Contents

Part 1: Introduction to Alchemy

1 Your Apprenticeship in Alchemy

Why Study Alchemy?

The Kinds of Alchemy

Spiritual Alchemy

Psychological Alchemy

Artistic Alchemy

Social Alchemy

Practical Alchemy

Therapeutic Alchemy

The Perennial Philosophy

Becoming an Alchemist

2 The First Alchemists

Lost Gems of Knowledge

The Gods of Alchemy

Thoth: The Father of Alchemy

The Pillars of Hermes

The Emerald Tablet

The Treasures of Alexander

The Fate of the Emerald Tablet

The Legend of Thoth/Hermes

The Staff of Hermes

Hermetic Philosophy

3 The Land of Khem

Secrets of Priests and Craftsmen

Alexandria: Center of Ancient Alchemy

Greek Philosophy and Alchemy

The Concept of Transmutation

Destruction of the Alexandrian Texts

The Growth of Alchemy in Asia

How the Arabs Saved Alchemy

Arabian Alchemy

The Gibberish of Jabir

4 Medieval Alchemy and the Quest for Gold

The Beginning of European Alchemy

The Wizardry of Roger Bacon

Alchemy and the Church

Medieval and Renaissance Alchemy

Nicolas Flamel’s Powder of Projection

Isaac Newton and the Black Dragon

The Puffers

The Rise of Chemistry

Part 2: The Principles of Alchemy

5 The Secret Language of Alchemists

The Language of the Birds

The Birds of Alchemy

Animal Symbolism in Alchemy

The Lions of Alchemy

The Dragons of Alchemy

Silent Secrets of the Rose

Ciphers of the Alchemists

Ciphers for the Elements

Ciphers for the Three Essentials

6 The Elusive First Matter

What Is the First Matter?

Properties of the First Matter

The First Matter Is Eternal

The First Matter Is Everywhere to Be Found

The First Matter Is Cyclic

The First Matter Contains All the Elements

The First Matter Is the Source of the Philosopher’s Stone

Working with the First Matter

7 The Four Elements

The Concept of the Elements

The Four Humors

Balancing the Elements

The Quintessence

Philosophers of Fire

Elementary Fire

Celestial Fire

Central Fire

Secret Fire

8 The Three Essentials

Three Children of the First Matter

The Two Contraries

Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt

The Dance of Sulfur and Mercury

The Three Essentials in People

The Three Treasures of Taoist Alchemy

9 The Philosopher’s Stone

The Magical Touchstone

What the Philosopher’s Stone Looked Like

Preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone

The Mysterious Dr. Dee

The Hieroglyphic Monad

The Cipher of the Stone

The Lost Key to the Monad

Part 3: The Operations of Alchemy

10 The Ladder of the Planets

Correspondences of the Planets

The Dark Powers of Saturn

The Exuberant Powers of Jupiter

The Masculine Powers of Mars

The Feminine Powers of Venus

The Transformative Powers of Mercury

The Soulful Powers of the Moon

The Spiritual Powers of the Sun

The Music of the Spheres

11 The Black Phase

The Blackening

The Calcination Process

Personal Calcination

The Process of Dissolution

Personal Dissolution

12 The White Phase

The Whitening

The Separation Process

Personal Separation

The Conjunction Process

Personal Conjunction

13 The Red Phase

The Peacock’s Tail

The Reddening

The Fermentation Process

Personal Fermentation

The Distillation Process

Personal Distillation

The Coagulation Process

Personal Coagulation

Part 4: Practical Alchemy

14 Inside an Alchemist’s Laboratory

A Tour of a Medieval Laboratory

The Athanor

Alchemical Glassware

The Chemicals Used by Alchemists

Vitriol

Natron

Liquor Hepatis

Pulvis Solaris

Hidden Energies in the Lab

The Oratorium

Alchemists and Chemists

Women in Alchemy

15 The Spagyric Process

The Doctrine of Signatures

Types of Medicines

Allopathic Medicine

Homeopathic Medicine

Spagyric Medicine

The Planetary Signatures

The Star in Plants

The Three Essentials in Plants

Planetary Influences in Spagyrics

Planetary Hours

Paracelsus the Great

16 The Kitchen Alchemist

Setting Up Your Kitchen Lab

Making Alchemical Compounds

Making Tinctures

Making Elixirs

17 Working with the Planetary Metals

Saturn’s Metal: Lead

Lead and Silver

Saturn Signatures in Lead

Lead Poisoning

The Hidden Promise of Lead

Jupiter’s Metal: Tin

Jupiter Signatures in Tin

The Tin Plague

Mars’s Metal: Iron

Iron’s Love for Carbon

Mars Signatures in Iron

Venus’s Metal: Copper

Venus Signatures in Copper

The Love Affairs of Copper

Mercury’s Metal: Quicksilver

Mercury Signatures in Quicksilver

The Dual Nature of Mercury

The Moon’s Metal: Silver

Lunar Signatures in Silver

The Moon’s Influence Over Silver

The Sun’s Metal: Gold

Solar Signatures in Gold

The Sun’s Influence Over Gold

Part 5: Spiritual Alchemy

18 Mental Alchemy

The Salted Personality

The First Matter in People

The Four Elements in People

The Planets in People

Jung and Alchemy

The Black Phase of Mental Alchemy

The White Phase of Mental Alchemy

The Red Phase of Mental Alchemy

19 Alchemy of the Soul

The Dragons of Spiritual Alchemy

The True Imagination

Alchemical Meditation

The Azoth of the Philosophers

The Operations of the Azoth

The Ray of Saturn

The Ray of Jupiter

The Ray of Mars

The Ray of the Sun

The Ray of Venus

The Ray of Mercury

The Ray of the Moon

20 The Sacred Marriage

The Sacred Marriage in You

The Inner Marriage

Birth of the Philosopher’s Stone

The Sacred Marriage in Christian Alchemy

The Three Marriages in Alchemy

The Sacred Marriage in Psychology

Part 6: Modern Alchemy

21 Alchemy and Medicine

The Life Force

Paracelsian Medicine

Healing with the Metals

Healing with Lead

Healing with Tin

Healing with Iron

Healing with Copper

Healing with Mercury

Healing with Silver

Healing with Gold

22 Social Alchemy

The Alchemy of Relationships

Calcination in Relationships

Dissolution in Relationships

Fermentation in Relationships

Distillation in Relationships

Coagulation in Relationships

The Relationship Laboratory

Alchemy in the Workplace

Calcination in the Workplace

Dissolution in the Workplace

Separation in the Workplace

Conjunction in the Workplace

Fermentation in the Workplace

Distillation in the Workplace

Coagulation in the Workplace

Transforming the Workplace

Wealth: The First Matter in Society

23 The Science of Magic

The Science of the Future

The Mystical Nature of Light

Early Theories of Light

The Alchemical Rebis

Quantum Alchemy

Twentieth-Century Alchemists of Science

Albert Einstein (1879–1955)

Werner Heisenberg (1901–1976)

Barbara McLintock (1902–1992)

David Bohm (1917–1992)

Wolfgang Pauli (1900–1958)

The Philosopher’s Stone of Physics

The Projection of Consciousness

The Alchemy of Evolution

Appendixes

A Resources

B Glossary

About the Author