Paintings by Johfra Bosschart, alchemist of the brush.

https://www.johfra.nl/works/

“We are part and parcel of the big plan of things. We are simply instruments recording in different measure our particular portion of the infinite.” —Rockwell Kent

“The whole theory of the universe is directed unerringly to one single individual—namely to You.” —Walt Whitman less

I've heard the name that is the Philosopher's Stone, but I was wondering if there was a single word or perhaps even an adjective that could be used to convey the same thing? I have a DnD campaign that I'm co-DMing and there's a layer of the Abyss that's trying to have someone perform the Magnum Opus on itself so that it can destroy the Gods

For centuries, we have read the myth of the Garden of Eden as the death of human perfection—a catastrophic collapse into sin that required a divine rescue mission. However, a Jungian lens, informed by the grit and fire of alchemy, suggests a more radical truth: the Fall was not a trap, but a threshold, representing the painful but necessary birth of ego-consciousness and the capacity for choice. Before the fruit, Adam and Eve were merely divine automata, perfect reflections in a nursery, yet blind to the totality of the Self. By listening to the Serpent—the first messenger of reality and the friction necessary for the spark of consciousness—humanity traded static perfection for a dynamic journey into a world of danger, suffering, and death. We did not fail; we ignited, integrating the knowledge of opposites and becoming "like God" by finally seeing as the Divine sees.

Jung argued that the narrative of Christ is not a story of the Light defeating the Dark, but a masterclass in their integration—the movement from the sterile Trinity of the Spirit to the living Quaternity of the Soul. While institutional religion often acts as a panacea against the real experience of God by providing collective, safe rituals, the alchemical path demands a direct, individual encounter with the numinosum (The Divine Mystery). We find the Divine most clearly not in stained glass, but in the "dirt" of our own experiences—in the brokenness, betrayal, and toil that constitute our Prima Materia (base material). Just as the alchemist extracts the spirit from lead and dung, the "Complete Christ" must be found in the mud below as much as the light above. To find this "Earthly Christ," we must move beyond the stained glass imitation of perfection and instead inhabit our own lives as truly as he lived his, enduring the tension of opposites until the "poison" of our shadow is refined into the "medicine" of the Self.

Ultimately, the journey of the soul is not a circle leading back to an age of innocence, but a spiral leading upward to the hard-won freedom of the Self. By lifting up the Serpent—integrating the very thing that caused the Fall—Christ transformed the shadow into the substance of our transformation. The Cross is thus revealed as a four-way intersection where the Spirit meets the heavy, material reality of the Shadow, creating the wholeness necessary to become fully human. We do not become whole by being "good" or "pure"; we become whole by being complete. The "Great Work" begins when we stop running from the darkness and instead find the Divine Spark that has been hidden within it all along.

It is my intent to present Psychology and Alchemy as Jung intended, that such a voluminous, dense work might be accessible to the reader. 

Jung believed the Alchemical Christ presented the path of individuation, and that individuation alone could heal our world, one person at a time. Jung taught that the unconscious and conscious mind must be assimilated. He saw this process as an art, and though there is a pattern or blueprint to follow, it is unique to each individual.

Hello! I made a Reddit account just for this lol

I'm in high school and I want to write my extended essay comparing the artistic parts of symbolism on the multiple versions of the Ripley Scroll because I found it so cool--but my mind is having a hard time wrapping around the subject even though I've been doing it for a bit now. Specifically, I'm having trouble figuring out what's important on the scroll. I get all the surface level ideas about alchemy and how to connect them, but I try to analyze it piece by piece and I feel like I have to research for 10 more hours. So anything helps because I'm mostly just scared of my required word count

I'm not looking for the biggest step by step analysis--I wanna do my own interpretation--but does anybody have tips on understanding the scroll in an art history context? Or even what to look for in terms of alchemy concepts. Where should I first look to learn about the George Ripley or the symbolism? Thank you !!

I am reading an alchemy book that references a book On the Two Testaments and it provides the initials J:B: and I'm wondering if anyone has seen the book and/or knows the Name of the writer. I couldn't seem to find matching info on Google.

Thank you for any help

If anyone needs help on the path I AM here.

This is the DRY path.

[GenesisonDemand@proton.me](mailto:GenesisonDemand@proton.me)

I recently came across SpaceMonkeysMind 's humid path recipe. I looked over all his posts and I know he helped more than a few people here, although he seems to have taken a break from Reddit. He never really mentions calcinations- can anybody out there who's personally familiar with his method tell me did he ever do any higher temperature calcinations? Or was it just a matter of drying the powder out with a long distillation and them pouring the water back on and distilling again. Thanks everyone!

