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William Leo

For The MillionsSherbourne Press, Inc. -

SeriesLos Angeles

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Coiyright @.7gz2by Sherbourne press, Inc. All rightsreserved including the right to reproduce in any form.Address all queries to Rights & permissions Dept.,Sherbourne Press, Inc., 1640 So. La Cienega Blvd., LosAngeles, CA 90035

ISBN 0-s202-ooe4_8

Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 76 t82532Composed by Datagraphics, Inc., phoenix, Arizona,printed and bound in the United States of America byR. R. Donnelley & Sons, Inc., Crawfordsville, Indiana.

FIRST PRINTING

TYpocRApHy: Shirley ShipleycovER: jim McQuade

Preface

CHAPTER ONECHAPTER TWOCHAPTER THREECHAPTER FOURCHAPTER FIVECHAPTER SIXCHAPTER SEVENCHAPTER EIGHTCHAPTER NINE

PostscriptThe "For the Millions" Series

Contents

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History 'J.,Lives of the Alchemists 24Alchemical Philosophy 45Alchemy and Religion 56Alchemy and Science 75Alchemy and Psychology 89Preparation '1"02The Texts 116Toward the Philosopher's Stone 130

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PreJace

HREE HUNDRED years ago, man began to believe thathe owned the universe. Anything he didn't know hewould eventually learn, and the apparatus of learning

would be developed out of a working partnership betweenthe eye and the brain. The world was nothing more thanwhat could be seen; religion was an "opiate," spiritualism acrutch. Mystery and emotion disappeared, or became irrele-vant-nothing existed unless it could be seen and measured.How was one to see a secret, or measure a feeling? The lhingwas God, to be worshiped in its own right; the older Godwas presumed dead. Materialism ruled.

As time went on, it began to be evident that somethingwas very wrong with this outlook. Technology, the child ofmaterialism, was supposed to make life simpler and morerewarding, yet its most outstanding products were bombsand complexity. The world had invested its faith in the eyesand brains of science, but science had in the end proveditself irresponsible; humanity was paralyzed with fear ofnuclear warfare, choked by cities and machines, suffocated

vll

Viii ALCHE MYby its own garbage. If God was dead, then the individualwas dying, dying of his own social diseases, and what passedfor life seemed more like sleepwalking. Obviously, miterial-ism had failed.

Only in the last few years has man begun to see his error.People woke up, started to realize that they had been ne-glecting large and important parts of themselves, and of theworld as a whole. The Spirit was resurrected and humanity(some of it, at least) began to look for new ways to integratethe spirit with the processes of technology and science.

One by-product of the spiritual renaissance has been arenewal of interest in the occult sciences. Astrology, one ofthe oldest scientific forms known to man, is suddenly bigneWs, and so are the techniques of yoga and meditation.Throughout America and Europe people throw the I Ching,read the Tibetan Book of the Dead, delve into numerology,attempt to unravel the mysterious forces of the tarot. Occultbookstores are everywhere, and even in "normal" book-stores the works of Gurdjieff, Ouspensky, Madame Bla-vatsky, and Aleister Crowley are prominently displayed.

What is the "occult"? To a rationalist, of course, it is acollection of outlandish theories, ridiculous superstitions,and plain nonsense. To an occultist it is (or can be) a pathto Ultimate Truth. Realistically it is, as the dictionary says,the art of the "hidden and unseen ," the science which triesto understand what is perhaps basically beyond man,s com-prehension. But more than that, the occult sciences are at-ternpts to answer a call that sounds through the soul of everyhuman being, if he cares to hear it: a call to a higher world,a higher state of consciousness, wherein man can realize allhis possibilities and apply all his powers.

All occult sciences share certain basic beliefs: the beliefthat the universe is essentially a unity, that everything in itissues from a divine One; that there are unseen forces whichare constantly at work shaping the destinies of men; andthat there is an ancient body of wisdom in which theseunseen forces are named, understood, and explained.

Preface ix

These beliefs find expression in all occult science, but the

occult itself tends to divide into two major categories' Thefirst of these is the speculatiae, the science which tries toapprehend and analyze the unseen forces in order to under-stand the present and predict the future. Astrology, whichdeals with forces that emanate from the stars and planets, iscurrently the best known of these, but numerology and thetarot fit the category as well. Theosophy is a slightly differ-ent form of occult speculation-it assumes that the sourceof the ancient wisdom is not necessarily God or the spiritualworld, but a flesh-and-blood master race that came fromanother star, Ianded on earth sometime before the beginningof human "history," communicated the wisdom to theprimitive people it found, and then remained hidden in thecenters of the earth (underground, inside certain mountains,and so on) to make certain that the wisdom was properlyapplied.

The second kind of occult science is the actiue variety'Here the essential thing is to work on man himself, to reachdeep into the divinity of the spirit so that he can ultimatelyascend to the higher world, or reach the higher states ofconsciousness. The active occultists usually concentrate ontechnique, on discipline and self-regulation; yoga and medi-tation are its two most popular forms.

There is a third type of occult science, and it is in thiscategory that alchemy belongs. For alchemy (along withwhite and black magic) is an experimental science; it attemptsto integrate man and nature by bringing the natural worldinto the laboratory. There its properties can be observed andits behavior analyzed, so that analogies can then be drawnbetween the nature of matter and the nature of man' Theseanalogies are used to help transform both man and matterto a higher condition, or even to help both reach a state ofperfection. The Philosophers' Sfone, which is said to be madeof actual matter and to be the agent of that change, whichthe alchemists call transmutation, is the goal of experimentalalchemy.

ALCHEMYIn some respects, alchemy is much like the other occult

sciences: it shares the belief in universal unity and divineOneness, acknowledges the existence of unseen forces, andadheres to a body of ancient and traditional wisdom. Likeastrology and the tarot, it speculates on the nature of thoseforces, and like yoga, it attempts to help man reach thehigher world. There are even hints in some alchemical writ-ing that, like the Theosophists, the alchemists (some ofthem, at least) believed in the presence of a master race.

But in other ways alchemy is quite different. It is, as wesaid, the only occult science that can be called truly experi_mental, the only one that attempts to isolate the hiddenforces in matter and transmit them to man. It is also differentin that its techniques are never fully revealed. The tarot canbe read, astrology can be charted and its methods explained,but the procedures of alchemy are secret, and accoiding toits own doctrine, must always temain secret. For this r""ror,,alchemical texts are nearly impossible for anyone but analchemist to understand.

All this may come as a surprise, for the popular view ofan alchemist sees him as ahalf-crazed, half-baked magicianin a triangular, star-studded cap, working and muttering tohimself in a dark laboratory full of strange vapors and foulsmells. He has, according to the popular idea, only one aspi_ration, and that is to get rich by changing lead to gold. Butthe alchemists, the real alchemists, were always *,lih, muchmore than goldseekers. If they did seek material gold, it was.only because they were at the same time seeking the perfectspiritual gold in themselves.

- And now that a great many people are beginning to lookbeyond materialism to the needs of the soul, to stretch andyawn and open their inner eyes; now perhaps alchemy canbe revived, and its techniques applied to thl great work athand-the rejuvenation of the Spirit-in-Man.

CHAPTER ONE

History

ej'\ICK uP any book on alchemy, turn to the Table of Con-P ,"r,,r, uni ro*"*here on that page you'll see in bright,

optimistic, capital letters, the word HIsroRY. Don't bemisled. There never has been and never will be an accuratehistory of alchemy, not in the normal sense of the word, forhistory deals with what has been made public; with docu-ments, with treaties, with pronouncements and laws. Al-chemy, on the other hand, has always been a private science,intended for the use and practice of a very few wise men,all of whom are bound by stern oaths of silence. That silencecan be broken, but only according to formula (a secrel for-mula, naturally) handed down by the fathers of the art, aformula which says in essence/ "Yes, you may talk and writeabout alchemy, although you'd be much better off not to.Still, if you must, then take care never to reveal anythingimportant.

With few exceptions, this formula has been followed byevery alchemist who ever stoked a secret furnace. Anyonewho was too public in his work or too clear in his writings

1,

ALCHE MYwas either a renegade or no alchemist at all. Consequently,anything that passes as a history of alchemy is only ,"u*""jfloating on the surface of an ocean-in no *uy do", it de_scribe the world underneath. The true history of alchemy isunfolded in places where no historian could ever go: in ihemountaintop retreats of the Chinese sages; on the backstreets of the Casbah; in secluded monasteries and basementlaboratories. We repeat: the real history of alchemy willnever be told.

Having acknowledged the warnings from the hiddenocean/ we will now go on to describe the seaweed.

OriginsThe beginnings

_ of alchemy are veiled in secrecy and

Ty!h. In searching for those beginnings, we are told to lookback to the time of Ancient Egypt,r.h"r" long before al_chemy itself was born as a practicil art, gold waf worshipedas a symbol of spiritual and material perfection. The pha_roahs wore bracelets of gold, which were thought to bedirect links to the world of the gods. In the tJmples ofMemphis and Thebes,-goldsmith-priests worked feverishlyin their laboratories, alloying base metals with gold in orderto "improve" its color and texture, to make it fiiornamenta_!19n,for their kings. The poems and plays of the ancients arefilled with alchemical symbols ur,d ,"f"."nces to the al_chemical process. The alchemystical doctrines of the Rosi_crucians and Freemasons lead us straight back to theEgyptian mystery cults: to Mithra, to Isis, and to Osiris.

