AMBIX, Vol.

36, Part 2, July 1989

SEX AND GESTATION, THE UNION OF OPPOSITES IN EUROPEAN AND

CHINESE ALCHEMY

By RICHARDK. PAYNE,PH.D.*

INTRODUCTION
ALCHEMYhas played an important, although underground, role in both European and
Chinese society. In order to gain a better understanding of alchemy itself, a comparative
study of these two forms is called for. As Eliade has said in speaking of religion as a whole, "it
is just such a comparative study we want, for only thus can we discover both the changing
morphology of the sacred, and its historical development." 1
To go beyond a superficial treatment of alchemy it is necessary to examine both
similarities and differences. The first part of this essay summarizes the characteristics which
are known to be common to both traditions. The second part of the essay explores the
parallels between the two traditions at a more detailed level by examining one specific
theme: the union of opposites. Exploring this theme in depth as it is expressed in one text
from each tradition will highlight both the similarities and the differences between European
and Chinese alchemy.
The two texts which are to be compared have been selected so as to insure their actual
comparability. They have been chosen because they both represent the thinking of a
particular point in the historical development of the two alchemical traditions. Thus,
although chronologically divergent, they are developmentally equivalent. This considera-
tion is important in order to avoid making generalizations on the basis of material which is in
fact not comparable-a problem which commonly appears in the study of alchemy.2
Comparisons and contrasts concerning the theme of the union of opposites as found in the
two texts are discussed in the conclusion.

OVERVIEW
In his "Chinese and Western Alchemy: The Link Through Definition," H. J. Sheppard
has defined alchemy as

the art of liberating parts of the Cosmos from temporal existence and achieving
perfection which, for metals is gold, and for man longevity; then immortality and,
finally, redemption. Material perfection was sought through the action of a
preparation (Philosophers' Stone for metals; Elixir of Life for humans), while
spiritual ennoblement resulted from some form of inner revelation or enlightenment
(gnosis, for example, in the West).3

As a minimalist definition of alchemy, one which applies "in a general way to everyone of
the world's major alchemical traditions," this emphasis on (I) liberation from time (2) to
attain perfection (3) by a preparation or inner revelation is useful, as it establishes "a
foundation for comparative studies."4
What concerns us here, however, is the range of similarities between the two traditions
which serves to inform their symbolisms with shared meanings. While many people,

* 309 De Soto Drive, Los Gatos, California 95032, U.S.A.

 SEX AND GESTATION

including Sheppard, have discussed the similarities between the two traditions, I would like
to emphasize once again the following aspects. Both Chinese and European alchemy are
based on laboratory procedures and, therefore, make use of symbols which have physical or
chemical analogues. Both tend to be very syncretic, drawing on a wide variety of sources for
their ideas. They both subscribe to the idea of an Ancient Wisdom. They both accept that
the multiplicity of appearances can be reduced to a few elementary principles, and make use
of numerical correspondences to relate these principles to other aspects of Being. They are
both based on the idea that matter is organic, that the metals grow and mature in the earth,
and that this growth can be artificially hastened by the alchemist. Both accept the role of
astrology in the growth of metals. The radical transformation or transubstantiation of the
body is also accepted within both traditions. And, they both have a motifwhich describes the
process and goal of the alchemist's labors as being the union of opposites.
In its European origins alchemy is rooted not only in metallurgy and mining-as might
be expected from its concern with the transformation of metals- but also in the coloring of
glass, the glazing of pottery, the creation of artificial gems, the dying of cloth, the making of
perfumes, incense and cosmetics, and finally the transformations issuing from the kitchen:
the leavening of bread and the fermentation of wine and beer. Changes in color or form unite
these skills, as well as the ideas of magical sympathies and correspondences. Ritualization of
procedure and craft secrecy also contributed to the nascent alchemical art.5
The Chinese alchemical interest in metallurgy per se seems to have been secondary, since
metallurgy served the more primary goals of longevity and immortality. The immortality of
gold was associated with the immortality of people. Even prior to the beginnings of Chinese
alchemy, the life-giving red of blood was represented in human burials by red pigments of
haematite and cinnabar, a form of sympathetic magic thought to symbolize the
"revivification of the entombed dead."6 Dietary and pharmaceutical prescriptions grew up
on the basis of this concern with life, longevity and immortality. 7 Chinese alchemy, however,
did not limit itself to metallurgy any more than European alchemy did. It also turned its
attention to the techniques of cosmetics,8 incense making and fumigation,9 as well as to
botanical researches for herbs and mushrooms which could provide immortality.lO
The laboratory procedures used in both forms of alchemy produce some common
characteristics, such as the role of the furnace. Because the alchemist is replicating a cosmic
process, the furnace is equated with the cosmos itself. In both traditions, although much
more frequently in China than in Europe, the furnace is also equated with the human body.
The cosmicization of the body is a natural corollary of this, and is also found in both
tradi tions.
Although Chinese alchemy is generally considered to be uniquely Taoist, authors also
drew on Buddhist sources and symbols in their writings. In fact, there are distinct differences
between the variety of things which are lumped together by many Western authors under
the rubric of Taoism. This variety includes Chinese popular religion, Chinese astrology,
technological investigations (which are Taoist by default, being neither Confucian nor
Buddhist), and the Taoist church deriving from the Mao Shan and Ling Pao revelations. 11
The Chinese alchemists drew upon this variety of sources in much the same way that
European alchemists drew on the variety of sources which were available to them: writings
from Graeco-Roman Egypt; Gnostic and Hermetic writings; Platonic, Pythagorean and
Neo-Platonic materials; the Christian mysteries; astrology, derived from Babylonia; the
Jewish Cabala; the Rosicrucian manifestoes; and Arabic contributions -which may have
68 RICHARD K. PAYNE

been responsible for introducing ideas from Chinese alchemy. 12This syncretic tendency in
both traditions seems to result from the desire to create a universal science. A universal
science would integrate material from the dominant religious traditions and other occult
systems, as well as information from empirical and technological studies. Most importantly,
this universal science would hold the key to personal transformation or redemption.
Another motif which both traditions share is the idea that in the distant past there had
been a Golden Age; alchemists were attempting to relearn the knowledge of that era. Joseph
Needham has described the Chinese belief thus:

Generally, indeed, Taoists thought of the history of alchemy as a devolution rather

than a progressive unfolding. They conceived the Art as something forced gradually
downward by the inability of devotees to recover the austere and authentic
revelations with which the tradition had begun, and by the credulity and bad faith of
vulgar amateurs who contaminated the ancient doctrines.13

