Ency.of.Occultism, Books, Books eng, books NON FICTION, Occult, Esoteric
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Ra-Hoor-Khuit Network'sMagickal LibraryTaken from a 1960 reprint of "An Encyclopedia of Occultism", by LewisSpence; University Press, Hyde Park, New York. Originally Published in1920, it is considered to be one of the most complete texts on the subject.---------------------------------------------------------------------------ALCHEMY: The science by aid of which the chemical philosophers of medievaltimes attempted to transmute the baser metals into gold or silver. There isconsiderable divergence of opinion as to the etymology of the word, but itwould seem to be derived from the Arabic al=the, and kimya=chemistry, whichin turn derives from the late Greekchemica=chemistry, from chumeia=a mingling, or cheein, `to pour out` or`mix', Aryan root ghu, to pour, whence the word `gush'. Mr. A. Wallis Budgein his "Egyptian Magic", however, states that it is possible that it may bederived from the Egyptian word khemeia, that is to say 'the preparation ofthe black ore', or `powder', which was regarded as the active principle inthe transmutation of metals. To this name the Arabs affixed the article`al', thus giving al-khemeia, or alchemy.HISTORY OF ALCHEMY: From an early period the Egyptians possessed thereputation of being skillful workers in metals and, according to Greekwriters, they were conversant with their transmutation, employingquicksilver in the process of separating gold and silver from the nativematrix. The resulting oxide was supposed to possess marvelous powers, andit was thought that there resided within in the individualities of thevarious metals, that in it their various substances were incorporated. Thisblack powder was mystically identified with the underworld form of the godOsiris, and consequently was credited with magical properties. Thus theregrew up in Egypt the belief that magical powers existed in fluxes andalloys. Probably such a belief existed throughout Europe in connection withthe bronze-working castes of its several races. Its was probably in theByzantium of the fourth century, however, that alchemical science receivedembryonic form.There is little doubt that Egyptian tradition, filtering throughAlexandrian Hellenic sources was the foundation upon which the infantscience was built, and this is borne out by the circumstance that the artwas attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and supposed to be contained in itsentirety in his works.The Arabs, after their conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, carried onthe researches of the Alexandrian school, and through their instrumentalitythe art was brought to Morocco and thus in the eighth century to Spain,where it flourished exceedingly. Indeed, Spain from the ninth to theeleventh century became the repository of alchemic science, and thecolleges of Seville, Cordova and Granada were the centers from which thisscience radiated throughout Europe.The first practical alchemist may be said to have been the Arbian Geber,who flourished 720-750. From his "Summa Perfectionis", we may be justifiedin assuming that alchemical science was already matured in his day, andthat he drew his inspirations from a still older unbroken line of adepts.He was followed by Avicenna, Mesna and Rhasis, and in France by Alain ofLisle, Arnold de Villanova and Jean de Meung the troubadour; in England byRoger Bacon and in Spain itself by Raymond Lully. Later, in French alchemythe most illustrious names are those of Flamel (b. ca. 1330), and BernardTrevisan (b. ca. 1460) after which the center of of interest changes toGermany and in some measure to England, in which countries Paracelsus,Khunrath (ca. 1550), Maier (ca. 1568), Norton, Dalton, Charnock, and Fluddkept the alchemical flame burning brightly.It is surprising how little alteration we find throughout the periodbetween the seventh and the seventeenth centuries, the heyday of alchemy,in the theory and practice of the art. The same sentiments and processesare found expressed in the later alchemical authorities as in the earliest,and a wonderful unanimity as regards the basic canons of the great art isevinced by the hermetic students of the time. On the introduction ofchemistry as a practical art, alchemical science fell into desuetude anddisrepute, owing chiefly to the number of charlatans practicing it, and bythe beginning of the eighteenth century, as a school, it may be said tohave become defunct. Here and there, however, a solitary student of the artlingered, and in the department of this article "Modern Alchemy" willdemonstrate that the science has to a grate extent revived during moderntimes, although it has never been quite extinct.THE QUESTS OF ALCHEMY: The grand objects of alchemy were (1) the discoveryof