ALCHEMY AND ASTROLOGY 239 



is the secret of the " Philosopher's Stone." The sign in 

 which the true alchemist works is the Cross, because 

 man roots with his material elements in the earth, pene- 

 trates with his soul through the animal forces of Nature, 

 while his higher nature reaches above the animal creation 

 into the realm of immortality. 



The next aspect of alchemy is the knowledge of the 

 nature of the invisible elements, constituting the astral 

 bodies of things. Each thing is a trinity having a body 

 and a spirit held together by the soul,^ which is the cause 

 and the law. Physical bodies are acted upon by physical 

 matter ; the elements of the soul are acted upon by the 

 soul, and the conscious spirit of the enlightened guides 

 and controls the action of matter and soul. By the 

 power of the spirit material elements may be sublimated 

 into invisible elements, or invisible substances be coagu- 

 lated and become visible. Instances of this may be 

 occasionally seen in " spiritualistic seances," although in 

 such cases the alchemist who produces them is invisible. 



The lowest aspect of alchemy is the preparation, puri- 

 fication, and combination of physical substances, and 

 from this science has grown the science of modern 

 chemistry, which in its present state is a great advance- 

 ment over the lower aspect of old chemistry, but which 

 has lost sight entirely of the higher aspects of Nature. 

 A higher advancement of the science of chemistry will 

 bring it again into contact with alchemy. Chemistry 

 decomposes and recombines material substances in certain 

 proportions ; it purifies simple substances of all foreign 

 elements, and leaves the primitive elements unchanged ; 

 but alchemy changes the character of things, and raises 

 them up into higher states of existence. To exercise 

 this power, not mere mechanical labour, but artistic skill 

 is required. " A person who composes a chemical pre- 

 paration by manual labour and according to certain rules 



* " Hermes said that the soul alone is the medium by means of which 

 spirit and body are united" {Oenerat. Rerum.f I). 



