Khunrath.The Alchemist's Laboratory
Credit: Wellcome Images
Beyond The Philosopher's Stone.
The Alchemy of Awakening by Kate Cassidy
‘“A stone that makes gold and stops you ever dying!” said Harry …
“Anyone would want it.”’
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
“Anyone would want it.”’
Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone
In the Northeast of England, in Yorkshire, there is a Masonic lodge founded in 1927 by the Masonic author and lawyer, Walter Leslie Wilmshurst (born 22 June 1867). He named it The Lodge of Living Stones - a name deeply tied to esoteric and philosophical principles.
Why do you think it had that name?
I’d like to tell you.
The Philosopher's Stone (Lapis Philosophorum) is not a physical object, as commonly portrayed in literature and mythology. While early alchemists experimented with substances as precursors to modern chemistry, the stone itself was never merely a material capable of transmuting base metals into gold. Instead, it represents profound spiritual transformation. Alchemists ingeniously used metallurgical symbolism to encode spiritual practices, aiming to transmute the lead (Saturn) of consciousness into the gold (Sun) of enlightened awareness, with Mercury - the intellect - guiding the process.
Alchemical writings were deliberately layered with symbols, metaphors, and cryptic language. This veiling reflected a belief that certain knowledge should be accessible only to those properly prepared and initiated. Historians, academics, and casual readers who approach these codices, manuscripts and books without understanding this multi-layered encoding often miss the profound psychological and spiritual dimensions that constitute the true Great Work.
The term Chrysopoeia, meaning "gold-making," referred to the supposed transmutation of base metals into gold. However, the laboratory processes described in alchemical texts and imagery - filled with vessels, furnaces, Mercury, Silver, and other materials - were often deliberate blinds, encoding ciphered instructions for spiritual practices and cultivation of virtues rather than literal physical transformations.
This cryptological approach served several key purposes such as protection from persecution by religious and political authorities and preservation of knowledge they believed could be dangerous in unprepared hands. Veiling the information ensured that only those who had developed sufficient spiritual maturity could access deeper truths, and served to test the dedication and insight of aspiring students.
"Let a Student of these secrets carefully beware of reading or keeping company with false Philosophers; for nothing is more dangerous to a learner of any Science, than the company of an unskilled or deceitful man by whom erroneous principles are stamped as true..." - Hermetic Arcanum
Throughout history, a trinity of scientific disciplines have carried an undercurrent of esoteric thought: Astronomy, Alchemy, and Magia Naturalis. Thus, astronomy, the study of celestial bodies, when applied beyond pure observation, could shift into mystical astrology. Advancements in metallurgy were interwoven with occult alchemy and Magia Naturalis, the exploration of nature’s hidden forces, encompassed early studies in physics, herbalism, and optics, but often blended scientific inquiry with esoteric practice. Additionally, mathematical concepts (Arithmetic) such as algebra took on symbolic significance in the realm of Arithmology (mystical meaning of number). See this new article.
The Philosopher’s Stone symbolises perfected human consciousness, where all rough edges are smoothed away, and opposing forces are harmonised. This is why alchemists described ‘living stones’ and why musical instruments often appear in alchemical imagery. Harmony and discord, like the tuning of an instrument, reflect the interplay of opposites.
Similarly, the Sun and Moon embody this duality. Hermes (sometimes linked to Enoch in Hermetic writings) is seen below with Sol, the hot, active, generative force and Luna, the watery, passive, receptive principle. Together, they dance in perpetual cycles, rising and falling. At the New Moon, they merge in conjunction; at the Full Moon, Luna reflects Sol’s light - concealing and revealing in rhythmic opposition.
Man lives in a world of dualities and contrasts, but when he awakens his soul consciousness all dualities disappear and he knows himself as part of the eternal. The process of liberating the soul was the work of the Magus. For an excellent read about this exaltatio I refer you to this book.
Why do you think it had that name?
I’d like to tell you.
