PHILOSOPHERS’ STONE; OR, SUBSTANCE EXUBERANT

OLIVER ZOCCO, 5H

HEY YOU! Yes, you!

Do YOU want to transmute base metals into silver and gold? Cure all diseases known to man? Reverse aging? Cause barren fields to grow crops better than the most wholesome farmland? Transform stone to precious gems? Learn the languages of birds and beasts? Communicate with angels? Purify your very undying soul! Well, do I have the thing for you! Look no further than the Basilisk of the Philosophers, the Sophic Hydrolith, the Blood of the Salamander, the Arcanum, what is “certainly a stone and not yet a stone” – the Philosophers’ Stone!

Now, you may be wondering, “How do I get this not yet a stone? What even is this miraculous substance?” Fret not, for ye questionings shall be answered posthaste. Firstly, the appearance of this veritable Divine Quintessence is unfortunately controversial, for the only few times the Great Work (or, Magnum Opus) necessary to create it has been successfully undertaken – if there has been at all – the creators have, rightfully so, kept their Masterwork well-hidden. As such, speculation, and so far unreplicated descriptions from the creators’ works’ are all we have. In most accounts the Stone consists of a red substance, sometimes described as some sort of a wax, other times a clear gemstone, with a color between purple and red; more commonly as a red powder with a pleasant aroma, orange while solid. It is known to be heavier than an equal volume of gold, soluble in all liquids and incombustible.

Now, on to the real hot button issue, the creation of this stone. The process by which it may be created is still up for debate for the same reasons behind the appearance controversies, but what most reputable Alchemists agree on is that it involves starting out with sophic elements, or primitive metals purified and rendered philosophical with processes that any good practitioner knows; a famous example of this is the green lion devouring the sun, which usually describes the process to obtain sophic gold – one must dissolve gold (the sun) in aqua regia (the lion), which turns green during the process. This then provides an orange powder, that is sophic gold. The next step is to place sophic Sulphur, quicksilver (also known as mercury in recent times) and other substances, the likes of which are highly controversial (with some saying that none other are necessary), in a vessel known as a Hermetic Egg. This clear vessel, no longer than a cubit, made of thick glass so that it may resist the pressures generated in the Great Work, and most importantly perfectly sealed from the outside world, as to isolate the inside from the outside. The reason for this need for perfect isolation is the creation of an environment that recreates the conditions of the Macrocosm at creation, so that the alchemist can repli- cates through artifice the process of creation in this “microcosm”.

At this point the Great Work, or Magnum Opus, can truly start. Most agree on the presence of 12 stages, being closely correlated to Astrology and the Zodiac; according to Paracelsus there are only 7 steps, and according to more ancient sources there are only 4; nonetheless the specific steps are outside of the scope of this text because of the high variance in recipes and length of text necessary to truly explain an entire Great Work. What most can agree on is the appearance of the four Major Stages: nigredo, or blackness; albedo, or whiteness; citrinitas, or yellowness; and rubedo, or redness. During these stages the contents of the Hermetic Egg will take up the respective colors of black, white, yellow and red, in this exact order. If they appear in a different order, or if red appears at any point before the end, being an indicator of overheating, the process is botched and must be scrapped.

After rubedo the final two steps of multiplication and projection must be done. Multiplication is the process by which the potency and quantity is increased, as it emerges in a juvenile and weak state from rubedo, and must be fed with quicksilver. Projection instead is the ultimate goal of the Great

Work, and it is in this step that the transmutations may truly occur. It is commonly described as the casting of a small quantity (for the stone is majestically potent) into a molten base metal, for example lead, which will then transmute into gold. To transmute metals into silver a white powder may be used, which is nothing but a less mature form of the Philosophers’ Stone. Other capabilities that the lapis occultus possesses are the creation of everlasting lamps, flexible glass, the revival of dead plants, and the creation of a homunculus. Most of these properties are explained by observing certain steps in the Magnum Opus, such as fermentation, in which a lighter substance penetrated the pores of a denser one, that justifies the widespread theory that the lapis doesn’t transmute base metals, but perfects them in a sort of fermentation after having penetrated the pores of the substance, curing the metals in a manner. This lends itself to explaining the medical properties it has. Others are endowed to it in virtue of having been made in such a way to replicate the creation of the cosmos, allowing it to purify the creator’s soul, having replicated to an extent the role of God during creation.

And there you have it! For too long now alchemy has been discredited as nonsense, and the Philosophers’ Stone as something that cannot exist, but those dissemblers, miscreants and serpents know not of what they speak; the Stone is real! And it is up to us to create it!

Attraversando Il Cinema Caleidoscopio

LA MUPA, 1aa

Durante il corso della settimana di sospensione ho avuto l’occasione di guardare una serie televisiva molto particolare, uscita su Netflix il primo gennaio del 2023.

La serie in questione è “Caleidoscopio”, diretta da Robert Townsend, Maizree Almas, Everardo Gout e Russel Fine.

La pellicola racconta la storia di Leo Pap, il cui vero nome è in realtà Ray Vernon, un ex carcerato che decide di formare una banda di ladri al fine di svaligiare il caveau più sicuro di tutta New York City. All’interno di questo stanno infatti per essere depositati ben sette miliardi di dollari, provenienti dall’immenso patrimonio della Triade, un trio di miliardari alquanto influente.

La banda formata da Vernon prima di compiere il colpo del secolo deve tuttavia riuscire a trovare dei soldi per procura l’attrezzatura necessaria alla rapina; per tanto decide di rapinare la Via dei Diamanti di New York. Fin da subito, vengono a crearsi attriti fra due membri della banda: Stan Loomis, ex compagno di cella di Ray e Bob Goodwin: quest’ultimo è infatti marito di Judy Goodwin, ex fidanzata di Stan ai tempi della prigione.

Dopo il colpo della via dei diamanti, la banda organizza il colpo in ogni minimo dettaglio; nel frattempo, viene messo alla luce il passato di Ray, che è in realtà collegato a quello di tutti gli altri personaggi.

Finalmente, arriva il giorno del colpo, ma tra gelosie e tradimenti, il gruppo è diviso e la sicurezza dell’operazione viene compromessa.

Questa è una serie molto interessante, con una particolarità: non c’è un vero e proprio ordine degli episodi; pertanto, possono essere guardati in qualsiasi ordine senza che si vengano a creare buchi di trama.

Questa produzione non mi ha fatto impazzire, tuttavia è una valida opzione quando non si ha un’idea precisa su che cosa guardare e si cerca qualcosa di nuovo.