Alchemy Rediscovered and Restored.pdf

ALCHEMY REDISCOVERED AND

RESTORED

By Archibald Cockren

[1941, copyright not renewed]

Title Page

Contents

The Smaragdine Tables of Hermes Trismegistus

Foreword, By Sir Dudley Borron Myers

Part I: Historical

Chapter I. Beginnings of Alchemy

Chapter II. Early European Alchemists

Chapter III: The Story of Nicholas Flamel

Chapter IV: Basil Valentine

Chapter V: Paracelsus

Chapter IV: Alchemy in The Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries

Chapter VII: English Alchemists

Chapter VIII: the Comte De St. Germain

Part II: Theoretical

Chapter I: The Seed of Metals

Chapter II: The Spirit of Mercury

Chapter III: The Quintessence (I)

The Quintessence. (II)

Chapter IV: The Quintessence in Daily Life

Part III

Chapter I: The Medicine From Metals

Chapter II: Practical

Conclusion

'AUREUS,' Or The Golden Tractate

Section I

Section II

Section III

Section IV

Section V

Section VI

Section VII

The Book of the Revelation of Hermes

ALCHEMY REDISCOVERED AND

RESTORED

By Archibald Cockren

Philadelphia, David McKay

[1941]

With an account of the extraction of the seed of metals and the preparation of the medicinal elixir according to the

practice of the hermetic Art and of the Alkahest of the Philosopher

To Mrs. Meyer Sassoon

Proofed and Formatted at Sacred-texts.com, December 2003. J. B. Hare, redactor. This text is in the public domain because it was not

renewed at the US Copyright Office in a timely manner as required by law. These files may be used for any non-commercial purpose,

provided this notice of attribution is left intact.

CONTENTS

PART I

HISTORICAL

CHAPTER

BEGINNINGS OF ALCHEMY

II.

EARLY EUROPEAN ALCHEMISTS

III.

THE STORY OF NICHOLAS FLAMEL

IV.

BASIL VALENTINE

PARACELSUS

VI.

ALCHEMY IN THE SIXTEENTH AND SEVENTEENTH CENTURIES

VII.

ENGLISH ALCHEMISTS

VIII.

THE COMTE DE ST. GERMAIN

PART II

THEORETICAL

THE SEED OF METALS

II.

THE SPIRIT OF MERCURY

III.

THE QUINTESSENCE

IV.

THE QUINTESSENCE IN DAILY LIFE

103

p. 10

PART III

THE MEDICINE FROM METALS

111

II.

PRACTICAL

119

CONCLUSION

129

'AUREUS' OR THE GOLDEN TRACTATE

131

THE BOOK OF THE REVELATION OF HERMES

149

THE SMARAGDINE TABLES OF

HERMES TRISMEGISTUS

said to be found in the Valley of Ebron, after the Flood.

1 . I speak not fiction, but what is certain and most true.

2 . What is below is like that which is above, and what is above is like that which is below for performing the miracle

of one thing.

3. And as all things were produced from One by the Mediation of One, so all things are produced from this One

thing by adaptation.

4. Its father is the Sun, its mother was the Moon, the wind carried it in its belly, its nurse is the Earth.

5. It is the cause of all perfection throughout the whole world.

6. Its power is perfect if it be changed into the earth.

7. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, gently and with judgment.

8. It ascends from earth to heaven, and descends again to earth, thus you will possess the glory of the whole World

and all obscurity will fly away.

9. This thing is the fortitude of all fortitude, because it overcomes all subtle things, and penetrates every solid thing.

p. 12

10. Thus were all things created.

11. Thence proceed wonderful adaptations which are produced in this way.

12. Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistus, possessing the three parts of the philosophy of the whole World.

13. What I had to say concerning the operation of the Sun is complete.

FOREWORD

BY SIR DUDLEY BORRON MYERS, O.B.E.

Having been intimately associated with Archibald Cockren during the past ten years, and having long since learnt to

place implicit confidence in his efficiency and reliability in all matters to which he has devoted his many remarkable

gifts and talents, it affords me real pleasure to write a few words by way of introduction to 'Alchemy Rediscovered

and Restored.'

In this book he tells of the sensational work which he has accomplished in once more bringing to light, and to the

service of humanity, secrets which baffled the majority of scientists of all ages, and which, for several centuries,

have been buried in a grave of doubt and sceptical tradition. That this grave should at last have been opened, and

that the real, albeit hidden secrets which it contained should now stand revealed and proclaimed, must undoubtedly

be regarded as an epoch-making event.

