Edward III Noble

“The only coinage of nobles which has been attributed to alchemy was that made by Edward III in 1344.  The gold used in this coinage is supposed to have been manufactured in the Tower, the adept in question was not Raymond Lully, but the English Ripley.”

- From Lives of Alchemystical Philosophers,  by Arthur Edward Waite (1888)

We know that a good story, told with assurance and a sanguine nod, is an entryway to a complex house. Generations can pass inside, each new teller in turn captivated by the intricacies of  it’s construction.  Whispers of hidden halls draw some deeper, seeking temple foundations beneath a common wood floor.

And then someone passes by and mentions the entire house, history and all, is built with ephemeral and misleading words, oh you thought that was a hallway? You must have misread, or misheard, you’re still standing awkward, awaiting entrance on the porch outside.

There is a story that recounts Raymond Lull’s time minting coins for King Edward in the Tower of London. This story is a perfect example of the houses we are discussing, its construction paid for with 14th century gold coins, minted in the 15th century. Shall we investigate?

“The first gold that K(ing) Edw. 3. coyned, was in the yeare 1343, and the peeces were called Florences, because Florentines were the coyners, as Easterlings of Sterling money: Shortly after he coyned Nobles, of noble, faire & fine gold, the penny of gold; afterward the Rose Noble then current for 6, shillings 8. pence, & which our Alchimists do affirme (as an unwritten verity) was made by projection or multiplication Alchimicall of Raymond Lully in the Tower of London, who wold prove it as Alchmically, beside the tradition of the Rabbies in that faculty, by the inscription; for as upon the one side there is the kings image, in a shippe to notifie that he was Lord of the seas, with his titles, set upon the reverse a crosse floury with Lioneux, inscribed ‘Jeus autem transiens per medium eorum ibat.’ (Luke 4:30 – Jesus passing through the midst of them went his way) Which they profoundly expound, as Jesus passed invisible & in most secret manner by the middest of Pharisees, so that gold was made by invisible and secret art amidst the ignorant. But other say that text was the onely Amulet used in that credulous warfaring age to escape dangers in battailes.”

- from Remaines Concerning Britaine, by William Camden (1636)

Within the official histories provided to us,  Raymond Lull (ca. 1232 – ca. 1315) is a figure worthy of respect. He was a scientist, theologian, and rational mystic whose far reaching genius allowed him to imagine philosophical machines six centuries prior to the invention of the computer. Mathematical complexity does not always make for interesting table talk, however, and in order to travel through the popular imagination he had to pick up attributions for a few more indulgent inventions.  The elegance of Lull’s angelic machines lost beneath the luster of transmuted gold.

As Mariano Tomatis points out in his discussion of storytelling,  infinite games and the mythology of another paper house, Renes Le Chateau, “the end of (an) infinite game is constantly threatened by anyone who claims to own the “ultimate solution” of its problem. Any contribution academically sound is immediately rejected by the large community of players, because every demystifying statement closes at least one of the possible extensions of the game, thus threatening the very purpose of the infinite game, which is to continue indefinitely. ^“

A passage in a 17th century text that states coins minted in Britain after 1343 by a person who died in North Africa sometime between 1314-1315 might seem a bit spurious. Perhaps a passage from a 19th century text that places the events at least within Lull’s lifetime will do better.

“Among the earliest of the coins, whose undisputed existence was regarded as visible proof of hermetic labors, were the so-called Rose nobles made from gold artificially prepared by Raymund Lully. This celebrated alchemist (1235—1315) was invited by Edward II, King of England, about the year 1312, to visit his realm; on his arrival he was furnished with apartments in the Tower of London, where he transmuted base metals into gold; this was afterwards coined at the mint into six millions of nobles, each worth more than three pounds sterling. These Rose, or Raymund nobles as they were also called, were well known to the antiquarians of the sixteenth century, and were reputed to be of finer gold than any other gold coin of that day. On the obverse of these coins is represented in a very rude fashion a ship floating on the sea decorated with a royal ensign and carrying the king, who bears in his right hand a naked sword and on his left arm a shield. Around this design: Edward D[e]1 Gra[t1a] Rex Angl[le] Z Franc[1ae] D[om1]n[u]s 1b[ernle]. (Edward by the grace of God King of England and France, Lord of Ireland.)

On the reverse a conventional rose surrounded by four lions and ducal crowns, alternating with four lilies. The inscription on the outer circle reads: Jhs. Aut. [em] Trans1ens. Per. Med1um 1llor.[um] 1bat. (But Jesus passing through the midst of them went His way.) St. Luke iv : 30. (Wiegleb, Untersuch. Alchemie. Weimar, 1777, p. 217.)

Rose nobles are figured by Lenglet du Fresnoy in his Histoire de la Philosophie Hermetique (Paris, 1741, Vol. II, p. 8.), who remarks, “They are less rare in the north of England than in the capital; one of my friends had several, some of which weighed ten ducats.” These coins are said to have been worn as amulets to preserve from danger in battle, and to have been used as touch pieces in connection with the gift of healing by royal touch. {Pettigrew, Superstition in Medicine and Surgery. London, 1844, p. 129.)

Lully himself, in his ” Last Testament,” declares that while in London he converted twenty-two tons’ weight of quicksilver, lead and tin, into gold. This relation is vouched for by Cremer, Abbot of Westminster (Maier’s Tripus Aureus. Francofurti, 1618, p. 183), and the Raymund nobles are described by William Camden, the English antiquary {Britannia sive regnorum Anglice descriptio, 1586), and by John Selden (Mare Clausum, 1635). Robert Constantine, in his History of Medicine (1545), states that he found public documents confirming the report that Lully made gold in the Tower by order of the King, and Dr. Edmund Dickenson relates that the workmen who removed the cloister which Lully occupied at Westminster found some of the powder, by which they enriched themselves. Historians who do not believe in transmutation, point out chronological discrepancies which throw doubts on the pretensions of Raymund Lully. (See Wiegleb, op. cit.)”

- From Contributions of Alchemy to Numismatics, by Henry Carrington Bolton (1890)

Although in the preceding telling of the tale poor Raymond is left to escape England with only 3 years left in his life to pen and publish a Last Testament.

