The Philosopher’s Stone... What is it? Where did it come from? How is it made? What does it do? These are all questions that have mystified both alchemists and non-alchemists for centuries. This month we’re going to delve a bit deeper into the mystery that is the Philosopher’s Stone.
The existence of a Philosopher’s Stone was first suggested by Zosimos (see lesson 2), who described it as being “a stone that is not a stone”. Since that time, it has been described in many ways and has been called many different things over the years – an elixir, a tincture, a crystal or even a powder. The expression “Philosopher’s Stone” comes from the Latin lapis philosophorum, literally meaning 'stone of philosophy'. Regardless of the name given to the Stone, its function is always fundamentally the same. It is a magical touchstone and catalyst that can immediately perfect any substance or situation. It is thought to cure illnesses, prolong life, provide wealth, and bring about spiritual revitalisation. It is believed to be the goal of the Great Work of the Universe.
The Great Work (Magnus Opum) refers to the best achievement of an individual. It’s his or her masterpiece, the goal of their life, their reason to live. To most alchemists, this achievement is measured by the successful completion of the transmutation of base metals into gold. In order words, the Great Work of the Universe is complete perfection, and an alchemist tries to achieve this perfection by speeding up the natural process of evolution towards this perfection.
The stone is often described as a common substance, something that can be found pretty much anywhere, but is both unrecognized and unappreciated. The stone was thought to bring wealth, longevity, health, spiritual renewal; in essence everything a person could ever ask for. It is a means to all ends, a universal means... and what more could a person want than this?
Since the stone was rumoured to be such a powerful artefact, it’s no wonder that people devoted their entire lives to finding it. But were they really looking for an actual stone? While some so-called alchemists were in effect looking for an actual rock, most were searching for a magical essence that would allow them to create perfection.
The great philosopher Aristotle, studied the concept of 'universal means and ends'. He noted that “some things we choose for the sake of something else, and some things we choose for their own sake”. He observed that not everything could be desired for the sake of something else, "for at that rate the process would go on to infinity, so that our desire would be empty and vain." A chain of one means leading to another means, leading to yet another means, and so on, would be both pointless and impossible. There is necessarily an end which we desire for its own sake: an end-in-itself. To quote Micheal Miller, a modern student of both philosophy and alchemy, “we don’t choose a dollar for its own sake, but for the sake of the coffee we intend to buy with it. And we don’t choose the coffee for its own sake, but for the sake of drinking it. The dollar is the means to the coffee as an end, the coffee is a means to the end of drinking, and so on.” Simply put, it means that there is a means to every end, and the stone is thought to be the universal means to THE end.
Concealed within the fantastic notion of the Philosopher’s Stone lies the basis of a universal means – the seed of hope. It is what makes us act, it is what makes us human. Hope is the basis of our very existence, and as such, -the- end would be LIFE itself. Without hope, what would be the point or any action? “A common substance, found everywhere, but unrecognized and unappreciated”, this is HOPE. Could the Philosopher's stone be a fundamental hope in humanity?
It's also interesting to note that the famous "Holy Grail" is often not described as being a cup or a chalice at all, but as a stone valuable beyond price. Could they be one and the same?
***Okies... I’m well aware that this last section was just whoaaaa... and pretty heavy on the philosophical aspects of alchemy. I’m terribly sorry if you got lost reading that, but I hope that you at least managed to get SOMETHING out of that***
I find it interesting that the Philosopher’s Stone is described in many different ways, in various forms of media. It is also a fairly common artefact in novels, movies, comics and movies.
In Paulo Coelho’s novel The Alchemist, the Philosopher’s Stone is described rather simply, and as modern western alchemy does. It’s considered to be the purest possible object, as well as possessing immense power. As such, it can transform lead into the purest metal gold. The stone is also seen as a symbol in the quest for Personal Legend (or a person’s reason to live).
Alchemy obviously plays a large role in the manga Fullmetal Alchemist. In its alternate-historical world, the Philosopher’s Stone is thought to allow a person to bypass the law of Equivalent Exchange. This law states that in order to obtain something, something of equal value must be lost (which is kind of an amalgam of the ‘law of mass conversation’ and the ‘law of energy conservation’ for any of you science people!). Edward and Alphonse Elric, the protagonists of the story, are on a quest to create the Stone in the hopes of restoring their bodies. They are searching for the complete formula for its creation, which eludes them. However, other individuals seek to create the stone in order to seek immortality and increase their power. Either way, in this world, the creation of the Stone requires a particular type of raw material... human lives.