Books

From our own experience of more than twenty years of practical work and study of alchemy we can tell you without fear of being deceptive that most of the time things in Alchemy are not as they seem.

Portuguese translations of very well known Alchemy books exist, with suggestive titles that will lead you to acquire them without hesitation. Later comes the feeling of disappointment and of money thrown out.

The same thing happens with some Spanish and French books, the worse being that these are much more expensive.

What titles should then we look for?

For starters, we advise you to acquire a good introduction to alchemy and its history, such as O Ouro dos Alquimistas, Jacques Sadoul, 70 Editions, La Alquimia, Lucien Gérardin, Ediciones Martinez Roca, s.a., Barcelona, La pierre philosophale, Georges Ranque, Robert Laffont, Paris, Les Clefs of la chimie des Anciens, Fabrice Bardeau, Robert Laffont, Paris, Théories & Symboles des Alchimistes, Albert Poisson, Éditions Traditionnelles, Paris and History of Alchemy, Serge Hutin, Editions M M, S.Paulo, Brazil, De l'Esprit Universel, Volume 2, ALKAEST, Solazaref, Somme Hermétique Tome III, Editions Aux Amourex de Science.

Aside from ALKAEST these are not books on operative alchemy, but rather focus generically on its history, which is a good starting point.

You can always request a catalog from the publishers and pick some other books on the subject. Luckily for us, many books exist nowadays on this matter.

Nevertheless the books we suggested should be enough. Acquiring other books would probably be a waste of money and only serve to confuse you.

Later on, as your knowledge of Alchemy basics increases after reading some of the principal classic and modern authors you will be ready for the more specific books on the paths of some of the known Adepts.

This is where telling the good from the bad works starts to be hard. Some books, due to their seductive titles, will at first sight seem to be easily understandable, but as we told you before things in alchemy are not always as they seem.

Many titles are deceptive and do not correspond to the book’s contents from an operative view of alchemy. Knowing the paths that may be followed in Alchemy will help you find your way.

At least three essential paths exist in Alchemy: the Wet path, the Dry path and the Mix path. It won’t harm you to know something about each one of these paths, but you can always pick only the books that cover the path that interests you most and lies within your possibilities.

First of all, we suggest you to acquire an ancient book on spagyrics in order to learn the spagyrical and alchemical terminology and understand the modus operandi.

It is very important if one wants to understand the books on our Art to be able to "travel" to the time they were written, trough the knowledge of chemistry and arts of the time.

Thus we suggest you to read the Traite de la Chimie by Christophle Glaser, Apothiquaire ordinaire du Roy, Paris 1663, Gutemberg Reprints. This is a facsimile reprint so you must be able to understand ancient French. Any bookstore will be able to order it from the publishers. As far as we know it is still available.

At the National Library in Lisbon you may also find the Cours de Chymie by Glaser’s disciple M. Lemery, edition of MDCCLVI, under quota SA 1527.

It won’t be easy to understand alchemical treatises and its terminology without one of these books.

Regarding operative alchemy, you should try to acquire some of the following books:

La Clavicule, Raimond Lull, Arché Milano, 1974; Le Composé des Composés, Albert le Grand, Arché Milano, 1974; Le Dernier Testament, Basil Valentine, Retz, Paris; Le Secret Book du très Ancien Philosophe Artephius, La Table d'Émeraude, Paris; Oeuvres, Nicolas Flamel, Le Courier du Livre, 1989, Paris; The Open entrance to the Closed Palace of the King, Global/Ground, S.Paulo, Brazil; Le Livre des XXII Feuilletes Hermetiques, Kerdanek De Pornic, Phoenix, 1981; Hermès Dévoilè, Cyliani, Éditions Traditionnelles, Paris; Dictionaire de Philosophie Alchimique, Kamala Jnana, Éditions G. Charlet, Argentiére, France, L'Alchimie Expliquee Sur Ses Textes Classiques, Eugène Canseliet, Paris Chez Jean-Jacques Pauvert and De l'Esprit Universel, Volume 1, V.I.T.R.I.O.L.U.M, Solazaref, Somme, Hermétique Tome III, Editions Aux Amoureux de Science.

All these are true alchemical works that will be very useful in your study. La Clavicle (The Clavicle) and Le Composé des Composés (The Compound of Compounds) are some of the texts you will find at my website.

You do not need to acquire them all. Acquire them as you locate them, which will not be easy since many are out of print.

To make your choice easier, let’s see which path each work describes. But first you’ll have to learn the meaning of the alchemical terms Sulphur, Mercury and Salt used by all Masters.

The basis of the hermetic theory is the unity of matter. According to it, all matter is one although it can be found under many forms, which then may be combined in order to form new bodies.

Sulphur, Mercury and Salt are not the chemical bodies commonly known, but certain qualities of matter. Thus, Sulphur in a metal refers to the color and combustibility; Mercury the brightness, volatility and malleability; Salt is the medium by which Sulphur and Mercury are united according to some, and hardness according to others.

Having clarified the meaning of these terms, let us follow to the correspondence between the works and the alchemical path they describe:

La Clavicle. Mix Path.
Le Composé des Composés. Mix Path.
Le Dernier Testament. Wet Path.
Le Secret Livre Du très Ancien Philosophe Artéphius. Mix Path.
Oeuvres (Brévière). Amalgamate Path.
Open entrance to the Closed Palace of the King. Amalgamate Path.
Le Livre des XXII Feuilletes Hermetiques. Mix Path.
Hermès Dévoilé. Mix Path.
Dictionaire de Philosofhie Alchimique. Wet Path.
L'Alchimie Expliqueé Sur Ses Textes Classiques. Dry Path.
V.I.T.R.I.O.L.U.M. Wet Path.

This table will make it much easier to you to find the right path when you begin. Be aware that the dry path has some special requirements.

The dry path is carried on refractory clay crucibles on a gas oven operating around 1000° C.

The wet path uses flasks and retorts of flameproof glass and a low temperature oven called Athanor. The wet path has always been considered the noblest one, being also the more time consuming.

You will encounter several difficulties in understanding these books, as other brothers and we did. Without the help of a Master or the charitable hand of a brother in Art it will be difficult for you to take the first steps. But do not lend yourself to despair. Keep on studying tenaciously and as soon as you start understanding a little of alchemical spagyrics you will find that while reading the same texts some light will come through where before only darkness existed.

Remember that in alchemy one book "unlocks" the others. This means that a given matter or operation that might be omitted in the text of some book could be found clearly described on another book in almost plain language.