While this would be a hard task for most, it becomes even more difficult since, according to the historical record, he undertook a series of strenuous missionary and intelligence gathering trips to North Africa during the 11 years between 1304 and 1315, when he finally died following complications from being attacked while proselytizing in Algeria.

Not even King Edward can hold his head in the various tellings of this tale, with the interplay of factual dates confounding grandfather, father and son, Edward I, Edward II and Edward III, and the dating of the coins themselves sometimes falling into the hands of Henry IV.

In the stories surrounding the origins of the Rose Nobles, how enchanting it is to see Lull’s hand in creating “the earliest of the coins, whose undisputed existence was regarded as visible proof of hermetic labors.”  So much easier to say that than to pick up the Herculean task of study it would take attending to the true mercurial depths that await us in Lull’s writings.

For us to call it all farce and falsity, however, misses a grand opportunity to join this infinite game.

First of all, there is still the Englishman, Ripley, to account for, or did we forget that while Lull held our attention throughout this investigation, in the opening quote A.E. Waite had already put us on another trail.

Second, and perhaps more important, we desperately need to ask how is it that a hammered out bit of metal is able hold up the economy of a nation? What magic is it that even allowed a story about the origin of a coin to bear seven centuries of retelling? Or is the importance really in the tale itself?

“In the King’s fifth year, by another indenture with Lord Hastings, the gold coins were again altered and it was ordered that forty five nobles only instead of fifty as in the last two reigns should be made of a pound of gold. This brought back the weight of the noble to one hundred and fifty grains as it had been from 1351 to 1412 but its value was raised to 10s.

At the same time new coins impressed with angels were ordered to be made, sixty seven and a half to be struck from one pound of gold, and each to be of the value of 6s 8d, that is to say the new angel which weighed eighty grains was to be of the same value as the noble had been which weighed one hundred and eight grains.

The new nobles to distinguish them from the old ones were called Rose Nobles from the rose which is stamped on both sides of them, or ryals or royals a name borrowed from the French who had given it to a coin which bore the figure of the King in his royal robes, which the English ryals did not.

Notwithstanding its inappropriateness, however, the name of royal was given to these 10s pieces, not only by the people but also in several statutes of the realm. “

- From The Gold Coins of England: Arranged & Described, by Robert Lloyd Kenyon – (1884)

Ah, and there we have it, we know that a good story, told with assurance and a sanguine nod, is an entryway to a complex house, which, once entered, can lead one ever deeper into a maze of false leads.  It’s the old trope of 1,001 Arabian Nights, keep the story going and stay alive another day.

In this case however it was the monarchy who was protecting itself, and who better to blame for fluctuations in the economy than the dubious figure of the alchemist.

These are no mere coins, but blessed talismans, transmutation having proven the King’s right to rule the realm in which they are traded. “These coins are said to have been worn as amulets to preserve from danger in battle, and to have been used as touch pieces in connection with the gift of healing by royal touch. ” Here the sacral nature of the economy is assured. Though lesser coinage may be cast into the fold, the likeness each bears to the Rose Nobles allows it to carry some part of the subtle significance the true talismans possess. Each coin points back to the  promise of  “healing by royal touch.“

It’s an infinite game, even the skeptical responses, such as one theory that the Rose Nobles were coined using funds gained through a wool tax, contains new pathways for play. Wool tax? Subtle cant for fleecing the flock?

Or better yet, why talk about the economy at all? There’s this powder you see, and just a tiny bit of it will make you rich, or immortal, or whatever you want really…

Theories about the origins of these icons abound, from the mundane idea that these are merely standard depictions of the Madonna having lost their original patina, or that were simply carved from materials that were black and left as is, to a whole host of esoteric explanations regarding secret cults and heterodox visions of the Divine.

I hope that it is apparent to any student of the Mysteries that such explanations are never clear cut, and more than finding some empirical fact that will explain these phenomenon, it is important to meditate on them, and discover how they provide intimate keys to understanding the beauty and complexity of our shared existence.

Jaq White, on her site Stairs of Gold, provides an intriguing mediation on the significance of these figures.  The following is an excerpt from her article, The Cosmic Cycle & the Black Madonna, the whole of which is highly recommended:

“Some believe that these statues of the Black Madonna are not Christian in origin; rather, they are representations of Isis and Horus that when discovered, were wrongly identified as the Virgin Mary and Infant Jesus – if so, this would certainly create the need for explanations as to why the statues were originally hidden. However, there is another possibility; the Black Madonna might never have depicted Isis but might well be an esoteric – possibly medieval – Christian symbol…

This Cosmic Cycle is incorporated in the Christian Holy Trinity; albeit in completely masculine terms, with God as heavenly father, heavenly Holy Spirit and the divine son made of earthly matter. This was enabled through the coupling of the male Holy Spirit and the “living” Virgin Mary. In Egyptian mythology, the living Isis only conceives her son Horus after the death of Osiris. He procreates from the spiritual world, when he becomes God of the Underworld.

This can be explained in alchemical terms, with the masculine Osiris, the black virginal prima materia and fixed male, uniting with the black, volatile, female, spirit of Isis his wife, conceiving and producing the Divine child Horus,  the Earthly representative of his father Osiris. The serpents have devoured one another, the Ouroboros is realised and so the Cycle continues.

The serpent has long been perceived as an enemy of Christians, and the use of serpent symbolism in Christian iconography is generally to portray sinfulness, temptation, and the fall of mankind. The serpent as a symbol of the Divine state of man would not have been acceptable, and is still not acceptable to many Christians. However, in the “Black Madonna” we have the same trinity expressed.

The Black Virgin is, like Osiris, the father and the divine, male essence. The Black Mother is, like Isis, the mother and the divine, female essence, and the product of their union is the Ouroboros, Horus – the Christ.

The Black Madonna could be another representation of the All, the trinity – and an esoteric Christian symbol of the Cosmic Cycle. “

For the entire article click here.

In chapters 14-17 of The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy we are presented with the practical nature of the art. Prior chapters, for as many full and profound revelations they hold, serve merely to massage our world view, preparing us for the reality that, yes, alchemy does involve material preparations, but, no, it is not proto-chemistry.  For within the Art, everything is alive with spirit, from a sliver of silver to a fully realized human being, everything participates in universal Life.

