Cycles of Nature
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If thou desire to see the secrets of Nature now open thine eyes.
If thou desire to see the secrets of Nature now open thine eyes.
The Chemists Key, by Henry Nollius, 1617 AD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I'm sure we can all agree that Nature operates in cycles. We have days, months, years, which are all cycles. Then we have the water cycle, with water being evaporated by the sun, forming clouds and then raining down again. It is these cycles that cause growth and development, most obviously in plant life, but also in all other forms of life, and the Earth itself. Similar cycles also occur in larger systems, such as solar systems and galaxies. All these cycles are due to the yin-yang principle, which I explained in the previous chapter.
But have you stopped to think what the effect of these cycles is? I will illustrate it for you as simply as I can:
Imagine you have a handful of damp soil, which you put into a closed system in which there is sun and then rain, as there is on Earth. Every day there is sunshine (yang) which evaporates off the water, which then condenses at night (yin) and rains back down onto the soil. What will happen?
Well the first and most obvious effect is that the soil will arrange itself in layers with the lightest particles at the top, and the heaviest at the bottom. We have gravity to thank for this of course. The hot air and water vapor will rise, and with it the lightest of the particles, which attach themselves to the water. The lighter the particle is, the easier it attaches itself to the water, and the further the water will lift it while evaporating. This causes the heavier particles to sink as the lighter particles are picked up and placed back down on top of them. Everything will arrange itself in order of density. This you can already see by considering that the top layer of the Earth is a soft soil, with heavier minerals as you dig down. This is also very easily proven with a little experiment, which is also the First Part of our work in making the Stone.
The smallest and lightest particles of all will attach themselves to the water and not let go, since they are so volatile, and these particles are the life-energy we are looking for.
But something else happens too. With the particles continuously being moistened and then heated and dried (calcined), they will slowly break down (decompose/putrefy) into smaller particles. So over time you will end up with more of the lighter particles (less dense) and less heavier particles (more dense). The particles will get lighter and lighter until they are broken down into what they are made of, the original life-energy. The life-energy itself is infused into the water and so penetrates all of the particles as they are moistened by the water, and the life-energy also aids the putrefaction by encouraging the elements to break down into its own form.
So you can assume that eventually, after a very long time, the entire mass is converted intolife-energy, which is what we call the Philosophers' Stone. But I don't recommend using soil for this process, since it will take too long.
Then there are life forms which use this life-energy and the lightest particles to grow and live. Plants grow in the top (lightest) layer of the soil, and use the life-energy which is more concentrated there for their development, which they collect and form into matter for their own use. Animals then eat the plants to absorb their life-energy, and other animals eat those animals for the same reason. Once eaten our stomachs digest what we eat into even smaller particles, which is just another process of putrefaction.
Plants love to grow in dead plant matter, since this is already full of life-energy, which is now happily decomposing into lighter particles and back into the wonderful life-energy.
I'll give you an illustration of how this works inside your body: when you eat an apple, you first chew it. The chewing is the first stage of decomposition, it breaks it down into smaller pieces. Then it goes into your stomach and is digested (dissolved) by your stomach acid, this is again decomposition for breaking down the matter in order to extract and reuse the particles inside of it. What you get is a range of matter: sugars, proteins, vitamins, etc. andlife-energy. The most important of these is the life-energy, but since we do not normally have enough of this, we use the determined and more dense particles (sugar, protein, etc.) where we can, for the required needs of our body. The life-energy can be made into anything we are lacking, it can be formed into any other particle required by our body. It can even be made into water if we have not had enough to drink, or oxygen if we are not breathing enough. This is why when you ingest the Stone, you don't need to eat, drink or breathe, because your body will make this into exactly what it needs.
