THE PHILOSOPHERS STONE
By
Israel Regardie
CONTENTS
I. Introduction
BOOK ONE
Chapter
II. The Golden Treatise of Hermes
III. Commentary
IV. Commentary (continued)
BOOK TWO
V. The Magnetic Theory
VI. The Six Keys of Eudoxus
VII. Commentary
VIII. The Magical view
BOOK THREE
IX. Coelum Terrae by Thomas Vaughan
Conclusion
Israel Regardie - The Philosophers Stone
Page 2
BOOK ONE
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
The word Alchemy is an Arabic term consisting of the article al and the noun khemi. We may take
it that the noun refers to Egypt, whose Coptic name is Khem. The word, then, would yield the phrase
“the Egyptian matter”, or “that which appertains to Egypt”. The hypothesis is that the Mohammedan
grammarians held that the alchemical art was derived from that wisdom of the Egyptians which was the
proud boast of Moses, Plato, and Pythagoras, and the source, therefore, of their illuminations. If,
however, we assume the word to be of Greek origin, as do some authorities, then it implies nothing
more than the chemical art, the method of mingling and making infusions. Originally all that chemistry
meant was the art of extracting juices from plants and herbs.
Modern scholarship still leaves unsolved the question as to whether alchemical treatises should be
classified as mystical, magical, or simply primitively chemical. The most reasonable view is, in my
opinion, not to place them exclusively in any one category, but to assume that all these objects at one
time formed in varying proportions the preoccupation of different alchemists. Or, better still, that
different alchemists became attracted to different interpretations or levels of the art. There is no doubt
that by some writers alchemy was interpreted in a categorical and literal sense - that is, as a chemical
means whereby the baser metals could be transformed and made precious. There is a vast body of
testimony to this end, evidence which cannot be made to yield any interpretation other than a physical
and chemical one.