philosophers' stone

A substance that was believed to have the power of transmuting base metal into gold. Also called elixir.

A legendary substance which enabled adepts in alchemy to compass the transmutation of metals. Alchemists believed that one definite substance was essential to the success of the trans-mutation operation. By the application or admixture of this substance, often called the "Powder of Projection," any metal might be transmuted into gold or silver.

Zosimus, who lived at the beginning of the fifth century, was one of the first to allude to the philosophers' stone. He said that it was a powder or liquor formed of diverse metals, fused under a favorable astrological condition. The stone was supposed to contain the secrets not only of transmutation, but of health and life, for through it the elixir of life could be distilled.

The author of a Treatise on Philosophical and Hermetic Chemistry, published in Paris in 1725, stated: "Modern philosophers have extracted from the interior of mercury a fiery spirit, mineral, vegetable and multiplicative, in a humid concavity in which is found the primitive mercury or the universal quintessence. In the midst of this spirit resides the spiritual fluid….

"This is the mercury of the philosophers, which is not solid like a metal, nor soft like quicksilver, but between the two. They have retained for a long time this secret, which is the commencement, the middle, and the end of their work. It is necessary then to proceed first to purge the mercury with salt and with ordinary salad vinegar, to sublime it with vitriol and salt-petre, to dissolve it in aquafortis, to sublime it again, to calcine it and fix it, to put away part of it in salad oil, to distill this liquor for the purpose of separating the spiritual water, air, and fire, to fix the mercurial body in the spiritual water or to distill the spirit of liquid mercury found in it, to putrefy all, and then to raise and exalt the spirit with non-odorous white sulphur— that is to say, sal-ammoniac—to dissolve the sal-ammoniac in the spirit of liquid mercury which when distilled becomes the liquor known as the Vinegar of the Sages, to make it pass from gold to antimony three times and afterwards to reduce it by heat, lastly to steep this warm gold in very harsh vinegar and allow it to putrefy. On the surface of the vinegar it will raise itself in the form of fiery earth of the colour of oriental pearls. This is the first operation in the grand work.

"For the second operation, take in the name of God one part of gold and two parts of the spiritual water, charged with the sal-ammoniac, mix this noble confection in a vase of crystal of the shape of an egg: warm over a soft but continuous fire, and the fiery water will dissolve little by little the gold; this forms a liquor which is called by the sages "chaos" containing the elementary qualities—cold, dryness, heat and humidity. Allow this composition to putrefy until it becomes black; this blackness is known as the "crow's head" and the "darkness of the sages," and makes known to the artist that he is on the right track. It was also known as the "black earth." It must be boiled once more in a vase as white as snow; this stage of the work is called the "swan," and from it arises the white liquor, which is divided into two parts—one white for the manufacture of silver, the other red for the manufacture of gold. Now you have accomplished the work, and you possess the Philosophers' Stone.

"In these diverse operations, one finds many by-products; among these is the "green lion" which is called also "azoph," and which draws gold from the more ignoble elements; the "red lion" which converts the metal into gold; the "head of the crow," called also the "black veil of the ship of Theseus," which appearing forty days before the end of the operation predicts its success; the white powder which transmutes the white metals to fine silver; the red elixir with which gold is made; the white elixir which also makes silver, and which procures long life—it is also called the white daughter of the philosophers."

In the lives of the various alchemists, we find many notices of the philosophers' stone in connection with those adepts who were supposed to have arrived at the solution. Thus in the story of Alexander Seton, a Scotsman who came from Port Seton, near Edinburgh, it is stated that on his various travels on the continent he employed in his alchemical experiments a black-ish powder, the application of which turned any metal given him into gold.

Numerous instances are on record of Seton's projections, the majority of which were verified by multiple observers. On one occasion, while in Holland, he went with some friends from the house at which he was residing to undertake an alchemical experiment at another house near by. On the way there, a quantity of ordinary zinc was purchased, and reportedly Seton succeeded in projecting the zinc into pure gold by the application of his powder. A similar phenomenon occurred at Cologne, and even the most extreme torture could not wring the secret from him.

Seton's pupil or assistant, Sendivogius, made great efforts to obtain the secret from Seton before he died, but without success. However, out of gratitude Seton bequeathed him what remained of his marvelous powder, which Sendivogius employed with the same results Seton had achieved.

Sendivogius fared badly, however, when the powder came to an end. He had used it chiefly in liquid form, and into this he had dipped silver coins which immediately had become pure gold. When the powder gave out, Sendivogius was driven to the practice of gilding coins, which, it was reported, he had previously transmuted by legitimate means, and this brought upon him the wrath of those who had trusted him.

There are many intriguing accounts of successful alchemical operations with the philosophers' stone, but most students of the field have surmised that the great work accomplished was a personal and spiritual transformation rather than any chemical miracle. The close association of ideas of the philosophers' stone with the elixir of life reinforces this view.

The idea of the philosophers' stone is an ancient one. In Egyptian alchemy, which seems one of the oldest, the idea of a black powder (the detritus or oxide of all metals mingled) is already found.

