philosophers stone

what do you all know about the philosophers stone?

most of us know enough not to muck around with stuff like that... alchemy is dangerous on many levels.

wether its turning another metal to gold,or turning corruptible mortality..into incoruptible imortality..I agree with Balance it can be dangerous on many levels,

It is a symbol.. -_- for the most part..

I agree that the term does have symbloic use,but if you still want to know more ..here is a link and a part of it below....http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher's_stone

The concept apparently originated from the theories of the 8th century Islamic alchemist Geber. He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness. Thus, 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.

From this premise, it was reasoned that the transmutation of one metal into another could be effected by the rearrangement of its basic qualities. This change would presumably be mediated by a substance, which came to be called al-iksir in Arabic (from which comes the Western term "elixir"). It was often imagined as a dry powder, made from a mythical stone - the "philosopher's stone". The stone was believed to have been composed of a substance called carmot.

Geber's theory and the concept of the philosopher's stone may have been inspired by the knowledge that metals like gold and silver could be hidden in alloys and ores, from which they could be recovered by the appropriate chemical treatment. Geber himself is believed to be the inventor of aqua regia, a mixture of muriatic and nitric acids, which is one of the few substances that can dissolve gold (and is still often used for gold recovery and purification).


The Stone as a Spiritual Metaphor
Alchemy has always made extensive use of analogy, symbolism, and so forth to relate chemical and physical concepts to esoteric and mystic ones. In some epochs and contexts, these metaphysical aspects came to predominate, and the chemical processes were then viewed as mere symbols of spiritual processes.

In this hermetic side of alchemy, the "philosopher's stone", supposed to to be the most tangible and dense crystalization or condensation of a subtle substance, became a metaphor for an inner potential of the spirit and reason to evolve from a lower state of imperfection and vice (symbolized by the base metals) to a higher state of enlightenment and perfection (symbolized by gold). In this view, spiritual elevation, the transmutation of metals, and the purification and rejuvenation of the body were seen to be manifestations of the same concept.

The mystical revival in the late 20th century renovated the public interest on alchemy, and particularly on this metaphysical and philosophical conception of the philosopher's stone - which is now subscribed by many people, especially within several New Age movements.

it is also said that the philosophers stone was tied to the elixer of life, which was meant to grant immortality.
on any account, one of the ingredients to this elixir was supposedly gold, for the reason that it does not rust, dull, or show any method of aging, or so i read. also, another ingredient was believed to be mercury, and though this substance is highly toxic, it was still ingested in order to achieve immortality.
The stone and elixir couldve been tied by the need of gold, or a substance like it. i also once heard that a necessary ingredient to the stone was a human soul, which causes the stone to appear red, though i have no way of proving it, this is a possibility, due to the power of a soul.
maybe the philosophers stone was the key to the creation of the elixir of life, even so, i wish to learn about this stone. as for the information already posted, i already read that.

I do not know about alchemist names that much.. but the only one i admire and know.. is Nostradamus.

to delve a little further into the elixer of life... this is for all those who i speak to regularly and is a clue to the truth within ourselves... gold as an element can not be "made into" anything else within the body because it is an inorganic molecule, however, once the correct aloide of gold is ingested it is absorbed into the adrenal glands and kidneys. the body goes into a state of shock and with a release of adrenaline expunges the body of all toxins (when i say all i mean even the carbon monoxide in your blood to the flouride in your intestines) because there are no toxins in the body the cells are able to regenerate and replicate on a healthy level again... combined with universal freons (universal manna) and correct breathig techniques used in the right way in order to maintain and increase life energy. it is possible for a human being to keep the body at prime state. however... if even the smallest overdose is used. the deposits actually block the kidneys and when the body tries to flush out the toxins it builds up and you die from toxic overdose in the blood. so please. this is a warning to anyone silly. dont try it unless you have spent years researching and practicing all techniques and doses. also another booboo with gold. if you are allergic to it (about 37 % of the human population is) there are even bigger problems to worry about. gold causes the degenerating desease called multiple sclerosis, modern doctors can not confirm it yet because it is still quite a "new" desease, but chinese doctors and healers have documented this (eventually) fatal allergy since 200bc.

i didnt even know it was real, i thought it was only from the show full metal alchemist

it is true that ingesting in any metal can be fatal, maybe their is a part to that metal that holds this secret, think, the person who claimed to be successful suddenly dissapeared, and all evidence of its creation dissapeared, there must be some truth to this.