Red Lion/Green Lion

If you enjoy Alchemy discussion, one of the best forums is Alchemy Forums.com. On this website I found a particular thread regarding a charcoal experiment, which I felt needed to be shared with my readers.

The poster has pictures and videos of his work. If you want to see it, I'm afraid you'll have to sign up for an account at the forum. However, I will outline the work that he did as was promised in my previous post.

First, using plain coal (not charcoal as is suggested in the book to which I will provide a Google link), he set it aflame and the residue that was left was described as a glassy red. So he took a larger piece of coal and set that one aflame for a larger sampling. He dissolved the red residue in water which became in his words "a dark bluey-green". He then filtered it and laid it out in a glass tray to evaporate leaving behind a "salt". A portion of this salt was then calcined and dissolved again, then compared to the other portion of uncalcined salt. The calcined portion became an even deeper shade of green.

Another member of the forum then posted a link to a book which describes the process of making a Red Carbuncle from Charcoal and Sal Mirabile. If the link doesn't bring you directly to the page, look for page 110.

The significance of this is quite intriguing. In several pictures, such as the one I last posted here, there are references made to green and red lions. I welcome anyone to explain the significance in the process of making the Stone to post comments under this post.

Recommended Reading:

La Toyson d'Or

This particular picture is from Adam McLean's Alchemy Website but he doesn't give any insite into the imagery.  And there's quite a bit of imagery to discuss.  In the center, and I've seen this particular image several times, is the wheel of V.I.T.R.I.O.L.  In the bottom left is the philosophic King and Queen, the Sun and Moon below their feet respectively.  To their left we see the Sun with a cross and Christian banner behind...

Holy crow!  There is so much going on in this picture, it'll take me the next week to meditate on it in order to come up with a plausible explanation for the imagery.

One thing that stands out almost immediately is the Green Lion, which I still haven't worked out why there are two lions - Green and Red.  However, I did recently come across a forum post regarding an experiment with coal.  This particular forum poster burned the coal and was left with a red residue which he dissolved, strained and then let stand for the liquid to evaporate.  The salt left behind was greenish.  The exact procedure used and a medieval text explaining what it is will be posted tomorrow.

In the mean time, feel free to comment your own observations of the other images from the picture above.

Interpret This Picture

From now on, every Monday will feature a picture that I will offer up for interpretation. I will attempt to give my insight and look forward to reading your replies. The below is a rare picture and it’s one of my favorites.

If you Google images for alchemy, you will find the typical carvings of a dwarfed man holding an upside triangle in front of his body, or a tree with a barrier to the left of it and the inner workings of a clock beyond the barrier. This one is unique. It is a simple picture but speaks so much. Notice the three crowns. This signifies the author of the concept. Serpents, on either side of the alembic, symbols of wisdom, inject their wisdom into the top of the apparatus, as they intertwine themselves like a double helix. Within the crescent made by their tails is a secret fire. Below even this is a starburst and three arms with triangles at the ends of each. The origin of this particular carving is unknown but two simple words can describe the picture and of course I have not completely noted every aspect of its design. Post your interpretations in the comment fields below.

Harmony; The Strength and Support of All Institutions

This topic will require a series of posts. Today, we're going to post a couple videos and let the visuals speak for themselves.

I should preclude these videos with a tidbit about just what cymatics is. Cymatics is a branch of science created by an anthroposophist (which most people have put up in the shelves along side modern quackery). I don't know enough about it to make a judgement, but I have read the book on Cymatics, watched the demonstration videos and then made my own manual sounder to demonstrate the effects of sound on matter.

Frater Albertus, one of the most referenced alchemists of our time, said in his book The Alchemists Handbook, that Alchemy is about raising the vibrations. If you don't understand this, then it's time to go back to the drawing board and study until you do. Otherwise you won't accomplish much in the Great Art.

Cymatics is the study of the effects of sound on matter. In all things, we find the holy trinity - in religion we find the Father, the son and the holy ghost, (some pagan religions use Mother, Maiden and Crohn). Masonry references wisdom, strength and beauty. Alchemist philosophers used Sulpher, Mercury and Salt, which they sometimes referred to as the King, Queen and the Philosopher's Child. Robert Zoller called it Universal Intelligence, Universal Soul and Nature. A correspondent that I met in a user-defined forum helped me to define it in a more practical sense. She is actually the one who introduced me to Cymatics.

My dear reader, as you watch the videos, I ask that you keep in mind and contemplate the holy trinity of light, sound - and from the combination of these two things comes form.

Enjoy.

Notice that the higher the pitch, the more complex the design becomes.

1 of 3

2 of 3

3 of 3

Harmony Part 2

Suggested Reading:

Hans Jenny's Cymatics: A Study of Wave Phenomena and Vibration

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God Does Not Exist

I had originally intended to post a topic regarding cymatics and alchemy, but after perusing a few blogs and forums, I find that there is a more pressing concept that needs to be addressed.  This of course is the topic of God, and I’m sure that if the right people read the blog, I’ll receive a bit of fire for the below statements.

