One Matter - One Vessel - One Fire

[Andro]

Now that the cat is slowly crawling out of the bag...

I want this to be a special thread, so everyone please lend a hand to make and keep it so...

This is a PRACTICAL thread, related to the most simple and Universal of all Works: One Matter - One Vessel - One Fire.

This is about the Practice by which the Stone may be had by anyone with a good understanding of nature, at close to zero expenses and with barely any need to put your hands to it. No complicated devices or technical/chemical skills required!

I have a few simple requests for posting on this thread:

* Please ONLY post here if you (not someone you know or heard of) are physically performing (or have performed in the past or are currently preparing to perform) this most simple and Universal of all Works, as described in the thread title.

* NO philosophical debates and quarreling over opinions and interpretations. Let's make this about sharing, not fighting... so don't post here if you have a problem with diversity. We all have a common goal, and we're dreaming this together.

* NO quoting of any writings other than your own, with the exception of quotes being plainly and directly related to the aforementioned practical Work.
If the relation is not plainly and readily clear, then please explain/clarify it yourself.

* If you desire to present a certain abstract concept, you must CLEARLY explain how it is directly related to your pactical work. Don't leave it hanging!

* Everything you post here MUST be based on your own practical experience. Not anyone else's! If you're not actually doing this Work, then please don't post here!

* Simple and easily intelligible posts, written in plain English. No parables, riddles or cryptic messages, please!

* NO preaching, NO book/allegory/myth/bible thumping please!

Examples of topics to be discussed here:

The nature of the First Matter(s) and how/where it is to be obtained at its fullest potency.

The nature of the preliminary preparations of the Matter.

The nature/material/shape of the Vessel, and how it is to be most efficiently sealed.

The nature of the External Fire which moves the Internal one, and how it is best attracted/focused/concentrated.

The stages you have observed your Matter to go through in your Vessel.

Please remember that noone is asking anyone to reveal more than they are comfortable to...

Mr. Solomon Levi / Moderators - your help in keeping this thread's integrity will be greatly appreciated.
If this thread turns out to be a failure, I'd rather have it deleted than having it miss its purpose. I hope you understand...

Let's see where it goes from here...

[Andro]

OK, no response yet, so I'll go first

I have (so far) worked with four different Matters in the same way.

The Matters are Dew, Urine, Sweat and Saliva.

When put to the fire in their proper vessel, they all behaved in a similar way, by eventually separating into a white section and a red section all by themselves.

However, they all putrefied differently before being put to the fire, since two of the Matters turned completely black at the end of putrefaction, whereas putrefying the other two Matters resulted in lighter shades.

Here, there's a starter.

Come on, bring out your aphorisms!
Unless you think it's still too early to thread this path ...

[LeoRetilus]

OK, no response yet, so I'll go first

I've worked with four different Matters in the same way.

The Matters are Dew, Urine, Sweat and Saliva.

When put to the fire in their proper vessel, they all behaved in a similar way, by eventually separating into a white section and a red section all by themselves.

However, they all putrefied differently before being put to the fire, since two of the Matters turned completely black at the end of putrefaction, whereas putrefying the other two Matters resulted in lighter shades.

Here, there's a starter.

Come on, bring out your aphorisms!
Unless you think it's still too early to thread this path ...

I have often contemplated using sweat and tears since they are both salty and I sense them to be quite useful. As well as anything of a human origin that contains our DNA as I beleive this is where the hidden light of man resides. I've often thought about burning my hair as well, since there seems to be some highly alchemical associations with it in the bible...the story of Samson and Delilah comes to mind, plus I read the other day that they are finding a high degree of mercury (vulgar) in peoples hair especially in white/grey hair.

But as for the theme of your thread here..no offense to you or anybody else personally, you know I have the utmost respect for you, but I'm sorry I just don't see the need to try to conform to a particular dogma, such as the one fire, one flask, one matter hooplah, bruhaha. The notion that a "real" alchemist does it this way alone is absurd to me, Geber was a real alchemist and he invented practical lab alchemy and a great deal of the body of modern chemistry in the process all for the purpose of making alchemy more accessible to people who didn't live close enough to the prima materias that other alchemists might have been talking about that could be utilized/achieved with the one fire one pot bs, really this notion is stone aged to me and we should abandon this idea for the same reason .....to make alchemy more accessible. Plus what Geber did by showing us that the three principals can indeed be had from all matters, and illustrating the four elements in the process through lab work: dissolution, putrefaction, circulation, calcination, etc..etc..is what makes the art of alchemy into a science, which is what is absolutely mandatory in this day and age. I hope I haven't sullied your aim much , Sol feel free to erase this post if what Androgynus had in mind develops.

[Andro]

Leo, I absolutely agree with you on the uselessness of being dogmatic

And the respect is absolutely mutual

But this thread is one of many, after all... That's what diversity is all about...
And I never said this is 'The Way' or that this is how 'Real Alchemists' do it... Someone else may have said/implied that in other threads, but not me.
Like I said before, there are many ways to rectify a cat

one fire one pot bs

Here's where I disagree... It's not bs in my experience.

