Re: Book Reviews & Suggestions

[BeautifulEvil]

He mentions that you can make an alchemical elixir, or "fluid condenser", that benefits all parts: the mental, psychic and physical parts of yourself.

This is where the "spirit" of gold comes into the picture. Here's a good excerpt from "Gold of a Thousand Mornings" by Armand Barbault.

The Sun, as master of the solar system, governs the whole of life. Gold can thus act on all forms of illness. It is chiefly associated with the blood and circulation, rejuvenation of cells and with the brain.

It should noted that the description is lacking, because the "spirit" of gold works on all levels & planes (mental, psychic, and physical), and the ancients called it the universal medicine. Also, there are three varying degrees of perfection of the gold based philosopher's stone; the first order, the second order, and the highly secret third order (which is the one said to prolong life much more than the other levels, i.e. immortality).

[deviadah]

I re-named this topic to: Book Reviews & Suggestions

I did so because that is what this topic really is...

[stevenmagus]

Some books that have been of great help and benefit for me.

1- The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy - Manfred M. Junius
2 - Alchemists Handbook - Manual for Practical Laboratory Alchemy - Frater Albertus
3 - The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy - Brian Cotnoir
4 - Alchemy and Metallic Medicines in Ayurveda - Vaidya Bhagwan Dash

1 - Have it, have not read it yet.
2 - Have it, read it, awesome book. I would put this book in the beginner/intermediate level.
3 - Have it, read it, another awesome book. I would put this in the beginner level. Background, history, etc are explained in this book that are not in the book by Frater Albertus.
4 - If you are looking for a challenge then this book is for you. This is a really awesome book and rare find, I had to special order it. If you want to order a copy I would suggest contacting Nataraj Books @ natarajbooks.com you can get the book for $20 plus shipping. This book also details how to create various gemstone elixirs/powders. This book was difficult for me on a few counts. It was the first real book on alchemy I ever had and it is not a beginner book in my opinion, but has a LOT of really good info. On another count it was because the book is completely based on Indian/Yogic philosophy, part of which I have no issue with as I have studied yoga and vedanta philosophy for a number of years. That said there was still an up hill battle with some of the terminology even though it was written in english. CAUTION: This is a real caution not a caution to peek curiosity. There are preparations in this book that discuss the use and distillation of mercury. Unless you have the experience of such things, I would not attempt until such time as you do, or have an appropriate teacher.

Additional note on reading materials. For those wanting a structured "course" on the esoteric arts, kabbalah, alchemy, etc. I would suggest getting a copy of Triad Publishing course material on CD. I'm currently in the process of reading the material myself and can not really comment on it at this time, however if comes highly recommended.

http://www.triad-publishing.com/cgi-bin/softcart.exe/Store/p-CD-ALL.html?L+scstore+ryfn4605ffb1b5b1+1211335221

CD Contents:
The Esoterics course of 12 lessons,
The Spagyrics course of 48 lessons,
The Mineral Alchemy course of 84 lessons,
The Qabala course of 72 lessons,
and as an added bonus, the 4-volume set of research papers on the Acetate Path, which include much of the relevant historical literature from Edward Kelly, Ripley, Weidenfeld, Becker, Hollandus and numerous others, and a previously unpublished paper by modern alchemist Robert Bartlett.

Enjoy,
Steven Magus

[Green Lion]

1- The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy - Manfred M. Junius
2 - Alchemists Handbook - Manual for Practical Laboratory Alchemy - Frater Albertus
3 - The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy - Brian Cotnoir
4 - Alchemy and Metallic Medicines in Ayurveda - Vaidya Bhagwan Dash

1 - Have it, have not read it yet.

Really good book on spagyria.

2 - Have it, read it, awesome book. I would put this book in the beginner/intermediate level.

A little more haziness, but interesting.

I don’t know the two others books. I think I will buy the Alchemy and Metallic Medicines in Ayurveda by Vaidya Bhagwan Dash.

Additional note on reading materials. For those wanting a structured "course" on the esoteric arts, kabbalah, alchemy, etc. I would suggest getting a copy of Triad Publishing course material on CD. I'm currently in the process of reading the material myself and can not really comment on it at this time, however if comes highly recommended.

http://www.triad-publishing.com/cgi-bin/softcart.exe/Store/p-CD-ALL.html?L+scstore+ryfn4605ffb1b5b1+1211335221

CD Contents:
The Esoterics course of 12 lessons,
The Spagyrics course of 48 lessons,
The Mineral Alchemy course of 84 lessons,
The Qabala course of 72 lessons,
and as an added bonus, the 4-volume set of research papers on the Acetate Path, which include much of the relevant historical literature from Edward Kelly, Ripley, Weidenfeld, Becker, Hollandus and numerous others, and a previously unpublished paper by modern alchemist Robert Bartlett.

This courses are from Jean Dubuis, a French alchemist who founded the “Philosophes de la Nature” association.
It is very interesting and good for the beginners in the laboratory.
I think that the unpublished paper by Robert Bartlett is equivalent to his new book named “Real Alchemy”, witch is interesting.

[stevenmagus]

I think that the unpublished paper by Robert Bartlett is equivalent to his new book named “Real Alchemy”, witch is interesting.

Does anyone have a copy of or link to Robert Bartlett's unpublished paper?

Thanks,
Steven Magus

[solomon levi]

Seeing all these posts on Bardon, I can't help but throw in one of my favorites of "Spiritual" or "Internal" Alchemy, (as opposed
to labratory work):

Julius Evola - The Hermetic Tradition, symbols and teachings of the royal art.

I don't know how to begin to describe this man's work, but if you're into working on the "inner stars" of alchemy and your astral
body as it relates to Hermeticism, do yourself a favor and read this book. He's a prolific author, also writing on Tantra, Buddhism,
Yoga... in a very intelligent and authoritative way. I have most of his books and they are all enlightening as to the subject at hand.
See the table of contents here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0892814519/ref=sib_dp_pt#reader-link

And here is wikipedia on Julius Evola:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julius_Evola

[Jepetto]

Bardon also claims the Magician is the first card of the tarot.....I have heard others say that The Fool is as well.....some say it can be either......it can be confusing....for what its worth I was taught the Magician is the first.....the Fool not being represented by any number.

I am just about done reading this book (the Mouni Sadhu one I mentioned above) and in here the Fool is placed as the 21st card. A quick skip ahead, says that the fool is given the card number 0 because it does not arise from any other card.

I still intend on providing a full review of this book as soon as Im finished. Just been reading and distracted by many other things in the mean time.

Also I had forgotten the name Bardon from reading this thread a while ago, and through another site stumbled upon his IIH. I look forward to studying this book also after I finish the Sadhu book.

Lol, Ive a good sized stack of books and printed pages all over my desk filled with bookmarks. Im sure from and outside perspective I must look to be one hell of a mess. Though I guess this is somewhat common for anyone involved in doing research of any kind.