That's What It Is!
(What's Going On In The Minds Of People)
In the last issue of PARACHEMY there was disclosed the psychic condition of the average citizen of West Germany, according to reports from psychiatrists and psychologists. Dr. Gunter Ammon, head of the Psychoanalysis Academy (DAP), on opening the Dusseldorf Psychoanalysis Teaching and Research Institute stated that one West German in ten is already mentally "dead" and that approximately six million persons require psychiatric treatment, though there are only one thousand fully trained therapists in the whole of the Federal Republic. At least sixty thousand psychotherapists are required to guarantee adequate psychiatric care throughout the Federal Republic. Central and Federal state governments were sharply criticized for not having recognized the seriousness of the situation. The Academy claims that one patient in two consulting a doctor at present is already suffering from psychosomatic complaints involving a physical reaction to mental processes. The aim is to remedy what is described as a disastrous state of affairs by encouraging further development of and full information about psychoanalytical research in both theory and practice.
This psychic condition is alarming when one considers the magnitude of the number of people involved. For, such a condition does not exist only in West Germany but is found nearly all over the world, with perhaps the exception of those fortunate countries where haste and pressure have not, as yet, made such inroads. And it is a terrifying condition when one considers that an increase is very likely because of the ever-increasing pressure brought upon individuals as a result of the accelerated tempo of life.
Within the announcement, a statement was made that people who
take tranquilizers, drugs, go to church, practice yoga, join in metaphysical
societies, or esoterical and philosophical groups, etc. are ending up in only
too many cases as nervous wrecks, dissatisfied or disillusioned. Some, when
reading such a statement as this, may have taken offense at the inclusion of
the church, the practice of yoga, and the metaphysical societies, or esoterical
and philosophical groups being in it. Yet, if the situation is considered
without partiality, it is evident that many who do go to church, who do
practice yoga, and who do join metaphysical societies, or esoterical and
philosophical groups have not found peace of mind. Rather, a great number
of these people find instead a disillusionment and do become nervous wrecks.
There are some, perhaps, who would declare that, through one of such of
these systems, peace of mind has been found, giving happiness. But there
is a question that needs to he carefully considered by all: Why, if peace
of mind is found, is there still a searching for it?
The answer that the PRS gives to the prevailing and alarming psychic condition and to all who are seeking peace of mind is that the majority
of the people are too much concerned with external conditions and not enough, by far, with their own inner life. This will, in many cases, be refuted immediately by such statements as the church does, the practice of Yoga does, and the metaphysical societies, or esoterical and philosophical groups do stress this fact, through these systems people are taught to accomplish just such an inner awareness. Yes, such a teaching does take place through these systems, though rarely is accomplishment known and demonstrated. It is important that we direct our attention to the word "system." For, it is here where the trouble begins.
Many claim to have the sole and only answer and when such needs verification as to its merit, only too often a so-called proof is attempted by citing former authorities and emphasizing the transmission of such authority. Each has his or her own system and unfortunately these systems do not always coincide. When they do not, differences are aired and before long accusations are made. Instead of such systems easing the strain and calming the troubled waters, the opposite takes place and the mental strain increases. Whereas, a tranquility is needed to help soothe the rushing impulses of the every day strife for more and better material gains.
The basic answer to this would seem to be found in an unconventional approachto use the best available information from any and all sources and to produce a universal outline (not system) that is applicable to all concerned, regardless of religion, creed, philosophy, etc., an outline that is universal in its application as is, by analogy, arithmetic, geography, and history.
What could such an outline contain? First of all, cyclic events that have occurred and can be verified will have to be tabulated and evaluated. Events that have occurred in the past can not be removed from history. for such are facts. When such global cyclic events have been established, a reduction to smaller cyclic events will have to be found and verified. Such verification is the heart of any and all further projection. Just as in mathematics a factor can be determined before it takes place so will future events he calculated, based upon prevailing evidence. To accomplish this, many systems within a valid outline may then he used. We know this can be accomplished with the help of many such systems, just as in arithmetic many systems are employed, ranging from the simple systems of addition and subtraction, multiplication and division to the more advanced systems of algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus, etc. To go about systematically means to follow according to chosen laws that which is to be employed. Each system serves a specific function and may, in accordance with need, serve as a means but is not in itself the one and only way by which a positive result may be obtained within a given outline. By use of such a valid outline, man may come to see life as it is-the false as false, the true as truerather than, according to his conditioned thinking, merely accept what it is he but believes or even desires to be false and to be true. If an undivided attention were to be given to the understanding of life as it is
then "to search" may not be necessary . . . To seek what is desired is an endless search for then man's mind is continuously projecting that which is to be sought and, in the conflict and struggle to reach it, he does not see that which is before him, around him, and with him.