“From the alchemist’s viewpoint, chemistry is a superficial and artificial science that deals only with the external forms in which substances manifest while ignoring the essences of energy and light that created them…From our modern viewpoint, it’s hard to imagine how much a part of their experiments were teh alchemist’s themselves. All matter was alive to them, and they sympathized with the subject of their work every time they exposed it to fire, submerged it in acid, or bathed it in cooling waters.”

- from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, by Dennis William Hauck

The practical work is alchemy itself. Outside of this there is merely technique and philosophy, but to actually practice the Art one must approach the matter hands on.

It seems there is some confusion in this matter due to the use of the term “alchemy” as an adjective for anything that involves change or transformation from one state to another. There is a correspondence here, at times a very deep correspondence, such as when the term is used for certain approaches to psychoanalysis, or in certain areas of the creative arts, but this remains merely a correspondence. Alchemy stands on its own, application of it’s techniques, philosophic insights or terminology merely indicates a similarity, or correlation, between the Art itself and what is being described.

This is not to reject other applications of the Wisdom gleaned from the Art, but it seems all too often that in the rush to find the Secret, to unveil the Mystery, it’s very easy to mistake sympathy and correspondence for the thing itself.

We stand at an incredible point in the history of our culture where all of the achievements so hard won in shadows, often under the threat of execution, are ours to partake in openly. Whether it’s the psychical discoveries of clandestine national laboratories, or the Arcanum itself, today all is open for those who seek and perservere in the quest.

Imagine that even as of the 19th century eager seekers and burgeoning adepti were still trading folios of rare manuscripts, paying exorbinant prices for rare books, and scrabbling to connect with others of like mind. Today we have instant communication around the world.

While you may not find transcendence on the web, you can very easily join the potent conversation that is going on across so many different disciplines, and those rare books are now just a Google search away. If, as in the past, we take the time to expand our understanding of languages and culture, even greater resources lie in store.

It seems particularly pertinent to reflect on the practical aspects of the Art, for, in a display of just how open this information has become, in less than a month Dennis will be hosting the first public demonstration of the Arcanum Experiment in the modern era. This was once performed before royalty in closed sessions, or farther back in dim lit chambers under the constant fear of persecution.

While alchemy itself has never been criminally charged, except for some brief periods where fears of forgery and ill gotten wealth lead to charges of fraud, these practices have always floated just outside of the orthodox. In certain social climates, even today, this is one step away from a jail cell, noose or a stake.

Due to some of the poisonous nature of some of the materials produced during the Arcanum experiment Dennis will be showing a video of his laboratory work at the Conference. This too is an example of how open things have become with our current communication technology. The picture at the beginning of this post is from the 20th century alchemist Julien Champagne’s laboratory, and for the most part this is as close to an alchemist’s inner sanctum as we could hope to get without initiation or fortuitous circumstance. Through video, however, we are now invited to not only view a practicing alchemist’s laboratory, but to actually take part in an active working.

“”During the process of fermentation, the First Matter was most exposed and most open to the influence of the alchemist. However, it was a delicate operation.

At the beginning of fermentation, the resurrected life was easily corrupted by another’s impure thoughts, which is why the alchemist always kept the incubator hidden – even from other alchemists. He believed that if anyone other than himself touched or even looked at this box, all would be lost…

To alchemists, consciousness was a force of nature that could be purified and directed through prayer and meditation. This esoteric part of the experiment was absolutely necessary for its success.”

- from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, by Dennis William Hauck

Hermetic silence, the key to Adepthood, is a very tenuous gift.  Our open society calls for a true adoption of this secret if one is to successfully complete the Work. As the Medieval German theologian Meister Eckhart points out, it is one thing to be at peace in prayer when you are isolated from the crowd, it is another to be at peace amidst the maelstrom of society.

When the Catholic Church removed the veil provided a separation between the priest preparing communion and the congregation the mystery was open for all to behold. And what happened? Oh…it’s just…a piece of bread? Some wine? Who cares?

But the real mystery was that it worked, an empire was built on the ritual preparation and consumption of bread and wine. The intimacy of the Divine and the mundane, the story of creation, the story of redemption, are still there, but without a purified consciousness, without the eyes to see, it all appears so banal.

In a previous post I mentioned the spagyric work of Clare Goodrick-Clarke, and her latest book Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century. Clare trained under the noted contemporary alchemist Manfred Junius, who was a member of the International Alchemy Guild until his passing in 2004. Spagyrics has not had the same level of mystique lauded upon it as the mineral and spiritual aspects of the Art, but it’s humble reception is no indicator of it’s true merit.

As Dennis points out in Chapter 15, the Western concept of spagyric preperations comes from Paracelsus, and represents the synthesis of traditional wisdom and scholarly study that he accumulated and refined over his years of practice as a medical doctor in the field. Today’s spagyric practice is even more diverse, having been informed directly by Ayurvedic, Taoist and other traditional medicinal philosophies through the cross cultural work of figures such as Junius.

This is no mere medicine however, and from their preparation to their administration, spagyrics represent a profound meditation on the relationship of Nature and the animating Energy that courses through every aspect of existence. Celestial influences, which are in turn mirrored or correpsondent to, mental influences and spiritual influences, are all represented, their drama played out in the spagyric work.

Within the full progression of the Art, spagyric preparations are used to prepare the body for attaining the Great Work.  In ancient thought our bodies were no different than plants, and by meditating, preparing, refining and applying these herbal medicines we bring the body back into alignment with its proper place in the natural order. As gardeners tending the soil from which the flower of consciousness springs.

The focus on the celestial elements in the preparation, through timing and awareness of stellar influence, brings us into alignment with the rhythm of the universal order. First, through the meditation and careful work necessary to prepare the spagyric materials, and secondly as those materials themselves work internally to realign the body.

This preparation is then used as the basis for the next stage of the work. Chapter 16  provides a valuable reminder that these processes are not high flown theory, but have very practical, everyday, applications. Dennis describes how spagyric preparations and tinctures can be prepared in the kitchen, which may surprise those who think of alchemy as an untouchable Art reserved for those with enough money to build a full laboratory.

