Gold & Alchemy, Potable Gold

Unfortunately, the alchemists whose biography is known (and therefore not the legendary ones) died at the average age of their time and were not healthier than average. The alchemists’ legendary longevity is yet to be proven, whoever says otherwise is lying. Until the Middle Ages, the exact date of birth and death were only deduced from other facts. Al-Jabair and Artephius’ lives were shrouded in mystery. Just as little is known about Flamel’s bio. Surely, Trevisanus passed his eighties – when some Venetian doges of the same era died even at a later age. However, Paracelsus was just over forty. Of the legendary figures of the Baroque period, such as Philaletes, all news is uncertain (obviously, being legendary). The others, the identified ones, almost had uncomfortable lives and barely passed their sixty. Canseliet was long-lived, but in his seventies, he suffered a terrible stroke that prevented him from working further. Fulcanelli – and who, if not J.J. Champagne? – died well before his sixties, destroyed by liver cirrhosis. Pierre Dujols passed away at the same age, consumed by arthritis.

True. As already mentioned in Concordances and Differences between Alchemy and Ancient Ordinary Chemistry, the mindset between the two categories was not very different. Let’s also add the sad truth that alchemists were often victims of charlatans and scammers. So, of course, many alchemists began their alchemical adventure in search of a medical medicine to cure themselves or friends. To answer the question: the medicine par excellence and the “Elixir” of the alchemists is the aura that surrounds all things, as Alchemy acts on the aura. See also Alchemy & Light, Introduction and Alchemy & Light, Known Authors.

True. Preparations of dispersed gold were the medicine of medicines in the Baroque era. They were alleged to bring longevity and even to resurrect the dead.

I don’t want to be obvious, but it is because they have come to the idea that potable gold is “the immature gold of the alchemists”. Below, I will explain why they are right and wrong at the same time.

This only happens if it is a humid path and the non-lethal path of tartar or tartarized wine is followed, ingredients that, from the beginning, are not harmful to an animal organism. A single volatilization, of the seven at least necessary to reach the alchemical Mercurius, will not ionize the matter enough to damage the stomach, but it will be enough to make the raw matter “subtle”.

The alchemists call the result of the end of the second work and the beginning of the third “immature gold”, that is, a Mercurius (because it is Mercurius) that cannot already be defined as “alchemical gold”. We know, in fact, that alchemical gold is called so because it can no longer be “nourished” with further doses of Mercurius. See Second-Main Work.

Metallic gold is a material that tends not to disperse easily but to remain in agglomerates, even if small. The dispersion is either biological, that is, naturally operated by organisms, or chemical, that is, operated artificially. At this point, while a iatrochemist must disperse the gold safely, an alchemist must disperse it quickly and “badly”, since the “badness” of alchemical processes produces a very effective Alchemy (see First-Preparatory Works, Introduction and First-Preparatory Works, Eagle Wings or Volatilization.

True. Alchemical gold is dispersed in the Alkahest/Mercurius, then becomes Mercurius in turn and will never return to its previous metallic form, because it has become Prima Materia. Medicinal potable gold is instead only very finely dispersed gold, but still metallic gold.

We have already seen in Concordances and Differences between Alchemy and Ancient Ordinary Chemistry how ancient chemistry often had many procedures in common with alchemical preparatory works. We can therefore say that medicinal potable gold is in many cases an alchemical gold “in its first steps”. See also First-Preparatory Works, Eagle Wings or Volatilization.

In the sense that it can be safely ingested, yes, we can also call Lullius’ gold solution “potable gold”.

We have already seen in Gold & Alchemy, or Adorn with a Star Ray that alchemical potable gold is synonymous with Mercurius/Alkahest and that it often does not contain metallic gold, but is so called because of its colour and because it is obtained in the humid path. We cannot drink it because, being an alchemical solvent, it is dangerous for the stomach. The reason is simple: the numerous volatilizations to which it has been subjected have made it so ionized that it can attack the metals with which it comes into contact.

Medicinal potable gold can be made alchemical only with successive and repeated volatilizations, thus obtaining Mercurius/Alhahest/Universal Solvent. It goes without saying that Mercurius is a highly ionized substance and dangerous for the stomach. But Alchemy can be done starting from this basis.

True. Spagyric preparations of herbs, essential oils, cognac and calcined gold were easily available over the counter. Then, for some unknown reason, European governments gradually banned them. I remember that they were very effective. But I also remember that no laboratory dared to call it alchemical gold. Because, in fact, it wasn’t. Even if Alchemy, at least in some initial steps, had something to do with it.

