The Philosopher's Stone - no, this has nothing to do with Harry Potter.
The wise man Wikipedia describes it as "a mythical alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold or silver." Alchemists believe this substance exists, but not in physical form, and it probably can't create real gold from real mercury. The actual philosopher's stone exists as a description for 'substances' involved in alchemical transmutation. Let's do a quick exercise so you can get a feel of how transmutation works.
Activity: Alchemical Breathing - Turn Your Moments into Gold
Take a moment to notice the current moment you are in. Ask yourself: Where are you? What are you doing? How are you feeling?
Now, focus on your breath. On inhale, accept that your current moment is what it is - the present. Simply accept this moment as it is. No matter how good or bad, this is happening right now.
On exhale, appreciate the moment.
Repeat a few times.
Try to appreciate as much of the moment as you can. It it is a nice moment, bask in its warmth. If it is a bad moment, at least try to appreciate some positive aspect about it. If the moment completely sucks, appreciate that this moment will end; appreciating the fleeting quality of bad moments can be just as empowering as the appreciation of existing within a happy one.
The purpose of this process is to allow you to transmute any given moment into a more positive situation. Whether you consider it psychology or magick, frequent practice with Alchemical Breathing trains the mind to see the world in a different light. It can be done in any moment, no matter how quiet or chaotic, it only takes intention and a single breath to accept and appreciate.
I created and began using this technique during a particularly rough semester of college, where I was stuck in two weekly lectures led by a hateful math professor with a titanic ego who lived to make class miserable. Looking at the clock, I accepted that I was in the class at that particular time, and that I was essentially held hostage there by my GPA for over an hour. I appreciated that I would be out of this class in an a little over hour and that I could eat & have a break after. His combative attitude often revealed the fragility of his ego, and I appreciated noticing his cracks. I appreciated the moral high ground, remembering that I was just one member of an entire class who found him to be a miserable man. I also appreciated that this awful professor who abused his power would have it essentially taken away at the end of the day, when his miserable personal life kicked in and he was left with nobody to talk down to.
"Schadenfreude!"
It's simply appreciating the balance. I was being spoken at by a dictator-wannabe and I found peace in comprehending the reality that he created for himself as a result of his own actions.
I repeated this exercise every time I was in class. I know it sounds like I hated him so much that I'd block out anything he said, but that wasn't the case. Despite his personality, he knew how to break down the math to be understandable (I appreciated that). I would accept and appreciate, and I would listen to his lecture while taking detailed notes. When professor Hyde lost his temper, I sat with an inner smile, appreciating the image of him stomping around his empty house yelling at his furniture.
In short, Alchemical Breathing simply asks you to accept and appreciate a moment, empowering you to transmute it into a good moment (gold). The Hermetic philosophy would consider this a transmutation of negative (or neutral) energy into positive energy.
But what does this have to do with the Philosopher's Stone?
Alchemical Breathing is only one form of transmutation. Inner transmutation is possible in a variety of forms. The philosopher's stone 'substance' (more about this term later) is what you're tapping into when in the process of transmutation, though is more noticeable/identifiable during larger transformations. It is also what you are improving upon every time you do alchemical workings. Alchemists call the improvement of the Philosopher's Stone "the great work".
So, is Philosopher's Stone only in the mind?
Yes and no. There is no literal philosopher's stone that you're going to be able to hold in your hand, but the energetic transmutation made possible by the philosopher's stone can absolutely be used in the material realm, and the gold created can be more real than you may think.
Next time, we'll dive into the basic elements of magic in alchemy.