The Elixir of Immortality: A Modern-Day Alchemist's Discovery of the Philosopher's Stone (Harvard English Studies)

Things that make this book great: (1) the author, Robert Cox, discloses the meaning of the symbols used in European and other alchemical writings. (2) he discloses how to make the philosopher's stone, the supreme alchemical substance. (3) he summarizes highlights of European, Egyptian, Vedic, and Chinese alchemical practices and teachings. The author says that in order to make the philosopher's stone, you would need a well-equipped lab and good lab skills, because the process requires working with highly poisonous substances (mercury and antimony). Personally I would never attempt it. And even if I had the skills, I doubt I would ingest the substance, although when taken by someone whose system has been properly purified and prepared, it is said to restore youthfulness, vitality, give siddhis, etc. The author notes that some people have died either trying to make the philosopher's stone or from consuming too much.I like anecdotes that the author provides. For example, there are lesser alchemical substances such as "philosophical gold" which is one of the precursor substances to the philosopher's stone. (By the way, philosophical gold is described by Mr. Cox as monoatomic or "white powder" gold, i.e., gold in a state in which atoms have been disaggregated so that the gold does not display metallic properties.) Mr. Cox relates the story of someone who took some philosophical gold when freshly made, and had what could be called classical spiritual experiences of visiting the realms of higher beings. Others took it some weeks after it had been produced, and experienced nothing. The moral of that particular story: the energy of that particular substance fades over time.The author describes why he had revealed the long-held secret of how to make the philosopher's stone: his perception or belief is that it is the will of God that the process be released because it is to be the property of the commmon man in the coming age. I take this as a strong indication that a golden age is fast approaching (though there may be rough times during the transition).

This review may be a little disjointed, because there are a lot of points worthy of considered discussion here, and this is not a good venue for them. If you are experienced at both alchemy and critical thinking, it is certainly worthwhile.Some of the suggestions that Mr. Cox makes in this book are currently being discussed by an international group of alchemists. I have been through my first pass, and think it is an excellent work for someone with experience and an open mind about the subject. I have seen the French program (It's on YouTube, and if you are interested in alchemy, it won't be hard to find) and was really intrigued, but I also know people who consider what the brother in the art did there as "sloppy" etc. I think that's more of a pout than anything else: it's not every day one sees an open performance of a classical method.I would suggest other books for those who have only a passing interest or are just beginning, but I find none of the criticisms I have heard or read to be valid. I would recommend this book to alchemy students with working lab experience, because in (laboratory - there are people who believe in imaginary alchemy) alchemy, everything other than direct work with the procedures and substances is fruitless speculation, and there's no value in that, at all.

Fascinating review of both legend and facts, this is a very thought-provoking work. If you read this with an open mind, and make the assumption that the stated facts have not been distorted, then the implications to a better understanding of history and of the potential for significant scientific advances are amazing. Throughout history various religious and political powers have attempted to distort or hide facts from the general public. It is entirely reasonable to expect that some things that have been suppressed should finally come to light. What was very interesting to me was how so many biblical and historical events have a potential alternative explanation based upon alchemical terminology. Modern super-string theory holds that there must be multiple dimensions--in fact the theory does not hold together without that. The properties of monatomic gold seem to point to the existence of another dimension. And scientists right now are doing experiments with the super hadron collider to determine if mass can disappear, and if it does must have gone into another dimension. There is a lot we still do not know about atomic structure. Cold fusion, as explained in this book, could be a real possibility.

I hope you know what you're doing. This book is NOT straight forward.. [a novice reading this will just get confused and end up... well probably dead] although.. he does give you the factual, modern, Instructions, what he says is NOT what he means and... research the metaphores and read this book accurately!"always go the wet way!"Our gold/philosophic gold/gold of the sages. Do not be confused..... buy this book, but cross reference with an author like "Aleksander Almaśy".this book does speak the truth. But if you don't know how to read alchemical books.. this is NOT FOR YOU AND YOU WILL HURT YOURSELF.

Incredible! A modern day journey into a timeless mystery.

I have Read this book, all the symbolism of all the traditions line up, i havent tried it, but i know for a fact the alot of what he is saying is true, like nitric and hydrochloric acid break down golds molecular structure, they use it in gold shops to test if it is real, it turns green like he said, if ithe metalic bonds did not break down it would not turn green. this is all i can be truely be sure off.... there are alot of other people typing reviewing, who are skeptics or claim authority, and claiming the mono-gold cannot be produced, but like i just stated, the Wet way he talked about completely works or we would not be able to test for metal purity with nitric acid because it would not corrode pure gold

Awesome reading - a must for anyone truly interested in alchemy