a process by which the baser metals might be transmuted into gold orsilver; (2) the discovery of an elixir by which life might be prolongedindefinitely; and there may be added (3), the manufacture of and artificialprocess of human life. (for the latter see Homunculus)THE THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF ALCHEMY: The first objects were to be achievedas follows: The transmutation of metals was to be accomplished by a powder,stone or exilir often called the Philosopher`s Stone, the application ofwhich would effect the transmutation of the baser metals into gold orsilver, depending upon the length of time of its application. Basing theirconclusions on a profound examination of natural processes and researchinto the secrets of nature, the alchemists arrived at the axiom that naturewas divided philosophically into four principal regions, the dry, themoist, the warm, the cold, whence all that exists must be derived. Natureis also divisible into the male and the female. She is the divine breath,the central fire, invisible yet ever active, and is typified by sulphur,which is the mercury of the sages, which slowly fructifies under the genialwarmth of nature. The alchemist must be ingenuous, of a truthfuldisposition, and gifted with patience and prudence, following nature inevery alchemical performance. He must recollect that like draws to like,and must know how to obtain the seed of metals, which is produced by thefour elements through the will of the Supreme Being and the Imagination ofNature. We are told the the original matter of metals is double in itsessence, being a dry heat combined with a warm moisture, and that air iswater coagulated by fir, capable of producing a universal dissolvent. Theseterms the neophyte must be cautious of interpreting in their literal sense.Great confusion exists in alchemical nomenclature, and the gibberishemployed by the scores of charlatans who in later times pretended to aknowledge of alchemical matters did not tend to make things any more clear.The beginner must also acquire a thorough knowledge of the manner in whichmetals grow in the bowels of the earth.These are engendered by sulphur, which is male, and mercury, which isfemale, and the crux of alchemy is to obtain their seed - a process whichthe alchemist philosophers have not described with any degree of clarity.The physical theory of transmutation is based on the composite character ofmetals, and on the existence of a substance which, applied to matter,exalts and perfects it. This, Eugenius Philalethes and others call 'TheLight'. The elements of all metals is similar, differing only in purity andproportion. The entire trend of the metallic kingdom is towards the naturalmanufacture of gold, and the production of the baser metals is onlyaccidental as the result of an unfavorable environment. The Philosopher'sStone is the combination of the male and female seeds which beget gold. Thecomposition of these is so veiled by symbolism as to make theiridentification a matter of impossibility. Waite, summarizing the alchemicalprocess once the secret of the stone is unveiled, says: "Given the matterof the stone and also the necessary vessel, the process which must be thenundertaken to accomplish the `magnum opus' are described with moderateperpicuity.There is the calcination or purgation of the stone, in which kind is workedwith kind for the space of a philosophical year. There is dissolution whichprepares the way for congelation, and which is performed during the blackstate of the mysterious matter. It is accomplished by water which does notwet the hand. There is the separation of the subtle and the gross, which isto be performed by means of heat. In the conjunction which follows, theelements are duly and scrupulously combined. Putrefaction afterwards takesplace.`Without which pole no seed may multiply.'"Then, in the subsequent congelation the white colour appears, which is oneof the signs of success. It becomes more pronounced in cibation.In sublimation the body is spiritualised, the spirit made corporeal, andagain a more glittering whiteness is apparent. Fermentation afterwardsfixes together the alchemical earth and water, and causes the mysticmedicines to flow like wax. The matter is then augmented with thealchemical spirit of life, and the exaltation of the philosophic earth isaccomplished by the natural rectification of its elements.When these processes have been successfully completed, the mystic stonewill have passed through the chief stages characterized by differentcolours, black, white and red, after which it is capable of infinitemultication, and when projected on mercury, it will absolutely transmuteit, the resulting gold bearing every test. The base metals made use of mustbe purified to insure the success of the operation. The process for the... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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Ra-Hoor-Khuit Network'sMagickal LibraryTaken from a 1960 reprint of "An Encyclopedia of Occultism", by LewisSpence; University Press, Hyde Park, New York. Originally Published in1920, it is considered to be one of the most complete texts on the subject.---------------------------------------------------------------------------ALCHEMY: The science by aid of which the chemical philosophers of medievaltimes attempted to transmute the baser metals into gold or silver. There isconsiderable divergence of opinion as to the etymology of the word, but itwould seem to be derived from the Arabic al=the, and kimya=chemistry, whichin turn derives from the late Greekchemica=chemistry, from chumeia=a mingling, or cheein, `to pour out` or`mix', Aryan root ghu, to pour, whence the word `gush'. Mr. A. Wallis Budgein his "Egyptian Magic", however, states that it is possible that it may bederived from the Egyptian word khemeia, that is to say 'the preparation ofthe black ore', or `powder', which was regarded as the active principle inthe transmutation of metals. To this name the Arabs affixed the article`al', thus giving al-khemeia, or alchemy.HISTORY OF ALCHEMY: From an early period the Egyptians possessed thereputation of being skillful workers in metals and, according to Greekwriters, they were conversant with their transmutation, employingquicksilver in the process of separating gold and silver from the nativematrix. The resulting oxide was supposed to possess marvelous powers, andit was thought that there resided within in the individualities of thevarious metals, that in it their various substances were incorporated. Thisblack powder was mystically identified with the underworld form of the godOsiris, and consequently was credited with magical properties. Thus theregrew up in Egypt the belief that magical powers existed in fluxes andalloys. Probably such a belief existed throughout Europe in connection withthe bronze-working castes of its several races. Its was probably in theByzantium of the fourth century, however, that alchemical science receivedembryonic form.There is little doubt that Egyptian tradition, filtering throughAlexandrian Hellenic sources was the foundation upon which the infantscience was built, and this is borne out by the circumstance that the artwas attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and supposed to be contained in itsentirety in his works.The Arabs, after their conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, carried onthe researches of the Alexandrian school, and through their instrumentalitythe art was brought to Morocco and thus in the eighth century to Spain,where it flourished exceedingly. Indeed, Spain from the ninth to theeleventh century became the repository of alchemic science, and thecolleges of Seville, Cordova and Granada were the centers from which thisscience radiated throughout Europe.The first practical alchemist may be said to have been the Arbian Geber,who flourished 720-750. From his "Summa Perfectionis", we may be justifiedin assuming that alchemical science was already matured in his day, andthat he drew his inspirations from a still older unbroken line of adepts.He was followed by Avicenna, Mesna and Rhasis, and in France by Alain ofLisle, Arnold de Villanova and Jean de Meung the troubadour; in England byRoger Bacon and in Spain itself by Raymond Lully. Later, in French alchemythe most illustrious names are those of Flamel (b. ca. 1330), and BernardTrevisan (b. ca. 1460) after which the center of of interest changes toGermany and in some measure to England, in which countries Paracelsus,Khunrath (ca. 1550), Maier (ca. 1568), Norton, Dalton, Charnock, and Fluddkept the alchemical flame burning brightly.It is surprising how little alteration we find throughout the periodbetween the seventh and the seventeenth centuries, the heyday of alchemy,in the theory and practice of the art. The same sentiments and processesare found expressed in the later alchemical authorities as in the earliest,and a wonderful unanimity as regards the basic canons of the great art isevinced by the hermetic students of the time. On the introduction ofchemistry as a practical art, alchemical science fell into desuetude anddisrepute, owing chiefly to the number of charlatans practicing it, and bythe beginning of the eighteenth century, as a school, it may be said tohave become defunct. Here and there, however, a solitary student of the artlingered, and in the department of this article "Modern Alchemy" willdemonstrate that the science has to a grate extent revived during moderntimes, although it has never been quite extinct.THE QUESTS OF ALCHEMY: The grand objects of alchemy were (1) the discoveryof a process by which the