According to the law of polarity, any system can be made to work, as has been demonstrated at the PRS curriculum. However, care should be taken that the difference between a supposition and a fact be realized. It should not be supposed that when the two become merged identical results will be produced. Nor should it be supposed-that a system based on supposition will produce results identical to a system based on fact. It is here where the greatest danger is to be found, as is only too evident in religions which are exclusively based upon belief and not knowledge, as are most philosophical dissertations. It is extremely difficult to find even one religious creed that does not begin with I (or we) believe . . . To the best of the availing knowledge concerning religious or philosophic creeds, none is known that begins with I (or we) know . . . Many illusions are retained within such religious or other concepts that will not stand their ground when put to the test. As an example, one may have a belief and upon such a belief build a system which may be stretched to the ridiculous.
Systems have been built upon such simple assertions as "two can live as cheaply as one" or "four hands can accomplish more than two hands". Theoretically, the soundness of such postulations can not be proven. Neither can theoretical religious theorems be proven. As an example, let us take the following simple assertion of "figures don't lie". This is one of such an accepted and popular quoted saying, used only too often by insurance companies, statisticians, and others. Are figures always infallible? They are not. Usually, people do not care to investigate for themselves and come up with proof to satisfy themselves. They expect others to do it for them, because in most cases they are not even able to arrive at their own conclusion for lack of knowledge. On the other hand, there are others who have knowledge but do not act upon it. There is no virtue in knowledge without action. Such an assertion as "figures don't lie" can theoretically be proven to be unsound and it can be shown that the basis upon which its system rests does not always produce identical results. If one man were to build a boat in one year, twelve men could build it in one month. Up to here this seems to be quite acceptable. But . . . if we continue this system and find out if it is based upon fact, we will see that it is not workable, though one may believe it as far as one is willing to believe it. If twelve men could build this boat in one month, then 360 men could build it in one day and 8,640 men could accomplish the same in one hour. In one minute, 518,400 men would be able to build this boat and, lo and behold, 31,104,000 men could build this whole thing in one second! If one were to go further, the entire 'boat could be built by 1,866,240,000 men in the twinkling of an eye. And all of this is possible ... because "figures don't lie!"
If man would only find contentment in the fact that he lives in a natural world and would content himself with natural things, he would not become so confused and mentally disturbed by stressing the supernatural as common occurrences. There are many things that man does not understand for the simple reason that he does not make sufficient efforts to stay with his feet on the ground no matter how high his head is dwelling in the clouds. Only after man has found himself as a dweller on this planet, as. he makes an effort to know life as it is, will he find out more-but not before. Man's work is here on this earth and the most important of all known facts is to find out first of all why he is who he is. This is possible with presently known and available facts, which are based upon an outline which employs various systems whereby the end results are identical. This is important because the facts emerging coincide irregardless of the system or systems used. Therefore, many systems can be employed. It is not the system used that is of prime importance but the outline upon which a system is based. Such an outline is of a natural occurrence and can be substantiated by the available facts, and these we have to have first before any further assumptions, beliefs, or such have any sound basis to rest upon. Any belief is valid when projected from available laws at hand and the knowledge of how to use them.
As long as man prefers to speculate rather than use what is, available to him at a given time and employ gainfully such, much time and effort is spent to hardly any avail, with resulting confusion, worry, and increased uncertainty producing mental illness because of the stress building up out of proportion to the capabilities of man to cope with it.
Without any claim to a special system, the PRS is in a position to assist those who ask to be assisted and can inform them as to the fundamental laws, which enable man to find himself and to prove the validity by practical demonstrative evidence. The PRS does not claim to be the only one who can present such an outline but certainly has established sufficient results with individuals who have put such an outline to the test and thereby enriched their lives both on the physical and mental planes of awareness. Such evidence is undisputably to be had by those who have attended PRS resident studies on subjective and demonstrable laboratory results.
All men who are instructed in fundamental truths speak the same language, for they are inhabitants of the same country.
