The Summary of Philosophy is a short alchemical work attributed to Nicolas Flamel. It was originally published as De la transformation métallique in Paris by Guillaume Guillard in 1561.
Nicolas Flamel is one of the better-known alchemists of the pre-Paracelsus era and an individual that we are lucky enough to have some historic record for. He was a Parisian born around 1330 and died on 22 March 1418. He spent the early part of his career as a scribe and manuscript-seller who, as legend says, became phenomenally wealthy after he learned the art of alchemy from a Jewish converso while on the road to Santiago de Compostela in 1378. He reportedly made the Philosopher’s Stone and the Elixir of Life after translating and practising the teachings within the Book of Abramelin the Mage. However, this biography of Flamel was published nearly 200 years after his death in the Livre des figures hiéroglyphiques in 1612 and the validity of its accuracy is debated. In any case, there are several texts attributed to Flamel including Flamel’s breviary, The book of washing, The Book of hieroglyphic figures, and the work you are currently reading, the Summary of Philosophy.
The Summary of Philosophy is an alchemical masterpiece that uses alchemical and horticultural symbolism to describe the process of inner transmutation. The work sets out to describe the various aspects that make up an individual’s psyche and how the alchemist is to apply this newfound knowledge to bring to fruition the purification of the self, or the production of the Philosopher’s Stone.
To begin, Flamel breaks down the components of the human psyche. He tells us that transmutation, or change, begins in the “spirit” which is divided into two principles, the active conscious principle, sulphur, and the passive unconscious principle, quicksilver. Sulphur, or the conscious mind, is composed of fire (action) and air (thought). Quicksilver, or the unconscious mind, is divided into earth (fertility or creativity) and water (emotion). Flamel says:
“Common gold, which is a perfect metal, and silver, and all the imperfect metals, are developed out of mercury.”
If the various metals are synonymous with the various states of purification in an individual, then we see that these states are all developed through the unconscious mind (mercury or quicksilver). The tract tells us that mercury itself is made up of the moon and the sun, or that which is invisible to consciousness and that which is visible to consciousness. When these two principles are united, or, once the conscious and unconscious mind are working together, they naturally begin to manifest, which Flamel describes in the following:
“When those two spirits have grown up, and their two varieties of seed awake, they desire to assume their own proper bodies.”
According to Flamel, Mercury’s initial manifestation, product, or coagulation will be lead, which we know to be the most base of the metals. We are warned though to not stop the process here as the lead itself can be further improved upon. If we peer through the symbolism, we might see that as the student begins the alchemical process of the purification of self, we will inevitably first find that the initial product of our inner work will not be the perfection we hoped for, but a far baser and gross version of ourselves. However, Flamel likens this to unripe fruit that if allowed time and further work, will continue to get better. He warns:
“As soon as you sever the connection with the parent mercury, that growth of the grain must immediately come to an end; it is as though the unripe fruit had been plucked from the tree.”
As the student works through the alchemical process, a connection to the unconscious (mercury) must be kept at all times. If we ignore the unconscious, the power for transmutation of the self is destroyed and whatever product has been produced will be all there is.
“When you have once removed an unripe pear or apple from its native branch, it would be foolish indeed to join it to the tree once more and expect it to ripen. Instead of growing, it will gradually shrivel up and become smaller.”
Flamel continues his analogy of fruit trees and advises us that once we begin to see fruit, or progress, we must change our physical circumstances to those that are more conducive to better growth. For example, if one is surrounded by toxic friends, then progress may demand that the individual leave them and find those with a brighter, growth mindset. As the tree is analogous to mercury, or the unconscious, we can also understand this as meaning one should stop feeding the unconscious mind with things that would poison it, and begin to feed it with productive items. The unconscious is fed through the choices of the conscious mind, so one might consciously choose to begin feeding the unconscious with poetry and philosophy instead of the cheap media that is so common in society. Flamel says:
“This tree we must transplant, without gathering its fruit, into a better and richer soil, and to a sunnier spot. Then its fruit will receive more nourishment in a single day than it was wont to receive in a hundred years, while it was still in its former sterile soil.”
Again and again, Flamel tells us that mercury contains gold and silver which the mercury can naturally grow and multiply. This is to say that we already have gold, or perfection, within us, and that we only need to feed the unconscious (mercury) correctly to allow for natural growth, which eventually results in coagulation or manifestation.
“I wish you to understand that Mercury, which is a most excellent tree and contains silver and gold in an indissoluble form, must be taken and transplanted into a soil that is nearer to the Sun (i.e., in this case, gold), where it may flourish exceedingly, and be abundantly watered. Where it was planted before, it was so shaken and weakened by the wind and the frost, that but little fruit could be expected from it. So there it remained for a long time and bore no fruit.”
Flamel gives us one final piece of advice before closing his tract. He tells us that the work is gentle, natural, and occurs in its own time, though this can be slightly quickened by the alchemist. He likens the work to that of the development of chicken eggs and says:
“The preparation is so simple that it might be seen to by a woman while she works at her spindle—just as she might set a hen on some eggs, without washing them first, and without any other trouble but that of turning the eggs every day that the chickens may break the shells all the sooner […] If you do this there will come out a chicken that will deliver you with its blood from all diseases, feed you with its flesh, and clothe you with its feathers, and shelter you from the cold.”
The symbolism here is that the chicken is the source of the gentle heat, symbolic of the active conscious attention we give to the process, the egg is the passive unconscious that is developing the product, and time is that natural process that can be sped up through applying the alchemical process, and the chick is the final manifestation – the coagulated product of the work.
Flamel’s tract gives a brief outline to the reader of how the human psyche is divided into various principles, namely the conscious and unconscious mind, which are in themselves made up of various parts. He then describes how these parts can be brought into conjunction so that over time and through proper cultivation the work will conclude with the birth of the symbolic chicken.