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Years ago while doing extensive internet research regarding alchemy and the philosopher’s stone I came across a tidbit that one of the old alchemists (I forgot which one) had made his philosopher’s stone in a previous century from iron pyrite.
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Article written by Steven School.
I had already been contemplating this mineral iron pyrite as perhaps the philosopher’s stone of alchemy and I feel there are many supporting factors which made this a good candidate to fill the question what is the philosopher’s stone made from? Since then I have performed numerous alchemy experiments on iron pyrite in attempt to recreate the philosopher’s stone of alchemy. I found many things in the pyrite. One of my experiments went as follows, I ground iron pyrite in a mortar and pestle before placing it in a large glass pickle jar. I added mostly white vinegar from Wal Mart and a little hydrogen peroxide. I loosely covered the top with saran wrap to keep the dust out but if pressure arose it could find vent before breaking the glass. The vinegar became yellow like golden water. I poured this off into a large vision ware bowl to evaporate outdoors on an electric hot plate set on low. I repeated the extractions on the iron pyrite and kept adding it to the evaporation pot. When the matter became like a green gum I thought this is the green lion from alchemy. I carefully finished drying it in warm sunlight to avoid burning the green stuff. I scraped the dry acetate? Into a borosilicate retort and distilled it on low heat. It turned black which is supposed to be a good sign in alchemy. It’s supposed to be the first color change seen in the creation of the philosopher’s stone during the great work of the Magnum opus. A clear liquid came over the helm which I placed in a borosilicate round flask. I added a small gold nugget which I had pounded flat and thin with a hammer before washing it. I stoppled the flask close with a ground glass stopper and placed it in a sand bath gradually increasing the heat. The stopper popped out a few times from the mounting pressure but I put it back in. I had to get the heat hot which seemed to help. The secret metallic water of Alchemy seemed to be dissolving the gold. A red glass like stone formed in my flask which is on the cover of my book alchemy survival guide by Steven School.
One of Steven School’s red alchemy philosopher’s stones on the cover of Alchemy survival guide book.
The Philosopher’s Stone of alchemy is often described as a saffron colored material ranging from yellow to orange yet many alchemical manuscripts describe that in the final stages of the creation of the philosopher’s stone the color becomes blood red. The basic colors of the great work of alchemy are usually depicted as black white yellow red. Ancient alchemy formulas also described secondary colors like the green lion of alchemy or a peacock’s tail. Once the alchemist finished making the alchemy Philosopher’s stone the saffron colored material was believed to have changed to that of a transparent, red, glass like Philosopher’s stone described as gold digested to its highest degree. The final alchemical stage in the great work of alchemy making the Philosopher’s stone was said to be wrapping the Philosopher’s stone in wax. Many alchemists believed that the Philosopher’s stone of alchemy must be wrapped in wax in order to transmute lead into gold. Article written by Steven School. Do not try this at home.
Alchemical symbolism regarding the creation of the philosopher’s stone of alchemy dry path
VITRIOL visit the interior of the earth and there by rectification find the occult lapis. The rebis or two thing depicts the alchemical hermaphrodite. A wedding of the sun and moon. Ancient alchemists such as Rhasis and Hermes (from the pyramids) used to write he who unites the male to the female draws forth the hidden virtue. Pyramid means fire in the middle. Sal non tingit is an old Latin alchemy term which meant the salt does not tinge unless it be tinged. The saffron colored material was also called the fire salt and the fire lizard among other things. The image depicts the process and ingredients of the philosopher’s stone creation in condensed alchemical symbolism. Many alchemists wrote the secret process of the magnum opus was very difficult for outsiders to figure out even if the ingredients were known. The philosopher’s stone of alchemy was said to have been wrapped in wax as the final and necessary step in the creation of the lapis philosophorum. Article written by Steven School.Click here To see The Philosopher’s Stone Book, Alchemy by Steven School. “As an Amazon Associate I earn fees from qualifying purchases”
Alchemy of Steven School. Do Not Try This At Home. Not For Consumption.
Alchemy of Steven School. Do not try this at home. Not for human consumption. Where the cold touched the hot color changed yellow/red or burnished orange like that of a crimson poppy in little “stones”. Mercury was added by drops to test. Notice the mercury is not rolling around in liquid beads but seems to have coagulated for lack of better terminology at this time, or solidified with color change like that of gold. In the writings of Michael Sendivogius he mentioned if “water” ran across a table in divergent rivulets it would become red where it touched the red powder, or white where it touched the white powder, etc. (Not Copied Word For Word But Only From Distant Memory)
The term green lion in alchemy was also called green vitriol or our green gum, green dragon among other names. In the alchemical writings of Theophrastus Paracelsus he indicated that when alchemists were at the alchemy stage called green lion, that they were not far from the “stone”. The term VITRIOL comes from latin and basically meant visit the interior of the earth and there by rectification find the occult stone. V.I.T.R.I.O.L( vitriol) Acronym. VITRIOL is an acronym for Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem which translated is “Visit the interior of the earth, and by rectifification find the hidden stone (philosopher’s stone)”. The “green lion of alchemy,” is said to be a poisonous substance that appears when metal is degraded by acid.
A page from an old alchemy science book circa 1786
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Here is a very interesting article that someone recently brought to my attention about sulfide minerals. One theory of mine is that perhaps nature evolves organic matter into iron pyrite over time through the natural process of “weathering” and that perhaps this system of natural evolution results in the end product of gold.
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