The Philosopher's Stone (latin: lapis philosophorum) conjures elements of primal lore and eternal powers. Specific to Western alchemy, the Philosopher's Stone is sought by alchemists for healing, immortality and transmutation of base metals into noble ones.
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The fabled Philosopher's Stone can produce the Elixir of Life, the secret to immortality or extreme longevity; a panacea for all disease; and effect the transmutation of base metals to noble. It's the ultimate goal of alchemic research and experimentation.
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While Eastern regions such as China, Egypt and Arabia also practice the principles of alchemy for centuries, the term 'Philosopher's Stone' is used primarily in the West. The Elixir of Life is also known by various names from xerion in Greek or al-iksir in Arabic.
In Arabian theory the Elixir is often thought to be a dry red powder (also known as al-kibrit al-ahmar, red sulfur). It's made from the legendary philosopher's stone, which may or may not be a rock. The philosopher's stone is known by many names.
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Sulfur is one of the tria prima or first three, elements named by Renaissance physician Paracelsus. In different quantities material substances are immediately composed of the three elements mercury, sulfur (sulphur) and salt.
Prior to Paracelsus the tria prima don't exist. Neither do gnomes. In the centuries before the Renaissance Golden Age, alchemy centers its work around the "female" mercury and the "male" sulfur as well as the four elements earth, water, air and fire.
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Alchemy experiences an earlier Golden Age in the first centuries BCE to the first centuries AD. In written records, the Philosopher's Stone is first attested in the works of Zosimos of Panopolis, a Greco-Egyptian alchemist and mystic c. 300 AD.
A Gnostic philosopher, Zosimos is a fount of information about the Western alchemic world. He mentions contemporaries and near peers such as Cleopatra the Alchemist and Mary the Jewess. Zosimos considers Mary (c. 170 - 100 BCE) the first true alchemist.
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Zosimos visits or lives in Alexandria, the hub of alchemical knowledge. He warns his sister, also an alchemist, to keep away from the ignorant practitioners, naming in particular Paphnutia the Virgin (c. 300 AD).
Gnosticism emphasizes personal spiritual knowledge or gnosis above teachings, rites, traditions and authority of religious institutions. Gnostic belief creates independence from organized religion and brings the center of spirituality to the individual.
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Discovery of the Philosopher's Stone is considered the alchemical Magnus Opus or Great Work. Although the first mention of the Stone is by Zosimos in c. 300 AD, the concept comes from older Greek philosophy.
Before the tria prima, alchemists use classical elements Earth, Air, Fire and Water, and later a fifth element, Aether. The concept of anima mundi, the subconscious connection to all living things, similar to Carl Jung's collective unconscious, is part of the overall philosophy.
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The Four Elements in alchemy, first defined by Empedocles (c. 444 BCE), arise from a primeval source, the prima materia or substance from which all things are made. Also known as or associated with Chaos, it is, or holds the secret to, the Philosopher's Stone.
While the quest for the Philosopher's Stone ignites imaginations today, many consider it an impossible pursuit. Alchemists forever attempt to achieve the impossible.