Alchemy

[Yelekiah]

Not where I live.

That sucks when there is only a limited amount of material to study. Learning for me, is much more exciting when I'm interested.

What fascinates me is that how all the religious myths and occult information seems to be related and linked.

I agree here. Everything is interconnected.

[.........................]

Everything is interconnected.

Especially when we realise that the bible contains many allegorical stories which contain alchemical symbols.

Here is an allegory for example:

Just One Thing under the Sun

Its Possession is the secret of making Gold.

Its form is both male and female.

Its nature is both hot and cold.

Its nutrients pour out,

Its male part, solid, Its female part, liquid.

Its unity makes it the beginning and the end.

Its state changes from male to female:

Dissolving, putrefying, purifying, coagulating,

Until the golden Child appears.

Its milk feeds the Child anew,

And lets you immediately repeat the Work,

Until everything flows and penetrates.

Then fine gold accumulates,

Its Spiritual Body turns acid.

Its Colors have to be made ready for the Work:

But be righteous and guard against sins,

And God will grant you this treasure:

Its color will eventually turn red,

And then remember to thank the Lord.

Source

Edited December 19, 2005 by Rainbow Rowan

[different]

I think it's because I live in the bible belt. I'm Christian myself, but sometimes I would like to live in a different type of community. I almost feel guilty for enjoying this stuff but then I remember that I remember that metaphysics is not a religion! This is one reason I don't go to church.

[Yelekiah]

I didn't check the site, but Alpha and Omega in Revelation, that's related to alchemy as well, much like the Ouroboros without end. This is also evident in Kabbalistic texts.

[.........................]

I didn't check the site, but Alpha and Omega in Revelation, that's related to alchemy as well, much like the Ouroboros without end. This is also evident in Kabbalistic texts.

Alpha and Omega speaks about the God-self. And that is the ultimate aim of alchemy, which is the Great Work, becoming one with the divine.

[Yelekiah]

And all of the divine names of God are within this bolt of lightning.

In the Book of Isaiah "Lucifer" falls from heaven in the form of a lightning bolt. Originally was this a representation of him losing his divinity as he descends to the bottomless pit?

Just musing.

[.........................]

In the Book of Isaiah "Lucifer" falls from heaven in the form of a lightning bolt. Originally was this a representation of him losing his divinity as he descends to the bottomless pit?

Just musing.

Another musing. The Angel from the Garden of Eden, didn't it have a sword of lightning? Oh and don't forget the lightning from Cupid with the Phoenix...

[Yelekiah]

I think it was a sword of fire but I'll check it out just to be sure. However, lightning is shown in Enochian magick. It represents the fire element.

edit:

"So he drove out the man: and he placed at the east of the garden cherubim, and a flaming sword which turned every way, to keep the way of the tree of life."

-Genesis 3:24

Edited December 19, 2005 by Yelekiah

[.........................]

In Greek mythology lightning and thunder are weapons of Zeus, given from Cyclopes.

In Norse mythology Odin's spear Gungnir is an embodiment of lightning. In addition, his son, Thor is specifically the God of Thunder and Lightning.

[Yelekiah]

Interestingly enough, thunderbolts were invented by the goddess of wisdom, Minerva. In the Koran, lightning is attributed to Allah (God). "He it is who showeth you lightning and launches the thunderbolts." Santa (Merry Christmas!) has two reindeers named Donner and Blitzen, which mean thunder and lightning. The Navajo Indians believed lightning had the ability to heal.

Lightning is essentially is an appearence of divinity.

edit: maybe not for Santa, but hey

Edited December 19, 2005 by Yelekiah

[.........................]

The name "dragon" comes to us from the Greek word for seeing "derkein". The dragon is supposed to have unusually sharp vision in the physical, intellectual and psychic realms. In legends, it is known as a prophet; a riddler; and a guardian of temples, paradises, magic, and hidden treasures. Siegfried battled a dragon for immortality and Hercules confronted one for the golden apples of great happiness. Sometimes the key to the entrance of these hidden places is the hero's own sword, dripping with the dragon's blood. From these legends, the dragon gains a reputation for strength, vigilance, wisdom, jealousy, and miserliness.Vikings had dragon figureheads on the prow of their ships. The dragons on the ships were believed to endow keen site and cunning to the Viking warriors.

