The complete idiot's guide to alchemy. (©2008)

• Record Type: Book
• Other Titles: Alchemy
• Further Information: Note: By Dennis William Hauck.
• Other Names: Hauck, Dennis William
• Contents: Pt. 1. Introduction to alchemy -- 1. Your apprenticeship in alchemy -- Why study alchemy? -- The kinds of alchemy -- Spiritual alchemy -- Psychological alchemy -- Artistic alchemy -- Social alchemy -- Practical alchemy -- Therapeutic alchemy -- The perennial philosophy -- Becoming an alchemist -- 2. The first alchemists -- Lost gems of knowledge -- The Gods of alchemy -- Thoth : the father of alchemy -- The pillars of Hermes -- The Emerald Tablet -- The treasures of Alexander -- The fate of the Emerald Tablet -- The legend of Thoth/Hermes -- The staff of Hermes -- Hermetic philosophy -- 3. The land of Khem -- Secrets of priests and craftsmen -- Alexandria : center of ancient alchemy -- Greek philosophy and alchemy -- The concept of transmutation -- Destruction of the Alexandrian texts -- The Growth of alchemy in Asia -- How the Arabs saved alchemy -- Arabian alchemy -- The gibberish of Jabir -- 4. Medieval alchemy and the quest for gold -- The beginning of European alchemy -- The wizardry of Roger Bacon -- Alchemy and the Church -- Medieval and Renaissance alchemy -- Nicolas Flamel's powder of projection -- Isaac Newton and the Black Dragon -- The puffers -- The rise of chemistry. pt. 2. The principles of alchemy -- 5. The secret of alchemists -- The language of the birds -- The birds of alchemy -- Animal symbolism in alchemy -- The lions of alchemy -- The dragons of alchemy -- Silent secrets of the rose -- Ciphers of the alchemists -- Ciphers for the Elements -- Ciphers for the three essentials -- 6. The elusive First Matter -- What is the First Matter? -- Properties of the First Matter -- The First Matter is eternal -- The First Matter is everywhere to be found -- The First Matter is cyclic -- The First Matter contains all the Elements -- The First Matter is the source of the Philosopher's Stone -- Working with the First Matter -- 7. The Four Elements -- The concept of the Elements -- The four humors -- Balancing the Elements -- The Quintessence -- Philosophers of fire -- Elementary Fire -- Celestial Fire -- Central Fire -- Secret Fire -- 8. The Three Essentials -- Three children of the First Matter -- The Two Contraries -- Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt -- The dance of Sulfur and Mercury -- The Three Essentials in people -- The Three Treasures of Taoist alchemy -- 9. The Philosopher's Stone -- The magical touchstone -- What the Philosopher's Stone looked like -- Preparation of the Philosopher's Stone -- The mysterious Dr. Dee -- The Hieroglyphic Monad -- The cipher of the Stone -- The lost key to the Monad. pt. 3. The operations of alchemy -- 10. The Ladder of the Plants -- Correspondences of the Planets -- The dark powers of Saturn -- The exuberant powers of Jupiter -- The masculine powers of Mars -- The feminine powers of Venus -- The transformative powers of Mercury -- The soulful powers of the Moon -- The spiritual powers of the Sun -- The Music of the Spheres -- 11. The Black Phase -- The blackening -- The calcination process -- Personal calcination -- The process of dissolution -- Personal dissolution -- 12. The White Phase -- The whitening -- The separation process -- Personal separation -- The conjunction process -- Personal conjunction -- 13. The Red Phase -- The Peacock's Tail -- The reddening -- The fermentation process -- Personal fermentation -- The distillation process -- Personal distillation -- The coagulation process -- Personal coagulation. pt. 4. Practical alchemy -- 14. Inside an alchemist's laboratory -- A tour of a medieval laboratory -- The athanor -- Alchemical glassware -- The chemicals used by alchemists -- Vitriol -- Natron -- Liquor hepatic -- Pulvis solaris -- Hidden energies in the lab -- The oratorium -- Alchemists and chemists -- Women in alchemy -- 15. The spagyric process -- The doctrine of signatures -- Types of medicines -- Allopathic medicine -- Homeopathic medicine -- Spagyric