Sacred Knowledge E-Book

Pejman Fartash

• Herausgeber: Books on Demand
• Kategorie: Geisteswissenschaft
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 1220

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2023

Beschreibung

Sacred Knowledge is a compilation book containing parts of ancient sacred texts and books within Alchemy, Mysticism, Magic, Kabbalah, Tarot and the esoteric doctrine. The purpose is to preserve these sacred texts and support the original authors and their works.

Leseprobe

THANK YOU

Katarina Falkenberg & Tommy Westlund, Manly P. Hall, Elias Gewurz, Henry Cornelius Agrippa, L. W. de Laurence ed, Albert Pike, Francis Barrett, Hargrave Jennings, Rudolf Steiner, S. Liddell Macgregor Mathers, Zosimos, Arthur Edward Waite, W. Wynn Westcott, Philippus Theophrastus Bombast, Paracelsus the Great, Jacob Boehem, Bernhard Pick, M. A. Murray, Daniel Sickels, Francis Barrett, Franz Cumont, C. W. LEADBEATER, Frank L. Hammer, E. A. Wallis Budge, Adolphe Franck, Charles William King, Earnest A. Wallis Budge, Charles Robert Stansfeld Jones, Albert G. Mackey, Nurho de Manhar, Éliphas Lévi, St.Germain, Hermes Mercurius Trismegistus, John Everard, G.R.S. Mead, J. Abelson Donald A. MacKenzie, William Thomas, Kate Pavitt, Evelyn Underhill, Archibald Cockren, John Vinycomb, Yogi Ramacharaka, William Atkinson, Brian Brown, P.D. Ouspensky.

CONTENTS

TABULA SMARAGDINA – PERSIAN VERSION

AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF ALCHEMY

THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION OF HERMES INTERPRETED BY THEOPHRASTUS PARACELSUS CONCERNING THE SUPREME SECRET OF THE WORLD

ISIS, THE VIRGIN OF THE WORLD

MUMMIFICATION OF THE EGYPTIAN DEAD

SPIRITUAL COMPANIONSHIP BETWEEN MAN AND WOMAN

THE MYSTERY OF TIME AND SPACE

HOW THE ELEMENTS ARE IN THE HEAVENS, IN STARS, IN DEVILS, IN ANGELS, AND LASTLY IN GOD HIMSELF

ROYAL ARCH OF SOLOMON

THE FIRST PRINCIPLES OF NATURAL MAGIC

HOW BY ENMITY AND FRIENDSHIP THE VIRTUES OF THINGS ARE TO BE TRIED AND FOUND OUT

QABBALISTIC KEYS TO THE CREATION OF MAN

THE BROTHERHOOD OF THE WHITE LODGE

EXAMPLES OF PERMUTATION AND NUMERICAL VALUATION

ALCHEMY. THE POWER OF PRODUCING GOLD AND SILVER, THROUGH ARTIFICIAL MEANS. DOCTRINE OF THE ROSICRUCIANS

THE CONDITIONS OF ESOTERIC TRAINING

OF THE DAYS, AND HOURS, AND OF THE VIRTUES OF THE PLANETS

THE HIEROGLYPHICAL INTERPRETATION OF THE HEBREW ALPHABET

ATLANTIS AND THE GODS OF ANTIQUITY

THE MYTH OF THE DYING GOD

THE ANTIQUITY OF MAGICAL RITUALS -

The Importance of Ceremonial Magic

THE DISTINCTION BETWEEN WHITE AND BLACK MAGIC

THE UNPRINTED LITERATURE OF CEREMONIAL MAGIC

THE MYSTERIES OF THE QABALAH

ZOSIMOS OF PANOPLIS

PYTHAGOREAN VIEWS ON NUMBERS

THE KABALAH ON NUMBERS

THE TREASURE OF TREASURES FOR ALCHEMISTS

CONCERNING THE SULPHUR OF CINNABAR

CONCERNING THE RED LION

CONCERNING THE GREEN LION

ALCHEMICAL CATECHISM

A DISCOURSE BETWEEN A SOUL HUNGRY AND THIRSTY AFTER THE FOUNTAIN OF LIFE, THE SWEET LOVE OF JESUS CHRIST, AND A SOUL ENLIGHTENED. SHEWING

THE WAY FROM DARKNESS TO TRUE ILLUMINATION

THE TRIAD. 3

THE CABALA IN RELATION TO JUDAISM AND CHRISTIANITY

THE BOOK OF THOTH

KING SOLOMON'S TEMPLE

OF THE FOUR ELEMENTS AND THEIR NATURAL QUALITIES

THE MYSTERIES OF MITHRA - THE ORIGINS OF MITHRAISM

FROM THE ABSOLUTE TO MAN

FREE WILL

THE LEGEND OF RA AND ISIS

RELATION OF THE KABBALAH TO THE RELIGION OF THE CHALDEANS AND PERSIANS

THE NAME ΙΑΩ

THE INDIVIDUAL NUMERALS - THE MONAD. 1

OF THE COMING OF THE MAGI FROM PERSIA

LEGEND OF THE BIRTH OF HORUS, SON OF ISIS AND OSIRIS

I. N. R. I. - DE MYSTERIIS ROSÆ RUBEÆ ET AUREÆ CRUCIS

NUMBERS, THEIR OCCULT POWER AND MYSTIC VIRTUES - TWELVE. 12

THE TEMPLARS

THE ETERNAL PRINCIPLE

THE HEPTAD. 7

PISTIS-SOPHIA

HISTORIC LECTURE - GOLDEN DAWN

THE ROSICRUCIANS

THE SYMBOLISM OF SOLOMON'S TEMPLE

SEPHER YETZIRAH OR THE BOOK OF CREATION

THE MYSTICISM OF THE ALPHABET

THE GREAT SECRET

THE RAREST OF OCCULT MANUSCRIPTS

HERMES TRISMEGISTUS, HIS FIRST BOOK

TELEPATHY

BIRTH

MIND

THOUGHT

TRUTH

THE CORPUS HERMETICUM

MIRACLES

THE TEN SEFIROT

THE GOLDEN AGE OF BABYLONIA

THE NAME OF RA

PISCES—THE HOUSE OF THE FISHES

MYSTICISM AND MAGIC

THE MERKABAH (CHARIOT) MYSTICISM

CELESTIAL BEINGS - ANGELS

THE ESOTERIC THEORY OF BREATH

THE ZODIAC AND ITS SIGNS

EGYPTIAN MAGIC

EGYPTIAN OCCULTISM AND SYMBOLISM

WHAT IS THE TAROT?