This chapter is valuable not only for it’s practical advice, but also for the fact that it shows how our everyday existence is deeply integrated with the Sacred. One could fly through the spagyric process in order to create herbal remedies and essential oils, but if Dennis’ advice is headed, and the process is approached as a spiritual, as well as practical, discipline then the use of the kitchen itself becomes a means to bringing these insights directly into our seemingly mundane day to day reality.

With this we move into work that does require greater material preparation, but, as with everything related to the Art, this too can be seen as a reflection of it’s full importance.  Working with minerals and metals goes directly to the heart of the alchemical process, what Basil Valentine called “the first Tincture, Root, and Spirit of Metals and Minerals.”

From dust we are born, and to dust we return. So what makes up this dust? And if the return is spiritual, what does that mean? By applying the Art to the mineral and metallic realm we begin to inch closer to the Eternal. Metals and minerals last longer than a flower, and when refined and spiritualized it becomes representative of the Eternal processes of Life itself.

“”Remarkably, the iron sulfide structure of Fool’s Gold is exactly the same as the lead ore galena (lead sulfide). The only difference is that a pair of sulfur atoms in pyrite replace a single sulfur atom in galena. This pair of sulfur atoms disrupts the stubborn four-fold symmetry of the more ancient galena ore and produces a stunning transformation into Fool’s Gold. In esoteric terms, in the evolution of the metals, the appearance of the sulphur compound in iron (Fool’s Gold) has freed the lead archetype of its stubborn materiality and set form (Saturnalian aspect), and this notable transmutation is marked by the signature of gold.”

- from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, by Dennis William Hauck

This is philosophy conducted in materia, theory and practice united and demonstrated through the visible interactions between metals and minerals.  Here again we see the necessity of a different form of consciousness when we approach the Art.

“It will be necessary first of all to utter, and to acquaint you by a speech, that all things consist of two parts, that is, Natural and Supernatural; what is visible, tangible, and hath form or shape, that is natural; but what is intactible, without form, and spiritual, that is supernatural, and must be apprehended and conceived by Faith; such is the Creation, and especially the Eternity of God without end, immensible and incomprehensible; for Nature cannot conceive nor apprehend it by its humane reason:

This is supernatural, what Reason cannot apprehend, but must be conceived by Faith, this is a Divine matter, and belongs to Theology, which judgeth Souls. Moreover, there appertains to supernatural things, the Angels of the Lord, having clarified Bodies, doing that by the permission of their Creator, which is impossible for any other Creature to do, their Works being concealed from the Eyes of the World, and so likewise are the Works of the Infernal Spirits and Devils unknown, which they do by the permission of the most High God. But above all the great Works of God are found and acknowledged to be supernatural, not to be scann’d and comprehended by Humane Imaginations…”

- from Of Natural & Supernatural Things, Also of the first Tincture, Root, and Spirit of Metals and Minerals, how the same are Conceived, Generated, Brought forth, Changed, and Augmented, by Basilius Valentinus

Dennis’ presentation of the various Nobel Metals shows how a philosophic understanding of these substances, and their relationships to each other, goes far beyond what is possible from a modern scientistic viewpoint. When discussing the esoteric properties of iron this becomes apparent even on a societal and cultural scale.

“The alchemists were certainly aware of the hidden signatures of iron and the social implications of the Iron Age. Several alchemists warned of the spiritual dangers of iron, even though they recognized it was a necessary stage in the Great Work and that the iron phase eventually led to the “transformation of the body into the Spirit-Become-Form.” in Alchemy, Titus Burkhardt quotes several alchemists who warned of the dangers of the Iron Age. One described it as “an active desscent of the Spirit into the lowest levels of human consciousness, so at this stage of the Work, the Spirit appears submerged in the body and as if extinguished in it.”

- from The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, by Dennis William Hauck

Here again I would encourage readers to branch out from the CIGA and engage with all of the threads of thought that Dennis has woven into the work. Titus Burkhardt is a seminal figure in the Traditionalist movement, and his writings provide a wonderful gateway to rethinking our social and cultural situation. Through the Eranos Conferences Burkhardt is connected to Carl Jung, Mircea Eliade, Ioan Couliano, and a whole host of philosophers, scholars and creatives that sought to carry the ancient traditions into the contemporary world.

The interconnected nature of these figures, and their reflection on the work of past adepti, is a sign post to the interconnected nature of the Great Work itself. Here is a Mystery presented off hand, and yet deeply resonant with the truth of the matter. If the alchemist is working on themselves in the Great Work, how then does the Iron Age as a period of culture represent a phase of the Work?

Further illustrating these correspondences we see that descriptions of the planetary Venus are formed through observations of the chemical reactions found in her attendant metal, copper.  The overview of these correspondences provides a good grounding not only for working with these materials, but also provides a starting point for rethinking our understanding of the natural world.

For some additional elucidation of the Mineral and Metallic work, a good history of contemporary alchemy, specifically the Dry Path of Antimony carried on by the French tradition, as well as a very clear exposition of the process itself, can be found on Gyllene Gryningen’s site here.

It’s often asked what purpose alchemy can serve in today’s world, and a short side note by Dennis shows exactly what kind of influence alchemical investigations can have. Red mercury became a news item in the 1970′s when arms dealers began selling it on the black market for as much as $300, 000 a gram. It was purported to be a key component for creating an advanced nuclear weapon.

In the ensuing years the existence of Red Mercury has been shown to be a hoax in all of the instances when samples were able to be obtained from what was being put on the market. However, when we look at the fact that this hoax began from reports given by Samuel T. Cohen, the American physicist who invented the neutron bomb, the issue becomes much more difficult to immediately dismiss. Although the black market versions were fake, does that mean that the substance described by Cohen doesn’t exist?

What is scoffed at by the media, and considered folly by the masses, often holds a grain of truth that requires deeper study. So it is with alchemy, whose role in the origins of contemporary chemistry has clouded a much deeper tradition. A tradition that promises much more than merely a fancy symbolic language for describing chemical reactions. While public officials and the mass media play their shallow and facile political games, the Great Work continues in the studios, laboratories and minds of contemporary adepts who will define the culture that emerges from the next turn of the cosmic wheel.

