ALCHEMICAL

LABORATORY

BULLETINS

 

 

 

Vol. II, No. 6

1971

 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Due to insufficient help at the P.R.S. the translation into other languages of some of our books is proceeding very slowly. Since we have received many urgent requests to have our out-of-print books republished, we are very anxious to accomplish this work as soon as possible. At present we urgently need help to translate the German language book "Alchemy in the Twentieth Century" into the English language. Any past or present student or subscriber who might want to undertake this task or be of assistance is urgently requested to contact the secretary, Dr. Siegfried Karsten.

INDEX

Announcements

In the Next Bulletin

Albert D. Hall

The Philosopher's Stone

Special Announcement

Questions and Answers

Translations From Our Old Books

 

OPENING AVAILABLE IN NOV. QUARTA CLASS

Due to a cancellation we have an opening available in the Quarta class: November 14-29, 1971. This is the only class opening at present.

A WORD OF THANKS

I wish to take this means of thanking the many friends who sent loving messages and made donations at the time of Frater Hall's transition. It helps to know that people care.

Lucille S. J. Hall

In The Next Bulletin

"Narcotics and the P.R.S." and more of your Questions and Answers.

The Alchemical Laboratory Bulletin is a quarterly publication of the Paracelsus Research Society, P. O. Box 6006, Salt Lakre City, Utah, 84106, U.S.A. Annual subscription $6.00 This price includes one complimentary copy to be mailed to an institution of learning or as otherwise designated by the subscriber. Individuals and institutions unable to pay the annual subscription fee may, upon verification of their request, receive tlie Bulletin gratis. Copyrighted and printed in the U.S.A.

ALBERT D. HALL

THE PASSING into the great beyond of our beloved Frater and co-worker, Albert D. Hall, is a painful loss to all who knew him and especially to those who had the privilege of being associated with him here at the P.R.S.

His gentle manner and great knowledge of physics and chemistry --he was a graduate of the Cali fornia Institute of Technology-was an immense inspiration to all. As laboratory supervisor and associate teacher he was ever ready to be of service, as all students will testify. During the months of our absence in past years-at times a half a year or longer--he faithfully attended to the laboratory activities and research conducted by the P.R.S. His advice in many and varied ways was invaluable. He occupied a place that is difficult to fill at present. We greatly miss him both for his personal presence and for his knowledge.

When, during my absence this year in the South Seas, Frater Hall's last struggle and agony were made known to me no one knew where to reach me at that particular moment. Immediate arrangements were made by me to get home in time. Upon reaching Honolulu, in the early morning hours, a telephone call home confirmed his transition the previous afternoon.

When he heeded the call to go forward into Eternity to a still greater assignment the time from his birthday, December 1, 1897, until his leaving this eartihplane on March 5, 1971, a span of 73 years, was but one of many phases, that he had sojourned among man and the limited concept of time, which he knew while here, was of little value to him, as his concept of Eternity was already known to him.

To his beloved wife, children, and grandchildren the P.R.S. is expressing and extending their heartfelt sympathy.

Thanks to donations from the students a fitting memorial will be established to the memory of Frater Hall. An amount equal to the donations of the students will be contributed by the P.R.S.

--Frater Albertus

The Philosopher's Stone

Classical literature contains many references to the Philosopher's Stone. This elusive object has been known under various names but no matter what its designation the thought of making it has challenged the mind of man for ages past. Disregarding the activity of an over-stimulated mind and confining ourselves to a rational approach to the possibilities ascribed to the Philosopher's Stone, there nevertheless appears to be curiosity mingled with doubt and hopeful assumption that after all such a substance might exist. Further, when written evidence is corroborated by ancient alchemists who have stated that they too obtained the Philosopher's Stone, then the assumption is given further credence that such a feat could be accomplished even at the present time.

However, because the composition of this seemingly elusive substance has been garbed at times in most unintelligible language and symbolism great doubt has arisen as to the authenticity of the Philosopher's Stone. Further difficulties were encountered by the would-be laboratory alchemist due to the fact that the three primal substances, sulphur, salt and mercury, were supposedly the only ingredients used to produce the Philosopher's Stone. Repeated experiments, not only by laymen and amateurs, but also by sincere chemists and pharmacists were complete failures. Never have these three substances produced the Philosopher's Stone. Alchemists and alchemical books declared othemvise. What then is the problem? Here we find a lack of understanding of the alchemical meaning of the three words sulphur, salt and mercury. It was never the intention of a genuine alchemist to suggest that crude brimstone (sulphur), salt (sodium chloride--our table salt), or mercury (quicksilver) were to be used in unison to make the Philosopher's Stone.

