by Frater Zephyros

Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law.

Archetypes as symbols can have multiple meanings and the symbols of Alchemy along with its linguistics are no exception. However, due to a phenomenon referred to as 'Hermetic Drift' and the forming of a phonetic Qabalah, these symbols can rely on a similarity either visually or phonetically that unfortunately can also obscure their meaning. This demonstrates the importance of an unbroken oral tradition that was lost to western occultism. And this had brought Alchemical documents to a point where they became incredibly difficult if not impossible to understand with their value to the modern Occultist being rendered almost worthless. However, there is a lot of Alchemical knowledge that in the west, has become common knowledge with Spagyrics becoming the forerunner of modern Chemistry. And Alchemical practices have not been completely eradicated, as the Eucharistic ceremony is still common in exoteric religious practices as well as occult practices. The late nineteenth century ev, saw a pioneer, S.L. MacGregor Mathers make contact with what have become known as the 'Secret Chiefs' who were incorporeal beings that seeking to re-establish their link with humanity. Mathers was ultimately succeeded by Aleister Crowley, who was further able to develop the work in order to satisfy the astral conditions upon this planet in the current aeon.

"Then the priest answered & said unto the Queen of Space, kissing her lovely brows, and the dew of her light bathing his whole body in a sweet-smelling perfume of sweat: O Nuit, continuous one of Heaven, let it be ever thus; that men speak not of Thee as One but as None; and let them speak not of thee at all, since thou art continuous!" AL I.27

The concepts of 'Light' and 'Dew' from the Rosicrucian tradition have been folded into Thelemic literature and especially the Holy Books of Thelema. And here, we'd like to introduce another term 'Whitegold', as the modern equivalent of the Philosopher's Stone. We are going to take some space here to validate Alchemy as a modern and living science that has evolved from Biblical mysticism and the oral tradition of the Rosicrucians. Liber AL vel Legis has proclaimed that the Jews have the half presumably of this noble science and we intend to show that Thelema has evolved the other half of its scientific gnosis from the Rosicrucians that were the progenitors of the Age of Aquarius and especially the present manifestation of the Great White Brotherhood known in this aeon as the A.'.A.'..

"But they have the half: unite by thine art so that all disappear." AL I.47

Aleph, transliterated as A'a and pronounced 'ah', contains for the Rosicrucians, the principle of the three characteristics of creativity; power, wisdom and love. It is also a rendition of the Sumerian god Enki also called Ea; representing the 'One True Existence' as the 'Word' or 'Divine Thought' that is BAL, the Canaanite name for the 'Lord' who was a son of EL, an elderly deity who stayed away from the daily affairs of humanity and an early Hebrew god as well. Ba'al was defeated by his brother Mot and killed in a contest for power, only to be resurrected by his sister Anat and would then go on to be called the 'Prince of the Earth. BAL is 33 in the Hebrew Qabalah and there's the Rosicrucian word AUM (also Hindu as OM and Thelemic as AUMGN) for the divine thought that is god. It is an anagram for the Latin phrase: Artifex Universus Mundi (Great Architect of the World) and also equals 33 by a much more convoluted process. The M as the element of water is the 'Hanged Man' or 'Drowned Man' of the Tarot as per the Adepts of the INRI formula. This suggests Tiphareth and the Middle Pillar of the Tree-of-Life, whose mystic number is 26 (1+6+9+10). Aleph (1) is the microcosm (a symbol of the fertilized ovum) and Vau (6) is the macrocosm, which are united in Tiphareth. AV are also the letters entwined about the 'Golden Flower of Alchemy', which are the result of the spilling of Hyacinth's blood and Apollo's anguished cry as found in Ovid's Metamorphosis. This was an important Rosicrucian legend. So much so that Francis Bacon would use the AA sign in his letterhead in the late sixteenth century, ev.

BAL and AUM together equal 66, the mystic number of the Qliphoth; suggesting Da'ath which has already been suggested in my other two articles of this small trilogy: The Third Covenant and Reign of the Demiurge, to be the Sephira that leads to the escape from Jehovah's creation. Sixty-six also equals the Hebrew word for Edom, suggesting the Edomite kings or the Nephilim and by AIQ BKR, reduces down to three; representing a trinity of deity and bringing us back to the triune power of creativity. And so with Aleph being the head of the three Mother Letters of the Hebrew alphabet, and with it also being written as a long 'O' indicating the Omega or the All of divine existence, it represents the birth of birth and becomes a royal vowel that indicates the female Spirit of God that moved over the Abyss as a Virgin with Child. Notice the feminine plural suffix added to the word El, giving us the god Elohim who moved over the waters of the deep in Genesis.