“Early alchemists divided their chemicals into major and minor arcana. The major arcana consisted of the four compounds: Vitriol, Natron, Liquor Hepatis, and Pulvis Solaris. Three out of the four consisted of dual ingredients that were easily separable. Vitriol could be broken down into sulfuric acid and iron. Natron appeared as sodium carbonate and sodium nitrate. Pulvis Solaris was made up of the red and black varieties.

Thus, the seven chemicals comprising the minor arcana were: Sulfuric Acid, Iron, Sodium Carbonate, Sodium Nitrate, Liquor Hepatis, Red Pulvis Solaris, and Black Pulvis Solaris. The alchemists believed that these secret chemicals could be combined in the Arcanum Experiment, the single laboratory experiment that would demonstrate the archetypal forces and evolution of the universe.

Ideally, such an experiment should succeed on many levels, not only corroborating the deepest philosophical and psychological principles, but also providing concrete evidence of their veracity. The Arcanum Experiment exposed the hidden principles connecting heaven and earth, offering a framework in which to explain both microcosmic and macrocosmic events.”

- from Sorcerer’s Stone: A Beginner’s Guide to Alchemy, by Dennis William Hauck

“”The fifth rubric brings all the reactions together as the single arcanum, the united chemicals of the arcana. You have “obtained the Glory of the whole universe” by understanding the operation of the four elements on all levels: in the experiment, in our own souls, in nature, in the universe. “All Obscurity will be clear to you” points beyond the four elements to knowledge of the arcanum, your perfected soul, and the Quintessence that becomes your Stone.”

- The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation,
 By Dennis William Hauck

The ancient Egyptian Arcanum Experiment will be performed publicly
for the first time in modern history at the International Alchemy
Conference on September 16, 2011. The highly symbolic chemical
experiment demonstrates all the basic principles of alchemy and
imparts a metaphysical understanding of its operations to those
who witness it. The experiment was part of the Alexandrian
initiation process, and its secrets were encoded into alchemical
engravings, the Emerald Tablet, the Tarot, and other Hermetic
traditions.

In ancient Alexandria, alchemists performed chemical
demonstrations to develop early alchemistic philosophy and
discover the underlying principles in the creation of the universe,
which they believed had to be the basic pattern for all
transformations. Many ingenious experiments were performed to
determine the nature of the First Matter and the proper order of
the appearance of the Elements, but the most important and
impressive experiment was the Arcanum Experiment.

The Arcanum Experiment used seven secret ingredients called the
Arcana: Vitriol (sulfuric acid and iron), Natron (sodium carbonate
and sodium nitrate), Red Pulvis Solaris (a sulfur-mercury compound),
Black Pulvis Solaris (a sulfur-antimony compound), and Liquor
Hepatis (a sulfur-ammonia solution). The dramatic unfolding of the
Arcanum Experiment – from the initial heavy purple cloud to a
flash of light and the final manifestation of a precipitate -
replayed the creation of the universe in a glass retort and was
instrumental in developing alchemical theory. Because of the toxic
fumes generated in the live demonstration, a video recording of
the complete experiment will be featured. Samples of the actual
ingredients will be available to participants.

During this intensive 3-hour workshop, the chemical mythology of
the ancients will be reviewed, and ancient initiatory techniques
will reveal a powerful spiritual technology that is as relevant
today as it was thousands of years ago. By connecting at the
archetypal level with the Arcana through guided visualizations and
meditations on the experimental evidence as well as relevant
alchemical drawings, participants will be given the opportunity to
experience these universal truths firsthand.

All participants receive a sample jar of purified sulfur, the
basic ingredient in the experiment. Also included is a free
70-minute DVD on the operations of alchemy revealed in the Arcanum
Experiment and how they were encoded in the Tarot, the Kabbalah,
Taoist alchemy, and other Hermetic disciplines. A Certificate of
Completion will be issued (2 credits in the Alchemy Study Program
- www.AlchemyStudy.com).

The workshop will be conducted by author and practicing alchemist
Dennis William Hauck. The experiment was performed at his
laboratory in Sacramento, California. Hauck was initiated into
alchemy while in graduate school in Vienna and has since translated
a number of important manuscripts and published seven books on the
subject. His bestselling The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy
(Penguin Alpha 2008) is considered the best introduction to alchemy
available today, and his The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal
Transformation (Penguin 1999) presents his original research about
the mysterious artifact that inspired alchemists for centuries.
His other books include Sorcerer’s Stone: A Beginner’s Guide to
Alchemy, Alchemical Guide to Food and Herbs, Secret of the Emerald
 Tablet: The Arcanum Experiment. His website is www.DWHauck.com.

The Arcanum Experiment Workshop is Friday, September 16, 2011,
2:30-6:00 PM at the Long Beach Convention Center, Long Beach, CA.
Space is limited, so register early. $55.  You can reserve a spot at
www.AlchemyConference.com/?amigosid=5

International Alchemy Guild, P.O. Box 22309 , Sacramento, CA 95822, United State

“The acceptance of the essential unity of the universe and the cousinhood of all things

-   from Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke

“The vast field of spagyrics presents itself rather like a mosaic that is only slowly completed by the collaboration of the reader.”

- from Spagyrics, Manfred Junius

Study which centers on the very essence of truth finds it’s most valuable expression in a fully engaged life of practice. In Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke brings us a vital exploration of the humble, yet profound, art of spagyrics, the Paracelsean alchemical approach to discovering the quintessence of the vegetable kingdom.

As she explains in the introduction “The word spagyric (German spagyrik) comes from two Greek verbs: spao (to separate) and agyro (to unite), in accordance with the alchemical maxim solve et coagula, et habebis magisterium—“dissolve and bind, and you will have the magistery.” As the two Greek verbs suggest, the process of separating and combining imply a synthesis in which the finished whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Spagyrics formed the core of Paracelsus’ practical medicinal work, and draws benefits from his synthesis of folk herbalism, academic theory, esoteric philosophy and practical experience.

While many are familiar with herbalism, and the use of natural remedies, as alternatives to pharmaceuticals or invasive medical treatments, these are not the sole means of participating in the beneficial medicinal aspects of plant life. .

“We stand at the threshold of a new era of medicine and at a point where it may be useful to engage with what has been known in the past about the importance of phytomedicines in all their various forms.”