- Saint Germain
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By S. Mahdihassan
In order to specify an alchemical preparation, it has to be distinguished from others which are not. This becomes easy enough when we go into the theories supporting each of the two categories of medicaments. Simples, or individual drugs, be it a herb, Soma, a mineral, like red-ochre, or a metal, like gold, were assumed to contain a quantum of soul as their active principle. When such a drug was taken, the strength of the medicine passed into the system of the consumer, much as vitamins do to enrich our body. Soma, really Ephedra, was assumed to be so rich in soul content that taking it regularly kept deferring death, making man practically immortal.
The idea of each and every substance being endowed with soul was initiated by Animism. When Dualism came later on, though the presence of soul in a herb and a metal was confirmed, everything now became dualnatured with soul as a whole-a mixture of a male-soul and a female-soul, their ratio differing from case to case. The male-soul was virtually growthsoul responsible for life-span. The female-soul was corporeal-soul which imparted form and specificity.
Ephedra was rich in male-soul, which made it a perennial plant; but its femalesGul was poor, revealing it as a delicate herb. On the contrary, a metal, like copper, was solid and heavy, due to a powerful female-soul; but it was liable to rust and it was unable to repair itself, much less to grow at all, for its male-soul was weak. But if a metal and a herb be calcined together, at a critical temperature, differential heating would drive away their weaker souls, leaving only the stronger ones behind. The resistant souls would then be the male-soul of the herb and the female-soul of the metal.
At the same time, maintaining proper heat becomes a decisive factor. The powerful pair of souls would then fuse as equals into unity, to constitute a hermaphrodite soul. Thus, the male and female souls, being together, the system becomes self-productive.
When such a herbo-metallic complex, with a hermaphrodite soul, is taken as a drug, the accepting system never lacks the presence of soul and is therefore bound to become everlasting; thus, man can become immortal. When the same substance is seeded into mercury, the latter becomes everlasting as metal which is gold. But the resultant gold is also the carrier of an ever-growing soul so that the same transferred into a potful of mercury, in turn, changes the latter into gold.
Thus, alchemical gold. like the original herbo-mineral substance, is a hermaphrodite by constitution and a ferment by function. The alchemist by word and by illustration never failed to convey such to be his belief. Thus, whereas ordinary gold used as a Simple, recommended by Animism, would prolong life in the long run, alchemical gold could do that all at once, as a single dose drug of immortality. The active principle in the former case was additive, in the latter multiplicative, where even a homeopathic dose should suffice once for all. Since alchemical gold was ferment-gold and, as such, live-gold, the alchemist was overcautious in melting it before he parted with it definitely as dead-gold. This of course was good as bullion-gold but no longer an ideal drug for immortality.
We have learnt of the genesis of alchemical gold. Virtually it was the growthsoul of a plant that transplanted itself into a base metal, be it copper or mercury. In other words, it is a case of reincarnation, when the vehicle itself is changed say from copper into gold, Then it seems far easier to take dead-gold, as such, and revive it as live-gold, which alchemical gold really is. And the reviving agency would again be the growth-soul of some herb. This would be a case of resurrection, for the vehicle remains unchanged in form, only dead-gold is being enlivened to become live-gold. That the special technique of alchemy consisted in bringing about a herbo-metallic complex, with a herbal soul transferred to a metallic body, can be supported by documentary evidence. In this connection His Highness the MAHARADJA OF GONDAL, writes that the ancient Hindus "have described the method of transferring the properties of vegetable cures to certain metals which intensify their efficacy and retain it a long time." The Maharadja was the only Indian Prince who had been academically qualified as a graduate in medicine from a British University, and as such was selfconscious of his scientific training. He therefore tried to give his statement a rationalistic form. He has thereby attempted the impossible, for no one can conceive how vegetable cures can migrate into metals. On the contrary, in the light of Animism-cum-Dualism it is easy to see how the growth-soul of a plant can occupy a metallic body. Moreover, controlled heating means repeated heating to produce the best end product. In the case of Mica preparation, I know it has to be calcined sometimes as often as 1000 times. On account of it, the Burmese name for alchemy is Aggya, with the root Ag meaning Fire,
while Aggya itself signifies " a pursuit implying work with fire." In confirmation we have enough pictures of medieval European alchemists each seated before a furnace and his laboratory full of crucibles and tongs. By now it must be clear that the first preparation the alchemist succeeded in making was a herbo-metallic complex and that every alchemical preparation must contain an ever-increasing soul as the active principle.