Similarly, European alchemy from the beginnings of the Italian Renaissance through and
including Newton accepted the idea of an Ancient Wisdom which dated from the time of
Moses, Hermes Trismegistus and Thoth.l4 In both traditions alchemists spent much of their
time attempting to understand ancient texts as alchemical texts, and attempting to replicate
the operations they thought were described therein.
In addition to the idea of a basic pair of opposites which are to be unified, both Chinese
and European alchemy made use of conceptual systems composed of three parts. These in
turn were related to systems offour or five parts. For example, Paracelsus concerned himself
both with the Aristotelian Prime Matter, which he designated the "Mysterium Magnum,"
and with the four traditional elements of earth, air, fire and water.15 He also introduced a
chemical theory employing sulphur, mercury and salt as the three basic chemical
principles. 16
While European alchemy emphasized material substances and their essential or
spiritual principles, Chinese alchemy developed a system of three energies found within the
body. These are: ching, seminal essence; ch'i, breath-energy; and shen, spirit. These each have
a dual nature, being manifest on the one hand as cosmic principles and on the other as visible
material forms. Thus, ching is both semen and the Tao-te Heavenly Worthy, ch'i is both
respiratory breath and the Primordial Heavenly Worthy, and shen is both consciousness and
the Ling-pao Heavenly Worthy. These Heavenly Worthies are each, respectively, the Lord of
Man, Heaven and Earth.17 These three cosmic principles were related to the classic Five
Phases of Chinese thought by means of numerology. 18
Another idea shared by Chinese and European alchemy is an organic conception of the
metals. Mother Earth is for the European alchemist literally fecund. The metals grow and
mature within her body.19 Gold, being the perfection of metal, is the end result of the
maturation process. This explains both the embryological symbolism and the alchemist's
self-concept as working with the course of nature by hastening natural processes.20
The natural, but tedious, organic transformation of metals is also known to the Chinese.
Gold and silver, because of their permanence, were seen as the end of the natural growth
process-all other substances being subject to both decay and growth.21 Cinnabar was also
quite important because of the similarity of its color to that of fresh blood. Some Chinese
authors placed cinnabar as a stage in the development of gold.22 The Chinese alchemist,
therefore, attempted to replicate at a faster pace the "hidden operations of nature" which
 SEX AND GESTATION 69

were responsible for producing natural gold.23 Elaborate patterns by which substances were
to be heated and cooled were devised.24 The phases of these patterns attempted to
correspond to the cosmic cycles which nature used to transform base materials into gold.
Astrology provided the reasoning for both the timing of the beginning of an operation and for
the phasing of the operation itself. Since alchemical operations simply reproduced the
cosmic, or astrological, influences in a much shorter time, the alchemists were not doing
anything which they considered to be unnatural. Rather, they were creating a miniature
cosmos within which they could control the speed at which natural processes occurred.
Another idea which both traditions held in common was that the body's substance could
be radically altered by alchemical means. The idea of forging an immortal body is found in
the earliest period of Western alchemy and appears to be based on the idea that the bodies of
the gods must be composed of some incorruptible material. An Egyptian text of the New
Kingdom period which is addressed to Thoth describes his body as composed of sehret- stone,
red jasper and qu~rtz.25 A similar motif apparently underlies the alchemical ritual suicides
of China. Recipes of the alchemical elixirs which derived from the Mao Shan revelations
were based on recipes of what the immortals ate in their heavenly realms.26 These
substances were known to be deadly to mortals and so were only consumed by those who had
received some assurance that they had a place already reserved for them in the heavenly
bureaucracy. Thus, at least for some of the Taoist alchemists, the goal was not physical
immortality, but rather immortality in one of the heavenly realms. The natural condition of
the bodies of the immortals - and also, presumably the bodies of the immortalized
alchemists-is that of a pure white crystalline material.27 In both Western and Oriental
alchemy, therefore, we find the image of immortal bodies being constituted of minerals or
other alchemically significant materials. The idea, as found in both traditions, may be
rooted in an older, shamanic imagery, which has been discussed by Eliade.28
These, then, are some of the points of similarity between European and Chinese
alchemy: a symbolism based on laboratory procedures, the belief in an Ancient Wisdom, the
attempt to control phenomenal reality through the identification and manipulation of
cosmic principles, the role of numerological and astrological symbolism in attempting to
understand and control the cosmic principles, the organic nature of matter (metals grow and
mature in the earth) and the expectation that the alchemist can recreate and hasten this
process, and the radical transformation or transubstantiation of the body. Comparisons of
this type, however, are only part of the picture. What follows will attempt to fill in the other
part of the picture by ident~fying specific contrasts between the two traditions.

TEXTUAL CONTEXTS

The two texts to be compared are drawn from the late stages of development for both
Chinese and European alchemy. The Chinese text is the Hui Ming Ching (The Book of Con-
sciousness and Life), written in 1794 by Liu Hua-yang.29 The European text that will be
compared with theHui Ming Ching has come to be known as The Parable. Originally, it was
simply the concluding section of a work entitled The Golden Tract Concerning the Stone of the
Philosophers, which appeared anonymously in 1625.30 (Further details concerning the
publication and translation history of these works is given in the Appendix.)
In Europe, the late stage of alchemical development is marked by an increasing division
between the practical aspects of alchemy and mystical aspects.31 The use of alchemical
concepts and imagery for spiritual purposes, however, dates back at least as far as
70 RICHARD K. PAYNE

Stephanos, a philosopher and public lecturer in Alexandria from 610 to 641 A.D.32 From the
earliest origins of alchemy, the operator was seen as himself involved in the alchemical
operations. Therefore, the spiritual purity and development of the operator was an
important factor in the success of the operation.33 However, Stephanos effectively reverses
this, for he is a
Christian mystic with a confused mixture of idealist ideas drawn from any school,
Pythagorean or Platonist, he wants to feel stirred and uplifted by suggestive,
enigmatic images or doctrines. In the last resort the ideas are playthings, instruments
for his edification.34

Medieval alchemy is characterized by the idea that while the alchemist is working to
perfect the natural order, he is simultaneously working to perfect himself.35 Success in the
material realm was synonymous with success in the spiritual realm. Nicolas Flamel (1330 to
1418), a French alchemist, is quoted as saying that the Stone

being perfected by anyone, the change of evill into good, takes away from him the
roote of all sinne (which is covetousnesse) making him liberall, gentle, pious, religious,
and fearing God, how evill soever hee was before, for from thence forward, hee is
continually ravished, with the great grace and mercy which hee hath obtained from
God, and with the profoundnesse of his Divine & admirable works.36

