On Mon, Sep 28, 2009 at 6:56 AM, Jack O Suileabhain <[email protected]> wrote:
> Sir Isaac Newton described > himself as an 'alchemyst.' He was obviously a 'crank;' no?* * * Is so, he was in good company. I think people often misinterpret what is meant by Alchemy. Gold is a low entropy element in that it does not corrode easily. Alchemist believed there is a similar mental state. The philosopher's stone is alleged to turn base metals into gold. Perhaps this is a metaphor. http://www.rexresearch.com/alchemy5/regardie.pdf p.5 excerpt: "Not only does Alchemy envisage an individual whose several constituents of consciousness are united, but with the characteristic thoroughness of all occult or magical methods it proceeds a stage further. It aspires towards the development of an integrated and free man who is illumined. It is here that Alchemy parts company with Psychology. Its technique envisages a religious or spiritual goal. In much the same terms as Eastern Philosophy, Alchemy propounds the question, "What is it, by knowing which, we have all knowledge?" A bit like Gnosticism, eh? BTW, these ideas play a large part in Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol". Terry