The next preparation was alchemical gold. Now this can be made by mixing a herbo-metallic complex with a metal or mercury, but it can also be made by taking ordinary gold and treating it with a plant juice so that the revived gold becomes ferment-gold. It is the latter preparation that is being discussed here. Its procedure can be further endorsed by mysticism.
PHILO maintains that impacts of a soul on matter makes it soul-like. Applying it to our case, the growth-soul of a plant incorporated in gold would make it grow as a ferment. Only in this light, can we appreciate how calcining a metal, or powdering it, to destroy its physical or material nature, and at the same time infusing growth-soul con-ling from a herb, ultimately changes the inert material as bullion-gold into an active soul-like gold. We are now fully prepared to face alchemical preparations of gold coming dut of copper. That alchemy consisted in imitating creation was clearly recognized by DANTE during whose times alchemy was a favorite hobby. Even his recognition seems to have been ignored by modern authorities on the history of alchemy. Now the reciprocal of creation is resurrection. Here the body fully exists as such, needing only soul to enliven it. In imitating creation, a base metal was first given the form of gold and this became livegold or ferment-gold. But we can start with the fossil-gold already existing and see if it can be enlivened by a soul, which comes from a vegetable and transmigrates into the body of a "metal," to give rise to a vegetable-metal complex, or better spoken of as a herbo-metallic one. We have seen that heating, or calcining, is an important condition. Overheating would drive away the herbal soul far too soon and the metal would not be resusitated. To revive dead-gold into live-gold would be imitating resurrection rather than creation. The final product would again be endowed with an ever increasing soul, and thus identical with the herbo-metallic complex considered before. Dead-gold, however, can only be revived if a herb can donate its soul. For this we can take a powerful soul of a special herb,
or subject dead-gold to the integrated impacts of weaker souls coming from less powerful donors. This would be more practical though time-consuming. The above theory in essence is supported by mysticism when PHIL0 maintains that the impacts of soul on matter can make it soul-like. A herbal soul produces impacts on dead-gold and finally revives it. It is tested on fire where it dies. It is revived again with fresh juice rich in soul. This killing and reviving is repeated until the material vehicle becomes soul-like. We started with metallic gold and herbal extract, we ended by realizing that the metal became soul-like and a female-soul, which then accepted the growth-inducing soul, or the male-soul of the herb. The two become equal and fuse into unity. We are now fully informed to appreciate an important technique of practical alchemy.
For some years, I had the honor of being the Private Secretary of Maharaja SIR KISHEN PERSHAD, G.C.L.E., a former Prime Minister of Hyderabad State, India. Being an old gentleman at the time, he encouraged an expectation of making a gold preparation against general debility. For this purpose, one Tola (11. 6 Grams) of gold leaves were taken and triturated with herbal extracts in a mortar and pestle of hard black granite. The yellow powder gradually became greyish and finally brick-red. When the color did not improve further, the preparation was declared as perfect. One can see that the reddish-gold powder was really colloidal gold. If I remember right, it took some three months to prepare, working about five hours a day.
That it is a time-consuming and labor-involving process is obvious but the technique is as simpleas one can wish.
Another method is obviously the older-that of calcining gold with herbal juices. Here gold filings are preferred and placed as a core within a ball of freshly pounded herbs. The "vegetable ball" is wrapped up in a cloth and further covered with a thick layer of fine clay. This ball is allowed to dry and then calcined at a definite heat. Cow dung cakes are used as fuel, never charcoal, since the former gives relatively low heat. I had the temperature indirectly measured and estimated it as being about 400oC, although the external heat was much higher. Heating is continued' for about four hours, adding fresh dung-cakes as required. Finally, it is left overnight. The next day the gold filings are roughly ground in a hard mortar and pestle and again placed in a fresh ball of pounded herbs, and then the calcining is repeated as before. This process is carried on some forty times. Here grinding is reduced to the minimum but firing is increased correspondingly.
