The Philosopher's Stone & Magnum Opus

What is The Philosopher's Stone?

Many of you may have already heard about this legendary substance from places like Harry Potter or Full Metal Alchemist which is where I personally first heard of it. Amazingly, this alchemic legend isn't just for shows and fiction but is also a real legend and many people believe that it does or at one point, may have existed. To start off, What is alchemy? Well, Alchemy is basically the predecessor to modern chemistry. It deals with transmutation, which means changing of matter from one form to another the major goals or focuses of alchemy were attempting to transmute common metals into gold as well as many spiritual aspects such as attaining immortality and spiritual knowledge.

Now, The Philosopher's Stone is a substance of some sort, usually said to be a red or white stone that is claimed to be capable of increasing the possibilities of alchemy to limitless proportions. The stone is claimed to be able to help an alchemist turn other matter into gold but this is just the beginning. Many alchemists believed that some sort of potion of immortality could be created from the stone. Due to all this, the philosophers stone came to be one of the most important and legendary items related to alchemy and has been sought after since as far back as 300AD.

History and Prominence in Alchemy-

Due to its legends and capabilities, Many alchemists have spent their lives trying to create this substance, Around the 17th century, it was every alchemist's ultimate goal to obtain a philosopher's stone. There is even a 17th-century alchemy manuscript written by Isaac Newton, which was hidden in a private collection for decades. The manuscript reveals his recipe for a material thought to be a step forward in creating the magical philosopher's stone. Some sources claim that there is more than one type of stone and that each specific type has a specific use. The most commonly known types are-

1. The Vegetable Stone is thought to stimulate spiritual growth and is linked to Immortality.
2. The Animal Stone is believed to cure any illnesses or physical ailment.
3. The Mineral Stone is the most popular and is believed to transmute metals. This is the one believed to be able to transmute common metals into gold.

I read through a lot of articles to find if there was anyone who had actually made one of these and there was one story I found to be the most believable. The story is about Nicolas Flamel, a bookkeeper from Paris. The story goes that one day, Nicolas came into possession of a strange book about alchemy from a mysterious man. Since Nicolas was already interested in Alchemy and such things, he took the book which seemed to have a method to create a philosopher's stone. The book contained many unknown symbols and after more than 20 years, he was unable to decipher it. Nicolas then decided to go to Spain to find an elderly scholar who aided him in his translation efforts. Shortly after, it is claimed that he was able to complete the book and created a philosophers stone which he used to transmute half a pound of mercury into gold. This was astonishing but Nicolas saw the danger such power could bring so he decided to donate the gold and hid the book so nobody could recreate the philosophers stone.

All these stories of alchemy and the Philosopher's Stone seem to mainly be referenced from Europe and western countries but there are known claims of such substances from different religions and groups around the world. Mainly in Hinduism, certain texts are stating of a substance that can transmute metals into gold. One specific instance would be a commentary written by Saint Jnaneshwar, an Indian saint who wrote many references to a philosopher's stone that transmutes base metals into gold. There is also a scripture that claims that the name of God, "Shiva" possesses alchemic power and can change the body into immortal gold. This seems to work towards the theory that the philosophers stone is not only a physical substance but also one for mental enlightenment and attaining a higher power

Magnum Opus/Creating a Philosopher's Stone-

The Magnum Opus which is Latin for "The Great Work" is basically a centuries-old step by step recipe on how to create a philosophers stone. The Magnum Opus's first known trace dates back to at least before the sixth century on the Tabula Smaragdina which was said to be written by Hermes Trismegistus (An actual greek god). Since then it has been seen in many other alchemic texts and is basically all we know about how to obtain a philosopher's stone. This process also covers both a physical and spiritual guide to creating a philosopher's stone but I'll mainly be covering the physical aspect of the process here.

The process varies according to sources but here is one that seemed the most referred to -

Ingredients-

1. The Celestial Salt, which stands for the natural formation of Earth and Water. The salt signifies the body of the Philosopher's Stone and is often suggested to be a sort of container to the philosopher's stone.                                                                                                                          
2. The Celestial Niter (Sulphur), which stands for the uncertainty of Air and Fire. Sulphur signifies the fire and air of the Great Work.                                                                                                                                                                          
3. The third ingredient is Mercury and it's concerned with the formation of Water and Air. Mercury is the spirit or life force of the Great Work.

Process-

1. Calcination-
The process of using the intense heating to dissolve and subsequently coagulate the materials

2. Dissolution-
Once the alchemist has calcinated one of his main ingredients, creating a purified substance. He or she now dissolves it in a liquid base.

3. Separation-
The components leftover after dissolution are then filtered in this process and the materials obtained are isolated.

4. Conjunction-
The materials obtained through the process of separation are recombined to form a new substance.

5. Putrefaction-
In this process, all alchemical ingredients had to be cleansed and cooked extensively to a uniform black matter.

6. Congelation-
The temperature was reduced leading to an increase in viscosity enough to crystallize or solidify the substance.                                                                                                                                                             
7. Cibation-

The feeding of the substance being acted upon in a flask, with some reagent, usually a liquid

8. Sublimation-
This process is when a solid is heated and gives off a vapour which condenses on the cool upper parts of the vessel as a solid, not going through a liquid phase.

9. Fermentation-
Fermentation is the rotting of a substance. In this process, we let the substance rot and it is usually accompanied by the creation of gas bubbles.

10. Exaltation-
An operation through which a substance is raised into a purer and more perfect nature.

11. Multiplication-
This is the process in alchemy used to increase the potency of the philosopher's stone. The methods of multiplication come within the processes of congelation, cibation, as well as fermentation.                     

12. Projection-
The process of Projection is the ultimate achievement of alchemy. Once the Philosopher's stone or such a substance was concocted, this process would be used to convert lower metals such as zinc and mercury into higher metals such as gold. This process is usually done by casting the stone into a molten base metal.

Conclusion-

Personally, I really do wish that such a thing did exist as it is something I've been fascinated with since I was a little kid but find it very unlikely. The concept of transmutation is possible to a certain extent but things like making gold, immortality, and attaining a higher power all seem like a fantasy. I can see why, centuries ago when science wasn't as advanced as it is now, people would believe in the existence of such a substance but in today's world this doesn't seem possible. Just imagining a stone which is possible to react with the human body in such a way that it can make us live forever or help us attain a higher power seems like it has come straight out of fiction. With our knowledge of science now, I'm pretty sure we can say that any single substance cannot stop the clock and stop a human body from ageing or insert universal knowledge and awakening into our minds and soul. Even if it is possible to create a philosopher's stone I'm pretty sure we will never end up actually creating it now. This is because the popularity of alchemy has declined and it has become a sort of historical part of science and chemistry. The number of people actually trying to create such a stone is nothing near what they were a few hundred years ago and scientists have shunned the possibility of a material to exist.

As for the tale of Nicolas Flamel and if he actually did create a philosopher's stone, we will probably never know the truth. This is because very strangely and conveniently he was such a good man that he donated all the gold and hid the book he was claimed to have used to create the stone. Due to this, there is no possible way to find out if such a thing actually ever happened and I guess his tale will always be one of uncertainty although still an interesting one.

Thanks a lot for taking out the time to read my post and I hope you enjoyed it! for any future post suggestions or comments please feel free to contact me on any of our social media pages or leave a comment below!