^ that website is the most expansive resource that I go to right now.
What got me into Alchemy at all was Catherine MacCoun's On Becoming an Alchemist which explained Hermeticism very well but took more of a psychological and emotional approach to it.
"The Mirror of Alchemy" by Roger Bacon is a short, comprehensive text, although I guess like a lot of alchemical texts, there's a super super super secret ingredient that the writer of the alchemy book only says that they can't say. And that's what makes the Philosopher's Stone, along with all the boiling and pressure-cooking. It's supposed to congeal into a red stone or something.
By my opinion was real alchemy path secret in western countries.
Hidden due merciful Christians because alchemists did not want to be burned at the stake. :-(
The best I think is The secret of the golden flowwe, Chinese Taoist spiritual alchemy texts, tranlantion by Richard Willhelm.
http://www.bahaistudies.net/asma/the_secret_of_the_golden_flower.pdf
It is similar like Hindu chakrayoga.
But there is chkra Ajna called "Heaven heart" and chakra Anahata "fleshly heart".
Interesting is compare it with an European alchemy text
http://www.levity.com/alchemy/lambtext.html
Book of Lambspring.
Figure 3 - in the body, there is soul and spirit.
http://www.alchemywebsite.com/bookshop/LM03.jpg
Spirit is in the place of chakra Ajna in Yoga and a "Heavenly heart" in The secret of the golden flower. And soul is in the place of chakra Anahata, or a "fleshly heart" in The secret of the golden flower.
In that case, Lupino, you don't really understand Alchemy. One the greatest English Alchemists was Sir Isaac Newton; and he was a very devout Christian!
I know that many people mostly in middle age have practiced "Alchemy". Like Edward Kelley, :-) John Dee and many others.
But, I mean spiritual alchemy. A path that was practiced i eastern countries mainly.
In western countries was Spiritual ways secret.
That is simply not true! The "spiritual" part of Alchemy was never secret; it was the experiments that were kept secret; to stop the curious "Nosey Parkers" interfering with the work. Alchemy did have a spiritual side, but mainly it was Science, especially medical science. Only that part was kept secret in Europe. Roger Bacon, mentioned above, was a Catholic Franciscan Friar in the 13th century. Hardly a secret!
You are right, that medical science was not secret.
But, many alchemical texts were veiled and it is hard to understand.
http://www.alchemywebsite.com/texts.html
And something about eastern alchemy
http://terebess.hu/zen/mesterek/Taoist-Yoga-Alchemy-and-Immortality.pdf
We might not have certain technologies today if it weren't for people who experimented with alchemy, it may be slightly dangerous but it isn't evil, its an exploration into the unknown. Someone might learn something nowadays that could better mankind as a whole, you never know.