The division between practical and mystical alchemy becomes increasingly pronounced
from the late sixteenth century on. By the late eighteenth century, alchemy was understood
less as a procedure for the production of gold, and more as a repository of hidden teachings.
The transcendent was to be achieved through the material-which by now was almost
nothing more than a metaphor.37 At the same time, other researchers were taking an
increasipgly empirical approach, stimulated by the increased freedom of scientific
communication.38
There is a superficially similar division in Chinese alchemy, the division between wai-tan
and nei-tan. According to Needham this division occurred earlier in China than did the
corresponding division in Europe: "During and after the +gth century there seems to have
been a general trend in alchemical writings from ... protochemical techniques (wai-tan) to
psycho-physiological exercises (nei-tan). "39Needham identifies four causes for this shift from
proto-chemistry to psycho-physiology: increasing recognition of the toxic and potentially
fatal effects of the elixirs, the rise of Buddhism as a competitor to Taoism, traditional
Confucian disdain for anything requiring manual labor, and the absence of a comprehensive
theory which could unify the mass of accumulated information.4o
The psycho-physiological alchemists were still seeking the same goal as had their
predecessors-immortality. Now, however, it was sought through internal alchemical
manipulation of the energies which sustain life, rather than through the consumption of an
externally compounded elixir.41
Both European and Chinese alchemy are divided after a certain point in their
development. In Europe it is a division between practical, proto-chemical alchemy and
psycho-spiritual alchemy, while in China it is a division between practical, proto-chemical
alchemy and psycho-physiological alchemy. Given the similarity between the early forms of
alchemy in Europe and China, one might expect the European psycho-spiritual alchemy
and the Chinese psycho-physiological alchemy to be equally similar. However, Needham
has pointed out that despite the apparent similarities between the two, they differed as to
 SEX AND GESTATION 71

their emphasis. The one was concerned with the physiological functioning of the body, while
the other was concerned with spiritual development.42 This generalization is certainly borne
out by the imagery employed by the two texts examined below. However, the two traditions
do aim to achieve a similar goal- personal transformation.
The two texts selected for comparison were chosen because they represent similar
developmental stages within each tradition; the Chinese text being psycho-physiological
and the European text psycho-spiritual. The theme of the union of opposites is found in both
texts and will provide the focus for comparison. In this way the similarities and differences
between these two forms of alchemy can be examined.

UNION OF OPPOSITES IN THE Hui Ming Ching

In the Hui Ming Ching the opposites are identified as human nature (hsing) and life
(ming) .43According to Richard Wilhelm, who translated the Hui ming Ching into German,
these two are the impersonal forms of the more primal dualism betweenyin andyang. At a
more personal level, these two become the dark (P'o) and the light (hun) souls. These are also
linked to breath (eh'i) and sperm (ching). The correspondences are:
yin: ming (life): p'o (light souls): ch'i (breath)
yang: hsing (human nature): hun (dark souls): ching (sperm)
At the time of conception, ming and hsing are in a unified state. But upon birth the two
forces are separated; "it is as if a man lost his footing on a high mountain: with a cry the man
plunges down to earth, and from then on human nature and life are divided."44 This division
is the source of all sorrow, as expressed in a formula which is highly reminiscent of the
Buddhist twelve-linked chain of causation: out of the splitting at birth arises youth, "youth
passes over into maturity, maturity into old age, and old age into woe."45
The pattern which is evident here is that there is a sensed primordial wholeness, one
which is primordial both to the cosmos and to individual existence. In living human
existence this wholeness is fractured into two, each of which is then closed to the other. It is
this one-sidedness that leads to suffering and, thus, if one can (re-) unite ming and hsing,
suffering will cease.
The unification of opposites is to be achieved within the body of the practitioner, within
the "germinal vesicle" (hsiian ch'iao).46 It is to be accomplished through the circulation of the
breath-energy in reverse, i.e., opposite to the direction which produces birth.
Knowledge of the germinal vesicle is of prime importance. "If a dying man does not know
this germinal vesicle, he will not find the unity of consciousness and life in a thousand births,
nor in ten thousand aeons."47 This germinal vesicle is a very mysterious organ. It cannot
exist in a material sen'se, for it is said to be invisible, having neither form nor image. Like
many other numinous entities, it has a plurality of names: "The dragon castle at the bottom
of the sea, the boundary region of the snow mountains, the primordial pass, the kingdom of
greatest joy, the boundless country."48 Needham suggests that it is:

perhaps only one more name for the Yellow Court, the central region of the body, or
rather the natural enchymoma which was once there but which has to be
re-synthesised. This is clear from the description which says that it is a great thing,
part of the pre-natal endowment, containing all the natural perfections of the body
and soul fused together like glittering precious metal in the refiner's fire, of
primordial harmony ... and heavenly pattern ... all compact.49
72 RICHARD K. PAYNE

Movement of energy from within the germinal vesicle out into the body is described as three
different "fires." First is the fire of the ruler which is located within the germinal vesicle itself.
The fire of the minister is second and is described as being at the entrance ofthe germinal
vesicle, i.e., midway between the germinal vesicle and the rest of the body. The body itselfis
filled with the third fire, the fire of the people. Motion from the ruler to the minister and from
the minister to the people leads to the development of the individual human, "but when the
three fires return in reverse order the Tao develops." 50
This administrative or imperial metaphor for the human body is well-established in
Taoist thought. Kristofer Schipper has written that for the Taoists,

the human body is like a landscape with mountains, lakes, woods, and shelters.
Moreover, the body as a "country" has an administration with a ruler and officials
(kuan). The heart, or more accurately the spirit (shen) inhabiting it, is considered to be
the ruler or king of the body while the other viscera are the officials.51