The Philosopher's Stone (Lapis Philosophorum) is not a physical object, as commonly portrayed in literature and mythology. While early alchemists experimented with substances as precursors to modern chemistry, the stone itself was never merely a material capable of transmuting base metals into gold. Instead, it represents profound spiritual transformation. Alchemists ingeniously used metallurgical symbolism to encode spiritual practices, aiming to transmute the lead (Saturn) of consciousness into the gold (Sun) of enlightened awareness, with Mercury - the intellect - guiding the process.
Alchemical writings were deliberately layered with symbols, metaphors, and cryptic language. This veiling reflected a belief that certain knowledge should be accessible only to those properly prepared and initiated. Historians, academics, and casual readers who approach these codices, manuscripts and books without understanding this multi-layered encoding often miss the profound psychological and spiritual dimensions that constitute the true Great Work.
The term Chrysopoeia, meaning "gold-making," referred to the supposed transmutation of base metals into gold. However, the laboratory processes described in alchemical texts and imagery - filled with vessels, furnaces, Mercury, Silver, and other materials - were often deliberate blinds, encoding ciphered instructions for spiritual practices and cultivation of virtues rather than literal physical transformations.
This cryptological approach served several key purposes such as protection from persecution by religious and political authorities and preservation of knowledge they believed could be dangerous in unprepared hands. Veiling the information ensured that only those who had developed sufficient spiritual maturity could access deeper truths, and served to test the dedication and insight of aspiring students.
"Let a Student of these secrets carefully beware of reading or keeping company with false Philosophers; for nothing is more dangerous to a learner of any Science, than the company of an unskilled or deceitful man by whom erroneous principles are stamped as true..." - Hermetic Arcanum
Throughout history, a trinity of scientific disciplines have carried an undercurrent of esoteric thought: Astronomy, Alchemy, and Magia Naturalis. Thus, astronomy, the study of celestial bodies, when applied beyond pure observation, could shift into mystical astrology. Advancements in metallurgy were interwoven with occult alchemy and Magia Naturalis, the exploration of nature’s hidden forces, encompassed early studies in physics, herbalism, and optics, but often blended scientific inquiry with esoteric practice. Additionally, mathematical concepts (Arithmetic) such as algebra took on symbolic significance in the realm of Arithmology (mystical meaning of number). See this new article.
The Philosopher’s Stone symbolises perfected human consciousness, where all rough edges are smoothed away, and opposing forces are harmonised. This is why alchemists described ‘living stones’ and why musical instruments often appear in alchemical imagery. Harmony and discord, like the tuning of an instrument, reflect the interplay of opposites.
Similarly, the Sun and Moon embody this duality. Hermes (sometimes linked to Enoch in Hermetic writings) is seen below with Sol, the hot, active, generative force and Luna, the watery, passive, receptive principle. Together, they dance in perpetual cycles, rising and falling. At the New Moon, they merge in conjunction; at the Full Moon, Luna reflects Sol’s light - concealing and revealing in rhythmic opposition.
Man lives in a world of dualities and contrasts, but when he awakens his soul consciousness all dualities disappear and he knows himself as part of the eternal. The process of liberating the soul was the work of the Magus. For an excellent read about this exaltatio I refer you to this book.
Michael Maier: Hermes Trismegistus. Sol and Luna. Symbola Aureae Mensae (1617)
The Swiss psychiatrist/psychotherapist, Carl Jung later recognised this process of integration of opposites within the psyche as Individuation, the psychological journey toward wholeness mirrors the alchemical Great Work (please note, it's considered a journey not a fixed end point in one lifetime).
Certain esoteric traditions maintain that this transformed consciousness can literally produce changes in physical reality as we metaphorically die (while still alive) to the world as we knew it and are “reborn” to a higher perspective and appreciation of our soul’s immortality. So the Philosopher's Stone was never about an elixir or substance one can consume to provide longevity and immortality. Instead, through direct experience and embodied wisdom (not merely intellectual contemplation) it is about a changed state of consciousness; one comes to understand that consciousness and matter are fundamentally interconnected and that all existence shares a unified field.
This is expressed in the ancient Upanishads with the phrase "Tat Tvam Asi" ("I Am That"), acknowledging the essential “Oneness” (unity) of self and cosmos. We might term this Cosmic Consciousness. The Upanishads are part of the Vedic tradition, emerging as philosophical texts that explore the nature of existence, consciousness, and enlightenment. The ones that contain this phrase date back to between 200-800 BC!
