Mystical quest

Each was assigned an initial and, through a complex system of correspondences, associated with all arts, sciences, and natural objects. It is interesting to note that Llull was also the first author of a medieval romance, the genre of literature that led to the tales of King Arthur, Merlin the magician, and the mystical quest for the Holy Grail. 

It seems that Chinese alchemy is the oldest of the Eastern branches, and may even predate Western alchemy. (The Chinese word for elixir, chin-je, may be the root of the Arabic imic i.)The Yellow Emperor EhiangTi (2704-2595 BCE) is the legendary first alchemist in China, who learnt the art from three immortal women, who also generously saw fit to instruct him in the arts of love. Chinese alchemy inherited a number of facets from folk belief, such as the idea of a plant that, when eaten, will grant immortality, together with the mystic quest for spiritual illumination. 

Translated by Mike Brenner. Copyright Mike Brenner 1997. "Analyzes the natural and supernatural birth, destruction, and regeneration of the symbolic Child. Introduces the theory and practice of how to quest for and manufacture the Philosopher s Stone. Includes applications and explanations of verses by the famous Swedish [sic] Adept Norton, from an ancient manuscript. Now, for the first time, revealed according to mystical tradition and esoteric enlightenment. Includes the qabbalistic signs of Solomon, explained by a master- student of nature. With 12 emblematical figures with... 

Paracelsus (1493-1541), one of the greatest alchemists and the founder of modern medicine, defined alchemy as the transformation of one natural substance into another, one fit for a new use. He created non-herbal medicines, which he considered the main physical goal of alchemy. However, he was equally strong in his belief that the true quest of the alchemist was his own spiritual transformation. The students of Paracelsus tended to split in two directions those who developed the science of medication, which led to modern medicine and then chemistry and those who abandoned the laboratory to search for spiritual gold within, a course which led to mystical philosophies like Rosicrucianism, a mystical brotherhood that emerged in the seventeenth century. 

The name Adam in Hebrew signifies red earth, but what is this earth actually It is that which the Alchemists sought, and it follows that the Great Work was not the secret of metallic transmutation—a trivial and accessory result—but the Universal Secret of Life. The Universal Secret which was sought by mystic Alchemy was more truly that of the life of life it was the quest of transmutation in God. It was the quest for the middle point of ttansformation, at which point light becomes matter and condenses into an earth containing within itself the principle of motion and of life.. . . ... 

As for me, the bulk of my mind stimulation and mystic transport comes from the Encyclopaedia Britannica and its wonderful panoply of topics that induce neural nirvana. Writer A. J. Jacobs expresses the pleasure and shocking mind-expansion one receives from the Britannica, as he completes his quest to read all entries in alphabetical order ... 

Left the Spanish mystic Raimon Lull, traditionally believed to have been an alchemist Whereas the making of gold has been well remembered by posterity, the second, hidden part of the quest is mainly forgotten. The alchemist was also searching for a way to reach spiritual perfection, and believed that purifying base metals into the "perfect" metal, gold, was the outward symbol of transmutation of his soul from an ordinary state to a condition of union with God. In this illustration, Lull holds a newborn baby— the personification of the soul. 

Visionary Neptune, monarch of the imagination, responds to dreams, music, poetry, mysticism, and the unseen. Powerful Pluto, lord of the underworld, plumbs the depths of the forbidden. Together, they make a mighty combo and inspire a heroic quest. 

The achievement of the Great Work of preparing the Stone was the final and dazzling goal of alchemists of all degrees. To the religious mystics among them the quest... 

---