The ancient Chinese believed that gold was immortal and that when absorbed in the human body could bestow immortality, thus we find here ideas of the mystical value of gold again associated with the concept of the elixir of life.

The art of Chinese alchemists can be traced back to circa 100-150 B.C.E., long before records of alchemy being practiced in the West appear. Gold was regarded as a medicine for long life, and there is a story that the great Wei Po-Yang (ca. 100-150 C.E.) succeeded in manufacturing the gold medicine and he and his pupil Yu, together with the wise man's dog, thereby became immortal.

The idea that the philosophers' stone could grant wishes is found in ancient Indian religious tradition, where this magical stone was named "Chintamani" and cited in scriptures. Similar ideas were carried over into Buddhism.

The antiquarian Sabine Baring-Gould suggested that legends of the philosophers' stone ultimately could be traced to reflections upon the life-giving properties of the sun, which was a prominent symbol in many alchemical works. He reviewed such concepts in a chapter on the philosophers' stone in his book Curiosities of Olden Times (1895).

Sources:

Bacon, Roger. Mirror of Alchemy. London, 1597. Reprint, Los Angeles: Globe Bookshop, 1975.

Barring-Gould, Sabine. Curiosities of Olden Times. London, J. T. Hayes, 1895.

Chkashige, Masumi. Oriental Alchemy. New York: Samuel Weiser, 1936.

Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible; The Origins and Structures of Alchemy. New York: Harper & Row, 1956.

Jung, C. G. Alchemical Studies. Vol. 13, Collected Works. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1967.

Redgrove, H. Stanley. Alchemy: Ancient & Modern. London: William Rider, 1911. Reprint, New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1969.

Regardie, Israel. The Philosophers' Stone. St. Paul: Llewellyn Publications, 1958.

Waite, Arthur E. Alchemists Through the Ages. Blauvelt, N.Y.: Rudolf Steiner Publications, 1970.

——, ed. The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. 2 vols. London: James Elliott, 1894. Reprint, New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1967.

The noun has one meaning:

Meaning #1: a hypothetical substance that the alchemists believed to be capable of changing base metals into gold

The philosopher's stone (Latin: lapis philosophorum; Greek: chrysopoeia) is a legendary substance, supposedly capable of turning inexpensive metals into gold; it was also sometimes believed to be a means of making people younger (Elixir of life). For a long time it was the "holy grail" of Western alchemy.

In the view of spiritual alchemy, making the philosopher's stone would bring enlightenment upon the maker and conclude the Great Work.^[1]

In alchemy

Alchemists once thought a key element that the stone was made of was a mythical element named carmot.^[2][3]

Alchemy itself is mostly an original concept and science practised in the ancient Near East, Egypt, Greece, and India. However, the concept of ensuring youthful health apparently originated in China, while the concept of transmutating one metal into a more precious one (silver or gold) originated from the theories of the 8th century Arab alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latinized as 'Geber'). He analysed each Aristotelian element in terms of the four basic qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. Fire was both hot and dry, earth cold and dry, water cold and moist, and air hot and moist. He further theorized that every metal was a combination of these four principles, two of them interior and two exterior.

From this premise, it was reasoned that the transmutation of one metal into another could be effected by the rearrangement of its basic qualities. This change would presumably be mediated by a substance, which came to be called al-iksir in Arabic (from which the Western term "elixir" is derived). It is often considered to exist as a dry red powder made from a legendary stone — the "philosopher's stone".^{[citation needed]}

In the 11th century, there was a debate among Muslim chemists on whether the transmutation of substances was possible. A leading opponent was Avicenna, who discredited the theory of transmutation of substances:

"Those of the chemical craft know well that no change can be effected in the different species of substances, though they can produce the appearance of such change."^[4]

According to legend, the 13th-century scientist and philosopher Albertus Magnus is said to have discovered the philosopher's stone and passed it to his pupil Thomas Aquinas, shortly before his death about 1280. Magnus does not confirm he discovered the stone in his writings, but he did record that he witnessed the creation of gold by "transmutation."^[5]

The 16th-century Swiss alchemist Philippus Paracelsus believed in the existence of alkahest which he believed to be an undiscovered element from which all other elements (earth, fire, water, air) were simply derivative forms. He believed that this element alkahest was, in fact, the philosopher's stone.

Jabir's theory and the concept of knowledge that metals like gold and silver could be hidden in alloys and ores, from which they could be recovered by the appropriate chemical treatment. Jabir himself is believed to be the inventor of aqua regia, a mixture of muriatic (hydrochloric) and nitric acids, one of the few substances that can dissolve gold (and which is still often used for gold recovery and purification).

Gold was particularly valued as a metal that would not rust, tarnish, corrode or otherwise grow corrupt. Since the philosopher's stone would turn a corruptible base metal to incorruptible gold, naturally it would similarly transform human beings from mortal (corruptible) to immortal (incorruptible).

Essentially one of the many theories was that gold was a superior form of metal, and that the philosopher's stone was even purer and superior to gold, so much so that if combined with lesser metals would turn them into superior gold.