-   from Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke

Goodrick-Clarke clearly demonstrates the expansion of contemporary medical practices possible through the application of Alchemical insights. Offering no illusory cure all, she shows that it is in our relationship with the whole that we become healthy. This is medicine for living, and a living medicine, whose preparation, application and influence works to ground us in the very life of the world around us.

The physical sciences of the past identified four stages in the living expression of matter; first came the mineral realm, then the vegetative, than the animal, and finally the spirit. Each of these realms is alive in some sense, their differences expressed in how fully they are able to participate in the universal experience. Alchemy, the Royal Art, acts within all of these realms,  and can be applied, using the familiar processes of Nigredo, Albedo, and Rubedo, to sublimate and divine the essence of each station.

There is a modest admonition in the introduction to be prepared for rethinking our relationship with weeds. This belies the much deeper change that occurs as Goodrick-Clarke guides us through the history and theory of alchemy and its application to the medical field. Realizing that what we think of as weeds may be helpful as herbal remedies is a small step, compared to the initiatory leap necessary to fully grasp the correspondences associated with the Hermetic cosmology at the core of the alchemical work.

Paracelsus provides both a foundational figure for spagyric practice, as well as a historical framework where we can begin to absorb the Hermetic world view. Following his turbulent career, and exploring the influence of his insights, we are able to better understand the tensions existing between alchemical Hermetic practice and the mainline of Western thought, and the deep stream of wisdom that flows, often unseen, through the history of Western culture.

For Paracelsus the world was a series of corresponding alchemical movements, each to a greater or lesser extent interlocked in the movement of the whole. Plants, whose life force is fed by the intermingling celestial influences of the sun, moon, stars and comets, and the mineral deposits of the soil, represent alchemically active receptacles for the very essences of those influences, having refined them through organic spagyric processes. Knowing this, the spagyric alchemist further refines these celestial essences through the familiar processes of alchemy.

Exploring history Goodrick-Clarke is able to address issues of practice, theory and precedence, awakening us to new relationships with the world. Stellar influences are explored in terms of their historical understanding, and practical importance to the Art. In the second part of the book, dealing with practical spagyric instruction, this introduction proves very helpful for integrating with the full depth of the art.

We are also introduced to contemporaries such as Lily Koskinko, whose experiments with  with mineral tinctures and their reaction to certain celestial alignments, show intriguing evidence for planetary affects beyond what is accepted by most scientists. Goodrick-Clarke leads us on a historical overview of Paracelsean practice through brief introductions to the major figures that have applied his theories down to the present day.  Such historical precedence shows the need for more experimentation, and the groundwork for the present application of these alchemical preparations.

“In 1900, there were three main causes of death: pneumonia or severe influenza, tuberculosis, and enteritis. All that has now changed. Since 1940, heart disease, stroke, and cancer have taken the place of these fatal diseases. Chronic ill-health and debilitating conditions are a huge cost to the happiness of human life. The National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion describes chronic disease (heart problems, cancer, diabetes) as the leading cause of death and disability in the United States, accounting for 70 percent of all deaths.”

-    from Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke

Quoting the alchemist Arnau Vilanova she notes that “The plagues beginning in 1348 further stimulated the search for “the mother and Empress of medicines, [which] others have named . . . the inestimable glory; others, indeed, have named it the quintessence, the philosophers’ stone, and the elixir of life.” In our own time the problems attendant with globalization, industrialization, environmental degradation and the increasingly chronic nature of our illnesses have brought a similar return to the everlasting quest.

“Our conditioning leads us to see disease as something to be fought; the fight for health is a war in which the enemy (disease) must be eradicated, excised, or beaten. The means to this end often involve the pharmacological blocking of natural responses, surgical excision, and genetic modification. Most modern medical interventions fall into these categories. The medical paradigm is “to go against,” for which we use the term allopathy.

Such an approach seldom leads to cure, and a growing number of people today do not wish to take pharmaceutical drugs, which burden the body with synthesized chemicals and suppress natural responses. Despite the billions of dollars spent on drug development, it is now widely recognized and reported that pharmacological use is itself a source of disease, with many thousands of people affected by iatrogenic illness every year.”

-    from Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke

Goodrick-Clarke’s work is deeply embedded in the historical transmission of alchemical knowledge. As a student of Manfred Junius, she received hands on training in the practical aspects of the alchemical tradition from a well respected exponent of its contemporary expression.  The key to her work lies in her erudite scholarship, which allows these deeply immersive traditional ideas aterms that are accessible to the contemporary scientific and medical communities, and to all those willing to reassess their beliefs.

“Medical students typically spend their first weeks of instruction on the corpse, in all its grim gradations of decay. Once dissection and anatomy has familiarized them with the structure of the body as it is in death, they are brought into the wards, where they encounter the living. Here, students find an important difference between the living and the dead, a difference so obvious and striking as to pass without comment. Here, even in the sick, is the mysterious, magical, and mystical quality of aliveness that marks the living from the dead.”

-   from Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke

In attempting to open our vision for seeing new relationships It is important to recognize, as Goodrick-Clarke points out, how cultural conditioning leads us to certain assumptions. In the historical figure of Samuel Hahnemann, who developed homeopathic dissolution, she explores the concept of the vital force, and how this concept alters the way in which we view treatment.

Treating the controversial theories of Hahnemann, she shows the value in establishing the historical stream of knowledge before dismissing an idea. Placing Hanehmann in his proper setting, Goodrick-Clarke is able to reevaluate his theories and their application to contemporary medicine. Using Hanehmann as a focus allows the scientific dismissal of his homeopathic work to provide an opening for an accurate historical review that demonstrates the true nature of the disagreement.

Through technical specialization and application the art of medicine has deteriorated to the level of mechanics. As Goodrick-Clark points out, “conventional medical science knows a great deal about the numerous ways in which the body deteriorates in disease, but it does not have a fully developed theory of the vital force and the dynamis that keeps a person well. Many people, observing living beings, would take as selfevident the proposition that the life force exists. Yet within the medical profession, there is a determined and vocal group whose position is that “there is no evidence whatsoever for a life force.”