THE SYMBOLISM OF THE TAROT

OF THE SEALS AND CHARACTERS IMPRESSED BY CELESTIALS UPON NATURAL THINGS...

TREATING OF THE VIRTUE AND EFFICACY OF PERFUMES, OR SUFFUMIGATIONS, AND VAPOURS; AND TO WHAT PLANETS THEY ARE PROPERLY AND RIGHTLY ATTRIBUTED

TABULA SMARAGDINA – PERSIAN VERSION

Tabula Smaragdina – Persian version by Pejman Fartash

AN OVERVIEW OF THE HISTORY OF ALCHEMY

ALCHEMY IN ITS full meaning is the most extensive and exalted of all sciences and art forms and consequently bears the grand title of Ars Regia – The Royal Art. The origin of this name is found in Euthydemos in Plato’s dialogues, in which it expresses the science of true virtue in its highest possible perfection, and is identified with the supreme kingly art. However, its search leads us into an almost endless maze:

At last we came to the kingly art, and enquired whether that gave and caused happiness, and then we got into a labyrinth, and when we thought we were at the end, came out again at the beginning, having still to seek as much as ever. 1

In the earliest alchemical treatises from the beginning of our era, alchemical wisdom is described as an ancient, self-governing and immaterial science derived from the Golden Age. Like an archetypal king with a divine mandate, it does not submit itself to any foreign influence but consecrates its adepts to become kings and queens of eternity. As for the name, the esotericist and philosopher Julius Evola writes:

The “royal” initiatory tradition, in its pure forms, can be considered the most direct and legitimate link to the unique, primordial Tradition. […] It is no accident that the hermetico-alchemical tradition should call itself the Royal Art, and that it chose Gold as a central royal and solar symbol, which at the same time takes us back to the primordial Tradition. Such a tradition presents itself to us essentially as the guardian of a light and a dignity that cannot be reduced to the religious-sacerdotal vision of the world.2

The purpose of the Royal Art is thus not merely to be able to achieve physical transmutations by learning about the hidden secrets and cycles of nature, but it should also bring about gnosis based on the esoteric teachings of the primordial tradition. It tells of the origin of humanity and the possibility of one’s purification in this earthly life. It describes the innumerable invisible powers and angels, good and evil, who seek to guide or seduce people, and how a person’s inner divine potential can be realised. It is a mystical philosophy and practice that seeks to redeem people by revealing the mysteries of matter, soul and consciousness.

From studies of alchemical works we can understand the immense wealth that humanity has explored, preserved and conveyed in the most sacred of all arts. It is the art of manifesting the highest and innermost potential of humanity, whereby one can become master and mistress of one’s inner throne and lead one’s kingdom with faith, hope and love.

What follows is a brief summary of the history of alchemy in which we will follow the Red Thread of Ariadne in the alchemists’ quest to understand the basic elements of creation and how to work towards its completion.

We first need to turn to Egypt, one of the cradles of Western civilisation. The word alchemy 3 is often explained on the basis of its two syllables al and chem. Al is an Arabic and Judaeo-Christian divine name and final syllable,4 while Chem or Khem is the name of the ancient Egyptians for their own land – the black land. Alchemy was considered a divine science from the beginning and is often described as an Egyptian art. An alternative explanation for the word alchemy is that the ending originates from the Greek word chyma which means to combine or work with metals.

EGYPTIAN ALCHEMY

Egypt’s wisdom tradition did not distinguish between science, philosophy and religion. Everything living within and without was characterised and permeated by myths and ceremonies in which deities and humans co-existed in creation. The cycles of nature, including the vital annual flooding of the Nile, which made the country black from the sediment deposited on the banks, were included in this interaction between the various beings of creation. Pharaoh was the deities’ representative on Earth and had the task of establishing and spreading divine harmony, or the Law of Maat, in the land. Buildings were divine houses where one or more deities were worshipped and lived in the form of statues. We can still be impressed today by Egyptian buildings and visual arts which have withstood both human destruction and the destructive forces of nature. The goal of the chosen people was to avoid the second death by creating permanent bodies for consciousness. Through magical knowledge, after the death of the physical body, they could travel through all the dangers of the underworld to eventually become participants in the infinite kingdom of the deities, i.e. undergo a spiritual transformation into eternal life.

In the establishment of Egypt as a kingdom, the arts of building, farming, working with metals and herbs, making and dyeing fabrics, ceramics, and glass, and not least of all, writing were developed.5 These were all divine arts performed according to magical, religious, astronomical and astrological principles. Everything is thus part of the terminology alchemy, the divine art of the black country. To perform it was to perform the will of the deities. When the deities were satisfied, humanity lived in good health; when they were not satisfied, humanity suffered various disasters and pestilence. The religious myths explained what had occurred, what was occurring and what would occur – and the rites ensured this order.

There are no classic alchemical writings preserved from Egyptian high culture, but its multi-millennial tradition constitutes the foundation of alchemy from which many of its essential symbols and myths originate.

The male serpent is bitten by the female serpent, the female serpent is bitten by the male serpent. Heaven is enchanted, the earth is enchanted, the male behind mankind is enchanted.

Unas Pyramid text 233 (ca 2350 BCE)

Figure 1 – One of the earliest depictions of the Ouroboros swallowing its own tail.Dama Heroubs papyrus ( ca 1600 BCE )

However, there are many papyrus rolls regarding the treatment of diseases from recipes based on the plant, mineral and animal kingdoms – all linked to Egyptian mythology. Many of their constituents cannot be identified today as they have, according to alchemical tradition, been given fantasy-like cover names so that the secret art would not be revealed.

In Papyrus Ebers we can read in clear text how Isis treated Ra’s headache with a recipe that was also used for humans:

1 part Berry-of-the-Coriander

1 part Berry-of-the-Poppy-plant

1 part Wormwood

1 part Berry-of-the-same-plant

1 part Berry-of-the-Juniper-plant

1 part Honey

Make into one, mix with Honey, and smear therewith in order to make him well forthwith. When this remedy is used by him against all illnesses in the head and all sufferings and evils of any sort, he will instantly become well. 6

In the same papyrus we find the spell to be used in the preparation of all medicines, which clearly demonstrates the relation of myth and prayer in the work.