baser metals might be transmuted into gold orsilver; (2) the discovery of an elixir by which life might be prolongedindefinitely; and there may be added (3), the manufacture of and artificialprocess of human life. (for the latter see Homunculus)THE THEORY AND PHILOSOPHY OF ALCHEMY: The first objects were to be achievedas follows: The transmutation of metals was to be accomplished by a powder,stone or exilir often called the Philosopher`s Stone, the application ofwhich would effect the transmutation of the baser metals into gold orsilver, depending upon the length of time of its application. Basing theirconclusions on a profound examination of natural processes and researchinto the secrets of nature, the alchemists arrived at the axiom that naturewas divided philosophically into four principal regions, the dry, themoist, the warm, the cold, whence all that exists must be derived. Natureis also divisible into the male and the female. She is the divine breath,the central fire, invisible yet ever active, and is typified by sulphur,which is the mercury of the sages, which slowly fructifies under the genialwarmth of nature. The alchemist must be ingenuous, of a truthfuldisposition, and gifted with patience and prudence, following nature inevery alchemical performance. He must recollect that like draws to like,and must know how to obtain the seed of metals, which is produced by thefour elements through the will of the Supreme Being and the Imagination ofNature. We are told the the original matter of metals is double in itsessence, being a dry heat combined with a warm moisture, and that air iswater coagulated by fir, capable of producing a universal dissolvent. Theseterms the neophyte must be cautious of interpreting in their literal sense.Great confusion exists in alchemical nomenclature, and the gibberishemployed by the scores of charlatans who in later times pretended to aknowledge of alchemical matters did not tend to make things any more clear.The beginner must also acquire a thorough knowledge of the manner in whichmetals grow in the bowels of the earth.These are engendered by sulphur, which is male, and mercury, which isfemale, and the crux of alchemy is to obtain their seed - a process whichthe alchemist philosophers have not described with any degree of clarity.The physical theory of transmutation is based on the composite character ofmetals, and on the existence of a substance which, applied to matter,exalts and perfects it. This, Eugenius Philalethes and others call 'TheLight'. The elements of all metals is similar, differing only in purity andproportion. The entire trend of the metallic kingdom is towards the naturalmanufacture of gold, and the production of the baser metals is onlyaccidental as the result of an unfavorable environment. The Philosopher'sStone is the combination of the male and female seeds which beget gold. Thecomposition of these is so veiled by symbolism as to make theiridentification a matter of impossibility. Waite, summarizing the alchemicalprocess once the secret of the stone is unveiled, says: "Given the matterof the stone and also the necessary vessel, the process which must be thenundertaken to accomplish the `magnum opus' are described with moderateperpicuity.There is the calcination or purgation of the stone, in which kind is workedwith kind for the space of a philosophical year. There is dissolution whichprepares the way for congelation, and which is performed during the blackstate of the mysterious matter. It is accomplished by water which does notwet the hand. There is the separation of the subtle and the gross, which isto be performed by means of heat. In the conjunction which follows, theelements are duly and scrupulously combined. Putrefaction afterwards takesplace.`Without which pole no seed may multiply.'"Then, in the subsequent congelation the white colour appears, which is oneof the signs of success. It becomes more pronounced in cibation.In sublimation the body is spiritualised, the spirit made corporeal, andagain a more glittering whiteness is apparent. Fermentation afterwardsfixes together the alchemical earth and water, and causes the mysticmedicines to flow like wax. The matter is then augmented with thealchemical spirit of life, and the exaltation of the philosophic earth isaccomplished by the natural rectification of its elements.When these processes have been successfully completed, the mystic stonewill have passed through the chief stages characterized by differentcolours, black, white and red, after which it is capable of infinitemultication, and when projected on mercury, it will absolutely transmuteit, the resulting gold bearing every test. The base metals made use of mustbe purified to insure the success of the operation. The process for the... [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]