Scholarship and insight combine in presenting an overview of Alchemy through out the ages that aligns it with the current, and more generally know, cultural streams. Her historical knowledge aids her enthusiasm in expressing the full importance of these traditions, illustrating how current understanding lacks much of the holistic depth necessary for true healing to occur.

Both she and her husband, Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke, have been instrumental in the contemporary critical reevaluation of esotericism as an intellectual topic worth investigating. It is a credit to her work that the same critical eye for scholarship has gone into evaluating the practical application of these ideas. The second half of the work is dedicated to sharing the hands on tradition of spagyrics she learned from Manfred Junius, as well as her own insights proven through practice.  These step by step instructions continue to develop the application of the history and theory covered in the beginning of the work. Through preparing spagyric remedies themselves we are able to meditate on and integrate the insights provided by the active theory.

Access to such vital and long lived traditions in such an open manner is a gift of our current culture. As she amply expresses, “Finding a few sage leaves, steeping them in hot water, and drinking the resulting tea soothes a sore throat, or drinking mint tea alleviates mild indigestion. This book is for those who would like to go further and explore the wonderful range of healing that is ours for the taking as soon as we step out into the natural, wild world.” Go further, because as Manfred Junius mused, spagyrics is a relationship as much as a practice, a relationship with the world around us in it’s living whole. With Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century, Clare Goodrick-Clarke has provided a historically erudite, practically applicable and deeply engaging work to initiate a new understanding of our relationship with the vegetable world.

***

About Clare Goodrick-Clarke:

Clare Goodrick-Clarke is a writer, lecturer, complementary health practitioner and meditation teacher. She is currently an Honorary Fellow of Exeter University where teaching modules on the Esoteric Body, and the History of Alchemy for the MA Programme in Western Esotericism ( the first degree of its kind in the world!) You can see details at the Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism.

Since 1995, Goodrick-Clarke has been a faculty member of the New York Open Center, speaking regularly at the New York Open Center International “Esoteric Quest” conferences. You can see forthcoming conference details as well as past conferences on the New York Open Center page.

For more information you can visit her website:

Wellspring Homeopathy

and visit the publisher, Inner Traditions’, page for the book, which includes a brief preview:

Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century

Note: Special thanks to Inner Traditions for providing a copy of Alchemical Medicine for the 21st Century for research and review.

Three Phases in the Alchemical Process -

Alchemy, like any true Science operates in sequential steps. As Dennis illuminates in Chapters 11-13 of his Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, the most common division of these steps in the Western tradition is Nigredo, Albedo and Rubedo, the blackening, whitening and reddening stages.

These specific steps seem to have been codified from the Paracelsian Alchemical tradition carried forward by esoteric Masonry during the 18th and 19th century which has produced the most visible efforts in the Art and has provided the basis for so much of what we know today in practice. As with any Traditional exposition the divisions themselves are valuable more for their symbolic resonance than any hard line rule. Other models add additional levels to the process of Transmutation, but such additions usually only explore additional insights into the process which add detail, but do little to change the overall focus of the Great Work.

With these concepts in mind it’s interesting to go back and examine works such as Dante’s Divine Comedy. Here we find the Nigredo (descent into Hell), Albedo (journey into purgatory) and Rubedo (ascension into Heaven) laid onto a Christianized (with heavy influence from Greek and Islamic metaphysics) model. This same structure can be seen in the historical evidence from the practices of Mediterranean Mystery cults, Meso-American spiritual traditions, and Eurasian shamanic practices. The descent into the underworld (often via dismemberment or disintegration), purification and return forms a common motif for innumerable initiatory and religious traditions.

As becomes apparent through reading Dennis’ exploration of these phases, the integration of the process on all levels is demonstrated by astrological, chemical, spiritual, material, mythic and natural symbolism to show the reality of these processes at every level of existence.

Nigredo -

“The truth is that personal calcination happens whether we want it to or not…”

- from Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, by Dennis William Hauck

The first stage of the Work involves a return to that primal state of Void/Chaos from which all things arise. Nigredo is expressed through morbid imagery that often causes discomfort in those approaching the Art for the first time. This discomfort is nothing to be passed off, as it represents the fears of the individual who has spent a lifetime building a structure faced with the choice to dismantle that structure in the hopes of rebuilding something greater.

Our natural senses revolt at the thought of active attendance to the process of death. The materialist mindset of contemporary society makes this process even more daunting. As Dennis points out, however, this process is happening anyway, to enjoin this natural flow, and to take part in it rather than fight it, allows us to move beyond these fears into a relationship with reality that goes far beyond what seems normally possible.

The correspondences between the symbols help to provide deeper insight into the process, remember that Black is also symbolic of the Prima Materia, as are the dragon and toad.  When we enter into the Nigredo stage we are using fire and water (in it’s active state of acid), calcination and dissolution, to return to the source.  In this sense I try to remember that the pain of the Nigredo is merely the friction caused by seperating the true from the false, when the false has been given premacy and needs to put in it’s proper place.

Something like the traditional folk song “Black is the Color of My True Love’s Hair” provides a further path to embracing, rather than struggling with, this powerful process.

Albedo -

“Another characteristic of the work during Albedo is that the alchemist discovers the underlying duality of the substance she is attempting to transform. The level of purification is so great that the fundamental duality of nature is observed in the experiment.”

- from Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy, Dennis William Hauck

In order to combine two opposing forces one must first observe that the two forces themselves. As we pass through our lives we often divide things into categories, us/them, past/future, right/wrong, self/other. Binary opposition forms a powerful tool for conceptualizing, Hegel’s thesis – antithesis – synthesis and the practical evidence of this process in political revolutions, scientific inquiry, and cultural movements shows how powerful this simple model can be. After all things have been reduced through dissolution and calcination and brought back to their initial natural states, there remains the purified structure.

The Dark Queen of the Prima Materia is now seen as White or Illuminated.  Again looking at Dante’s inferno we see the Wisdom that lead Dante into Hell on his Quest embodied in Beatrice who then leads him out of Hell. When he entered Hell in a state of confusion he did so at the bidding of Wisdom then unseen, now having passed through the harrowing of Hell he finds this same Wisdom embodied in a beatific form.