WORDS TO BE SPOKEN IN THE PREPARING OF MEDICINES

As it is to be, a thousand times. This is the book for the healing of all diseases. May Isis heal me even as she healed Horus of all the pains which his brother Set had inflicted on him when he killed his brother Osiris! Oh Isis, thou great enchantress, heal me, deliver me from all evil, bad, typhonic things, from demoniacal and deadly diseases and pollutions of all sorts that rush upon me, as thou didst deliver and release thy son Horus! As I have penetrated into the

Fire and have emerged from the Water, may I not fall into the snare of the day

when I shall say: Little am I and piteous! Oh Ra, thou who hast spoken for thy body! Oh Osiris, thou who prayest for thy manifestation! It is Ra speaketh for his body; it is Osiris prayeth for his manifestation. Deliver me then from all possible evil, from bad, wicked, typhonic things, from demoniacal and deadly fevers of every sort. 7

GREEK ALCHEMY

When the Greek philosophers sought to apprehend and understand the nature and constitution of creation without relying on divine myths and legends, they came to leave a new mark on both Western science and the whole alchemical wisdom tradition. By contemplating and philosophising, seeking origin and causal relationship, and studying nature and human consciousness, insights were gained and paradigms formed, which in some cases were so overwhelming that they were only confirmed or ratified in modern times.

Are there one or more primal substances? What causes changes in existence? What is permanent? Is creation at its foundation monistic or dualistic? Does humanity have an immortal soul? What role does fate play in human life? How does one achieve lasting health? What is true happiness? And so on. Such were the questions they sought to answer and describe based on observations of the inner and outer worlds, and with which alchemists have worked ever since, regardless of religious or social affiliation.

By considering and studying nature and its changing cycles, the Greek philosophers of nature believed that there must be an element or principle – arche – that underlies all the changes of nature. Thales considered that water was everything’s primal substance and cause, while Anaximenes advocated air or fog. Heraclitus saw the constant movement and ephemeral nature of existence, noting that “everything flows” in a world of necessary opposites and competing forces that together constitute the whole. He called this basis of everything, logos, a pronounced principle of fire. Empedocles considered that there is not one substance but four: earth, air, fire and water. These are bound together and dissolved by two forces which he termed love and hatred.

Figure 2 – The philosophical school in Athens where Plato points to heaven and Aristotle to earth which illustrates their respective philosophies.

Fresco in the Apostolic Palace of Raphael (1509-10)

The Pythagoreans found the primacy of the universe in numbers. They saw creation as a cosmos, i.e. an ordered whole as opposed to chaos. In numbers, mathematical conditions and geometric figures, they saw the orderly principle in both the physical and the ethical world. Through the harmony of the spheres – sweet sounding, yet only heard by the higher mind – both macrocosm and microcosm are governed, and it is by viewing and contemplating external and internal things that we reveal the secrets of existence. The most sacred number was the tetractys, the ten enclosed in the series 1+2+3+4, which later became embraced in the Jewish and Christian alchemical traditions.

Figure 3 – The divine tetractys describing creation and its sacred key.

The following prayer shows its importance to the Pythagoreans.

Bless us, divine number, thou who generatest gods and men! O Holy, Holy Tetractys, thou that containest the root and the source of the eternally flowing creation! For the divine number begins with the profound, pure unity until it comes to the holy four; then it begets the mother of all, the all-compromising, the all-bounding, the first-born, the never-swerving, the never-tiring holy ten, the keyholder of all. 8

Anaxagoras believed that nature’s smallest parts, its seeds, grains or sperm, have “something of everything” in themselves, that the whole is in every little part and that all is in everything. The shape of the world was a result of the consciousness – nous – that governs everything and is the cause of everything. Democritus saw the indivisible atoms, eternal, unchanging and infinite in number, as nature’s invisible building blocks which unite to build up temporary bodies. Thus everything flows, but behind the forms there are unchanging atoms. Two basic principles exist: the atoms and the void. Furthermore, our world is just one of many in creation.

Socrates listened to his daimon and constantly sought to obey the call of the Oracle of Delphi to seek to know oneself. The soul – the psyche – is immortal and constitutes the most important and controlling part of a person. By living a virtuous life and doing the right thing, one becomes happy both in this life and after death. Philosophy is a preparation for death.

Figure 4 – The Ptolemaic worldview that prevailed from antiquity to the 17th century. The Earth is the centre of creation and the universe, with the planetary bodies and the zodiac belt as spherical circles in a harmonious whole.Cosmographia by Peter Apian (1524)

Plato saw the twofold reality as an interaction or shadow-play between the fluid and transient sensible world and the eternal and unchanging world of ideas. Experiencing this archetypal world requires that a person leave their cave dwelling and see the true light instead of its shadow-play. His student Aristotle, however, turned his focus to the changes of nature and created, to a great extent, the terminology that is still used today, in which the interaction between form and matter is fundamental. The human soul merely perceives reflections of what is in nature.

Hellenic philosophy and religion were characterised by syncretism, in which the salvation of the soul from death and life’s boredom took on a central role, i.e. how a person, through philosophical, religious and metaphysical insights, could achieve eternal life. The Stoics advocated that every human being is a microcosm in the image of the macrocosm and thereby shares the principle of the logos. Just as a person and the universe are each other’s images, there is no difference between spirit and matter, there is only one nature.

Plotinus and the Neo-Platonists felt that creation vibrates between two poles: “the One” – the divine light – and the absolute darkness. The latter, however, has no real existence and is merely the absence of the light of the Source. The soul – the divine spark – is illuminated by light, while matter is darkness, though in its forms, there is a reflection of the light. Everything is thus one. When the human soul merges with God, the shadows dissolve.

Simply put, we can say that Egypt brought forth the technical knowledge of alchemy’s various fields while Greece developed its philosophy. In both cases, alchemy was the meeting point between the temporal and the eternal, between humanity and the source, between the body and the soul. When these two traditions met in the cultural melting pot of Alexandria, the foundation of what was later to be understood and worked on as alchemy was created.

All the fine arts, as well as all the literature of the world, were gathered there, making it a metropolis for those seeking to find and gain insight into the mysteries of creation and consciousness. The oldest preserved alchemical treatises are from this period. They mainly contain chemical recipes for how metals could be refined, alloyed, checked for purity, and surface-dyed to imitate or take on the appearance of precious metals, but also include some examples of how metals and herbs are prepared for tinctures. 9

Figure 5 – The Chrysopeia of Cleopatra with the famous quote “One is everything, of him is all, for he is everything, in him is everything. The snake is the only thing; it has two symbols, goodness and evil.” Cleopatra was a female alchemist who worked in Alexandria in the 200s or 300s. She is quoted by Zosimos and revered in the same way as Mary the Prophetess, as one of the few who completed the alchemical work.Codex Marcianus (transcript from the 12th century)

Alchemy’s symbolic grandfather and grandmother emerge during this time, namely the threefold great Hermes and Mary the Prophetess. They are so important in the alchemical tradition that they are presented in more detail in their own chapters. Zosimos describes them as representatives of the two principal schools of ancient alchemy: the Egyptian and the Hebrew.

