t the transmutations ofmetals was the grand object of alchemy, and who infer from thealchemistical writings that the end of the art was the spiritualregeneration of man. Mrs. Atwood, author of "A Suggestive Inquiry into theHermetic Mystery", and an American writer named Hitchcock are purhaps thechief protagonists of the belief the by spiritual processes akin to thoseof the chemical process of alchemy, the soul of man may be purified andexalted. But both commit the radical error of stating the the alchemicalwriters did not aver that the transmutation of base metal into gold wastheir grand end. None of the passages they quote, is inconsistent with thephysical object of alchemy, and in a work, "The Marrow of Alchemy", statedto be by Eugenius Philaletes, it is laid down that the real quest is forgold. It is constantly impressed upon the reader, however, in the perusalof esteemed alchemical works, that only those who are instructed by God canachieve the grand secret. Others, again, state that a tyro may possiblystumble upon it, but that unless he is guided by an adept he has smallchance of achieving the grand arcanum. It will be obvious to the tyro,however, that nothing can ever be achieved by trusting to the allegories ofthe adepts or the many charlatans who crowded the ranks of the art. Goldmay be made, or it may not, but the truth or fallacy of the alchemicalmethod lies with modern chemistry. The transcendental view of alchemy,however, is rapidly gaining ground, and probably originated in thecomprehensive nature of Hermetic theory and the consciousness in thealchemical mind that what might with success be applied to nature couldalso be applied to man with similar results. Says Mr. Waite, "The gold ofthe philosopher is not a metal, on the other hand, man is a being whopossesses within himself the seeds of a perfection which he has neverrealized, and that he therefore corresponds to those metals which theHermetic theory supposes to...
