Very powerful as a medicine. But as the artist well knows it is capable of a higher concoction, he goes on increasing

his fire

On the Philosophers' Stone, by Anonymous, 12th - 17th Cen. (?)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

-

And when you see the true whiteness appear, which shineth like a bright sword, or polished silver, know that in that

whiteness there is redness hidden. But then beware that you take not that whiteness out of the vessel, but only digest it

to the end, that with heat and dryness, it may assume a citron color, and a most beautiful redness.

The Secret Book of Artephius, by Artephius, 12th Cen. (?)

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Take the White Stone and divide it into two parts; you will raise one part to the state of the white Elixir, as has been

said much earlier (of the kind of which you will have an indefinite amount). Put the other part in a new bed of the

Philosophers, clean, tidy, transparent, spherical and place it in the furnace for digestion. Increase the fire until by its

force and strength the matter is changed to a very red stone

Compound of Compounds, by Albertus Magnus, 13th Cen.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

So you see that different alchemists made statements which clearly contradict each other concerning the

fermentation. Some claim you must ferment the White Stone with silver before it can stand high-heat

necessary to mature it into the Red Stone, while others claim you must not ferment the White Stone, just

continue increasing the heat to obtain the Red Stone. Since both of these methods have support from a

number of alchemists, it would make the most sense that both methods are correct. It would seem that you

must be very careful with the heat when attempting to mature the unfermented White Stone, whereas

perhaps the fermented White Stone can be matured with a higher and less careful heat.

The safest move however, would be to follow the instructions of Albertus Magnus (the last quote above)

who advises us to divide the Stone into two parts at the White Stage. One part you will ferment with silver

Into the White Stone, the other part you will continue to develop into the Red Stone. Then if your

unfermented White Stone fails to turn red, you can mature part of your fermented White Stone. It would be

further advantageous to keep part of the White Stone unfermented, thus requiring the White Stone to be

divided into three parts. This also means you will have both the White Stone and the Red Stone, instead of

having to choose between them, and you will therefore be able to take advantage of the medicinal value of

the White Stone sooner.

The second contradiction comes only from Fulcanelli, the most recent of the alchemists. Fulcanelli claims

that the fermentation process makes either Stone only capable of transmutating metals, and useless as a

medicine for animals.

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

the fermentation of the stone by gold, so as to direct the Elixir to limit its use in the transmutation of metals.

The Dwellings of the Philosophers, by Fulcanelli, 1929 AD

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

However, it is clear that Fulcanelli had not yet obtained the Stone when he wrote The Dwellings of the

Philosophers, and I find no references in the books of the old alchemists which imply that the fermentation

process is only applicable if we wish to make gold. So I can only assume that Fulcanelli is wrong on this

point; that the fermentation is necessary, and that the same Stone both acts as a medicine and performs

metallic transmutation. However, I am informing you of Fulcanelli's opinion just in case he knows

something I don't. In any case, you can hedge your bet easily by putting aside a little of the White Stone and

Red Stone before they are fermented, just in case Fulcanelli is correct. If you remain concerned, you might

also want to test the medicinal effects of both the fermented and non-fermented Stones by feeding them to

animals before trying them on yourself.

Neither of the contradictions in this chapter are a hindrance to our making of the Stone. You only need to

save a little of the Stone from before each of the fermentations, and so in the end you will be in possession

of four powders: the White Stone fermented, the White Stone unfermented, the Red Stone fermented, and

the Red Stone unfermented. Therefore allowing you to easily test the effects of each. It is also of advantage

to possess both Stones, fermented and unfermented, as this will allow you even more usage and

experimentation as to uses described and not described in this book.