ZOSIMOS & THEOSEBEIA

Since Alexandria’s famous library was burned down in 391 CE, most of the things we know today about the older alchemical traditions are those conveyed by the alchemist and mystic Zosimos from Panopolis. He lived in the 300s in Alexandria and worked with his soror mystica, Theosebeia, on alchemy in both its external and internal aspects, i.e. both with laboratory work and inner spiritual transformations. For Zosimos, alchemy was expressly an art and science in which the inner and outer went hand in hand. The internal transformations were a prerequisite for the external transmutations, but it was the spiritual refinement that was the primary goal of alchemy. He gathered all available knowledge about khemia, as the art was then called, into an encyclopaedia of 28 volumes. Zosimos told of the then-accepted notion that alchemy originated from fallen angels who were attracted by earthly women and united with them.

The ancient and divine writings say that the angels became enamoured of women; and, descending, taught them all the works of nature. From them, therefore, is the first tradition, chema, concerning these arts; for they called this book chema and hence the science of chemistry takes its name.

Zosimos, Book of Imuth 10

Thereafter, the chemical arts were practiced in Egypt under priestly and pharaonic control. Alchemy was strictly secret and no publications could be made. The priesthood devised a coded language so that no one uninitiated could understand them in case any of their documents fell into the wrong hands. However, Moses had been initiated into the mysteries and passed them on to the Hebrews.

There are two sciences and two wisdoms, that of the Egyptians and that of the Hebrews, the latter of which is confirmed by divine justice. The science and wisdom of the most excellent dominate the one and the other. Both originate in olden times. Their origin is without a king, autonomous and immaterial; it is not concerned with material and corruptible bodies, it operates, without submitting to strange influences, supported by prayer and divine grace.The symbol of chemistry is drawn from the creation by its adepts, who cleanse and save the divine soul bound in the elements, and who free the divine spirit from its mixture with the flesh.

Zosimos, Concerning the True Book of Sophe 11

In the few treatises of Zosimos preserved for posterity, which exist only as later transcripts and arabic translations, we can see that he quotes Hermes, Isis, Plato, Zoroaster, Hesiod, Prometheus, Ptolemy, Moses, Mary the Prophetess and even Christ. Thoth is said to be the first man to interpret and name all created things, which the Hebrews symbolically called Adam – the virgin earth and the blood-red earth – when they did not know the language of the angels. Similarly, a person also has two names, a common name – Phōs – and a secret name that belongs to the inner and spiritual being, which the alchemist must unveil.

Figure 6 – Zosimos teaches Theosebeia next to an alchemical Athanor as big as them. From an arabic transcript where each image is intended for Theosebeia’s meditation.Mushaf as-suwar, Zosimos (13th century transcript, reproduced in The Book of Pictures)

The fact that Zosimos really practiced laboratory alchemy and gained many insights and successes is evident in several of his writings describing chemical reactions and metal processing. But it was in his spiritual life that the greatest transformations took place. It was in sleep meditations that the qualities of the outer processes were revealed. One of Zosimos’ more well-known dream visions is presented in Appendix I. We can see how much of the alchemical symbolic language, and its key concepts which are in use to this day, already existed but which in Zosimos’ writings still carry a strong Egyptian tone. As a further example, a vision of Hermes’ secret concerning the alchemical dragon and the cultivation of the egg, which Zosimos told to Theosebeia, is summarised here. 12

After falling asleep, Zosimos dreams of standing on a cliff by the eastern bank of the Nile. On the other side of the river, a young man is fighting a dragon. When he sees Zosimos, he shouts for help in the fight against Memphis’ enemy, whereupon Zosimos with a great jump reaches him and takes up an iron rod to fight the dragon. The dragon then turns around and blows toward Zosimos who is thrown back 28 cubits, but manages to stay upright. The young man then shows how the dragon can be defeated by chopping off its head with water, whereupon he squeezes the dragon until a crocodile head emerges, which the dragon had devoured. The egg is then cultivated in the same way as the stomach melts the food, so that it is divided into four equal parts and produced with the four fluids: the phlegm, the blood and the two galls. Then they will be reunited in a purified thing that is free of ashes. This is the “ethical” stone in which the dragon and its wife can be seen, the dragon devouring its own tail. At first, the draconic couple are aged and unable to move, but as a single dragon it is rejuvenated and flees in fear of Zosimos. The young man draws a shining lance with which he starts cutting the dragon, revealing a series of colours which the man sorts. He then breaks the crocodile in half and separates the red, the white and the moist, after which the white is purified with the white and the red with the red. Meanwhile, however, the dragon jumps up again and hisses, after which Zosimos cuts off its head with water. The finer matter of the dragon is then separated into the air, after which the poison of the dragon can be gently squeezed without inhaling its toxic fumes. The man then leads Zosimos to the mountain with alabaster cliffs.

When Zosimos teaches Theosebeia, it is done both through the retelling of dreams and using allegorical images of Zosimos and Theosebeia in various states and alchemical processes. She must carefully consider these in order to achieve and experience an understanding that the use of words alone cannot. In doing so, Zosimos’ spirit could speak directly to Theosebeia’s spirit and enclose her whole being. This was similar to the way Zosimos had been taught by his inner teacher, the Greek philosopher Democritus, who, Zosimos emphasises, lived 660 years earlier. Zosimos and Theosebeia thus constitute an alchemical primordial entity, the alchemical king and queen who through their interaction reveal the Mystery and transform Creation.

An important theme of the wisdom of Zosimos is the doctrine of the various bodies. The human body and a person in their unprocessed state make up the copper body with unprocessed lead. By dissolving and processing it in alchemical operations, the copper man’s soul is transformed into a silver body. Through the use of all the tools and weapons to which the soul has access, all internal and external enemies must be fought and overcome. Subsequently, the soul-spirit can transmute the body to philosophical gold which is purified and resurrected by fire and thus is immortal. The wedding between the silver body and the gold body takes place through an internal embalming process that unites the alchemist with God, whereby the royal purple-coloured costume is assumed – the symbol of the stone of the wise.

CHINESE ALCHEMY

Around the same time, or perhaps even earlier, that the alchemical tradition originated in the Western world, there was a great and living alchemical tradition in China. Like the Western tradition, it had both internal and external forms but was rooted in Daoism. They also sought to refine metals into gold and precious metals, produce health-giving elixirs and work on spiritual transformations. Even more specific body energy exercises to activate chi power to bring enlightenment and transform passions into bliss were important in the tradition.