What then are sulphur, salt and mercury in the alchemist's language? Under sulphur was understood the oil of a metallic substance. The chemist may ask in astonishment: "An oil out of a metal? I never heard of the existence of such a thing." And we don't blame those who make such remarks! Why? Because there is nothing in technical or scientific textbooks or teachings to substantiate such a claim. Under salt it would not be too difficult to assume a mineral substance, but when it comes to mercury, the confusion starts all over again. What has quicksilver to do with the Philosopher's Stone? Nowhere in alchemy is there a more perplexing substance to be found. For ages mercury, both in word and symbol, has been the troublemaker of the alchemistical aspirant. This elusive substance was even harder to capture than was the sulphur. Sulphur, alchemistically speaking, we find definitely described as an oil derived from a metal. There can be no doubt as to what is conveyed thereby. Just as an oil can be derived from the plant and animal world, so the alchemists say it must be obtainable from the mineral or metallic world. This at least makes sense, so far as the definition goes. But mercury! called by such names as Water of Paradise, Virgin's Milk, and other strange names, and most often as the Alkahest--the best a dictionary or encyclopaedia will tell us is that Alkahest refers to the alchemist's mercury. As can readily be seen, the imagination of the would be alchemist now has unlimited room to roam. And how this imagination is still roaming in all possible and impossible directions--mostly the latter! What then is this mercury? The genuine alchemist tells us, it is a highly volatile liquid (which by analogy he compares to quicksilver) of great penetrative virtue. This philosophical mercury which he defines as different from crude mercury is unknown to any except the alchemist who has been initiated by another alchemist into the characteristics of the alchemical mercury and instructed in how to lure it from the metallic substances wherein it is to be found. This omits the chemist and pharmacist. They are not alchemists. The study of the art and science of alchemy is a very difficult one. Looked upon in the light of the present day knowledge obtainable in colleges and universities, it will easily be seen why very few ever enter into this field of study, for which no chair exists in our contemporary institutions of learning. Where, then, and by whom, can this art and science be taught? Only by alchemists. Where are these to be found? It is getting more and more difficult to answer such questions.

Let us go back to the Philosopher's Stone itself. The first and foremost attribute bestowed upon it is the supposedly inherent power to transmute inferior metals such as lead, quicksilver, etc., into silver and gold. Since present day science has experimented in this direction and produced such manifestations in the laboratory the former alchemists' claim, that this transmutation has been accomplished by them, is immediately taken out of the realm of the impossible. Physical alchemy, i.e., metallic transmutation, is an accomplished fact today as man-made transmutations such as uranium into plutonium, neptuniunn, etc. prove. Physical alchemy is therefore an established scientific fact.

If this is the case, then why differentiate between the accomplishments of scientists and alchemists? The difference is to be found in the methods used. While enormous forces have to be created by modern physicists such as in cyclotrons and the like, the alchemists in comparison use very simple, almost crude, methods to achieve their ends. It is conceded that physical science has accomplished results which the alchemist did not achieve, but at the same time it too must be admitted that the alchemists accomplished things which science has not been able to achieve, foremost among them the Philosopher's Stone. The Philosophical Mercury, the very substance required to produce the Philosopher's Stone, is also an enigma to science.

The question: "What is the Philosopher's Stone?" is therefore impossible for science to answer, because it cannot produce it. We have no alternative then, birt to look to the alchemists for an answer. Their reply is: "The Philosopher's Stone consists entirely of substances derived from the metallic realm, wherein the greatest potency is to be found that enables a transmutation of one element into another." The enormous force necessary to release the energy to accomplish this transmutation is, by analogy, to be found in the freeing of the atom as demonstrated by atomic fission and fusion which also are found in the metals, such as Uranium, etc.

The composition of the Philosopher's Stone has been known to all the world for centuries. Just because its formula has been given in obscure terminology and archaic symbolism, it is in essence not any stranger than the intermixture of numbers, letters, and Greek symbols mixed with geometrical symbolism that makes up the "jargon" of the present day physicist. To one not versed in physics it becomes utterly meaningless. Similarly, if not identically, the alclhemistical "jargon" makes sense only to the initiate alchemist. There is no hokus pokus in either language except to those who through ignorance of one or the other do not understand. The main difficulty comes from the fact that no chair of alchemy is available at colleges or universities, for lack of a capable alchemist to give instruction. Only an alchemist could occupy such a position--not a chemist or physicist unless either one at the same time was an alchemist, a combination almost impossible to find. The P.R.S. will continue to strive to accomplish this goal in the very near future, to become a blessing to mankind. If to a scientist, with an open mind, all things are open to investigation, why exclude Alchemy.and the Philosopher's Stone? Is it because of the stigma that has to do with mysticism, etc.? If this is the case then psychology, E.S.P., etc. should never have been investigated either, because these too arose out of psychic phenomena, spiritualism, etc. Not until these questionable outer wrappings were stripped away did psychology emerge as a science and parapsychology attain its rightful place. The same holds true for alchemy and its supreme manifestation, the Philosopher's Stone.