That much we know. But attempts to pin down thebeginnings of alchemy with namer u.rd dates are exercisesin frustration-too many manuscripts have been lost orburned, too many facts clouded by legend and misreprur"r_tation. Tradition says that the arts and methods of aichemywere first revealed to Thoth, the Egyptian God of Knowl_

History 3

edge, sometime around 2000 n.c. (see Chapter 2), and thathe, in turn, revealed his secrets to men, writing them downin such form that only the wise and deserving could deci-pher. Early alchemists maintained this bond with thegods by publishing their texts under the names of suchlegendary figures as Moses, Isis, Cleopatra, Agathodaemon,and Hermes.

Sometimes, however, alchemical manuscripts were au-thored by recognizable historical figures writing under theirown names. The philosopher Democritus, best known as theFather of Atomic Theory, wrote several alchemical tractsand had numerous others attributed to him by lesser knownwriters, among them Bolos of Mendes. Ostanes the Magus,a Persian sage and scholar, wrote treatises on the use ofstones and plants in healing, and was said to have been theteacher of both Bolos and Democritus.

Two figures stand out even more clearly in the earlyhistory of alchemy: Maria the Jewess, and Zosimos ofPanopolis. Although a well-rounded alchemist whose writ-ings contain many references to the spirit and theory ofalchemy, Maria was most interested in the practical side ofher art. It was she who designed many of the vessels, flasks,and baths used in alchemists'laboratories, and her designswere still being used by European adepts during the MiddleAges and Renaissance (the balneum-marie, a type of three-armed still often mentioned in medieval alchemists' texts,was her invention). In addition, she perfected techniques ofdistilling and of alloying lead-alchemists'lead, a substanceonly vaguely related to ordinary lead-with copper.

For our purposes, Zosimos must be counted among thegreatest of the ancient alchemists, if only because so manyof his writings have survived. He lived in the Egyptian cityof Panopolis, sometime around a.p. 3OO. Like Maria theJewess, he was interested in alchemical apparatus (one of hisworks is entitled On Instrumenfs and Furnaces), but his inter-ests were much broader. He wrote in visionary language

4 ALCHEMYabout the perfection of the spirit through alchemy, and hetried to build a unified system of alchemystical theory, hop-ing that future alchemists would use his work as a startingpoint in developing their own ideas of spirit and matter.With this goal in mind, Zosimos spent much of his lifesummarizing and codifying the works of the earlier alchem-ists, including our friends Democritus, Ostanes, and Mariathe Jewess.

With Zosimos we come to the end of the Greco-Egyptianperiod in the history of alchemy. As we know, this was adynamic, searching time, when men turned their minds tosolving the great riddles of the universe. Modern historians,concerned as they are with what can be seen and verified,tend to forget that the ancients were men of spirit as wellas men of science, that they gave as much place in theirthoughts to the stirrings of the soul as they did to the physi-cal laws of nature. Their great aim was not to separate scienceand spirit, but to meld the seen and the unseen into a bodyof teachings that could enable man to know the structure ofthe universe-not for the sake of knowledge alone, but sothat he could use this knowledge to understand and perfecthis own being. This was, and is, the goal of alchemy.

ChinaChinese alchemists were always more interested in im-

mortality, in the production of an Elixir of Life, than in thetransmutation of metals as a means to knowledge. Theirviews were greatly influenced by the teachings of thephilosopher Lao Tse, which came to be called Taoism. Ta-oism teaches that immortality can be achieved by perfectinga balance with nature (this idea is discussed in more detailin Chapter 4), and to the alchemists this balance was the endresult of the alchemical process, specifically of the changingof cinnabar (mercuric sulphide) into gold.

History 5

The first alchemist in China was probably Dzou Yen,who lived around 4Oo B.c. Dzou Yen was a celebratedphilospher and magician; Chinese mythology is full of leg-ends and miraculous deeds attached to his name. Once, forexample, there was a district where the millet crop had beenstunted by a spell of unusually cold weather. Dzou Yen was

called in. He went out to the fields and meditated; then,producing a set of magical pipes, he played beautiful musicio the .ropr, which ripened immediately and saved the dis-trict from certain famine.

No one knows whether or not Dzou Yen was successfulin producing the Elixir of Life, but his ideas gave rise to.utty other attempts at finding this "pill of immortality'"For, iccording to Chinese tradition, the Elixir already existedin a pure, native form on the Islands of the Immortals, whichwere said to be located at some unknown spot in the ChinaSea. The islands protected themselves and their secrets bymeans of a great wind, which blew constantly off the islands

in all directions and thus kept the boats of the curious away'

About 25o 8.c., the emperor Shih Huang Ti, the builder ofthe Great Wall, attempted to find the Islands of the Immor-tals and bring back the Elixir for his own use. He sent anexpedition into the China Sea, but neither boat nor sailorever returned. Reputedly, the expedition did manage toreach the islands, where the sailors were given the Elixir and

made kings of the realm. Thereafter they refused to returnto the mainland.

The emperor was discouraged by the loss of his expedi-tion, but he was afraid to risk the venture himself' Insteadhe made frequent trips to the seaside, where he spent longmonths questioning local fishermen and sailors as to thelocation of the islands. No one could tell him what hewanted to know, so Shih Huang Ti (so the story goes) tookto staring out at the sea, waiting without hope for his shipsto return, wasting what life he had in the search for lifeeverlasting.

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History 7

Apparently the alchemists took a lesson from this story,for they became determined to manufacture the Elixir them-selves in their mountaintop laboratories. As always, thesearch for perfection attracted many so-called philosopherswho were actually unworthy of the search, being interestedonly in accumulating wealth and fame' By 1'44 B.c. the num-ber of charlatans had increased so greatly that the emperorfound it necessary to outlaw the practice of alchemythroughout China.

But this edict was not in force for long. In 60 n'c. thedecision was reversed, and the famous scholar Liu Hsiang,under the title of Master of Recipes, was commissioned bythe emperor to prepare the Elixir' Liu Hsiang failed in hisattempts, was disgraced, and eventually imprisoned' Therehe was left to ponder his inadequacy until his brother paida small fortune in ransom for his release. Later alchemiststried to explain Liu Hsiang's failure in any number of ways

-he was too young, had too little faith, was not destined to

find the Elixir, and so on-and these explanations came tobe incorporated into the body of alchemical theory (seeChapter 9).

Still the work went on. In the second century a'D., thesage Wei Po-yang wrote a book called The Documenf of theThree Similars, part of which dealt with the making of theGolden Elixir. As we shall see, Po-yang himself was reputedto have found the Elixir after long experimentation. TheTaoist scholar Ko-hung, who lived in South China betweenA.D.254 and 334, wrote a treatise giving a number of recipesfor transmutations, as well as advice on how one shouldprepare himself spiritually for the Great Work.

From about the sixth century A.D., Chinese writersbecame more and more concerned with separating thespiritual side of alchemy from the material side. As a result,actual laboratory work was discarded, at least for all practi-cal purposes, and the transmutation of metals came to beregarded as nothing more than a symbol for the inner trans-mutations, the changes that were to take place in the soul of

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8 ALCHEMYthe alchemist' This doctrine found a home in the Zen Bud-dhist school of chinese alchemy that flourished about 12ooand had as its greatest master ih" ,ug" Ko Chang k;*At the same time, alchemy went unde.g.o-.rr,d. ih"search'for spiritual perfection was seen as

""ptir"au ""aindividual matter, so the alchemists stopped their writing,their demonstrations, and public preuchir,g. ffris perioJ issometimes referred to as the Decline of Chinese Al.hu^y,but in reality it was only a case of archemists ."titi"g, ur'i,their habit, into the world of their own spirits.

Like their counterparts in Europe and the Middle East,the Chinese alchemists were full oi earthly wisaom_wit_n-ess the story of Wei po-yang, who lived in what is nowKiangsu Province about a.o.- 120. po_yang retired io amountaintop with three discipres, there to make the Elixir ofLife. Two of the disciples seemed to po_yang to be weak infaith, so the master decided to test them.- He made theCgl{en Elixir (or a version of it) and fed it, in the pr"ru.,."of his disciples, to an old whiie d,og. ',If the meiicine isimproperly made," he said, ,,the dog-will die, and then wewill know not to use it.,, (po_yang himself knew that themedicine could cause no more than a temporary, if convinc_ing, semblance of de-1th ) Sure enough, on tasting the medi_cine- the dog "died,, instantly. po_yang then took themedicine himself, saying that ii was better to die trying tobecome immortal than to live a haphazard life whicir rn'ustsomeday end anyway, and end in failure at that. He took themedicine, and he also ,,died.,, The faithful disciple, ."rtuir,that his master would do nothing without good reason, fol_lowed suit, whereas the other two disciples made u q"i.f.decision in favor ofrnortality-they left without takini themedicine. Later on po-yang revived, fed the antidote ; hi;disciple and the dog, and continued with his

"*pu.i*uni,until the Elixir was perfected. To his faithless discipres hesent letters of thanks for their services.

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History

IndiaVery little is known about the historical development of

alchemy in India, but we can be sure that it did exist there,side by side with the great religions. As early as 340 B.c. theyogi Nagarjuna was talking about the transmutation of met-als, saying that it could be effected either through yoga orby the application of certain vegetable spirits, or "drugs."The philosopher Madhava considered alchemy to be abranch of Hatha Yoga, which taught that metals could beperfected in the same way as could a man's body and spirit,that is by discipline and concentration. Among students ofboth Hatha and Tantra Yoga it was assumed that a true yogihad the power not only to prolong his own life throughbreathing exercises and the like, but also to transform basemetals to gold.

