An excerpt about Art Kunkin from the Time/Life Book "Secrets Of The Alchemists"
Submitted by Art Kunkin on Thu, 2006-08-31 19:45.
"Secrets of the Alchemists," by the editors of Time-Life Books, 1990. (This book is available in most public libraries. I recommend this book to you). The following excerpt is from pages 133, 134 and 135 of this book. Art
"One of America's most renowned twentieth- century alchemists, Albert Riedel, was born in Dresden, Germany in 1911. Riedel came to the United States when he was seventeen and lived in California for many years before founding the Paracelsus Research Society (PRS)in Salt Lake City under a new name he selected for himself, Frater Albertus.
"Albertus was reportedly a harsh taskmaster. As one follower said, 'His method was true to the code of alchemy: to not give anything away on a platter, but to make you work for it. To sweat for it.' He taught his students to employ their alchemy primarily on plants, applying the theory of Basil Valentine and other antecedents that all matter was composed of sulfur (representing the soul), mercury (the spirit) and salt (the body, or 'vehicle of transformation').
"In Frater Albertus's laboratories, disciples practiced a "three-fold process of separation" on herbs and succulents extracting the "soul" and "spirit" and burning the leftovers to purify the "body." These three "essentials" were reconstituted into a substance called plant stone, which, according to a complex correspondence between the original plant and specific parts of the body, served as a powerful medicine. Tincture of rosemary, for example, was said to be good for the heart.
"The Paracelsus Society enjoyed its heyday in the 1960s and 1970s when it offered seminars to hundreds of enthusiasts and published a quarterly called Parachemy. Art Kunkin, who had founded the Los Angeles Free Press in the 1960s visited Albertus in 1980. Afterward he attempted some alchemical experiments on his own and claimed that by placing manganese in a petri dish with some bacteria, he successfuly transmuted it into iron. Moreover, he said that research into respected academic journals revealed to him that a U.S. Army unit in Virginia had successfuly performed the same experiment. (The Army was supposedly interested in capturing the energy produced by transmutation to power longer-lasting batteries).
"Kunkin was so impressed that he decided to pack up and move to Salt Lake City permanently, when he received a phone call from some students at the society warning that Frater Albertus was not a genuine adept. Far from being a spiritual master, said these disillusioned devotees, Albertus was a fraud and 'the Devil.' But Kunkin was determined to learn alchemy; he replied that if Albertus was the devil then he would 'go to study with the Devil.'
"Although he found no Satan, Kunkin learned the hard way that Frater Albertus was stingy with his knowledge. 'Frater's nature was to teach up to a certain point,' recalled Kunkin, 'then he would freeze up and nothing more would be forthcoming.' Albertus's secrecy and egotism eventually drove Kunkin back to California. The Paracelsus Society appears to have perished with the death of Frater Albertus in 1984, although some of his followers went on to other alchemical pursuits...."
(A CORRECTIVE NOTE ADDED HERE BY ART KUNKIN TO THIS EXCERPT FROM THE TIME-LIFE BOOK) I am obviously one of those students of Albertus who continued research into alchemy and, twenty-some years later after leaving PRS, was fortunate enough to make the very important discoveries I write about in my book. I am very, very grateful to Frater Albertus for starting me on this path.
In my "Alchemy Secrets of Life Extension" book I say far more about the alchemical course of studies at the Paracelsus Research Society (PRS) and Albertus than given above. For now I only want to make one major correction to the Time/Life excerpt above.
The basic course of studies at PRS involved seven years of classes plus some additional advanced classes. A student would come to Salt Lake City for a two week class and then be given enough "homework" to last until he or she would return for the next class. (Albertus also taught classes in Australia and Europe almost every year). However, the Time/Life excerpt is incorrect in stating that the classes taught by Albertus and his assistants were primarily devoted to the herbal work with plants. Only the first "Prima Class" was mostly devoted to preparing tinctures from plants.
As I relate in my book, the succeeding classes were also devoted to working with minerals and metals such as antimony and lead plus subjects such as astrology, kabbalah, iridology, the oil of egg, etc. Therefore, the Time/Life book is entirely in error in stating that PRS and Albertus only focused on the herbal work, the Small Work of alchemy.
Not so incidentally, I completed all the seven years of classes and the additional advanced studies in the four years that I lived in Salt Lake City. I was privileged to complete the curriculum so rapidly because these were years in which I also edited the international journal of the society, Esentia, and thus had an office next door to that of Albertus. As editor of the magazine I was also fortunate to be in touch with the work being done by alchemical students in many countries.
I want to conclude this note by saying again that I am very, very grateful and indebted to Albertus (and his students) for teaching me the abc's of alchemy and permitting me access to his priceless collection of alchemical books. Now, through my book and my own classes and lectures, I intend to freely share this heritage with the world. Art Kunkin