There is a reluctance among the members of the academic profession to handle the investigation of alchemy. Such a study could help solve many profound, unanswered questions and produce more knowledge of the Philosopher's Stone which is reputedly a source of physical transmutation and also considered.as the most powerful healing agent for the animal body due to the positive vitalizing rays which emerge from it and are the opposite of the negative rays that destroy cells. If no other value were to be found in the Philosopher's Stone than this it would behoove scientific institutions to prepare a way for a chair of alchemy where the substances that make up the Philosopher's Stone could be thoroughly examined in the Light of alchemy and, freed from bias, would eventually open up an entirely new avenue of approach to problems such as diseases of man and ecology that urgently needs to be solved. This is what the Philosopher's Stone is expected to accomplish if we may trust the alchemists. There is every reason to believe that they were and still are trustworthy.

Psychology required a Freud, Adler and Jung to pave the way for further evaluation for a completely new version, psychiatry, to emerge.

As with psychology, so with alchemy it is to be expected that further investigation will also yield a newer version of the underlying concept that is still concealed therein. Only if and when scientists will pioneer in alchemy will more light be shed on the subject and retrieve alchemy from the ignorance and superstition to which it has been subjected far too long. Then and then only will we know what the Philosopher's Stone is and how it can be used to benefit all mankind. Perhaps, who knows, it may be the very panacea that the world is searching for and has overlooked. Nothing is impossible to a sincere scientist. Last, but not least, alchemists have been and, whereever they are to be found today, are scientists and will continue to be scientists.

A more tolerant approach to this entire matter should make it possible to enable those who have spent decades of research in the alchemical field, to assist in the establishment of such an academically accredited branch of learning. Since such alchemical investigators are at present the only competent sources available, their knowledge would prove invaluable.

The Philosopher's Stone of the ancient alchemists may yet turn out to be of even greater value than any of us ever imagined, both in substance and potency.

What is lacked at present is for science to take a more tolerant attitude towards alchemy and to conduct impartial scientific investigation. Such investigation has been and is still lacking as concerns alchemy and its purported manifestations.

Special Announcement

P.R.S. BOOKS

Due to the many inquiries received at the P.R.S. as to which books are available and which are out of print the following will answer such questions:

Out of print are:

"The Alchemist's Handbook"

"From One to Ten"

"Praxis Spagyrica Philosophica"

"The Seven Rays of the Q.B.L."

Still available: Alchemy in the Twentieth Century in the German language only. The German title is: "Praktische Alchemie im zwanzigsten Jahrhundert" and it is by Frater Albertus Sells for $6.50 plus postage

"Men and the Cycles of the Universe" with either the English or German text. Sells for $10.00

"Paracelsus" by Telepneff. Sells for $2.20

In preparation:

"The Book of Antimony"

A new, revised and enlarged edition of the "Alchemist's Handbook."

As these books are still in preparation a definite date of publication cannot be given at present.

QUESTIONS and ANSWERS

QUESTION NO. 41--When Paracelsus lived he had no use for complicated equipment, such as I found at the P.R.S. laboratories. First, they were not available and second, to him, not necessary. Why do you use them?

Answer: It is very doubtful that Paracelsus would have had no use for "complicated equipment" as you call it. What he used was also "compli.cated" for his time. We acknowledge that equipment available to us today was nonexistent to him but that it would not have proven useful to him is open to question. If he'd had access to such equipment he certainly would have considered it necessary when compared with the clumsy clay and easily corrodable metal vessels which he had to use. As we put it once during a class: "If Paracelsus had the equipment we have today he would have thought himself already in heaven - at least equipment-wise."

QUESTION NO. 41--I was elated with the first class I took with the P.R.S. It was a revelation to me. But! When I read "The Seven Rays of the Q.B.L. before I came to class I thought I would be taught all that it contains? This was sort of disappointing, because we only got a little bit of what the book contains, which I treasure.