By the second century a.p. alchemy was being men-tioned in Buddhist texts. The Aaatamska Sutra, for example,says that "there exists a Hataka juice or essence. One mea-sure of this solution can transform one thousand measuresof bronze into pure gold." Further details and recipes aregiven in the Mahaprajnaparamitopadesha, written about a.p.400.

Beginning around the tenth century A.D., various Hinduscholars started applying alchemical techniques to the studyof metallurgy and medicine (see Chapters 5 and 6). We cansee that the process observed in China, that is the conversionof practical alchemy into a spiritual discipline, was reversedin India, where practical application became the focus ofattention. This trend continued, and by the thirteenth cen-tury alchemy had taken a firm place in India as a laboratoryscience. Just as later European chemists were to return to thesource books of alchemy for their laboratory procedure, sodid Indian chemistry find its beginnings in the Ancient Wis-dom.

The alchemical tradition continues in India even today.A well-known American psychologist recently made the

10 ALCHEMYacquaintance of an Indian mystic, and was invited to thelatter's mountain refuge near the Vale of Kashmir. Shortlyafter their arrival the two sat down to observe a period ofsilence, but the silence was broken after only a few minutes."You ale wondering," the mystic said, "if you should leaveyour home in San Francisco. You feel that the city no longerhas anything to offer you, but you are in great conflict be-cause your personal life and happiness still rest there.,, Thepsychologist looked at his friend in amazement-he hadnever mentioned this problem, which was in fact very muchon his mind at the time. His friend's demonstration of clair-voyance led to a discussion of the occult sciences in general,and the mystic confessed to having practiced alchemy; ,,con-fessed" because the Indian gentleman was ashamed of hisinability to make the Philosophers'Stone. "Every day of mylife," he said with genuine sadness, "has been a failure.,,

The Middle EastWhile Europe slept through the Dark Ages, the light of

scientific and philosophical inquiry was carried by the civili-zations of the Middle East. The expansion of Islam from500-1200 was accompanied by an expansion of knowledgein general, as most of the Sultans surrounded themselveswith learned men so as to better understand their own reli-gion and the ways it related to the natural world aroundthem. All the sciences then known to man were consideredworthy of interest; the wisdom of the Greeks was translatedinto Arabic, and Islamic scholars added many serious worksof their own.

It is hardly surprising that alchemy came to be of greatinterest to the Muslims. Many of the Greek and Egyptiantexts on alchemy had survived in such places as Alexandriaand the Persian academy of Jundi-Shapur, and these now

History L'L

began to be translated into Arabic. The alchemical treatisesof the Assyrians were also translated and made available tothe community of Islamic scholars.

One of the first Muslims to develop an interest in al-chemy was the prince Khalid ibn Yazid, who lived duringthe eighth century a.p. Khalid had been named to succeedto the Ommeyyed throne of his father, but the throne wasusurped by Khalid's cousin Marwan. V/hen Khalid came ofage, Marwan refused to give up the Sultanate, so Khalid'smother either poisoned him or had him smothered in hispillows while he slept. The young prince was so sickened bythis act of violence that he retired from political life andwent off to study science.

His interest in the natural world quickly led Khalid intothe study of alchemy. In his eagerness for knowledge hesurrounded himself with false representatives of the al-chemical arts, just as Rudolph II of Germany was to do eighthundred years later. None of these tricksters was ever suc-cessful in showing Khalid the secrets of transmutation, buteventually along came the alchemist Morienus of Alex-andria, who astounded the prince by changing bronze togold in his presence. Khalid was so pleased that he immedi-ately had all his other court alchemists executed. Naturallyenough, this demonstration of gratitude scared Morienusoff, and it was not until years later that he returned to sharehis knowledge. Khalid spent the rest of his life amplifyingthe secrets of Morienus and announcing them to the worldin the form of mystical poetry. The prince died in 704, afterwhich several rnore alchemical poems were written in hisname.

Undoubtedly the greatest name in Islamic alchemy wasthat of Jabir. (Details of his life are given in the followingchapter.) First as court alchemist to the sultan Harun al-Rashid and later on his own, Jabir made so many contribu-tions to both the theory and the practice of alchemy that his

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12 ALCHEMYworks were considered to be standard texts among the lateradepts of Europe. It was Jabir who first wrote down thetheory of the "natures" of minerals, that is the idea that allmineral substances are composed of sulphur and mercury invarying combinations. He was also among the first to useanimal and vegetable products-blood, hair, bone, andurine; olive, onion, ginger, and pepper-in alchemicalrecipes. His was the earliest known preparation of nitricacid, now a staple in chemical laboratories the world over.In addition, he attempted to classify all minerals into threegroups ("spiritous," "lustrous," and "powdered,,), and al-though this classification was somewhat primitive, it stillshowed the workings of an orderly, scientific mind.

Jabir believed that the transmutation of metals was pos-sible so long as the "natures," the sulphur and mercury, ofthe metal to be transformed could be made to combine in thesame way as they did in gold. It is not known for certainwhether or not Jabir actually made a successful transmuta-tion, but it is said that a mortar of pure gold weighing twoand a half pounds was found in his laboratory two centuriesafter his death.

Al-Razi was probably the greatest of the Islamic alche-mist-physicians. Born in the town of Ray in g26, he spenthis first thirty years studying philosophy, poetry, and music.Later he went to Baghdad where he met a druggist whosetales of healing inspired the young man to study medicine.He advised in the construction of a hospital in Baghdad,then returned to Ray to take charge of the hospital there.Al-Razi was not only a doctor, but a great teacher as well-his biographer describes him as constantly surrounded byhis students, who passed on his teachings to others as medi-cal gospel.

His devotion to medicine led Al-Razi to study alchemy.His most important alchemical treatise is called The Book ofthe Secret of Secrets, in which he added the ,,nature,, salt toJabir's sulphur and mercury. These three substances-sul-

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Although he did write on alchemical philosophy, Al-Razi was always more interested in laboratory work. Hedescribed most of the processes (distillation, calcination, so-lution, sublimation, etc.) that were later to be used by suchnoted alchemists as Basil Valentine and Sir George Ripley.(Ripley's "Twelve Gates," some of which are mentioned inChapter 8, were almost entirely derived from Al-Razi.) Healso broke the ground for important discoveries in phar-macology.

Alchemy flourished throughout the Islamic world duringthis period, but nowhere more than in Spain, where thecaliph Al-Hakam II, who reigned from961-76, promoted alltypes of alchemical investigations. One of his chief benefici-aries was Al-Majriti, whose name means "Man of Madrid."Al-Majriti was first and foremost an astronomer, but hewrote extensively on alchemy as well. He advised aspiringalchemists to prepare themselves not only spiritually, butalso intellectually, through the study of mathematics andphilosophy. His maior contribution to modern chemistrywas in the study of changes of weight in chemical reactions.

There were other alchemists who worked and wrote dur-ing the reign of Al-Hakam, among them Muhammed ibnUmail, Ibn Arfa Ras, and Jildaki, but their treatises consistedmostly of quotes from the earlier Islamic alchemists andwere only valuable in that they helped pass on the Arabictradition.

After the death of Al-Hakam, Islamic alchemy went intosomething of a decline. Not that the practice itself wasstopped or even slowed-to this day there are alchemists inFez, in Oran, indeed throughout the Arab world-but thatthe vital tradition in alchemy, the spirit of discovery/ nowpassed through Spain and Italy into the hands of the Eu-ropeans. To a historian, of course, a decline in the numberof documents marks a decline in the subject itself, whereas

T4 ALCHEMYan alchemist knows that periods of publicity are detrimentalto the true pursuit of the Wisdom, which must be carried onin secret and seclusion.

Europe

Like many forms of art and silence, alchemy passed tothe West by means of the Moorish invasion of SouthernEurope. The Arabs may have shared no common languagewith the Europeans, but they brought with them thousandsof manuscripts written in the languages of the Middle East,and these were bound to be translated. The medical schoolat Salerno, Italy, was an important source of early transla-tions, as was the work of Robert of Chester. Included amongthese manuscripts were alchemical treatises recalling thetimes and theories of Hermes Trismegistus, Maria the Jew-ess, Zosimos of Panopolis, and many others. Europeans,hungry for new answers to old questions, fastened on theancient ideas; and alchemy, as philosophy and as appliedscience, spread rapidly through the continent.

The early European alchemists were men of greatly vary-ing ages and dispositions, with all manner of occupationsand backgrounds. Many of them were monks-the monas-teries had traditionally been centers of art, education, andexperiment, and there a man with an inquiring mind coulddelve deeply into all forms of knowledge without fear ofdistraction, so long as he kept up with his clerical duties.Some were men of noble birth and great fortune. Others,like Nicholas Flamel, who we shall meet in the next chapter,were "ordinary" working men, introduced to alchemy by anaccident of fate. Some were high-minded, interested in al-chemy as a source of knowledge or a way to a better life;others were mere opportunists and adventurers who hopedonly to enrich themselves. They had little in common, thesealchemists, but together they contributed much to the ad-vancement of man's spirit.