Therein was this virtue, that the One became the all. LXV II.6

Specifically, for the Rosicrucians, the supernova explosions that were observed in the constellations of Cassiopeia in 1572 ev and Ophiuchus in 1604 ev were thought to represent the ushering in of the 'Age of Aquarius'. Cassiopeia is one of the titles of Isis; the Rosicrucian Goddess of Initiation as per the Chemical Wedding of Christian Rosencreutz. And Ophiuchus is Aesculapius the Serpent Holder. Thus we have symbolism representing the 'Crown of Light' in Rosicrucian lore, which was signified by the letter A given twice as AA. Further, in the constellation of Cassiopeia, there is a double A star formation which was combined with the sacred Sumerian twin-peaked mountain known as KUR-KUR.

"None, breathed the light, faint & faery, of the stars, and two." AL I.28

According to Stuart Nettleton in his work: The Alchemical Key, Melchizedek made the first known Philosopher's Stone more than four thousand years ago; using water from the Dead Sea. The salts in this sea are particularly prospective for this task as they lack the poisonous heavy metal precipitate known as Gilcrest Precipitate. But in reality, any sea water from well beneath the surface will do. Nettleton, a student of Fulcanelli, made his Philospher's Stone by heating Dead Sea water, filtrating it with Sodium Hydroxide and forming a precipitate of about 8.5 pH. He then drew off the salt water and washed the precipitate a few times with distilled water. It then settled to the bottom of his crystal wine glass being completed with a constitution of approximately seventy percent Gold and thirty percent Magnesium Hydroxide (Milk of Magnesia). The Gold he claims, can then be isolated by drying the precipitate to a power and then be mixed with Hydrochloric Acid. What will then remain is what he calls pure 'Manna' or the Philosopher's Stone.

If we examine the Exodus of the Jews as found in the Torah, we discover that God gave the Jews Manna in the desert. This Manna is that bread that sustained the Jews physically and spiritually in their exodus from Egypt. And it was said to them by Moses that this was a provision of God; bringing up the idea that humanity does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. The word of course, is the 'Logos' or 'Spirit of God' alive in the manna. This is the progenitor of the Eucharist ceremony. Note that Moses placed this mysterious Manna in the Ark of the Covenant and that this Ark was caused to levitate and glow. This seemingly miraculous event was described by the Jews as the 'Radiance of the Shekinah' in the Midrash. And so we find the idea of a 'Bread of Life' in this Manna that has incredible properties seemingly beyond the understanding of modern science. We will address this issue again in this work.

Nettleton goes on to relate that this account of making the Philosopher's Stone differs from the process known traditionally to Alchemists as 'The Great Work' in that it starts with water that already contains the necessary elements in a pure state. He claims that the Great Work of the medieval Alchemists operated from the reverse end; converting Metallic Gold into the Philosopher's Stone. From that end, the Gold had to be reduced to a solvent with the problem of Nitrogen being introduced as a by-product of this process. And it became necessary for the operator to remove the Nitrogen in order to convert the metal to a Gold Chloride that could then be dissolved into water and become digestible in the human organism. This was the 'Elixir of Life' long sought by the ancients after it had been lost by the abuses of human conquest.

In dissolving the Gold, Ammonium Chloride or Sal Ammoniac was reacted with Niter or Potassium Nitrate to create Nitric Acid. This was the 'Secret Fire' that was encoded into the various recipes that have proven so obscurant to later researchers. It's easy to see how these early spagyricists would have been amazed by a 'fire water'; not understanding yet, what an acid is. And note that it is the combination of fire and water that is said to create life. The Ammonia that was employed by the original Alchemists was usually distilled from urine, dung, bones or horns (sometimes referred to as material mundi) as found at the Temple of Amun and from which Ammonia gets its name. Nitric and Hydrochloric Acid combined, dissolved the Metallic Gold. This combination of oxidizing and non-oxidizing acids was known to the ancient Alchemists as 'Aqua Regia'.