Answer: Here we go again. Has it ever occurred to you that those who bite off too much find that they cannot digest all of it and usually end up with a belly ache? Here, too,'easy does it." It would take at least the entire first year's halfs moon cycle and then some to go through the Q.B.L. It shows that you need oral qabbalistic instruction as your reading alone does not give you what you expect. Prepare yourself accordingly. Eventually all will make sense.

QUESTION NO. 42-- I have tried so many different alchemical procedures in my little laboratory but have extreme difficulties. To be honest I have not produced one item to my satisfaction. In fact none of my experiments have been a success. What am I doing wrong?

Answer: "So many different alchemical procedures"-that is what seems to be wrong. Stick with one procedure at a time and try to bring it to a conclusion. We agree that occasionally, timewise, we must have several experiments going at the same time but that is only considering the weeks and months involved. Coordinating our thoughts first is more important than to rush into the lab and start mixing and brewing up all kinds of concoctions because we are impatient. Our injunction "Easy does it" still holds. Give us details of your problems and we shall see if we can assist you to correct your errors.

QUESTION NO. 43--Why does science ridicule and deny the work of Nicolas Tesla, a genius who was way ahead of his time?

Answer: We do not now about definite denials of Tesla's work. The trouble seems to begin where Nicolas Tesla left off. Just "any scientist" cannot succeed Tesla. Not until an equal or superior scientist appears on the scene who is qualified to continue his work will the genius of Nicolas Tesla be fully recognized.

QUESTION NO. 44-- Would like to work with some True Unicorn which I have. It isn't usually listed in herbal books. To what ray does it belong?

Answer: We do not have a definite answer to your question at present. As books give us no answer we will have to arrive at one by inference or deduction. Valentine gives it a dual polarity of attraction and repulsion. That is it repulses poison and attracts non-poison. We may therefore not be wrong if we attribute unicorn to Mercurial influences. We have not enough evidence on hand at the P.R.S. laboratories to fully substantiate this.Your experiments and that of other students will help to establish further knowledge about this unusual plant. Since it is hard to come by, perhaps you would like to divulge your source of supply so other students may obtain it for further experimentation.

P.S. to the reader: The unicorn referred to here is not the legendary animal with one horn, but a plant by this name.

QUESTION NO. 45--Would it be simpler and correct to obtain the volatile oil. Then obtain the combined salts by the shortcut we have learned. Then combine the volatile oil with the salts and add absolute alcohol, place in a distillation process and keep pouring the distillate (moisture) over the salts until the stone is acquired.

Answer: Yes it would be simpler if you are able to obtain the pure volatile oil of the plant under question. In fact it is the proper way to do this. However, under normal procedures this requires steam distillation which not everyone is equipped to do at home in his lab. You are on the right track, if you follow the procedure as outlined.

QUESTION NO. 46--Personally I think you make a big mistake staying in the background. The P.R.S. and what it stands for should be known among all, those who are interested in alchemy and allied teachings. How can people benefit from something about which they are unaware. In Bulletin Volume 2, Number 5, page 55, paragraph 2 you state that alchemy is not merely a local phenomenon but that communication exists between its advocates. How can such communication be accomplished if you have no one with whom to communicate.

Answer: You are putting us on the spot. It is a fact that the P.R.S. rarely advertises openly. The brochure "Visual, Oral, Laboratory Instruction" was not intended for public distribution, but is given out only on request. Undoubtedly more could be done to inform individuals about the P.R.S. activities. The reason for the existence of the P.R.S. is to teach alchemy and its related subjects in the original meaning. There is little demand for such profound teachings as compared to the sensational approaches used by those who advertise what money can buy that will do practically all kinds of esoteric things for individuals. We have no desire to be classified among such. After all, the best advertisements are the results of those who can prove by themselves what can be accomplished, and that will have to be done by the individual, not by the P.R.S. We prefer to work in a smaller circle with sincere individuals, rather than with large groups where envy and petty jealousy require time and energy to bridge the gap of shallow and sensational thoughts.

If you and others of like mind think it worth your while to make known what the P.R.S. does and stands for you may do so by writing about the work or making illustrations to let others know what we do. But such advertising must come from interested individuals. Anyone may speak for or against the P.R.S. as it pleases him or her.

QUESTION NO. 47--Why do text books on pharmacy make no mention of spagyric preparations? Surely, if there is anything of value to be found in alchemical preparations it would be considered by the medical profession and prepared by pharmacists.