History 15

One of the first European alchemists of record was Arte-phius, about whom little is known other than that he wrotelhe treatise The Art of Prolonging Human Life, and that heclaimed to have lived for a thousand years with the aid ofan alchemical quintessence. He made his only "appearance"in the twelfth century. Peter d'Apona, born in 1250, wrotea number of books on magic, and was eventually con-demned by the Spanish Inquisition to die on the rack-according to the Inquisitors, he kept seven spirits enclosedin separate crystal vessels, and these spirits instructed himin the seven liberal arts. Arnold of Villanova, although hemanaged to escape death at the hands of the Inquisition,nevertheless had all his books condemned as heretical andburned in the public square at Tarragona. Arnold must havebeen familiar with the works of Maria the Jewess, for it washe who gave her distilling vessel the name it was to carry forcenturies: the balneum'marie (Maria's bath).

Often mentioned in connection with alchemystical prac-tices were the celebrated names of Albertus Magnus, St.Thomas Aquinas, and Roger Bacon. All three wrote exten-sively on alchemy, but it is not known whether or not theyactually sought its highest secrets. Later alchemists maintainthat they did, that Aquinas mentioned having been taughtthe art of transmutation by Albertus himself, and that theyboth declared themselves to be possessors of the Philoso-phers'Stone. In either case, it is evident from their work thatall three had high regard for alchemy, and that they thoughttransmutation, both spiritual and material, was well withinthe realm of probability. (lt is interesting to note that St.Thomas stopped writing late in life, saying that he had beentold to do so by a vision. We are reminded of Mrs. Atwood,whose book on alchemy had to be withdrawn from circula-tion because, according to her vision, she had revealed toomuch.)

The books of Raymond Lully, whose life is discussed inthe following chapter, became something of a standard ref-erence work for medieval alchemists. Lully's object was to

1"6 ALCHEMYpresent alchemy as a clear and rational system of thought,so his writing was free of the obscurities and symbolismnormally found in alchemical texts. In the laboratory hismost important contribution was the distilling of wine intoa substance which the alchemists called aqua aitae ("TheWater of Life"). This discovery led directly, if not to thePhilosophers' Stone itself, to the invention of brandy andother types of distilled liquor, man's only substitute forwealth and immortality.

In the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries, alchemy un-derwent a trial similar to that which it had undergone muchearlier in China, for once again charlatans and swindlers inthe guise of practicing alchemists began to appear in all thecourts and monasteries. Very quickly the kings and bishopsgrew tired of being deceived by these bandits, and by thebeginning of the fifteenth century alchemy had been out-lawed by acts of Parliament, papal bulls, and royal edicts thecontinent over. Even the heads of monasteries took to pro-hibiting alchemical practice.

To a sincere alchemist working in secret these lawswould have had little meaning. And the laws themselveswere actually quite flexible. In England, for example, it waspossible to obtain a license for the practice of alchemy solong as the alchemist could prove his sincerity to the king.In the Catholic community the laws were taken even lessseriously-monastic alchemy flourished during this period,and Pope John XXII himself was said to be a practicingalchemist.

One of the greatest of the monastic alchemists lived dur-ing this period of "prohibition." Basil Valentine was bornabout 'L394, and became a monk of the Benedictine orderwhile still a young man. Basil believed that the body couldreach a perfect state of health, just as impure lead could bechanged to "perfect'i gold. Like Paracelsus (see Chapter 2),he had nothing but contempt for the physicians of his time;they were, he said, arrogant, complacent, and ignorant of the

History 17

true ways of healing. His works- The Triumphal Chariof ofAnlimony, Of Things Natural and Supernatural, and TheTwelae Keys are only a few of them-were read, despite thedifficulty of their language, by would-be alchemiststhroughout Europe. When he died, Basil left his Last Willand Tesfamenf under the high altar in his church, and in thiswork he supposedly revealed the secrets of transmutation.

Next in line among the great alchemists was Paracelsus'Like Basil, he was primarily a physician, interested in apply-ing the methods of alchemy to the practice of medicine'Paracelsus is important to modern science not only for hiscontributions to the study of disease and its remedies, butbecause he was among the first of the Europeans to demys-tify alchemy, to treat it as a practical science rather than asa way to spiritual perfection.

This trend continued over the next three centuries. Dur-ing this time alchemy as a science gave way to what we nowcall chemistry. It is untrue to say that chemistry simplyreplaced alchemy-up to the sixteenth century alchemy hadbeen the only laboratory science of its time, and the earlygreat chemists looked to alchemy to instruct them in practi-

cal laboratory techniques. For example, the works of Birun-guccio, Agricola, and Neri, while unconcerned with themysteries of alchemical philosophy, nevertheless borrowedheavily from its methodology, and thus formed a bridgebetween the works of Lully and those of Lavoisier' Paracel-sus and his followers also emphasized the practical. AndreasLibavids wrote a book called Alchemia, that had little to dowith alchemy but was actually an attempt to classify allknown matter. This led eventually to the work of Linnaeus,who first formulated the table of elements as we now knowit.

At the same time, new theories of matter were beingintroduced, theories which seemed directly opposed to thoseof the alchemists. These ideas will be discussed in greaterdetail in Chapter 5. Briefly, we can say that beginning with

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18 ALCHEMYThe Nature of Things, written by Bernardo Telesio in L565,continuing with the work of Galileo and Francis Bacon, andfinally culminating in the great studies of Boyle, Gassendi,and Lavoisier, the alchemical theory of the universe, the ideathat everything was composed of and contained one vitalessence, was cast aside in favor of the theory that matter wasformed from atoms.

Remember, though, that when we study the history ofscience we are concerned with what present-day writers callthe mainstream; that is, with the ideas that came to be gener-ally accepted in the universities. Alchemists have nevercared about the mainstream. Even in the sixteenth andseventeenth centuries, when the "scientific" reaction againstalchemy was gaining full force, the adepts continued withtheir own experiments. Academic and popular opinion con-cerned them not in the least.

One alchemist who had the courage to walk his own pathwas Jean Baptiste von Helmont. For most of his life a firmopponent of alchemy, von Helmont was converted to theParacelsian school of thought by a mysterious Irishmannamed Butler. Butler, according to legend, had been cap-tured at sea by Arab pirates and sold into slavery. His masterwas an Arab alchemist whom Butler assisted in his experi-ments. Eventually the Irishman escaped, taking with him aportion of the red powder, the Philosophers' Stone. On hisreturn to Europe Butler was imprisoned in the Castle ofVilford in Flanders, where he reportedly performed themiraculous cures that attracted von Helmont's attention. Inthe company of several noblemen, the physician made thejourney to Flanders where they all claimed to have seenButler cure an old woman of paralysis by touching the Stoneto her tongue. From that point forward von Helmont was tobe a practicing alchemical doctor, and although he neversucceeded in making the Philosophers' Stone himself, wecan still admire his open-mindedness.

In our short and incomplete treatment of the history ofalchemy (the surface history, remember) we have omitted

History L9

several names that deserve mention' Denys Zachaire, Gerar-dus Dora, Thomas Charnock, Eranius Philateles-these andmany others contributed to the spread of alchemy throughmedieval Europe. From 1700 on, alchemists become moredifficult to find. The Count of St. Germain, who receivesattention in the next chapter, was one who put in an appear-

; ance. Others were Sigmund Richter, Lascaris, and in our' o*r, century, the great Fulcanelli. Perhaps even now, inforest cabins, old farmhouses in out-of-the-way rural coun-ties, cheap city apartments, on the grand estates of the

, wealthy, even on the quiet side streets of suburban America,students of the Ancient Wisdom have set up their laborato-

', ries and left the world of the ordinary to pursue truth andbeauty, to follow the path which leads the worthy to theHighest Knowledge.

The Secref Orders

In Europe and in America, the alchemical tradition waskept alive by secret orders and societies. Most of these socie-

tiei traced their origins to the hidden cults of the Egyptiansand Greeks-to Mithra, the Egyptian Great White Brother-hood, the societies of Isis and Osiris, and so on. Undoubt-edly there were (and are) groups of alchemists who kepttheir alliances so secret that the general public has neverheard of them. Indeed one tradition states that an order ofadepts lives hidden away "in the centers of the Earth" (oneof these centers is thought by Rosicrucians and Theosoph-ists to be Mount Shasta), and that this order from time totime sends its representatives into the world of mortals tohelp guide and influence the course of human history' Whenan idept like Fulcanelli or the Count of St. Germain "disap-pears,'; it is said that he has gone back to the society of hisiellow masters, there to wait until his aid is needed onceagain in the world at large.

Some orders, however, have been at least slightly more

20 ALCHEMYpublic in their activities. The best known of these is theBrothers of the Rosy Cros s, or Rosicrucians. Although thisorderhas led a public existence since at least r.6r.4, its tisto.yis still'very difficult to trace. The Rosicrucians themselvesclaim to have exist_ed as an organized body since tnu a"V, ofthe Great White Lodge of Ancient Egypt, -h"r"u, .or,_Rosicrucian historians say that the socieiy had no life of itsown before 1614.

- we will begin with the latter date, since the evidencefrom that time forward is much clearer. In 11614 u g.ou; ofanonymous scholars (probably including the theololians Jo_hann Andrea and William Wense, und thu pflforopil,christian Besold) pubrished in German a document ciueathe Fama Fraternatis of the Meritorious order of the Roly i;;r.Inspired by the goals, doctrines, and techniq,r., of in" a_chemists, the document invited ,,the learnei and gr"ut ofEurope" to join the order so, as to gain greater knowledgeand ultimately share in the reforming of the worrd .The FailsFraternatis went on to give the stoiy of "Christian Rosen-kreuzi'the mythical founder of the order, who was said tohave been a successful practicing alchemist interested inapplying the Ancient wisdom to the problems of sixteenth-and seventeenth-century society.

