Jacques Sadoul Alchemists and Gold

148 Pages·2012·20.35 MB·English

The knowledge gleaned by
Alchemists over the centuries can
still be put to use today.
It has often been asked whether
true alchemists ever really existed.
To some people the name
Alchemist is a relic of the Dark
Ages, synonymous with charlatans
such as witches and devil
worshippers. To others, alchemists
are misunderstood and persecuted
seekers. after physical or spiritual
knowledge. Many know that
alchemists lived and worked in
pre-scientific times, but cannot
believe that nowadays they can be
of anything but academic interest.
This book, written by a young
French historian, shows that the
knowledge gleaned by Alchemists
over the centuries can still be of
real use today. M. Sadoul traces the
fascinating history of men whose
names are familiar as well as some
whose names are less well known,
who have worked in past centuries,
and of some who are still working
in the world today. The pages ring
with such names as Hermes
Trismegistus, Albertus Magnus,
Roger Bacon, Pope John XXll,
Paracelsus, and Fulcanelli from
our own time.
Whole philosophies, ideas and
texts, that have hitherto been
thought to be only of the
Abracadabra type are explained very
fully. ln short, this book is an
exciting addition to our list and the
perfect follow-up to Fulcanelli's
Le Mystire des Cathddrales.
lllustrated.
Jacket design by
TOM SIMMONDS
Photography by
THOMAS SIMMONS
f 3. 1 5,",
sBN 85435 131 0
\
"", Jacques Sadoul
Alchemists
Gold
and
TRANSLATED FROM
THE FRENCH BY OLGA SIEVEKING
$
LONDON
NEVILLE SPEARMAN
ffi:
First published in Crcat Ilritain Contents
by Neville Spearman l,inritctl
112 Whitfield Street, London W I P 6DP
in 1972
This book appeared under thc titlc
Le Tresor des Alchimislcs
in France in 1970
Page
Foreword
9
@ 1972 Neville Spearman Limitcd
/
BOOK The Hermetic Art
sBN 85435 131 0
l.
A First Contact with Alchemy
15
2.
Hermes and the History of Alchemy 25
3.
The Principles of Alchemy
31
4.
The Work 39
5.
Alchemy and Modern Science 51
II
BOOK The Alchemists
r0c
W$.s$f,,.#,, l. Three Thirteenth-century Graduates of Montpellier
-Fie$t#tr*ii '*f:'l*rji':l,#tt '
rn University
59
2. Nicholas Flamel, Public Scrivener 73
Lt;iirlfqt
- &ri-i 3. The Monk of Erfurt and the Good Man of Treviso 85
4. A Physician and a Gentleman 97
5. The Life-Story of a Puffer 109
\,\=t} 6. The Cosmopolite tt9
/ii.', 7. Transmutations Carried out by Scientists 137
\-i-.-+,/i I \*-)/ 1It 98.. TThhee ARpeoasl tPohlailatele tohfe Lsascaris 1t6513
t0. The Story of Sehfeld 179
ll.
The Count de Saint-Germain 189
t2. Twentieth-century Adepts 197
Set in 1l pt Times, 2 pt leaded, and printedby
Ebenezer Baylis and Son Ltd, The Trinity Press, Worcester
on paper supplied by Frank Grunfeld (Sales) Ltd, London
III
Bound by Mansell Bookbinders Ltd, London ROOK The Philosopher's Stone
l.
Crudging or Cenerous? 213
5
Contents
2. Page To the Seeker
Philosophers' Raw Material 223
3.
The Great Work 235
Conclusion: The Royal Art 259
Appendix 269
Glossary 271
Let him forbear who believes that Alchemy is
Index 281 concerned solely with the mundane, mineral
and metallic nature of things.
Let him forbear, who believes that Alchemy is
purely spiritual.
But those who understand that Alchemy is
but a symbol used to reveal by analogy the process
of achieving "Spiritual Realisation"-i11 4 word,
that man is at once the prime matter and the athanor
of the Work-let them pursue it with all their might.
Claude d'Yg6,
New Assembly of
Chymical Philosophers
Foreword
"Life is not easy in the New World, even for an apothecary," reflected
Mr. Starkey, who had emigrated from England to America in the
early seventeenth century.