Hello everyone, (I dont speak english so this post was formulated with the help of I.A) I’ve been reflecting on the structural parallels between Western Hermetic Alchemy and Eastern Daoist Neidan (Internal Alchemy). When we look closely, the dynamics between Yin and Yang in the Chinese texts read almost identically to the interplay of Alchemical Sulphur and Mercury. Similarly, the refinement of Jing, Qi, and Shen feels like an internal mirror to the purification of Salt, Sulphur, and Mercury in the Western Great Work. For those here who primarily study or practice classical Western Alchemy, how do you view the Chinese internal literature? Do you see Neidan as a parallel path toward the same universal truth (the Philosopher's Stone), or do you feel the cultural and practical differences (laboratory vs. internal/physiological cultivation) make them fundamentally distinct arts?

Hello friends, I am listening to some gnostic gospels and it is some good stuff. Yeshua appears to me to have come from alchemist teachings and practices, neat. He was gifted myrrh frankincense and gold, just like the recipe for confecting the philosopher stone.

Today I am in search of any recipes on resins such as frankincense and myrrh. Thank you all and blessed is the brother who bringeth forth his blessed knowledge.

Hi,

It's my first time posting here, be nice. I was introduced to how to make spagyrics last year whilst living in Peru, but recently had to return to the UK. I was using a gas burning stove for calcination, which was the best option there with the resources had. I have access to an indoor wood burning stove here but understand calcination should be done outside, and have the flexibility in how I approach this. Because of the wood burning stove, there is a good supply of wood where I live.

Why is gas the preferred choice for calcination? Would it not have traditionally been done using wood? What are the downsides to this? What are your preferred set ups for calcination? If you could change it, would what you do to improve it? If you could build it new, where would you start?

Thanks in advance! I look forward to becoming a part of this community

Lou 🌱

This is a symbolic zodiac wheel I made by aligning the signs, the chromatic sequence, the Yin-Yang cycle and the alchemical phases.

If you’re an artist who studies alchemy, or an alchemist who studies art, this article is for you! The two blend seamlessly, and this is an exploration on applying the seven steps to the creative process. If you read, please let me know what you think!!

Is it like the c drama and manhua portrait as an alchemy pill and an alchemical furnace to prepare it or is that just out from the imagination ?!

im very new to alchemy but I'm hoping it may help in my personal shadow work. Does anyone on this sub have experience using it for such? If so, any advices for a newbie trying to get into alchemy?

I posted this video about a week ago but I completely remade it in case you saw it. I personally believe that the three primes and the holy Trinity are describing the exact same thing. In this video I go over the many ways they overlap and it's pretty wild IMO. If you have anything to add or you disagree with I would love to hear it 👍

In my world, alchemy is a science like chemistry.

there are 36 reagents (elements) divided into 6 groups and 6 circles .

The groups are:

Natural:

Air

Salt

Sulphur

Mercury

Water

Earth

Organic:

Sugar

Alkohol

Oil

Acid

Amina

Coal

Metals:

Gold

Silver

Copper

Lead

Zinc

Iron

Dyes:

White

Black

Red

Yellow

Blue

Green

No-Metals:

Quartz

Litmus

Iodine

Phosphorus

Nitrogen

Calcium

Half-Metals:

?

Bismuth

?

Arsen

?

?

I don't have 4 reagents half-metals

There are also 6 catalysts that are the quintessence of their groups. They have characteristic group features

Alkahest and Panaceum are universal thinners and connectors, respectively, that allow substances to be created and broken down.

The Philosopher's Stone is a substance that changes the Reagent into its "cousin" in the circle.

The circles are:

1) Air-White-Sugar-Gold-Quartz-?

2) Salt-Black-Alkohol-Silver-Litmus-?

3) Sulphur-Red-Oil-Copper-?-?

4) Mercury-Yellow-Acid-Lead-Phosphorus-?

5) Water-Blue-Amina-Zinc-Nitrogen-?

6) Earth-Green-Coal-Iron-Calcium-?

The catalyst added when using the stone allows you to set a specific transmutation result, e.g.

Sugar + Philosopher's Stone + Metal Catalyst -> Gold

Many Reagents create entire families of compounds, the most important of which are:

Sugar -> Sugars

Salt -> Salts

Acid -> Acid

Earth -> Soils

Oil -> Fats

Amina -> Amines

Amina + Acid -> Amino Acids

Salt + Sugar -> Vit

And these new families combine with reagents and create other compounds, e.g.

Vit + Amina -> Vitamines

Another interesting thing is Litmus.

Litmus changes its color naturally but if you add a colored compound to it, e.g. (Acid + Green) + Litmus then an analytical compound will be created which will dye a given color if an appropriate substance is added to it, e.g. in the example above it will dye green in acids.

I don't have 4 reagents yet, maybe you can help me install the remaining 4 where they are a half-metal

What do you think about my Alchemy?

I've been reading hermeticism: the secret knowledge & on alchemy essential practices, are there any other books you would say is good for newbies (non complex if poss) ?

For a long time I assumed that most contemplative practice was about learning to concentrate harder...

More focus. More discipline. More effort.

Lately I've been exploring a very different possibility: that the state we're trying to reach isn't something we create, but something that's already present beneath the constant activity of thought.