- MllV European and American intellectuals responded tothe call of the Rosicrucians and published open'retters ofsympathy, hoping thereby to be invited into its elite mem_bership. But no invitations came. Historians have speculatedthatthe order fell apart shortly after the publication of Fama,but it may have been that the intellectuals who respondedwere found to be unqualified for initiation. In eithlr case,the Rosicrucians were silent from 1630 to lr7LO.

During that time debate went on concerning the sincerityand aims of the order. Most German intelleciuars decideithat Rosicrucianism was either a fraud or a silly joke, andthis opinion came to be held by a majority of tninling menat the time. Two of the order's staunch defenders weie the

Hislory 21German scholar Michael Maier and the Englishman RobertFludd, both of whom were practicing alchemists. Maier,although not a Rosicrucian himself, nevertheless defendedthe goals of the order as being among the highest that mencould hold. Fludd explained the Rosicrucians' silence bysaying that the order never had existed as an organizedbody, with meetings, bylaws, and rituals, but that it wassimply a group of master alchemists who maintained com-munication with one another. Anyone who learned the se-crets of alchemy could join in this communication.

Wherever the truth lay, it is fact that in 1710 a bodycalling themselves Rosicrucians published an elaboration ofthe society's aims, together with its ritual, oaths, rules, andrequirements for initiation. Their lead was followed in theearly nineteenth century by the Societas Rosicruciana inAnglia, which had its headquarters in London. These En-glish Rosicrucians hoped to "afford mutual aid and encour-agement in working out the great problems of life, and indiscovering the secrets of nature; to facilitate the study ofthe systems of philosophy founded on the cabala (a form ofJewish mystical wisdom) and the doctrines of Hermes Tris-megistus." Certainly no alchemist could quarrel with thesegoals.

Out of the English Rosicrucian Society grew one of themost fascinating and turbulent groups in European history.The Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn was founded byDr. Wynn Wescott in'J.,887, and was intended to be anadvanced degree of Rosicrucianism. A great number of intel-lectuals, arnong them the poet William Butler Yeats, theshort story writer George Russell, and the novelist AlgernonBlackwood, flocked to the Golden Dawn where they learnedand celebrated the techniques of alchemy and magic. One ofits most famous (or infamous)members was the mystic Ale-ister Crowley, whose works on drugs and magic are nowenjoying a revival in the English-speaking world. Crowleyrose quickly to a position of leadership in the Golden Dawn,

22 ALCHEMYbut his arrogance and flamboyant ways made him a numberof enemies within the order, among them the mysteriousMathers. Crowley was forced to leave England and seekrefuge in Paris, but Mathers, so the story goes, found out hishiding place and sent a vampire in pursuit. Crowley claimedto have killed the vampire by "turning his own evil back onhim." This battle between Mathers and Crowley eventuallyhelped bring about the dissolution of the Golden Dawn-by1905 its membership and vitality had dwindled considera-blv.

At about that time the Kabbalistic Order of the RosyCross was founded in Paris (Crowley may have had a handin this organization).H. Spencer Lewis, an American adver-tising executive, became a member. On returning to theUnited States Lewis organized the Ancient Mystical OrderRosae Crucis, with headquarters in San Jose, California. It isthis order that puts out the Rosicrucian advertisements sooften seen in small magazines. Lewis'aim was to bring thetechniques of alchemy and the cabala to ,,the commonman," to give him the benefit of the ancient teachings insolving the problems of daily life. No particular qualifica-tions are necessary for membership other than a belief insome form of Supreme Being and a sincere desire to realizethe full potential of the mind.

That, then, is a sketch of the "external" history of theRosicrucians. Its "internal" history has been written else-where, and we might now take a look at some of its claims.Did the Rosicrucians in fact exist as an organized body aslong ago as 1500 B.C., and did their existence continue un-broken up to the present day? It is difficult to say. TheRosicrucians themselves claim that their public life runs incycles of tOa years, that is 108 years of publicity followedby 108 years of silence, and that the periods of silence areboth inevitable and necessary to the purity of the teachings.On the other hand, history suggests that the various Rosi-crucian bodies were founded independently of one another,

History 23

that continuity was provided not by its members but by thealchemical philosophy itself. In other words, the wisdomwas there even when there was no organized body to teachit.

In either case it is obvious that the Rosicrucians, Iikealchemy itself and unlike a great majority of the world'ssecret societies, had only the highest aims and aspirations.Deliverance from suffering, the perfection of the spirit, thereshaping of the everyday world in imitation of the higher,the attainment of knowledge and understanding of thenatural universe-all these must be counted among the mostnoble strivings of man. Indeed today's scientists would dowell to rediscover the old teachings, and to inject into theirtest tubes and nuclear reactors just the smallest dose ofspiritual consciousness.

CHAPTER TWO

Lives of the Alchemists

The First AdeplET's FoR a moment go back in time to the third cen-tury after Christ, to an olive grove near the Egyptiancity of Panopolis. It is late afternoon; a golden and

mysterious light slants through the trees. We (and there areonly a very few of us) have come to watch the great Zosimosdemonstrate his skills in alchemy. In the middle of our littleclearing stands a long marble table on top of which are glassvessels filled with bubbling liquids of all colors: ruby red,yellow, the purest white, and the deepest black. Small brickfurnaces send gentle smoke up through the branches. Zosi-mos himself stands behind the table, keeping a watchful eyeon his vials and stills as he tells in a soft, calm voice the storyof the First Alchemist:

"At the dawn of history," he says, "Prometheus took firefrom its home on Mount Olympus and gave it to man. Thegods were very angry at this act of rebellion, so to punish

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ALCHEMYPrometheus they chained him to the highest cliff in theworld, where an eagle came daily to eat his insides.,, Zosi_mos frowns. "Now why were the gods so furious? Wu, it,as-our playwrights and poets are so fond of saying, becausea human race equipped with fire might ,or"uaul, b".;;"masters of the world, and so replace their gods? I ihink not,or rather, I think the opposite. The gods punished prome_theus not because he had given fire tL *ur,, brrt because hehad not given them wisdom to go along with it. As we know,fire without wisdom is as dange.o.r,

-u, it is useless.,,

The alchemist stops to make an adjustment in his fur_nace, then continues: ,,But there it was_man had fire andthat was that; nothing could be done to change it. ChainingPrometheus to the cliff would not make men any wiser, formen do not learn from the experience of others, U"t o"iy iywhat they experience themseives. There was only one thingto do, the gods decided. Man must be given wisdom.

I

. "But the gods were stingy. Not a// men should be givenwisdom, they said; no, only those who were worthy-of it.Now, Hermes Trismegistu, *u, the keeper of all wisdom,most particularly the knowledge of metils, stills, and fur_naces. The other gods instructed Hermes, saying ,Take thisknowledge, and reveal it to man so that n" i.,igt t t uu"proper use for his fire. Do this not in a straighiforwardfashion, but rather in riddles and enigmas. It is orily fair thathe work a little for his wisdom, since-fire came to him in theform of charity.'

"so it was that Hermes the Thrice-Great became the firstalchemist, hiding the keys to his art from the profane "*;;;men while at the same time revealing thern io the worthylI see," says Zosimos, smiling a little ,i.,ilu, ,,that some of theworthy are here today.,,

A charming myth, perhaps (if you like such things), buta myth only. Or is it? For at the center of most f"guii, ii",a seed of truth; a name, a place, an event, a hero Jf men. Is

Liaes of the Alchemists 27this the case with the story of Hermes Trismegistus? Wasthere a flesh-and-blood First Alchemist?

Some scholars think so, and those who do have fastenedon the name Teos. Teos was a physician and priest who livedduring the Egyptian Feudal Period, sometime between 2500and zOOO n.c., probably in the city of Memphis. Accordingto tradition Teos performed acts of healing that seemed

, miraculous; so miraculous, in fact, that later generations ofmen hailed him as a god. As time went on his identitymerged with that of Thoth, the Egyptian God of Wisdom,and still later with that of Hermes Trismegistus. No oneknows whether or not Teos actually practiced alchemy; themost that can be said is that there seems to be a link betweenthis priest and what cane to be called the Hermetic Arts.

To list the accomplishments of the First Alchemist wemust return to the world of myth and legend, and ultimatelyto Hermes Trismegistus, for any number of inventions anddiscoveries are ascribed to him by the ancient writers. Platorecounts stories claiming that Hermes Trismegistus was theinventor of writing, while Socrates associates his name withthe development of numbers, arithmetic, geometry, as-tronomy, even dice! The Souda, a Byzantine dictionary, listsHermes as the discoverer of all metals, principally gold, sil-ver, and iron. In alchemical tradition, as we have seen, it wasHermes who first described the process of transmutation andfirst noted the necessity for conducting experiments underthe right conditions of sun, moon, and stars, thus linkingalchemy with astrology.

The legend of Hermes is summarized beautifully in theKore Kosmou, a book of Gnostic wisdom:

Hermes saw the totality of things. Having seen, heunderstood. Having understood, he had the power toreveal and show. And indeed what he knew he wrote

28 ALCHEMYdown. What he wrote, he mostly hid away, keeping si-lence rather than speaking out, so that every generationon coming into the world had to seek out these things.

fabirThe contributions of Jabir to the study of alchemy and

science in general are discussed throughout this book; herewe are concerned only with what little is known of his life.He seems to have been born in the Arabian city of Tus aboutA.D.7ZI or 722, His father, Hayyan, had been a druggist inKufa, and it was probably through him that Jabir first devel-oped his interest in chemistry and medicine. When Jabir wasstill a young man, Hayyan was executed for revolutionarypolitical activity against the Omeyyed rulers. After his fa-ther's death Jabir himself was sent from Kufa to Arabia,where he studied the Koran and mathematical philosophy.Where he first obtained his alchemical knowledge is un-known, but it was probably during his stay in Arabia. Otherthan that we know very little of his early life.

