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OCCULT REVIEW 69(2) Apr 1942, 61-62, 65FURTHER STEPS IN ALCHEMY
A. Cockren
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When I put out my book Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored, various critics interested in this old and misused science immediately set to work to scout the idea that I had succeeded in unearthing any of the laboratory processes which go to build up the theories of the alchemists of a past decade. One kindly critic of an American publication termed the book "Piffleism", and without carefully reading it condemned it as nonsense. Another did not believe that I had attained to any real tangible results. I can well understand both these viewpoints, as so many of our eminent "scientific" chemists have decided against the alchemical science, although without any real knowledge of what they were trying to obtain.
The most damning indictment to be made against the old chemists from the modernist's point of view was their proclivity to mix religion with their science, whereas the modern chemist, of course, rigidly excludes all such heresy from his laboratory, where he devotes himself exclusively to the cult of that which may be touched, weighed, measured, and put under a microscope. In a word, he devotes himself to the study of purely physical phenomena, thereby rendering himself in his turn peculiarly vulnerable in his refusal to acknowledge the existence of the unseen factor which can summarily upset the most carefully and scientifically balanced calculations and formulae. To him the mixture of ethics and science immediately classifies a chemist as a charlatan and visionary. He has always kept the two in watertight compartments, and to him their marriage is as impossible as the combination of strict personal integrity and a successful political career.
Be that as it may, I must admit that my laboratory experiments have been far from easy, as one can get no help from modern chemistry in this search, yet out of these labours much has been gained, and much learned. Above all the realization-always suspected, now proved-that we have still only touched the fringe of our possible attainment, and that many of our authorities know very little and are as biased and dogmatic in the exercise of that very little as man may well be. But more, I have been fortunate enough to see the fruits of my laboratory work being proved in clinical practice, a satisfaction which is not granted to every chemist. And the results obtained have established beyond a shadow of doubt the fact that the alchemists of old did found a system of medicine which is far and away beyond anything we have at our command today.
These metallic medicines used by the alchemists are prepared by a totally different method from any of the present day whether allopathic, homeopathic or colloidal, and the result is an Elixir extracted from the metal which is the true virtue of that particular metal. For example, Iron; the average man would say that "a good iron tonic" can be obtained from any chemist, and that is true enough, but how many of these preparations are really efficient? How many of them are actually absorbed by the cells of the human body? In actual fact very few, and all too often they leave some adverse effect to counteract their tonic action-usually in the form of some digestive or eliminative trouble. The preparation of Iron I use is a deep ruby liquid of which three to six drops constitute a dose. These medicines from metals are all of an oily nature and they do not readily mix with water. The only satisfactory medium for dilution is a rectified spirit of wine at 90 per cent.
In the preparation of Iron the sulphate or "salt" of Iron is used, and by a process of calcination and solution a deep red powder is finally obtained. At this point we should get no further without the assistance of the alchemist's great secret, a water drawn from a particular metal which he terms his "Mercury" or "Alkahest". (The failure to obtain this "mercury" has been the stumbling-block to all unsuccessful experiments.) The "alkahest" has the effect of drawing from the anima of the Iron a red powder, the true essence of the metal, a deep purple liquid, leaving behind the anima as a residue from which all virtue has been removed. The purple liquid is the quintessence of Iron referred to by Paracelsus.
Let me quote one case treated by this particular elixir.
A patient in the late sixties had been suffering for many years with a haemoglobin count of 60 per cent, which no specialist could raise by any amount of iron administered in the usual way. It was finally decided that a course of treatment with alchemical preparations should be given over a period of six weeks, a blood count to be taken, of course, before and after the course. At the commencement of the course the count was 60 per cent, and after six weeks' treatment (which consisted of a few drops per day of the quintessence of iron) the test showed a count of 100 per cent.
This fact cannot be dismissed by any argument or suggestion or faith-healing. The case is one of several, and the tests were made by an eminent medical man by the latest acknowledged clinical tests.
Now the Salts of Silver are known to be poisonous, and consequently for that reason are not much used in medicine at the present time, but by the same method of preparation (using again the "Alkahest" or "Spirit of Mercury") these "poisonous" salts can be made to yield up a golden liquid (the quintessence of Silver) in which, I may add, there is no trace whatsoever of poisonous content. I should like to quote just one case treated by the administration of this product.
A patient of about 56 years of age, many times unsuccessfully treated in mental homes as a chronic neurasthenic and border-line case, after a course of treatment on the essence of Silver is now perfectly fit and well, mentally and physically; and, what is more, possessed of a more healthy and balanced outlook than for years past.
I have also found this preparation of Silver efficacious in cases of Bacillus Coli in the bladder, nor does it produce the depressing conditions which generally follow treatment of this complaint.
I have cited these two cases as they were particularly responsive to treatment and demonstrate in no uncertain manner what the medicine from metals is capable of doing. Although it is common knowledge that an iron deficiency is the cause of general debility and sundry ills, what is not so generally realized is that iron is but one of the metallic elements present in the human body necessary to its healthy cell life, and that a deficiency in any of these will cause one or other of the deficiency diseases. I am convinced from experience that eight out of ten cases of disease are due either to a deficiency or disproportion in these elements.
In the next issue1 I intend to give more of these experiences and to relate how some entirely new metallic salts by this method of preparation - and which have been subjected to exhaustive tests by experts. Despite the critics and sceptics, the alchemist's dream is after all becoming actual fact within the walls of a laboratory in the West End of London. Could there be a better time than the present to launch new ideas, when our old values are being destroyed by a world convulsion-a convulsion which by its very immensity must effect changes and reforms in all walks of life, and man is being literally hurled out of his complacency and dogmatism whether he wills it or no?
1 Unless I missed it when scanning Occult Review for the 1st edition of my bibliography, this was not published [Alan Pritchard]