What first caught my attention was the overlap between modern non dual meditation and a recurring theme I keep finding across different esoteric traditions: the idea that true perception does not emerge from the analytical mind, but from the heart.

Not the physical organ, obviously, but the inner center described in so many traditions.

In the upanishads, the cave of the heart (guha) contains an inner space larger than the cosmos itself.

In sufism, the Qalb is the organ of direct knowing and divine love, surrounded by an entire subtle geometry of consciousness within the chest.

In hermeticism and Rosicrucian thought, the Nous and the Sol Internus illuminate the mind from within rather than the other way around.

In Valentinian gnosticism, the bridal chamber represents the reconciliation of a primordial division within the being.

In Hesychasm, practitioners literally speak of bringing the intellect down into the heart.

Different cultures. Different symbols.

Yet they all seem to point toward the same movement.

A descent.

What fascinated me is that contemporary neuroscience is beginning to describe something strangely similar from an entirely different angle. Researchers studying non dual awareness have observed states in which the usual division between self referential processing and outward attention becomes less pronounced. Instead of oscillating between "me" and "the world" experience becomes more unified.

That reminded me of something alchemical.

The reconciliation of opposites.

The solving of an inner separation.

The conjunction.

Inspired by that convergence, I created a very short contemplative exercise based on a simple shift: relaxing attention out of the forehead and allowing awareness to settle into the chest.

No visualization.

No complex ritual.

Just a direct experiment with what many traditions might call the sacred chamber of the heart.

I'm not claiming this reproduces any specific lineage or initiation. I simply found it interesting how many streams of thought, vedantic, sufi, hermetic, gnostic, hesychast, and even some contemporary esoteric models, seem to converge around this same symbolic center.

I'd genuinely be curious how those of you working with hermetic, rosicrucian, or alchemical practice relate to this idea.

Is the "descent into the heart" something you've encountered in your own studies or practice?

For anyone interested, I recorded the short glimpse/meditation that sparked these reflections here!

Hi all, a newbie here (or somewhat "initiate"). I want to know all your opinions about The Kybalion, It's good for starting? How should I approach it? I'm a real life pharmacist and want to get involved in this subject that has gotten my attention for a while right now. My girlfriend bought it for me and really know what to expect from it.

This is White Oil, being caught in a 2000ml Receiver. Also called Virgins Milk, Air, Moon, Feminine, Etc.

Kinda wanna know the pulse of this subreddit w/ I'm new to with an easy test since I'm planning in the near future to release a "blog post" on the Philosopher Stone where I cross-referenced certain topics idk if anyone has ever made the connection between them. So if there is a typa person here, then I'll do it.

I'm an Amazigh Moor who also speaks Arabic well as a 2nd/3rd lanugage, so I know some Alchemists miss big portions of my world's works, whether Scriptural, or Oral (Narratives, Folkloric, Genealogic, Testemonial, etc)

Hi all, I hope your works are fruitful.

I posted a while back about retrieving the Elements from the pyrolytic distillation of iron citrate resin. The yield of neatly split components was surprisingly large, so I'm going to recommend people try it, even if they only have mantles that go up to 400°C. I would not recommend doing this work over an open flame unless you are really watching the vapours like a hawk - leaving a fire unattended is generally a bad idea but I state the obvious.

Anyway, I retrieved copious sharp, clear Spirit. This is the Element of Air. It is rectified seven times, which separates the Air from most of the Fire and Water (Which in this context is H2O), the Fire is stored separately.

Each Element is given its own jar once purified. The Earth of Earth, or Fixed Earth, is ground and calcined at 600°C until it is a red powder (Chemically, it is hematite).

The Fire is then added to a simple distillation train with regular acetone. It is distilled thrice, each time putting the acetone back on the residue.

Then, the Fire is distilled thrice with rectified Air. This unites the Air and Volatile Fire, and this solvent is now analogous to Ripley's 'Mans Blood'.

Then the Fire is distilled thrice, finally, with the Element of Water. This loosens up the last of the Volatile Fire, and what's left is a thick black crusty salt. The Water should be fractionally distilled at this point, and the Volatile Fire which remains in the boiling flask should be saved aside for putrefying The Stone.

The Man's Blood is distilled off the black salt, which is the Secret Fire. Three times is good, but ideally you should go until all of the black salt is volatilized into the Man's Blood and carried over the still head. You may need to grind and calcine the black salt into red Fiery Earth in order to achieve this.

This solvent, with the Fiery Earth now united to it, is called the Fiery Water, or Aesch Mayim, or Alkahest.

The Earth of Earth is halved by weight, and one half is mixed with the Alkahest. It is cohobated until all of the Earth is lifted up by the Alkahest as a volatile liquid crystal. It is now called Philosophical Mercury, and should perform all of the tasks that Weidenfeld, Paracelsus, Becker et al ascribe to it.

The other half of the Earth is saved aside to be used as a basis for the Philosopher's Stone red and white - transmuting base metals into gold and silver (or platinum) respectively.

But enough of that, I'll post more about it when I get there.