The Alchemical Art Rules

There is only one reason why Ive had any kind of success in this art, though the word alchemy itself doesn't truly suffice with enough investigation it runs deeper

All I ever did was trust the words of the philosophers, took their words to heart, began to perform the 7 operations of the subjects they mentioned and followed their instructions

you can start in any order of operations because the truth is the operations are not successive but rather intertwined with each one

calcinations can be done in fire, air, water and earth

dissolutions can be done in fire, air, water and earth

but the sages say they burn with water while the vulgar burn with fire

97. Philosophers call their Water, Fire, because it is most hot, and indued with a Fiery Spirit; again Water is called Fire by them, because it burneth the bodies of perfect Metals more than common fire doth for it perfectly dissolveth them, whereas they resist our Fire, and will not suffer themselves to be dissolved by it; for this cause it is also called Burning Water. Now that Fire of Tincture is hid in the belly of the Water and manifests itself by a double effect, viz., of the body's Solution and Multiplication.

http://www.alchemywebsite.com/harcanum.html


success in this art is only by knowing what the philosopher's mean by their words and following their instructions

if you feel you have patience then you must just boil the subject of the philosophers  and observe it carefully to understand it over time

I prefer a speedy work so perform operations that i saw the results quickly and then overlooked what i did to understand them the best way i can in order to achieve my own goals i put for myself

I have accomplished every goal I set for myself and I do not have any lacking

the truth is the people who wrote these books put a lot of effort vs time in understanding the operations of nature and its principles... because those are the true tools of the hermetic artist... not necessarily the elements....

and to modernize these ways of thinking, they understood chemical trends... how each group on the periodic table of elements had its trends... and these elements tend to be found in the same places, at all times...

taking advantage of natural principles (or called laws as some choose to call it, i don't any more) to manipulate a subject how he wishes, this comes from gathering an understanding through practice and observation


you must truly seek an understanding for yourself and dont expect anyone to just hand it to you... because a personal understanding is something earned of ones self.....

for if you have an understanding not only to ALL BOOKS AND WORDS BECOME EXCEPTIONALLY CLEAR

and once you get to that point you realize it wasn't the writer who wasn't clear in his speech but you the reader was only lacking in understanding ( i experienced this so dont cry reading this please  )

the words in these books are only obscure to those who do not have an understanding or cannot obtain it by reason of the mind and heart being in a state of chaos or fixed in disorder....which are truly large 20 inch massive steel gates which breaking through one will fail eternally... but one must find these keys

no amount of hard work, studying or manual labor will ever grant you success in this art or any of the arcane arts

they are guarded by gate keepers who hold the keys

this excerpt from the book i just posted pretty much says exactly what im saying in his own way


"I myself may not speak out as plainly as I would, for I am silenced by the vow which binds all the masters of the Art, the curse that lights on those who violate the sacred seal of Nature's secrets, and the malediction of all the philosophers. Therefore, I must exhort you again and again to trust your own observations rather than the writings of others, and to let the Book of Nature be the most favoured volume of your library. Observe her methods, not only in the production of metals, but in the procreation of the fruits of the earth, and their constant growth and development, in the winter and summer, in the spring and autumn, by rain and sunshine. If you had a sound knowledge of Nature's methods in producing the bud and the flower, and in ripening the green fruit, you would be able to set your hand to the germs which Nature provides in the bowels of the earth, and to educe from them (or their substance) that which you so much desire. Forgive me then, my Brother, for so unceremoniously overthrowing all your old settled and dearly cherished convictions. My excuse must be that I have done it for your own good, as you would otherwise never learn the true secret of transmuting metals. You may believe and trust me, for I can have no conceivable motive for filling the world with fresh lies of which, God knows, it is already full enough, through the agency of the aforesaid deceivers and their willing dupes, who after being lured on by those false books to the loss of all their worldly goods, have not suffered their eyes to be opened by their losses, and seem unable to find their way out of that gigantic labyrinth of falsehood. Nay, they have even taken upon themselves to write books, and to speak as if they were perfect masters of the Art, and had derived great advantage from it, though in reality they have been brought so low as to be able to afford nothing but miserable decoctions. They dissolved until their whole fortune had undergone a process of dissolution; they sublimed until all their gold and silver had evaporated; they putrefied until their clothes decayed upon their bodies; and they calcined until all their wood and coal were consumed to ashes, and they themselves were reduced to wallet and staff.

This is the prize which they have won with all their trouble. Let their ruin be a warning to you, my Brother. For their alchemy instead of imparting health, is followed by penury and disease; instead of transmuting copper into gold, it changes gold into copper and brass. Consider also how many ignorant persons, such as cobblers, tailors, bankrupt merchants, and tavern keepers, pretend to a knowledge of this Art, and, after a few years' unsuccessful experimenting in the laboratory, call themselves great doctors, announce in boastful and sesquipedalian language their power to cure many diseases, and promise mountains of gold. Those promises are empty wind, and their medicines rank poison, with which they fill the churchyards, and for the impudent abuse of which God will one day visit them with heavy punishment. But I will leave the magistrates and the jailers to deal with these swindling charlatans. I speak of them only to put you on your guard. If so many persons write on the subject of Alchemy, who know nothing whatever about the nature and generation of metals, it becomes all the more necessary for you to be careful what books you read, and how much you believe.

For I tell you truly that so long as you have no real and fundamental knowledge of the nature of the metals, you cannot make much progress in the true Art of Alchemy, or understand the natural transmutation of metals. You must grasp the meaning of every direction before you can put it into effect. Always mistrust that which you do not understand (i.e., in studying this art). There are many false ways, but there can be only one that is true, and indicates a process which does not require many hands, or much labour. For this reason, beloved friend and Brother, you must work hard by day and by night to obtain a thorough knowledge of the metals, and of their essential nature. Then you will be able to understand the requirements of the art. You will know without being told what is the true substance and the true method. You will see the utter uselessness of your former labour, and you will be amazed at your former blindness. Study the nature of metals and the causes of their generation, for they derive their birth from the same source as all other created things."

Agreed the alchemical books are written very directly and practically but only after a great deal of study, your own understanding eventually allows the words to become crystal clear.

What's more curious is when you read one work and know that when one author says "arsenic","sulfur","mercury" or "antimony" you know that he's speaking allegorically where another author uses the same words but means actual arsenic,sulfur,mercury and antimony.