follows that the fourth and fifth leaves were
also without writing but full of illuminated figures exquisitely designed. On the obverse of the fourth leaf there was shewn a young man with winged feet having in his hand a caducean rod, encompassed by two serpents, and with this he stroke upon a
helmet which covered his head. I took him to represent the Greek God Mercury. Unto him came running and flying with open wings a very old man, having an hour glass set upon his head and a scythe in his hands, like the figure of death, with which scythe
he would have struck off the feet of Mercury. On the reverse of the fourth leaf a fair flower was depicted on the summit of a very high mountain, round which the North wind blustered. The plant had a blue stem, white and red flowers, leaves shining like
fine gold, while about it the dragons and griffins of the North made their nests and their dwellings. On the obverse side of the fifth leaf there was a rose bush in flowers, in the midst of a fair garden, and growing hard by a hollow oak tree. At the
foot bubbled forth a spring of very white water, which ran headlong into the depths below, passing first through the hands of a great concourse of people who were diggingup the ground in search of it, save one
person only, who paid attention to its weight. On the reverse side appeared a king carrying a great faulchion who caused his soldiers to destroy in his presence a multitude of little children, the mothers
weeping at the feet of the murderers. The streams of blood were gathered by other soldiers into a great vessel, wherein the sun and moon bathe. Now, seeing that the history appeared to depict the slaughter of the innocents by Herod, and that I learned
the main part of the Art in this book, it came about that I placed in their cemetery these hieroglyphic symbols of the Sacred Science. "I have now described the content of the first five leaves, but I shall say nothing of all that was written in fair and intelligible Latin on the other pages, lest God should
visit me for a greater wickedness than that of him who wished that all mankind had but one head so that he could cut it oft at a blow. The precious book being in my possession I did little but study it night and day till I attained a fair understanding
of all its processes, knowing nothing, however, respecting the matter of the work. I could therefore make no beginning and the result was that I became very sad and depressed. My wife Peronelle, whom I had married recently and loved as much as myself,
was astonished and concerned greatly, endeavouring to comfort me and desiring earnestly to know whether she could not help me in my distress. I was never one who could hold his tongue and not only told her everything but showed her the book itself, for
which she conceived the same affection as my own, taking great delight in the beautiful cover, the pictures and inscriptions, all of which she understood as little as I did. There was no small consolation, however, in talking with her about them and in
wondering what could be done to discover their meaning. At length I caused the figures on the fourth and fifth leaves to be painted as well as I could and had them put up in my workroom, where I shewed them to many scholars in Paris; but these also
could throw no light upon them. I went so far as to tell them that they had been found in a book about the Philosophers’ Stone, but most of them made a mock of it and also of me. An exception however was one named Anselm, a licentiate of medicine and a
deep student of the Art. He desired earnestly to see my book and would have done anything to have his way in the matter, but I persisted in saying that it was not in my possession, though I gave him a full account of the process described therein. "He declared that the first figures represented time, which devours all things, while the six
written leaves shewed that a space of six years was required to perfect the Stone, after which there must be no further coction. When I pointed out that according to the book the figures were designed to teach the First Matter he answered that the six
years coction was like a second agent; that as regards the first it was certainly shewn forth as a white and heavy water, which was doubtless quicksilver. The feet of this substance could not be cut off, meaning that it could not be fixed and so deprived
of volatility except by such long decoction in the pure blood of young children. The quicksilver uniting with gold and silver in this blood would change with them, firstly into a herb like that of the fair flower on the teverse of the fourth leaf,
secondly by corruption into serpents, which serpents, being dried and digested by fire, would become Powder of Gold, and of such in truth is the Stone. "This explanation sent me astray through a labyrinth of innumerable false processes for a period of one and twenty years, it being always understood that I made no experiments
with the blood of children, for that I accounted villainous. Moreover, I found in my book that what the philosophers called blood is the mineral spirit in metals, more especially in gold, silver and quicksilver to the admixture of which I tended always.
The licentiate’s interpretation being more subtle than true, my processes never exhibited the proper signs at the times given in the book, so I was ever to begin again. At last, however, having lost all hope of understanding the figures, I made a vow to
God and St. James that I would seek their key of some Jewish priest belonging to one of the Spanish synagogues. Thereupon, with the consent of Peronelle and carrying a copy of the figures, I assumed a pilgrim’s weeds and staff, in the same manner as you
see me depicted outside the said arch in the said churchyard where I put up the hieroglyphic figures, as also a procession representing on both sides of the wall and successive colours of the Stone which arise and pass off in the work, and the following
inscription in French: “A procession is pleasing to God when it is done in devotion.” These are the first words, or their equivalent, of a tract on the colours of the Stone by the King Hercules, entitled Iris,
which opens thus “Operis Processio Multum Naturae Placet.” I quote them for the benefit of scholars, who will understand the allusion. Having donned my pilgrim’s weeds, I began to fare on the road, reaching Mountjoy and finally my destination at St.
James, where I fulfilled my vow with great devotion. On the return journey I met with a merchant of Boulogne in Leon, and to him I was indebted for acquaintance with Master Candies, a doctor of great learning who was Jewish by nation but now a Christian.