Certain esoteric traditions maintain that this transformed consciousness can literally produce changes in physical reality as we metaphorically die (while still alive) to the world as we knew it and are “reborn” to a higher perspective and appreciation of our soul’s immortality. So the Philosopher's Stone was never about an elixir or substance one can consume to provide longevity and immortality. Instead, through direct experience and embodied wisdom (not merely intellectual contemplation) it is about a changed state of consciousness; one comes to understand that consciousness and matter are fundamentally interconnected and that all existence shares a unified field.
This is expressed in the ancient Upanishads with the phrase "Tat Tvam Asi" ("I Am That"), acknowledging the essential “Oneness” (unity) of self and cosmos. We might term this Cosmic Consciousness. The Upanishads are part of the Vedic tradition, emerging as philosophical texts that explore the nature of existence, consciousness, and enlightenment. The ones that contain this phrase date back to between 200-800 BC!
Vedanta teaches that consciousness is singular,
all happenings are played out
in one universal consciousness and
there is no multiplicity of selves - Erwin Schrodinger, Physicist (1887-1961)
The unity principle also finds symbolic representation in John Dee's “Monas Hieroglyphica” (i.e., One Glyph) an emblem encoding multiple layers of alchemical wisdom within one unified symbol (I have an article on Dr Dee and his life that you may find quite surprising which you can access here).
Dee said about this glyph: “Let him who does not understand either remain silent or learn.”
Dee said about this glyph: “Let him who does not understand either remain silent or learn.”
The Monas Glyph (Left)
In modern day terms, we might find a parallel with ‘Oneness” in the quantum physics principle of non-locality, which suggests interconnections that transcend conventional understanding of space and time. Non-locality hints at a field of consciousness not confined to the physical brain, but existing in a dimension beyond our localised existence. This is the collective unconscious of Jung in which we experience telepathy, synchronicity and shared insights.
The true Philosopher's Stone, therefore, is the transformed consciousness that recognises its fundamental oneness with all that is.
The true Philosopher's Stone, therefore, is the transformed consciousness that recognises its fundamental oneness with all that is.
The Cosmic Egg
"I shall disclose to you the greatest of Secrets, which it becomes you by divine assistance to keep secret, and perfect the thing proposed. Take then the Stone, which is no Stone, which is in every man, and in every place, and in all times; and it shall be called the Philosophers Egge, and the Terminus Ovi" - Epistola de Secretis Operibus Artis et Naturae et de Nullitate Magiae. Roger Bacon
The Cosmic Egg (or Philosopher's Egg) serves as a perfect metaphor for the crucible in which alchemical transformation takes place. The outer rigid shell represents structure; the body/skeleton and skull (Saturn), containing and protecting the process within. The egg white corresponds to the Moon (silver in alchemy) phase, representing the "whitening" (albedo) stage where the practitioner has begun to purify their consciousness but hasn't yet reached full illumination. The yolk symbolises the Sun; the golden potential of enlightened awareness waiting to be realised. This is why the cover page of Dee’s “Monas Hieroglyphica” has the mercurial symbol within an egg shape.
Dr John Dee's "Monas Hieroglyphica" 1564
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Michael Maier. Emblem 8, Atalanta Fugiens
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Alchemical tract, Mutus Liber. Credit: St Andrew's University, Scotland
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The true magic occurs when these separate substances, white and yolk, are transformed into something entirely new. Just as a chick eventually breaks through the shell that enclosed it, the transformed consciousness emerges from its container, no longer defined by duality or limitation. What was once separate elements confined within boundaries becomes a living, integrated being capable of independent existence.
This transformation mirrors our own spiritual journey - moving from rigid structures of thought, through stages of purification and illumination, to ultimately transcend the vessel that once contained us. The egg perfectly captures this alchemical process: containment leading to transmutation, culminating in liberation.
