To practise this kind of Alchemy he will require no books, no furnaces and no tools; for he is himself the alembic, the fire and the substance to be ennobled. There, in his silent laboratory and with doors closed against all vain and carnal desires and selfish thoughts, he may _mortify_ his terrestrial nature by gaining the victory of self-control, so that his higher nature may become _liberated_ from animal bonds by entering into the _resurrection_ from the tomb of ignorance into the light of self-knowledge. To accomplish this he will have to _purify_ his mind and let his soul become _animated_ by the power of the spirit of truth; that which is inert in him must become _sublimated_ in the fire of divine love, so as to rise to heaven in the shape of holy aspirations, while the smoke of sophistry, dogmatism, false science and self-righteousness must be permitted to pass out through the chimney, to return no more. In this way will he be able to find the way of combining {symbol} with {symbol} and thus to make it into substantial gold that will last through eternity. The above will be sufficient to give a hint in regard to the character of Alchemy and its relation to chemistry. Between these two aspects there is a third one, namely, what may be called “Astral Alchemy.” _The Alchemy of the Astral Plane._—As the lower Alchemy requires for its practice the faculties of the physical body, and the celestial Alchemy the energy of the spirit having become a power in the body of man: so the practice of Alchemy in dealing with that which belongs to the astral plane requires the evolution of consciousness and perception in the astral organism of man; for in the majority of those who live on the physical plane, the astral form is as unconscious of its surroundings upon the plane to which it belongs, and as ignorant of their nature, as a babe is ignorant of the meanings of things in this world. It is, however, not our purpose to enter into this subject, as this would bring us into the almost inexhaustible realm of spiritism, hypnotism, witchcraft and sorcery: all of which things are superstitions if believed in by those who know nothing about their laws, but realities for those who know the laws by which such phenomena take place.[28] The key to the understanding of these phenomena is in the realization of the truth that the Universe is a manifestation of power upon the three planes of existence. The spiritual plane has its seven states of existence, representing self-conscious intelligent powers, thrones and dominions, angels and archangels, all of these being manifestations of the primordial cause called _God_. The physical plane has its seven states of existence, represented as powers in which consciousness is still latent. In the _middle region_, the astral plane, we also find again seven states of existence in the form of living forces attaining consciousness in the organization of man. There