What is Alchemy? |
Posted: January 25, 2023 |
It's not easy to simply answer this question...it's a bit like "What is art?", or "what is love?"...Alchemy is a form of dissimilar practices and knowledge that can be discovered in very different places and times. To put it simply and at the risk of being a little reductive, let's say that the alchemy health and wellness that we know today in the West is of Mediterranean and ancient origin. It is a body of knowledge derived from a practical philosophy. It is a way of reading nature that gives meaning to existence and which makes it possible to improve life in the fields of health and technology mainly. Traces of this alchemy can be found in Egypt and throughout the ancient Middle East. There are also very specific elements of alchemy in the biblical tradition, notably in the book of the prophet Ezekiel who describes in his visions a classic process for preparing alchemical stones (I will talk about it in an article devoted to this path as soon as possible). The Arab alchemists will spread the art of the Philosopher's Stone or Universal Medicine with the conquests and alchemy will thus pass into Christianity. The old books of alchemy wellness almost all speak of the preparation of a "Philosopher's Stone" intended for the healing of metals, that is to say, transmutation. I do not know to what extent this interest in metallic transmutation is the object of all the attention in the alchemical quest. What I do know is that their authors are almost all doctors and that their lives are more focused on healing their fellow humans than on producing precious metals... It is quite difficult to get an exact idea of ??the real subject dealt with in these books, which are very abstruse for us, as the language and the life of their authors are so far removed from our time, and often far from each other. It would be naive to think that these books describe a monomorphic science and that "the Stone" is the unique result of a unique operation. It is rather a methodology by a general philosophy that allows the production of a certain number of medicines. To soak up the alchemical philosophy, and the alchemical imagination, I offer you a translation of the emblematic text of the Art of Hermes, the founding text according to tradition: The Emerald Table. This is a very short text, the oldest known versions of which date from the 6th century. which would be a kind of testament to Hermes Trismegistus, the symbolic father of alchemy. It is true, without lie, certain and very true: What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below; by these things are done the miracles of a single thing. And as all things are and come from One, through the meditation of One, The wind carried it in its belly. The All-Father, the Thelema (Will) of the universal world is here. Its strength or power is complete if it is converted into earth. It rises from the earth and descends from the sky, and receives the force from higher things and lower things. This is how the world was created. From this will come admirable adaptations, the means of which are given here. This is why I was called Hermes Trismegistus, having the three parts of universal philosophy. I dare to guide the reader with this embryonic commentary: All things come from One: All creation comes from a single source, be it creatures (you, me, animals, minerals, etc…) or whether it is consciousness, so time and space &c… What is above &c…: These things are the same at each level of existence, everything is in relation. The Sun is his Father: This source of creation is the Sun. Separates the earth from the fire, the subtle from the thick: This is the fundamental method of alchemy which consists in isolating the elements and purifying them. Distillation or calcination are tools for this work. You will have the glory of the world...This phrase evokes the glorious body of accomplished mystics, the light. This is the reward of alchemy, wellness and weight loss.
The First Matter The alchemists make a great deal of this Materia Prima that only the chosen one would know and with which he can begin the Great Work… This is the legend of the materia prima, the reality is different. The Emerald Table does not speak of such matter (in common sense). On the other hand, it begins with the evocation of the One who is at the origin of all things, and who is still found in all things. It is not a matter in the common sense of the term but the creative energy which animates and nourishes each being, each matter, and which will be the object of the alchemist's attention whatever the or the materials he works with. This is the Thelma (will) of Hermes. Today, light is one of the privileged vectors of this creative energy which is "the father of everything". The alchemist focuses his attention on this raw material which is at the origin of creation, and which is supposed to have the power to remedy its ills. His job is to capture this primordial energy, and to fix it, to finally make it assailable according to the needs. This original creative energy then becomes the " Stone " (it is fixed, materialized) and " Philosophical " (it loves - it attracts - Wisdom - Wisdom is this primordial creative energy).