When I shewed him my copy of the figures he was ravished with wonder and joy, and asked with great earnestness whether I could give him news of the book from which they were taken. He spoke in Latin and I
answered in the same language that if anyone could decipher the enigma there was good hope of learning its whereabouts. He began at once to decipher the beginning. "To shorten this part of the story he had heard much talk of the work but as of a thing that was utterly lost. I resumed my journey in his company, proceeding from Leon to Ovideo
and thence to Sareson, at which port we set sail for France and arrived in due time, after a prosperous voyage. On our way to Paris my companion most truly interpreted the major or part of my figures, in which he found great mysteries, even to the points
and pricks. But unhappily when we reached Orleans this learned man fell sick and was affiicted with extreme vomitings, a recurrence of those from which he had suffered at sea. He was continually in fear of my leaving him, and though I was ever at his
side he would still be calling me. To my great sorrow he died on the seventh day, and to the best of my ability I saw that he was buried in the Church of Holy Cross at Orleans. There he still lies, and may God keep his soul, seeing that he made a good
Christian end. "He who would see the manner of my arrival home and the satisfaction of Peronelle may look on us both as we are painted on the door of. the Chapel of St. James of the Boucherie hard by
my house. We are shewn on our knees, myself at the feet of St. James of Spain and she at those of St. John, to whom she prayed so often. By the grace of God and the intercession of the Holy and Blessed Virgin, as also of the Saints just mentioned, I had
gained that which I desired, being a knowledge of the First Matter, but not as yet of its initial preparation, a thing of all else most difficult in the world. In the end, however, I attained this also, after errors innumerable through the space of some
three years, during which I did nothing but study and work as you will see me depicted outside the arch at the Chapel of St. James and St. John, ever praying to God rosary in hand, engrossed in a book, pondering the words of the philosophers and proving
various operations suggested by their study. The fact of my success was revealed to me by the strong odour, and thereafter I accomplished the mastery with ease indeed I could scarcely miss the work had I wished, given a knowledge of the prime agents,
their preparation and following my book to the letter. On the first occasion projection was made upon Mercury, of which I transmuted a half pound or thereabouts into pure silver, better than that of the mine, as I and others proved by assaying several
times. This was done on a certain Monday, the seventeenth day of January 1392, Peronelle only being present. Thereafter, still following—word for word—the directions of my book, about five o’clock in the evening of the twenty-fifth day of the following
April I made projection of the Red stone on the same amount of Mercury, still at my own house, Peronelle and no other with me, and it was duly transmuted into the same quantity of pure gold, much better than that of the ordinary metal, softer and more
pliable. I speak in all truth. I have made it three times, with the aid of Peronelle, for she helped me in all my operations and understood the subject as well as myself. She could have done it alone without doubt, had she desired, and would have brought
it to the same term. The first occasion gave me all that I needed, but I took great delight in contemplating the wonderful works of Nature within the vessels, and to signify that I made three transmutations you have only to look at the arch and the three
furnaces depicted thereupon, answering to those which served in our operations. "For a
considerable time I was in no little anxiety lest Peronelle should prove unable to conceal her happiness and should let fall some words among her kinsfolk concerning our great treasure. I judged of her joy by my own, and great joy, like great sorrow is
apt to diminish caution. But the most high God in His Goodness had not only granted me the blessing of the Stone, He had given me a chaste and prudent wife, herself endowed with reason, qualified to act reasonably, and more discreet and secret than other
women are for the most part. Above all she was very devout and having no expectations of children, for we were now advanced in years, she began—like myself— to think of God and to occupy herself with works of mercy. Before I wrote this commentary, which
was towards the end of the year 1413, after the passing of my faithful companion, whom I shall lament all the days of my life, she and I had already founded and endowed fourteen hospitals, had built three Chapels and provided seven Churches with
substantial gifts and revenues, as well as restoring their cemeteries." Nicholas Flamel died
eventually in 1415 at the age of one hundred and sixteen years. Some evidence of his house, dating from 1407, is still to be seen in the building of 51, rue de Montmorency in Paris, and in the Musée de Cluny there is an inscribed tablet from his tomb in
the old Church of St. Jaques-la-Boucherie, now demolished. This tablet, which is quite unique, had an interesting and somewhat chequered career. Lost for many years, after the demolition of St. Jacques-laBoucherie in 1717, it was eventually found in a
shop in the rue des Arias, where the owner, a greengrocer and herbalist, had been using the smooth marble back as a chopping block for his herbs. The tablet itself measures 58 x 45 centimetres, and is four centimetres thick. At the top is a carved representation of Christ, St. Peter,
and St. Paul, and the inscription records that Nicholas Flamel, formerly a scrivener, left certain moneys and properties for religious and charitable purposes, including gifts to churches and hospitals in Paris. I have retailed this account of Flamel’s experiences in full as it seems to me to be of no mean interest, despite the
fact that certain authorities have doubted its veracity. My own feeling about it is that the history is a true one; that the book of Abraham the Jew to which Flamel refers is evidently an allegorical writing of the whole process, and that the
corresponding pictures are, to anyone versed in alchemical language, representative of the different phases of the work. Some writers and critics, certainly, have held these allegories up to ridicule as the outpourings of religious visionaries, but here
I think they demonstrate their ignorance of the whole process. One of the greatest proofs of the truth of this history is, in my opinion, the point at which Flamel refers to the attainment of the First Matter. Of this he says ‘ The fact of my success was
revealed to me by the strong odour,’ and this fact I myself have demonstrated in the laboratory; the odour is unmistakable, and the gas of such a volatile nature that it pervades the whole house. In the theoretical and practical sections I shall refer to
this more fully. CHAPTER
IV BASIL VALENTINE
RECORDS of the life of Basilius Valentinus, the Benedictine
monk who for his achievements in the chemical sphere has been given the title
of Father of Modern Chemistry, are a mass of conflicting evidence. Many and
varied are the accounts of his life, and historians seem quite unable to agree
as to his exact identity, or even as to the century in which he lived. It is
generally believed, however, that 1394 was the year of his birth, and that he
did actually join the Benedictine Brotherhood, eventually becoming Canon of
the Priory of St. Peter at Erfurt, near Strasburg, although even these facts
cannot be proved.
Whatever his identity, Basil Valentine was undoubtedly a
great chemist, and the originator of many chemical preparations of the first
importance. Amongst these are
the preparation of spirit of salt, or hydrochloric acid from
marine salt and oil of vitriol (sulphuric acid)
the extraction of copper from its pyrites (sulphur) by
transforming it firstly into copper sulphate, and then plunging a bar of iron
in the watery dissolution of this product:
the method of producing sulpho-ether by the distillation of
a mixture of spirit of wine and oil of vitriol:
the method of obtaining brandy by the distillation of wine
and beer, rectifying the distillation on carbonate of potassium.
In
his writings he has placed on record many valuable facts, and whether Basil
Valentine is the correct name of the author or an assumed one matters little,
since it detracts nothing from the value of his works, or the calibre of his
practical experiments. From his writings one gathers that he was indeed a
monk, and also the possessor of a mind and understanding superior to that of
the average thinker of his day. The ultimate intent and aim of his studies was
undoubtedly to prove that perfect health in the human body is attainable,
and that the perfection of all metallic substance is also possible.
He believed that the physician should regard his calling in the nature
of a sacred trust, and was appalled by the ignorance of the medical faculty of
the day whose members pursued their appointed way in smug complacency, showing
little concern for the fate of their patients once they had prescribed their
pet panacea.
The following quotation from Basil Valentine's ' Triumphal Chariot of
Antimony ' is from the Latin version published at Amsterdam in 1685, and
translated into English and published by James Elliott & Co., Falcon
Court, Fleet Street, E.C., in 1893.
' . . . this quality of doctor,' he writes, ' cannot prepare
his own medicines (such as they are) but must leave that work to another. He
does not even know the colour of the remedies which he prescribes. He has not
the slightest idea whether they are white or black, red or grey, blue or
yellow, or whether the medicament is hot, cold, dry, or humid. He only knows
one thing — that he has found the name of that medicine in his books, and
pluming himself on the antiquity of his hoary knowledge, he claims the right
of prior possession.