Scientists have found evidence of biological transmutation already, in many incidents it has been proven that animals can produce minerals that they have not ingested. This supports the existence of life-energy.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Crabs, shellfish and crayfish have shells made largely of calcium. A crab 17 cm by 10 cm has a shell weighing around 350 grams. Periodically these animals shed their shell and create a new one. This is called molting. When molting, a crab is very vulnerable and hides away from all other creatures so it can not get calcium by preying on other creatures.According to French chemist C. Louis Kervran of the Conseil d'Hygiene in Paris, seawater contains far too little calcium to account for the rapid production of a shell (the calcium content of sea water is about 0.042% and a crab can form a new shell in little more than one day). If the entire body of a crab is analyzed for calcium, it is found to contain only enough calcium to produce 3% of the shell (even taking into account the calcium carbonate stored in the hepato-pancreas just before molting).Even in water completely devoid of calcium, shellfish can still create their calcium-bearing shells as shown by an experiment performed at the Maritime Laboratory of Roscoff: "A crayfish was put in a sea water basin from which calcium carbonate had been removed by precipitation; the animal made its shell anyway." (Kervran 1972, p.58)"Chemical analysis made on animals secreting their shells has revealed that calcium carbonate is formed on the outer side of a membrane although on the opposite side of the membrane, where matter enters, there is no calcium. This fact has left specialists perplexed." (Kervran 1972, p.58)
Evidence that Atoms Behave Differently in Biological Systems, by Madhavendra Puri
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So you can see that the cycles of Nature are in place to purify matter, and break it down into lighter, freer particles and life-energy in order to be used again to create new and better life forms. Life forms grow from these lighter, volatile particles, which they form into matter according to their own needs, and when they die Nature turns it back into the dust from whence it came.
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God being before all things, when He was alone created one Substance, which He called the first matter and of that substance he created the Elements, and from them created all things.
that part of the body which is dissolved, ever ascends or rises to the top, above all the other undissolved matter which remains yet at bottom. Therefore saith Avicen, that which is spiritual in the vessel ascends up to the top of the mater, and that which is yet gross and thick, remains in the bottom of the vessel.
Observe, furthermore, how the seeds of all things that grow, as, for instance, grains of wheat or barley, spring forth from the ground, by the operation of the Stone, and the developing influences of Sun and Moon; how they grow up into the air, are gradually matured, and bring forth fruit, which again must be sown in its own proper soil. The field is prepared for the grain, being well ploughed up, and manured with well rotted dung; for the earth consumes and assimilates the manure, as the body assimilates its food, and separates the subtle from the gross. Therewith it calls forth the life of the seed, and nourishes it with its own proper milk, as a mother nourishes her infant, and causes it to increase in size, and to grow upward. The earth separates, I say, the good from the bad, and imparts it as nutriment to all growing things; for the destruction of one thing is the generation of another. It is the same in our Art, where the liquid receives its proper nutriment from the earth. Hence the earth is the Mother of all things that grow; and it must be manured, ploughed, harrowed, and well prepared, in order that the corn may grow, and triumph over the tares, and not be choked by them. A grain of wheat is raised from the ground through the distillation of the moisture of the Sun and Moon, if it has been sown in its own proper earth. The Sun and Moon must also impel it to bring forth fruit, if it is to bring forth fruit at all. For the Sun is the Father, and the Moon the Mother, of all things that grow.
