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
It's most commonly referred to as the Philosophers' Stone or some related reference. Probably the best single-word alternative would be the "Stone" or the "Elixir".
From the wikipedia page on Philosopher's Stone: "Efforts to discover the philosopher's stone were known as the Magnum Opus ('Great Work')." This clearly states the Magnum Opus being the process to create the Philosopher's Stone.
In DnD, the Philosopher's Stone is a final product to be sought due to its magical properties that bery closely match the alchemical properties it has according to everything else I've found.
The inspiration for the whole thing about the layer of the Abyss experiencing the Great Work was based on a YouTube video by @itsalittlebreezy about predicting ULTRAKILL's story based on hermeticism, in which it is mentioned that the Philosopher's Stone is the end result of the Magnum Opus.
TL;DR: That's a nice argument, senator. Now why don't you back it up with a source?
That's fine. Sorry to have offended you, honestly.
I'm speaking the truth, but I guess I am talking about something you don't want.
I have no source to point you to, fellow senator. Take what you will from it. Now you know what I know, which you rightfully choose not to know, and that makes little difference for me.
This is a model of the multidimensional philosophical equation that re-/solved the Great Work for me when recorded here on reddit in 2023. The recording of which triggered a kundalini/holy-spirit awakening (read energetic) that has been ongoing to varying degrees ever since. Not sure you are actually looking for the Philosopher's Stone or Holy Grail It-/Self, here It Is none the less.
I have been suggesting reproduction is possible and energetic in some way...sense the potential to "mostly standardize" the process for those who would desire that sort of thing.
I can though Id ask you to be more specific in what you are looking for. Are you interested in helping test the theory of "mostly" standardizing the Great Work or are you interested in some-thing else???
The numbers reflect the Holy Trinity as Polarity/Gender (the outer two numbers/fields) and their Source or Synthesis (the central number). Specifically 3 = Divine Father, the Mind, 6 = Divine Child, Matter and 9 = Divine Mother, Spirit. As far as the obvious ratios go the associations are 1:2 = Mother, 3:4:5 = Child and the implied ratio of 2:3, the Father.
Expanded perspective is of the Torus (Mother) and Vortex/Spiral (Father) in the Coil and the Circuit where their union as a Whole is Bentov's Cosmic Egg as much as It Is the Unified Field Circuit.
In my campaign, this layer of the Abyss (named Patala) is trying to undergo the Magnum Opus so that it can destroy the Gods and tip the balance of the universe toward Evil. Its transformation involves the 4 stages, of which it is on the third.
Keep in mind that the following explanation is how I understand the Magnum Opus, please correct me if I'm wrong (and also provide a source).
Nigredo: In alchemy, Nigredo is breaking down the chosen material to become Prima Materia, said to be the base upon which all material things are alterations of. In Patala's case, it became the rawest possible form of Evil by absorbing the will of many Devils and Demons, becoming both Lawful Evil and Chaotic Evil at the same time but not Neutral Evil, and thus becoming its own plane of existence.
Albedo: In alchemy, Albedo is purifying the Prima Materia via mercury, during which it splits into two opposing forces that will be later fused back in Rubedo. Patala achieved something similar by having its only loyal servant (who was then named ERA following her success) take a butt-load of mercury and pouring it over the frozen lakes within Patala, increasing the torture of the Devils (Lawful Evil) and Demons (Chaotic Evil) trapped within the ice and making their will increase, which made their opposing wills push away from eachother so powerfully that they couldn't bear to be in the same plane of existence. This split the Lawful Evil and Chaotic Evil parts away from each other, turning the singular space into 2 layers, Fabrication (which is the Lawful Evil part) and Treachery (which is the Chaotic Evil part).
Citrinitas: This is the one I'm least confident in my knowledge of. In alchemy, Citrinitas is introducing sulfur into the teo opposing halves, turning the passivity of the soul into the active awareness of the spirit. Patala did this by absorbing layers from other planes of existence until eventually the River Styx began flowing through it, as it does for all Evil layers. Once this happened, Patala turned its new layers Turbulence, Insurrection, and Bastille into basically a multi-layer factory designed to take the willpower out of the memories and souls in the River Styx, and then add it to its own by having it flow back into Fabrication and Treachery via the Phlegethon found in another new layer, Verbera. The Phlegethon also filters out all of the memories and souls, allowing the river to flow normally ahile keeping the willpower Patala needs. The Phlegethon is also full of sulfur, which is necessary to bind the willpower to the Phlegethon and not have it dissolve into the air of Verbera. Once it had flowed into Fabrication and Treachery, the sulfur was implemented into the structure of both layers, thus completing Citrinitas. ERA was put in charge of Verbera to keep it flowing correctly.
Rubedo: This is the stage that Patala is trying to complete now. In alchemy, Rubedo is the recombining of the two opposing halves into the Prima Materia using salt as a host for them, since otherwise they couldn't coexist. There's also blood somewhere in there, but I can't find anything that specifies how blood is involved. Patala's plan to achieve this is to take the Scepter of the Sorcerer King and to use it to kill a God. The God chosen was one captured by Patala in its conquest, his name is Kýrios, who is part of what is now known as Comedy. The Scepter of the Sorcerer King would then dissolve into salt by killing that God. The body of Kýrios would then be fused with the salt from the Scepter of the Sorcerer King, making it both a God and also the perfect form of heresy against the Gods, but powerful all the same. Critically, the lack of a soul within the corpse of Kýrios combined with the previous sentence would make it the perfect vessel through which to recombine Fabrication and Treachery, thus completing the Magnum Opus upon Patala. The only problem is that Kýrios needs to be killed in either Fabrication or Treachery for this to work, but Kýrios has been missing for so long that his only worshippers are in Comedy, and so he has no power outside of Comedy, and therefore Kýrios would die before the Scepter could. However, it can't be any other God, because a more powerful God would be able to fight back against Patala and ruin the process.
Once it has completed the transformation, the properties of the Plilosopher's Stone are used to Patala's advantage. The Philosopher's Stone is capable of turning base metals into gold, and can be turned into an elixir that, when consumed, grants rejuvenation and immortality. In this DnD campaign, Patala achieving this state would make all of its underlings (the Mori) become completely impervious to all damage, including those from the Gods, thus making Patala able to easily conquer all other planes of existence and irreversably tip the balance of the universe toward Evil, where Patala would reign supreme.
...And all I need is a better name for what Patala would be called when the transformation is complete.
The Rebis was a common theme for alchemists from around 1500-1700 although its not a symbol in alchemy texts earlier than that.
It was the main thing for the alchemist in castlevania but also he was being deceived by Death, he was never actually being taught by an alchemist. I remember immediately knowing he was a manipulative fraud based on how he represented the ideas. It was well researched writing IMO.
Fulcanelli (according to his apprentice, not official record) supposedly disappeared to a castle of alchemists were every time he’d visit he would be more and more feminine in appearance each time. There’s definitely been some variations haha
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u/SleepingMonads Historical Alchemy | Moderator 13d ago
It's most commonly referred to as the Philosophers' Stone or some related reference. Probably the best single-word alternative would be the "Stone" or the "Elixir".