The language of birds The language used to be much more colorful than it is today and playing with language was common. The poets never failed to add hidden meanings under the apparent subject and both the author and the reader were true virtuosos in ciphering or deciphering these rebuses, these refrains, and these anagrams... Moreover, the alchemists were organized into corporations and each of them jealously guarded her secrets. To communicate with each other, the members of a brotherhood used to communicate through a secret language. The coqui lards of the Middle Ages (a famous band of brigands from the time of François Villon) had their secret slang language and less than a century ago, the butchers of Paris still had their internal language: Louchebem… Many alchemy writers do write only for followers of their school and use language that is incomprehensible to anyone who has not studied within that particular school. Finally, alchemy, although it was probably not born in Hellenistic Egypt, had its golden age there and alchemists have always had a weakness for bilingual puns using Greek roots. On the other hand, the language of the birds, as beautiful as it is sometimes, has no magic virtue and it only serves to encode the text to hide its meaning from foreigners. We are no longer in a society of castes and corporations jealous of keeping each one their specificity which requires the use of secret codes and I leave the language of the birds to poets and psychoanalysts who make good use of it in their disciplines for, when we talk about alchemy, prefer a clear language whose purpose is to communicate.
You won't mind if I try to express myself understandably, will you? It is likely that if you are reading this article, it is because something deep is calling out to you. You may even be ready to spend a lot of time and energy on your passion. I allow myself a small warning: learning alchemy is not like learning carpentry, of course, but the apprentice alchemist has in common with the apprentice carpenter that he must be pragmatic and methodical. A young carpenter will not spend a penny on a manual written in abstruse language by someone who has never held a plank in his hands.
Personal development vs. Industry A utilitarian application of alchemy (medicine), the question of becoming an alchemist for spiritual realization and/or working for a material purpose (no matter how noble- he is when it comes to healing his fellow man) may arise. It is out of the question for me to decide what should be done for the visitor to this site, nor even to take my side since I consider that the two aspects are linked and that each act on the other: an abstract quest will probably never find its goal, a goal that will itself be abstract in the mind of the researcher. Conversely, alchemical research based entirely on industry (the manufacture of remedies or the application of technology) will only be a shadow of what it could be if the researcher were an authentic alchemist committed to the depths of his soul and first devoted to abstract mystical research while imposing very concrete challenges (curing a loved one, for example). It was from this moment that I began to have results and failures, and with them, great satisfaction in my practice. I encourage you to become an alchemist from this question: " What are you looking for? ". If to this question you can only answer " Well, I'm looking... I'm looking... That's the chemistry... " you are in the situation of someone who, like myself at the time, would be looking for something thing on the ground without knowing what… Suffice it to say that this nothing The first steps in alchemy will most often be a healthy curiosity without a material goal, without "desire for results", but the first approach passed, the work will quickly have to find a more concrete meaning than "Finding the Philosopher's Stone"... On the contrary, preparing his first plant elixir to cure an illness and not discovering the alchemical universe would perhaps be missing the point...
What is the difference between Alchemy and Spagyrics? It is beginning to become clear that spagyrists are alchemists whose work is primarily focused on medicine and well-being. The fundamental philosophy is common to both disciplines and the techniques are not necessarily far apart for weight loss programs in Dallas. The difference, if it is necessary to make one, is rather due to the goal used: currently, we consider that the personal quest is rather alchemical while the work of producing health medicines. But I remind you that the two are complementary and that a supporter of one of these two paths who neglects the other would miss a good opportunity to improve.
Conclusion I encourage the neophyte in his passion, I encourage him to be open to complete discovery at first, just to take the temperature... and then above all, I encourage him to quickly become pragmatic and to quickly get down to practical work: knowledge must be in the body (experience) as much as in the head (culture). I encourage him to have a goal (making a first herbal elixir with the means at hand is generally the best way to take his first steps). Having a goal makes it possible to reach it, or not, and with the results will come the satisfaction of success or failure; with satisfaction will come to a sense of joy that should never be lacking in the fulfilled alchemist. Progression in Alchemy is like in all things: …progressive! Start with small jobs, do your scales, and then you will quickly find the way, your way, to perfection for a testosterone replacement therapy near me. And above all, when you read an alchemy book, if the presentation text talks about everything and nothing and could apply to everything and nothing in a style reminiscent of Pierre Dac or the speech of a President of the Republic if you feel a little bitter taste of dissatisfaction talking with a charitable elder who you know can teach you this abstract thing you are looking for (but you cannot say what the discussion taught you…), remember that an apprentice carpenter would never waste a penny or an hour with a book or such a teacher...
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