About the Author

Frater Albertus Spagyricus (Dr. Albert Richard Riedel, 1911-1984), was founder of the Paracelsus Research Society in Salt Lake City, which later evolved into Paracelsus College. Based on the Paracelsian concept of three essentials, Body, Soul, and Spirit, Frater Albertus developed a system of teaching alchemical concepts using the spagyric technique of separation and cohobation, or repeated distillation. The unique gradated courses allow students to explore aspects of the vegetable, mineral, and animal kingdoms in an understandable and accessible way. Frater Albertus had a profound effect on the way Alchemy and particularly the Spagyric method was disseminated and understood in the mid-to-late 20th century.

Reviews

"Alchemy has exerted a strange fascination over humankind for centuries. Over the years, I have met many people who could talk a good line about alchemy, but nothing practical ever emerged from them. Nor did anyone volunteer to demonstrate its basic truths in a laboratory or over the kitchen stove. Not one--until I met the author of this book some years ago. Frater Albertus' Alchemist's Handbook, book which literally is worth its weight in gold. But do not be deceived. There is no simple or easy path to the Great Work. It requires great dedication. But, if you really want to learn the basic principles of practical alchemy, here they are in this wonderful little manual. There is no other book that I have ever encountered in all my long years in this movement that is one fraction as clear or as helpful." --From the foreword by Israel Regardie, author of The Golden Dawn: The Original Account of the Teachings, Rites, and Ceremonies of the Hermetic Order

"The teachings of Frater Albertus are part of a lineage that traces back to Rosicrucian sources and much earlier and The Alchemist's Handbook is still the best introduction to that lineage. If you feel the call of Alchemy and want real information on the subject, this is definitely the book you will want to read, reread, and read again. It may just turn out to be the book that changes your life." --From the foreword by Robert Allen Bartlett, author of Real Alchemy: A Primer of Practical Alchemy