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- A L C H E M Y I S A L I V E A N D W E L L
-
-
- by Hans W. Nintzel
-
-
-
- While it hasn't made the front pages yet, alchemy is enjoying a revival.
- The truth is, it never went away. It merely has kept a low profile. Yet,
- more attention is being given to alchemy than ever before. We will look at
- some of the reasons for this, but first it might be well to explain what we
- mean by the term "alchemy".
-
- A one word definition is 'evolution' or `transmutation`. The implication
- is, one thing is being changed into another thing. As an every day
- example, consider the sun. It is truly an alchemist as it constantly is
- transmuting helium into hydrogen. Wine that has gone sour, is wine that
- has been transmuted into vinegar. Modern alchemists understanding that the
- best kind of vinegar is made from red wine, deliberately try to turn wine
- sour.
-
- However, wineries add sulfides to the wine to prevent souring. Fortunately
- some wineries do not do this and there are also ways of eliminating the
- sulfides from wine. And yes, this transmutation includes turning lead into
- gold!
-
- So we are surrounded by everyday examples of alchemy. The making of a pot
- of tea is an alchemical process as it extracts an essence, called sulphur
- by alchemists to color the water which we then call tea. It might be noted
- that the term sulphur is an alchemical 'code word' that, in this instance,
- refers to the natural oils in the tea (or in any plant). There are many
- more examples but our purpose is to chronicle past and current events in
- this recondite domain.
-
- Alchemy is a discipline that started way back in the annals of history as
- best can be determined. Ancient Greeks, Indians, Chinese and Egyptians
- were practitioners of alchemy. However, we do not intend to go that far
- back. We will return to the days of the sixties and seventies so that we
- may have some insight to Dr. Albert Reidel.
-
- Frater Albertus, as he preferred being called, supervised and operated what
- is called a "mystery school", in the Wasatch mountain range in Utah.
- Located in the Salt Lake City area, this school taught a curriculum of very
- interesting subjects. These included Qabalah, the ancient Hebrew technique
- of spiritual growth which incorporates the tenets of magic, astro-cyclical
- pulsation (astrology) and, Alchemy. The school was run in the manner of a
- Gurdjieff "Fourth Way" school.
-
- Dr. Israel Regardie, who was my friend and mentor suggested this school to
- me. At the same time, the person who had taught me the rudiments of
- Qabala, Dan T., also referred to this school indicating I would do well to
- look into it. Simultaneously, Mary F. invited me to her home to meet two
- people who had a unusual 'hobby', alchemy!
-
- These two people. Kurt and Helene von K. were destined to become good
- friends and teachers of mine. They talked about alchemy and how they cured
- their son of mental dysfunction through the use of alchemical preparations.
- They showed us a small vial of an oily substance and declared this was "oil
- of iron".
-
- As a graduate civil engineer with an MBA and 20 years in the 'hard' and
- logical discipline of information systems, I could not readily accept what
- they told me. My engineering background always insisted that I should see,
- feel, taste and touch things to verify their reality. I had never heard of
- oil of iron, nor the oil of any other metal, so it could not possibly
- exist! That was my mind set at the time. Nonetheless, they managed to
- capture my interest.
-
- What got me excited was, they had studied under one Frater Albertus at the
- very same school I had so recently heard so much about, the Paracelsus
- Research Society! They explained how to apply for the school and
- tantalized Mary and I with stories of alchemy.
-
- It did not take long for me to get on the telephone with 'Doc' and with
- Dan. They urged me to go. The clincher was, Bill, an Episcopalian priest
- committed to attend and Mary decided to go as well.
-
- We applied, were accepted and soon found ourselves in Salt Lake City, at
- the P.R.S. awaiting the commencement of the Prih@&K#én °óTü╣Ñ¥í╨)ëòÖ╣!?>!>