Chamber of the Elixirs

Directions for building the alchemical laboratory, which is typically called Chamber of the Elixirs (danshi or danwu), are found in both the Reverted Elixir in Nine Cycles and the Flower of Langgan. According to the Reverted Elixir in Nine Cycles an adept retires to a mountain after he has received the method and has performed the purification practices. He builds the laboratory (here called Chamber of the Divine Stove, shenzao wu) and places the furnace lu) inside it, with an iron stand to hold the crucible. The adept should make sure that the Chamber does not touch the ground and is not built over an old well or a tomb ... 

As shown by the passage quoted above, all those involved in the compounding of the elixir should first perform the preliminary purification practices (zhai). The consecrated place is built on a mountain slope near an eastflowing stream, and is designated as a pure chamber jingshe), a term that also denotes the room where a Daoist adept performs meditation practices. When one compounds the Nine Elixirs, the purification practices are per-... 

On the Lead Elixir see above in the present chapter. On the transmission of the Reverted Elixir in Nine Cycles and on the Chamber of the Divine Stove see pp. 80-81 and 95-96, respectively. 

Lord hao Laojun huangting sanshijiu zhen bifu), to be affixed in the place where one compounds an elixir.The appended text says that the elixirs should be compounded inside a cavern in the depths of a mountain, away from people and domestic animals, and near an eastflowing stream. If it is not possible to compound them in a cavern, one may dwell in the depths of a mountain if it is not possible to stay in an uninhabited place, one may retire to a pure chamber if an eastflowing stream is not available, one flowing to the west is permitted. 

Both methods quoted above are also found in the commentary to the Nine Elixirs, which calls them Method for Making the Chamber to Sublimate the Elixirs ( Feidan zuowu fa ) and Method for Making the Stove ( Zuozao fa ), respectively. The author of the commentary, however, adds that these were old methods. By his time, he says, it was enough to eliminate the contaminated soil, build a mound of clean loam, and bury a talisman under the crucible. 

Flesh Child (Rouzi), Double Indigo (Lanlan) Be my friend, stay here and be my envoy I want to obtain the Divine Elixir of the Great One and ingest it Let me live a long life Do not leave my body Constantly reside within the Palace of the Purple Chamber, joined with the Dao (Laozi zhongjing, sec. 28)... 

This impressive establishment housed not only the lecture room where Graham delivered his unsubstantiated lectures on electrical healing, but also a number of chambers equipped with the expensive electrical equipment, which supposedly delivered the goods. Patients could choose between a magnetic throne or an electrical bath to alleviate their problems. For those who were not into high tech there was the earth bath — essentially, a mud wallow. If none of this appealed, then clients were invited to purchase nostrums. A concoction with the subtle name Elixir of Life could be had for an exorbitant price, but... 

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