I do not myself claim to have any scientific knowledge whatever, but seeing is believing, and I have been privileged

to keep in close touch with the author's experiments from the very beginning. Not only have I seen the results

achieved, but I, among many others, have been able to test and pay grateful tribute to the

p. 14

efficacy of the Elixirs produced by the alchemical process. These, one may venture to assert, cannot fail as they

become better known to prove a very valuable addition to the remedies at present available to mankind.

There is no question of the claims which are put forward in this book being taken on trust. On the contrary they are

open to the fullest examination. The proofs are there and they can safely be left to speak for themselves, in the light

of the outcome of any investigations to which they may be subjected.

Seeing the far-reaching importance of the author's researches and discoveries it is necessary that some account

should be given of his career, and of those qualifications in the wide field of physiology which entitle him to

consideration in questions of the treatment of human ailments.

After the necessary period of training he was, in 1904, certificated at the National Hospital for Paralysis and

Epilepsy as fully qualified for all purposes of massage, remedial exercises, and electrical treatment. From this

hospital he passed on to the staff of the Great Northern Central Hospital, where he remained for several years. From

1908 onwards, however, he was able to devote part of his time to the private practice in which he then for the first

time established himself in the West End of London. This practice had necessarily to be given up during the War.

The years 1915 and 1916 found him in complete charge of all electrical, massage, manipulative, and remedial

exercises at the Russian Hospital for British Officers in South Audley Street, London. This hospital,

p. 15

it may be stated, was opened by the Russian nobility resident in London, and was wholly maintained by Russian

money. From there he passed on in a similar capacity (1917--18) to the Prisoners of War Hospital. He was at the

same time attached to the Millbank Military Hospital. In 1918, he was transferred to the Australian Army, and was

on the Peace Conference Staff of the Australian Prime Minister in 1919. Since then, that is to say for the past twenty

years, he has been in permanent private practice in the West End of London.

For over twenty years he has been a keen student of the sciences of metallurgy, No-chemistry, and bacteriology, and

it will thus be seen that in the claims he now advances in this book he writes with that measure of authority which a

life devoted to the alleviation of suffering, and to the effective treatment of human ailments, undoubtedly confers on

him.

It is given to few men to make such momentous discoveries as have rewarded his persistent work and patience. His

work has, indeed, to my knowledge, often been pursued under conditions of great difficulty and disappointment.

May what he has accomplished in the interests of science and of the human race bring him the reward which he

deserves--the reward of general recognition and appreciation of the results achieved.

DUDLEY B. MYERS

PART I

HISTORICAL

p. 19

CHAPTER I

BEGINNINGS OF ALCHEMY

To most of us the word 'alchemy' calls up the picture of a medieval and slightly sinister laboratory in which an aged,

black-robed wizard brooded over the crucibles and alembics that were to bring within his reach the Philosophers'

Stone, and with that discovery the formula for the elixir of life and the transmutation of metals. But one can scarcely

dismiss so lightly the science--or art, if you will--which won to its service the lifelong devotion of men of culture

and attainment from every race and clime over a period of hundreds, or, indeed, thousands, of years, for the

beginnings of alchemy are hidden in the mists of time. Such a science is something far more than an outlet for a few

eccentric old men in their dotage.

What was the motive behind the constant strivings, the never-failing patience in the unravelling of the mysteries, the

tenacity of purpose in the face of persecution and ridicule through the countless ages that led the alchemist to pursue

undaunted his appointed way? Something far greater, surely, than a mere vainglorious desire to transmute the base

metals into gold, or to brew a potion to prolong a little longer this earthly span, for the devotees of

p. 20

alchemy in the main cared little for these things. The accounts of their lives almost without exception lead us to

believe that they were concerned with things spiritual rather than with things temporal. Rather were these men

inspired by a vision, a vision of man made perfect, of man freed from disease and the limitations of warring faculties

both mental and physical, standing as a god in the realization of a power that even at this very moment of time is

lying hidden in the deeper strata of his consciousness, a vision of man made truly in the image and likeness of the

one Divine Life in all its Perfection, Beauty, and Harmony.

To appreciate and understand these adepts' visions it is necessary to trace to some extent the history of their cult, so

let us for a space step back into the past to catch a glimpse of these men, of their work and ideals, and more

important still, of the possibilities that their life-work might bring to those who to-day are seeking for fuller

knowledge and wider horizons.