In the case of the Hui Ming Ching, however, the germinal vesicle is to be more closely
identified with the tan-t'ien than with the heart. Two factors indicate this. First is the
invisibility of the germinal vesicle. Although some Chinese medical practitioners affirm the
visible presence of the tan-t'ien in the living body, many others affirm that it is invisible.52 For
these latter it is mysterious and must be discovered by each individual within himself
through meditation. The second factor is the location ascribed to the germinal vesicle. This
is not mentioned in the text itself; however, an accompanying diagram (Fig. I) shows the
practitioner opening his lower stomach: site of the tan-t'ien. Shown within the practitioner's
lower stomach is a homunculus-the immortal embryo-which appears to be bathed in
flames, perhaps representing the breath energy. (See illustration.) The tan-t'ien is the
Alchemical Field and from very early times it is said that there are three of them. "Liang
Ch'iu-tzu cites a certain Yu-li-ching 0 ade calendar book) which states that 'the lower tan-t'ien
is the root of human life ... At three inches under the navel, it is the residence of the
Ch'ih-tzu (New Born). Men keep the essence (semen) there, women the embryo .... ' "53It is
this lower tan-t'ien in the belly which is the most important of the three, the other two are
"just parallel structures. "54
The work of uniting the opposites in the germinal vesicle is the creation of a closed circle
of breath-energy within the body. During inhalation, energy rises from the base of the body
along the spine, called the controlled path (tu). During exhalation it descends along the front
of the body, called the function path (jen). It is this closed circle of breath-energy which is
supposed to give the deer, the crane and the tortoise their fabulous longevity. The circulation
of consciousness and life in this way leads to the union of spirit and breath-energy. And,
when these two "are firmly united and the thoughts quiet and immobile," then one has
created the "embryo of the Tao."55
The embryo is to be washed and bathed for ten months. Washing refers to the rising part
of the cycle, while bathing refers to the descending part. Having closed the circle and
established the cycling of breath-energy and spirit, the two nourish and strengthen each
other. (A contemporary metaphor might describe this as a feedback loop in which the signal
is amplified each time it goes through the system.) "When the energy is strong enough and
the embryo round and complete it comes out of the top of the head. This is what is called: the
completed appearance which comes forth as embryo and begets itself as the son of the
Buddha."56
 SEX AND GESTATION 73

Setting aside the syncretic aspects of this for a moment, we can consider the
embryological symbolism. In the Lao-tzu chung-ching it is said that the immortal embryo
moves back and forth between the Alchemical Field (tan-t'ien) where it was conceived, and
the Yellow Court (huang-t'ing) where it is active-growing and eating.57 This movement of
the immortal embryo has been compared with the movement ascribed to Lao-tzu into and

l'ig. I.

out of his mother's womb during her eighty-one years of pregnancy. Also, it is said that the
Yellow Court is the residence of Lao-tzu. However, even more so than with the Alchemical
Field, it is difficult to identify the physical or bodily location of the Yellow Court. It is
variously identified with the eyes; with three locations in the head named Brilliant Hall,
Bridal Chamber and Alchemical Field (!); and with the spleen. This last identification is said
to be the most common contemporary one.58
In the quote from the Hui Ming Ching given above, we also note the expression "begets
itself." This is comparable to another aspect of the Lao-tzu legends. The following is a
quotation from the San-t'ien nei chieh-ching (Explications on the doctrine of the three heavens)
concerning the "historical" birth of Lao-tzu:
74 RICHARD K. PAYNE

In the time of King Wu-ting of the Yin, Lao-tzu again returned to the womb of
Mother Li. Inside of the womb, he chanted holy books for eighty-one years and then
was born by ripping open her left armpit. At his birth he had white hair. Therefore
he was again called the Old Infant (Lao-tzu). The San-t'ai ching (the Book of the three
terraces) current today is the book Lao-tzu chanted inside of his mother's womb. With
regard to his reversion to the embryonic state inside of Mother Li, it must be
understood that he himself transformed his vacuous body into Mother Li's form, and
then returned into his own womb; it was not that there was really a Mother Li.
Unaware of this, the people of today say that Lao-tzu was placed (from the outside)
in Mother Li's womb. In reality this is not SO.59

Thus, Lao-tzu himself is in this way self-generating. The "embryo" is also described in
the Hui Ming Ching as self-generating, as seen above. Also, it is said to be the "son of the
Buddha."6o The author to the Hui Ming Ching supports this with a quotation from the
Leng-yen-chou (which Wilhelm identifies as the "Surangama Mantra"):

At that time the ruler of the world caused a hundred fold precious light to beam from
his hair knots. In the midst of the light shone the thousand-petalled, precious lotus
flower. And there within the flower sat a transformed Julai. And from the top of his
head went ten rays of white, precious light, which were visible everywhere. The
crowd looked up to the outstreaming light and the Julai announced: "The divine,
magic mantra is the appearance of the light-spirit, therefore his name is Son of
Buddha."61

An aspect of the syncretic nature of the text is that the author presents his material as the
fulfillment of Buddhist teachings which have not been properly understood or appreciated.
For example, in commenting on an illustration included in the text (see Fig. I), he says:

This picture will be found in the original edition of the Leng-yen-ching. But the
ignorant monks who did not recognize the hidden meaning and knew nothing about
the embryo of the Tao have for this reason made the mistake of leaving this picture
out. I only found out through the explanations of adepts that the Julai (Tathagata)
knows real work on the embryo of the Tao.62

Likewise, in commenting on his quotation from the Surahgama Sutra he says:

If a man does not receive the teaching on consciousness and life, but merely repeats
meditation formulae stolidly and in solitude, how could there develop out of his own
body the J ulai, who sits and shines forth in the lotus flower and appears in his own
spirit-body! Many say that the light-spirit is a minor teaching; but how can that
which a man receives from the ruler of the world be a minor teaching? Herewith I
have betrayed the deepest secret of the Leng-yen in order to teach disciples. He who
receives this way rises at once to the dark secret and no longer becomes submerged in
the dust of everyday life.63

Thus, the theme of the Hui Ming Ching can be summarized as follows: The opposites of
Yin and Yang in the forms of breath-energy and spirit are brought back together within the
body of the aspirant by means of reverse cyclic breathing. This union produces an immortal
embryo which then gestates for ten months. At the end of this gestation period, the embryo
emerges through the top of the head, and is understood to he whole and complete in
itself-as indicated by the idea of its self-generation.
 SEX AND GESTATION 75

UNION OF OPPOSITES IN THE PARABLE

The symbolism of the body itself as the alchemical vessel is not unknown in European
alchemy. Jane Leade, an English woman of the seventeenth century, writes:

Hereupon I was moved (because I well knew and was certain that this heavenly stone
already had its birth and growth in me) with great frankness to ask whether my
external furnace (i.e., her own body) would keep so long, and not perish before the
stone would have attained its perfection.64