He took down the placard "Apartment to Let" that had been affixed
to his shop-front. The new lodger, one John Smith-no doubt a
fictitious name-was a man of medium height and unremarkable
appearance, whose age was difficult to guess, but who was certainly
an educated person.
He gave no trouble to his landlord, unlike the drunkard who had
pestered the neighbour's daughter during the past winter.
Mr. Smith was, in fact, a model tenant, and Starkey had almost
forgotten his existence, when one day he asked permission to make
use of the small laboratory attached to the pharmacy. He explained
that he wanted to try out a new tincture. Mr. Starkey agreed but,
thinking that it seemed an odd request, he suggested to his son
George to keep an eye on the proceedings through a chink in the
shutters.
The young man took up his position and saw Mr. Smith go into the
laboratory carrying a small bag that was obviously very heavy. From
this he picked out pieces of some dull grey metal, probably lead, that
he put into a crucible, under which he lit a very hot fire. When the
metal reached melting point, the man brought out of his pocket a
small box containing a reddish powder. George saw him mix a speck
of this powder in a lump of wax and throw the pellet into the cauldron
with the metal. Then he sat down and waited. After a good quarter of
an hour had passed, George watched Mr. Smith pour the molten
metal into a mould. The young man's eyes nearly started out of his
head when he saw that the metal had turned yellow with a greenish
shcen-that it had, in short, taken on the colour of molten gold.
At that moment the alchemist-as he must be called*turned to
*
Foreword
where George Starkey was standing and said: "Come in, young man,
if you are interested in what I am doing."
Mr. Smith did not appear to be put out at having been watched,
and made his hosts a present of part of the product of his trans-
mutation. On the other hand, he refused absolutely to initiate them
into his Art, saying to George, who was more importunate than his
father: "My young friend, if God has destined you for this Art, He
will in His good time accord you the opportunity of learning it. But if
in His wisdom He judges you to be unworthy to exercise the science,
or if He sees that you would make a wrong use of it-well, a man who
furnished arms to anyone capable of bringing harm to his fellows
would indeed be blame-worthy!"
Mr. Starkey left a description of the episode, in which he says: "I
admit that this sennon on the Divinity did not please me."
The alchemist, noting his vexation, continued: "You must know
that we are bound by the most solemn oaths never to impart a know-
ledge of our Art to anyone who because he had this knowledge might
possibly bring misfortune into the world. The Adept who was thus
indirectly the instigator of any resultant evils would be answerable
for them all before God."
o'I understand, Sir," replied the father. o'But at least you will allow
us to know your name?"
"I am called Eireneus Philalethes, English by birth, a denizen of
the IJniverse."
This story is taken from The Marrow of Alchemy by Eireneus
Philoponas Philalethes, published in England in 1655 and now kept
in the British Museum. George Starkey wrote an introduction to it
under the pseudonym Egregius Christo.
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1.
A First Contact with Alchemy
During the severe winter of 1956I was caught in a snow-storm which
obliged me to take shelter in a bookshop in the rue Saint-Jacques in
Paris. It was a shop specialising in occult works on magic, astrology,
clairvoyance and alchemy.
My attention was caught by a book on a shelf devoted to this latter
subject, first because I liked the mediaevallooking design on the cover,
and then because of its curious title: The Twelve Keys to Philosophy.
To avoid being thrown out by the shop-keeper, who looked a
formidable type, I decided to buy the book.
I must admit that my first contact with alchemy was disappointing.
The preface, by M. Eugdne Canseliet, seemed to be erudite to a degree
very far beyond the comprehension of a neophyte such as I was; and
the book itself, by Brother Basil Valentine of the Order of Saint
Benedict, by no means lived up to its opening words, which read: 'oln
my preface, Oh very dear friend and lover of the Art, I am offering to
you and to others burning with the same fire, the prospect of learning
by diligent study the potentialities of Nature; and to those who seek
more deeply, of finding the corner-stone, the very foundation of the
Art, as it was taught to me from on high. I will show you how our
Masters of old brought forth the Stone, as they learnt from the All
Highest, in order that it might be used for health and comfort in this
earthly life."
