350 B.C.
Ancient Greece
- Philosopher Aristotle, who mentored the Macedonian conquerer Alexander the Great, followed in the ways of Alchemy that were perfected by his own mentors, Plato and Socrates
- Aristotle studied and wrote extensively on subjects varying from government and world history to religion and ethics
- But his greatest pursuit was to create a stone, a red stone in particular. Any piece taken from the stone could be mixed with lead in a cauldron to produce gold. And contained within the stone was the elixir of life
- Sound familiar? Like the magical stone in Harry Potter? Well, in America, publishers retitled the first Harry Potter book "the Sorcerer's Stone" because they thought the title was more appealing to children. But in every other country in the world it is known by the same name that it has been called for over two millenia; "the Philosopher's Stone"
And who do you think was the inspiration for that name?
1390 A.D.
Medieval Germany
- Noted Alchemist Nicholas Flammel, another name that should be familar to Harry Potter fans, was a real person
- He was a frugal man, living in a small house with his wife and managed a meager wage. It was public knowledge, and at times an embarrassment, that he was in search of creating Aristotle's "Philosopher's Stone." However, the town fool soon become the most prolific philanthropist not only in Germany but in all of Europe
- Dozens of churches, government buildings and public monuments, including several Flammel family vacation homes, owe their existence to a man who seemingly became rich over night
- Coincidence? There's even a rumor that Mr. Flammel never died. Now how's that possible?
A tale from rags to riches and...everlasting life? Seem's like someone has a philosopher on his side.
1643-1727 A.D.
Renaissance England
- Sir Isaac Newton
- You all know him. You've been taught since grade school that he was the world's most famous scientist, physicist and mathematician; the inventor of trigonometry, geometry, calculus, and all those laws of motion too. Basically, modern science as we know it
- Oh yeah, and an apple fell on his head and suddenly he discovered gravity?
- Well, besides the apple story, the rest is true. Newton did all those things. (Yes, I'm sorry, the English gov't made up the apple story after Newton died). However, there was one more profession that your teachers failed to tell you about Newton - he was an Alchemist
- How do we know? Newton was obsessed about record keeping, and he kept all his writings at Oxford University where he had not only an office, but an off-campus shed in which he conducted all his alchemical experiments. All of his records at still at the university, including his arcane instruments.
- Like most scientists of his age, Newton's scientific goal was to prove the existence of god. God represented nature's love. Through an understanding of math one could discover the 'natural' laws of the universe and thus understand the nature of the divine.
- Alchemy was the purest form of this great pursuit and Newton sought god's love through god's laws. The Philosopher's Stone, which Newton pursued, was simply one aspect of that.
Newton the lover. Take a look at those long locks, bet you'll never see him the same again.
More Alchemical news to come!
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