ABSTRACT
The Stone itself is one step further toward the supernatural. It sparkles with a beautiful reddish light, and has a fragrant smell. One alchemist claims it is “saffron-colored powder, very heavy,” glittering like “splinters of glass.” Another says it is red and shines like a ruby. The basic reason why the Stone is not fully supernatural is that Christ himself is the goal and subject of the alchemical work, and he was incarnated and walked on the earth. Most of what gets said about the Stone can be interpreted as a reference to Christ: like him, the Stone is the perfection of everything earthly, and it can perfect the earth in turn. The resurrected Christ makes many appearances in alchemical texts, where he mingles with odd alchemical companions. Christianus Adolphus Balduinus’s small etching of the philosopher’s garden is one of the sweetest alchemical utopias.
