Search: The Web or BeYoND-THe-iLLuSioN Only 
From: Leigh@alexandria.com (Leigh Daniels)
Subject: Re: a question about alchemy...
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 21:54:11 -0400

oispeggy@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown) writes:
> When doing chemistry my understanding is that people just follow a
> recipe and add X, Y, and Z then STIR, HEAT, SHAKE for 2 minutes and
> SERVE on a CHILLED plate - exactly according to directions.

> Now is alchemy the same way or must the mage also make a wish that
> chemicals will mix and/or behave in a way different than ordinary?

Alchemy seems to be governed by a macrocosmic uncertainty
principle. You can follow the recipe (assuming you have decoded it
correctly in the first place) and still not get the result. It depends
a lot on your inner state. Also, some substances can be affected by
the presence of people other than the alchemist in the laboratory.

It also seems that proportions are different for different people, so
you can only use someone else's recipe as a starting point.

Wishing (or visualisation and invocation) can sometimes be effective,
but again it is hit-or-miss. The slow pace seems to be an essential
part of how it develops you spiritually.

> One could ask how much is art and how much is science, but that
> leaves too much room for obfuscating under the bed as alchemists are
> prone to do, so please answer according to the intent of how I asked
> it.

I think it needs both art and science. The science provides the
technical foundations that let you work efficiently and safely. The
art provides the spiritual dimension, the macrocosmic uncertainty
effect of the alchemist on what is being created.

**Leigh

Disclaimer: The file contained in the box above or displayed in a separate window from a link in the box above is NOT owned nor implied to be owned by BeYoND THe iLLuSioN. Most files at BeYoND THe iLLuSioN are originally from public Bulletin Board Systems (BBS) which were popular in the days before the Internet or from gopher, web, and FTP sites from the early days of the Internet which no longer exist today. Essentially, all files were acquired from the public domain in one for or another.

However, there have been occasions when copyright protected material has appeared on BeYoND THe iLLuSIoN without permission of the copyright holder. In these instances, we have and will continue to remove the copyright protected file as soon as it is brought to our attention. This can now be done using our Report Copyright Material form. Fill out the form, and the webmaster will be notified of the situation.

There are also times when files found on BeYoND THe iLLuSioN have a real home somewhere else on the Internet. In these instances, we will gladly replace the file with a link to its true home whenever it is brought to our attention. If you know of the true home of any of these files, you can use our Report Original URL form to bring it yo our attention.