THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE

By Gen. N. B. Buford, U.S.A. Edited by Alex nder !ilder, ". #. $. A. S. Le d rti%le in T&e "et '&y(i% l " ) *ine, +ol. ,,I, No .-, Se'te.ber -/01

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(Long before the pyramids of Egypt, men sought the 'Philosopher's Stone,' a magic stone by which he might turn all metals into gold. Likewise, men ha e sought the Lost !ord, the possession of which they belie ed would gi e them all power and bring them all good things in life to help them gain money, happiness and financial independence. " ## The Magic Word, by !. $. %ann, p. &'

The most precious jewel ever coveted by man is the Philospher's stone. It has been diligently sought for in all the ages. The science of Alchemy was cultivated during the Middle Ages by two classes of men. By one class the Philosopher's !tone was a term used to designate the agent by which the baser metals could be turned into gold. By another" and a wiser class" it was used synonymously with the pearl of great price. The gold sought for was Truth. This latter class of thin#ers has e$isted from the earliest periods of which we possess written records" and its peculiar style" using symbols" as being more e$pressive than words" is found abundantly in the %ld and &ew Testament. Both classes e$ercised a great influence over all 'urope from the !eventh to the !eventeenth (entury. The student may discover evidence that )ante" !ha#spere" and (ervantes were thoroughly ac*uainted with this science. Many of the dar# sayings of these geniuses can only be understood by interpreting them in harmony with these mystical writers. The !onnets of !ha#spere" which have pu++led the learned ever since they were written" and his purely imaginative dramas" The Midsummer Night's Dream" and the Tempest" are made clear in the light of nature" truth and reason" when thus interpreted. The same may be said of the allegory of Marcella in the early chapters of Don Quixotte. ,hat I #now of this science is mainly derived from the conversations and writings of -eneral 'than Allen .itchcoc#. .e was the son of /udge !amuel .itchcoc# and the grandson of the celebrated 'than Allen" who" at the beginning of the war of the 0evolution demanded the surrender of 1ort Ticonderoga in the name of the -reat /ehovah and the (ontinental (ongress. In 2345 he was commissioned a major6general and assigned to duty in the ,ar )epartment. .e soon ac*uired the confidence of Mr. !tanton" the sagacious !ecretary of ,ar" and a higher meed" the love of Mr. 7incoln. .e was the author of many treatises. The first of these" Remarks upon Alchemy" he used to call the problem of life. In 2383 his second boo# appeared" entitled Sweden org a !ermetic "hilosopher. In it he described !wedenborg as master of all the writings of the Alchemists" and his method as built out of the writings of !pino+a. 1ollowing this came two volumes" entitled #hrist the Spirit. .e called attention to the e$istence of a secret society among the /ews" the 'ssenes" whose ethical principles and religious observances were essentially the same as those taught in the &ew Testament 9 love of -od" love of virtue" love of man. This sect is often spo#en of in the -ospels" and there called the $rethren. .e ma#es it appear that the -ospels were the secret boo#s of this society. In 2348 he published Remarks upon the Sonnets o% Shakspere which has proved to be a #ey for the understanding of that most wonderful wor#" the pu++le of the scholars and commentators for near three centuries" now made as clear as they are beautiful and wise. And last" in 2344" he published Notes upon the &ita Nuova o% Dante. .e proves these three wor#s were written in the .ermetic vein" and we" by understanding that science" perceive at once that Beatrice was not a mere woman" but a celestial vision to )ante 9 heavenly wisdom personified. &ow to my underta#ing. %ur author has proved that MA& was the su 'ect of Alchemy" and that the o 'ect of the Art was the perfecting" or at least" the improvement of man. The

