The fifteen plates of the Mutus Liber "the Mute Book," are well known, and this book without words is recognized as a classic of the seventeenth-century alchemical tradition. Although the engravings seem to outline an alchemical process in detail, their message is not immediately obvious and it really requires a commentary to make it intelligible to the present-day reader. Adam McLean's extensive commentary on this series of engravings reveals the Mutus Liber as a synthesis of spiritual, soul, and physical alchemy. While the entire secret of the physical process is not fully revealed in the plates, enough information is given to piece together details of a modus operandi/ indeed, modern French alchemists like Canseliet and Barbault have found great inspiration and hints relating to the physical work in the Mutus Liber. As one of the most significant documents of the alchemical tradition, this edition of the Mutus Liber will be appreciated by all students of the Hermetic tradition, for Adam McLean's fascinating and insightful commentary throws a penetrating light on both the spiritual and physical dimensions of the Great Work.

Mandalas have long been recognized in Eastern spiritual traditions as important tools for focusing meditation. Though various Western traditions possess such contemplative tools, they have not often been recognized as such. McLean remedies this by presenting, and analyzing in great depth, over forty beautiful engravings, reproduced as full-page illustrations, from alchemical, kabbalistic, magical, Rosicrucian, and Hermetic sources. This second edition of the first book exclusively dedicated to the mandala tradition in the West is an extremely valuable sourcework for its illustrations and commentaries. Not only is it a comprehensive guide to reading the cosmological and spiritual symbolism of alchemical engravings, it also outlines three ways for working with these mandalas as spiritual exercises.

The Mutus Liber is an epistemological treatise. The alchemical laboratory is the mind. In it, thoughts are chemical compounds and their processes are reactions producing knowledge. The operation works on the mind. The alchemical transmutation takes place in the mind, by the mind and through the mind in all its stages, conscious, subconscious, unconscious and beyond. Therefore, the key to interpret the plates and to open the mouth of the Mute Book is gnoseological. The chemical elements, consequently, are only metaphors to describe the epistemic process.

The only high-quality yet affordable edition available of the classic alchemical manuscript Splendor Solis, described as "the most magnificent treatise on alchemy ever made". Includes up-to-date commentary from experts in the field and a modern translation of the 16th-century text. A magnificent edition of the Splendor Solis for all those interested in alchemy, magic and mysterious manuscripts. Popularly attributed to the legendary figure Salomon Trismosin, the Splendor Solis ('Splendour of the Sun') is the most beautiful alchemical manuscript ever made, with 22 fabulous illustrations rich in allegorical and mystical symbolism. The paintings are given a fitting showcase in this new Watkins edition, which accompanies them with Joscelyn Godwin's excellent contemporary translation of the original 16th-century German text, as well as interpretation from alchemical experts Stephen Skinner and Georgiana Hedesan, and from Rafal T. Prinke, an authority in central and Eastern European esoteric manuscripts. Stephen Skinner explains the symbolism of both the text and the illustrations, suggesting that together they describe the physical process of the alchemical transmutation of base metal into gold. Rafal T. Prinke explains the theories about the authorship of both text and illustrations, discussing Splendor Solis as the turning point in alchemical iconography passing from the medieval tradition to that of the Baroque and the reasons for the misattribution of Splendor Solis to Poysel and Trismosin. Georgiana Hedesan looks at the legendary figure of Salomon Trismosin and his creation by followers of Theophrastus Paracelsus as part of an attempt to integrate their master in a lineage of ancient alchemical philosophers. The images are taken from the British Library manuscript Harley 3469, the finest example of the Splendor Solis to survive.

ALCHEMY AND ITS MUTE BOOK. In the year of foundation in 2010, we published Br. Magaphon’s commentary on the Mutus Liber – the Book Without Words. This year we offer commentary on the Mutus Liber from Magaphon’s friend and associate: Eugène Canseliet. Canseliet had a most pivotal role in the transmission of the alchemical tradition in Europe in the 20th century. Canseliet may not quite touch upon the innermost secrets of the book, as becomes obvious from the preface of Br. Exoslius, yet this book still offers a most formidable insight in the Visual Language of the Alchemists of old.

"The Origin of Language remains as completely original and unprecedented (and intellectually demanding and satisfying) today as when it was originally published, so much so as to constitute a kind of intellectual scandal"--