' Here again I am
tempted to cry woe upon these foolish doctors whose consciences are seared
with a hot iron, who do not care in the least for their patients, and will be
called to a terrible account for their criminal folly on the day of judgment.
Then they will behold Him whom they have pierced by neglecting their
neighbour's welfare, while pocketing his money, and will see at last that they
ought to have laboured night and day, in order to acquire greater skill in the
healing of disease. Instead of this they complacently go on trusting to
chance, prescribing the first medicine they happen to find in their books, and
leaving the patient and the disease to fight it out as best they can. They do
not even trouble to enquire in what way the medicines they prescribe are
prepared. Their laboratory, their furnace, their drugs are at the
Apothecary's, to whom they rarely or never go. They inscribe upon a sheet of
paper, under the magic word " Recipe," the names of certain
medicines, whereupon the Apothecary's assistant takes his mortar and pounds
out of the wretched patient whatever health may still be left in him.
' Change these evil
times, oh. God ! Cut down these trees, lest they grow up to the sky !
Overthrow these overweening giants, lest they pile mountain upon mountain and
attempt to storm heaven ! Protect the conscientious few who quietly strive to
discover the mysteries of Thy creation!
' I will ask all my
brothers in our Monastery to unite with me in earnest prayer, by day and by
night, that God may enlighten the ignorance of these pseudo-doctors, that they
may understand the virtues which he has implanted in created things, and may
learn also that they can become manifest and operative only by means of that
preparation which removes all harmful and poisonous impurities.
I trust that God will answer our prayer, and that some of my brothers
at least will survive to witness the blessed change which shall then take
place on earth, when the thick veil of ignorance shall have been removed from
the eyes of our opponents, and their minds shall have been enlightened to find
the lost piece of silver. May God, who overrules the destinies of men, in His
goodness and mercy bring about this consummation.'
On the subject of
the perfection of metallic bodies, as in his reference to the Spagyric Art,
the Grand Magistrum, the Universal Medicine, the Tinctures to transmute metals
and other mysteries of the alchemist's art, he has completely mystified not
only the lay reader, but the learned chemists of his own and later times. In
all his works the important key to a laboratory process is apparently omitted.
Actually, however, such a key is invariably to be found in some other part of
the writings, probably in the midst of one of the mysterious theological
discourses which he was wont to insert among his practical instructions, so
that it is only by intensive study that the mystery can be unravelled.
His most famous work
is his ' Currus Triumphalis Antimonii' (' The Triumphal Chariot of Antimony ')
It has been translated into German, French, and English, and has done more to
establish his reputation as a chemist than any other. The best edition is
undoubtedly that published at Amsterdam in 1671 with a commentary by Theodorus
Kerckringius. In his preface Kerckringius states that he had actually spoken
with Valentine besides studying his works. He speaks of Basil as ' the prince
of all chemists, and the most learned, upright, and lucid of all alchemistic
writers. He tells the careful student everything that can be known in alchemy
; of this I can most positively assure you.' A perusal of this book makes it
quite evident that Valentine had investigated very thoroughly the properties
of antimony, and the findings on his experimental work with this metal have been brought forward as recent
discoveries by chemists of our day.
His other works are
' The Medicine of Metals,' 'Of Things Natural and Supernatural,' ' Of the
First Tincture, Root and Spirit of Metals,' ' The Twelve Keys," and his '
Last Will and Testament.' It is alleged that this last work remained concealed
for a number of years within the High Altar of the church belonging to the
Priory. Such a story is quite feasible, since alchemists both before and after
this era, deeming their works unfit for the age in which they were written,
are known to have buried or otherwise secreted their writings for the
discovery and benefit, as they doubtless hoped, of a more deserving and more
enlightened age. Such manuscripts would very often not be discovered for
several generations after the death of the author.
In view of his other
outstanding achievements as a chemist of great ability, it seems not illogical
to suppose that Valentine's Universal
Method of Medicine should be capable of achieving as great a measure of
success as his other somewhat more prosaic discoveries.
CHAPTER V PARACELSUS Aurolus Phillipus Theophrastur Bobastur von Hohenheim,
immortalized as Paracelsus, was born in 1493. He was the son of a physician of repute, who has been described as a Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, and it was from him that Paracelsus took his first instruction. At the age of sixteen he entered the University at Basle, where he applied himself to the study of alchemy, surgery, and
medicine. With the science of alchemy he was already acquainted, having previously studied the works of Isaac Hollandus, whose writings roused in him the ambition to cure disease by medicine superior to the material at that time in use, for apart from
his incursions into alchemy, Paracelsus is credited with the introduction of opium and mercury into medicine, while his works indicate an advanced knowledge of the science and principles of magnetism. These are some of the achievements which would seem
to justify Manly Hall’s description of him as ‘the precursor of chemical pharmacology and therapeutics and the most original medical thinker of the sixteenth century.’ The Abbot Trithemius, an adept of a high order, and the instructor of the illustrious Henry Cornelius Agrippa, was responsible for Paracelsus’ initiation into the science of alchemy.
In 1516 he was still pursuing his research in mineralogy, medicine, surgery, and chemistry under the guidance of Sigismund Fugger, a wealthy physician of the city, but was forced to leave Basle hurriedly after trouble with the authorities over his
studies in necromancy. He started out on a nomad’s life, supporting himself by astrological predictions and occult practices of various kinds. His wanderings took him through
Germany, France, Hungary, the Netherlands, Denmark, Sweden, and Russia. In Russia he is reported to have been taken prisoner by the Tartars and brought before the Grand Cham at whose court he became a great favourite. Finally, assuming this story to be
true, he accompanied the Cham’s son on an embassy from China to Constantinople, the city in which the supreme secret, the universal dissolvent, the alkahest, was imparted to him by an Arabian adept. For Paracelsus, as Manly Hall has said, gained his
knowledge ‘not from coated pedagogues, but from dervishes in Constantinople, witches, gipsies, and sorcerers, who invoked spirits and captured the rays of the celestial bodies in dew; of whom it is said that he cured the incurable, gave sight to the
blind, cleansed the leper, and even raised the dead, and whose memory could turn aside the plague.’