The alchemist must previously fast for a hundred days and purify himself by perfume. […] Only two or three persons should be present at a transmutation. It must be done on a famous great mountain, for even a small mountain is inadequate. It is impossible to perform a transmutation in a palace. The adept must moreover learn the method directly from those skilled in the art. Books are inadequate. What is written in books is only enough for beginners. The rest is kept secret and is given only in oral teaching. Worship of the proper gods is necessary. The art can moreover only be learned by those who are specially blessed. People are born under suitable or unsuitable stars. Above all, belief is necessary. Disbelief brings failure.

Go-Hung (254-334) 13

Great emphasis was placed on creating a medicine of physical immortality, something that did not reach the Western world until the 7th century when trade between the Middle East and China began. The possible connection between the traditions of the West and East are still being explored. During the 11th century, interest began to focus more on the inner mental and spiritual transformations instead of physical immortality. This trend also became apparent in the alchemical tradition of the West.

ARABIC ALCHEMY

When Christianity became the dominant religion in the West, both the hermetic and alchemical traditions came to be suppressed to near extinction. But as the Arab world not only embraced the earlier teachings but also further developed them, alchemy remained highly alive even during the dark Middle Ages in Europe. Many Greek treaties were translated into Arabic and they valued the same name which Zosimos stated as the founder and developer of the tradition. Khalid (635-704) was one of the first great Arab alchemists to be taught by the Christian Morienus. His books contain similar texts and descriptions of the alchemical theories and operations that would fill Western alchemical books many hundreds of years later.

Beginning now to speak of the Great Work, which they call Alchymie, I shall open the mater without concealing ought, or keeping back any thing, save that which is not fit toe declared: We say then, that the great work contains four Operations, viz. to Dissolve, to Congeal, to make White, and to make Red. […] And this Solution and Congelation which we have spoken of, are the solution of the Body, and the congelation of the Spirit, which two, have indeed but one Operation; for the Spirits are not congealed, except the Bodies be dissolved; as also the Bodies are not dissolved, unless the Spirit be congealed. And when the Soul and the Body are joined together, each of them works its Companion into its own likeness and property. As for example: When Water is put to Earth, it strives to dissolved the Earth, by its virtue, property, and moisture, making it softer than it was before, bringing it to be like it self, for the Water was more thin than the Earth. And thus, does the Soul work in the Body, and after the same manner is the Water thickened with the Earth, and becomes like the Earth in thickness, for the Earth was more thick than the Water.

Khalid, Secreta Alchymiæ 14

Figure 7 – Western interpretation of Jabir (Geber) in his alchemical laboratory.Artis chemicae principes (1572)

Both alchemical theories and apparatus were developed by prominent Arab alchemists. A scientific method of working in the laboratory to perform controlled experiments was created by Jabir ibn Hayyan (c. 721-815), known as Geber in the West. He developed the theories of mercury and sulphur, the alchemical operations to create the stone, the furnaces, the various degrees of fire and a variety of laboratory equipment and alchemical recipes. When scientific language took precedence over the previously mysterious language, many saw Jabir as a foundational figure for chemistry rather than alchemy. Jabir was the first to state the direct connection between planets and metals on an physical level. He considered that the metals were formed in the earth under the influence of the planets through the association of sulphur, which contributed to the hot and dry properties, and mercury, which contributed to the cold and humid properties. This theory was widely accepted by both chemists and alchemists until the rise of modern science in the late 17th century.

WESTERN ALCHEMY

Thanks to the Arabs both preserving and furthering the tradition, it was able to reach the West again from the 1100s onwards. For although medieval Europe possessed the knowledge of metallurgy, the dyeing of fabrics, goldsmithing and many other crafts, they did not appear to have known alchemy to any great extent until it was again introduced from the Arab world. But as Europe’s scholars discovered this formidable gold mine of information, knowledge, and texts that were long regarded as lost (including large parts of Greek philosophy), alchemy and hermetic teachings quickly gained ground. It was early distinguished that there were two different types of alchemy, namely the more spiritually speculative and internally philosophical as well as the more chemically operative and externally laboratorial. However, both were of the utmost importance and influence for the belief to be in enlightenment, and for spiritual intuition and divine inspiration to be developed. An interesting note is that at the same time, cathedral construction became much more advanced and spread across Europe, the results of which, like grandiose hermetic books of stone, still remain today to be read by those with eyes to see and ears to hear. 15

The two main branches of alchemy were thus perpetuated and explored by Christian alchemists, who endeavoured to both observe and understand the specific effects and spheres of nature, and to reveal the spiritual understanding of the Divine. The alchemical symbolic language developed in writing and illustrations and received, not quite unexpectedly, a Christian influence but also, perhaps more unexpectedly, clear sexual expressions. The sexual aspect has since been used both against alchemists as proof of their heretical work and by alchemists to prove that the West also has a tantric tradition.

Aristotle’s elemental theory and Jabir’s sulphur-mercury theory still remained as the basis for explaining how transmutations could occur. For the Christian way of thinking, a new view of nature emerged. Certain Christian philosophers now saw a nature that was neither essentially broken nor fallen for either creation or humanity.

The inner light of nature possessed the ability to guide people into the innermost chambers and mysteries of existence, and allowed humanity to restore creation.

Figure 8 – The intimate union between the king (Gabricus) and the queen (Beya).Rosarium Philosophorum (1550)

But my counsel is that no man be too forward in this art, in hope to attain some great matter, unless he knows the beginning of true nature and the regimen thereof, which being known there is not then any need of more things than one, neither doth it require great expenses, because it is one stone, one medicine, one vessel, one regimen, and one disposition, and know this: that it is a most true Art. […] Wherefore again we say this, that all men labouring beyond nature are deceivers and deceived. Therefore let your exercise and labour be used in Nature because Our Stone is of an Animal, of a Vegetable, and of a Mineral substance. Be thou therefore of one mind and opinion in the work of nature and presume not to try this thing here and that thing another time, for our Art is not effected with the multitude of things and though the names thereof be diverse and manifold, yet it is always one only thing and of one thing. For that is not brought into nature which being in it is not of its own nature. […] Because I cannot any other way express or explain our stone, nor form it by any other name, it is manifest by that which went before, that our stone is compounded of four elements, both rich and poor have it, and it is found in every place, it is likened to all things and is also compounded of body, soul and spirit and it is altered from nature into nature even to the last degree of his perfection.

