The Secret of the Ancient Alchemist (20 page)

Hart stared at
the image of the stern-faced man dressed in robes. “What else do
you of him?”

“
He was
autocratic and the person who decided what was heresy. He destroyed
every semblance of alchemy.”

“
I guess
there’s nothing of it you can show me.”

“
No, Mr.
Hart.”

Hart knew that
Akhmim was the central point of alchemists. The city was known for
magic like healing. He was disappointed and it showed. He was
hoping that Salaam could have directed him to something.

“
You’re
sure, Salaam?”

“
I’m
sure. D’you know what a Geniza is?”

“
No,”
Hart sighed.

“
It’s a
literary cemetery, a place where books had been buried. One existed
here. I don’t believe there’s anything left of it. The Book of
Proverbs, which is a fourth century text, was discovered here in
1904.”

“
You
think the Gospel of Mary Magdalene was lodged here?”

“
There
was a heavy presence of Gnosticism in Egypt. I checked around after
you called me, thinking a copy might have showed up. But, I didn’t
find anything. If it’s not here, then, I doubt you’ll find it
anywhere else in Egypt. I brought you here to give you an idea
where the gospel may have originated.”

“
I’m glad
you did. This place is amazing.”

Hart was
staring at a deep abyss. There were passages in the walls that
ended in foreboding darkness. He gasped. A momentary stream of
light revealed an object. It was lodged at the bottom of a pit.
With the light gone, the pit was pitch-dark again.

“
Hand me
your light,” he shouted to Salaam.

By the light of
the torch, they could see the outline of an old and worn
manuscript. Hart could barely make out the etchings on its
cover.

“
What do
you think it could be?”

“
Whatever
it is, you can’t get it, Mr. Hart. There are snakes in that
pit.”

“
Hold the
torch a minute.”

“
Mr.
Hart, what are you doing?” Salaam panicked.

Hart took a
deep breath and jumped on a ledge. His feet slipped on broken mud
and he landed on the floor. Circling him were hissing asps. He
stretched his hand as far as he could. The manuscript was four feet
away. He grabbed it and looked up. He could see Salaam’s body
hanging down the pit, his right arm extended.

Chapter 43

“
Alchemy
comes from Al-Kimia, a Persian word. This is an eight century work
of Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Mr. Hart. He promulgated
Takwin
, the creation of artificial life, an act that
tapped the spiritual forces of nature.”

“
He used
five elements, air, ether, earth, fire, water, and, maybe two
metallic elements to do it. Now, we can see how.”

Hart took a
gulp of water from a bottle and sank to the ground holding the
manuscript in his hand.

“
This is
quite an amazing find,” Salaam commented. “Hayyan was an
astronomer, a mathematician and a notable alchemist. You know what
he said?”

“
What,
Salaam?”

“
His
works were intended for those who accepted God as a creator. It was
not for unbelievers. In essence, he fiercely guarded his
works.”

Hart turned the
sheets of the manuscript. “It’s coded, Salaam.” Disappointment ran
deep for Hart was obsessed with alchemy. Zosimos, the Greek
alchemist who had lived in Akhmim came to mind. He defined alchemy
as a process of drawing spirits from bodies of matter. He referred
to a hermetic bowl which represented the divine mind and into which
an initiate could be baptised and travel to different realms. “Can
anyone decipher Hayyan’s code?”

“
One
would need a steganographer.”

“
A
what?”

“
Steganography is the art of writing hidden
messages.”

“
Why’s
this work encrypted?”

“
Hayyan
wrote for those who attended his alchemical school. It is said he
created life forms in a lab. He claimed his mystical science of
transmutating matter came from Hermes Trismegetus.”

“
Hermes
Trismegetus?”

“
Yes.”

“
Hermes
was a god. He was also known as Thoth.”

“
He was
around before Moses. Some claim Moses and Abraham acquired their
mysticism from him. The
Hermetica
is a work attributed to Hermes Trismegetus.”

“
According to it, he used stones, alien matter, to render
health and eternity. I sure wish I knew how it all operated,
Salaam.”

“
I doubt
if anyone really knows. The classic elements of alchemy represent
different states of matter.”

“
Yeah, I
know that.”

“
There
is, however, a sixth state.”

“
There
is?”

“
It’s
hidden and is supposed to affect the other states.”

Hart was deep
in thought over what Salaam said. What was he missing, he
questioned as his mind sought answers.

“
How
could I be so foolish!” he soon exclaimed.

“
Mr.
Hart?” Salaam frowned.

“
How
could I be so foolish? How could I?”

“
What is
it, Mr. Hart?”

“
I know
what the sixth state is.”

“
You do?”
Salaam didn’t hide his disbelief.

“
Was
Hayyan extremely religious?”

“
He was
extremely devout. He would not share his knowledge with
disbelievers.”

“
The
missing element is mind, pure mind!
Where the mind is, there lies the
treasure
.” Hart’s voice
boomed in the dank air of the ancient monastery as he paced the mud
floor. “All miracle workers of the past had one thing in common and
that was complete devotion.”

“
Mind,
you say?” Salaam was trying to fathom Hart’s argument.

“
Supernatural mind that comes from our inner realm through
meditation. Hayyan’s mind was probably close to the universal mind.
It’s like they operated together.”

“
You’re
sure humans could access supernatural power from within, Mr.
Hart?”

“
I know
they can, Salaam.”

“
Have you
heard of the Emerald Tablet also called The Secret of
Hermes?”

“
No.”

“
It’s
another text that’s attributed to Hermes. There’re many
translations of it, including one by Newton.”

“
Newton?”

“
Yes. The
text makes reference to
Prima Materia
, the unidentifiable base of matter.”