As a mature man Jabir appeared in the court of the fa-mous Sultan Harun al-Rashid, who was later immortalizedin the Tales of Arabian Nights There Jabir became ac-quainted with Jafar al-Sadiq, a well-known religious teacherof the Shiite sect. The older man took it on himself tobecome Jabir's master. Through Jafar, the alchemist was in-troduced to the Barmencides, a group of advisers to theSultan. One of the Barmencides, Yahya by name, had in hisharem an uncommonly beautiful wife who was dying of anunknown and untreatable disease. Jabir cured the lady bygiving her two grains of "a certain elixir" mixed with threeounces of vinegar and honey.

Her recovery made Jabir a great favorite with the Bar-mencides, and they in turn took him to Harun himself. TheSultan must have been impressed by the young man's intel-ligence and quiet wisdom for he straightaway appointed

Liaes of fhe Alchemists 29

Jabir court alchemist. In gratitude }abir wrote his Book ofVenus, wherein he described for Harun a great many al-chemical experiments. In addition he wrote books on as-tronomy, geometry, philosophy, engineering, and optics, allof which were received with great delight by the Sultan'

Soon, however-as is often the case with advisers-theBarmencides began to grow too powerful for Haran's liking;they took too much of the decision-making responsibilityfor themselves. In 803 Harun had them evicted from thecourt, and Jabir, who was associated with them in the Sul-tan's mind, was forced to leave also' He returned to hisfather's hometown of Kufa and there spent the remainder ofhis life in seclusion, carrying on his experiments and writinghis treatises. When he died (about 8L5) the manuscript forhis Book of Mercy was found under his pillow.

In one sense, the great majority of Jabir's work went onafter his death. His reputation as an alchemist and scholarwas so great that innumerable treatises were written underhis name. At first these "labirian" writings were done solelyby the Islamic sect called Ismaelite, but later many otherArabian alchemists saw fit to call themselves"Jabit," at leastin print. Later still, after the study of alchemy had passedthrough Arab hands into Europe, a number of texts werewritten in Latin under the name of. "Gebet," and these werealso put forward as having been authored by Jabir himself'(The Latin texts, incidentally, were so confusing and diffi-cult to read that the word "gibberish" was invented to de-scribe them.)

Somewhere among all these claims and counter-claimsthe real works of Iabir have been lost-no one has been ableto say definitely which are his and which came later. Weknow that the books generally ascribed to him (The Sum ofPerfecfion, for example, or The Book of Furnaces) by Europeanwriters could not have been written as early as the eighthcentury. The same may be true of the body of writings calledThe Hundred Books, The Ten Books of Rectifcation, and The Book

Raymond LullyMost alchemists were retiring, scholarly individuals,

much more concerned with their own experiments thanwith the doings of miracles. Not so Raymond Lully, whowas as colorful and dynamic as any artist or emperor, andwhose life was as full of turmoil as a hero from a ireek'epic.He was born on Majorca in the early thirteenth century andgrew up as a courtier to King James I of Aragon. In his earlylife he was dissolute and debauched, prefeiing the fleshiypleasures of the court to either the botkish pre"occupationsof the scholars or the hard physicar rabor of tte lower-born.In fact, it was his love of the earthly that eventually led him(propelled him, actually) into the higher .or,."rr* of al_chemy. This is the story.

In the court of King James lived a lady, the Dona Elea_nora Ambrosia de Castello, whose beauty and virtue set hernoticeably apart from the other courtesans. Although shewas much older than he and happily married, Lullylell inlove with her. He sent her gifts which she refused to receive,wrote her poetry that she would not acknowledge, followejher starry-eyed around the castre while she ignor-ed him. Herrejection of him only fanned the flames of his passion untilone day he followed her into church at High Murr, neglect_ing in his bemusement to leave his horse outside.

The lady decided that something would have to be done.She was being scandalized. After conferring with her hus_band, she invited Lully to her chambers, intending, she said,to discuss his poetry with him. When Lully appeared, theDona Ambrosia said, "I thought the author of such beautifur

30 ALCHEMYof Balances. still, the theories described in all these books, aswell 1s many of the experiments, probably did origi"ul"with Jabir and were later writt.r, ir, a new form by hisadmirers.

Lioes of the Alchemists 31

poetry should have a closer look at the object of his affec-tions," and opening her robe, she revealed a breast half-eaten away by cancer. Seeing that he was shocked to thepoint of paralysis, she advised him to "change this uselessand criminal passion into a holy love," to transfer his affec-tions from her to her God, and thus be redeemed in the sightof all.

Lully took her words to heart. He apologized, and so the6tory goes, returned home to throw himself at the foot of a

. In due time Christ appeared to him, instructing himto sell his possessions and retire from the world to devotehimself to the love of God. Lully obeyed, sold his estate, andwent into meditation at Randa. There he resolved to seekknowledge, to establish monasteries where the Gospel couldbe translated into exotic languages, and to help organize thearmies of Europe for a final and definitive crusade againstthe Muslims.

He took up the study of alchemy and began to travel inNorth Africa. Wherever he went he set himself up as apreacher and railed against the Muslims for their heathenways. This, in countries which were predominantly Islamic,did nothing to ensure either Lully's popularity or his health

-as often as not, he was stoned or beaten for all his holi-

ness. Eventually, howevet, the Muslims came to regard himas a harmless curiosity, and he was given the Sultan's pro-tection. He went on with his preaching, but his notable lackof success in converting anyone to Christianity eventuallyled him to the conclusion that the heathens could be con-verted by force only. He returned to Europe in the hopes oforganizing a Crusade.

While in ltaly, Lully was supposedly approached by onejohn Cremer, the Abbot of Westminster, who persuadedhirir to perform transmutations for Edward II of England.Lully agreed, but only on the condition that any gold heproduced would be used to finance a Holy War against theMuslims. Edward was amenable to this bargain, or at least

32 ALCHEMYso he said. Lully was shut up in the Tower of London, whereit was said that he transmuted 50,000 pounds of lead intopure gold. Still no Crusade. Lully became suspicious, andfinally managed to escape with Cremer,s help. He resumedhis travels, finally returning to North Africa. By this time,though, a new Sultan had come to power who refused Lullyhis protection. In 1315 he was stoned to death while preach-ing Christian redemption.

Some 486 alchemical treatises have been attributed toLully, but only a few of these have been authenticated.Perhaps the most important is the Testament of Lullius, whichgives a complete account of both the theoretical and thepractical sides of alchemy, although the recipes for thePhilosophers' Stone are written, as are all such recipes, indeliberately obscure language.

Nicholas FlamelFlamel was the best known of the medieval French al_

chemists, best known not only by virtue of his achieve_ments, but because he chose to write in relatively clear forma diary of his alchemical experiences. If you are thinkingabout setting up an alchemist's laboratory, read this stor|first-it will give you a good idea of how much heartachland hard work lie ahead.

Flamel was born about 1330. He lived a quiet life in parisas a scrivener (transcriber of books) until the fortunes of histrade turned his attention to alchemy. One day a strangerbrought him, so he wrote,

a gilded book, very large and old. It was not made ofpaper or parchment as other books are, but of admirablerinds of young trees; the cover of it was brass, well_bgr1n-d 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

Lioes of the Alchemists J3matter that was written within, it was engraven with aniron pencil, or graven upon the said bark leaves; doneadmirably well, and in fair neat Latin letters, and curi-ously colored.

The book contained thrice seven leaves, so numberedat the top of each folio, every seventh leaf having paintedimages and figures instead of writing. On the first ofthese seven leaves there was depicted a virgin who wasbeing swallowed by serpents; on the second a cross uponwhich a serpent was crucified; on the last a wildernesswatered by many fair fountains, out of which came anumber of serpents, running here and there. On the firstwritten leaf the following words were inscribed in greatcharacters of gold: "Abraham the Jew, Prince, Priest, Le-vite, Astrologer and Philosopher, unto the Jewish nationscattered through France by the wrath of God, wishinghealth in the name of the God of Israel." Thereafter fol-lowed great execrations and maledictions, with the word"Maranatha" repeated over and over, poured forthagainst anyone who should glance within, unless he werepriest or scribe. . ..

On the third and the rest of the written leaves hetaught the transmutation of metals in plain words, tohelp his captive nation in paying tribute to Roman em-perors.

Flamel studied the book diligently but could not under-stand it, no matter how plain the language. Finally heshowed it to one Anselm, a Parisian physician who was saidto be knowledgeable in alchemy. Anselm told him that sixyears would be required in the making of the Philosophers'Stone, and that he should start with mercury, boiling it fora long period of time in the blood of children. Flamel couldnot bring himself to use human blood in his preparations(indeed no other alchemical recipe calls for human blood),but he followed the other instructions to the letter. He ex-perimented in this way for twenty-one years with no suc-cess at all.

Eventually Flamel decided that there was no furtherknowledge to be gained in Paris, so he set out traveling. On

34 ALCHEMYthe continent he met a doctor named Canches, who tookFlamel into his confidence and showed him the First Matter.

