Alchemy

An old man, tall but gaunt, balding, with long white hair often under some form of close-fitting hat or cap, wearing long dark robes bearing mystical and magical symbols, working in a stone-walled laboratory high in a castle turret - poring over complex chemical apparatus which is bubbling and fizzing with noxious brightly-coloured substances as they work their way through a complex process - is typical of the image conjured up by one word: 'Alchemy'.

What is 'alchemy', where did it come from, what is really possible, and how does it relate to us in our 'get rich quick' society, are some of the questions explored in this article.

Picture linked from The Alchemy Lab

Alchemy is often defined as a pseudo-scientific predecessor to chemistry that sought to transmute base metals into gold, produce an elixir to prolong life indefinitely, produce a panacea or universal remedy, and produce an 'alkhest' or universal solvent. Alchemy is actually about all possible transmutations (changes of state and form) of all matter.

Modern chemistry as a 'mechanical' science owes much of its roots to alchemy, where the 'mystical' aspects of alchemical philosophy are now bound into esoteric movements relating more to hermeticism - such as the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, and the ancient Order of the Rosicrucians.

Increasingly, 'Alchemy' is a term used by writers to relate to emotional and spiritual transformations rather than physical ones. This does not invalidate its meaning or worth, but seeks to make people more aware of their intrinsic powers to deal with difficult situations in their own lives, and the personal 'wealth' (if not literally 'gold') that comes from it.

Even if you do not like 'History', this section is well-worth reading, because the history associated with alchemy relates to many aspects of 'ordinary' things which we take for granted today, and to much of the continuing mystery surrounding the entire subject.

Whatever its roots, the English word 'alchemy' is traceable to a 14th century Latin and Arabic origin, more as a consequence of the earlier Crusades, but the origins of Alchemy are in a different place altogether.

'Alchemy' is believed to have originated in China around 2500BC, and travelled through Asia and India before appearing around 300BC in Egypt and Greece.

Picture linked from The Alchemy Web Site

In the 'Chinese' brand of alchemy, the focus was on the search for the 'elixir of life', and on the 'panacea', while the 'Western' brand was more associated with the chemical transformations.

The knowledge and wisdom in the Egyptian and Greek cultures at the time of the adoption of Alchemy directed interest towards the more physical and 'practical' manifestations of the art - scholarly interest from the Greeks around the time of Aristotle was focusing on analysis and detailed recording of information concerning much of the physical world, while Egypt was undergoing a period of change mainly triggering a shift in belief-systems.

Alchemy became an integral part of Jewish thought, with Maria Prophetissa (the legendary sister of Moses) being the creator of the 'retort' and 'still' as part of laboratory apparatus.

From its arrival in Western Europe around 200BC, Alchemy grew in importance and became a dominant 'adjunct' until around 300AD, when Christianity began to take the lead. By 700AD, Alchemy was also becoming embedded in the Islamic tradition, mainly due to the Egyptian/Arabic associations. Prince Khalid in Damascus was the first Muslim alchemist around this time.

By the time of the Crusades (around 1000-1200AD), Alchemy had diminished in importance in the Christian tradition, but was an integral and 'secret' part of Jewish and Islamic doctrine. The 'fine steel' from Damascus which could slice through some Crusaders' armour was put down to the 'black art of Alchemy', but the 'gold' from the Jews which was borrowed to finance the Crusades (and buy King Richard's release from captivity) did not attract the same comments.

The scientific awakening of the time attracted some great minds, like Roger Bacon and Thomas Aquinus, but did not stop Pope John XXII from outlawing Alchemy in 1317.

In 1392, Nicholas Flamel in France discovered how to produce 'prime matter' which he then used to transmute mercury into gold. He became extraordinarily rich, with historical evidence of him donating to some forty or fifty schools or chapels. News of his exceptional wealth reached the King of France, who sent out a Tax Inspector to check on Flamel. The Tax Inspector found Flamel to be living in basic circumstances, and Flamel gave the Tax Inspector a flask of 'red powder' as all that he could show the King.