“
Of
course,” Hart’s memory clicked in. “In ancient times, Prima Materia
was ascribed to things like heaven and light, but, the Greek
philosopher, Anaxagoras, ascribed it to
nous
or mind. The universal mind is the base of matter.
Devout alchemists manipulated its powers. They healed, created, and
transformed.”

“
The
Arabic translation of the Emerald Tablet declares that all things
arise from one by adaptation. Newton said: Its force or power is
entire.
By
this means, ye shall have the glory of the whole
world
.”

“
You see,
we are destined to be gods.”

“
Maybe,
Mr. Hart.”

They exited the
ancient monastery and passed through the courtyard that housed the
tombs of ancient governors and made their way to the waiting
taxi.

“
Jerusalem may be your best shot at finding the gospel
pages. I know that you believe a full explanation of our life and
where we go after death exist in those pages.”

“
I
do.”

“
I spoke
to a guy in Tel Aviv called Eli Yehudi. He’ll do all he can to
help. He’s a very knowledgeable man.”

“
What’s
his lead?”

“
The
Calouste Gulbenkian Library. It’s under the care of the Armenian
Patriarchate.”

“
Oh?”
Hart shuddered. They were a strict lot who imposed restrictions on
everything.

“
Don’t
worry. Eli would’ve spoken to them.”

The sun blazed
the golden sands below a raw blue sky as the car took a road back
to the city. Hart spoke again.

“
Did you
get any leads on the Secret Gospel of Mark, Salaam?” Hart hadn’t
forgotten about the gospel Malaki Thoplikos mentioned. Thoplikos
had said it was introduced into Alexandria by Apostle Mark in the
second century.

“
It seems
that gospel was intended for an inner circle of early Christians.
It wasn’t for the public. A letter written by Clement purporting
the gospel’s existence was found at the monastery of Mar Saba on
the West bank.”

“
What was
in Clement’s letter?”

“
Clement
regarded it as a spiritual version. He quoted from it.”

“
He did?”
Hart was very surprised.

“
Clement
also claimed the Secret Gospel of Mark was circulated by Gnostics
of the Carpocration sect.”

“
What do
you know about them?”

“
What we
know comes from Irenaeus of Lyons. He was a Gnostic hater. Irenaeus
said they practiced magic and adorned an image of Christ with
paintings of Plato, Aristotle and Pythagoras.”

Hart imbibed it
all. He pictured Clement as a far-thinking man trying desperately
to resolve the issue of absolute reality. He smiled. Thousands of
years later, he was trying to do the same.

“
What
exactly did Clement say about the secret gospel,
Salaam?”

“
That the
mystery of an inner kingdom was discussed in the
gospel.”

“
Oh?”

“
Further,
Clement claimed instructions were given by Mark for those persons
who wanted to be perfected by the kingdom.”

“
Really?”
Hart recalled what little he knew of human perfection. A perfect
human could be smaller than an atom or larger than a mountain. He
could achieve any material effect like creating a planet, have
control of others and travel anywhere in the universe. To achieve
this state, a person had to access super consciousness within. It
was the highest state available to humans. “What were the
instructions? Did Clement say in his letter?”

“
We don’t know anything about those instructions, Mr. Hart.
We would never know as the Secret Gospel of Mark was never found.
Eli Yehudi may know more of it.”

Chapter 44

Hart had taken
a bus to Jerusalem City. From where he stood, he could see the wall
of King Solomon’s Temple. At 24 degrees in the open sun, he didn’t
think the city was a hot place. He looked out at the stone terraces
that kept the soil from eroding and wondered what the city would
have been like if it had had its original pine and almond
forests.

He looked up as
a man approached. Eli Yehudi was a forty-two year old scholar who
had settled back in his home after traveling the world. He was of
medium built and wore a shawl across his white shirt. His head was
covered with a kippah.

“
A
pleasure to meet you.” Eli’s white teeth were as discernible as his
bright smile.

“
Same
here, Eli.”

“
Come
this way.”

Eli led him to
a coffee shop that was a block away. Hart gazed around and felt
part of an ambiance that was unhurried. The surrounding trees
filtered sun on the table where they sat. It was 8.30 A.M.

“
Where
shall we begin, Mr. Hart?”

“
Would
you happen to know anything about the Secret Gospel of
Mark?”

“
Oh!” the
Jew responded.

“
Do think
there’s truth to its existence?”

“
I do,
although some will deny it. Through Clement of Alexandria we know
that the gospel existed. Clement’s letter was sound and couldn’t
have been forged. Such things didn’t happen, so I see no reason to
suggest the gospel never ever existed. Many argue that the canon
gospel is a rewrite of the original gospel and some say there are
separate texts. The original was supposed to convey secret
knowledge to a select few. There would have only been a few
copies.”

“
Is there
any way to know of this knowledge, anyway at all?”

“
Of
course not, but I can discuss the mystical teachings that led to
all the monasteries that exist today.”

“
I don’t
want a discussion of miracles, visions and a contemplation of the
soul. I want the gnosis. I want the secrets.”

“
You will
not find them. Only the apostles would have known, and scripture
tells us they followed the teachings of a kingdom which leads to
salvation.”

“
What do
you know of the kingdom?”

“
The
problem for me lies with its translation. The Hebrew word for
kingdom is
malkuth
or
realm.”

“
I
see.”

“
According to the Kabala, there are many realms, the lowest
being the material realm. The Essenes would not have known of any
connection between mind and matter but they were mystical, devoid
of worldly needs. According to Hippolytus of Rome, they spoke of a
nature which is both hidden and revealed at the same time, a
kingdom which is in a human. They believed in prophecy.”