Paracelsus ultimately returned to Europe, passing along the Danube into Italy where he became an army surgeon. It was here apparently that his wonderful cures began. In 1526, at the age of thirty-two, lie re-entered Germany, and at the university he had
entered as a youth took a professorship of physics, medicine, and surgery. This was a position of some considerable importance, and was offered to him at the instance of Erasmus and Ecolampidus. Perhaps it was his behaviour at this time that eventually
led to his title ‘the Luther of physicians,’ for in his lectures he made so bold as to denounce as antiquated the systems of Galen and his school, whose teachings were held to be so unalterable and inviolable by the authorities of that time, that the
slightest deviation from their teachings was regarded as nothing short of heretical. As a crowning insult he actually burnt the works of these masters in a brass pan with sulphur and nitre! This high-handed behaviour, coupled with his original ideas,
made him countless enemies. The fact that the cures he performed with his mineral medicines justified his teachings merely served further to antagonize the medical faculty, infuriated at their authority and prestige being undermined by the teachings of a
‘heretic’ and ‘usurper.’ Thus Paracelsus did not long retain his professorship at Basle, but was forced once again to leave the city and betake himself to a wanderer’s life. During the course of his second exile we hear of him in 1526 at Colmar, and in 1530 at Nuremburg, once again in conflict with the doctors of medicine, who denounced him as an
impostor, although once again he turned the tables on his opponents by his successful treatment of several bad cases of elephantiasis, which he followed up during the next ten years by a series of cures which were amazing at the period. Franz Hartmann in his ‘Paracelsus’ says: ‘He proceeded to Maehren, Kaernthen, Krain, and Hungary, and finally to Salzburg, to which place he was invited by the Prince
Palatine, Duke Ernst of Bavaria, who was a great lover of the secret art. But he was not destined to enjoy a long time the rest he so richly deserved. . .’ He died in 1541 after a short sickness in a small room at the White Horse Inn near the quay, and his body was buried in the graveyard of St. Sebastian. One writer supposes the event
to have been accelerated by a scuffle with assassins in the pay of the orthodox medical faculty, but there is no actual foundation for this story. Not one of his biographers seems to have found anything remarkable in the fact that at sixteen years of age Paracelsus was already well acquainted with alchemical literature. Even
allowing for the earlier maturity of a man in those times, he must still have been something of a phenomenon in mental development. Certain it is that few of his contemporaries either could or would grasp his teachings, and his consequent irritation
and arrogance in the face of their stupidity and obstinacy is scarcely to be wondered at. Although he numbered so many enemies among his fellow physicians, he also had his disciples, and for these no praise was too high for him. He was worshipped as
their Noble and Beloved Monarch, the German Hermes, the Philosopher Trismegistus, Dear Preceptor and King, Theophrastus of Blessed Memory and Immortal Fame. I am indebted to Mr. Arthur Edward Waite’s translation from the German of the Hermetic and Alchemic Writings of Paracelsus for many of these facts of I life.
CHAPTER VI
ALCHEMY IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH
CENTURIES The
first man to teach the chemistry of the human body and to declare, as did Paracelsus, that the true purpose of chemistry was the preparation of medicine for the treatment of disease was one Jean Baptista van Helmont,
a disciple of Paracelsus, sometimes called the Descartes of Medicine. In his treatise, ‘De Natura Vitae Eternae,’
he writes
‘I have seen and I have touched the Philosophers’ Stone more than once. The colour of it was like saffron in powder,
but heavy and shining like pounded glass. I had once given me the fourth of a grain—I call a grain that which takes 6oo to make an ounce. I made projection with this fourth part of a grain wrapped in paper upon eight ounces of quicksilver heated in a
crucible. The result of the projection was eight ounces, lacking eleven grains, of the most pure gold.’
In his early thirties van Helmont retired to an old castle in Belgium near Brussels and remained there, almost unknown to his neighbours until his death in his sixty-seventh year. He never professed
to have actually prepared the Philosophers’ Stone, but gained his knowledge from alchemists he contacted during his years of research. Van Helmont also gives particulars of an Irish gentleman named Butler, a prisoner in the Castle of Vilvord in Flanders, who during his
captivity performed strange cures by means of the Hermetic medicine. The news of his cure of a Breton monk, a fellow-prisoner suffering from severe erysipelas, by the administration of almond milk in which he had merely dipped the Philosophers’ Stone
brought van Helmont, accompanied by several noblemen, post-haste to the Castle to investigate the case. In their presence Butler cured an aged woman of ‘megrim’ by dipping the Stone into olive-oil and then anointing her head. There was also an abbess who
had suffered for eighteen years with paralysed fingers and a swollen arm. These disabilities were removed by applying the Stone a few times to her tongue. In ‘Lives of the Alchcmystical Philosophers,’ published in 1815, it is stated that prior to the events at Vilvord, Butler attracted some attention by his transmutations in London
during the reign of James I. He is said to have gained his knowledge in Arabia and in this way. When a ship in which he had once taken passage was captured by African pirates, Butler was taken prisoner and sold into slavery in Arabia. His Arab master was
an alchemical worker with knowledge of the correct processes. Butler assisted him in some of his operations, and when later he was able to make his escape from captivity, lie carried off a large portion of the Red Powder. Denys Zachare in his memoirs gives an interesting account of his pursuit of the
Philosophers’ Stone. At the age of twenty he set out to Bordeaux to undertake a college curriculum, and hence to Toulouse for a course of law. In this town he made the acquaintance of some students in possession of a number of alchemical books. It seems
that at this time there was a craze for alchemical experiments among the students of Paris and other French towns, and this craze caught Zachare’s imagination. His law studies were forsaken and his experiments in alchemy began. On his parents’ death,
having expended all his money on this new love of his he returned home and from their estate raised further money to continue his research. For ten years, according to his own statement, after experiments of all sorts and meetings with countless men with
a method to sell, he sat down to study carefully the writings of the philosophers on the subject, and states that it was Raymond Lully’s ‘Testament, Codicil, and Epistle’ addressed to King Robert that gave him the key to the secret. From the study of
this book and ‘The Grand Rosary’ of Arnold de Villeneuve, he formulated a plan entirely different from any he had previously followed. After another fifteen months of toil he says:
‘I beheld with transport the evolution of the three successive colours which testify to the True Work. It came finally at
Eastertide; I made a projection of my divine Powder on quicksilver, and in less than an hour it was converted into fine gold. God knows how joyful I was, how I thanked him for this great grace and favour, and prayed for His Holy Spirit to pour yet more
light upon mc that I might use what I had attained only to His praise and honour.’
