Aula Lucis: Now Available!

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This short tract was created in the middle of the 17th century- as a work of mostly physical alchemy, it's better than most, at least in terms of being understood; all alchemical works contain veils, metaphors, allusions, but Thomas Vaughan's work is less so than many. It alludes to the philosophic fire spoken of by Pontanus (literally, a heap of composting manure to supply indirect warmth without flame) as well as other topics.

25 pages.

Freher's Process: Now Available!

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Within the realm of alchemy a heavy amount of metaphor is typically used, but Freher's short tract here is exceptional perhaps for its willingness to state that the spiritual, here, and the chemical are deliberately overlapped- that isn't to say it's as transparent as glass; the text specifically (at the end, obviously!) says there is more that could be said, omitted because it's superfluous- a common cliff-hanger style in literature dealing with alchemy.

Though short, this work has as much detail on the rudimentary process of refining base materials into the stone of the philosophers (elixir)- here more a spiritual matter than physical, as the Rosarium Philosophorum.

36 pages.

Six Keys of Eudoxus: Now Available!

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This alchemical manuscript is rather short, and alludes to Pontanus, Flamel, Hermes, and others, while proposing a six-step sort of system in which the philosophers' stone is made and used for various purposes.

It is vaguely a shortened adaptation of the Rosarium Philosophorum; making use of the general metaphor of the age- coagulating, fermenting, distilling, and other processes are overlapped with spiritual, often cosmic imagery.

24 pages.

The Tomb of Semiramis: Now Available!

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Talk about an early Yule gift; Createspace saw fit to finally accept and process this submission two months later; I have to assume whoever had it on hold quit their job or there was a glitch in the system.

This short work is alchemical in nature; it appears to adapt and retell "A Work of Saturn" by Hollandus and describes the crafting and augmenting of the philosophers' stone to create elixir- a sort of metallic substance that melts like wax at low heat (or in contact with silver) and can be dissolved in wine or injected into wounds- that this substance is a sort of mercurial compound renders it perhaps less favorable in modern medicine, although I suppose it could destroy infections.

26 pages.

Golden Tractate of Hermes: Now Available!

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The Golden Tractate of Hermes is one of the shorter variety of alchemical works ever made, but that doesn't make it worth a read; along with Pontanus' and Artephius' works (with allusions infrequently in other materials) it seeks to explain alchemy without all of the symbolism and veils most prevalent therein- a task it performs with some degree of success.

Not actually written by Trismegistus but in the Renaissance, the content here is as much to illuminate other works as to explain its own Ixir-crafting process.

24 pages.

The Stone of the Philosophers: Now Available!

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This work is quite interesting; written by Edward Kelly (sometimes spelled 'Kelley') while he was under imprisonment (either for murder or for failing to make gold using alchemy!) it is a discourse proving, he believes, several alchemical principles he held at the time, by referring to other parties' works; philosophers, alchemical authors, and works of alchemy of both known and unknown origin; the Rosary, the Turba, and many others.

The main overarching principle is quite clear and not veiled at all, possibly because Kelly wished to escape the dungeons of Rudolph II: That gold, silver, and mercury, and those in their elemental forms, are the only materials used within the main great work of alchemy. Kelly allows one exception; the work of Saturn, the creating of elixir using lead and/or antimony a-la Hollandus. Under duress, or apparently so, Kelly created a short but monumentally clear work containing little of the ambiguity of most contemporary chemical works.

34 pages.