Use of Blood in Alchemy

From: "Corey Brand"

Has anyone come across any references in alchemy that may call for the use of blood in the Great Work? I'm not talking about making plant or animal stones, but the Great Work with the metals.
In ceremonial magic, I am aware that some operations may benefit by blood sacrifice. Not any blood with do, either. A true sacrifice calls for the blood of the magus himself. This compensates the forces of Nature for their gift and adds vitality to his operation.
Thinking back to the old belief that blood = life, I keep seeing the image of Aquarius the water-bearer pouring new life into the earth.
This leads me to further conclude that if I were to perform the work with the metals, I should first vitalize my Prime Matter with a blood sacrifice (giving it my blood) and thus feed the life within it.
This also binds the Matter to myself, it evolving with me, and I evolving with it.
I also see the fact that blood, once given the time to decompose, will probably turn black and powdery. Aren't we dealing with the "science of the Black Earth," and shouldn't the Prime Matter be black and powdery when it has reached the 3rd degree of corruption?
I am beginning to think I may be truly on to something. I look forward to comments/criticisms.

Best regards,
Corey

From: [email protected]
In ceremonial magic, I am aware that some operations may benefit by blood sacrifice. Not any blood with do, either. A true sacrifice calls for the blood of the magus himself.
It is said by some that the blood of the Adept is capable of effecting a transmutation. They indicated that the transmutations of St. Germain used this method. Bacstrom wrote a treatise on blood work.

Russ

From: "Jon Marshall"

My impression was that lots of alchemists investigated blood and its properties, because so many of them say its not the right way to go;

One example Ripley:

In Eggs, in Vitryoll, or in Blod,
What ryches wene they there to fynde;
Yf they *Philosophy* undefstode,
They wold not in worchyng be so blynd,
Gold to seke, or Sylver out of Kynd:
For lyke as Fyre of brennyng the pryncyple ys,
So is the pryncyple of gildyng, Gold, I wys.

Yf thou intend therfore to make
Gold and Sylver by craft of our *Philsophy*;
Thereto nother Eggs nor Blood thou take,
But Gold and Sylver whych naturally,
Calcyned wysely, and not manually,
And new generacyon wyll forth bryng
Incresyng theyr kynde as doth ech thyng.
(Ashmole Theatrum Chemicum Britanicum p132).

Philalethes commenting upon this:

"If Gold and Silver be your intention to produce, in what would you find them? in Eggs in Blood, in Salts, or such things? what a madness is this? to what end think you these operations will tend? what conformity is there between what you seek, and that which you take in hand?"
(Ripley reviv'd 1678: p161, 1994: p223)

Instances could I think easily be multiplied, of course such ardency is perhaps suspicious.

Manly P. Hall quotes Eliphas Levi as follows (un-sourced quote)

"Blood is the first incarnation of the universal fluid; it is the materialised *vital light*. Is birth is the most marvelous of nature's marvels; it lives only by perpetually transforming itself, for it is the universal Proteus... It can be allied neither to corruption nor death; when life is gone it begins decomposing; if you know how to reanimate it, to infuse into it life by a new magnetism of its globules, life will return to it again. The universal substance, with its double motion, is the great arcanum of being; blood is the great arcanum of life" (Man: Grand Symbol of the Mysteries, p173)

And here finally from Michael Scot, how to turn copper into gold:

"Take the blood of a ruddy man and the blood of a red owl, burning saffron, Roman vitriol, resin well pounded, natural alum, Roman alum, sugared alum, alum of Castile, red tartar, marcasite, golden alum of Tunis which is red and salt.
These ingredients are to be pounded in a mortar, passed through sieves, treated with urine of an animal called taxo, or with the juice of wild cucumber, then dried, brayed again and put in a crucible with the copper" (Thorndike, Michael Scot p113)

Of course even here the blood of a ruddy man could be as literal as the blood of the green lion.

But before leaving I'd be interested in knowing where Russ heard about St.Germain's blood from?

Jon

From: [email protected]

Hi Jon,

From Jean Dubuis during a conference in Paris this year. It is certain that he does not consider this *the* way to go, in that the blood of adepts is not as common as antimony or similar materials. I am not sure where he read it or heard it but will ask.
In my opinion, blood work using the blood of anyone else poses risks that I don't care to deal with.

Russ