A mystical text published in the 17th century called the Mutus Liber appears to be a symbolic instruction manual for concocting a philosopher's stone. Called the 'wordless book', this was a collection of 15 illustrations.

Contemporary interpretations

The Latin American spiritual teacher Samael Aun Weor stated that the Philosopher's Stone is synonymous with the symbol of the stone found in many other spiritual and religious traditions, such as the stone Jacob rests his head upon, the cubic stone of Freemasonry, and the rock upon which Christ lays the foundation of the temple.^[6]

“

Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on it shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe it is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, and a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence. - 1 Peter 2: 6-8

”

He states that this "stone of stumbling" and "rock of offence" is the creative-sexual energy, which in Kabbalah is Yesod ("foundation") that must be transmuted through sexual alchemy. It is said to be rejected by the "builders," meaning those who seek spiritual edification, because they reject the transmutation of sexual energy, and instead use it to achieve sensual pleasure.^[7]

In art and entertainment

The philosopher's stone has been subject, inspiration, or plot feature of innumerable artistic works — novels, comics stories, movies, animations, and even musical compositions. It is also a popular item in many video games. The following is a very incomplete list.

Literature

• Natural Magic (1558), by Giambattista della Porta
• The Philosopher's Stone (1789), by Christoph Martin Wieland.^[8] German fairy tale.
• Hinzelmeier (1857), by Theodor Storm.^[8] Romantic style German fairy tale.
• Philosopher's Stone (1859), by Hans Christian Andersen.
• The Trumpeter of Krakow (1928), by Eric P. Kelly.
• The Red Lion 1946, by Maria Szepes Hungary. Story of a man's journey through four centuries of life after acquiring the Philosopher's stone.
• One Hundred Years of Solitude (1967), by Gabriel García Márquez.
• The Philosopher's Stone (Colin Wilson book) (1971), by C. H. Wilson.
• The Ogre Downstairs (1974), by Diana Wynne Jones.
• The Alchemist (1988), by Paulo Coelho.
• Foucault's Pendulum (1988), by Umberto Eco, where a character claims that the Stone is actually the Holy Grail.
• Indiana Jones and the Philosopher's Stone (1995), by Max McCoy.
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (1997), by J. K. Rowling (renamed Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US; note also that when the stone is referred to in Latin in a Potter context, it is called philosophi lapis rather than philosophorum, i.e. "of the philosopher" instead of the original "of philosophers").
• The Baroque Cycle trilogy (2003–2004), by Neal Stephenson, where it is used to explain an unusually heavy gold sample.
• The Alchemyst:the Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel (novel, 2007), by Michael Scott.

Comics, movies, TV, and animations

Philosopher's stone as depicted in the first Harry Potter film.

• The Fabulous Philosopher's Stone (1955), a Donald Duck story by Carl Barks.
• The Flash rogue known as Doctor Alchemy used a philosopher's stone as his main weapon in crime (1958)
• The Philosopher's Stone (1958) by Satyajit Ray.
• Legend of the Holy Rose, a two-part MacGyver episode centered on finding the philosopher's stone (1989)
• The Real Adventures of Jonny Quest (1996), episode where a modern alchemist forces the Quest family to join in his experimentation with the Philosopher's stone.
• Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (2001); retitled Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone in the US.
• Fullmetal Alchemist, anime (2003-2004) and manga (2001-still running), involves a search for the philosopher's stone.

Music

• The American progressive metal band Tool refer to the Philosopher's Stone on their 2001 album "Lateralus" on the opening track "The Grudge".
• The concept-album Grand Materia (2005) by the Swedish metal-band Morgana Lefay is about Nicolas Flamel and his life and how he made the Philosopher's Stone.
• Van Morrison released an album entitled "The Philosopher's Stone" on June 16th, 1998. This double CD is actually a collection of 30 previously unreleased recordings created between 1971-1988.

See also

Azoth Edward Kelley Golden Wedding Garment Filius philosophorum

Midas Panacea (medicine) The Net (substance) Vitriol

References

1. ^ Heindel, Max, Freemasonry and Catholicism, ISBN 0-911274-04-9
2. ^ Burt, A.L. 1885. The National Standard Encyclopedia: A Dictionary of Literature, the Sciences and the Arts, for Popular Use p. 150. Available online.
3. ^ Sebastian, Anton. 1999. A Dictionary of the History of Medicine. p. 179. ISBN 1-85070-021-4. Available online.
4. ^ Robert Briffault (1938). The Making of Humanity, p. 196-197.
5. ^ Julian Franklyn ans Frederick E. Budd. A Survey of the Occult. Electric Book Company. 2001. p. 28-30. ISBN 1843270870.
6. ^ Samael Aun Weor. Arcanum 2: The Priestess. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
7. ^ Samael Aun Weor. Final Catastrophe. Retrieved on 2007-04-09.
8. ^ ^{a b} Zipes, Jack. Spells of Enchantment. New York: Viking, 1991.

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