salvation of man" his transformation from evil to good" or his passing from a state of nature to a state of grace" was symbolised under the figure of the transmutation of metals. The Alchemists all symbolised when using the terms gold" silver" lead 9 salt" sulphur" mercury 9 sol" luna" wine" etc. The various opinions of the writers on the *uestions of -od" nature and man" all developed from one central point" which is Man" the image of -od. &ow if these symbolic thoughts had found no echo in the human heart" they would have perished. But they have been preserved through the past ages" awa#ening as much interest now in the minds of those who study them" as when first published" which proves that they have struc# a vein of imperishable truth. The Alchemists were the 0eformers in the )ar# Ages" when the spirit of religion was buried under forms and ceremonies: when superstition was taught for truth" and the hierarchy was armed with civil power and used to suppress all intellectual freedom. In that midnight of moral and intellectual dar#ness" it was a light from heaven. But the truth was treated of in their boo#s as the 'li$ir of 7ife" the ;niversal Medicine" the Philosopher's !tone: and only understood by the initiated. The writings of these peculiar thin#ers" these free men spiritual minded" were necessarily written in symbols to secure them from the persecutions of the .ierarchy and the In*uisition. The truth when it finds a lodgment in the human heart" is predominant. Many of the writers were mon#s. The still" small voice was their secret. They were the genuinely religious men of their time. Their writings prove that they were students of Plato and Aristotle" and most of them also of mathematics and astronomy. It was his superiority in #nowledge that caused 0oger Bacon to be called a magician" and -alileo to be compelled by the (hurch to deny the fact that he had discovered" that the earth moved. The effulgence of this light of truth and science in spreading over 'urope necessarily produced the great 0eformation" of which Martin 7uther was the leader. .e was ac*uainted with Alchemy" and translated one of the .ermetic boo#s" Theologia (ermanica" in corroboration of his teachings: and the writings of a holy mon#" Thomas < =empis" who was one of them" became from that time e*ually popular with both Protestants and (atholics" which continues to be a fact to this day. I will now *uote some of these Alchemical writers. 1irst" !andivogius" who lived and wrote in 248>. There is abundance of #nowledge" yet but little truth is #nown. I #now of but two ways that are ordained for the getting of wisdom? the Boo# of -od and the boo# of &ature: and these only as they are read with reason. Many loo# upon the former as a boo# below them" and upon the latter as a ground for atheism" and therefore neglect both. It is my judgment that as it is most necessary to search the !criptures" so it is impossible without reason to understand them. 1aith without 0eason is but simplicity. If I cannot understand by 0eason how a thing is" I will see that a thing is so before I will believe it to be so. I will ground my believing upon 0eason: I will improve my reason by philosophy. ,hen -od made man after his own image" how was that@ ,as it not by ma#ing him a rational creature@ Men" therefore" that in the reading of sacred mysteries" lay reason aside" do but un)man themselves" and become involved in labyrinths of errors. .ence their religion is degenerated into irrational notions. The Most .igh (reator was willing to manifest all natural things to man" wherefore he showed us that celestial things themselves were naturally made" by which his absolute and

incomprehensible power and wisdom might be so much the more freely ac#nowledged. %f all these things the Alchemists have a clear sight" in the light of nature" as in a loo#ing6glass. 1or which cause they esteemed this Art 9 not out of covetousness for gold or silver" but for the sa#e of #nowledge" not only of all natural things" but also of the power of the (reator. But they were willing to spea# of these things only sparingly and figuratively" lest the )ivine mysteries" by which nature is illustrated" should be discovered by the unworthy. This thou" if thou #nowest how to #now thyself and art not of a stiff nec#" mayest easily comprehend" created as thou art in the li#eness of the great world" 9 yea" after the image of -od. The Arabians" at the height of their power" having con*uered Ale$andria" the &orth of Africa" and !pain" too# ran# as the most advanced philosophers and physicians of the civilised world. Their savants cultivated this Art. I will *uote one of them" Alipili. The .ighest ,isdom consists in this? for man to #now himself. In him -od has placed his eternal word: by which all things were made and upheld" to be his light and life by which he is capable of #nowing all things both in Time and 'ternity. Therefore" let the high In*uirers" the reachers into the deep mysteries of nature" learn first to #now what they have in themselves" before they see# into foreign matters outside of them: and let them" by the )ivine power within them first heal themselves and transmute their own souls. Then they may go on prosperously and see# with good success the mysteries and wonders of -od in all natural things. I admonish thee that desirest to dive into the inmost parts of nature. If that which thou art see#ing" thou findest not within thee" thou wilt never find it without thee. The universal orb of the world contains not so great mysteries and e$cellences as a little man formed by -od in his own image. And he who desires supremacy among the students of nature will find nowhere a greater and better field of study than himself. Thus it appears that Man is the central object in all alchemical boo#s: yet not man as he is an individual" but as he is a nature containing or manifesting the -reat ,orld" or as he is the image of -od. I will ne$t *uote -eber" another Arabian. .is strange mode of e$pression gave rise to our word gi erish. .e says? The artist should be intent on the true end only: because our Art is preserved in the divine will of -od" and is given to whom he will" or withheld. .e spea#s of the !tone as a medicine rejoicing and preserving the body in youth. This in alchemical language is immortality. .ow can it be better preserved than in perpetual youth@ .ere is one of the prescriptions for the obtaining of perpetual youth? Ta#e a pound of persistence" and wash it with the waters of your eyes: then let it lie by your heart: then ta#e of the best faith" hope and charity which you can get" a li#e *uantity and mi$ all together. ;se this confection every day. Then ta#e both your hands full of good wor#s and #eep them close in a clear conscience" and use as occasion re*uires. .ad Ponce de 7eon understood this recipe" he might have been saved his trials and journeys in 1lorida in pursuit of the fountain of perpetual youth. I now come to the announcement that the starting6point in the pursuit of the philosopher's stone" is the conscience. A consideration of more importance than all others is?