This motif, however, is extremely rare. Much more commonly it is a visionary experience
which portrays the internal experience of the alchemist. The opening of The Parable has a
certain similarity to Dante's Inferno in that the visionary experience is initiated when the
protagonist is wandering in a wood in a depressed state: "considering the wretchedness of
this life, and deploring that through the lamentable fall of our first parents we had been
reduced to this pitiable state .... "65Upon this there follows a series of events which disclose
a motif of two colors: red and white. These two colors represent the dualism with which this
text deals.
The first appearance of this is when, in order to join a fellowship of wise men, the
protagonist must know "their Lion, and his internal and external properties."66 The
narrator then says how, though frightened by the strength and ferocity of the Lion, he is able
to kill and dissect the beast. The killing is done by drawing forth the blood which "was red
indeed, but choleric."67 The "bones were as white as snow, and their quantity more
considerable than the blood."68 This feat, however, is not adequate to the task-apparently
killing the Lion is not the same as knowing it. The protagonist is now set the additional task
of bringing the Lion back to life. This is not done at this time; however, the same
theme-that of bringing the dead back to life-appears as the climax of the visionary
sequence.
The red and white stand for sulphur and mercury, the portion of the Golden Tract which
precedes The Parable being a discourse on the primacy of these two. Other theoretical bases
were available to the author besides this dualistic one. Some of the alchemists emphasized
the prime matter of Aristotle as a single underlying principle. Others, beginning with
Paracelsus, utilized a three part theory: salt, sulphur and mercury being the principles
involved.69 The mercury-sulphur theory dates back to the Arab contributors to alchemical
theory, who kept alchemy alive during Europe's Dark Ages.7o
The motif of the red and white reappears as roses in a garden where some young women
are being kept separate from a group of young men. There is a gate between the two groups
which the young men could not open, though they desired to be joined with the young
women. The protagonist, however, possesses a master key-named "the adulteress" -with
which he can open the gate. Passing from the young men's side to that of the young women,
he discovers, to his surprise, that the most beautiful of the young women is already in the
company of the most beautiful of the young men. She is dressed in silk and satin, which one
assumes to be white in correspondence to the scarlet of the young man's robe.
The red blood and white bones of the Lion have now reappeared as the red and white
roses, and as the red youth and white maiden. These latter two express their desire to be
joined together-the maiden says to the protagonist that they "are leaving this pleasant
garden, and hastening to our chamber to satisfy our love."7! This union, however, involves
the protagonist. The group of wise men, whom he had wished to join, have received a letter
 RICHARD K. PAYNE

which declares that the protagonist must unite with his own wife of old. I t turns out that this
mandatory union simultaneously involves the youth and maiden, who are still clothed in red
and white. The union of these two, however, is incestuous and as a punishment they are
locked within a transparent prison.
Now begins the sequence which culminates the vision. The protagonist is given the task
of heating the prison during the winter so that it becomes neither too warm nor too cold. Yet
as soon as he begins this heating, the two begin embracing so passionately that the youth's
heart is broken from "the excessive ardour of love." 72 The maiden likewise dies, though from
sorrow at the death of her husband. In their death the two seem to have melted and it is only
after forty days of heating-in hopes of reviving them to life-that their bodies reappear,
now black as coals. "This effect would have been produced sooner if the chamber had not
been so closely shut and sealed so that I could in no wise open it. For I noticed that the water
rose to the roof of the chamber and then came down again like rain ... "73 After the bodies
have been revealed and have putrefied, "towards evening I noticed that many vapours rose
from the earth through the heat of the sun, and were lifted up as water is attracted by the sun;
afterwards when night fell, they watered the earth as fertilising dew, and washed our bodies
(i.e., the bodies of the two lovers), which became more beautiful and white the oftener this
sprinkling took place. "74
After the atmosphere had cleared, the spirit and soul of the maiden return to her body;
now, however, she is the Queen and is attired in shades of black, grey and white. Following
her revival, the youth is also revived, in contrast to his having died before her. He is now the
King and is attired in shades of red, saffron, scarlet and orange. The King, however, is
extremely thirsty and after drinking deeply returns to his chamber where he sleeps for a few
days. Awakening, he drinks again and reaches the fullness of his power. With this the King
introduces the protagonist to his kingdom. Filled with treasures, the kingdom includes not
only gems, but also a panacea for the recovery of youth and health. And, most pleasing of all
to our protagonist, the inhabitants of the kingdom are filled with sanctity and holiness. Entry
into this kingdom ends the visionary sequence.

CONCLUSION: COMPARISONS AND CONTRASTS

The first comparison to be made concerns the pair of opposites which the two texts use.
In the Chinese text these are two cosmic principles which have their expressions as
psycho-physiological energies within the body of the aspirant, as the dark and light souls,
and as breath-energy and sperm. For the European text, the two are also cosmic principles,
but their expression is as the material substances sulphur and mercury, as male and female,
as the King and Queen, and as red and white.
The distinction between the portrayals of the opposites can be directly related to th~
difference in the conception of the alchemical vessel. While in late Chinese alchemy the body
of the aspirant is itself the vessel, a physiological interpretation of the process and goal, the
equivalent European conception of alchemy is working with a spiritual interpretation of the
process and goal. This spiritual aspect of the European text does not, however, completely
overwhelm the laboratory processes which still provide the basic structure of the visionary
sequence. Given the difference in how the vessel is conceived though, it follows that the
Chinese dualism should take the form of psycho-physiological energies within the body,
while the European conceptualization of the dualism is as psycho-spiritual analogues of
physical substances.
 SEX AND GESTATION 77