Rosarium Philosophorum (1550)16

Figure 9 – Alchemical opus in Christian symbolic language.

The Book of Sacred Trinity (1410-1419); SFMO’s Archive No. 44, early 1700’s transcript

Thus, with the help of alchemy, the devout, enlightened and enduring person could work to redeem their, and all of creation’s, original sin, which had given rise to humanity’s sickness and death. The Elixir of Life became proof that it was already possible in this life to atone for original sin.

NICOLAS & PERENELLE FLAMEL

Nicolas Flamel (1330-1418) and his wife Perenelle (c. 1320-1397) have become, for posterity, the most notorious alchemical couple to achieve the stone of the wise and to embody the alchemical frater mysticus & soror mystica. After coming across a large and ancient gilded alchemical book called The Book of Abraham the Jew, Nicolas for twenty years attempted to create the philosophical mercurial water. While the couple could not properly interpret the first agent, Flamel made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostela to be initiated into the mysteries by a knowledgeable Jewish alchemist. After returning home on January 17, 1382, they successfully performed the first of three transmutations the couple came to complete.

The wealth that the spouses thus collected they devoted to restoring and decorating churches, building hospitals in Paris and Boulogne, and giving to the needy. One of the houses that Flamel erected still exists and is Paris’s oldest house. 17

In 1404, Flamel erected a vault in the Holy Innocent’s Cemetery in Paris which he adorned with genuine and essential hieroglyphic imagery designed to teach the true nature and art of theology and alchemy. Flamel’s arches and a charnel house were still in the cemetery prior to the French Revolution.

Figure 10 – The vault at the Holy Innocent’s Cemetery in Paris, which Flamel erected to express the true art of theology and alchemy. Bibliothèque des philosophes chimiques et alchimiques (1741)

In The Book of the Hieroglyphic Figures 18 Flamel describes his life’s work. He gives there the alchemical keys to The Book of Abraham the Jew as well as philosophical interpretations according to Hermes’ masterpiece. Below follows his colourful and poetic words about the properties and possibilities of the stone.

The vermillion red colour of this flying Lion, like the pure and clear Scarlet in grain, which is of the tone Granadored, demonstrates that it is now accomplished in all right and equality. And that she is now like a Lion, devouring every pure and metallic nature, and changing it into her true substance, into true and pure Gold, more fine than that of the best mines. Also, she now carrieth this man out of this vale of miseries, that is to say, out of the discommodities of poverty and infirmity, and with her wings gloriously lifts him up, out of the dead and standing waters of Egypt (which are the ordinary thoughts of mortal men) making him despise this life, and the riches thereof, causing him night and day to meditate on God, and his Saints, to dwell in the Imperial Heaven, and to drink the sweet springs of the Fountains of everlasting hope. Praised be God eternally, who hath given us grace to see this most pure and all perfect purple colour; this pleasant colour of the wild poppy of the Rock, this Tyrian sparkling and flaming colour, which is incapable of Alteration or change, over which the heaven itself nor his Zodiac can have no domination nor power, whose bright shining rays, that dazzle the eyes, seem as though they did communicate unto a man some super-celestial things, making him (when he beholds and knows it) to be astonished, to tremble, and to be afraid at the same time. 19

RENAISSANCE ALCHEMY

During the Renaissance, the alchemical tradition reached its absolute peak in Europe. Among the most renowned alchemists were Salomon Trismosin (1400’s but whose work Splendor Solis dates to 1532-35), Bernard Trévisan (1406-1490), George Ripley (c. 1415-1490), Andreas Libavius (1540-1616), Heinrich Khunrath (1560-1605), Basilius Valentinus (probably Johann Tölde 1565-1624), Michael Sendivogius (1566-1636), Michael Maier (1568-1622), Johann Daniel Mylius (c 15831642), Eugenius Philalethes (Thomas Vaughan 1621-1666) and Eirenaeus Philalethes (Georg Starkey 1628-1665).

Countless books were published up to and including the 18th century, which promised to reveal for the first time the noble art in clear terms, yet mostly consisted of symbolic and allegorical explanations in the metaphorical language typical of alchemical works. Many stories of transmuted gold and adepts holding the Philosopher’s Stone or Stone of the Wise, often in the form of a red powder, spread fascination, horror and allure. The royal courts employed alchemists to improve the Treasury, with a sad ending for the alchemist who failed. A third branch of alchemy clearly began to crystallise through the efforts of so-called “puffers” who, either by good faith or selfishness, sought to prove to their fellow people that they were on the verge of revealing and completing the greatest secret of all alchemy. The word “puffer” was originally a term for those who worked with the bellows to keep the fire alive in the alchemical furnace. Soon, however, it became a curse used against alchemists in general, but also used by alchemists against those who ignored the spiritual basis of alchemy in the belief that mere physical gold was the coveted result.

PARACELSUS

The alchemical healing tradition was fundamentally developed by Theophrastus Paracelsus Bombast von Hohenheim (1493-1541). Although he did not consider the gold claims of alchemy to be unreasonable or impossible, his main focus was on the healing aspect of alchemically prepared herbs and minerals. It was Paracelsus who introduced the alchemical three-principle theory – tria prima – of salt, sulphur and mercury which has since become widely accepted by all alchemists. Alchemy and magic meet in his writings and dissertations, in which the signatures of plants and metals interact with astrological forces. This correspondence between the above and the below is mediated and accelerated by the alchemist in the preparation of elixirs and tinctures of the spagyric art.

Know that all the seven Metalls are brought forth after this manner, out of a threefold matter, viz. Mercury, Sulphur, & Salt, yet in distinct and peculiar colours. For this reason Hermes did not speak amisse when he said, that of three substances are all the seven Metalls produced and compounded, as also the Tinctures and Philosopher’s Stone. Those 3 substances he calls the Spirit, Soul, and Body: but hee did not shew how this is to be understood, or what hee did mean by this, although haply hee might know the three Principles, but did not make mention of them. Wherefore we do not say that he was here in an error, but only was silent now, that those 3 distinct substances may be rightly understood, viz . Spirit, Soul, and Body, we must know, that they singnifie nothing else but the three Principles, i.e. Mercury, Sulphur, Salt, of which all the seven Metalls are generated. For Mercury is the Spirit, Sulphur the Soule, and Salt the Body, but a Metall is the Soul betwixt the Spirit and the Body (as Hermes saith) which Soule indeed is Sulphur; and unites these two contraries, the Body and the Spirit, and changeth them into one essence. &c.

