Paracelsus, And His Influence on Chemistry and Medicine: Now Available!

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This little booklet is a description of a bit of the life and workings of Paracelsus, especially regarding his herbal physiognomy theory, his displacement of Galens' elemental beliefs, and a bit of criticism about his lifestyle choices (having been reported to be a drunk, and known to be egotistical and a bit power-mad.) Paracelsus was arguably the father of pre-modern chemistry, forming a missing link to the past, as he maintained an interest in astrology and alchemy, subjugating the latter to medicine as opposed to fixating on the idea of transmutation.

31 pages.

Ancient Mysteries and Modern Revelations: Now Available!

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This rather large, dense volume is a compilation of multiple disparate kinds of spiritual and occult lore- from treatments of major figures such as Swedenborg, Joan of Arc, and Paracelsus, to sections dealing with the initiation rites and basic beliefs of the Ancient Egyptians and Greeks, to a few then-modern meanderings into spiritualism and related fields. It is written from a spiritualist background, and casts some aspersion on certain tenets of mediumship and other practices, and is essentially a reformist occult work of sorts.

263 pages.

Alchemy Collection: Now Available!

 

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This full length work is the alchemical companion to my prior compilation of demonological lore. It contains fourteen separate full length works ranging from philosophical tracts to chemical experiments, with a full preface, short bibliography and list of terms, and an appendix with a few snippets from other alchemy texts I have edited.

It is meant largely for those interested in the historical impact and development of this field, which is at once early science and superstition, at once literal chemistry and heavily religious veiled metaphor. Alchemy, as the reader will see, is hardly the monolithic and dated entity it is sometimes regarded as.

366 pages.

Mystics of the Renaissance: Now Available!

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This book is one of those works Rudolf Steiner wrote which primarily compiles and analyzes and draws from secondary sources; namely, as the title suggests, some of the mystic minds of the Renaissance, although it includes, also, Medieval minds and some contemporary work by Eckhart and others. It goes from Paracelsus and Agrippa through Boehme and many others.

The statements made here vary both from those sources and Steiner; it speaks of the nature of being, the nature of divinity, the relationship between man and the deity or deities he worships, and meanders from those into sub-topics as well. It is quite well written and interesting as Steiners' works tend to be. As a pointless but meaningless aside the initial source file was around 300 pages in length, which goes to show you the odd format and line spacing used in the early 20th century.

120 pages.

The Alchemical Catechism: Now Available!

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This short, sweet work is actually one of the better alchemical works I have edited, at least insofar as being easily understood in its explanations of topics within alchemy such as the inferred differentiation between the heating action of digestion (manure decomposing!), the anaerobic burn (a kiln) and open flame. It is in the form of questions and answers, and was first worked into this form by AE Waite, that madman of manuscripts himself.

Its interesting content regarding the generation of materia by the action of vapors within the Earth is a primitive forerunner to the modern understanding of volcanism and tectonics.

32 pages.

Aphorisms of Urbigerus: Now Available!

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One of the foremost texts of alchemy, the Aphorisms of Urbigerus remains one of the better kept secrets of the tradition. Written in 1690 and originally of English manufacture, it contains a series of 100 short statements (technically 101 statements) on alchemy, and alchemical philosophy.

Referring often to the green dragon, the red lion, and other alchemical veils for simplistic chemical terms, it allows the reader, so it claims, to create three stages of purified mercury and several types of elixir- through both a long, proper method, and a shorter but less effective one. It combines the quite literal with the metaphoric in such a way that the modern reader can presumably determine what specific chemical processes are being used; as is not the case with at least half of all works of alchemy.

Alchemy Books For Sale

The following is a continuously edited list of works which I have released which pertain to alchemy. All links are to Amazon.

THE CHEMICAL ART
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Ficinus' philosophical work containing an extremely interesting conversation between a necromancer and Satan among other things, with regards to alchemy.

A TRACT OF GREAT PRICE
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An interesting philosophical work of unknown authorship. It relates the generation of metals to the ascension of vapors and their mixing with other materials.

CONCERNING THE TINCTURE OF THE PHILOSOPHERS
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A spurious Paracelsian work of note, openly threatening the enemies of "true" alchemical lore.

THE AURORA OF THE PHILOSOPHERS
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Paracelsus' work relating the occult to past civilizations and attempting to refute errors in then-modern alchemical philosophy.

THE GOLDEN CHAIN OF HOMER
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A series of statements regarding reality and the practice of creating and transmuting.

THE ROSARY OF THE PHILOSOPHERS
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The longest alchemical text; a series of intricate illustrations and partly metaphoric chemical experiments; equal parts philosophy and physicality.

THE THREE ELIXIRS OF ALCHEMY
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A short work attributed to Hollandus- speaks of the creation of elixir, a universal medicine of cosmic capabilities.

THE TWELVE KEYS OF BASIL VALENTINE
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Mostly philosophical and part metaphor- almost certainly a spurious work of later date. This version omits the attractive but useless woodcuts of later editions.

THREE TREATISES ON ALCHEMY
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The Transmutation of Metals, The Celestial Ruby, and A Fount of Chemical Truth by Philalethes.

THE MIRROR OF ALCHEMY
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Roger Bacon's hands-on experimentation with replicating natural forces to create metals.

A WORK OF SATURN
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Details the creation of universal medicine through purifying and processing lead.

APHORISMS OF URBIGERUS
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A series of 100 alchemical aphorisms which detail the creation of elixir.

ON THE PHILADELPHIAN GOLD
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A philosophical dialogue between Philadelphus and Philochrysus on the topic of spiritual matter.