There is still the sense of separation, but it is now seen in a positive light. These two primary forces, often described as masculine and feminine, exist beyond the particular that is being transmuted, and so stand firm after all else has been resolved. This is important to realize as it provides the foundation for the Chemical Wedding. To reach the undifferentiated state too soon causes a complete loss of identity.

I think of the phrase “I saw the light…” in terms of the Albedo, this simple colloquialism provides an interesting way to understanding this movement between states of Union, Duality and Multiplicity.  When we stand at the beginning of the process we are in the darkness of our unrefined being, an accidental accumulation of experiences, memories, and habits. When these are rectified we still exist in a differentiated form, able to “see the light” because we are outside it. To see the light, however, also means that we have moved beyond the darkness and into a new state of being.

This realization allows us to move into the process of Conjunction, what we can see, we can move towards and eventually embrace. The sexual symbolism used provides a further implication of the intimacy of this process and it’s potential for producing what Dennis describes as “the development of a spiritual fetus within, something new and unexpected, a wonderfully refreshing presence that emerges from the suffering and darkness of the Nigredo.“

The Secret of the Golden Flower, a Taoist exposition of meditation techniques, provides an interesting line of thought on this spiritual fetus: http://www.alchemylab.com/golden_flower.htm

Rubedo -

The Red Phase is rightfully the most mysterious of all three phases. This phase represents the prior two phases brought to an even more purified ascendency. As the Peacock’s Tail emerges from the experiment we see all of the seperations that happened in the Nigredo sped up and encapsulated within a single movement that moves again into Whiteness.

This is the stage in which the Alchemist becomes a master, in which the Adept can take the process of transmutation to an active level of involvement in the world, the stage of projection.  The unification of Soul and Spirit is a very humbling thought, the subtle essence of individuality literally taken in Union with the Spirit of existence itself.

One way to think of the power of this process is to think of being drunk, there is a reason that hard liquor is known as Spirits, and fermentation and distillation form the process of it’s refining.  Imagine the feeling of freedom that comes from drunkness, only on a spiritual level, unattended by the negative consequences the next day. This is why so many references to ‘spiritual drunkenness’ exist in every tradition.

In a certain sense the power of this stage can be expressed through the virtues “Silence” and “Invisibility” which have been ascribed to Adepts of all times and places.  Meditating on the full importance and implication of these two traits gives numerous humbling indications as to the completion of the Work.

” Tat: Now hast thou brought me, father, unto silence. Arrested from the senses which I had before; for [now] I see thy Greatness identical with thy distinctive form.

Hermes: Even in this thou art untrue; the mortal form doth change with every day. ‘Tis turned by time to growth and waning, as being an untrue thing.”

- from The Secret Sermon on the Mount, Corpus Hermetica, trans. G.R.S. Mead

I’ve been mixing around trying to get a handle in the world of work which has lead to a slacking in my post frequency, but thankfully the applicability of the Art in all walks of life has been a keen guide. It really is amazing how versatile the implications of the Alchemical Art truly are.

One of the interesting items that Dennis points out in Chapter 8 regarding the Three Essentials is the parallels between the alchemical conception of nature and Einstein’s famous equation E=MC2.  Despite contemporary skepticism in terms of the applicability of ancient traditions the Art remains a fundamental key to fully understanding all realms of science.

A quick glance through the history of scientific paradigms shows that many, if not most, of the truly great scientists have had some acquaintance with Alchemy. There are the obvious examples from the 18th century back, such as Newton, Kepler, and Bacon, but even into the 20th century thinkers as diverse as Arthur Young, who helped develop Bell Helicopters and David Bohm, who helped define quantum physics, were acquainted with Hermeticism and Alchemy in one way or another.

When not directly engaged in Alchemy, the ubiquity of the Art is such that scientists are often either proving or expanding upon alchemical ideas. Dee’s Hieroglypic Monad is a mathematical and symbolic Rosetta Stone that integrates potential relationships and interactions across cosmology, metaphysics, mythology and philosophy. Celestial and earthly secrets are encoded in this simple cruciform glyph:

Beyond it’s potency as a symbol, it also points to how a simple figure can be unpacked to demonstrate an incredibly diverse array of information. Dee’s Monas Hieroglyphica is a preeminent example of the ancient “Ars Memoria,” or art of memory, in which mnemonic devices were constructed to aid in the synthesis of large amounts of knowledge.

Thought of alchemically the process of making the glyph is itself follows the process of the Great Work, from separating the individual elements of an idea, identifying their essence, coalescing these ideas into a single figure, and then exploring the elements in regards to the whole. Meditating on Dee’s process, and the very idea of the Monad, is almost as powerful as the glyph itself.

I also have to note an appreciation for how Dennis has set up the Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy in such a way that each idea presented in the previous chapters is slowly developed, explored and expanded upon as the book progresses. The presentation of the theoretical Art, it’s historical roots, it’s philosophical aspects, and now moving into it’s practical representations, follows a pattern similar to an 18th century model of learning used by the Gold und Rosenkreuz, who, according to Christopher Mckintosh, were instrumental in keeping the alchemical tradition active during the height of the fundamentalist rationalism during the Enlightenment era. The Order proved instrumental in disseminating alchemical ideas throughout Germany, Poland, Sweden and Russia.

The planetary schema detailed in Chapter 10 provides a wonderful tool for integrating mythologically active cosmological principles into the day to day.  This is very helpful for aligning conscious activity to the natural order.  As Franz Hartmann states in his study of the life of Paracelsus:

“Alchemy and Astrology are sciences which are at the present time very little understood, because they deal with spiritual things, which cannot be known to persons who are not in the possession of spirituality. Chemistry deals with physical matter; alchemy deals with their astral principles. Astronomy deals with the physical aspect of the bodies of planets and stars; astrology deals with the omnipresent psychic influences which their souls exert upon each other, and upon the Microcosm of man.

Chemistry is a science that may be learned by any one who has ordinary intellectual capacities, and a certain amount of skill required for its practical application. Astronomy may be studied by any one who is able to comprehend mathematics and possesses logic and physical sight. Alchemy is an art which cannot be understood without spiritual or soul knowledge. Astrology is incomprehensible to those who cannot realise the true character of the stars. The books treating of alchemy and astrology will easily be understood by persons who know the things of which they treat, but to those who are not in possession of such knowledge they will be incomprehensible.“