Paracelsus, Of the Nature of Things (1537)

In his work to further develop healing preparations and demonstrate the direct relationship between inner and outer qualities, as well as the relationship between the physician and the patient, Paracelsus believed that illness and health were governed by astral influence and that alchemical preparations could restore harmony and balance between a person’s inner star and their heavenly star. An alchemical tincture or elixir must thus extend to the sky, i.e. be volatile and intangible. Doctors, he argued, must know the effects of the stars in order to be able to ascertain the causes of disease, as well as master alchemy in order to produce and prepare the elixir.

JAKOB BÖHME

German shoemaker Jakob Böhme (1575-1624), through his powerful inner spiritual visions, put a great mark on subsequent generations’ alchemical symbolic language and metaphysics. In an effort to understand the spontaneous experiences that reached him concerning the essence of God, man and nature – and also in order to convey the wisdom therein – he laid the foundations for the Christian mysticism called Theosophy. 20 Theosophy applies natural philosophy to biblical concepts and beliefs, in which all life is an eternal being that fractures through contrary principles.

Behold, there are especially three things in the originalness, out of which all things are, both spirit and life, motion and comprehensibility, viz. Sulphus, Mercurius, and Sal. [...] S U L is the soul or the spirit that is risen up, or in a similitude [it is] God: P H U R is the prima materia, or first matter out of which the spirit is generated, but especially the harshness: Mercurius hath a fourfold form in it, viz. harshness, bitterness, fire, and water: Sal is the child that is generated from these four, and is harsh, eager, and a cause of the comprehensibility. [...]

And as we perceive that in this world there are fire, air, water, and earth, also the sun and the stars, and therein consist all the things of this world, so you may conceive, by way of similitude, that the Father is the fire of whole [holy] constellations, and also in the [holy, one eternal] element; and that the Son (viz. his Heart) is the sun, which setteth all the constellations in a light pleasant habitation; and that the Holy Ghost is the air of the life, without which neither sun nor constellation would subsist; and then that the concreted spiritus majoris mundi [or spirit of the great world] is the chaste virgin before God; which spirit of the great world, in this world, giveth to all creatures, mind, sense, and understanding, through the influence of the stars; and so also [doth the chaste virgin] in the heaven. [...]

Indeed we carry the heavenly treasure in an earthly vessel [or receptacle], but there must be a heavenly receptacle hidden in the earthly, else the heavenly treasure is not comprised nor held. None should think or desire to find the lily of the heavenly bud with deep searching and studying, if he be not entered by earnest repentance in the New Birth, so that it be grown in himself; for else it is but a history, where his mind never findeth the ground, and yet itself supposeth it hath comprehended it; but his mind maketh it manifest what spirit’s child it is; for it is written, They are taught of God.

Jakob Böhme, The Three Principles of the Divine Essence 21

Figure 11 – Centrum Naturae, in which the divine name is emanated as the majesty of the Trinity and the heavenly tincture. Through fire, tincture can purify the earth, the seven planets, and the entire Zodiac in both microcosm and macrocosm. Theosophia Revelata (1730)

The writings of Böhme and subsequent theosophists emphasised how humanity, as the image of God, must actively seek to feel and regenerate itself. This is done by contemplating questions about one’s nature, provenance and purpose and by developing one’s God-given gift to see into the heart of all things in order to see one’s essential powers and properties at both the microcosmic and macrocosmic levels. With one’s mind, an individual can then perceive and receive the nature of God, so that they can recognize and free themselves from the enemy inside and out. Consequently, a person is a twofold being who has the option of choosing either good or evil. Both principles are found in a person’s essence as well as in the created world – such as the fire of God’s wrath and the fire of God’s love. Through theosophists such as John Pordage 22 (1608-1681) and Johann Georg Gichtel 23 (1638-1710), the alchemical interpretations and theosophical practices were further developed.

THE ROSICRUCIANS

In Germany, during the 17th century, the Rosicrucian fraternity emerged as a secret brotherhood claiming to perpetuate and further develop all the secret wisdom traditions with the purpose of serving humanity and God. Of the first manifestos published, one addressed the gold hysteria that had come to envelop alchemy as merely a by-product of alchemy’s true purpose – spiritual transformation. The aspect of secrecy was further emphasised by the fact that the fraternity was secret and that all its members were required to heal people in need without making themselves known or paid. This tradition and idea spread like wildfire throughout Europe, although very few seem to have received the favour of coming into direct contact with them.

In the latter part of the 17th century, the fraternity was reformed in Italy. The ultimate goal, then, was to make the mythical philosopher’s stone with which all diseases could be cured, eternal life given and precious metals transmuted into the finest gold. Within the three degrees and two divisions of the Order – the Golden Cross and the Rosy Cross – the members worked on the dry and wet paths of alchemy respectively. They pledged themselves to move every ten years so that no one would imagine that they possessed the alchemical secrets of immortality. Although earlier alchemical writings had taken up the mystery of the dew, this became partly synonymous with the path of the Rosicrucians. The dew was the living mediator between the celestial and the terrestrial, and through work on the mysteries of the dew, elixirs of both herbs and metals were prepared.

FEDERICO GUALDI

Federico Gualdi lived in Italy during the 17th century and he illustrates in many ways the attributes of the mysterious immortal adept. During his years in Venice, he was widely recognized as one of the highest initiates. He was proficient in all sciences, spoke many languages fluently, his disciples called him The Prince, and individuals from all walks of life sought his advice. Furthermore, Gualdi was considered to be at least 400 years old and thus the holder of alchemy’s innermost secrets and the stone of the wise. In 1676, he was charged before the court of the Inquisition for being a magician and a necromancer and in various ways undermining the Catholic faith. His prosecutor claimed that Gualdi and his sect could fly through the air, become invisible, and immediately move from one place to another. Gualdi was neither convicted nor freed. The sect mentioned as being Gualdi’s is no less than the Italian branch of the Brotherhood of the Golden Cross or the Rosy Cross , whose statutes were written in Naples in 1678.

Gualdi left Venice in either 1682 or 1686 and thereafter there are no concrete traces of him. Many have since claimed that they met him, or even to be an incarnation of Gualdi themselves. Several different alchemical writings bear his name.

Figure 12 – The philosophical chaos that contains the potential of all living things.De Lapide Philosophorum (1600’s)

The Almighty brought out the dark chaos out of nowhere,

A formless mass, what a wonderful birth, so rare!

But it wasn’t enough for the Almighty pater,

To be this chaos sufficient creator.

This mass was idle and formless,

all things, in it was undivided and tenebrous.

Every Elements in which it was fused

All Animal power, vegetable and mineral confused.

