The Theory and Practice of Alchemyc

In his Key to Alchemy, Samuel Norton divides into fourteen parts the processes or states through which the alchemical substances pass from the time they are first placed in the test tube until ready as medicine for plants, minerals, or men: 1. Solution, the act of passing from a gaseous or solid condition, into one of liquidity. 2. Filtration, the mechanical separation of a liquid from the undissolved particles suspended in it. 3. Evaporation, the changing or converting from a liquid or solid state into a vaporous state with the aid of heat. 4. Distillation, an operation by which a volatile liquid may be separated from substances which it holds in solution. 5. Separation, the operation of disuniting or decomposing substances. 6. Rectification, the process of refining or purifying any substance by repeated distillation. 7. Calcination, the conversion into a powder or calx by the action of heat; expulsion of the volatile substance from a matter. 8. Commixtion, the blending of different ingredients into new compounds or mass. 9. Purification (through putrefaction), disintegration by spontaneous decomposition; decay by artificial means. 10. Inhibition, the process of holding back or restraining. 11. Fermentation, the conversion of organic substances into new compounds in the presence of a ferment. 12. Fixation, the act or process of ceasing to be a fluid and becoming firm; state of being fixed. 13. Multiplication, the act or process of multiplying or increasing in number, the state of being multiplied. 14. Projection, the process of turning the base Metals into gold. *** The Great Arcanum was the most prized of the secrets of the Atlantean priestcraft. When the land of Atlas sank, hierophants of the Fire Mystery brought the formula to Egypt, where it remained for centuries in the possession of the sages and philosophers. It gradually moved into Europe, where its secrets are still preserved intact. Those disagreeing with the legend of Hermes and his Emerald Tablet see in the two hundred angels who descended upon the mountains, as described by the Prophet: Enoch, the first instructors in the alchemical art. Regardless of its originator, it was left to the Egyptian priests to preserve alchemy for the modern world. Egypt, because of the color of its earth, was called "the black empire" and is referred to in the Old Testament as "the land of darkness." By reason of its possible origin there, alchemy has long been known as "the black art, " not in the sense of evil but in the sense of that darkness which has always enshrouded its secret processes. During the Middle Ages, alchemy was not only a philosophy and a science but also a religion. Those who rebelled against the religious limitations of their day concealed their philosophic teachings under the allegory of gold-making. In this way they preserved their personal liberty and were ridiculed rather than persecuted. Alchemy is a threefold art, its mystery well symbolized by a triangle. Its symbol is 3 times 3--three elements or processes in three worlds or spheres. The 3 times 3 is part of the mystery of the 33rd degree of Freemasonry, for 33 is 3 times 3, which is 9, the number of esoteric man and the number of emanations from the root of the Divine Tree. It is the number of worlds nourished by the four rivers that pour out of the Divine Mouth as the verbum fiat . Beneath the so-called symbolism of alchemy is concealed a magnificent concept, for this ridiculed and despised craft still preserves intact the triple key to the gates of eternal life.