In both Eastern and Western cultures, the dragon is the symbol of things, attitudes, or habits which although difficult to resist must be overthrown. The Japanese Buddhist, Fudo-Myoo overthrew blindness and ignorance symbolized by the dragon.

The destructive powers of the dragon derived from its fiery breath, which can devastate whole countries. Dragon's eyes also have this fiery red quality, sometimes believed to reflect the treasures they guarded. Rain clouds and thunder and lightning were believed to be the dragon's breath, hence the fire-breathing monster.

In Armenian traditions, the fire and lightning god had powers to stay the dragon's control of the heavens, as could thunderbolts in Macedonian myth. A dead man was thought to become a dragon, while dragons were believed to be the guardians of treasures in burial chambers.

The dragon's form arose from his particular power of control over the waters of the earth and gave rise to many of the attributes singled out by different peoples as the whole myth developed.

The dragon was associated with clouds and believed to be a rainmaker. Its fire-spitting was reminiscent of lightning. Some people thought good dragons protected humans from evil spirits. It was associated with fertility, strength and speed in battle, joy, and robust good health. The chtonian dragon is a crocodile that represents water. He has the power to overflow the rivers or to dry the crops, both causing misery and death. He eats human flesh like a demon and is covered with hair or fur like a wild beast. His tail is the most important part.

There are good or divine dragons which are frequently attacked by the evil ones. Sometimes they are killed in battle by their adversaries and their blood splashes to the earth. Fortunately, for humans, this blood makes a good medicine known as "dragon's blood". Since this medicine effects miraculous cures on the wounds it is applied to, a correlation was made between "dragon's blood" and Christ's healing blood. It is now known that the alleged "dragon's blood" was actually a compound made from the dried fruits of palm trees.

[Yelekiah]

reflect the treasures they guarded.

Dragons were said to have guarded wisdom. Pearls in certain culutres symbolize wisdom

(some dragons even had pearls along their bellies) And as Ro pointed out earlier that is where you get the term "pearls of wisdom". A lot of dragons guarded knowledge, particularly that which was sacred. Like how a serpent was in front of the Tree of Knowledge in the Garden of Eden, which was inspired by an earlier Mesopotamian myth. This serpent, interestingly enough, was later called a dragon (Red Dragon) in the Book of Revelation. "And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent called the Devil and Satan..." -Revelation 12:9.

Also notice the picture above. You'll see a small fountain in the background. This alchemical fountain is a symbol of the eternal Ouroboros. I was actually going to post this same picture earlier

[.........................]

In about 142 AD Wei Po-Yang's work Ts'an T'ung Ch'i exclusively devoted to alchemy appeared. Much of the material was of spiritual character. The following paragraph quoted from the book shows how to conceal the method and reagents the author used fanciful names: "Above, cooking and distillation take place in the cauldron; below blazes the roaring flame. Afore goes the White Tiger, leading the way; following comes the Gray Dragon. The fluttering Scarlet Bird flees the five colours Encountering ensnaring nets, it is helpless and immovably pressed down, and cries with pathos, like a child after its mother. Willynilly it is put into the cauldron of hot fluid to the detriment of its feathers. Before half the time has passed, Dragons appear with rapidity and in great number. The five dazzling colours change incessantly. Turbulently boils the fluid in the cauldron. One after another, they appear to form an array as irregular as a dog's teeth. Stalagmites which are like midwinter icicles are spit out horizontally and vertically. Rocky heights of no apparent regularity make their appearance, supporting one another. When Yin and Yang are properly matched, tranquility prevails".

Source

[Yelekiah]

When Yin and Yang are properly matched, tranquility prevails".

I should have mentioned the steps of alchemy earlier. Calcination, dissolution, separation, conjunction, fermentation, distillation, and coagulation. In older steps I think it was amalgamation of mercury and then finis. Anyway, Amalgamation was imperative because you were putting the elements together. Not too unlike the yin and yang. To me, one of the most important parts of yin an yang is that there is a white dot in the black portion, and a black dot in the white. You have dichotomies within dichotomies. Yin and yang have also appeared as red and blue. Mixing the color produces purple, the royal crown chakra.