The physical chemistry part of alchemical methods continued into the Renaissance, and led to the discovery of alcohol as a solvent in 1510. This discovery convinced experimenters of the day that a Universal Solvent (Alkhest) did exist, which would be able to extract and hold the 'essence of life' - the term 'quintessence' stems from this belief.

In England, Alchemists were continuously in danger, mainly because of opportunities seen by others to use Alchemy as a means to increase personal wealth. On such Alchemist, Thomas Daulton, was imprisoned by King Edward IV, and his benefactor was beheaded. Thomas Daulton was released when he told the King that he had thrown the 'red powder' he had produced into a lake to avoid further trouble, but then he was kidnapped by Lord Herbert and kept imprisoned in a castle in Monmouthshire for four years in an attempt to learn the secret.

Around the same time, Paracelsus, a Swiss 'doctor' was travelling Europe and practising Alchemy in the form of medical transformations. His work was the fore-runner of homeopathy, antisepsis, chemotherapy, and microchemistry. His belief that illness was a problem with the 'astral' body rather than the 'physical' one led his every action, and allowed him to assist in cures where others had failed. His ethic was 'Learn and Help', similar to Nicholas Flamel.

Picture linked from The Alchemy Web Site

The Renaissance (literally 're-birth') was responsible for a shift away from the limitations of 'orthodoxy', and a move towards 'free-thinking'. This move in the 17th Century attracted much of the scientific thinking of an entire age, but in turn was responsible for a split between 'physical' and 'mystical' aspects: physics, chemistry, medicine, and astronomy became 'physical sciences', while 'other' aspects were increasingly pushed into the background. Even so, great thinkers, such as Sir Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle were attracted to the alchemical principles as bound up by the Rosicrucians. 'Hermeticism' comes from Hermes, the Greek winged-messenger of the Gods - the 'quicksilver' which is 'Mercury' in the Roman tradition. An 'Emerald Tablet' believed to have been found in the tomb of Hermes by Alexander the Great contains one of the oldest known alchemical texts in the form of fifteen cryptic sentences - now know to be based on the 9th Century Arabian 'Book of Causes'.

In the 19th Century, another 're-birth' in thinking took place, but this time on the 'spiritual' rather than 'physical' side of 'hermeticism' and Alchemy. This gave rise to other organisations such as the Order of the Golden Dawn, and the College for Psychic Studies. 'Alchemy' and its study has been kept alive in these organisations.

The 'physical' nature of chemistry is bound up in sub-microscopic particles whizzing at immense speeds around other sub-microscopic particles. The motions of these particles convey small electric charges which attract or repel other particles.

All matter consists of these particles in various combinations and obeying certain 'quantum' rules which only permits particles to exist in particular positions and at particular velocities and at particular times.

Picture linked from The Alchemy Web Site

Obeying these 'quantum' laws makes it easy for particles to exist in appropriate stable combinations which constitute 'atoms' of basic 'elements' in their next level of complexity. For example, hydrogen has an Atomic Number of '1' - meaning its nucleus consists of one 'proton' (a positively-charged particle), allowing it to support one 'electron' (one negatively-charged particle) in its stable, neutral form. Any 'free' protons or electrons are neither attracted nor repelled from a stable atom, but collisions can occur which knock the electrons out of 'orbit' around the nucleus, or even to knock protons out of the nucleus.

This latter action is known as nuclear 'fission', and is the current basis of nuclear power-stations: Plutonium with an Atomic Number of 94 has to be bombarded by sufficient intensity of high-energy particles (electrons) to knock two protons out of its nuclei to allow it to decompose to Uranium which has an Atomic Number of only 92.