In
his one writing entitled ‘Opusculum Chemicum’ he gives his own personal narrative and states that the Art is the gift of God alone. The methods and possibilities of the transmutation of metals and the Tincture as a Medicine are also considered. There is also the evidence of John Frederick Helvetius, as
testified in 1666. He made claim to be an adept, but received the powder of transmutation from another. He writes:
‘On December 27th, 1666, and in the forenoon, there came a certain man to my house who was unto me a complete stranger, but of an honest, grave and authoritative mien, clothed in a
simple garb like that of a Memnonite. He was of middle height, his face was long and slightly pock-marked, his hair was black and straight, his chin close-shaven, his age about forty-three or forty-four, and his native place North Holland, so far as I
could make out. After we had exchanged salutations, he inquired whether he might have some conversation with me. It was his idea to speak of the Pyrotechnic Art, as he had read one of my tracts, being that directed against the Sympathetic Powder of Sir
Kenelm Digby, in which I implied a suspicion whether the Great Arcanum of the Sages was not after all a gigantic hoax. He took therefore this opportunity of asking if indeed I could not believe that such a Grand Mystery might exist in the nature of
things, being that by which a physician could restore any patient whose vitals were not irreparably destroyed. My answer allowed that such a Medicine would be a most desirable acquisition for any doctor and that none might tell how many secrets there may
be hidden in Nature, but that as for me—though I had read much on the truth of this Art—it had never been my fortune to meet with a Master of Alchemical Science. I inquired further whether he was himself a medical man since he spoke so learnedly about
the Universal Medicine, but he disclaimed my suggestion modestly, describing himself as a brass-founder, who had always taken great interest in the extraction of medicines from metals by means of fire. After some further talk the Artist Elias—for he it
was—addressed me thus: ‘ “Seeing that you have read so much in the writings of the
alchemists concerning the Stone, its substance, colour and wonderful effects, may I be allowed to question whether you have yourself prepared it.”
‘On my answering him in the negative he took from his bag an ivory box of cunning workmanship in which there were three large pieces of a substance resembling glass or pale sulphur and
informed me that here was enough of the Tincture to produce twenty tons of gold. ‘When I held the
treasure in my hands for some fifteen minutes listening to an account of its curative properties, I was compelled to return it, not without a certain degree of reluctance. After thanking him for his kindness I asked why it was that his Tincture did not
display that ruby colour which I had been taught to regard as characteristic of the Philosophers’ Stone. He replied that the colour made no difference and that the substance was sufficiently mature for all practical purposes. He refused somewhat
brusquely my request for a piece of his substance, were it no larger than a coriander seed, adding in a milder tone that he could not do so for all the wealth which I possessed; not indeed on account of its preciousness but for another reason that it was
not lawful to divulge. Indeed, if fire could be destroyed by fire he would cast it rather into the flames. Then after a little consideration he asked whether I could not shew him into a room at the back of the house, where we should be less liable to
observation. Having led him into the state parlour, he requested me to produce a gold coin, and while I was finding it he took from his breast pocket a green silk handkerchief wrapped about five medals, the gold of which was infinitely superior to that
of my own money. Being filled with admiration, I asked my visitor how he had attained this most wonderful knowledge in the world, to which he replied that it was a gift bestowed upon him freely by a friend who had stayed a few days at his house, who had
taught him also how to change common flints and crystals into stones more precious than rubies, chrysolites and sapphires. ' "He made known to me further,’’ said the artist, “the preparation of crocus of iron, an infallible cure for dysentry; of a metallic liquor, which was an efficacious remedy for
dropsy, and of other medicines.” ‘To this, however, I paid no great heed as I, Helvetius, was
impatient to hear about the Great Secret of all. The artist said further that his master caused him to bring a glass full of warm water to which he added a little white powder and then an ounce of silver, which melted like ice therein. “Of this he emptied one half and gave the rest to me. Its taste resembled that of fresh milk, and the
effect was most exhilarating.” ‘I asked my visitor whether the potion was a preparation of the
Philosophers’ Stone, but he replied that I must not be curious. He added presently that at the bidding of his master he took down a piece of lead water-pipe and melted it in a pot, when the master removed some sulphurous powder on the point of a knife
from a little box, cast it into the molten lead, and after exposing the compound for a short time to a fierce fire he poured forth a great mass of liquid gold upon the brick floor of the kitchen.
The Master bade me take one-sixteenth of this gold as a keepsake for myself and distribute the rest among the poor, which I
did by making over a large sum in trust for the Church of Sparrendaur. In fine, before bidding me farewell, my friend taught me this Divine Art.” ‘When my strange visitor had concluded his narrative, I besought him in proof of his statement to perform a transmutation in my presence. He answered that he could not do so on that occasion but
that he would return in three weeks and if then at liberty to do so he would shew me something that would make me open my eyes. He returned punctually on the promised day and invited me to a walk, in the course of which we spoke profoundly on the secrets
of Nature in fire, though I noticed that my companion was exceedingly reserved on the subject of the Great Secret. When I prayed him, however, to entrust me with a morsel of his precious Stone, were it no larger than a rape seed he delivered it like a
princely donation. When I expressed a doubt whether it would be sufficient to tinge more than four grains of lead he eagerly demanded it back. I complied, hoping that he would exchange it for a larger fragment, instead of which he divided it with his
thumb, threw half in the fire and returned the rest, saying ‘ “ It is yet sufficient for you.” The narrative goes on to state that on the morrow Helvetius prepared six drachms of lead, melted it
in a crucible, and cast on the Tincture. There was a hissing sound and a slight effervescence, and after fifteen minutes Helvetius found that the lead had been transformed into the finest gold, which on cooling glittered and shone as gold indeed. A
goldsmith to whom he took this declared it to be the purest gold that he had ever seen and offered to buy it at fifty forms the ounce. Amongst others the Master of the Mint came to examine the gold and asked that a small part might be placed at his
disposal for examination. Being put through the tests with aqua-fortis and antimony it was pronounced pure gold of the finest quality. Helvetius adds in a later part of his writing that there was left in his heart by the Artist a deeply seated conviction
that ‘through metals and out of metals, purified by highly refined and spiritualized metals, there may be prepared the Living Gold and Quicksilver of the Sages, which bring both metals and human bodies to perfection.’ In the Helvetius tract is also testimony of Kuffle and of his conversion to a
belief in alchemy as the result of an experiment which he had been able to perform himself, although no indication is given of the source from which he obtained his powder of projection. Secondly, there is an account of a silversmith named Gril, who in the year 1664
at the city of the Hague, converted a pound of lead partly into gold and partly into silver, using a tincture received from a certain John Caspar Knoettner. This projection was made in the presence of many witnesses and Helvetius himself examined the
precious metals obtained from the operation. In 1710 Sigmund
Richter published his ‘Perfect and True Preparation of the Philosophical Stone’ under the auspices of the Rosicrucians. Another representative of the Rosy Cross was the mysterious Lascaris, a descendant of
the royal house of Lascaris, an old Byzantine family, who spread the knowledge of the Hermetic art in Germany during the eighteenth century. Lascaris affirmed that when unbelievers beheld the amazing virtues of the Stone they would no longer be able to
regard alchemy as a delusive art. He appears to have performed transmutation in different parts of Germany and then to have disappeared into the blue and so out of history.
