December 24, 2005
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The Stone of Power“Others say it is a stone that posseses mysterious powers…. often
depicted as a dazzling light. It’s a symbol representing power, a
source of immense energy. It nourishes, heals, wounds, blinds,
strikes down…. Some have thought of it as the philosopher’s stone of
the alchemists….”– Foucault’s Pendulum
by Umberto Eco,
Professor of SemioticsThe Club
Dumasby Arturo Perez-Reverte
(Paperback, pages 346-347):One by one, he tore the engravings from the
book, until he had all nine. He looked at them closely.
“It’s a pity you can’t follow me where I’m going. As the fourth
engraving states, fate is not the same for all.”“Where do you believe you’re going?”
Borja dropped the mutilated book on the floor with the others. He was
looking at the nine engravings and at the circle, checking strange
correspondences between them.“To meet someone” was his enigmatic answer. “To search for the stone
that the Great Architect rejected, the philosopher’s stone, the basis
of the philosophical work. The stone of power. The devil likes
metamorphoses, Corso.”“Only gradually
did I discover
what the mandala really is:
‘Formation, Transformation,
Eternal Mind’s eternal recreation’”
(Faust, Part Two)