In the same way, in our soil, and out of our seed, our Stone grows through the distilling of the Sun and Moon; and as it grows it rises upwards, as it were, into the air, while its root remains in the ground. That which is above is even as that which is below; the same law prevails; there is no error or mistake. Again, as herbs grow upward, put forth glorious flowers and blossoms, and bear fruit, so our grain blossoms, matures its fruit, is threshed, sifted, purged of its chaff, and again put in the earth, which, however, must previously have been well manured, harrowed, and otherwise prepared. When it has been placed in its natural soil, and watered with rain and dew, the moisture of heaven, and roused into life by the warmth of the Sun and Moon, it produces fruit after its own kind. These two sowings are peculiar characteristics of our Art. For the Sun and Moon are our grain, which we put into our soil, as soul and spirit—and such as are the father and the mother will be the children that they generate. Thus, my sons, you know our Stone, our earth, our grain, our meal, our ferment, our manure, our verdigris, our Sun and Moon. You understand our whole magistery, and may joyfully congratulate yourselves that you have at length risen above the level of those blind charlatans of whom I spoke. For this, His unspeakable mercy, let us render thanks and praise to the Creator of all things, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[...] As it is with plants, so it is with metals. While they lie in the heart of the earth, in their natural ore, they grow, and are developed, day by day, through the influence of the four elements: their fire is the splendour of the Sun and Moon; the earth conceives in her womb the splendour of the Sun, and by it the seeds of the metals are well and equally warmed, just like the grain in the fields. Through this warmth there is produced in the earth a vapour or spirit, which rises upward and carries with it the most subtle elements. It might well be called a fifth element: for it is a quintessence, and contains the most volatile parts of all the elements. This vapour strives to float upward through the summit of the mountains, but, being covered with great rocks, they prevent it from doing so: for when it strikes against them, it is compelled to descend again. It is drawn up by the Sun, it is forced down again by the rocks, and as it falls the vapour is transmuted into a liquid, i.e., sulphur and mercury. Of each of these a part is left behind—but that which is volatile rises and descends again, more and more of it remaining behind, and becoming fixed after each descent. This "fixed" substance is the metals, which cleave so firmly to the earth and the stones that they must be smelted out in a red-hot furnace. The grosser the stones and the earth of the mountains are, the less pure will the metal be; the more subtle the soil and the stones are, the more subtle will be the vapour, and the sulphur and mercury formed by its condensation—and the purer these latter are, the purer, of course, will the metals themselves be. When the earth and the stones of the mountain are gross, the sulphur and mercury must partake of this grossness, and cannot attain to their proper development. Hence arise the different metals, each after its own kind. For as each tree of the field has its own peculiar shape, appearance, and fruit, so each mountain bears its own particular ore; those stones and that earth being the soil in which the metals grow.
It is then expedient to understand the manner of this Circulation, which verily is nothing else but to imbibe, refresh, or moisten the Compound in due weight or proportion with our Mercurial Water, which Philosophers command to be called Permanent Water, in which Imbibitions the Compound is digested and congealed to its natural accomplishment.
[...] as the Infant in the Mother's Belly ought to be nourished with natural nourishment, which is Menstrual Blood, to the end it may be increased and grow in quantity and stronger in quality, so ought our Stone to be nourished
The steady warmth of the sun ripens every fruit, and the warmer the sun (yet not too dry and alternating with due rains), the better do fruits mature and turn out.
God being before all things, when He was alone created one Substance, which He called the first matter and of that substance he created the Elements, and from them created all things.
The Crowning of Nature, by Anonymous, 16th - 17th Cen. (?)
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------that part of the body which is dissolved, ever ascends or rises to the top, above all the other undissolved matter which remains yet at bottom. Therefore saith Avicen, that which is spiritual in the vessel ascends up to the top of the mater, and that which is yet gross and thick, remains in the bottom of the vessel.
The Root of the World, by Roger Bacon, 13th Cen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Observe, furthermore, how the seeds of all things that grow, as, for instance, grains of wheat or barley, spring forth from the ground, by the operation of the Stone, and the developing influences of Sun and Moon; how they grow up into the air, are gradually matured, and bring forth fruit, which again must be sown in its own proper soil. The field is prepared for the grain, being well ploughed up, and manured with well rotted dung; for the earth consumes and assimilates the manure, as the body assimilates its food, and separates the subtle from the gross. Therewith it calls forth the life of the seed, and nourishes it with its own proper milk, as a mother nourishes her infant, and causes it to increase in size, and to grow upward. The earth separates, I say, the good from the bad, and imparts it as nutriment to all growing things; for the destruction of one thing is the generation of another. It is the same in our Art, where the liquid receives its proper nutriment from the earth. Hence the earth is the Mother of all things that grow; and it must be manured, ploughed, harrowed, and well prepared, in order that the corn may grow, and triumph over the tares, and not be choked by them. A grain of wheat is raised from the ground through the distillation of the moisture of the Sun and Moon, if it has been sown in its own proper earth. The Sun and Moon must also impel it to bring forth fruit, if it is to bring forth fruit at all. For the Sun is the Father, and the Moon the Mother, of all things that grow.