Sir R. N. CHOPRA2 mentions three synonyms for the gold preparation: Swarna 11hasma (a Sanskrit term), Gold Kushta (the latter being a Persian word), and Reduced Gold. He gives the chemical analysis of one such preparation with 96.7% gold. But as expected, there are other minerals coming from the ashes of plants used in calcining. I well remember reading that Prof. STOCKLASA, the famous Agricultural Chemist of Prague, found gold in the ash of some plants. Ele ultimately traced it to their habitat in Bohemia where the soil contained traces of gold. What is worthwhile knowing is the form in which gold was present. Any ionizable salt of gold would have killed the herb long before it could grow to have been collected. Presumably, it must have existed there as colloidal gold, resulting from Vitamin C of the plant acting on any absorbed gold salt. Likewise, any alchemical preparation of gold is valuable, not only on account of its gold content but also on account of its colloidal nature. I miss such emphasis in the literature on gold preparations sold even today in India and Pakistan. I have to report on three of them here.
The first preparation was sold by the SULAIMANI DAWAKHANA, Jhangia, Multan District, West Pakistan. It was a brick-red powder. Fig. 1 shows it magnified 7.500 times under an electron microscope. The second was made by Dr. PURSHOTHAN DEV MULTANI, Head of the Ayurvedic Section of the Unani Hospital, Hyderabad, India, and was kindly presented to me when I visited him. This again was identical in color with sample No. 1. Fig. 2 gives its picture as magnified also 7.500 times. The third preparation was undertaken by the late KAKIM NOOR MOHAMMAD KNAN at Karachi. He came from Ajmir and had almost ruined himself as an enthusiastic alchemist. He was therefore fully qualified to make Such a preparation. He undertook this work at my request so that I could learn the method of its preparation. It looked brick-red as well but the particles were larger when magnified.
Knowing that the real quality of a gold preparation depends upon
the fineness of its particles, I was on the lookout for a process which could
atomize metallic gold by proper physical means. This happened to be
mentioned by E. A. SMITH3 in his interesting article "Fine Grinding of
Pharmaceuticals." He writes that it is generally believed that "some
materials can change their properties as they become finer. Graphite, for
example, which the text book describes as chemically inert, becomes reaclive A
when reduced to very fine sizes; and I well remembered by unloading
a mill, in which I was attempting to grind this mineral as fine as possible,
to discover that when it was brought into air it tended to burn spontaneously
at fineness beyond about 400 M2/g. One does not associate spontaneous
activity of this kind with pure carbon in crystalline form." It may be added
that there exists on the market an alchemical preparation of diamond, which
is also carbon, reduced to a powder as smooth to the touch as though it was
butter. It is, however, made to order, which is undertaken by an Ayurvedic
drug house at Gondal, India, at a fabulously high price.
Of the Karachi gold preparation I had enough to send to Mr. SMITH
for further atomization. This was kindly returned as a much finer powder,
shown in Fig. 3B, to be compared with the original in Fig. 3A. I felt that
the magnification of 7.500 times needed further enlargement. Some of the
Karachi powder was sent to Prof. Dr. G. W. RATHENAU, Director of
Philips Research Laboratories, Eindhoven, Holland, who kindly had it
magnified 37.500 times. This is shown in Fig. 4. 1 take this opportunity
of thanking him again. The pictures reproduced here as Figs. 1 to 3 were
prepared by Dr. S. N. RUDHLESDEN, Principal Scientific Officer of the
British Ceramic Research Association, Stoke-on-Trent, and to him, as to
the Director, Dr. N. F. ASTBURY, my thanks are due. Last but not least,
my thanks to Mr. E. A. SMITH in London.
Humble as the contents of this article are, it has taken me some years
to collect representative samples and to contact foreign specialists since
nowhere in Pakistan could I find an electron microscope, without which
more of the pictures could have been offered. There is another method of
measuring particle size, most recently described by Dr. PEARSON4. He
uses a special electronic device, "Coulter Counter," of Coulter Electronics
Ltd., Dunstable, England, which is worthwhile in trying to establish the
particle size of such preparations as have been shown here by an electron
microscope. +
(Apologies for the quality, but the originals were not much better-RD)
REFERENCES
1. RHAGVAT SINWEE, A Short History of Aryan Medical Science, Gondal, 1937, p. 137.
2. CHOPRA, R. N. Indigeneous Drugs of India, 1958, Calcutta.
3. SMITH, E A. Fine Grinding of Pharmaceuticals, Manfg. Chemist., May 1966, p. 42.
4. PEARSON, J. T. and W. N. PITKETHLY, The Pharmacist in Industry, Chemistry in Britain, Aug. 1969, p. 360.
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Astrology For The Neophyte
