Mysterious and White

When you compound it, you should first prepare the Flowery Pond (hua-chi), the Red Salt (chiyan), the Hard Snow genxue), ° the Mysterious and White (xuanbai), the Flying Talisman (feifu), and the Divine Water of the Three-and-Five (sanwu shenshui). Only then can the fire be lit. The elixir of the first cycle confers immortality after it is ingested for three years that of the second, after two years that of the third, after one year that of the fourth, after half a year that of the fifth, after one hundred days that of the sixth, after forty days that of the seventh, after thirty days that of the eighth, after ten days and that of the ninth, after three days. 

The replacement of the Mysterious and Yellow with the Mysterious and White is mentioned in the Secret Instructions (Jiudan jingjue, 20.15a), the Liquid Pearl (Jiuzhuan liuzhu shenxian jiudan jing, 2.3b), and the commentary to the Nine Elixirs (Jiudan jingjue, 17.3a). On the Mysterious and White see above, p. 103. 

On the Mysterious and Yellow, the Mysterious and White, and the Flowery Pond see above. Chapter 5. 

And then I woke out of fear and sought in myself the cause of this fact. And again I reflected and said to myself, "I understand well that thus must one cast out the lead — truly the vision is concerning the combination of liquids." And again I knew the theophany and again the sacred altar and I saw a certain priest clothed in white celebrating those same terrible mysteries and I said, "Who is this "... 

Thallium, atomic no. 81 This element is better known for its poisonous properties and links with almost undetected deaths and Agatha Christie -type murder mysteries.2 Thallium compounds are used in some countries as cheap insecticides, particularly for killing cockroaches. Intake of this element causes stomach pains, vomiting and nausea, painful soles and palms of hands, limb weakness, double vision, involuntary eye movements, hallucina tions, characteristic hair loss and white lines across the nails. The symptoms are often mis-diagnosed as other diseases. Treatment is with the chemical Prussian Blue... 

Smear the crucible with the mud both inside and outside, making each layer three-tenths of an inch thick, and let it dry in the sun for ten days. Then take some white lead (hufen), and heat it until it becomes golden. Place it in a hundred-day Flowery Pond with an equal amount of the Mysterious and Yellow prepared earlier. 

Liquid Pearl here is a synonym for mercury obtained by refining cinnabar see Shiyao erya, i.ib. The terms Frost and Snow too are part of several secret names for refined mercury. Yellow and White usually denotes gold and silver, and the reason for its mention in relation to the Essence of Lead is unclear to me. In a description of the method for making the Mysterious and Yellow, the Jiudan jingjue, 12.1b, has White Snow (baixue) instead of Yellow and White this reading may be preferable. 

The First Elixir is called Flower of Cinnabar. First ma e the Mysterious and Yellow. With an aqueous solution of realgar, an aqueous solution of alum, Tur estan salt, la e salt, arsenolite, oyster shells, red clay, talc, and white lead—several dozen ounces of each—ma e the Mud of the Six-and-One. (Baopu zi, 4.74)... 

Their Rosicrucian symbol is the phoenix of Dan, the mysterious two-headed bird now called an eagle in Freemasonry. As we have seen in this Chapter, it symbolizes the immortality of the Priests of Melchizedek. The standard of the tribe of Dan was red and white with this phoenix crest. 

In 1603 Vincenzo Cascariolo, an Italian cobbler and amateur alchemist in the countryside near Bologna, made a notable observation. He had found a heavy stone and ground it to a grain size of meal. He mixed the powder with the white of eggs and made cakes of it. These he laid in layers with coal and calcined for 4-5 hours. To his tremendous amazement he found that the calcined stone shone in darkness if it had first been exposed to the sun. It phosphoresced. This mysterious and magical ability to accumulate light and emit it in the dark created a sensation. The substance he had prepared became known as Bolognian Stone. 

Suddenly, from behind the rim cfthe moon, in hn, slow otim moments of immense majesty, there emerges a sparkling blue and white jewel, a light, delicate, sky-blue sphere laced with slowly swirling veils of white, rising gradually like a small pearl in a thick sea of black mystery. 

Martin Heinrich Klaproth (1743-1817). William Gregor (1761-1817), a minister who also dabbled in experiments, discovered a type of sand in 1791 from which a mysterious white powder could be produced. Klaproth recognized the yet-unknown element, and Henri Moissan (1852-1907) prepared pure titanium by electrolysis. 

In 1979-1980, some illegal fentanyl analogues appeared that were being sold as substitutes for heroin on the street. Suddenly, a series of more than a dozen mysterious deaths occurred in southern California. Upon autopsy, the victims strongly looked as if they had overdosed on heroin however, no traces of heroin could be found in their bodies. Later, forensic chemists identified a fentanyl analogue (alpha-methyl-fentanyl) that was present in all of the victims. As it turns out, alpha-methyl-fentanyl was being sold on the streets under the name China White (Figure 7.2), because it resembled (and contained) pure synthetic heroin that was produced in Southeast Asia. 

We of the Caucasian race must confess, however reluctantly, that even the red Indian has some rights on the soil which bore him that the whites are bound to respect. The Indians have their vicious qualities, many of them borrowed, it is sad to be obliged to admit, from their invaders. .. Their misfortunes have been many, their crimes innumerable, but the honor of the American nation demands that this mysterious, indomitable, and interesting people should be protected against those of the white race who would not, if they could, leave an Indian a single rod of his native land, except for the purpose of sepulture.59... 

To everyone s surprise, no event lasting less than two weeks has ever been observed. The mean mass inferred is half the solar mass, which rules out brown and red dwarfs but favours white dwarfs. However, too many of these remnants from intermediate-mass stars (1-8 Mq at birth) would contradict the traditional tenets of astrophysics. Indeed, it would imply a frenzied spate of nucleosynthesis during the formation of the galactic halo. The nature of the compact massive objects thus remains a mystery. 

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