What is the philosophers stone?

reply to post by PlanetXisHERE


The New Age movement got its hands on alchemy and removed a lot of the physical and literal aspects, basically stripping it down to meaningless mystery that they could wrap around anything they wanted to write a book about. Terence McKenna, as much as I enjoy some of his stuff, was sometimes pretty bad about going too far with what he called, "the airy-fairy rap of a bardic irishman"... Sometimes I even think I'd add a "c" into that sentence somewhere, even though as I said, I really do enjoy his stuff, particularly the Esalen Trialogues. You just can't put a lot of stock in new agers unless you recognize what they are talking about from a more objective standpoint already.

The pineal gland is certainly interesting, whether you care to see it as an evolutionary vestige, or as the "mind's eye", or as having something to do with contacting other dimensonal planes, but there is no literal or alchemical connection to the philosopher's stone that I can see, nor is the metaphor even very apt.

Originally posted by The Vagabond

The pineal gland is certainly interesting, whether you care to see it as an evolutionary vestige, or as the "mind's eye", or as having something to do with contacting other dimensonal planes, but there is no literal or alchemical connection to the philosopher's stone that I can see, nor is the metaphor even very apt.

You seem more knowledgeable about this stuff than I - thanks for sharing your viewpoint.

However, even though I have been reading about these mysteries for less than a year, I have read and researched much, and have come to the conclusion that usually in ancient cultures third eye/single eye symbology points to the pineal gland, spiritual awakening, and attainment of enlightnment and sacred truths - and that unless many ancient cultures had some of weird fixation on pine cones - those also are directly symbolic of the pineal gland. Just look at my avatar - the pope today has one on his staff.

reply to post by PlanetXisHERE


To help me understand, what is it that you have read that leads you to believe that the ancient mystics were referring to the pineal gland? I have never seen reference to any part of the brain in any esoteric text, and would be intrigued to see.

reply to post by PlanetXisHERE


It is interesting that there are very old references to a 3rd eye, and that the pineal gland is in fact a vestigal eye of sorts, which in some older animals (reptiles in particular i think) is still sensitive to light which comes through their sinus passages and may play a role in circadian rhythms (sleep cycles basically).

There is a temptation to assume this is the 3rd eye that many of us are vaguely aware of being references in Hinduism, but like most westerners, I have no real understanding of Eastern religion and can't say if that's valid or not, and I tend to be very cautious about what I accept when I read things making this connection, as famous hacks like HP Blavatsky of the American Theosophical Society got their hands on it around the turn of the last century. These people were trying to prove modern mystic interpretations on various subjects by connecting older traditions to new scientific discoveries.

Among their failures was the attempt to prove the New Age version of Atlantis by inventing a never-before-recorded twin lost continent- Lemuria- to explain the geographic distribution of Lemurs in connection with Lamarkian evolution... the whole thing fell apart when continental drift was discovered and the scientific basis for theorizing on such a lost land went down in flames, leaving the new agers holding a story they had just plain made up and claimed to be an earlier discovery of a modern scientific discovery which turned out to be wrong.

It is possible that the equation of the pineal gland to the philosopher's stone and the third eye was another such attempt to join science and ancient tradition by twisting the ancient tradition.

That being said, I don't discount the possibility that there are amazing possibilities for the pineal gland which may be described as enlightening, not all of which can be discussed here because of the mechanism by which this might work. It is also possible that this is related to certain religious phenomenon and may have been in some part understood in ancient times (as i suspect it could be accidentally discovered through cannibalism). The connection to the philosopher's stone however is probably a modern invention, as might be at least some connections between the pineal gland and the third eye.

These are only my opinions however, as I am working from a very limited background in any kind of literature on these subjects, but mainly applying my own thoughts to various modern books on mysterious subjects and also the lectures of Terence McKenna, whom I have already admitted I distrust at times.

It should be understood that alchemy is not the same as the kabbalah ie the tree of life or in plain language the human spine. However according to ancient Indian text soma (the drink of immortality) is manufactured in the roof of the mouth called Talu Chakra (the secret chakra) not in the pineal gland between the eyes which is the center of manus ie the mind.

Originally posted by Doodle19815
reply to post by canyouhandletruth

 

I was intrigued by the title but left with no answer. Could you elaborate a little? Are you saying the philosopher stone is in all of us?

No you idiot!
He mocks you...
The "Philosopher's Stone" is a puppet like fool who falls prey to the wits of the grand philosopher and his/her incesant scheming.
Do not fall for this treachery!

Originally posted by canyouhandletruth
What is the philosophers stone?

Something to think about.

Phil = Feel [Nothing For You!]
O = Oh!?! [You're Surprised?!?]
So = So... [Get Over It Already!]
Phical = F@ck You... [I've moved On!]

There are many philosophies in the world. Yet one remains... "That's What It Means To Be A Man!"

Originally posted by canyouhandletruth
What is the philosophers stone?

Enlightenment.

What Is The "Philosopher's Timber" ???

Originally posted by canyouhandletruth
What is the philosophers stone?

They have been seeking it for eons

i will give more hints later, think

What does a philosopher use and we all have one

edit: i have never watched harry potty so its not in that

edit on 7-7-2012 by canyouhandletruth because: to ad more

Have a listen to the hermetic hour with Joeseph Farrell on you tube,very interesting touching on every little bit of the subject,well all but one.If that doesnt work,collect morning dew from a plant that does not earth to the ground and have a mess around with that.

Here's a revelation...

Man, long ago, doing his farming, stumbled upon a load of cow dung.
He did not want to work it up without pay. So... he devised to bag an idiot instead.
Sure enough... he scooped the poo... and ran along to the idiot.
He told the idiot... it will help his grass grow greener. So the idiot bought the bag of poo for 100.

Get it!?!

Was the bag made of leather? Was the pooper-scoop included, or did the farmer use his hands to scoop and bag the poo? (yuck)

reply to post by Pinocchio
Your narratives remind me of the Mullah Nasruddin. If you haven't read the stories about his exploits, seek them out...thank me later.