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possibilities suggested by the phenomena of trance we may infer that the operations of the alchemist were not confined to matter on the physical plane, but that they extended to the astral and spiritual planes of being. That the great work reached its conclusion on the spiritual plane is, I believe, hardly open to doubt. It is the old story told once again: the path to adeptship is the hard path of unremitting effort, untiring patience and unshakable devotion to a great ideal.
Listen to the initial dedication of one of the Alchemical Treatises referred to above: "To the Illustrious, Venerable, Saintly and Blessed Men, Adepts of the True Philosophy, Lovers of Virtue, Lords of Fortune, Despisers of the World, whose life is Holiness in Holiness, Knowledge in Knowledge, and whose Work consists in the Relieving of the Sick and Poor." Of such men as these the glorious Company of the Alchemists was formed. On such men descended the Light of the Logos, that mighty spiritual force whose presence is felt as it penetrates the soul and body of the worshipper in moments of spiritual exaltation. To them the secret of secrets is laid open, and the world of Nature appears as an external visible manifestation of an internal invisible power. They