References are to be found in the myths and legends of China. From a book written by Edward Chalmers Werner, a

late member of the Chinese Government's Historiological Bureau, Peking, comes this quotation from old Chinese

records:

'Chang Tao-Ling, the first Taoist pope, was born in A.D. 35 in the reign of the Emperor Kuang Wu Ti of the Han

dynasty. His birthplace is variously given as the T'ien-mu Shan, "Eye of Heaven Mountain," in Lin-an-Hsien in

Chekiang, and Feng-yang Eu in Anhui. He devoted himself wholly to study and meditation, declining all offers to

enter the service of the State.

p. 21

[paragraph continues] He preferred to take up his abode in the mountains of Western China where he persevered in the

study of alchemy and in cultivating the virtues of purity and mental abstraction. From the hands of Lao Tzu he

received supernaturally a mystic treatise, by following the instructions in which he was successful in his search for

the Elixir of Life.'

This reference demonstrates that alchemy was studied in China as early as the commencement of the Christian era,

so that its origin must probably lie far back in Chinese history.

From China we must now travel to Egypt, whence alchemy as known in the West seems to have sprung. The great

Egyptian adept king, named by the Greeks Hermes Trismegistus, is thought to have been the founder of the art.

Reputed to have lived about 1900 B.C., he was highly celebrated for his wisdom and skill in the operation of nature,

but of the works attributed to him only a few fragments escaped the destroying hand of the Emperor Diocletian in

the third century A.D., namely, the Asclepian Dialogues and the Divine Poemanda. If we may judge from these

fragments (both preserved in the Latin by Fianus and translated into English by Dr. Everard) it would seem to be of

inestimable loss to the world that none of these works have survived in their entirety.

The famous Smaragdine Table of Hermes (Tabula Smaragdina) I have placed at the beginning of this book, for

although it would be difficult to prove its origin, yet it still represents a good example of Hermetic phraseology.

There have been various stories of the origin of the Tract, one being that the original emerald

p. 22

slab upon which the precepts were said to be inscribcd in Phœnician characters was discovered in the tomb of

Hermes by Alexander the Great. In the Berne edition (1545) of the Summa Perfectionis the Latin version is printed

under the heading:

'The Emerald Tables of Hermes the Thrice Great concerning Chymistry, Translator unknown. The words of the

Secrets of Hermes which were written on the Tablet of Emerald found between his hands in a dark cave wherein his

body was discovered buried.'

An Arabic version of the text was discovered in a work ascribed to Jabir, which was probably made about the ninth

century. In any case it must be one of the oldest alchemical fragments known, and that it is a piece of Hermetic

teaching I have no doubt, as it corresponds to teaching in the Poemanda and 'Fragments of a Faith Forgotten' in

relation to the teaching of the thrice-greatest Hermes. It also teaches the unity of matter and the truth that all form is

a manifestation from one root, the Aether, which teaching corroborates the theory of our present-day scientists. This

table, in conjunction with the Tractatus Aureus or Golden Treatise which I have inserted at the end of this book, is

well worth reading, particularly in the light of my elucidation of the general alchemical symbolism. Unhappily, it is

all that remains to us of the Egyptian sacred art.

The third century A.D. seems to have been a period when the science was widely practised, but it was also during

this century, in the year 296, that Diocletian sought out and burnt all the Egyptian books on alchemy and the other

occult sciences, and in so doing destroyed

p. 23

all evidence of progress made up to that date. In the fourth century Zosimus the Panopolite wrote his express treatise

on 'The Divine Art of Making Gold and Silver,' and in the fifth Morienus, a hermit of Rome, left his native city and

set out to seek the sage Adfar, a solitary adept whose fame had reached him from Alexandria. He found him, and

after gaining his confidence became his disciple. After the death of his patron Morienus came into touch with King

Calid, and a very attractive work purporting to be a dialogue between himself and the King is still extant under the

name of Morienus. In this century Cedrenus also appeared, a magician who professed alchemy.

The next name of note, that of Geber, occurs in or about A.D. 750. Geber's true name was Abou Moussah Djfar--Al

Sofi, or The Wise. Born at Houran in Mesoptamia, he is generally esteemed by adepts as the greatest of them all

after Hermes. Of the five hundred treatises said to have been composed by him only three remain to posterity--'The

Sum of the Perfect Magistery,' 'The Investigation of Perfection,' and his' Testament.' It is to him, too, that we are

indebted for the first mention of corrosive sublimate, red oxide of mercury and nitrate of silver. Skilfully indeed did

Geber veil his discovery, for from his mysterious style of writing we derive the word' geber' or gibberish, but those

who have really understood Geber, his adept compeers, declare with one accord that he has declared the truth, albeit

disguisedly, with great acuteness and precision.

Rhasis, another Arabian alchemist, became famous for his practical displays in the art of transmutation of base

metals into gold.

p. 24

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