In the same way, in our soil, and out of our seed, our Stone grows through the distilling of the Sun and Moon; and as it grows it rises upwards, as it were, into the air, while its root remains in the ground. That which is above is even as that which is below; the same law prevails; there is no error or mistake. Again, as herbs grow upward, put forth glorious flowers and blossoms, and bear fruit, so our grain blossoms, matures its fruit, is threshed, sifted, purged of its chaff, and again put in the earth, which, however, must previously have been well manured, harrowed, and otherwise prepared. When it has been placed in its natural soil, and watered with rain and dew, the moisture of heaven, and roused into life by the warmth of the Sun and Moon, it produces fruit after its own kind. These two sowings are peculiar characteristics of our Art. For the Sun and Moon are our grain, which we put into our soil, as soul and spirit—and such as are the father and the mother will be the children that they generate. Thus, my sons, you know our Stone, our earth, our grain, our meal, our ferment, our manure, our verdigris, our Sun and Moon. You understand our whole magistery, and may joyfully congratulate yourselves that you have at length risen above the level of those blind charlatans of whom I spoke. For this, His unspeakable mercy, let us render thanks and praise to the Creator of all things, through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
[...] As it is with plants, so it is with metals. While they lie in the heart of the earth, in their natural ore, they grow, and are developed, day by day, through the influence of the four elements: their fire is the splendour of the Sun and Moon; the earth conceives in her womb the splendour of the Sun, and by it the seeds of the metals are well and equally warmed, just like the grain in the fields. Through this warmth there is produced in the earth a vapour or spirit, which rises upward and carries with it the most subtle elements. It might well be called a fifth element: for it is a quintessence, and contains the most volatile parts of all the elements. This vapour strives to float upward through the summit of the mountains, but, being covered with great rocks, they prevent it from doing so: for when it strikes against them, it is compelled to descend again. It is drawn up by the Sun, it is forced down again by the rocks, and as it falls the vapour is transmuted into a liquid, i.e., sulphur and mercury. Of each of these a part is left behind—but that which is volatile rises and descends again, more and more of it remaining behind, and becoming fixed after each descent. This "fixed" substance is the metals, which cleave so firmly to the earth and the stones that they must be smelted out in a red-hot furnace. The grosser the stones and the earth of the mountains are, the less pure will the metal be; the more subtle the soil and the stones are, the more subtle will be the vapour, and the sulphur and mercury formed by its condensation—and the purer these latter are, the purer, of course, will the metals themselves be. When the earth and the stones of the mountain are gross, the sulphur and mercury must partake of this grossness, and cannot attain to their proper development. Hence arise the different metals, each after its own kind. For as each tree of the field has its own peculiar shape, appearance, and fruit, so each mountain bears its own particular ore; those stones and that earth being the soil in which the metals grow.
The Glory of the World, Or, Table of Paradise, by Anonymous, 1526 AD
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------It is then expedient to understand the manner of this Circulation, which verily is nothing else but to imbibe, refresh, or moisten the Compound in due weight or proportion with our Mercurial Water, which Philosophers command to be called Permanent Water, in which Imbibitions the Compound is digested and congealed to its natural accomplishment.
[...] as the Infant in the Mother's Belly ought to be nourished with natural nourishment, which is Menstrual Blood, to the end it may be increased and grow in quantity and stronger in quality, so ought our Stone to be nourished
Verbum Dismissum, by Count Bernard Trevisan, 15th Cen.
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------The steady warmth of the sun ripens every fruit, and the warmer the sun (yet not too dry and alternating with due rains), the better do fruits mature and turn out.
An Explanation of the Natural Philosopher's Tincture, of Paracelsus, by Alexander von Suchten, 16th Cen.
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