Second, there is a distinction between the symbols each tradition uses to portray the
process which leads to the goal. In the Chinese text the goal is described in embryological
symbols, while in the European it is sexual symbolism which is used. Clearly the two kinds of
symbolism are closely related, yet the difference between these two expressions of the goal
matches ,the difference in the two expressions of the process. The immortal embryo is the
completion of the union of opposites in the Hui Ming Ching. The immortal embryo is a
singular entity, while in The Parable, after completion of the sexual union of opposites, there
are still two: the King and Queen. However, at the closing of The Parable there is a marked
inequality between the King and Queen which was not present prior to their transformation,
i.e., when they were youth and maiden. The King is much more highly emphasized than is
the Queen. Indeed, her rebirth seems to be simply a prelude to the King's. In the end it is the
King who is able to give the alchemist access to the Kingdom and, therefore, the creation of
the King can be seen as the real goal of the work.75 Thus, the difference between the
embryological and sexual symbolisms used to describe the process in turn produces a
difference in the symbolism used to describe the goal.
The way in which the two processes are internal is also very different. The Hui Ming
Ching discusses a process which is internal in a physiological sense, while The Parable
describes a psychologically internal process. The phenomenological similarity between the
two, however, provides a basis for comparison. Both are descriptions of experiences which
are internal to the practitioner, though in their expression they are conditioned by the
cultural and historical differences between the two traditions.
The Hui Ming Ching uses the imperial metaphor in describing the three fires with the
practitioner's body-the ruler's fire, the minister's fire and the people's fire. The
commonness of this kind of imagery in Taoist conceptions of the body has already been
discussed above. Similarly, The Parable closes with a description of a kingdom. Again, the
difference between psycho-physiological alchemy of China and the psycho-spiritual alchemy
of Europe moderates the comparability of this symbolism.
The common use of imagery deriving from laboratory techniques is shown by the fact
that both texts use the image of washing. The immortal embryo is bathed in the cycling
breath-energy during the ten months of its gestation. Similarly, the dead bodies of the youth
and maiden are washed by waters within the vessel. These waters are also cycling in that
they are said to rise as vapours, condense and fall, and then rise again. Just as the embryo
grows under the influence of this washing, the corpses of the two lovers are purified until they
are returned to life as King and Queen. Thus, the cyclic movement and the washing are key
elements common to both traditions.
This analysis shows that while the motif of the union of opposites is common to both
Chinese and European alchemy, there are many contrasts in the specific expression of this
motif. There are differences as to (a.) the ways in which the opposites themselves are
conceived, (b.) the ways in which the vessel within which the union occurs is conceived, (c.)
the metaphoric basis for describing the process, and (d.) the description of the goal.
While the analysis here has been limited to a single text from each tradition, the two texts
are representative of their traditions. Needham has summarized the difference in orientation
between the two traditions as follows: "when European (and perhaps Arabic) alchemy was
not protochemical, it was allegorical-mystical, while when Chinese alchemy was not
proto-chemical, it was physiological, iatro-chemical and quasi-yogistic."76 These differences
highlight the necessity for caution in making generalizations about alchemy. Although
 RICHARD K. PAYNE

Chinese and European alchemy do have a great deal in common, the difference in
emphasis- between psycho-physiological alchemy and psycho-spiritual alchemy-is
important in understanding the significance of symbols within each tradition.

ApPENDIX

The Hui Ming Ching (Book of Consciousness and Life) was written by Liu Hua-yang in 1794.
He was a monk in a monastery called the Double Lotus Flower. It was reprinted together
with the text of the T'ai I Chin Tsung Chih (Secret of the Golden Flower) in 1920 or 1921. It was
translated into German by L. C. Lo in 1926 (Chinesische Blatter flir Wissenschaft und Kunst,
Darmstadt, pp. 104-114). Richard Wilhelm revised the style of the translation so that it
could be included in the fifth edition (1957) of his own translation of The Secret of the Golden
Flower. Cary F. Baynes had already translated the first edition of The Secret of the Golden Flower
(1927) into English in 1931. In 1962 this first translation was revised and expanded to
include the new material from the fifth German edition.77
The Parable has been translated into English at least four times. It originally appeared
anonymously in German as the last half of The Golden Tract Concerning the Stone of the
Philosophers in 1625. The Golden Tract as a whole was then translated into Latin and appeared
in the Museum Hermeticum, Reformatum et Amplificatum in 1678,78 A German edition of The
Golden Tract was reprinted in the second volume of the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the
Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries (1788). The three volumes of this work were published by
J. D. A. Eckhardt in Altona between 1785 and 1790. An English edition of the Secret Symbols
was produced by Franz Hartmann in Boston in 1888,79 This is apparently the first English
translation of The Parable. In 1893 A. E. Waite edited an English translation of the Hermetic
Museum, Restored and Enlarged, including The Parable.80 Herbert Silberer presented the whole
of The Parable along with his interpretation of it in Problems of Mysticism and Its Symbolism
(reprinted as Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts). This was translated into English
by Smith Ely J elliffe in 1917.81 This, then, is the third English translation. The translator
and date of the fourth is uncertain. The Parable (without the rest of the Golden Tract) appears
in the second edition (1974) of A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology.82 The editor gives no source
for this version. Also in the Anthology is what seems to be Hartmann's 1888 English
production of the Secret Symbols, including his version of The Parable.
The Golden Tract originally appeared anonymously. Rudolf Steiner, however, ascribes it
to one Hinricus Madanthus Theosophus, a name supposed to be an anagrammatic
pseudonym for Hadrianus a Munsicht (Adrian von Mynsicht), a Paracelsian who dated
from 1590 to 1638.83 A. E. Waite, however, is content to allow it to remain the work "of an
anonymous German Adept. "84

NOTES

I. Mirceda Eliade, Patterns in Comparative Religion, trans. Rosemary Sheed (New York: World Publishing,
Medidian Book, 1963), p. I.
2. See for example Rudolf Bernoulli, "Spiritual Development as Reflected in Alchemy and Related Disciplines" in
Spiritual Disciplines, ed. Joseph Campbell, trans. Ralph Mannheim, Papers from the Eranos Yearbooks, 4,
Bollingen Series, 30 (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1960), pp. 305-340; Elemire Zolla, "The Retrieval
of Alchemy," Parabola, vol. 3, no. 3, pp. 70-79; Allison Coudert, Alchemy: the Philosopher's Stone (Boulder:
Shambhala, 1980), ch. 7. Each of these works, despite other positive qualities, includes generalizations which
are not based on adequate comparative research.
 SEX AND GESTATION
79