CHAPTER VII ENGLISH ALCHEMISTS
In England the first known alchemist was Roger Bacon, a scholar of outstanding attainment, who
was born in Somersetshire in 1214. He made extraordinary progress even in his boyhood studies, and on reaching the required age joined the Franciscan Order. From Oxford he passed on to Paris where he studied medicine and mathematics. On his return to
England he applied himself to the study of philosophy and languages, with such success that he wrote grammars of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew tongues. Although Bacon has been described as a physician rather than a chemist, we are indebted to him for many scientific discoveries. He was almost the only astronomer of his time and in
this capacity rectified the Julian calendar which, although submitted to Pope Clement IV in 1267, was not put into practice until a later Papacy. He was responsible also for the physical analysis of convex glasses and lenses, the invention of spectacles
and achromatic lenses, and if not for the actual construction, at any rate for the theory of the telescope. As a student of chemistry he called attention to the chemical role played by air in combustion, and having carefully studied the properties of
saltpetre, taught its purification by dissolution in water and by crystallisation. From certain of
his letters we may learn that Bacon anticipated most of the achievements of modern science. He maintained that vessels might be constructed which would be capable of navigation without rowers, and which, under the direction of a single man, could travel
through the water at a speed hitherto undreamt of. He also predicted that it would be equally possible to construct cars which ‘might be set in motion with marvellous rapidity, independently of horses and other animals,’ and flying machines which would
beat the air with artificial wings It is scarcely surprising that in the atmosphere of superstition
and ignorance which reigned in Europe during the middle ages Bacon’s achievements were attributed to his communication with devils, and that his fame spread through Western Europe not as a savant, but as a great magician! His great services to humanity
were met with censure, not gratitude, and to the Church his teachings seemed particularly pernicious. She accordingly took her place as one of his foremost adversaries, and even the friars of his own order refused his writings a place in their library.
His persecutions culminated in 1279 in imprisonment and a forced repentance of his labours in the cause of art and science. Amongst his many writings there are extant two or three works on alchemy from which it is quite evident that not only did he study and practise the science, but that he obtained his
final objective, the Philosophers’ Stone. Doubtless during his lifetime his persecutions led him to conceal carefully his practice of the Hermetic art and to consider the revelation of such matters unfit for the uninitiated. ‘Truth, ‘ he writes, ‘ ought
not to be shown to every ribald, for then that would become most vile which, in the hand of a philosopher, is the most precious of all things.’ Sir George Ripley, Canon of Bridlington Cathedral, Yorkshire, placed alchemy on a higher level than many of his contemporaries by dealing with
it as a spiritual and not merely a physical manifestation. He maintained that alchemy is concerned with the mode of our spirit’s return to God who gave it. He wrote in 1471 his ‘Compound of Alchemy’ with its dedicatory epistle to Edward IV. It is also
reported of this Canon of Bridlington that he provided funds for the Knights of St. John by means of the Philosophers’ Stone. In the sixteenth century Pierce, the Black Monk, wrote on the Elixir the following: ‘Take earth of Earth, Earth’s Mother, Water of Earth, Fire of Earth and Water of the Wood. These are to lie together and
then be parted. Alchemical gold is made of three pure souls, purged as crystal. Body, soul, and spirit grown into a Stone, wherein there is no corruption : this is to be cast on Mercury and it shall become most worthy gold.’
Other works of the sixteenth century include Thomas Charnock’s
‘Breviary of Philosophy’ and the additaminta thereto, and ‘Enigma’ in 1572. He also wrote a memorandum in which he states that he attained the transmuting powder when his hairs were white. In the sixteenth century also lived Edward Kelly, born 1555. He
seems to have been an adventurer, and is reputed to have lost his ears at Lancaster on an accusation of producing forged title deeds. Whether this is true or not, the fact remains that Dr. Dee, a learned man of
the Elizabethan era, was very interested in Kelly’s clairvoyant visions, although it is difficult to determine whether Kelly really was a genuine seer since his life was such an extraordinary mixture of good and bad. In some way or other Kelly does appear to have come into possession of the Red and White Tinctures, since Elias Ashmole
printed at the end of ‘Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum’ a tract entitled ‘Sir Edward Kelly’s Work’ and says: ‘‘Tis generally reported that Doctor Dee and Sir Edward Kelly were so strangely fortunate as to find a very large quantity of the Elixir in some part of the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey,
which was so incredibly rich in virtue (being one upon 272,330), that they lost much in making projection by way of trial before they found out the true height of the Medicine.’
How true that may be is a moot point, but it is a fact that in March 1583 the Count Palatine of Siradia, Prince of Poland,
Adalbert Alask, while visiting the Court of Queen Elizabeth, sought an acquaintance with Dr. Dee to discuss his experiments, in which he became so interested that he was accompanied by Dee and Kelly and their families on his return to Cracow. The Prince
took them from Cracow to Prague in anticipation of favours at the hand of the Emperor, Rudolph II, but their attempt to get into touch with Rudolph was unsuccessful. In Prague at that time a great interest was evinced in alchemy by all and sundry, but in
1586, by reason of an edict of Pope Sixtus V, Dee and Kelly were forced to flee the city.
