The Secret City: London's Hidden History of Magic, Mystery, and the Occult.

  Buy Now (Book Link) In the smoky, fire-lit laboratories hidden away in the backstreets of medieval London, another kind of magic was at work. It was slow, patient, and often a frustrating art, a practice that combined practical chemistry with mystical philosophy. This was the world of the alchemist, the tireless seeker of the Magnum Opus , the Great Work: the creation of the legendary Philosopher's Stone. Alchemy was more than just a get-rich-quick scheme; it was a profound spiritual discipline. The alchemist believed that the transformation of base metals like lead into pure gold was merely the outward sign of a parallel inner transformation: the purification of the human soul and the attainment of immortality. The Magnum Opus: The Great Work. The Theory of Transmutation The alchemical worldview was based on the Aristotelian concept that all matter was composed of four basic elements: earth, air, fire, and water. By altering the balance of these elements in a substance, the alch...