Alchemy
The Beginner's Laboratory
Alchemical Theory
I will start off with what Alchemy is not. Alchemy is not about making gold and getting rich. It is also not about what some Hollywood movies have made it out to be, like digging up dead bodies, or about Witchcraft or anything gothic and weird. It is also definitely not what the series Full Metal Alchemist has made it out to be.
Alchemy is a synthesis of Science and Mysticism. It takes the best of both worlds and creates a process whereby the operator is purified on the mental, physical, emotional, and spiritual levels. It is about the evolution of both the matter he or she is working with and him or herself. As the operator works with the matter, breaking it down into its basic elements, purifying them, and recombining them, the same is occuring within themselves, thereby creating a purer individual.
One could write volumes on alchemical theory. Here I will only explain the basics, enough for the student to understand the mechanics of what they are doing in the lab.
The Three Principles and
Four Elements
The Emerald Tablet
The Kybalion and
Law of the Triangle
On the Philosopher's Stone
The Tree of Life
Astrology, the Zodiac, and Alchemical Processes
The Twelve Processes
and Four Degrees of Fire
On the Meaning of
Alchemical Symbols
