The Philosophers' Stone

This article is about one of the greatest secrets in alchemy: the philosophers' stone! According the teaching of our great Masters the Philosophers' Stone is the culmination of the Great Alchemical Work.

Few have been the alchemists who had the happiness of contemplating it and from those who did it, only one as far as we know left us the visual testimony of this achievement: he was Kamala-Jnana.

Not even Fulcanelli (Jean Julien Champagne) who in Dwellings of the Philosophers describes it in so much detail succeeded in materializing his great dream. (Fulcanelli - Dry Way).

Neither he nor Pierre Dujols arrived at the end of the work. In Dwellings of the Philosophers, which was mainly Dujols' research, he describes it in so much detail that us, simple students or researchers of the hermetic Art, can have a concrete idea of that so longed philosophical stone, so as not to be deceived by pretence adepts.

The Philosopher's stone

Dwellings of the Philosophers, Archive Press & Communications, P.O.Box 11218, Boulder, CO 80301, USA, pages 134 and 135:

"Many educated people call the hermetic gem a "mysterious body"; they share, about it, the opinion of certain spagyrists of the 17th and 18th Centuries, who classified it among abstract entities, styled non-beings or rational beings. Let us therefore inquire so as to obtain, about this unknown body, an idea as close as possible to truth: let us study the descriptions, rare and too brief for our liking, that certain philosophers have left us, and let us see what certain learned people and faithful witnesses have reported.

First, let us say that, according to the sacred language, the term philosopher's stone means the stone, which bears the sign of the Sun. The solar sign is characterized by its red coloration, which can vary in intensity, as Basil Valentine says, "Its colour ranges from rosy red to crimson red, or from ruby to pomegranate red; as for its weight, it weighs much more than it has quantity." So much for colour and density."

The Cosmopolite, whom Louis Figuier believes to be the alchemist known under the name of Seton, and others under the name of Michael Sendivogius, describes in this passage its translucent appearance, its crystalline form, and its fusibility: "If one were to find," he said, "our subject in its last state of perfection, made and composed by nature; if it were fusible, like wax or butter, and its redness, its diaphanous nature or clarity appeared on the outside; it would be in truth our blessed stone. "Its fusibility is such, indeed, that all authors have compared it to that of wax (64°C); "It melts in the flame of a candle," they repeat; some, for this reason, have even given it the name of great red wax. "With these physical which contains treatises characteristics the stone combines some powerful chemical properties the power of penetration or ingress, absolute fixity, inability to be oxidized, which makes it incalcinable, and extreme resistance to fire; finally, its irreducibility and its perfect indifference to chemical agents."

And on pages 137 and 138:

"Let us leave aside these processes and tinctures. Above all, it is important to remember that the philosopher's stone appears in the shape of a crystalline, diaphanous body, red in the mass, yellow after pulverization, dense and very fusible, although fixed at any temperature, and which its inner qualities render incisive, fiery, penetrating, irreducible, and incalcinable. In addition, it is soluble in molten glass, but instantaneously volatilizes when it is projected onto molten metal. Here, in one single object, are gathered physiochemical properties, which singularly separates it from a possible metallic nature and render its origin rather nebulous. A little reflection will get us out of our difficulty. The masters of the art teach us that the goal of their labours is triple. What they seek to realize first is the universal Medicine or the actual philosopher's stone.

Obtained in a saline form, whether multiplied or not, it can only be used for the healing of human illnesses, preservation of health, and growth of plants. Soluble in any alcoholic liquid, its solution takes the name of Aurum Potabile (although it does not even contain the least atom of gold) because it assumes a magnificent yellow colour. Its healing value and the diversity of its use in therapeutics makes it a precious auxiliary in the treatment of grave and incurable ailments. It has no action on metals, except on gold and silver, on which it fixes itself and to which it bestows its own properties, which, consequently, becomes of no use for transmutation. However, if the maximum number of its multiplication's is exceeded, it changes form and instead of resuming its solid crystalline state when cooling down, it remains fluid like quicksilver and definitely non-coagulable. It then shines in darkness, with a soft, red, phosphorescent light, of a weaker brightness than that of a common night light. The universal Medicine has become the inextinguishable Light; the light giving product of those perpetual lamps, which certain authors have mentioned as having been found in some ancient sepulchres...

Finally, if we ferment the solid, universal Medicine with very pure gold or silver, through direct fusion, we obtain the Powder of Projection, third form of the stone. It is a translucent mass, red or white according to the chosen metal, pulverizable, and appropriate only to metallic transmutation. Oriented, determined, and specific to the mineral realm, it is useless and without action in the two other kingdoms.

Here we have the physiochemical features that identify the true philosophical stone. We have said it over and over regarding the so-called "medicines" achieved by certain alchemists, while these auto proclaimed "adepts" keep calling their productions the universal medicine.

These aforesaid "medicines", as far as we know, are far from having the features here specified by Fulcanelli.

It is nevertheless noteworthy that Fulcanelli in his text never refers the medicine obtained from his work. This is due to the fact that he actually never achieved it.

Justice should be made to him for his great humility!

Rubellus Petrinus

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