Sorcerer's Stone: A Beginner's Guide to Alchemy

by Dennis William Hauck

Now, readers who are spellbound by the magical characters and alchemical themes found in J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter series will learn basic alchemical techniques and how to use them to begin the Great Work in earnest. Complete with alchemical engravings from the Middle Ages as well as useful charts and diagrams, this is an illuminating handbook that will teach aspiring alchemists such fascinating facts as: - Alchemy is a means of personal transformation that enables you to meet your highest potential as a human being.- Alchemy can protect and rejuvenate physical health, and has been used in healing brain and spinal cord injuries.- "The Emerald Tablet"--the basic document of alchemy--contains a secret formula of transformation brought from Egypt over 12,000 years ago.- Quantum reality and the "observer effect" reflect alchemy's power to change all matter.- Bizarre drawings and symbolic writings of the alchemists refer to specific operations that work on all levels of body, mind, and spirit.- Includes a glossary and useful resource guide for websites and books.

Genres: Alchemy, Nonfiction, Spirituality, Occult

240 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 2004

About the author

Dennis William Hauck is a researcher, author, and lecturer in consciousness studies. His primary focus is on levels of awareness and the mechanisms of transformation of consciousness. He works to document the evolution of a science of consciousness and merge various philosophical and scientific traditions into a unified theory of consciousness. He has also contributed to related areas, including the history of science, psychology, and the serious study of paranormal and mystical experiences.

Hauck is considered a leading authority on Hermeticism and alchemy. According to Bernard Lightman in “A Companion to the History of Science:” "Dennis William Hauck is a prolific author and has been at the center of efforts to institutionalize modern alchemy through a number of organizations, conferences, and journals. For Hauck, classical science has its limits, in that it can explain only our physical reality, not the deeper hidden reality from which the physical stems. He decided that alchemy offered one path to that hidden reality, and so, decided to discover solid evidence and challenge the dominant Newtonian paradigm."

According to Hauck, the Philosopher’s Stone of the alchemists is consciousness itself: “The Stone exists in the formative realm between energy and matter, suspended in the twilight between what exists and what does not exist. Renaissance alchemists described the mind as a magical touchstone made from a hidden etheric substance that is distributed throughout the universe. That substance is consciousness."

Most of Hauck’s recent works focus on the application of the principles of alchemy to psychology and cosmology. His “The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy for Personal Transformation” presents new revelations about the ancient artifact that became the core document of alchemists. His “Sorcerer’s Stone: A Beginner’s Guide to Alchemy” elaborates the operations alchemists used on all levels of their practical and spiritual work. His “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Alchemy is an introduction to all levels of alchemical work. He has also translated several important German and Latin alchemy manuscripts into English.

Hauck has been interviewed on nearly 300 radio programs, including such national shows as NPR’s "Morning Edition", “Art Bell Show” and many other programs carried by networks such as CBS Radio, CNN Radio, Talk Radio Network and the Wisdom Radio Network. He has also appeared on over forty television programs, including such national shows as “Geraldo,” “Sally Jessy Raphael,” “The O'Reilly Factor,” “Extra,” “CNN Reports,” A&E's "Unexplained", “Sightings,” “Terry Bradshaw’s Home Team,” “America's Talking: and other shows on the History Channel, Travel Channel and Discovery Channel.

Reviews

[0 · Rating 1 out of 5]

Page four, Hauck repeats a (deliberate? tired, in any case) misunderstanding of the observer effect in quantum physics--no, an experimenter's "state of consciousness" doesn't have any effect on the outcome of their experiment. the physical instruments which the experimenter uses to observe and measure quantum phenomena, however, do, because they interact with the objects that are being studied. so while alchemists may have believed that their thoughts and feelings effected the outcome of their transmutations, that makes them entirely unlike quantum physicists.

Page five, Hauck attempts another misguided scientific analogy, this time comparing the alchemical "mind of nature" to the theory of natural evolution. According to natural evolution, species transform as a result of random genetic mutations which appear to be non-teleological, and not "in response to some great need." Gene theory has no recourse to some intelligent vital force that drives speciation.

Hauck, a self-described "leader in the emerging field of consciousness studies," lists among his areas of interest "the history of science," but I guess anyone can say anything if they like.

Page seventeen, Hauck mistakes the caduceus for the rod of asclepius, claiming that the caduceus was and is "the symbol of healing and medicine" (it's not, and it wasn't). After he notes the resemblance of the caduceus to DNA's double helix structure, he wonders: "Could Thoth have manipulated the genetic material of baboons or apes to speed up the evolution of mankind? Such an act would certainly be in line with his role as the first alchemist."



It's at this point that I stopped reading, because I imagined that, having recognized several errors already, there were likely several others that I hadn't recognized, leading me to doubt the veracity of any of the author's claims.

More interesting to me are the titles of several of Hauck's other books, including "Captain Quirk: the Unauthorized Biography of William Shatner," "William Shatner: A Bio-Bibliography," and "William Shatner: A Transformed Man."

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable read. However, there were quite a few editing issues and grammatical errors that might irritate people. A few of the suggestions for experiments seem ill-advised (like making/ingesting colloidal silver—I don’t need to turn myself into smurf, thanks). At one point, the author bluntly states that an alchemist would never take Prozac. Can we please stop shaming and stigmatizing people like this in the “spiritual” community? If Prozac helps you, take the Prozac. It rubbed me the wrong way and seemed an unnecessary comment. Still, this was a good primer and had many useful suggestions for meditations, visualization, etc.

[Taylor Ellwood · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent beginner primer to Western Alchemy and its tenets. The author does a good job of presenting and explaining the symbolism of Western Alchemy, and the relationship of the planetary and elemental energies to alchemy. More importantly, he emphasizes the importance of doing internal work and explains how Western Alchemy can be used for internal work. This is an excellent starter book for anyone who wants to learn about the fundamental basics of alchemy.

[Hannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book itself is worth a read, but do yourself a small mercy and find a copy of the 2004 first edition from Citadel Press. This second edition is self-published and in absolute shocking need of an editor. Special characters are incorrectly rendered. Entire paragraphs repeat. OCR errors abound. Mangled sentence fragments are common. The author isn’t even sure if his vanity press is called Crucible, or Athenor. Maybe this is an alchemical riddle? But damn if it wasn’t all a bit grating. I am interested in reading other titles from the author because I am captured by the complexity of the subject matter, but I’m also a little nervous 😂

[Guy Toley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Changes inside and out

I started reading this way time of personal challenges. The text here not only offers the introduction of alchemical concept, it also helped me find some peace and insight about how to navigate and transform these challenges.
The explanations as limited as they are seem to have a way of opening up more information to the reader.

[بـــد ر · Rating 2 out of 5]

Nice starting chapters with interesting ideas, but as you go on, it becomes a good linguistic, scientific, philosophical, and historical comedy book filled with varying errors and glaring false biases.

[Bryan Yu · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very captivating read.
There are many editing errors / typos that distracted me. Hard to buy into the quality of the content when so many mistakes were overlooked.

[February Four · Rating 1 out of 5]

If you are truly a believer in alchemy, this may be the book for you. However, if you have any knowledge of science (chemistry in particular, but some biology will help too) then reading this will be an exercise of your patience and your tolerance for reading without retaining information. I gave up after page 7 because my incredulity exceeded tolerable levels.

[Josh Egert · Rating 1 out of 5]

I have no idea how this was published the amount of typos is unreal. Still some bits were interesting enough. So many misguided attempts at displaying an understanding of science that paired with the typos led me to doubt the authors credibility

[Jon Diablo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Nice simple introduction to Alchemy.