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THE PHILOSOPHER'S STONE 171 life of the physical senses. The Arcana of Hermetic Philosophy were thus of necessity conveyed in symbolical terms, which could only be interpreted by those who acquired the key to their interpretation.
To those of my readers who wish to study the works of some of the great alchemists at first hand, I recommend the small collection of treatises made available to English readers by that profound scholar, mystic, and mason, A. E. Waite, entitled, “The Hermetic Museum". In one of these works, “The Water-Stone of the Wise”, the author makes it clear that the discovery of the Earthly Stone is a gift from God, descending by the clemency of the Celestial Stone, and that "he on whom the Most High has conferred the knowledge of this Mystery esteems mere money and earthly riches as lightly as the dirt in the streets.” To Jacob Böhme, "the Stone is Christ, the son of the Living God, which discovereth itself in all those that seek and find it.”
As to the possibility of the preparation of the Philosopher's Stone, the secret of secrets lay in a knowledge of the first matter. This was called by many names, and the difficulty the seeker encounters is at once indicated when it is stated that this secret has never been divulged