Answer: Mention of spagyric preparations is to be found in some textbooks. Not many, we agree, but one of the latest such textbooks known to us is in German "Rezeptbuch der Pflanzenheilkunde," Eleventh Edit. Hippocrates, Verlag Stuttgart, Germany. The reason for the unavailability of spagyric preparations in pharmacies is undoubtedly the slow, cumbersome process involved in preparation that would be costly and so would take such products out of the competitive market. Today with some people, money counts more than the effectiveness of medications--but fortunately not with all people. What is even more to the point, alchemical medications cannot be effectively prepared synthetically in order to lower the cost.

Translation from Our Old Books

About the Birth, Origin and Dissolution of Vegetabilia

from the

Catena Aurea Homeri

"All plants are brought forth by their own seeds including the one which is infused by the planets, except in the case of propagations and by way of grafting in which case the seed is already contained within.

"As soon as the seed comes in contact with the moist soil which consists of nitrogen and salt, also called "Loffas," because of the rainwater wherein the salt is dissolved, the seed begins to swell, opens up and dissolves in a milky, slimy water, as can be observed when a seed is placed in water which contains saltpeter and salt. The seed will first swell, then open and turn to a slime. Such is the first substance of plants and may be called the vegatable "Gur." Such "Gur" (juice) is warmed by the sun until it begins to evaporate. The highly volatile substance goes into the air or chaos, while the other which is not as volatile and has a tendency to contract itself coagulates into roots, stem, leaves and blossoms, which the plant represents. The fixed part of such coagulated substances is again divided into nonfixed and fixed. The fixed part becomes the root, that which is less fixed the stem and the more subtle the leaves. Everything is still moist and weak. The root representing the stomach of the plant is the vegatable magnet which draws forth food from the soil including the rainwater and also attracts the air becoming now the food for the plant to grow into plant or tree.

"Its food is therefore nothing else but the soil and the water found in it. The soil takes up subterranean vapors that rise to the surface. Such water has in itself two common seeds, namely saltpeter and salt. There is more of the salt, which acts as the magnet and attracts all that which, as manure, has been added by man. Such salts are constantly produced by rain, dew and snow. Out of this is born saltpeter. The earth soaks up the saltpeter generated by the putrified rainwater. So that the sun and heat cannot take it away again the salt fixes the saltpeter. The roots attract such salts, dissolved in the water, and separated into spirit and vapor sending it through the pores into stem and leaves. Such salts serve not only as food for plants but divide the soil and make it very subtle dissolving it further as nutrient for the plants."

NOTE TO THE READER: In the above translation it appears that two substances are prominently mentioned--saltpeter and salt. Saltpeter (potassium nitrate) and salt (sodium) seem to play an important part in the life of plants. In general terms this is acknowledged in botany. However, to the alchemist there is much more to it. Saltpeter mentioned here is a coagulated, highly volatile substance found in the air and becomes first attracted by the moisture, descending as dew, rain or snow. The salt found in the soil is like a magnet attracting the saltpeter, as proven when the three essentials known to the alchemist are separated and salt emerges as the magnet which attracts the purified sulphur and mercury. This would imply that in the natural saltpeter* derived from the rainwater, the spirit, as it reads in the translation, can be found. This should prove of immense help to spagyrists as it is to be found there in its pure form before putrefaction frees it from either rainwater or its combination of earthy (soil) substance and its coagulated saltpeterous moisture, which needs to be freed. Saltpeter burns, a sign that it contains spirit (fire).

The above should be a tremendous key to the spagyrist who is working with plants and minerals.

*Also named "free nitrogen."

What is Alchemy?

 Alchemical Research
of the Paracelsus Research Society does NOT
constitute an attempt to delve into antiquated
arts or sciences, with an objective of rejuvenating
outmoded and outdated pseudo-scientific
postulations.

 Alchemical Research
of the Paracelsus Research Society DOES consist
of attempts to reinvestigate all scientific en-
deavors ancient, medieval or contemporary,
that may not have received considerations
which they deserve, due to the then prevailing
circumstances.

 Alchemical Research
of the Paracelsus Research Society has revealed
that Alchemy is not a pseudo-science or the
forerunner'of present chemistry alone. In-
stead, Alchemy has been established as the
fountainhead of all arts and sciences. Alchemy
has been found to be the way of evolution
encompassing noumena and phenomena on
terrestrial and supra-terrestrial planes of aware-
ness.

 Alchemical Research
of the Paracelsus Research Society deserves
impartial support and recognition alike from
both scientist and laymen, who seek for the
noumena of all phenomena.

 Alchemical Research
of the Paracelsus Research Society helps to
awaken potentials lying dormant within man.
Sincere investigators participating in this fasci-
nating research will be able to produce the
evidence in the laboratory and within them-
selves.