I no longer wonder, as once I did, that the true Sage, though he owns the Stone, does not care to prolong his life; for

he daily sees heaven before his eyes, as you see your face in a glass. When God gives you what you desire, you will

believe me, and not make yourself known to the world.

The New Chemical Light, by Michael Sendivogius, 17th Cen.

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But then again, there were so many alchemists in the 17th and early 18th centuries. This is only 300 years

ago, and with so much happening since then, at least some of them must have hung around. So where

would they be?

Travel would be difficult. Passports would be a hindrance for them. They'd have to have some kind of

special connection in order to keep getting new passports. But then their connections would keep dying.

And it's extremely unlikely they had a deal with the governments, else the politicians would want the Stone

for themselves, which the alchemists would not want give them. So in this world of passports and ID cards

they would have a problem.

If they were still around, you would expect alchemical books to be released every now and again. But it's

been years since one was. It's a long silence. Previously they were releasing more and more texts, as they

believed we were coming to the end of the age. Now we really are coming to the end of the age, but no

news.

It's possible this silence has to do with the Rosicrucians. They were attempting to band together all the

alchemists. My guess is that it worked. The alchemists all heard of them, and being bored wandering

around alone, they all joined.

The Rosicrucians were active during the 17th century. By the 18th century they had established what was

to become modern science, heavily influenced Freemasonry with their symbols, and had a big part in the

establishment of the New World colony in what is now the USA. It's likely therefore that they moved their

headquarters to the USA.

But in retrospect we can see that modern science failed to understand Nature, the Freemasons failed to

understand their symbolism, and the USA became one of the most corrupt countries on the planet. And the

Rosicrucians have disappeared.

So they either (1) all died, by choice or by accident, (2) are wandering around individually with difficulty,

or (3) became corrupt and no longer care about helping the world.

There is one more option still remaining: they could have gone to Shambhala.

46. Shambhala

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There is a land not far from here,

Out of sight, but not out of ear,

Where the water's pure, and the breeze,

Where all are young with no disease,

Where ages of immortal people dwell,

And many a strange beast as well;

But no mere mortal can enter there,

For it can only be accessed by the air,

Yet the place is not in the sky,

Nor in a place where a plane can fly;

From myth and whisper comes a clue,

Be careful what you believe is true,

Indeed you could be standing upon

Two lands, when all you see is one;

Two lands separated by only Stone,

One you can see, another unknown;

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I wrote that poem. If you have a tradition throughout all of history of very intelligent people, with access to

lost technology, who never age and have unlimited gold... what would you expect to happen?

Logic would tell me that these people would establish their own country. A parallel civilization independent

to this one. It's the obvious thing to do.

So I looked for any information I could find on a "Land of Immortals". And what do you know? It didn't

take me long to find it.

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No human dream is more universal than the longing for a paradise on earth, a place free of the ravages of time and

disease, where the best in nature flourishes while the worst is forbidden to enter. By definition, such magical lands

can't be near at hand; they must be remote and inaccessible, destinations to be reached by a pilgrimage or a heroic

journey. Ancient Tibetan Buddhist texts spoke of just such a kingdom, where the kings blessed with long life spans

await the day when they will take power over the world, ushering in a golden age of peace and justice. This mythical

kingdom was called Shambala. Its location - known only to a few initiates - was reputed to be northern India... or in