They finally found peace and plenty at the Castle of Trebona in Bohemia as guests of Count Rosenberg, the Emperor’s Viceroy in that country. During that time Kelly made projection of
one minim on an ounce and a quarter of mercury and produced nearly an ounce of best gold, which gold was afterwards distributed from the crucible. In February 1588, following a breach between them, the two men parted, Dee making for England and Kelly for Prague, where Rosenberg had persuaded the Emperor to quash the Papal
decree. Through the introduction of Rosenberg, Kelly was received and honoured by Rudolph as one in possession of the Great Secret of Alchemy. From him he received besides a grant of land and the freedom of the city, a councillorship of state and
apparently a title, since he was known from that time forward as Sir Edward Kelly. These honours are evidence that Kelly had undoubtedly demonstrated to the Emperor his knowledge of transmutation, but the powder of projection had now diminished, and to
the Emperor’s command to produce it in ample quantities, he failed to accede, being either unable or unwilling to do so. As a result he was cast into prison at the Castle of Purglitz near Prague where he remained until 1591, when he was restored to
favour. He was interned a second time, however, and in 1595, according to chronicles, whilst attempting to escape from his prison, fell from a considerable height and was killed at the age of forty. In the seventeenth century lived Eugenius Philalethes or Thomas Vaughan. Vaughan
came from Wales and his writings were regarded as an illustration of the purely spiritual mystery within the science of alchemy, but whatever the various interpretations put upon his work, Vaughan was undoubtedly endeavouring to show that alchemy was
demonstratable in every phase of consciousness, physical, mental, and spiritual. His work, ‘Lumen de Lumine,’ is an alchemical discourse and deals with his subject in the phases I have mentioned. His medicine is a spiritual substance inasmuch as it is
the Quintessence or the Divine Life manifesting through all form, both physical and spiritual. His gold is the philosophic gold of the physical world as well as the wisdom of the spiritual. His stone is the
touchstone which transmutes everything and is again spiritual and physical, and the statement that the Medicine can only be contained in a glass vessel signifies a tangible glass container as well as the purified body of the adept. Thomas Vaughan was a Magus of the Rosicrucian Order and he knew and understood that the science of
alchemy as such must manifest throughout all planes of consciousness. Eirenaeus Philalethes, by reason of his very numerous writings, must be mentioned. There has been much discussion as to whether this was the name of another adept, or merely another pen name for Vaughan. Mr. Waite
has attempted to prove to his satisfaction that they were two different men. ‘Personally, I should attribute both names to Thomas Vaughan, but although the question of these authors’ identity may make interesting debating material, it is of negligible
importance from the standpoint adopted in this book. Inhis
preface to the Open Entrance from the ‘Collectanea Chymica,’ published by William Cooper in 1684, he gives testimony:
‘I being an adept anonymous, a lover of learning, and a philosopher, decreed to write this little treatise of medicinal, chemical and physical secrets in the year of the world’s redemption 1645, in
the three and twentieth year of my age, that I may pay my duty to the Sons of Art, that I might appear to other adepts as their brother and equal. Now therefore I presage that not a few will be enlightened by these my labours. These are no fables, but
real experiments which I have made and know, as every other adept will conclude by these lines. In truth, many times I laid aside my pen, designing to forbear from writing, being rather willing to have concealed the truth under a mask of envy, but God
compelled me to write and Him I could in no wise resist, who alone knows the heart and unto Whom be glory for ever. I believe that many in this last age of the world shall be rejoiced with the Great Secret because I have written so faithfully, leaving of
my own will nothing in doubt for a young beginner. I know many already who possess it in common with myself, and am persuaded that 17 shall yet be acquainted in the immediate time to come. May God’s most holy will be done therein. I acknowledge myself
all unworthy of bringing those things about, but in such matters I submit in adoration to Him, to Whom all creation is subject, Who created all to this end, and having created, preserves them.’
He then goes on to give an account of the transmutation of metals into silver and gold, and also of
the fact that the medicine administered to some at the point of death affected their miraculous recovery. Of one occasion he writes: ‘On a time in a foreign country I would have sold so much pure silver worth £ 600, but although I was dressed like a merchant they said unto me presently that the said metal was made
by Art. When I asked their reasons it was answered "We know the silver that comes from England, Spain, and other places, but this is none of these kinds." On hearing this I withdrew suddenly, leaving the silver behind me as well as its price
and never returning." Again he remarks: ‘I have made the Stone: I do not possess it by theft but by the gift of God. I have made it and daily have it in my power,
having formed it often with my own hands. I write the things that I know.’ In the
last chapter of the Open Entrance is his message to those who have attained the goal:
‘He who hath once, by the blessing of God, perfectly attained this Art, I know not what in the world he can wish but that he may be free from all snares of wicked men so as to serve
God without distraction. But it would be a vain thing by outward pomp to seek for vulgar applause. Such trifles are not esteemed by those who have this Art, nay, rather they despise them. He therefore whom God hath blessed with this talent has this field
of content. First, if he should live a thousand years and every day provide for a thousand men, he could not want, for he may increase his Stone at his pleasure, both in weight and virtue so that if a man would, one man might transmute into perfect gold
and silver all the imperfect metals that are in the whole world. Secondly, he may by this Art make precious stones and gems, such as cannot be paralleled in Nature for goodness and greatness. Thirdly and lastly, he hath a Medicine Universal, both for
prolonging life and curing of all diseases, so that one true adeptist can easily cure all the sick people in the world I mean his medicine is sufficient. ‘Now to the King, Eternal, Immortal and sole Almighty, be everlasting praise for these His unspeakable gifts and invaluable treasures. Whosoever enjoyeth this talent, let him be sure
to employ it to the glory of God and the good of his neighbours, lest he be found ungrateful to God his Creditor—who has blessed him with so great a talent—and so be in the last day found guilty of misproving it and so condemned.’
His principal works are ‘An Open Entrance to the Shut Palace of the King,’ ‘Ripley Revived,’ ‘The
Marrow of Alchemy’ in verse, ‘Metallorum Metamorphosis,’ ‘Brevis Manuductio ad Rubinem Coelestum,’ ‘Fone Chemicae Veritatis,’ and a few others in the ‘Musaeum Hermiticum’ and in Manget’s collection. There is also the story of a transmutation before
Gustavus Adolphus in 1620, the gold of which was coined into medals, bearing the King’s effigy with the reverse Mercury and Venus; and of another at Berlin, before the King of Prussia. Sir Isaac Newton, the famous seventeenth-century mathematician and scientist,
though not generally known as an alchemist, was undoubtedly an experimenter in that particular branch of science. If one follows carefully, in the light of alchemical knowledge, the biography of Sir Isaac Newton by J. W. V. Sullivan, I think it is quite
easy to realize the experimental theories on 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 chemistry. He read widely and made innumerable experiments, entirely
without fruit so far as we know.’ His amanuensis 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 spring or the fall of the leaf, 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.’
