Alchemy: Ancient and Modern - Being a Brief Account of the Alchemistic Doctrines, and their Relations, to Mysticism on the One Hand, and to Recent Discoveries in Physical Science on the Other Hand. H. Stanley Redgrove
an evolutionary process. The Soul of them all is one and the same; it is only the Soul that is permanent; the body or outward form, i.e., the mode of manifestation of the Soul, is transitory, and one form may be transmuted into another. The similarity, indeed it might be said, the identity, between this view and the modern etheric theory of matter is at once apparent.
The old alchemists reached the above conclusion by a theoretical method, and attempted to demonstrate the validity of their theory by means of experiment; in which, it appears, they failed. Modern science, adopting the reverse process, for a time lost hold of the idea of the unity of the physical universe, to gain it once again by the experimental method. It was in the elaboration of this grand fundamental idea that Alchemy failed. If I were asked to contrast Alchemy with the chemical and physical science of the nineteenth century I would say that, whereas the latter abounded in a wealth of much accurate detail and much relative truth, it lacked philosophical depth and insight; whilst Alchemy, deficient in such accurate detail, was characterised by a greater degree of philosophical depth and insight; for the alchemists did grasp the fundamental truth of the Cosmos, although they distorted it and made it appear grotesque. The alchemists cast their theories in a mould entirely fantastic, even ridiculous—they drew unwarrantable analogies—and hence their views cannot be accepted in these days of modern science. But if we cannot approve of their theories in toto, we can nevertheless appreciate the fundamental ideas at the root of them. And it is primarily with the object of pointing out this similarity between these ancient ideas regarding the physical universe and the latest products of scientific thought, that this book has been written.
It is a regrettable fact that the majority of works dealing with the subject of Alchemy take a one-sided point of view. The chemists generally take a purely physical view of the subject, and instead of trying to understand its mystical language, often (I do not say always) prefer to label it nonsense and the alchemist a fool. On the other hand, the mystics, in many cases, take a purely transcendental view of the subject, forgetting the fact that the alchemists were, for the most part, concerned with operations of a physical nature. For a proper understanding of Alchemy, as I hope to make plain in the first chapter of this work, a synthesis of both points of view is essential; and, since these two aspects are so intimately and essentially connected with one another, this is necessary even when, as in the following work, one is concerned primarily with the physical, rather than the purely mystical, aspect of the subject.
Now, the author of this book may lay claim to being a humble student of both Chemistry and what may be generalised under the terms Mysticism and Transcendentalism; and he hopes that this perhaps rather unusual combination of studies has enabled him to take a broad-minded view of the theories of the alchemists, and to adopt a sympathetic attitude towards them.
With regard to the illustrations, the author must express his thanks to the authorities of the British Museum for permission to photograph engraved portraits and illustrations from old works in the British Museum Collections, and to G. H. Gabb, Esq., F.C.S., for permission to photograph engraved portraits in his possession.
The author’s heartiest thanks are also due to Frank E. Weston, Esq., B.Sc., F.C.S., and W. G. Llewellyn, Esq., for their kind help in reading the proofs, &c.
H. S. R.
THE POLYTECHNIC, LONDON, W.
October, 1910.
CONTENTS
CHAPTER I. THE MEANING OF ALCHEMY
§ 2. The Transcendental Theory of Alchemy
§ 3. Failure of the Transcendental Theory
§ 4. The Qualifications of the Adept
§ 6. Alchemists of a Mystical Type
§ 8. Opinions of other Writers
§ 9. The Basic Idea of Alchemy
§ 11. The Dual Nature of Alchemy
§ 13. Alchemy, Mysticism and Modern Science
CHAPTER II. THE THEORY OF PHYSICAL ALCHEMY
§ 14. Supposed Proofs of Transmutation
§ 15. The Alchemistic Elements
§ 16. Aristotle’s Views regarding the Elements
§ 17. The Sulphur-Mercury Theory
§ 18. The Sulphur-Mercury-Salt Theory
§ 19. Alchemistic Elements and Principles
§ 20. The Growth of the Metals
§ 22. Alchemistic View of the Nature of Gold
§ 24. The Nature of the Philosopher’s Stone
§ 25. The Theory of Development
§ 26. The Powers of the Philosopher’s Stone
§ 28. The Practical Methods of the Alchemists
CHAPTER III. THE ALCHEMISTS (A. BEFORE PARACELSUS)