Flamel enlisted Canches'aid and the two of them began the

return trip to Paris, but Canches unfortunately died alongthe way. Nonetheless, Flamel returned to his experiments'It took him three years, he says, to prepare the First Matter,which he recognized by its characteristic strong-sweetodor, and from there he quickly succeeded in transmutingmercury, first to silver and then to gold' This was done, he

reports, on the seventeenth of January, L382'Thereafter Flamel accumulated (or produced) a large for-

tune, most of which he gave away to charitable organiza-tions in Paris. No one has ever been able to explain hiswealth as a product of anything but the transmutation ofmetals-certiinly a scrivener could not have earned such afortune, even given several lifetimes'work' Flamel died in1415, leaving a record of his gifts on his tombstone (thestone can be seen today at the Mus6e de Cluny in Paris), and

an archway in the Church of the Innocents, painted withscenes depicting first the resurrection of the soul throughChrist and underneath a symbolic explanation of the greatalchemical mysteries.

Paracelsus

undoubtedly the greatest of the rnedieval alchemicalphysicians was Paracelsus. He was born in L493 and givenit "

i*proUable name of Aureolus Phillipus TheophrastusBombaitus von Hohenheim' His father, a well-knownphysician, first directed him toward the study of medicine'a"d at the age of sixteen Paracelsus entered the Universityof Basle, where he read extensively in alchemy and surgery'His alchemical researches were guided by the Abbot Tri-themius, himself a noted adept of the time, but Paracelsus'

Liaes of the Alchemists 35

interest in "sorcery" soon resulted in his forced evictionfrom the universitY.

In 1516 Paracelsus set out on the first of a long series of

travels, which were ultimately to teach him far more than

he could have learned from the hidebound professors ofBasle. His first stops were in the mining districts of theiy.of, where he learned the extraction of various metalsfrom their ores. Later, while traveling through Russia, he

*ut .uptr.tted by the Tartars and taken to the court of theGrand bhurn in China' He quickly became a favorite of the

Tartar king; he was so admired, in fact, that he was sent on

a diplomalic mission to Constantinople in the company ofthe king's son.

Rt tiat time Constantinople was the crossroads of theworld, a vibrant, exciting city where representatives of-the

worldls great cultures met-in streets and bazaars as oftenas in halls of learning-to practice their arts and share theirknowledge. Paracelsus roamed the city, spoke with Indians'

Arabs, Chinese, and gypsies, always alert and questioning'

seeking any informaiion that could possibly make him a

better -pftyti.iu". Eventually, so the

- story goes, he was

iaught it " Higft"tt Secret of alchemy by an Arabian ld3nt'

Armed with this knowledge, Paracelsus returned to Eu-

rope. He enlisted in the Italian army as a surgeon' and there

p.rforrr,.d a series of cures that the doctors of the day were

ut r lo* to explain. His reputation reached back to Basle' andinL526he was invited to assume a professorship in medicine

by the university that had once rejected him'But his career as a professor was no happier than his

,t.rJ*t days had been. He alienated nearly everyone on thefaculty, first because of his strange appearance and feminine

mannerisms (it was even rumored that he had been emas-

culated in childhood); secondly on account of his fondness

for wine and roadhouses; thirdiy for his flaming temper' All

these eccentricities might have been forgiven' however' had

Liaes of the Alchemisfs 37

not Paracelsus held his colleagues in such open contempt.He began his series of lectures by burning the books ofGalen, who at the time was the acknowledged Father ofMedicine. He took every opportunity to insult his fellowprofessors, calling them ignorant and incompetent, and heinsulted them even further by obtaining results, even totalcures, in cases that they had declared hopeless.

Once Paracelsus invited everyone on the medical facultyto a lecture, promising to reveal "the greatest secret in medi-cine." On the day of the lecture Paracelsus took his place atthe podium; in front of him was a dish, that, although cov-ered, still sent out a strong and suspicious smell. Once theprofessors had arrived and taken their seats, Paracelsusremoved the cover. There on the dish, presumably sur-rounded by a cloud of flies,lay a heap of human excrement.The outraged professors headed immediately for the doors,deaf to the physician's shout: "If you will not hear themysteries of putrefactive fermentation, you are unworthy ofthe name of doctors!"

This incident and others like it proved to be the undoingof Paracelsus. His enemies, who by that time included nearlyeveryone on the faculty, waged a campaign of hate andslander against him. The campaign was eventually success-ful, and Paracelsus was fired from the university. He stayedon in Basle for a time, drinking and carousing in the inns,but still tending the sick and curing supposedly incurablediseases. Finally the municipal authorities, under pressurefrom the university, arrested Paracelsus and sentenced himto exile. He resumed his travels, and continued drinking andhealing. In 1541 he died.

Unlike most alchemists, Paracelsus was very little con-cerned with metals and transmutations. His interest alwaysfocused on medicine-alchemy was like the doctor's blackbag, containing all the tools necessary for the treatment ofdisease. Although modern physicians neither agree withParacelsian theories nor employ his methods, they do recog-Constantinople

38 ALCHEMYnize his place in medical history, his insistence on the use ofproven, if ancient, techniques to replace the philosophicalguesswork of Aristotle and Galen.

Edward KellyThe story of Edward Kelly might serve as a warning to

those who use alchemy to seek gold without understandingwhat "gold" is and how much wisdom is necessary to obtainit. For Kelly is a perfect example of the adventurer-alche-mist, who really is no alchemist at all, but only a self-inter-ested fraud. Kelly could never have made his Philosophers'Stone himself; he would have had to have come by it as theresult of an accident or a stroke of fate. And this is indeedwhat happened, or so we are told:

Kelly was born about 1555 in Worcester, England. Hewas trained as a lawyer but was forced to give up the trade(and his ears as well) when he was found guilty of falsifyingdeeds. To escape further punishment he fled to Wales,where he took a room at a small inn' The innkeeper hap-pened to show him an old manuscript, which Kelly recog-nized immediately as a tract on the transmutation of metals.In further conversation, the innkeeper revealed that themanuscript had been found in the tomb of a local bishop,together with a small quantity of red and white powder.Although excited beyond words Kelly managed enoughnonchalance to buy what remained of the powder, whichthe innkeeper's children had been using as a toy, for a toy'sprice-he paid one pound.

Immediately Kelly returned to London and sought theaid of Dr. Iohn Dee, a well-known physician and dabbler insorcery. Together they worked with the powder for months,trying first one method and then the next, until finally theywere successful: one small measure of their Stone converted272,230 times its weight in lead into pure gold' Much of the

Liaes of the Alchemists 39gold was lost in experimentation, but apparently enoughremained to finance their further adventures.

Kelly left at once for Prague, where the German EmperorRudolph II had surrounded himself with alchemists andmagicians so as to learn for himself the secrets of transmuta-tion. Kelly set up quarters in the city and boasted loudly toone and all of his alchemical skill. He effected several trans-mutations (one of which was witnessed by the philosopherGassendus) but made very poor use of the results, throwinghis gold around as if the magic had no end. Rudolph heardof Kelly's enterprises and invited him to come perform hisexperiments in the presence of the court. Kelly happilyagreed.

Then, flushed with power and glory, Kelly made histragic mistake: he claimed to be able to manufacture theStone himself. Rudolph took him up on his boast, and Kellywas given room at the castle to conduct his experiments.Under the advice of his other alchemist-ministers, Rudolphmade Kelly a virtual prisoner in the castle so as to keep hisactivities under close watch. Kelly was entirely unsuccessfulin producing the Stone. He appealed to Dr. Dee, who rushedto Prague to help him, but Dee's assistance made no differ-ence at all. Finally overcome by frustration, Kelly murderedone of his guards, and tl're emperor immediately ordered himthrown into the dungeon.

Dee was allowed to return to England. There he tried toappeal Kelly's case to Queen Elizabeth, but she was muchmore interested in the Stone than she was in the adventurer.She gave Dee a license to practice alchemy, established himin a house with a laboratory, even visited him there; but forKelly she had no regard whatsoever*he was Rudolph's andthat was that.

Rudolph himself still believed Kelly to be capable ofproducing the Stone, and so kept him on as a prisoner in-stead of executing him. Nevertheless, Kelly's attempts atmaking the Stone were in vain. Eventually, in7597, some of

40 ALCHEMYhis friends contrived to help him escape from prison bymeans of a rope, but Kelly fell during the descent and dieda few days later from the injury-a just end, as any seriousalchemist would agree.

The Count of St. CermainThroughout the long history of alchemy, no figure was

more fascinating and colorful than the Count of St. Ger-main. Butler may have been mysterious, Jabir scholarly,Lully turbulent, Flamel humble and hard-working, andParacelsus eccentric; but the Count, if Count he was, com-bined all these qualities and more. He was a master alche-mist, telepath, prognosticator, and linguist (he spoke Cer-man, English, Italian, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Greek,Latin, Sanskrit, Arabic, and Chinese with native fluency).His memory was photographic. He could write a love letterwith his right hand while at the same time composing mysti-cal verses with his left. He often described events which hadtaken place several centuries before, and in such intimatedetail as to convince his listeners that he himself had beena participant. His paintings were celebrated for their bright-ness of color, a brightness impossible to achieve with anycombination of pigments in use at that time. His songs wereperformed and admired in Parisian concert halls and in thesalons of the wealthy. The Count's only alchemical treatiseis a remarkably beautiful piece of visionary literature-where most alchemical writing is dry and obscure, The MostHoly Trinosophia reads like a saga.