I think the answer to this might certainly be that Newton’s experiments were concerned with nothing
more or less than alchemy. In the same century Alexa’nder Seton,
a Scot, suffered indescribable torments for his knowledge of the art of transmutation. After practising in his own country he went abroad, where he demonstrated his transmutations before men of good repute and integrity in Holland, Hamburg, Italy,
Basle, Strasbourg, Cologne, and Munich. He was finally summoned to appear before the young Elector of Saxony, to whose court he went somewhat reluctantly. The Elector, on receiving proof of the authenticity of his projections, treated him with
distinction, convinced that Seton held the secret of boundless wealth. But Seton refused to initiate the Elector into his secret, and was imprisoned in Dresden. As his imprisonment would not shake his purpose he was put to the torture. He was pierced,
racked, beaten, seared with fire and molten lead, but still he held his peace. At length he was left in solitary confinement until his release was finally engineered by the adept Sendivogius. Even to his friend he refused to reveal the secret until
shortly before his death, two years after his escape from prison, when he presented Sendivogius with his transmuting powder. CHAPTER VIII THE COMTE DE ST.
GERMAIN
It is rather remarkable that in the history of alchemy the Comte de St. Germain has not been mentioned. There is no doubt that he was an expert in the art, but of the many stories
related about this remarkable man, his achievements in this particular sphere seem to play no part.
St. Germain was a baffling personality. As far as can be ascertained he was the son of Prince Racozy of Transylvania, but, in any case, there can be no doubt that he was of noble birth, a man of great culture and refinement. His history as far as it is
known is well worth reading, but does not come within the scope of this book, which is solely concerned with his interest in the alchemic art. To those of my readers interested in dietetics, it may be a point of interest that most of his biographers have
noted his habits with regard to food. It was diet, he declared, combined with his marvellous elixir, which constituted the true secret of his longevity, for it may be remembered that records of St. Germain’s various appearances in Europe extend over a
period of 110 years, during which time his appearance never altered. Always he appeared as a well-preserved man of middle age. Madame la Comtesse d’Adhemar, for example, in ‘Souvenirs de Marie Antoinette,’ gives an excellent description of the Comte,
whom Frederick the Great referred to as ‘the man who does not die,’ and Mrs. Cooper Oakley in her monograph, ‘The Comte de St. Germain, the Secret of Kings,’ traces him under his various names between the years 1710 and 1822. The Italian adventurer, Jacques de Casanova de Seingalt, grudgingly admits that the Comte was an adept of the
magical arts and a skilled chemist. Upon his telling St. Germain that he was suffering from an acute disease, the Comte invited Casanova to remain for treatment, saying that he would prepare fifteen pills which in three days would restore him to perfect
health. Of St. Germain’s athoeter Casanova writes:
‘Then he showed me his magistrum. which he called Athoeter. It was a white liquid contained in a well stopped phial.
He told me that this liquid was the universal spirit of Nature and that if the wax of the stopper was pricked ever so slightly, the whole contents would disappear. I begged him to make the experiment. He thereupon gave me the phial and the pin and I
myself pricked the wax, when, lo, the phial was empty.’ Casanova further
records an incident in which St. Germain changed a twelve sous piece into a pure gold coin. There is other evidence that the celebrated Count possessed the alchemical powder by which it is possible to transmute base metals into gold. He actually
performed this feat on at least two occasions as stated by the writings of contemporaries. The Marquis de Valbelle, visiting St. Germain in his laboratory, found the alchemist busy with his furnaces. He asked the Marquis for a silver six-franc piece, and
covering it with a black substance, exposed it to the heat of a small flame or furnace. M. de Valbelle saw the coin change colour until it became a bright red. Some minutes after, when it had cooled a little, the adept took it out of the cooling vessel
and returned it to the Marquis. The piece was no longer silver but of the purest gold. Transmutation had been complete. The Comtesse d’Adhemar had possession of this coin until 1766, when it was stolen from her secretary. One author tells us that St. Germain always attributed his knowledge of occult chemistry to his sojourn in Asia. In 1755 he
went to the East for the second time, and writing to Count von Lamberg he said: ‘I am indebted for my knowledge of melting jewels to my second journey to India.’ There are too many authentic cases of metallic transmutations to condemn St. Germain as a charlatan for such a feat. The Leopold Hoffman medal, still in the possession of that family,
is the most outstanding example of the transmutation of metals ever recorded. Two-thirds of this medal was transformed into gold by the monk Wenzel-Sei1er, leaving the balance silver, which was its original
state. In the circumstances fraud was impossible as there was but one copy of the medal extant. For
these notes on incidents in St. Germain’s life I am indebted to Mr. Manly Hall's introductory material and commentary to the ‘Most Holy Trinosophia’ (Cornte de St. Germain). The ‘Most Holy Trinosophia,’ or ‘The Most Holy Threefold Wisdom,’ is composed of twelve sections. It is at the same time
a picture of the process of Initiation and an Alchemical treatise, a fact which careful perusal will establish. Let me quote from Section XII:
‘The hall into which I had just entered was perfectly round it resembled the interior of a globe composed of hard transparent matter, as crystals, so that the light entered from all
sides. Its lower part rested upon a vast basin filled with red sand. A gentle and equable warmth reigned in this circular enclosure. With astonishment I gazed around this crystal globe when a new phenomenon excited my admiration. From the floor of the
hall ascended a gentle vapour, moist and saffron yellow. It enveloped me, raised me gently and within thirty-six days it bore me up to the upper part of the globe. Thereafter the vapour thinned. Little by little I descended and finally found myself again
on the floor. My robe had changed its colour. It had been green when I entered the hail, but now changed to a brilliant red.’
Here is a picture of the pelican in its sand bath, the process of the sublimation of the contents, and the change of colour which takes place in one of the laboratory processes in the
preparation of the Philosophers’ Stone. That this preparation is a physical process carried out in a laboratory with water, retorts, sandbath, and furnaces, there is no doubt. That alchemy is purely a psychic and spiritual science has no basis in fact.
A science to be a science must be capable of —“manifestation on every plane of consciousness; in other words it must be capable of demonstrating the axiom ‘as above, so below.’ Alchemy can withstand this test, for it is, physically, spiritually, and
psychically, a science manifesting throughout all form and all life. The various foregoing records
should in some measure bear testimony to the claim of alchemy to be a physical science based on an inner knowledge of the properties of metals. Casanova’s description of St. Germain alone is evidence that as recently as the latter part of the eighteenth
century, at any rate, a method of preparing a physical ‘Stone,’ capable of transmuting metals and curing disease was in practice. Modern science knows of no substance that can change lead or quicksilver into the likeness of solid gold by the mere addition of a grain of red powder, and may therefore choose to
scoff at the alchemists’ assertions as products of a too-fertile imagination, at their writings as ‘gibberish.’ But the fact must be borne in mind that the ‘assertions’ were corroborated by impartial observers, and that the ‘gibberish’ of the Hermetic
tracts is scarcely less intelligible to the layman than is modern chemical phraseology.
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