So, while in popular culture the planet Saturn may be viewed rather negatively and is said to represent all that is dark, limiting, and depressing (melancholic), it corresponds to the structure or vehicle/container, skin, outside of which lies the 'beyond' (beyond Saturn we have now discovered the 'transpersonal' planets Uranus (discovered 1781), Neptune (1846), and Pluto (1930) leading to Modern astrology).
With respect to boundaries, shells, we should perhaps notice these beautiful words from the Sufi poet, Kahlil Gibran who said: "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding."
This transformation mirrors our own spiritual journey - moving from rigid structures of thought, through stages of purification and illumination, to ultimately transcend the vessel that once contained us. The egg perfectly captures this alchemical process: containment leading to transmutation, culminating in liberation.
So, while in popular culture the planet Saturn may be viewed rather negatively and is said to represent all that is dark, limiting, and depressing (melancholic), it corresponds to the structure or vehicle/container, skin, outside of which lies the 'beyond' (beyond Saturn we have now discovered the 'transpersonal' planets Uranus (discovered 1781), Neptune (1846), and Pluto (1930) leading to Modern astrology).
With respect to boundaries, shells, we should perhaps notice these beautiful words from the Sufi poet, Kahlil Gibran who said: "Your pain is the breaking of the shell that encloses your understanding."
Medieval view of the planetary spheres.
In antiquity, Saturn was the furthest planet visible to the naked eye. Regarded as the final planetary sphere beyond which lay the Fixed Stars and the higher realms, seen as the "residence of God and all the elect."
Saturn is associated with Chronos (Χρόνος, Khronos), the personification of Time. Along with Jupiter, the planet Saturn is one of the Great Chronocrators or cosmic markers of time. These two planets meet like clockwork, forming conjunctions that define distinct 20-year cycles and even longer trigons, shaping the march of civilisational change. Kepler wrote about these. Three key historical junctures stand out: 1226, 1623 ...and 2020! (read more in my book).
Note too how the word Chronos - linked to Time - begins with the letters CH, just as Chi in Chi-Rho does. The Greek letter Chi (Χ) influenced the Latin X, both carrying profound symbolic meaning, especially as Chi is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet (more on this in my book too). By closely examining how planetary cycles mirror reality "above and below," and taking note of correspondences and synchronicities (Syn= with, Chron = time), we glimpse a new paradigm. One where illumination enables our consciousness to transcend Saturn’s limits and even the constraints of Time itself.
Saturn is associated with Chronos (Χρόνος, Khronos), the personification of Time. Along with Jupiter, the planet Saturn is one of the Great Chronocrators or cosmic markers of time. These two planets meet like clockwork, forming conjunctions that define distinct 20-year cycles and even longer trigons, shaping the march of civilisational change. Kepler wrote about these. Three key historical junctures stand out: 1226, 1623 ...and 2020! (read more in my book).
Note too how the word Chronos - linked to Time - begins with the letters CH, just as Chi in Chi-Rho does. The Greek letter Chi (Χ) influenced the Latin X, both carrying profound symbolic meaning, especially as Chi is the 22nd letter of the Greek alphabet (more on this in my book too). By closely examining how planetary cycles mirror reality "above and below," and taking note of correspondences and synchronicities (Syn= with, Chron = time), we glimpse a new paradigm. One where illumination enables our consciousness to transcend Saturn’s limits and even the constraints of Time itself.
Heinrich Khunrath c.1560 – 1605 An image of the owl of wisdom from Amphitheatrum Sapientiae Aeternae, 1609. (Adapted) Credit: Wellcome Images
For a fascinating discussion on the nature of consciousness, time, telepathy and more, I highly recommend this video The Sapient Cosmos
I also found a great article on the Philosopher's Egg from 2012 - with lots of images.
I also found a great article on the Philosopher's Egg from 2012 - with lots of images.
Article 2) Who Really Wrote the Monas Hieroglyphica? The Forgotten Friar Who Claimed It Was His
Article 3) My Mercurial Path
Article 4) Numbers: Mathematics, Meaning and Mystery
Article 5) Cosmopolitics and Statecraft
Article 3) My Mercurial Path
Article 4) Numbers: Mathematics, Meaning and Mystery
Article 5) Cosmopolitics and Statecraft
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