Balder Ex-Libris

Author : Warnock Christopher
Title : The book of the treasure of Alexander Ancient hermetic alchemy & astrology
Year : 2012

Link download : Warnock_Christopher_-_The_book_of_the_treasure_of_Alexander.zip

Occult Virtue & Hermetic Philosophy. Discussing astrological magic in his Speculum Astronomiae, the "Mirror of Astronomy", the thirteenth century scholar, philosopher and scientist Albertus Magnus recoils from what he describes as the abominable use of necromantic images, "which have presumed to usurp the noble name of (astrology) for themselves." "But the worst of these", says Albertus, "is that written by Aristotle to Alexander...this is the one which some call Mors animae (The death of the soul)." The Book of the Treasure of Alexander, here in its first complete English translation, certainly merits Albertus' description even if, as many manuscripts attributed to Aristotle and Alexander circulated in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, this is not the specific version Albertus consulted. Much of the Book of the Treasure of Alexander is taken up with descriptions of deadly poisons, often composed of rather noisome substances. Even the antidotes require brains, blood and other body parts, both animal and human. But unlike a modern horror film, these ingredients are not meant to shock and titillate, but to allow the mage to utilize the occult virtues or hidden powers scattered throughout material things. Explicitly referring to Hermes Trismegistus, the Book of the Treasure of Alexander is reliant on Hermetic and Neoplatonic philosophy which holds that all things exist perfectly and undifferentiated in the One, then manifested perfectly, but differentiated as archetypes, Platonic Ideas and Archangels, thoughts in the Divine Mind, the Anima Mundi. Next all things manifest in the intermediate Celestial or Imaginal world, where the Platonic Ideas take on form and form exists without space or weight. Finally, all things manifest in the Material World, while retaining their spiritual connection to the intermediate worlds and Platonic Ideas that gave rise to them and ultimately to the One itself. Hidden in the natural world and particular in Man himself, a perfect Microcosm or little world, encapsulating the Macrocosm or Greater World of the Cosmos, were spiritual powers and potencies. The wise man could find the power to kill or to save from death concealed in vipers' heads, in donkey's urine or even wild onions. But a nobler use of these hidden powers was alchemy, one of the three Hermetic arts with astrology and magic. Here the virtue of the quintessence, the fifth element, was sought in nature, purified, repeatedly transmuted and transformed, until the lapis philosophorum, the Philosopher's Stone was revealed to the adept. The Book of the Treasure of Alexander adds several fascinating new chapters to our knowledge of authentic Hermetic alchemy, explaining the successive preparations of various "waters" and the purification of metals. Each of these waters and purified metals has its uses, but contributes to the next step in a unified process. Finally, the Book of the Treasure of Alexander explains four principles used to create, "the All, a red Stone that tends a little to black. This is the Great Elixir." Among the potencies of this elixir is the power to change silver into pure gold. After scaling the heights of the creation of the Philosopher's Stone, the Book of the Treasure of Alexander then descends to descriptions of over a dozen deadly poisons, including the "Royal Water", the "cold poison" and the "poison that kills through laughter" many of which have their powers enhanced through their creation according to astrological timing. The effects of these poisons are all explicable as the combination of astrology and their respective natural occult virtues. Soundly Hermetic in theory while despicable in actual use, the Book of the Treasure of Alexander does not shrink from carefully describing the preparation of these virulently lethal compounds. Yet the Hermetic balance of nature is restored by the fourth section, a recognition that for every poison, as every evil, a stronger and more potent antidote exists. ...