|
THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
|
|
THE |
|
a cache of usenet and other text files pertaining
to occult, mystical, and spiritual subjects. |
To: alt.magick From: Leigh Daniels Subj: Alchemy (0000.alchemy.ld) Date: unknown The basic process of alchemy has three braod phases (There are sub-phases in each of the main ones). The starting material is separated into the three essentials of Sulfur, Salt and Mercury. These three are then purified. The final phase is the recombination of the three to produce a stone. In the plant kingdom the Sulfur is the essential oil, the salt is the complex of water-soluable salts and the Mercury is the alcohol obtained from fermentation. In the metallic kingdom I am less certain about the entire laboratory process, although it follows the three basic phases. I know that metallic mercury is used, but only after it has been "animated", a process that is long, difficult and dangerous. Metallic mercury is one of the most toxic elements and is extremely dangerous to work with without adequate equipment and skill. It is absorbed through the skin and from the odorless vapor and it accumulates in the body where it can cause nerve damage. (The expression "mad as a hatter" comes from the poisoning of hat makers by the mercury compound used to make hats shiny.) This is why working with plants is a good place to start. It gives you experience. As to what the Sulfur and Salt in the metallic kingdom are, I can't say that I know precisely. How this translates into spiritual development is difficult to describe because it is not a rational process. It might be that in learning to animate matter, to create something new, you become as a creator god (or goddess) and this brings about the realization of your true divine nature. There is a lot of inner work that goes hand-in-hand with the lab work and it is the combination of the two that, I believe, brings about the desired result. The red powder that you ask about is the philosopher's stone ground into powder. To perform a transmutation, the powder is enclosed in wax and then "projected" (thrown) into the molten metal, usually lead, where it kept in a molten state for some length of time and then cooled. The result is gold. The fact that you have to use gold to make gold is irrelevant in alchemy because performing a transmutation is not done to produce gold for a commercial or monetary use. It is done to demostrate the achievement of a certain level of development, perhaps of an aspect of that divine creative power that we all have but seldom acknowledge. The books by Albertus and Junius mentioned in an earlier post give more details of the theory and practice, especially for the plant kingdom.
|
The Arcane Archive is copyright by the authors cited.
Send comments to the Arcane Archivist: tyaginator@arcane-archive.org. |
|
Did you like what you read here? Find it useful?
Then please click on the Paypal Secure Server logo and make a small donation to the site maintainer for the creation and upkeep of this site. |
|
|
The ARCANE ARCHIVE is a large domain,
organized into a number of sub-directories, each dealing with a different branch of religion, mysticism, occultism, or esoteric knowledge. Here are the major ARCANE ARCHIVE directories you can visit: |
|
interdisciplinary:
geometry, natural proportion, ratio, archaeoastronomy
mysticism: enlightenment, self-realization, trance, meditation, consciousness occultism: divination, hermeticism, amulets, sigils, magick, witchcraft, spells religion: buddhism, christianity, hinduism, islam, judaism, taoism, wicca, voodoo societies and fraternal orders: freemasonry, golden dawn, rosicrucians, etc. |
SEARCH THE ARCANE ARCHIVE
There are thousands of web pages at the ARCANE ARCHIVE. You can use ATOMZ.COM
to search for a single word (like witchcraft, hoodoo, pagan, or magic) or an
exact phrase (like Kwan Yin, golden ratio, or book of shadows):
|
OTHER ESOTERIC AND OCCULT SITES OF INTEREST
Southern
Spirits: 19th and 20th century accounts of hoodoo,
including slave narratives & interviews
|