ALEXANDRIAN ARCHETYPAL RECIPES

An archetypal recipe can be thought of as a template or blueprint upon which subsequent recipes are based. The beating heart of alchemy since its inception in early-Alexandria and throughout the Byzantine period, its transmission to the Islamic Empire and migration into Europe has been the Tincture of the Philosophers, Elixir or more commonly the Philosophers Stone. Archetypal recipes for confecting the Philosophers Stone derive from Alexandrian artisans or, as believed by some, as early as the time of Moses and Akhenaten. Although evidence for Moses alchemy is circumstantial and speculative, the recipes for Maria Hebreas Tincture and the Hermetic White Stone have been well preserved in authentic alchemical texts and fragments by Zosimus and others. By decoding the chemistry in the earliest recipes for the Philosophers Stone, it becomes possible to map the evolution of Islamic and European methods for confecting the Stone and the abstract cover-terms that secured the Art from the uninitiated. The substances and processes pioneered by Maria Hebrea were preserved as an unbroken continuity until Morienus transmitted the Art directly to Khlid ibn Yazd around the time of Islamic conquest during the 7th century. Islamic alchemy was founded upon Alexandrian archetypal recipes and both Alexandrian and Islamic alchemy influenced the European tradition that followed.

Moses Parvaim Gold

A unique type of red gold is mentioned in Biblical texts known as Parvaim gold, typically described as being red as the blood of a bull and holding unique value in the Jewish tradition. Moses was said to have possessed the knowledge and skill to reduce gold via metallurgical technique to a fine ingestible powder. The means by which he could have performed this feat so early in history by fire and with materials at hand greatly narrows the options to just a few technological possibilities. In the 16th century, Paracelsus described a method by which gold could be reduced by fire resulting in a form of brittle red gold although he did not explicitly state that his technique was a plausible candidate for the identity of Moses method. Two centuries later, Dr. Sigismund Bacstrom reproduced Paracelsus procedure only slightly modified achieving the same result a brittle blood-red form of gold, reduced using a unique substance well documented in Biblical passages via a specific metallurgical technique. The work of these two European alchemists established plausibility of the biblical account of Moses metallurgical feat with the implications that Moses may have been the first recorded alchemist in the western tradition. If Paracelsus and Bacstroms process accurately reflects Moses methodology, it may have served as the proto-archetypal recipe foundational to Maria Hebreas Judeo-Egyptian alchemy that developed centuries later in Alexandria.

Maria Hebreas Tincture

Maria Hebrea is the earliest recorded historical alchemist and for this reason, she is known as the mother of alchemy. Maria is clearly recorded by Zosimus as being a chrysopian specializing in gold making via the use of her Tincture and copper. The clearest record of Marias recipes for creating the Tincture of the Philosophers is found in her dialogue with King Aros. In this fascinating text, she details two recipes for creating her elixir or Tincture, first by metallurgical technique followed by a second recipe that details a chemical reaction. These two processes have come to be known as the brief art (Ars Brevis) and the great art (Ars Magna) respectively. Her innovation was the use of a unique salt that enabled the art to evolve from metallurgy to recognizable alchemy in conjunction with specialized techniques and equipment. With Maria, the art shifted from metallurgy to one based on a chemical reaction in a sealed glass vessel. The recipes preserved in Marias dialogue reveal incredibly elegant and efficient processes once her cover-terms have been accurately decoded. Her two recipes represent the two archetypal methods for confecting Elixir, also known as Tincture of the Philosophers: 1. Ars Brevis brief art, dry path, ancient metallurgical based technique 2. Ars Magna great art, wet path, innovative chemical reaction based upon a unique fluxing salt The Philosophers Stone of her tradition, regardless of whether it was crafted by the dry or wet path, was described in European alchemy as the Tincture of the Philosophers by Paracelsus and as the Lesser Specific Stone by Heinrich Khunrath. When one thinks of the historical Philosophers Stone, it is usually a product inspired by Marias Tradition.