I've often thought about burning my hair

And how right you would be! Dry distillation of hair can be brought to manifest the 'Virgin Milk' containing the spirit and volatile salts able to dissolve gold into an oil...
I am currently using a very powerful and rejuvenating elixir made by dry distillation

The three principals can indeed be had from all matters.

True and without doubt!!!

But my purpose here is to focus on just one approach out of many, NOT to invalidate all the others. The last thing I am is dogmatic. I am placing focus on this approach right now because I personally believe it can make rewarding results accesssible even to the least technically/scientifically inclined. I myself am personally also working on other paths, which are by the way much inspired by your posts and the correspondence with you

[...] a different or more modern angle to consider some of the alchemical processes that we have been reading about lately. And maybe this will lead to more work with dew and more specifically extracting the mercury principal from where it originates, the air or in my opinion, the aether(vacuum).

Altogether quite similar to the approach I am presenting here: It does, indeed, originate in the Aether, it's parented into our realm by the Sun and the Moon, it's carried and further concentrated by the atmosphere (air) and even further concentrated in our Vessel by Art. So our methods may differ, but I see no disagreement of principles whatsoever

[...] you'd be doing yourself a great service by reading this entire page and following all the links, especially this one:Air Trap

From the above link and in light of my own results posted above, the following text speaks for itself:

"The Philosopher's Stone [...] is a process of evolution through death and rebirth brought about by the captured Mercury. It is clearly described as being NOT available to simply pick up off the ground or extract as ready-made Philosophers Stone. The Mercury in the air, (read Life), when bonded to a matter gives a 'philosophical vitriol', a salt of unusual physico-chemical properties. This is digested and it separates into a red and white 'Mercury' - as oils, and a solid. These in union gave rise to the evolutionary process described by so many alchemists. In fact it is the manipulation of the white and red that is the beginning of most tracts. They assume you already have these."

The point is that these substances are the same, they haven't changed their nature since the beginning of time, the only thing that has changed is humans, they come and go, and call things by different names.

AND use different ways to manifest them.

But in my experience if it walks like a duck, and talks like a duck, then most likely it's a duck.

It most certainly is! Quack! Quack! Quack!

Sol feel free to erase this post if what Androgynus had in mind develops.

I see no need to erase this post. It's an important one. I'd rather have the friction and differences naturally iron themselves out, before this thread - hopefully - starts to generate its own spin and gradually comes closer to the heart of the matter it was intended for.

[Ghislain]

I have been working with dew, saliva and water from the Ganges but used them
all in the sea salt method as described by ***.

The process name

I think this is where it all went wrong as none of these flasks went into any black
stage.

I may start over without the salt.

Ghislain

[Salazius]

Hi Androgynus,

The 'one fire, one flask, one matter' idea is very interesting. In my knowledge I know only one process where we put one matter in one vessel and we apply one fire, until when could reach the end of the process. But saying that there is only one fire ... no, there is the vulgar fire, the philosophical fire, the secret fire, the fire of reaction in the matter ...
And often, you need several flasks, several manipulations and often several kind of matters to make "one matter".

[memphis_mizraim]

I have worked with the GW but never managed to get the alkahest dissolve the Gold.
I seem to be missing some key. Everyone on here seems to have completed this or have they?

[Andro]

I seem to be missing some key.

I designed this thread with the hope that all the neccessary keys for this simple work will be gradually revealed here

I'm also aware that pictures can't really prove anything - but I do however intend to post some here, when I feel the time is right for me to do so.

I'm aware this can be quite a challenge for those who are more experienced in this Art - walking the fine line between gentle guidance and spoonfeeding major revelations to the recipe hunters lurking out there. And I'm not refering to this thread alone...

[Andro]

The 'one fire, one flask, one matter' idea is very interesting.

I know

In my knowledge I know only one process where we put one matter in one vessel and we apply one fire, until when could reach the end of the process.

And please feel free to share as much as you are comfortable to about this, so those who are ready will be able to discern...

But saying that there is only one fire ... no, there is the vulgar fire, the philosophical fire, the secret fire, the fire of reaction in the matter ...

Please consider the concept of there being only one fire that manifests in the different ways/names that you mentioned, as it passes through its various incarnations.

And often, you need several flasks, several manipulations and often several kind of matters to make "one matter".

Indeed, there are many such working processes, but they are not the ones I am focusing on in this thread.

I myself am very NOT technically inclined, so my desire for simplicity has evolved out of the neccessity to succeed in spite of my being relatively technically challenged

And thank you very much for your contribution(s), I was already starting to lose hope with this thread

[solomon levi]

I only have experience with gw and I haven't gone too far with that.
The only white and red I'm aware of are the ammoniacal/nitrous salts
(which can be white or reddish - the red I achieved but not following the
1 matter rule) and the thick, oily coagulated gw by evaporation.
Does one vessel imply that distillation is not allowed?

What are the red and white of gw in your experience Androgynus?