3. H. J. Sheppard, "Chinese and Western Alchemy: The Link Through Definition" in Ambix, vol. 32 (March
1985, pp. 32-37), p. 36.
4. Ibid.
5. Jack Lindsay, The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt (London: Frederick Muller, 1970), ch. 10, passim.
6. joseph Needham, Science and Civilization in China (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1976), 5, 3: 3.
7· Ibid., 5, 3: I.
8. Ibid., 5,3: 125-127.
9. Ibid., 5, 2: 148-154.
10. Ibid., 5, 2: 122; see also Ho Peng Yoke, Beda Lim and Francis Morsingh, "Elixir Plants: The Ch'un-yang Lii
Chen-jen yao shih chih (Pharmaceutical Manual of the Adept Lii Ch'un-yang)" in Chinese Science: Explorations of
an Ancient Tradition, ed. Shigeru Nakayama and Nathan Sivin, M.LT. East Asian Science Series, vol. 2
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1973). Regarding the possibility of Indian influence on Chinese
conceptions of a mushroom of immortality, see R. Gordon Wasson, Soma, Divine Mushroom of Immortality (n.p.:
Harcourt Bracejovanovich, Inc., n.d.), pp. 80-81.
I I. See Rolf A. Stein, "Religious Taoism and Popular Religion from the Second to Seventh Centuries" in Facets of
Taoism: Essays in Chinese Religion, ed. Holmes Welch and Anna Seidel (New Haven, Connecticut: Yale
University Press, 1979), ch. 2.
12. See Allen G. Debus, "Alchemy" in Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Studies of Selected Pivotal Ideas, ed. Philip P.
Wiener, 5 vols. (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1973), I : 27-34; E. J. Holmyard, Alchemy (Baltimore:
Penguin Books, 1957), particularly ch. 6.
13. Needham, Science and Civilization, 5, 4: 268.
14. As prisca theologia: Frances A. Yates, Giordano Bruno and the Hermetic Tradition (New York: Random House,
Vintage Books, 1969), pp. 17-18; as prisca theologia and prisca magia: D. P. Walker, Spiritual and Demonic Magic
from Ficino to Campanella (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1975), p. 93; as prisca sapientia: B.J. T.
Dobbs, The Foundations of Newton's Alchemy or "The Hunting of the Greene Lyon" (Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press, 1975), pp. 10g-1 I I.
15. Allen, G. Debus, The English Paracelsians (New York: Franklin Watts, 1966), p. 25; cf.Jolandejacobi, Glossary
to Paracelsus: Selected Writings, rev. 2d ed., ed. jolande Jacobi, trans. Norbert Guterman, Bollingen Series, 28
(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1973), p. 258.
16. Debus, English Paracelsians, pp. 25-26.
17. Thomas Boehmer, "Taoist Alchemy: A Sympathetic Approach Through Symbols" in Buddhist and Taoist Studies
I, ed. Michael Saso and David W. Chappell, Asian Studies at Hawaii, 18 (Honolulu: University Press of
Hawaii, 1977), pp. 66-69·
18. The Five Phases are more commonly known as the Five Elements, see Colin A. Ronan, The Shorter Science and
Civilization in China: An Abridgement of Joseph Needham's Original Text (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
1978), I: 142-157; and Fung Yu-Lan, A History of Chinese Philosophy, 2 vols., trans. Derk Bodde (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1953), I : 20-23. However, as Porkert points out this is a translation of the Chinese
term wu-hsing wherein hsing "literally means 'passage' (or in the active sense, 'passing through')," Manfred
Porkert, The Theoretical Foundations of Chinese Medicine: Systems Correspondence, M.LT. East Asian Science Series,
vol. 3 (Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, 1974), p. 45. Porkert himself suggests as a normative
translation the phrase Five Evolutive Phases. This seems a bit more florid than necessary, however.
The numerological device was as follows: water (valued at one) is combined with metal (valued at four) to
produce ching, which is considered to have a value of five. Wood (valued at three) and fire (valued at two) are
combined to produce shen, which also has a value offive. Ch'i by itself corresponds to earth (valued at five). The
three psycho-physiological energies thus become three fives and simultaneously correspond to the Five Phases
(Boehmer, "Taoist Alchemy," pp. 68-69).
19. Micea Eliade, The Forge and the Crucible, trans. Stephen Corrin (New York: Harper and Row, Harper
Torchbooks, 1971), p. 46.
20. Ibid., p. 49.
2 I. Nathan Sivin, "Chinese Alchemy and the Manipulation of Time" in Science and Technology in East Asia, ed.
Nathan Sivin (New York: Science History Publications, 1977), p. 110.
22. Ko Hung, Alchemy, Medicine, Religion in the China of A.D. 320: The Nei P'ien of Ko Hung (Pao-p'u tzu), trans. James
R. Ware (Cambridge, Massachusetts: M.LT. Press, 1966), p. 268.
23. Sivin, "Chinese Alchemy," p. 113.
24· Needham, Science and Civilization, 5, 4: 273-274.
80 RICHARD K. PAYNE

25. Lindsay, Origins, p. 297.

26. Encyclopaedia Britannica, 15th ed., s.v. "Taoism, History"; also Ho Ping-Vii and Joseph Needham, "Elixir
Poisoning in Mediaeval China," Janus 48; Coudert, Philosopher's Stone, ch. 7; and Liu Ts'un-yan, "Wu
Shou-Yang: The Return to the Pure Essence" in New Excursionsfrom the Hall if Harmonious Wind (Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 1984)'
27. Edward H. Schafer, Mao Shan in T'ang Times (Society for the Study of Chinese Religions, 1980), p. 34.
28. Mircea Eliade, Shamanism: Archaic Techniques of Ecstasy, trans. Willard R. Trask, Bollingen Series, 76 (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1964), ch. 2.
29. Richard Wilhelm, trans., The Secret if the Golden Flower: A Chinese Book if Life, trans. from the German by Cary F.
Baynes, rev. ed. (New York: Harcourt, Brace and World, 1962), p. xv.
30. Arthur Edward Waite, The Brotherhood of the Rosy Cross ... , 1924, reprint (Secaucus, New Jersey: University
Books, 1973), p. 475·
31. Burton Feldman and Robert D. Richardson, The Rise if Modern Mythology: 1680-1860 (Bloomington: Indiana
University Press, 1972), pp. 257-258.
32. Lindsay, Origins, p. 372.
33. Eliade, Forge and Crucible, pp. 56-60; Grillot de Givry, Witchcraft, Magic and Alchemy, trans.J. Courtenay Locke,
1931, reprint (New York: Dover Publications, 1971), p. 349.
34. Lindsay, Origins, p. 372.
35. Eliade, Forge and Crucible, p. 47.
36. John Read, Prelude to Chemistry: An Outline of Alchemy, Its Literature and Relationships, 2nd ed., 1939,-reprint
(Cambridge, Massachusetts: M.I.T. Press, 1966), p. 114.
37. Feldman and Richardson, Modem Mythology, pp. 257-258.
38. Dobbs, Greene Lyon, pp. 63, 69.
39. Needham, Science and Civilization, 5, 3: xxxv.
40. Ibid., 5, 3: 208, 209.
41. Regarding the transition from external to internal elixirs, see Liu Ts'un-yan, "Wu Shou-yang," passim.
42. Needham, Science and Civilization, 5, 3: xxxv.
43. Needham has commented in some detail on the translation by Wilhelm and the accompanying commentary by
Jung (Science and Civilization, 5, 5: 243-257). These comments do much to emphasize the same general point
being made in this paper. As Needham puts it: "each civilization, after all, must be allowed to have its own
distinctive concepts, which can be explained and understood, but not identified, especially so long as the
cultures have such inadequate understanding of each other's literature and the evolution of each other's
thoughts and actions. It is no good setting up facile equations and equivalents between the ideas of China and
Christendom until both have been given a thorough chance to explain themselves" (ibid., 5, 5: 247). Needham's
corrections to Wilhelm's translation are requisite for any future work on the Hui Ming Ching and related
material. However, other than "mysterious cavity" for "germinal vesicle" (see n. 46), none of his specific points
concerning the terms employed by Wilhelm (ibid., 5, 5: 246-247) effect this essay.
44. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, p. 70.
45. Ibid.
46. Needham translates hsiian ch'iao as "mysterious cavity" (Science and Civilization, 5, 5: 252). Wilhelm's phrase is
retained here, however, to avoid confusion and maintain consistency with quotations from his translation of the
Hui Ming Ching.
47. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, p. 70.
48. Ibid.
49. Needham, Science and Civilization, 5, 5: 252. "Enchymoma" is Needham's neologism for "the elixir within."
"Since the infusion of vital humour, the restoration of the primary infantile vitalities to ageing muscles, joints
and organs, was just what the Taoist physiological alchemists were aiming at, the word seems eminently
suitable to place beside 'elixir', which we can reserve for the external preparations, whether made from metallic
and mineral substances or from plants" (ibid., 5, 5: 27)·
50. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, p. 7 I. Needham comments that "the three fires simply represent yet new incarnations
of the three tan thien, regions of vital heat, in Buddhist robes" (Science and Civilization, 5, 4: 255). It seems quite
likely that the specific Buddhist robes they are wearing are Tantric, visualization of an internal fire having long
been part ofTantric Buddhist practice, specifically in connection with the homa sacrifice. See R. Tajima, Etude
sur le Mahiivairocana Sutra (Paris: Librairie d'Amerique et d'Orient, 1936), p. 137. For a comprehensive study of
the contemporary Japanese form of the Tantaric Buddhist homa, see Richard K. Payne, "Feeding the Gods"
 SEX AND GESTATION 81