The opposite of this process is to get additional protons to merge with the protons already in the nucleus. This is the basis of nuclear 'fusion', and to turn hydrogen - Atomic Number: 1 - into helium - Atomic Number: 2 - it is necessary to introduce another proton into each hydrogen nucleus. This reaction is exactly the reaction taking place in the Sun.

If 'fusion' sounds easy, take two magnets, and try to push the same pole of each magnet towards each other (North to North, or South to South). This is the sort of force a proton feels as it approaches another proton - so maybe it is not quite so easy?

Now a question: what would happen if there was a subtle mechanism for taking heavy nuclei and introducing additional protons (and neutrons - nucleons with no charge) into them in exact accordance with the quantum rules of 'fusion'?

Strangely, Lead has an Atomic Number of 82, while Gold has an Atomic Number of only 79, meaning that to turn Lead into Gold, you would need to find something capable of attracting three of the protons out of each nucleus of each Lead atom, rather than finding some way to add more protons to them! Most of the written work about Alchemy refers to 'quicksilver' (Mercury) as taking part in the transformation process. The Atomic Number for Mercury is 80, meaning that if you want to turn Mercury into Gold, you only need to lose one proton from each atom!

Now we may have a definition of the characteristics of the 'Philosophers Stone' which was meant to be the vehicle for these subtle transformations (or 'transmutations') to take place.

What is amazing when researching this subject is how long ago many of these concepts Alchemy were the subject of philosophy, and how many have only been explained in detail by present-day 'science'. There have been scientists who have claimed to have produced 'cold fusion' under laboratory conditions. Did you know that is 'Alchemy' at work in reality?!

The Philosopher's Stone is the 'red powder' which is described in the few texts on alchemy. It appears to be 'prime matter' which experimenters described in their work, although there is no consistent description of how to achieve this, and each experimenter considered different factors and ingredients to be important.

Mercury, Sulphur and Salt are three substances used in the transformation, although these are not meant in the same way as we understand them today, but more as 'characteristics' of substances. A complex process is followed which goes through many stages: Calcination, Dissolution, Separation, Conjunction, Putrefaction, Congelation, Cibation, Sublimation, Fermentation, Exaltation, Multiplication, and Projection.

This process was described by George Ripley in the 16th Century, with other texts by other authors using similar steps in a process. Note that this process consists of twelve steps, and later authors aligned them with the signs of the Zodiac.

The search for wealth: something gained 'easily' without thought or care sounds like a really attractive prospect, doesn't it?

'It could be YOU' who wins the Lottery and who never has to work again, but after you return from your six-month holiday, what will have happened to your friends and family? How would your life be? When you have bought your mansion and thrown all the wild parties, how will you identify your real friends from those who just like you for what they are getting from you?

There are several examples of Alchemists who were apparently successful in their art, but who told others of their success, only to find their life changed out of all proportion, and not for the better, either!

Greed is one characteristic which causes unhappiness and untimely death - 'gold' makes the gap between 'having' and 'not having' so much more obvious. Money is a strange substance too - you can't do much with it, and you can't do much without it! So how can you assure your happiness, no matter how much or how little you 'have'?

The Chinese approach to Alchemy is not about 'having', but about 'being'. 'Be' a good person with nothing, rather than 'have' everything. Your happiness is bound up in YOU, not in others, and not in 'objects of desire'. First be happy with yourself.

Picture linked from The Alchemy Web Site

Trust that what you 'need' will come to you, but what you 'want' will be pushed further away - or at least, if you get what you 'want', it will show itself to be worthless after all.

Wealth comes in many forms, and most of them are not like 'gold' and do not shine in the Sun, but all shine like the Sun.

Everyone has talents, and everyone has skills and abilities. Not everyone allows us to see their special talents and skills, and often we cannot see past something 'else' which prevents us from recognising anything special in them at all.

A tramp - unwashed for an unknown length of time stands on the road-side talking to birds singing in the trees near to him. They come to him and watch him as he talks to them. What is he saying to them that they find so interesting? Could you bring yourself to go close enough to find out?