It is not the gold raw material that makes true potable gold so expensive, but the lengthy processing and the long maturation time.

Because it does not have to be dissolved in harmful solvents, but only “digested” as it would happen in a biological organism.

We can say that the dispersion of potable gold is a substitute for organic digestion. Because it does not have to be dissolved in harmful solvents, but only “digested” as it would happen in a biological organism.

The true color of potable gold must be only black. The reason is simple: finely, as well as safely, dispersed metallic gold takes on the color black. The volatilization to which it will be subjected is not sufficient to make it assume a lighter color.

No way, the potable gold final color must be black.

The gold ink in apple cider vinegar was ink not potable gold. It may not have been dangerous, but it was not digestible if ingested.

The medicinal “digestion” of gold is much longer than that required to obtain alchemical gold or Mercurius/Alkahest: Alchemical gold or Mercurius becomes such after at least seven volatilizations, which in themselves are not that long to carry out.

In medicinal potable gold there is only one final volatilization, after the long digestion process. And a long digestion even after the voltilization.

A light whitish color after volatilization is normal. But then the product must be subjected to a long further natural dissolution or “digestion” in a vial buried underground or in a dark cellar.

The Venetians did not put gold leaf on food or drink for medicinal reasons, but only to enhance the wonderfully acidic flavor of gold, since gold is the least harmful metal to the biological organism. After the sack of Byzantium in 1204, Venice stole so much of that gold that it became part of their food and beverage tradition, as well as pharmacopoeia and Alchemy.

Of course the Venetian suspended gold did not turn black, because it was only “floating”.

True. It was known as Byzantine Black Broth: a pitchy mixture of small birds immersed, matured and cooked in aromatic substances.

Very much so. Obviously the Byzantine Black Broth could not be subjected to a longer maturation than that of aged meat, with the risk of cadaveric rot, but it was certainly a small step towards “medicine”. Despite this, Byzantine black broth caused several deaths from apparent indigestion (perhaps from rotten meat?). In some medical reports it was even written “death from black broth”.

The Venetians and the Italians in general had their own peculiar pharmacopoeia, very “dirty”, different from the French pharmacopoeia which sought more chemical synthesis. The Italians made nature work for them, the French organized themselves to replace it. A difference that is still evident in the cuisine today.

From Leonardo Fioravanti, medical doctor from Bologna practicing in Venice, Capricci Medicinali, Venezia 1561: Take an ounce of gold leaf. Kill a large young chicken, skin it, remove the entrails. Spread the gold leaf on her still warm meat. Then put the chicken for 30 hours in a warm but not boiling place, which retains its natural heat from when she was alive. After 30 hours wash the chicken with apple juice. Then add as much brandy as apple juice and then a drachm of very white armoniac salt (a volatile salt extracted from urine) for every pound of that liquid. Then put everything in a tightly closed glass bottle and bury for three months in horse manure. Every month dig up the bottle and remove the clear liquid on the surface. Finally distill the dregs with brandy in an ash bath and over a very high heat. Then put the distillate together with the clear liquid and distill everything in a bain-marie. Then put all the distillate in a closed bottle under manure for 25 days. At the end you will have your potable gold.

This true Elixir is… in fact an Elixir or alchemical quintessence deriving from at least seven volatilizations: it is a Mercurius, than “adorned” with calcined or foil gold to improve its alchemical properties. The practice of then making it “digest” in a vial in a dark cellar for a long time, perhaps alleviates the ionization typical of the Alkahest. However, I would never drink it, not so much for the blood, but for the ‘electrical’ ionization of the preparation.

We have already read this sentence in Solar Alchemy and we have seen how Elixir is a symbolic word for Quintessence or Ether and the celestial king is the Sun. The symbol of drinking is similar to the symbol of swallowing, but here it suggests the idea of a water that “flows” and can be drunk. The idea that it is the Sun that directs this “flow” leads us directly to the “ sun on earth”, that is, gold – be it metallic or alchemical.

Lullius’ gold solution in tartar recipe: Take coarse white tartar and distill it over a wind cooker. Apply a slow fire until all the moisture has come out. When a black liquor begins to appear, change the container and increase the fire until all the oil comes out. Remove from the fire and put in a glass bottle with four fingers of water on top. A pitchy emulsion will form. Then put it in a still with a helmet until all the moisture has gone, but without drying too much. Then remove and soak with brandy and dry again, and soak with brandy again. Finally put in a bottle with a long neck and sublimate, so it will be separated from the dregs. Take the sublimation, divide into three parts and add one part of calcined gold. Grind well together. Put in a glass bottle well closed in a damp and dark cellar. This will become an oil. If you put an ounce of gold on it it will dissolve it and can multiply infinitely.