[.........................]

Yin / Yang is commonly known as the T'ai Chi Chu symbol. It has its roots in ancient Chinese cosmology.

The original meaning of "yin and yang" is representative of the mountains - both the dark side and the bright side, or the contrasting shaded and sunlight slopes of the mountain.

The "Yin" represents the female or the shaded aspect, the earth, darkness, the moon, and passivity.

The "Yang" represents the male, light, sun, heaven, the active principle in nature.

[attachmentid=21791]

[.........................]

Making gold...

There is the One Substance, our White Ingredient, the Ens Mundi, the One Thing, the secret Subject or spirit energy which is the source of the physical energy transmitted through its object, the Sun.

This One Substance is in a state of perfect balance, a perfect gender balance of male and female, and a perfect vibrational balance of heat and cold.

The male and female aspects of this balance are this passive Subject and its active Object. The male (the artificially modified Object) waits inside the Subject in solid form, until the female Subject acts on the Object. Then the Object loses its congealed solidity and turns liquid. When its flows (as Hermes said) they can be harmoniously and gracefully separated from teach other, and later hermetically sealed back together.

At the beginning of the Work, as a liquid, and at the end, as a solid, It is just One Thing. But not in between, from the time Passion and Reason are separated, until they are sealed back together to produce the White Stone.

The steps are: (1) dissolve, (2) putrefy, (3) purify, (4) coagulate. Repeat this process until the golden Child appears in the form of the noble Stone. Separation followed by marriage. Nourish the Stone with heavenly nectar, the ambrosia of our virgin Milk, which means dissolve it. Let it rot and wash it with magical solutions. Seal it in its tomb until it coagulates and solidifies, until the power of the Tincture climaxes.

This Gold of the Sun is the fine Gold of the Wise. Repeat the process until It becomes cherry red. Then just melt a bunch of metals together, one fifth gold, and toss in a freely flowing portion of the Tincture, and you will see how much incomplete metal you can change into the finest gold this way. Praise God for the Result.

[.........................]

The Origins of Alchemy

[Yelekiah]

The One Thing was also the One Mind with divinity, to be divine. Gold was associated with Coagulation. And so was the Purple phase, or losis.

It was the third and final stage of Transformation interestingly enough.

[.........................]

[attachmentid=21794]

Cleopatra's Chrysopia ('Gold Making'), depicting the classic symbols and apparatus of Egyptian alchemy. The Ouroboros serpent encircles the phrase in Greek: 'One the All'. The alembic with two beaks over a furnace stresses the importance of work in the laboratory.

[Yelekiah]

The alembic is the still-head. It is often used to refer to a complete still and is associated with the process of Distillation.

If it looks familiar, they were frequently used in alchemical manuscripts.

Edited December 20, 2005 by Yelekiah

[.........................]

More alchemical tools, and a woodcut showing the Lesser Work in the laboratory.

[attachmentid=21796] [attachmentid=21795]

Edited December 20, 2005 by Rainbow Rowan

[Yelekiah]

More lab work. Doesn't it seem eLABorate?

Sorry that oozed with cheesiness too. My apologies once again.

[.........................]

'Maria the Jewess' the great second-century Alexandrian alchemist and inventor of the bain-marie. The fumes rising and falling between the vessels represent the circular process of 'dissolution' and 'fixation' which precedes the growth of the Philosophers Stone.

[Yelekiah]

The Philosopher's Stone, also called the Stone (symbol on top of Hermes' staff) is the goal of the Great Work (Self, soul). The Elixir is just the liquid version, thought to restore youth.

[.........................]

Although the Hermetic system has undeniably influenced much of the best of Christian thought, the most abiding impact of Hermeticism on Western culture came about by way of the heterodox mystical, or occult, tradition. Renaissance occultism, with its alchemy, astrology, ceremonial magic, and occult medicine, became saturated with the teachings of the Hermetic books. This content has remained a permanent part of the occult transmissions of the West, and, along with Gnosticism and Neoplatonism, represents the foundation of all the major Western occult currents. Hermetic elements are demonstrably present in the school of Jacob Boehme and in the Rosicrucian and Masonic movements, for example.

[attachmentid=21802]