The Nitrogen was then removed with 'Antimony'; itself derived from several sources which were referred to as the 'Prima Materia'. One was the mineral of Lead Oxide called 'Galena'. Another was Tin Oxide called 'Cassiterite'. This Antimony was purified with Iron in the same way as in the modern industrial process where Antimony is extracted from Stibnite Ore. In such a process, the Antimony becomes a pure, white vapor that was likened to a White Virgin Queen, the Moon Goddess, and called the 'Philosophical Mercury'. Notice that each of the metals themselves are attributed to one of the seven sacred planets. This accounts for the use of these symbols in the many ancient recipes. And notice also that the Alchemical symbol for Mercury differs from the Astrological symbol for what now should become an obvious reason.

This Antimony was also made into a cream that became an all-purpose unguent for the practitioners of Alchemical medicine as made well-known by Paracelsus in his writings. The salve was often applied to open wounds and cured maladies such as gout, leprosy, stroke, dropsy, epilepsy, consumption and dehydration. And this Philosophical Mercury or Antimony was known as the 'White Virgin' of Alchemy in many pictorial drawings that was also married to the 'Sun King'; creating a rainbow of colors in the Alchemist's flask. To describe this, it was said that a 'Green Dragon' battled a 'Red Man'. The blood of this dragon was said to be a sign that the 'Sun of Love' will be born. And in the faeces of this process, a rock appears that was said to be the 'Green Lion' tinged with Lilac. This royal color signified Horus, the resurrected king and known as the principle deity upon the Throne of Ra in the Thelemic canon.

But the manuscript that describes this process, doesn't decipher the symbolism of this marriage and so it remains obscure for the present work. Yet it is fascinating that these Alchemists can now be seen as projenitors of the present Aeon of Horus; wherein the Great Work is to be fulfilled. This becomes even more interesting when noting that Dr. John Dee, the Enochian prophet who brought Our Lady Babalon into the world was also a practicing Alchemist. And if we consider the mystical Christian symbolism of the Rosicrucians as representing a true Christianity, we see a continuance of the original and lost Hebrew Testament; making Christianity a Second Testament which would have been lost by the Roman Heresy; setting up Thelema as a Third Testament or revelation of the Great White Brotherhood for the benefit of the evolution of humanity.

There is yet another modern Alchemist, David Hudson in Phoenix, Arizona, who has patented a version of the Philosopher's Stone called 'Orbitally Rearranged Mono-atomic Elements' (ORMEs). While he names the 'Transition Elements' that can exist as ORMEs, two become quite fascinating (Rhodium and Iridium) as they have medicinal applications. This is because Rhodium and Iridium compose five percent of mammals brains by dry weight. And note that the Transition Metal complex also includes Gold and Silver. But it's the fact that secretions of the endocrinal system play such an important role in the Sexual Magick of Thelema and that some of these secretions originate from the brain that makes this all the more interesting. This modern Alchemist demonstrates that the Transitional Metal Complex eliminates the need for expensive metals in the Precious Metal Complex (i.e. Gold and Platinum); extracting Transitional Metals from inexpensive resources such as volcanic rock in a process called 'ORMIC Recovery'.

He goes on to describe how Iridium and Rhodium ORMEs can cure cancer. In this, he hypothesizes that Gold is associated with the Pineal Gland, Rhodium with the Thymus Gland and Iridium with the spinal-cord and Pituitary Gland. He claims that a mix of seventy percent Rhodium with fifteen percent Iridium and fifteen percent Gold can produce remission of cancer. This he claims by unspecified empirical evidence. He also claims that ultra-fine colloids of Gold, Platinum and Silver can be used medicinally. The Gold colloids can help the nervous system and reduce depression, anxiety and arthritis. Silver colloids can be used to combat over six-hundred fifty viruses, bacteria, fungi and yeasts. And he goes on to claim that 'Whitegold' is able to correct DNA deficiencies by relaxing damaged DNA so that it can correct itself and recombine. This can be especially effective against AIDS. With that, note that in AIDS patients, the Thymus Gland is usually shrunken, which accounts for the loss of T-cells and white blood cells. He claims that an ORME to correct this can be developed from an aloe-vera plant grown on a volcanic island in the Caribbean as its juices are extracted and freeze-dried into a polysaccharide powder.

As an acid eats into steel, as a cancer that utterly corrupts the body; so am I unto the spirit of man. LXV I.16

Note also that the Alchemist found spiritual virtue to be an important part of the Alchemical process, which also figures into the interpretation of Alchemy by modern pscychologists. It should be obvious that as the metals relate to various planets and the planets relate to parts of the soul and psyche, we are using Alchemical Transmutation as a philosophical term designed to make the virtuous human a perfect human. This is why the outer college of the A.'.A.'. focuses on intellectual, moral and emotional development as well as elemental, astral and psychic development.

