issue 3 | page 6 20. january 2008 AD
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The Philosopher's Stone


Image Source: imageshack.us

There is in fact a Philosopher's Stone item right here in Kapi-Regnum which was released recently as a prize for three random winners who answer the various quizzes in the Sunday Puzzle correctly.

These items are Reputation Items, giving you an additional four points of Reputation, which can be stacked if you win multiple.
No special buildings, nor statuses are needed in order to win these items, nor to receive them - Only the ability to accept a contract.

The philosopher's stone (Latin: lapis philosophorum) is a legendary substance dating back before even that of the Middle Ages, and was supposedly capable of turning inexpensive metals into gold; it was also sometimes believed to be a means of making people younger, if not making them immortal.  The stone itself was believed to be made up of a number of different substances..

One of these by common belief was a mythical element named carmot, which Alchemists once thought it to be a key ingredient of the stone, however according to modern scientific knowledge, the element is no longer thought to exist, if it ever did.

The stone was thought to help amplify transmutations while doing alchemy, which is commonly referred to as having a literal meaning "Separate and Join Together". View the article on Alchemy for full information.

An 8th century Arab alchemist, Jabir ibn Hayyan analyzed each element in terms of the four basic qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. Fire was both hot and dry, earth cold and dry, water cold and moist, and air hot and moist.
He further theorized that every metal was a combination of these four principles, two of them interior and two exterior.

He believed that the transmutation of one metal to another through changing it's basic qualities. This was to be achieved called al-iksir or Elixir as it is more commonly known.. often seen as a dry red powder made from none other then the Philosopher's Stone.
Later during the 11th Century a Muslim Chemist named Avicenna discredited the theory that the qualities of metal could be transmuted into something else, only that an experienced chemist could produce the appearance of such a change.

Various other stories, or legends include such a legend that the 13th-century scientist and philosopher Albertus Magnus was said to have discovered the philosopher's stone and passed it to his student Thomas Aquinas, shortly before his death (circa) 1280. Although in his writings his did not confirm he had discovered the stone, or passed anything to his student. He did however include a note to say he had been witness to a metal been transmuted into gold.

In the 16th Century a Swiss alchemist, Philippus Paracelsus, actively believed in a solvent named "alkahest" which he thought to be an undiscovered element from which all four other elements of Fire, Air, Water and Earth derived from, and believed this substance was actually the Philosopher's Stone. Although it was purely hypothetical since it was believed to be so strong it could dissolve every other substance, including gold.

The theory of Jabir ibn Havyan however is the most viewed to date, and he is also believed to have been the inventor of a substance named Aqua Regia, a mixture of muriatic (hydrochloric) and nitric acids and one of few known substances able to dissolve gold, and which is used even today as part as the recovery of gold, and it's purification.

The actual metal Gold has been a valued metal for many centuries as a material that would not rust, tarnish, or even corrode over a course of many years, and since the Philosopher's Stone was believed to be an ingredient in turning a corruptible base metal into gold the theory that it would also make people Younger, or Immortal arose with the belief it would change a mortal (corruptible) person to immortal (incorruptible) just as gold itself, which was mostly researched into the possibly in China who even today have a higher average lifespan then the rest of the world because of such a healthy dietery.


© Therian

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