red philosopher’s stone – the philosopher's stone alchemy

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.

The following is alchemy of Steven School. Do not try this at home. Not for consumption. This blog post does not constitute advice of any type nor is it intended for any specific person. No warranty is expressed or implied as to the accuracy or completeness of any information presented here.

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.