The planets themselves are thought of especially by Astrologers, as emitting vibratory frequencies that affect us here on the earth. And Kenneth Grant, a leading pioneer in Thelemic scientific theory, has experimented with vibratory theories that belong to Tantric science; relating the idea that the vibratory frequencies of the genital secretions can be affected for practical use. Hudson has claimed that his research shows Rhodium can retard cancer cells even when it is only in close proximity to those cells; suggesting that vibration is at the center of the science of Mono-atomic substances. This he also connects with a superconductor theory known to physicists as the 'Meissner Field'. This would explain the glowing and levitation of the Ark of the Covenant observed by the Jews when the Manna was placed inside it.

The original knowledge of the Universal Medicine comes to us through ancient Sumerian culture and is said to have been the providence of the gods themselves as they bestowed these secrets on the more virtuous of the human race only if and when they proved themselves ready to receive it. The Watchers over humanity have become known as the Nephilim. Now, by inference in the Book of Concealed Mystery of the Zohar, King Solomon is descended from this primordial race as he is described as joining himself to the 'Daughters of Man'. This of course was considered an atrocity by these ancient gods and is said to have created a race of Anakim. But as Judean records were destroyed by the Babylonian Conquest; along with the en-masse killing of their religious and political leaders, the original oral and religious traditions of the Jews have become lost to the night of time.

In the reconstruction of their history, individuals and their deeds became archetypal legends. And so in the resultant ancient codes of subsumed names as typified by the Egyptians and their renaming of gods, Solomon's name can be broken into meaningful symbols: Sol-Om-On. Here, we find the sun god Sol, the mantra OM and the pantheon of lesser Egyptian and Greek gods from the ancient city of ON and from which Thelema derives its Qabalistic formula for Sexual Alchemy. Note also that Israel itself is a set of subsumed names: Isis, Ra and El, which can be interpreted as the dual gender aspect of the godhead. Isis and Ra combined are God (indicated by the Hebrew suffix 'el'). This certainly alludes to the marriage of the 'Green Dragon' (Venus, Isis) with the 'Sun King' (Ra). And certainly, sexual energy needs to originate within a virtuous soul for any spiritual power to be properly derived.

"For pure will, unassuaged of purpose, delivered from the lust of result, is every way perfect." AL I.44

The use of sexual energy was a specific practice of Tantric ascetics in their practice of Vulva worship, which featured the Adept focusing his eyes on the vulva while his mind was focused on karma or lust. This gives a special insight into the Thelemic idea of working without 'lust of result'. Thus the vulva as seen in its oracular function and the sexual energy would rise up the spine, producing a Kundalini xperience. This method diverted sexual energy from the physical to the psychic plane. The vulva itself is represented through Hermetic Drift, by the Rose and represents the unique function of the Goddess. Thus the Goddess is the receptive womb that transforms the lover to the resurrected Sun or God of Light. The Harlot in this context is sacred and known to Thelemites as Our Lady Babalon. Therefore, the Rose embraces and is embraced by what it embraces as per the Rosicrucian 'Logic of the Roses'. The Rose gives birth to the son or 'Divine Dew of Light'; being the color of Lilac and that 'Arcanum Arcanorum' (note again, the initials of these words and the name of the spiritual order of the Great White Brotherhood in its Thelemic unfolding) or Philosopher's Stone as described above. Lilac is the color of the Crocus Flower whose juice is blood red and of which the ancients used this poisonous substance as a remedy for gout.

There was a maiden that strayed among the corn, and sighed; then grew a new birth, a narcissus, and therein she forgot her sighing and her loneliness. LXV I.47

(Then the scribe knew the narcissus in his heart; but because it came not to his lips, therefore was he shamed and spake no more.) LXV I.49

The red rose represents the womb, menstrual blood, carnal love and the bloom of puberty. In the Eleusinian Mysteries, every candidate for Initiation was required to pass through a rite of love making with a mermaid goddess who held a mirror up to the candidate (along with a golden comb…suggesting the Narcissus); demonstrating the Hermetic Maxim: Know thyself. Rose Croix is a term that translates from the Latin 'ros', which means dew or life and 'crux', which means cross and symbolizes the Alchemical sign for light. The rose also stands for secrecy and silence (the term 'sub-rosa') and is a sign of Harpocrates: The God of Silence. The Egyptians knew Harpocrates as Heru-pa-Khret: The divine child who was victorious over the carnal lusts of Set. Set was depicted as having the head of a dog.

