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transformed into white. This is the beginning of the formation of the White Stone. Through Fixation, the soul nature
of substance has been realized in material form as the White Stone, which thus bears the essence of the four
elements, plus the fifth essence, the spiritual archetype of materiality which lies beyond matter and yet through
alchemy can be brought into outer expression, fixed into earthly form. We note that heat is required from outside to
bring this stage to completion.
This White or Lunar Stone is the Tincture of the Moon, or the soul Tincture. In terms of the soul development aspect
of alchemy, the White Stone is that inward experience which can act as a sure foundation, that solid centre in the
whirlpool of ever flowing soul forces, from which alchemists can work upon their being, and anchor their inward
development. In this sense, once the alchemist has the White Stone of the soul, he or she can begin the process of
tincting, transforming his or her being from a point of inner security. The White Stone is, however, only half the
work of alchemy. The alchemist must carry this process through to completion and create the Red Stone or the
Tincture of the Spirit.
The final stage of this first half of the series ends with figure 40, the Projection, in which the flask is broken and the
White Stone is ready to be brought out from the inner enclosed realm of the retort into the world, and can begin to
be used in the process of transmutation. On one level this is the transmutation of matter, in that it accentuates or
catalyses the lunar aspect, when it is brought into contact with a material process. In traditional alchemy this is
indicated by its power to transform metals into silver, the Moon metal, but its power is wider than this, and a true
understanding of the essence of the White Stone of the Philosophers, can only arise when one recognizes the lunar
forces that play through material processes, in the mineral realm, in the pant world, in the animal body, or in the soul
of humankind. The White Stone transforms, harmonizes and catalyses the lunar forces in these realms, and this is its
true power. The Red Stone which is created at the end of the second part of the process, similarly acts to catalyse the
Sun forces in the various realms.
At this centre point of the entire process, we will review diagrammatically its development so far. Diagram one
indicates the breakdown of the first 40 figures, into the seven phases which have been described so far. The reader
who wishes to grasp this process in depth should copy out the forms of images and set them out in this arrangement.
Then they will be able to grasp the process as a totality. (Indeed, while I was working on this series, I constantly had
a set of these illustrations arranged in various patterns upon the walls of my study, and thus was able to easily
consult, or rearrange the pattern to explore other possibilities.)
1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Chaos Subject Distillation Preparation Division Acuation Green
Lion
8 9 10 11 12
Coitus Lapis Triunis Calcination Sublimation Solution
13 14 15 16 17
Putrefaction Conception Impregnation Generation Fermentation
18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27
Sep Con Sep Con Sep Con Sep Con Sep Con
28 29 30
Ortus Fermentation Purgation
31 32 33 34 35 36
Sep Con Sep Con Sep Con
37 38 39 40
Exaltation Quinta Essentia Fixation Projection
The second part of the work is the transformation of the White Stone of the Lunar forces, into the Solar Red Stone.
This is accomplished through a threefold Multiplication, each Multiplication being described by nine figures, and
the series finishes with the final fixation of the Red Stone.
This can be analyzed as follows:
Figures 40-48 The First Multiplication in which the serpent unites with the
White Stone,
Figures 49-57 The Second Multiplication in which the serpent exteriorizes
fire into the process,
Figures 58-66 The Third Multiplication in which the fire is inwardly
digested and the Stone transformed,
Figure 67 The final Fixation of the Red Stone.
We note that figure 40 is common to both parts of the work, being the conclusion of the first part, and the beginning
of the second part. Each of these phases of Multiplication relates in form to the others, the second and third being
higher octaves of the first Multiplication.
The First Multiplication
40 Projection
41 Multiplication
42 Imbibition
43 Solution
44 Congelation
45 Conjunction
46 Sublimation
47 Calcination
48 Fixation
This opens with figure 40, the Projection, which closes the first part of the work, in which we see the White Stone
like a cracked egg in the bottom of the opened retort, and out of this egg the Red Stone will be born.
In the next stage, figure 41, entitled Multiplication, this egg of the White Stone first meets the serpent-dragon. Of the
four creatures we find in this series, the serpent-dragon represents the living power of fire. The animals here
represent the living forces behind the elements, the etheric forces that play through matter, that the alchemist must
harness and bring into fixed form, if he is to enliven matter. The White Stone acts as the magnet upon which the
ethers can work and eventually be fixed into the Red Stone. The serpent enters the flask at this stage, attracted by the
White Stone.
There follows a process of Imbibition (figure 42) in which the serpent is slowly absorbed into the White Stone egg
at the bottom of the retort.
This continues through to Solution (figure 43) where the serpent dives down, merging completely with the White [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]