It is the First Part of the Work which is most open to alternative methods. The ingredient you choose, which

for us is urine, could be something else, if you could find something more pure with the right qualities.

There may also be a more efficient method of processing the ingredient than the one I will give in the

following chapters.

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The second difficulty consists in the apparent disagreement of those who profess to exercise our Art at the present day.

Amongst those persons are observed a great diversity of method, and a considerable variety even in the choice of their

substance.

[...] It appears indeed as if there were many roads to our Art, and not one only. Geber avers that there are many ways

to produce one effect. The same opinion is expressed by Rhasis in his book on the Perfect Magistery, where he speaks

of bodies and spirits, and their purification and divers and manifold composition.

The New Pearl of Great Price, by Peter Bonus, 1338 AD

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In order to predict other substances which could be used as our ingredient we must consider the laws and

cycles of Nature. A good understanding of Nature and alchemy, understanding how and why the process

works, will enable you to also guess at other substances which could be used. It makes sense to me that

urine is most efficient for the extraction of the body (salt), and also contains much life-energy in its water.

However, it would make logical sense that semen, blood and fresh fruit juice also contain a high

concentration of life-energy (which is the active principle), perhaps more than urine, or perhaps not. I have

not experimented with these, as in my experience it takes so long to experiment that it would be quicker to

just make the Stone the traditional way. We can certainly be sure that the alchemists tried different

substances and experiments themselves, and since all of the more recent alchemists (since the 16th century)

certainly used urine, it would be logical to assume that urine is the best choice of ingredient. But it is also

possible they did not publish their experiments in other substances if they found one to greatly decrease the

time it takes, since the old alchemists would want to test the dedication of the beginner.

For the body you are looking for a very volatile salt, which can absorb the moisture and break down. The

water must contain an abundance of life-energy. Both must be pure, containing as little as possible of

anything else. It is not necessary that we use only one substance for both, but it has been found that urine

supplies both requirements. It would be possible to use the salt of the urine, but the water from another

substance.

Nevertheless, the safe and sure option is to use urine, and it is the method I will present. For anyone who

wishes to try a different substance, it would be wise to make the Stone with only urine at the same time and

In parallel, so as you do not waste too much of your time if your method fails. To use a different substance

follow the same instructions as I present, only substituting your substance for the urine.

The method I present (using only urine) is a relatively new one, it is sometimes called the "dry method" due

to the calcination in the First Part, and made famous (among the alchemists) by Paracelsus in the 16th

century. Though it is probably an older method, which Paracelsus rediscovered. The older alchemists

(before Paracelsus) used distilled urine and gold, which is less efficient (and more expensive) than using

only urine. It takes more than twice the time as the urine only method.

By the older method, using distilled urine and gold, sometimes called the "wet method", one would be

relying on the life-energy in the distilled urine to break down the gold. This will work because gold is a

very pure substance, with a lot of life-energy inside it, and will eventually break down with a little

convincing from the distilled urine. But it makes much more sense to use the lighter particles from the urine

itself, as these are pure, but not so dense and not already determined like gold.

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Hereof I have now determined to write much, although in the beginning of this Book I decreed to bury it in silence.

This is the one great sophism of all adepts; some speak of this common gold and silver, and say the truth, and others

say that we cannot use it, and they too, say the truth. But in the presence of God I will call all our adepts to account,

and charge them with jealous surliness. I, too, had determined to tread the same path, but God's hand confounded my

scheme. I say then, that both ways are true, and come to the same thing in the end—but there is a vast difference at the

beginning.

An Open Entrance to the Closed Palace of the King, by An Anonymous Sage and Lover of Truth, 1645 AD

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Theophrastus shews you two ways --- one Ancient, the other discovered and used by himself --- saying the Ancients had

a very long way "before accomplishing the aforesaid separations and achieving their object". In the beginning they,

out of a Simplex --- or also out of a Subjectivum like God Himself --- and also Theophrastus, have made two things,