THE SECRET WORK OF HERMETIC PHILOSOPHY
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A less difficult alchemical manuscript explaining the creation of the stone of the philosophers.

THREE WORKS ON ALCHEMY
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Trithemius' "Everburning Lights", Philalethes' "Alkahest", and Pontanus' "Philosophic Fire".

TURBA PHILOSOPHORUM
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One of the better known and earliest alchemical works in the form of a lengthy dialogue.

TRACT ON THE TINCTURE AND OIL OF ANTIMONY
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A Baconian work of note. Short, but in depth medicinal and chemical practice. Mostly literal.

STONE OF THE PHILOSOPHERS
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One of the most interesting works of Kelly, created while under imprisonment. A very literal work claiming that only gold, silver, and quicksilver are used outside of any works of Saturn.

GOLDEN TRACTATE OF HERMES
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A largely explanatory work which seeks to make the process of alchemy more understood.

A SUBTLE ALLEGORY
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A short work by Maier relating alchemy in the tale of the Phoenix as a metaphor.

THE TOMB OF SEMIRAMIS
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A short work re-adapting and clarifying Hollandus' system of elixir creation.

THE SIX KEYS OF EUDOXUS
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A six-step program to crafting the philosopher's stone and attendant compounds.

FREHER'S PROCESS
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A short and semi-transparent spiritual counterpart to physical alchemy.

THE ONLY TRUE WAY
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A very short tract explaining some major alchemical terms while criticizing past alchemists as frauds.

AN EXPLANATION OF THE NATURAL PHILOSOPHERS' TINCTURE
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A short tract on the compounds prepared for alchemy, using a lot of spiritual metaphor and secondary sources.

CONCERNING THE HERMETIC ART
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A short academic work detailing some physical and some spiritual alchemical topics.

AULA LUCIS
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A short and mostly physical tract that refers to Lully, Trithemius, Philalethes, and more.

THE ALCHEMICAL CATECHISM
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A short work in the form of question and answer explaining most significant physical alchemical topics.

NEW CHEMICAL LIGHT
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About a hundred pages of Waite-transcribed lore regarding physical alchemy, from Sendivogius.

THE ROMANCE AND MYSTERY OF ALCHEMY AND PHARMACY
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A fine edition containing herbal recipes, fictional and nonfictional medical lore, and quite a bit on the subject of alchemy.

A COLLECTION OF ALCHEMY
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A compilation of fourteen premiere alchemical works, with a substantial preface, appendix, reading list, and list of terms.

Paracelsus - The Aurora of the Philosophers: Now Available!

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Originally rendered into English by the 1600s, the Aurora of the Philosophers (or Monarchia) of Paracelsus is one of the foremost of all alchemical works ever created.

This particular work is of note for two reasons. First and foremost, it covers the ancient history of magick according to Paracelsus, as derived from Persia, Egypt, the Chaldaeans, and Hebrews. Second, it supplies hands-on experimentation where the vast majority of works supply only theory. For obvious reasons I in no way condone or encourage the working of any experiment in this work.

It additionally refutes some of the then-common myths regarding the work of alchemy in rather good detail.

47 pages.

A Twofer! Coming Soon: Aurora of the Philosophers and Operation of Demons

Two literary materials (both fairly short and quick edits) will soon be available and will be posted here, presumably on different days; Paracelsus' extremely good "Aurora of the Philosophers" and Psellus' "Operation of Demons."

The first text, by Paracelsus, is partially philosophy, partly how-to, and partly warning to the reader to avoid alchemical charlatans- counterfeiters especially, using various chemical means to make fake currency. The philosophical content includes a deep and rather insightful analysis of the origins of magick itself- not merely alchemy.

Psellus' work ruminates through a Socratit dialogue on the topic of categorizing demons: What are they? What do they appear as? How many categories of them exist? It also provides an amusingly modern explanation (without meaning to) of the force of possession, attributing one such case noted in the text as the result of some sort of hallucinogenic drug. This work was already translated into English in the 1840s and needed precious little actual editing beyond a foreword to explain the work, new formatting, and some de-antiquation of a few lingering archaic references.

Golden Chain of Homer: Now Available!

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When works of alchemy are made, mostly they fixate on obscure philosophy- the only exceptions I have encountered are this work and some of Paracelsus' materials. The Golden Chain of Homer, however, is explicit and describes actual alchemical experiments and their recipes.

For those interested in alchemy this work is highly recommended; it may be seen as a somewhat dense but spectacular overview of the philosophy and the working of alchemy itself. Disclaimer: I in no way endorse the practice of these experiments.

64 pages.

Rosary of the Philosophers Update: Illustrating Begins... Notes on Alchemy

One of the illustrations present in the Rosary of the Philosophers.

 
Illustrating has begun for the Rosary of the Philosophers and is now approximately half completed. Many of the woodcuts present show the typical Sol and Luna being combined; the process by which the philosophical (alchemical) arts are completed. The work explains that for both pure sulfur and pure mercury, the solar and lunar element are present; in sulfur the physical outward appearance is that of the sun while the inward, hidden mercurial element is its true nature, and likewise the reverse is true for pure mercury, argent vive, in which the solar element is hidden within, while it presents its lunar, silvery nature tangibly.

It should be noted that alchemy and most alchemical works (including this one) are essentially steganographies- the foliated earth so often alluded to here is nothing more than organic material (compost) that has been leeched of its saltpeter content, such that the nitrates begin accumulating as a crust upon its surface- a process in altered form used in the production of the base matter from which gunpowder was and still is made (black powder, that is.) A true alchemical secret since such acts were, in those days, little other than wizardry to most.