nature of an enterprise which deals with high-spin atoms, the explanations will be purposefully veiled and guarded. The following is, therefore, presented as a general overview, without detailing specific weights, temperatures, conditions or laboratory burn-times. This will prevent any ill-advised experimentation by unqualified enthusiasts and will avoid the contravention of prevailing international patents which govern the practice. {Yes, Modern science is able to do the alchemical ‘Great Work’ as a purely physical thing now.}
To begin, we should consider statements concerning the Philosophers’ Stone made by the alchemists Lapidus and Eirenaeus Philalethes: ‘The Philosophers’ Stone is no stone, but a powder with the power to transmute base metals into gold and silver,’ (25) and,
The stone which is to be the transformer of metals into gold must be sought in the precious metals in which it is enclosed and contained. It is called a stone by virtue of its fixed nature, and it resists the action of fire as successfully as any stone – but its appearance is that of a very fine powder, impalpable to the touch (imperceptible, like talcum powder), fragrant as to smell, in potency a most penetrative spirit, apparently dry, and yet unctuous, and easily capable of tingeing a plate of metal. The stone does not exist in nature, but has to be prepared by art, in obedience to nature’s laws. Thus, you see our stone is made of gold alone, yet it is not common gold. (26)
Each of these testimonies refers to the enigmatic stone being, in actuality, a fine powder, and in talking of the precious metals within which the stone is contained, modern practitioners refer not only to gold and silver but also to those metals which comprise the pla