This sounded very promising. But the text that followed was so
obscure that I understood absolutely nothing. As for the drawings of
the "twelve keys"-though from an artistic point of view they were
quite delightful-they taught me even less than the Master's writings.
They depicted various richly dressed personages, some more or less
fabulous animals, and certain instruments such as crucibles and
retorts, which did seem to be more nearly connected with alchemy.
M. Canseliet's explanations certainly indicated the abstruse
15
The Hermetic Art A First Contact with Alchemy
symbolism, but the whole thing appeared to me to be addressed to lost no time in beginning to study it. It was not exactly a book for
readers who were already initiates. For instance, this is how he begins beginners, but the author managed to make it clear enough for itto be
his commentary on the first illustration: "The King and Queen of the understood by a serious student. It was the sesame that opened the
Work, that is to say the philosophic gold and silver, are exemplified in first door to the Hermetic Art for me.
alchemy by the wolf (Note: :molten metal) and the great ball over
*
the dome. This last and the chalice in the midst of the flames clearly
indicate the hard way, in which the secretfire plays an important part." It was more than ayer before I managed to procure the twenty or
I admit that, far from dispelling my confusion, such explanations so basic works necessary for a study ofthe subject and as I proceeded
only increased it. Nevertheless, the strange ideas of Basil Valentine I found that my first impressions were gradually modified. At the
came to have an irresistible fascination for me. A longing to make my beginning I thought, like everyone else, that the whole of alchemy
way further into this occult world obsessed me, and I went back to was included in the definition Louis Figuier gave in his book Alchemy
that bookshop in the rue Saint-Jacques. I asked for something that and the Alchemists, published in 1856: "The object of alchemy is, as
could be understood by a beginner, or for some popularised version. everyone knows, the transmutation of metals, changing base metals
The bookseller replied with a hint of condescension that the two most into precious metals, making gold and silver artificially. Such is the
recent works of this type had been published in 1860 and 1891 respec- purpose of this curious science, which has been practised for at least
tively, and that they had been virtually out of print ever since. He fifteen centuries."
added that nowadays only two kinds of books on the subject were I had in fact read that the practical work of alchemy, called the
published: one sort being reprints of alchemical treatises of past cen- Magisterium or Mystery, aimed at the production of a strange object
turies, and the other modern studies analysing the psychological or known as the Philosopher's Stone, which was capable of transmuting
psycho-analytical causes of what they called the "alchemical phe- into gold any molten metal whatsoever. Did not the English monk
nomenon", the latter always being written by people who, according Roger Bacon, inhis Mirror of Alquimy, say ooAlquimy is the science
to him, combined incompetence with fatuousness. Noticing my that teaches the preparation of a certain medicine or elixir which, if
troubled face, he went over to a shelf and picked out a volume which it is poured over base metals, brings them on the instant to a state of
he handed to me. perfection."
o'try
"Here," he said, this one. The author is a colleague of mine A warning against this misconception was given me by the learned
who specialises in the Hermetic Art; I mean alchemy," he added, Grillot de Givry in his book A Museum of Sorcerers, Magi and
seeing that I looked pluzzled. Alchemists, where he says: "Many people who have notstudiedthe
This work bore the title A New Assembly of Chymical Philosophers, subject, think that alchemy is no more than a farrugo of visions and
and had been published in 1954,lhat is two years previously. I ven- fantasies, the result of men's vain attempt to produce gold artificially,
tured a question: to which they are impelled either by plain greed or by the megalo-
o'What
does the curious title mean?" maniac hope of becoming equal to God. Those who enquire more
"Alchemists are called Hermetic Philosophers or Philosophers of deeply into the science, however, very soon discover that, over and
Chymistry, with a y-it's a traditional title. As for New Assembly, above baser motives, there is an indescribable fascination in the
that is probably quoted from the ancient work Turba Philosophorum work; and within the shadowy confines of mediaeval sciences this
which should be translated as an 'Assembly (or Convention) of radiates like the great, peaceful rose windows that, far from the
Philosophers' and not, as it sometimes is, a 'Rabble'!" trivialities of life, bathe the transepts of our slumbering cathedrals in
Fceling that I was rather out of my depth, I paid for the book and an ineffable light."
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