The Hermetic White Stone

According to writings attributed to Cleopatra, Synesius and Stephanos another variant of the Philosophers Stone existed in the mid and late-Alexandrian periods that remained free of gold and silver, yet could be fused with these precious metals after-the-fact. Cleopatras dialogue with other philosophers indicates that like Maria she was creating a chemical reaction in a glass vessel. Writings attributed to Synesius closely parallel those of Cleopatra. Cleopatra referred to her product by the cover-names Serpent, the One and the symbol for Saturn, sometimes interpreted as Mercury/Hermes and sophic lead. Synesius referred to his product as the White Stone, White Mercury, White Magnesia, the Medicine and Foliated Earth. A dialogue attributed to him suggests that the key to his alchemy was knowledge of magnesia and related divine water also identified as mercury of the philosophers by which his White Stone could be crafted. Stephanos expressed knowledge of this White Stone, which he held in the highest esteem. He referred to it in its liquid form as the Pharmakon, meaning Universal Medicine along with other cover-terms to indicate the dry White Stone such as Serpent, Comprehensive Magnesia, One which is the All, Flower of Practical Philosophers, Etesian Stone and others. In his lectures, Stephanos also demonstrates familiarity with the Red Stone yet in context, it is clear that he viewed the White Stone as the primary product for his purposes. Stephanos suggested that the White Stone perfected subsequent products such as Chrysocorallos (Coral of Gold; the Red Stone) or a purple tin-based Stone. Stephanos emphasized the White Stones use as an initiation into the mysteries of his universal system of philosophy and as a monument or memorial commemorating gnostic redemption. The White Stone appears to have always been associated with Hermetic concepts of purification, initiation, and mysteries, high and low, above and below, etc. thus paralleling the substances and processes encoded in the Emerald Tablet of Hermes. The White Stone can be understood as the Greco-Egyptian counterpart to Marias Judeo-Egyptian school. The White Stone represents the archetypal recipe for the following: 3. Living Double Sophic Mercury divine water reacted in a glass vessel to a pristine dry white powder which could be further fused with gold, silver or other metals by Ars Brevis crucible technique. In the European alchemical tradition, this product was referred to by Isaac Hollandus as the Stone of Saturn, by Paracelsus as the Stone of the Philosophers and the Great and Universal Stone by Heinrich Khunrath. When one thinks of a Philosophers Stone without gold or silver, yet with the potential to be fermented with gold, silver or other metals as a separate procedure after-the-fact, it is usually the Hermetic White Stone being indicated.

Sophic Sulfur and Mercury

The last known Byzantine alchemist in the Alexandrian tradition was Morienus. His process deserves special consideration because he appears to have combined Marias Ars Brevis technique with the divine water of the Hermetic branch of alchemy thus uniting the two systems. There is no indication whether this is Morienus own innovation or that of his teacher Stephanos. He also added a finishing technique known as fermentation, which later became a standard operating procedure for many European alchemists. His process required creating a dry goldbased compound and a thick translucent liquid, which were then reacted together in a sealed glass vessel. This dualcompound would come to be known in Islamic alchemy by the cover-names sulfur and mercury. Both the powder and the liquid were created using refined prime material as an essential ingredient. He referred to the sulfur principle, the powdered compound, by the cover-terms latten, body or earth and the mercury principle, the liquid compound, as eudica, blood or water. His unique innovation was a refining process whereby he ground the finished Philosophers Stone with refined prime material, added divine water and repeated the entire process of confecting the Stone through its heat regimen and color changes a second time. He referred to this process as fermentation. Morienus was sought out by Prince Khlid ibn Yazd whom Morienus eventually tutored in Alchemy. The account of their meeting and subsequent dialogue was recorded by Ghalib, retainer and scribe to the prince during the 7th century. This direct transmission from Morienus to Khlid is preserved in two Arabic manuscripts housed in Istanbul. Islamic alchemy was directly inspired by Morienus late-Alexandrian methodology. His work is thought to be the first to be translated into Latin and had a profound influence on the European alchemy reconstruction and revival that developed thereafter. Two fine examples of alchemical processes directly related to Morienus methodology are the Secret Book of Artephius and the Cabala Mineralis. Paracelsus technique for creating Tincture of the Philosophers follows Morienus two-compound process succinctly described by Paracelsus as a union of lions blood and eagles gluten. When one thinks of the historical Philosophers Stone, it is often directly related to Morienus two-compound process and fermentation refining technique.