That conscience can not be said to err 9 in other words" the conscience can not sin.2 It sits in judgment upon every man" approving the good and condemning the bad: but in itself it is incorruptible. ,hen we say that a man has a bad conscience" we do not properly spea# of the conscience" but what the conscience condemns. The error is not in the conscience" but in the judgment in applying means for the accomplishment of ends. The conscience has reference to ends" and not to means. A man is approved or condemned according to the end which he aims at. If the end is approved by the wise" a mista#e in the means" however lamented" commands pity and not condemnation. ,hen the Alchemists spea# of a long life as one of the gifts of the stone" they mean immortality. ,hen they attribute to the !tone the virtues of a universal medicine" the cure of all diseases" they mean to deny the positive nature of 'vil" and thus they deny its perpetuity. ,hen they tell us that the !tone is the cut6throat of covetousness" and of all evil desires" they mean that all evil affections disappear in the light of truth" as dar#ness yields to the presence of light. .ermetic philosophy is not a doctrine: it is a practice. It is the practice of truth" justice" and goodness. &ow" the law of conscience being the law of -od in the soul of man" obedience to it becomes of the first importance to all men. .ow few" in these days" recognise the conscience as the oracle of -od" the Immanuel" and guide to his presence. The power of man is defined by his #nowledge of -od" his acceptance of it and submission to it. A right view of this will e$plain the power and wea#ness of man 9 the power being measured by reason" the wea#ness by passion. The Alchemists were of the opinion that true religion cannot be taught. It may be preached about" tal#ed about" and written about: but there always remains something in the depths of a religious soul which cannot be e$pressed in language. .ence the line 9 '$pressive silence" muse his praise is the best utterance of a true religious feeling. The final step" the entrance into light" is not ta#en by any force or mere human will. This is one of the reasons for the use in past ages of symbolic writing. ,e may now see how the .ermetic philosophers handle the subject of man's free will. It is impossible to maintain the idea of -od's omnipotence" in the usual sense" and of the eternity and immutability of his decrees as e$tending to all things" and at the same time" the notion of Man's free agency" as though he possessed an actual power of his own. ,hoever holds these two opinions must necessarily carry about a conflict within himself. In order to produce harmony" one or both sets of ideas should be purified. If the philosopher's stone could solve this *uestion it might be worth see#ing" even though for nothing else. ,e will listen to the .ermetic writers. 7et the power of -od be called !ulphur and the power of man Mercury: and then find a salt that shall establish their unity. This is the problem. The philosopher may find that the controversy lies between two of the elements or principles of Man" and must last till the third principle is recognised. Though last to be discovered" this is the first in order. It stands" as if it were above the other two" and though it ta#es no part in the controversy it decides the *uestion. ,hen this third principle"
1 The term amartan*" translated to sin" signifies to err from the path" to wander astray" to miss the mar#. The morbid practice of describing trivial actions as sinful" in the sense of moral turpitude is an improper use of language. 9 'd.

his -od6given intuition" is awa#ened in a man he no longer depends upon mere opinion about things: he knows. This #nowing" the Alchemists call the gift of -od. 1or -od must be the author and finisher of our faith if we have the true faith. Two of the principles of the Alchemists are called extremes. But an invisible %ne includes the two inseparably as one idea with two manifested forms. ,hen this conception is realised" its illustrations become multitudinous. 7et us e$amine this one? ,ronging and being wronged are the two e$tremes caused by e$cess and deficiency: then comes justice by e*uality in the middle. /ustice is the regulating principle of the universe" operating silently and invisibly" but as surely as it is absolutely beyond the control of man. The lin# between the human and )ivine" matter and spirit" has never been revealed. Is not this the philosopher's stone@ The union of sense and reason in the soul is said to be a mystical marriage. %n the one hand &ature is seen as a blind force: on the other" as a life perfectly free. That there is a combination of these views resulting in a beautiful harmony" is the assertion of the .ermetic philosophers" while they tell us that their view is an incommunicable secret through the senses. In one word" the spirit is free" but finds its freedom only in recognising itself in -od" and then it can submit to nothing less. &othing in the universe can be proved but by the assumption of something unchangeable" not re*uiring proof: but this is -od conceived in his inmutability. It is because -od does not change that anything remains true from one instant to another.