The 'Dog Star' Sirius symbolized the Triple Goddess as it represented the mouth and tongue of the dog. Extending this further, this represented her promiscuity in love and her eating of corpses. Thus does Babalon (the earth mother) receive all into her womb. Notice also that in her aspect as Anubis (the jackal or dog-headed goddess) guarded the land of the dead, which was beneath the surface of the earth. Rosa Caninae, colloquially called the 'dog rose' is attributed to Sirius, which is the brightest star in the sky. It has five white petals that are symbolic of the illumination of love. The constellation of Sirius was called 'Apes' by the Egyptians (meaning the head) with Sirius (the bright star) being the hawk or sign of Horus.

Early in human history, there was a close connection between metallurgy, occult sciences (including Magick and Medicine) and the arts of music, dance and poetry. In their exodus from Egypt, the Jews came upon the Kenites and picked up the lore on the divine metal smith 'Tubal-cain' (important in Freemasonry) who was also Baal Gad or the Goat God of which we can liken both to Pan and Baphomet by Hermetic Drift. Ba'al was also the principal Chaldean god also known as Anu whose sons Enlil and Enki would compete for the principal acceptance as the Hebrew God. This is discussed in some more detail in my articles: The Third Covenant and Reign of the Demiurge. The goat is the sacrificial or eucharistic king of the Afro-Asiatic tradition subsumed into Jewish lore with the idea of the scape-goat surviving into modern colloquialism. Ancient festivals were usually orgiastic with the sexually mature he-goat representing lust and mating with the Goddess as a prelude for the onset of the new year. Note that the goat is also attributed to the constellation of Capricornus in which the sun resides at the start of the vulgar new year and Pan is another name for Janus (whom also symbolizes the winter solstice) from which we get the name for the month of January.

The origin of Baphomet is lost to the night of time. However, esoteric researchers have reversed the word to TEM OHP AB which can by Hermetic Drift, be expanded to a Latin phrase (Templi omnium pacis abbas) that means: Father of the temple, universal freedom of mankind. And in using the Atbash cipher of the Qabalah, Baphomet translates to Sophia: Goddess of Wisdom who brings forth the son of perfection. This is the Shekhinah who unites with God. Therefore, one who has perfect understanding of the self has found perfection and purity. And it becomes obvious that the 'Son' is both masculine and feminine. Pan is Nuit in the language of Thelema. This division is an important characteristic of any truly transcendental god and the principal reason why the early Christian fashioned Jesus as an ephemeral character.

"This is the creation of the world, that the pain of division is as nothing, and the joy of dissolution all." AL I.30

History records that in the twentieth Eqyptian dynasty, Pharaoh Sethnatcht expelled Ra Meses, the Biblical Moses and grandson of Ramses II, along with all the followers of Set from Egypt. This coincided with the volcanic eruption of Helcla III, which caused major climactic effects that could account for the story of the parting of the Red Sea. And it also explains how the Jews upon leaving Egypt could've had such a store of gold that they could fashion a large golden bull while Moses was receiving the Ten Commandments, as they were not enslaved in Egypt at this time. Their enslavement came later and prior to the construction of the Library at Alexandria.

This gold would've been the Alchemical source for the Manna that they manufactured in the desert. And this knowledge would be lost with the destruction of the first temple and would remain lost until the construction of the Library at Alexandria. The Jewish Essenes of the Dead Sea would play a major role in its recovery. However, this knowledge would again be lost with the destruction of the library by the Roman Heresy and would remain so for another six-hundred years until the Knights Templar of the Crusades would recover it in their interaction with the Arab world. The Arabs also continued to venerate Abraham in ancient times and would then have managed to preserve this knowledge that was given to the semitic peoples by Melchizadek; also known as Hermes Trismegistus.

With the archetypal reconstruction of Jewish history, it is no wonder that the military victories of Abraham became attributed to Moses. Abraham's defeat of the Elamite king, Kerdorlaner is a tale of the tribe of Amelek whose god is Melek Taus; known as Azazil or the 'Peacock Angel'. Thus he is the chief of the seven-foot tall giant Nephilim and therefore Lucifer himself. The offspring of these Watchers with the Daughters of Man were called the Anakim and represented a racial dilution that David would later seek to correct. It was David's battles with the Philistines that account for the final elimination of the Anakim from Israel, as accounted for in the popular story of David and Goliath.

Love is the law, love under will.