A person walks round the street corner in front of you, and they give you a warm spontaneous smile for no apparent reason. Do you smile back, do you wonder whether you have a smudge on your nose or if your hair is out of place; what do you do? You probably feel boosted by the warmth of their smile though?

Someone falls in a river and can't swim. Many people are on the river-bank - some obviously 'professional' people with high-powered jobs, some are obviously manual-workers - who is it who jumps in to save the person from drowning? There is no way to judge just from the appearance.

It is the same for all things in our lives: the things which do not look so 'glitzy' and 'glamorous' may be the things which offer us more than those which may just have a very thin 'veneer' which makes them seem attractive. Do not be deceived by appearances, or by first impressions.

We all want things sometimes. We all have our wishes and our dreams, but how often when we are just on the point of achieving something which we thought was really important does a different realisation come upon us? A realisation that what we put so much effort into 'wanting' was actually not of any significant 'worth' to us at all.

Maybe we did achieve some short-term gratification or sense of achievement from it, whatever it was, but it tarnished very quickly as our attention was forced to focus (or drifted) elsewhere.

Examples of this include building a career only to discover that more time spent with close family while you were able to enjoy them may have been more rewarding, or effort spent trying to ensnare your 'perfect' partner only to find that the one you chose was not so 'perfect' after all.

'Wanting' something does not make that 'something' special, except in your own mind. King Midas is an example of 'wanting' too much - you can be consumed by the impractical, you can become devious and covetous, even cheating and stealing to satisfy your 'want'. Does it make you feel more satisfied and content? No it does not!!

Transformations happen all around us every day. One day your best-friend is sad, the next day they are happy. One day you wake up feeling refreshed, and another day you wake up feeling as though you have just run a Marathon. One day you are drinking or smoking too much, and the next day you have stopped. One day you are scared to go out of the house, and the next day you are looking forward to your next excursion!

So how do these transformations happen, and what can be done to increase your ability to take control of those things which are affecting your personal well-being?

If every day someone hears that they are stupid or worthless, they end up believing it. How much of a difference is needed in how they relate to that situation before they are able to say "no I'm not" - not just to create an argument, but to assert themselves as an independent being able to think their own thoughts and feel their own feelings?

Does the world stop turning just because you have managed to think about it differently? Can accepting someone else's unacceptable behaviour just for a moment allow you to see past the manifestation of the problem to the real situation?

Many people have dreams which lay dormant - dreams about being 'themselves', dreams about being able to demonstrate their special talents, even if only for a moment. Is it really so difficult to take whatever small steps are necessary to achieve your dreams? What is it that stops you? What is it that stops you from even talking about it?

One thing which stops many people is the impact their actions would have on those closest to them. Working on the principle of 'harming none', that is exactly as it should be - but only up to a point! The point at which you have to become selfish and to take steps for yourself is the point at which others start harming you - even if they are only doing so thoughtlessly or carelessly. Hold on to your dreams, and live them as you may - remembering to harm none and that what you 'want' most may be of no worth to you when you get it.

Do we have all the answers yet which could prove or disprove the principle of actual, physical Alchemy? Actually, even with modern science, the 'jury is still out' on reaching a conclusion on these issues. 'Science' has been rocked many times in recent years, and more-so in recent months. One issue of confusion is how water (a simple 'compound' of two atoms of hydrogen bound with one atom of oxygen - H₂O) seems to have an 'affinity' for substances with which it was previously in contact! This implies some 'other' form of 'energy field' exists (which may also be the field which determines the 'quantum' characteristics of matter) and is able to influence the formation of, and interaction between, substances. If this is the case, then much more may be possible than we currently understand, including turning base-metal into gold by subtle means rather than through brute-force and ignorance!!

Simply in terms of emotional and spiritual transformation, there is much that can be learned which will allow greater 'wealth' in personal relationships, and in helping without expectation of reward which usually brings greater and more unexpected 'returns'.

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