medicine -- The planetary signatures -- The star in plants -- The Three Essentials in plants -- Planetary influences in spagyrics -- Planetary hours -- Paracelsus the Great -- 16. The kitchen alchemist -- Setting up your kitchen lab -- Making alchemical compounds -- Making tinctures -- Making elixirs -- 17. Working with the planetary metals -- Saturn's metal : lead -- Lead and silver -- Saturn signatures in lead -- Lead poisoning -- The hidden promise of lead -- Jupiter's metal : tin -- Jupiter signatures in tin -- The tin plague -- Mars's metal : iron -- Iron's love for carbon -- Mars signatures in iron -- Venus's metal : copper -- Venus signatures in copper -- The love affairs of copper -- Mercury's metal : quicksilver -- Mercury signatures in quicksilver -- The dual nature of Mercury -- The Moon's metal : silver -- Lunar signatures in silver -- The Moon's influence over silver -- The Sun's metal : gold -- Solar signatures in gold -- The Sun's influence over gold. pt. 5. Spiritual alchemy -- 18. Mental alchemy -- The salted personality -- The First Matter in people -- The four Elements in people -- The planets in people -- Jung and alchemy -- The black phase of mental alchemy -- The white phase of mental alchemy -- The red phase of mental alchemy -- 19. Alchemy of the soul -- The dragons of spiritual alchemy -- The true imagination -- Alchemical meditation -- The Azoth of the philosophers -- The operations of the Azoth -- The ray of Saturn -- The ray of Jupiter -- The ray of Mars -- The ray of the Sun -- The ray of Venus -- The ray of Mercury -- The ray of the Moon -- 20. The sacred marriage -- The sacred marriage in you -- The inner marriage -- Birth of the Philosopher's Stone -- The sacred marriage in Christian alchemy -- The three marriages in alchemy -- The sacred marriage in psychology. pt. 6. Modern alchemy -- 21. Alchemy and medicine -- The life force -- Paracelsian medicine -- Healing with the metals -- Healing with lead -- Healing with tin -- Healing with iron -- Healing with copper -- Healing with mercury -- Healing with silver -- Healing with gold -- 22. Social alchemy -- The alchemy of relationships -- Calcination in relationships -- Dissolution in relationships -- Fermentation in relationships -- Distillation in relationships -- Coagulation in relationships -- The relationship laboratory -- Alchemy in the workplace -- Calcination in the workplace -- Dissolution in the workplace -- Separation in the workplace -- Conjunction in the workplace -- Fermentation in the workplace -- Distillation in the workplace -- Coagulation in the workplace -- Transforming the workplace -- Wealth : the First Matter in society -- 23. The science of magic -- The science of the future -- The mystical nature of light -- Early theories of light -- The alchemical rebis -- Quantum alchemy -- Twentieth-century alchemists of science -- Albert Einstein (1879-1955) -- Werner Heisenberg (1901-1976) -- Barbara McLintock (1902-1992) -- David Bohm (1917-1992) -- Wolfgang Pauli (1900-1958) -- The Philosopher's Stone of physics -- The projection of consciousness -- The alchemy of evolution -- Appendixes -- A. Resources -- B. Glossary -- Index.
• Publisher Details: New York : Alpha Books
• Publication Date: 2008
• Copyright Date: 2008
• Extent: 1 online resource (xx, 311 pages), illustrations
• Subjects: 540/.1/12; BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Divination / General; Alchemy; SCIENCE -- Chemistry -- General; Alchemy; BODY, MIND & SPIRIT / Reference; Electronic books
• Languages: English
• ISBNs: 9781436230834; 1436230837; 9781440636127; 1440636125
• Related ISBNs: 9781592577354; 1592577350
• Notes: Note: Includes bibliographical references and index.; Note: Print version record.
• Access Rights: Legal Deposit; Only available on premises controlled by the deposit library and to one user at any one time; The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK).
• Access Usage: Restricted: Printing from this resource is governed by The Legal Deposit Libraries (Non-Print Works) Regulations (UK) and UK copyright law currently in force.