Stories of his mystical gifts could fill (and in fact havefilled) several books. The Marquis de Valbelle, among manyothers, saw the Count change a silver six-franc piece intogold. Louis XV of France once charged him with extractingthe flaw from a medium-sized diamond, and the Count per-formed this operation with such skill that the value of thestone was increased by 70 percent. Franz Graffer gives anaccount of the alchemist's powers of prediction:

Liaes of the Alchemists

The Count of St. GermainHe passed into a solemn mood. For a few seconds he

became rigirl as a statue; his eyes, which were alwaysexpressive beyond words, became dull and colorleis.P-resently, however, his whole being became reanimated.He made a movement with his hand as if to signal depar-

41

42 ALCHE MYture, then said, "I am leaving. Do not visit me. Onceagain will you see me. Tomorrow night I am off; I ammuch needed in Constantinople, then in England, thereto prepare two inventions which you will have in thenext century-trains and steamboats."

This conversation reportedly took place sometime between1788 and 7790, atleast twenty years before the developmentof either the train or the steamboat. The Countess d'Adhe-mar wrote that as early as 1768 the Count was warning theKing and Queen of France that their reign was insecure, andby 17SS he was predicting a full-scale revolution, the deathof monarchy and monarchs, and "rivers of blood" in thestreets. The French people fulfilled his prophecy in 7793.

Who was the Count of St. Germain? Like Fulcanelli, hisidentity is confused, partially by Iack of information andpartially because he appeared under so many names andguises during the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.Even accounts of his birth are contradictory, although manyauthorities think him the son of Prince Ragoczy of Transyl-vania. The date of his birth has never been established, buthe may have spent his early years in the household of GianGastone, the last Duke of Medici'

The story of his life (his visible life, at least) can be tracedthrough a record of his various "appearances" in Europe'The first of these occurred inT77O, in Venice, the last in'l'822

-one hundred and twelae years later' (Some biographers main-

tain that the Count died on the estate of Charles of Hessein 1786, but neither body nor headstone was ever foundthere, and the Comtesse d'Adhemar, who knew the Countwell, testifies to having seen and talked with him in 1804and again in 1,82?'.) At no time did he appear to be more lhanforty-foe years of age. Kings and nobles-Louis XVI and MarieAntoinette of France, George III of England, Frederick II ofPrussia, the Landgrave of Hesse, the Countess d'Adhemauthese witnesses and many more all say that the alchemistwho appeared in the early eighteenth century was the same

Lioes of the Alchemists 43

Count of St. Germain who mystified them in L743,7786, and1804. Always he appeared as a man of medium height, ex-quisitely dressed, charming in manner, and with eyes de-scribed by those who saw him as "unforgettable." His charmand good humor endeared him to everyone, as did hisdemonstrations of mystical knowledge.

Still, no one has ever been able to explain the Count; noone knows where he came from or where he went. There isa tradition among alchemists that master adepts, those whoknow the highest secrets, have a habit of appearing whenneeded and then disappearing when their task of the mo-ment is done. The Count himself occasionally spoke of be-ing under the orders of "a higher power," of returningeventually to the world from which he came. Was there infact such a power, such a world? Was the Count of St.Germain one of its representatives, sent to aid a troubledEurope in a time of fear and doubt? Thousands of people-Freemasons, Rosicrucians, Theosophists, even scientists-believe this to be so, while countless others refuse to evenadmit the possibiiity. But wherever the truth lies-and itmay well lie outside the realms of everyday experience onwhich our science is based-it is obvious that the Count ofSt. Germain, along with Nostradamus, Crowley, and Ful-canelli, must be counted one of the most remarkable men toever appear on the fringes of history.

FulcanelliThe best known, and perhaps the only twentieth-cen-

tury adept, was a shadowy figure who went under the nameof Fulcanelli. His real name, as well as most of the details ofhis life, are unknown to this day. What rs known is thatFulcanelli was master to a Parisian student of alchemynamed Eugene Canseliet, and that in the nineteen-twentiesFulcanelli handed over to his student two manuscripts,

44 ALCHEMYwhich Canseliet was instructed to publish. Immediatelythereafter, Fulcanelli disappeared.

Or did he? In '1937 the French physicist Jacques Bergiertalked with a man who may well have been Fulcanelli him-self. At the time Bergier was doing research in radioactivity,research which was eventually to lead to the atomic bomb."Fulcanelli" came to his laboratory, primarily to warn Ber-gier to be careful in his work-there were, he said, gravedangers in the release of nuclear energy (how well we knowthat now!), dangers of which alchemists had been aware inthe past; the aery distant past. Having warned Bergier thealchemist left, with, as he said, no hope whatsoever thatanyone would listen to him.

The governments of the United States and Germany,which were iust then beginning research into the possibili-ties offered by nuclear energy, initiated a search for the mancalled Fulcanelli. Why? Because Canseliet, Fulcanelli's stu-dent, claimed that nuclear energy could be released with nomore equipment than "a good stove, a coal-burning oven,some Meeker burners and four bottles of butane gas." Ap-parently, the two most powerful governments on earth tookthis claim seriously, at least seriously enough to spend hun-dreds of thousands of dollars in finding the source of theclaim. The search, however, was an utter failure-Fulcanelliwas never found.

He left behind only three things. The first two werebooks, one a long tome on fundamental alchemy, called Zedemeure philosophale, and the other a shorter work, Le mysferede cathedrales, which showed the architecture of Gothiccathedrals to be exercises in alchemical symbolism. Thethird of Fulcanelli's legacies was in the form of faith, thefaith he inspired in his followers to pursue the arts andwisdom of the ancients, to seek the highest knowledgeknown to man.

NTHRopoLocrsrs, zoologists, and preachers have al-ways been fond of devising criteria by which theyhope to distinguish man from the "lower" animals.

"Man is different," they are likely to say, "in that he knowshow to make and use tools"; yet chimpanzees use sharpenedsticks to gather fruit and to defend themselves from preda-tors. Another attempt: "Man is different in that he is able topostpone grafifcation, to sacrifice immediate pleasure in orderto enjoy some greater pleasure in the future." Yet squirrelsstore nuts for the winter, ants stockpile vast quantities offood for future use, dogs bury bones. "But man can think,"say the anthropologists; "he can consider abstract, unseenideas, come to conclusions, figure things out. He can askquestions, and he can demand explanations."

Here the scholars come closer to a true distinction be-tween man and all other animals. Animals never ask"why";they simply do, according to the blind dictates of their in-stincts. Man, on the other hand, is never satisfied with justdoing; he always wants to know "why"-yJhy he behaves

CHAPTER THREE

@

Alchemical Philosophy

45

46 ALCHEMY

as he does, why other things behave as they do, why every-thing came to be here in the first place. Man is the onlyphilosophical animal, and all his works, from the time of theearliest hunters and farmers, have been underlaid by a set ofquestions'and a corresponding set of explanations; havebeen underlaid, in other words, by a philosophy.

And so with alchemy: no alchemist ever worked his met-als without first referring to a complex and systematic bodyof theory, a body of theory that had its roots in some ofman's oldest religions and mythologies. Although it is usu-ally said that alchemical philosophy began in the fourthcentury s.c., with the teachings of Aristotle, we have alreadyseen that alchemy had an independent and much earlierexistence in China, where it was associated with Taoism andthe ideas of Lao Tse. (The relationship of alchemy to Taoismwill be discussed more fully in the following chapter.) Actu-ally it is probable that the beginnings of alchemical philoso-phy, like the beginnings of alchemy itself, must be placedeven further back in time, with the mystery cults and secretreligions of Egypt; and yet beyond, in the strange pantheonsand mythologies of the lron Age.

The body of concepts that guides alchemy has comedown to us in many forms, some mystical and elusive, othersrelatively intelligible. But no matter what the language, andno matter what the variation in detail, all alchemical think-ing has in common certain basic precepts, precepts by whichthe disciplines of religion and experimental science, seem-ingly so different, can be molded into a unified system ofthought.

Science-fiction fans may recall stories in which the heroor heroes, usually a team of physicists, are doing excitingnew research into the nature of the atom. In the course oftheir investigation the scientists devise a microscope capableof magnifying subatomic particles until they are visible tothe human eye. With their new microscope they plungedeeper and ever deeper into the subatomic world, through

Alchemical Philosophy 47a maze of protons, neutrons, and mesons, all the way downto the skin of the electron. They probe the electron withX-rays, and there in the heart of this small particle is re-vealed a uniaerse; a tiny, vibrating universe just like ours, fullof stars, planets, galaxies, comets, even little people.

Or this: a lone astronaut leaves earth in the first space-ship ever designed to exceed the speed of light. Quickly heleaves both time and form behind as the ship, followingEinstein's theory, becomes infinitely big and infinitely smallat the same time. Finally both ship and astronaut are sostretched out that they pass through the boundaries of theknown universe inlo another universe, the larger universebeyond ours, the one in which all our stars, galaxies, etc., arenothing but a single atom.

These stories embody the first principle of alchemy: "Asabove, so below." In other words, everything we see aroundus is in its basic composition merely a carbon copy of some-thing larger and something smaller-we ourselves (althoughthe alchemists would not have said it this way) are com-posed of atoms, which in their configuration and motionsimitate the workings of stars and planets, which are com-posed of and imitate the motions of atoms, and so on. To thealchemists this meant also that there was a higher world, aworld of the spirit, which our world was trying withoutmuch success to imitate. Our world conformed to the lawsof the higher world, but these laws could only be under-stood by man if man went to the trouble of reshaping him-self in the higher world's image. This reshapingi, ortransmutation, was the Great Work, the ultimate goal of allalchemical endeavors.

The belief that everything is