The Neo-Judeo-Christian God does not exist in any form save in that of the imagination.  For existentialists, that should then be enough but these neo-Christian-Judeo faithful are not looking for philosophy and self reflection.  They are looking for a concrete definition of God – evidence that there is something outside of the Universe (impossible), and proof that the sum (i.e. God) is greater than the whole of its parts (all of creation).  This includes those bloggers and educationally limited forum quibblers who equate the concept and philosophy of monotheism with the blanket word religion. 

As the definition of this God is given to the three Abrahamic religions in the Old Testament, I will attempt to use semantics to help further elucidate this ancient concept of God. Simply put, God is existence. 

One forum poster hit the nail on the head when observing that the name God is not actually a name but more of a label and I wonder how correct s/he knew s/he was when making this statement.

Names are powerful things.  The most beautiful sound that anyone likes to hear is their own name being spoken.  It feeds our ego, identifies us as individuals.  We might tell ourselves that this statement doesn’t apply to us, but the next time someone addresses you incorrectly, notice even the most miniscule twang of insult creeping up in your consciousness and remember what you’ve read here.  In the time of Abraham, and of Isaac and Jacob, cities were thought to be ruled by individual gods, each having their own name.  And if someone knew the name of that god, with its different attributes, then that god could be controlled and his powers used.

Now, Moses came to the burning bush (this is a myth intended to teach a lesson).  He said to the bush, “Behold, when I come unto the children of Israel and say unto them, the God of thy Fathers sent me unto you, and they shall say unto me, What is his name?  What shall I say unto them?”  Moses asks for a name, but is sorely disappointed – or is he?   God responds with “I am that I am”.  That simple sentence defined the name of God as succinctly as any could have.  Recognize that in every language, there is a verb which means “to be”, to exist in a certain state.  This myth of the burning bush is intended to illustrate that it is at this point in Moses training as a priest that he begins to understand that God is not simply a strong magical spirit.  Moses has an epiphany that God is everything.  God is the bush, he is the ground, he is Moses himself and he is the air that Moses breaths.  He is all things and yet he is not a thing.  Because God is not a single thing, God can not be named – not out of reverence, but simply because it is impossible.  Could you imagine praying to your god and having to say, “Dear rock-dog-cat-sand-water-salt-mom-dad-sister-brother-bird-tree-leaf-fire….” Age and time would catch up with you before you were done saying the name.

Instead, we have found substitute names.  The Hebrews use the word Adonai, Muslims use the word Allah, and Christians use the word God.

To practice alchemy with any other understanding of the word God is to pursue a false dream, and I would encourage anyone who has a different opinion on the matter to respectfully leave this art to those of us who do indeed understand this.

Suggested Reading
The Old Testament/The Tenach

The Emerald Tablet

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The Tesseract

Please read this brief introduction if you are new to this blog before reading the following post.

Ah, yes... Madeleine L'Engle's A Wrinkle in Time may have been a wonderful novel but she did touch on one geometric concept that is central to the concept of the Perennial Philosophy inherent in Alchemy.

The Tesseract



Lets move first from simplicity to complexity. 

The above rotating model demonstrates my personal hypothesis of the motion of the Universe.  To begin with, notice the cube in the immediate center of the structure.  As it progresses to the right, it widens and then moves backwards to the left side of the image, finally collapsing in on itself and returning to the center to begin the cycle over again.

Let's compare this to the model of the Big Bang.

In the beginning, the Earth was without form and void... oh, wait.  Sorry wrong story. Or is it?  More on that later.

In the beginning, the entire Universe was completely contained within a space smaller the the head of a needle, ultimate density, and within this space were the four primary fources, electromagnetic force, strong and weak nuclear forces and gravity.  For some reason they broke apart causing the universe to inflate (known as the inflationary period).  Within an extremly short period of time, the universe blew up from the size of a pin head to the size of a grapefruit.  Look again at the Tesseract.  As the center moves outward to the right side, it expands.

Here comes the tricky part and is dependent on the critical density of the universe.  I refer the reader to NASA's website which explains it much more succinctly than I can in this post.  While current research might suggest that the universe is flat, I respectfully disagree for the sole purpose that if it is open (or flat) then General Relativity is an imcomplete theory.  With Relativity having proven its effectiveness in more than just Theoretical Physics, but also in practical reality, I am inclined to believe that Einstein was right when he offered mathematical proof of a closed universe.

That said, let's assume that the universe is shaped like a balloon.  Now we have to understand the basic concept of relativity and time, which essentially says that every point in space is unquestionably connected with a specific time - thus the "space-time continuum".  So, for instance, where you sit right now is not only where but also when.  That space under your butt will be fractionally different and continues to become so as you read this.

Let's imagine that we can pick a point on the Tesseract and say that that's where we are now.  Try to follow that point and imagine that as we travel from the past into the future, we begin to notice that our past is actually becoming our future.  Go ahead and try it.  I'll stop typing for a second so you can look back up at the image.

Done?  So in summary, we are here now, because we were here before and we will continue to be here because we are here now.

Suggested follow up reading:

Stephen Hawking's A Brief History of Time

Albert Einstein's Theory of General Relativity and Special Relativity

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