Authors: Dennis William Hauck, Dennis W. Hauck
ISBN-13: 9780140195712, ISBN-10: 0140195718
Format: Paperback
Publisher: Penguin Group (USA)
Date Published: March 1999
Edition: (Non-applicable)
The Emerald Tabletan ancient document that contains the essence of the alchemical teachingshas had an important influence on many Western spiritual and religious traditions. Ostensibly concerned with turning base metals into gold, alchemy was in fact dedicated to transforming the lead of self into the gold of spirit. This brilliant history of alchemy traces its sources back to ancient Egypt, and presents alchemy as a useful, practical system of self-transformation. Each of the seven steps of alchemical transformation is explained, with hands-on techniques and exercises, treating alchemy as a living discipline for achieving a spiritual awakening.
There is no phenomenon of Western culture more surprising and perennially fascinating than that of alchemy--the endless search of learned fanatics for the secret of making gold, or wisdom, or both. Hauck, a practicing alchemist, is the latest in a line of re-inventors of the old tradition, and his reflections on the inner meaning of calcination, coagulation, and other alchemical processes is both idiosyncratic and fascinating. Highly recommended for larger libraries, or where books on occult traditions are popular. Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information.