Of course, Lullius’ recipe for the solution of gold in tartar is far from being an Elixir per se. An alchemist would say that it is only a base in progress after much additional work to arrive at the true Elixir. For me it is enough that the laypersons do not boast of having the alchemical Elixir. In fact it was the medical doctors of the Renaissance who defined it as such.

Take coarse white tartar and distill it over a wind cooker. Apply a slow fire until all the moisture has come out. When a black liquor begins to appear, change the container and increase the fire until all the oil comes out. Remove from the fire and put in a glass bottle with four fingers of water on top. A pitchy emulsion will form. Then put it in a still with a helmet until all the moisture has gone, but without drying too much. Then remove and soak with brandy and dry again, and soak with brandy again. Finally put in a bottle with a long neck and sublimate, so it will be separated from the dregs. Take the sublimation, divide into three parts and add one part of calcined gold. Grind well together. Put in a glass bottle well closed in a damp and dark cellar. This will become an oil. If you put an ounce of gold on it it will dissolve it and can multiply infinitely.

It is an Elixir, that is, a very spiritual alchemical preparation. This is a preparation to easily reach the Alkahest, it is not potable gold.

Medicine in the alchemical, not pharmaceutical, sense.

In fact, the processes with aromatic substances arrived from the southern part of the Mediterranean. Still, a biological component was always present.

Because Urbigerus combines two equally deceptive aspects: he seems to speak clearly, but he also uses symbolic terms. In reality, Urbigerus speaks symbolically to hide the true ingredients of his method… which are no more and no less than the ingredients used by the majority of other alchemists who choose the humid path. Bear in mind, that Urbigerus is not very different from Weidenfeld. If the latter had his books made disappear because he clearly named the ingredients, Urbigerus had to prudently at least “veil” the ingredients.

The didactic alchemical path par excellence is that of tartarized wine, whoever tries it will not be disappointed. Plus… calcined gold, of course (then I want to see laypersons handle the glass pelican… )

True. The systems for making medicinal potable gold are varied but all have the same principle in common: calcine or reduce the gold into foils, disperse it in a medium that acts as both a glue and a material substrate, finally distill in alcohol, or another “lifting” medium, no more than once. That’s all.

In Construction…

The iatrochemical potable golds are drinkable as they are medecines. They can be a solution of gold sesquichloride; gold in very fine powder in suspension (Helvetius’ potable gold); solution of gold in alkaline polysulphides (Stahl’s potable gold); extreme crushing for at least 14 days of gold leaf and subsequent digestion in tartarized wine (Langelot-Morhof method). So, yes, gold dissolutions can be a starting point of iatrochemical potable gold.

As already said in Second-Main Work, the potable gold of alchemists cannot be drunk because it was the alchemical matter that came out of the first union. Ultimately, it is such a powerful Mercurius/Dissolvent that it was able to dissolve metal salts, so imagine what it do to our stomachs. Furthermore, alchemical potable gold does not necessarily contain gold, but is only called so because of its color. Potable, because it is typical of the Humid path. If the alchemical matter was “adorned” with calcined gold powder, its dissolution occurs in the Mercurius/Dissolvent.

Let’s say right away that Morhof was a physician and not an alchemist, that said, the mill he invented was a large and heavy apparatus that was able to finely grind matters into impalpable powders.

It is very likely that Oswald Croll’s recipe for potable gold was in fact only symbolic, given the dangerous ingredients: iron dissolved in nitric acid in which an ounce of ammonia salts was then to be further dissolved, the result was to be a special Aqua Regia that could dissolve “sublimed calx of Sun” (presumably, calcined gold. Given Croll’s closeness to Paracelsian circles and theories of stellar influences, it is likely that Croll intended to veil procedures involving catoptric instruments (see Alchemy & Light, Known Authors).

Yesss, the potable gold that can be drunk is just ancient iatrochemistry. There is nothing to be done to make the gullible understand that alchemical gold, i.e. Mercurius/Alkahest/seminal gold/universal dissolvent of metals, cannot be ingested. They will always believe the charlatan on duty.

For the alchemists, “medicinal” means to become a “ray”, and consequently to become a “seed”. The medicinal/seedable gold was ready to transmute any metal into gold. See Transmutation of Metals.