From this inordinate and mass impure

The Almighty made the heaven, earth, and every creature,

Sun and Moon, and everything had a name

Both animals, vegetables and minerals all the same.

O, divine Hermes, Father of the Art,

How did the Almighty’s hand create everything from a chaotic start?

Yet again, my children, we must in our grand opus brew,

And seek this chaos, as the figure shows you.

De Lapide Philosophorum by Gualdi (1600’s), verses iv-v

During the 18th century, the tradition was mainly developed in Germany and adopted a more Masonic form. The two different divisions were merged into The Brotherhood of the Golden and Rosy Cross (RC). In the first seven degrees of initiation, which were later reformed into nine, knowledge of laboratory alchemy and divine magic was conveyed and practiced. The red thread was sympathy or harmony – the magical bond – whereby humanity and nature can be purified in order to re-emerge in the Divine Light. 24 No less than four sections of just under four hundred handwritten pages in total were given to the members of its highest degree, which can be seen in Thesaurus Thesaurorum from the middle of the 18th century.

Such a philosopher must not only recognize the kinship and concordance of the bodies with this lower world, but must also note the harmony of the essential middle parts with the upper. The visible Sun has a constant connection with the earthly and invisible Central Sun. One sends its rays and effluences to the other by a constant reverberation, which promotes the course of the motion of all creatures. The Moon and the stars likewise act on the astral forces that are locked in the earthly bodies. Consider the concordance of the spirits with their bodies and the correspondence that the spiritual world has with the material world. However, in general the earthly world owns a mark and influence from the spiritual world, so that one reflects the image of the other; what is invisible in one is visible in the other. If God has ordained the Sun to rule the visible world, the Righteousness Sun rules the spirit world. The bodies that are subjected to time and motion need a visible ruler, and, like them, that ruler is perishable. But eternity, where the most imperishable and most perfect rest exist, is eternally ruled by the power of God that was, is, and forever shall be. The Father has already in the Creation made his uncreated Word as their ruler, which we can understand from Acts XVII.27. [That they should seek the Lord, if haply they might feel after him, and find him, though he be not far from every one of us.] In the end, God’s Son shall be seen in all his glory, and then his infinite Light will cease the perishable, which He had separated from Chaos for the purification of the world.

Unterricht für die Theoretischen Brüder (1767), des Ordens der Gold- und Rosenkreuzer

Figure 13 – The golden rose cross with the virtues needed to create the alchemical tincture: faith, hope, love and patience. Geheime Figuren der Rosenkreuzer (1785), English version by the authors

THE DARK AGES OF ALCHEMY

With the Enlightenment and new scientific advances, the 19th and 20th centuries came to be a rather dark period for alchemy. The basic concept of alchemy itself, that one substance could be transmuted to another, was considered impossible. Atomic and elemental theory rejected the alchemical teachings and, in consequence, the world and existence became mechanical and almost soulless. Alchemy was still studied and practiced in small closed societies, but very little was published. In the public eye, alchemists were unenlightened people whose only interest had been to try to make gold. Isaac Newton (1642-1727), who is considered the father of modern science, had alchemy as his main interest. However, people tried to ignore and veil this fact by focusing on his chemical advances. This succeeded to the point that only in recent years has it become common knowledge how dedicated an alchemist alchemist he really was.

Dissolve volatile green lion in the central salt of Venus and distill. This spirit is the green lion, the blood of the green lion, Venus, the Babylonian Dragon that kills everything with its poison, but conquered by being assuaged by the Doves of Diana, it is the Bond of Mercury. Neptune with his trident leads the Philosopher into the sophic garden. Therefore Neptune is the mineral watry menstruum and the trident is the ferment of water similar to the caduceus of mercury with which mercury is fermented, that is, the two dry Doves with the dry martial Venus.

Isaac Newton 25

Consequently, both the philosophical and the chemical point of view of the Royal Art came to be despised. Many of the symbols of alchemy were still present in the consciousness of mankind, but they began to be interpreted based primarily on the ethical and moral paradigm, certainly within the framework of religion, but without its esoteric aspects. The Royal Art was considered to be synonymous with living right in order to be worthy to die, to seek the salvation of one’s soul, and to properly manage one’s earthly life by learning to do and think in a way that is considered good.

Biological and chemical advances effectively removed the spiritual aspect of medications, although many medicinal foundations were, and still are, based on operative herbs. Physics assisted the other sciences in removing all forms of divine influences and philosophies that were based on the interaction between humanity and nature. Everything would now be evidence-based and repeatable. Science, religion and philosophy were totally and effectively differentiated, and existence therefore stopped being magical. For humanity, it led to the present society of which we see the fruits and in which we live. We have reached great scientific advances and enhanced living conditions in some parts of the world, but a significant number of people are physically, mentally and spiritually ill. That great fear of the alchemists, that people who have not transformed themselves might gain access to a power they have no sense to use, seems to be confirmed every day worldwide.

THE DAWNING LIGHT OF ALCHEMY

All is not dark, however, in our era of history. Alchemists still continued their work in the shadows, and in the late 19th century a renaissance occurred in terms of esoteric orders and societies, as well as the publication of hermetic writings. Magic, kabbalah and alchemy were again studied and practiced in a more syncretistic form than before. Poets and artists explored the heights and depths of consciousness through occult rites and drug-related experiences. The art of the Pre-Raphaelites revived the romanticism of nature and medieval religiosity. Spiritualistic séances, Egyptian mystery plays, Eastern mysticism and Western occultism boiled up as the antithesis to the emerging industrial society. Tarot cards began to spread to the wider public. Swedish artist and writer August Strindberg tried to achieve gold transmutations through laboratory work, but gradually saw how his own life turned out to be the opus of alchemy and he came to call himself a poet-chemist. Hilma af Klint gazed into the etheric and astral spheres and painted, on behalf of her inner contacts, the pictures of an as yet un-manifested temple. Additionally, the human psyche began to be understood through hypnosis, dream analysis and analytical psychotherapy.

MARY ANNE ATWOOD

Mary Anne Atwood (1817-1910) did not become known as an alchemist and writer until after her death, but she came to characterise much of modern alchemy in its spiritual or inner expression. At thirty-three years old, and on her father’s advice, she wrote A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery. The book was published anonymously but was quickly withdrawn and burned when her father thought she had revealed too much regarding alchemy’s inner secrets. It wasn’t until eight years after her death that it came back into print, this time under her real name and including a biography of her life. In her private notebook, she summarised her understanding of the art: alchemy is philosophy; it is The Philosophy, the seeking out of The Sophia in the mind