Currently reading Armand Barbault's alchemy book, "Gold of a Thousand Mornings" (1975) ["L'or du Millieme Matin" (1969)]. Started to notice that some of his section headings and "takeaways" could be read as a short alchemy text all on their own. ("Takeaways" for the non-journalist crowd are these sentences you see enclosed in boxes to highlight the important stuff from magazine and newspaper articles.)
The Dawn of the Magicians begins at daybreak on a Spring morning.
The twelve Signs of the Zodiac hold the secret of Nature.
Astrology is only one step from Alchemy, Alchemy only one step from Medicine.
The Adept who reveals all he knows about the First Matter is not betraying any trust, for the means by which it is obtained remain very personal, linked to nature and to the Alchemist's own individual preparation.
A repeated series of operations should bring the Matter to the state of Leaven, the state conductive to the "opening" of gold.
Our preparation is produced by following the philosophic process which deal with the "first part" of the Great Work as described in traditional alchemy.
The Tradition represents the great work as consisting of Three Parts.
[Quoting from The Twelve Keys of Philosophy] The pure is freed from the impure...Corruption of one and generation of the other...All flesh born of the earth shall be destroyed anew and shall be returned to the earth. In as much as previously it was earth, new generation of the salt of the earth is produced by the breadth of celestial life.
[Another quote from The Twelve Keys of Philosophy] A salt is most effectively extracted by fire if the body in question has been previously been brought to putrefaction...the true, natural tartar to be dissolved is hidden in the ash. When this tartar has been dissolved, the mighty lock to the King's apartment may be unfastened.
The Emerald Tablet and the Mutus Liber provide all the essential alchemical knowledge in symbolic form.
All the evidence points to the conclusion that the liquor of gold----which according to all normal systems of physical and chemical analysis contains no gold----constitutes a new state of matter.
In addition to vegetabilised gold, the alchemist can, within the framework of first-degree medicine, prepare tinctures of such metals as silver, antimony, copper and tin.
The three basic Tinctures are those of Gold, Silver and Antimony.
The way of the second order is even more mysterious. The alchemist may embark on it once he possesses First Matter which has reached the first degree of perfection.
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I accept that Armand Barbault had success in the work that he followed, but the fact is, he never obtained or came anywhere near finding the "Stone" which is the true goal of every genuine alchemist. The work that he followed was more of a "Vegetable Alchemy" rather than that of the metals, and I think he was quite deluded in his belief that he could go any further with it. His "Alchemy" is somewhat the same as Frater Albertus from America who again got nowhere, and like him are both long dead.
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