(dissertation, Graduate Theological Union, Ig8S). For an Indian ritual which also employs the symbolism of
internal fire (and which may have influenced the development of the Tantaric Buddhist visualization of
internal fire), see H. W. Bodewitz, "Agnihotra and Pranagnihotra" inJaiminiya Briihmana 1,1-65 (Leiden: E.J.
Brill, 1973).
51. Kristofer Schipper, "The Taoist Body," History of Religions 17, 3-4 (1978): 355·
52. Ibid., p. 369. 53· Ibid., p. 370. 54. Ibid.
55. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, p. 75·
56. Ibid. The motif of washing the immortal embryo parallels the Buddhist ritual in which the birth of the Buddha
is celebrated by washing a small statue of the Buddha portrayed as a new-born.
57. Schipper, "Taoist Body," p. 370.
58. Ibid., p. 369.
59. Ibid., p. 363.
60. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, p. 75.
61. Ibid., p. 76. Only the first half of this quotation (up to "J ulai") appears in the Siirangama Siitra. See Charles Luk,
trans., The Siirangama Siitra (Leng Yen Ching) (London: Rider and Co., 1966), p. 2; and Buddhist Text Society,
The Shurangama Sutra (San Francisco: Sino-American Buddhist Association, Buddhist Text Translation Society,
1977), p. 97· Note that the portion of the quotation concerning the expression "Son of Buddha," which the
author has cited to justify its use in the Hui Ming Ching, is just that part which is missing in the Siirangama Sutra
itself. However, it is also possible that the author of the Hui Ming Ching used an edition of the Surangama Sutra
different from that used by both English translators.
62. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, p. 75. The syncretic use of Buddhist terms and concepts is a feature already found in the
work of Wu Shou-yang (b. ca. 1563, d. after 1632), who is considered to be the co-founder along with Liu
Hua-yan (author of the Hui Ming Ching) of the Taoist Wu-Liu sect (Liu Ts'un-yan, "Wu Shou-yang," p. 207).
63. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, p. 76.
64., Herbert Silberer, Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts, trans. Smith Ely Jelliffe, 1917, reprint (New
York: Dover Publications, 1971), p. 400.
65. Arthur Edward Waite, The Hermetic Museum, Restored and Enlarged, 1893, reprint, 2 vols. (New York: Samuel
Weiser, 1974), I: 41. Cf. Dante Alighieri, The Divine Comedy of Dante Alighieri, trans. John Aitken Carlyle,
Thomas Okey and P. H. Wicksteed (New York: Random House, Vintage Books, 1950), pp. 11-12.
66. Waite, Hermetic Museum, I: 42.
67· Ibid., 1:43.
68. Ibid.
69. Allen G. Debus, The Chemical Philosophy: Paracelsian Science and Medicine in the Sixteenth and Seventeenth Centuries, 2
vols. (New York: Neale Watson Academic Publications, Science History Publications, 1977), I : 57.
70. Dobbs, Greene Lyon, p. 135.
71. Waite, Hermetic Museum, I: 45.
72. Ibid., 1:47. 73· Ibid. 74· Ibid., 1:48.
75. Ibid., I : 49-50. This may in fact reflect the chemical theory of the author. He maintains that mercury is the
elementary substance of metals (I : 22) and that sulphur is the active principle which is more important-since
both gold and the Philosopher's Stone depend upon its activity in order to be produced. Yet, the two are
combined in order to produce that which in reality is one. The author quotes Richard the Englishman as
saying: "The stone is one, the medicine is one, which, however, according to the philosophers, is called Rebis
(two-thing), being composed of two things, a body and spirit (red and white)" (I: 14). Alternatively, it is
possible that the description of the relation between King and Queen represents an actual chemical process.
76. Needham, Science and Civilization,s, 5: 255-257.
77. Wilhelm, Golden Flower, pp. vii-xv, and 3-5.
78. Waite, Rosy Cross, p. 475.
79. Ibid., pp. 481-482.
80. Waite, Hermetic Museum, p. xi.
81. Silberer, Hidden Symbolism, p. v.
82. Paul M. Allen, A Christian Rosenkreutz Anthology, 2nd ed. (Blauvelt, New York: Rudolf Steiner Publications,
1974), pp. 381-391.
83. Ibid., p. 381.
84. Waite, Rosy Cross, p. 475.