17. It is impossible for an ignorant person to obtain the Stone
…… Statistical Significance ………
Supporting sources: 2 Contradicting sources: 0
Statistical significance: 0.9375000
This premise is probably significant, but not statistically significant
…… Supporting Quotations ………
[699] To this objection, we answer what we know to be true, that the science of this Art has never been fully revealed to anyone who has not approved himself worthy by a good and noble life, and who has not shewn himself to be deserving of this gracious gift by his love of truth, virtue, and knowledge. From those who are otherwise minded this knowledge must ever remain concealed. Nor can anyone attain to this Art, unless there be some person sent by God to instruct him in it. For the matter is so glorious and wonderful that it cannot be fully delivered to any one but by word of mouth.
Moreover, if any man would receive it, he must take a great and sacred oath, that as we his teachers refuse high rank and fame, so he will not be too eager for these frivolous distinctions, and that he will not be so presumptuous as to make the secret known to his own son; for propinquity of blood, or affinity, should be held of no account in this our Magistery. Nearness of blood, as such, does not entitle anyone to be let into the secret, but only virtue, whether in those near to us or in strangers. Therefore you should carefully test and examine the life, character, and mental aptitude of any person who would be initiated in this Art, and then you should bind him, by a sacred oath, not to let our Magistery be commonly or vulgarly known. Only when he begins to grow old and feeble, he may reveal it to one person, but not to more—and that one man must be virtuous, and generally approved by his fellows. For this Magistery must always remain a secret science, and the reason that compels us to be so careful is obvious. If any wicked man should learn to practise this Art, the event would be fraught with great danger to Christendom. For such a man would overstep all bounds of moderation, and would remove from their hereditary thrones those legitimate princes who rule over the peoples of Christendom. And the punishment of this wickedness would fall upon him who had instructed that unworthy person in our Art. In order, then, to avoid such an outbreak of overweening pride, he who possesses the knowledge of this Art,
p.62 17. It is impossible for an ignorant person to obtain the Stone
should be scrupulously careful how he delivers it to another, and should regard it as the peculiar privilege of those who excel in virtue.
~ Norton, Thomas. The Chemical Treatise, Or, The Ordinal of Alchemy. 1477 AD.
Alchemical Tract
[180] But I wonder still more that there are to be found some men, who not only study this Art, but even try to practice it, and yet do not quite know whether it proceeds by natural and legitimate magic, or whether it is not after all a necromantic, or black art, which is exercised by the illegitimate aid of the powers of hell. No, my good friend. The Devil, wicked angels, and wicked men, have no power but that which God suffers them to possess—and with our present glorious Art they positively have nothing whatever to do. It is entirely in the hand of God, who imparts it to whom He will, and takes it away from whom He will; and He does not suffer any votaries of pleasure, or evil spirits, to partake of it. He gives it only to the pure, true, and humble of heart. This excellence is neither known, nor understood, by the majority of the present generation; and when the sound of it strikes upon their ears, and they do not comprehend it, they straightway call it foolishness. On account of this their blindness, that spirit will always be hidden from their minds, and will at length be entirely taken away from them. . . . I am aware that I here lay myself open to the objection that it is possible to enumerate several men who actually possessed this Stone, or Tincture, and with it transmuted base metals into gold and silver; and who yet were not good men, but vain, profligate, and without knowledge of God. To this objection, I answer that from whencesoever these men may have obtained the Tincture, I certainly never will believe that they prepared it—i.e., the true and right Tincture—themselves. The tragic end of many of these men, and the headlong destruction brought upon them by their Tincture, prove but too clearly the truth of what I say. Moreover, all that call themselves alchemists are not therefore necessarily true possessors of the Stone. For, as in other branches of knowledge, there are found many different schools and sects, so all that are in search of this precious Tincture are called alchemists, without necessarily deserving the name.
~ Anonymous. The Sophic Hydrolith, Or, Water Stone of the Wise. 17th Cen.
Alchemical Tract
…… Commentary ………
Norton is of the opinion that God decides who receives the Stone, and hence it will never be received by one who is unworthy. He later contradicts himself by saying that he who ‘possesses the knowledge of this Art, should be scrupulously careful how he delivers it to another’ seeing as this would be redundant if God were in control of the situation. The mention of the oath and that the secret can only be received by verbal communication gives us a clue as to how Norton himself received the secret and why he thinks the way he does.
17. It is impossible for an ignorant person to obtain the Stone p.63
The author of The Sophic Hydrolith has a more empirical view. The interesting part of this quote is that the anonymous author defines an alchemist broadly as ‘all that are in search of this precious Tincture.’