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Fulcanelli
Fulcanelli (fl. 1920s) was the name used by a French alchemist and esoteric writer, whose identity is still debated. The name Fulcanelli seems to be a play on words: Vulcan, the ancient Roman god of fire, plus El, a Canaanite name for God and so the Sacred Fire. The appeal of Fulcanelli as a cultural phenomenon is due partly to the mystery of most aspects of his life and works, and his disappearance. In particular, he is reputed to have twice performed a transmutation of lead into gold. The first was in 1922, together with his most devoted pupil Eugène Canseliet, when the two supposedly performed a successful transmutation of 100 grams of lead into gold in the presence of Julien Champagne and Gaston Sauvage. This demonstration took place in a laboratory of the gas works of the Georgi company at Sarcelles, and was achieved with the use of a small quantity of " Projection Powder" (also known as the Philosopher's Stone) prepared by Fulcanelli. The second was in 1937 at the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Eugène Canseliet
Eugène Léon Canseliet (18 December 1899, Sarcelles – 12 April 1982, Savignies), was a French writer and alchemist. He was a student of the mysterious alchemist known as Fulcanelli. He wrote the preface for each of his master's books (''Le Mystère des cathédrales'' and ''Les Demeures philosophales''). Later in his life after his master died, he took a quiet life in France and continued to study and practice what Fulcanelli taught him, taking on students. Though Canseliet took on students and chose to pass on much of the alchemical knowledge imparted to him by Fulcanelli, Canseliet chose universities and less esoteric intellectual circles than his master, and simply passed on knowledge relating to the Opus Minor choosing to keep the discretion customary of the great Hermetic Initiates. Canseliet met with the late Frater Albertus, a German-American alchemist who practiced in Salt Lake City, Utah. According to Albertus, it was Canseliet who taught him the principle secret ne ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Jules Violle
Jules Louis Gabriel Violle (16 November 1841 – 12 September 1923) was a French physicist and inventor. He is notable for having determined the solar constant at Mont Blanc in 1875, and, in 1881, for proposing a standard for luminous intensity, called the Violle, equal to the light emitted by 1 cm² of platinum at its melting point. It was the first unit of light intensity that did not depend on the properties of a particular lamp. This was much larger than traditional measures such as candlepower, so the standard SI unit candela was originally defined in 1946 as 1/60 Violle. During his career, Violle taught at several colleges including the University of Lyon and the Conservatoire des Arts et Métiers in Paris. He was one of the founders of the Institut d'optique théorique et appliquée and the École supérieure d'optique. He improved and invented a number of devices for measuring radiation, and determined the freezing and melting points of palladium Pall ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Floruit
''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indicating the time when someone flourished. Etymology and use is the third-person singular perfect active indicative of the Latin verb ', ' "to bloom, flower, or flourish", from the noun ', ', "flower". Broadly, the term is employed in reference to the peak of activity for a person or movement. More specifically, it often is used in genealogy and historical writing when a person's birth or death dates are unknown, but some other evidence exists that indicates when they were alive. For example, if there are Will (law), wills Attestation clause, attested by John Jones in 1204 and 1229, as well as a record of his marriage in 1197, a record concerning him might be written as "John Jones (fl. 1197–1229)", even though Jones was born before ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Architecture
Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructing buildings or other Structure#Load-bearing, structures. The term comes ; ; . Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural symbols and as work of art, works of art. Historical civilizations are often identified with their surviving architectural achievements. The practice, which began in the Prehistory, prehistoric era, has been used as a way of expressing culture by civilizations on all seven continents. For this reason, architecture is considered to be a form of art. Texts on architecture have been written since ancient times. The earliest surviving text on architectural theory, architectural theories is the 1st century AD treatise by the Roman architect Vitruvius, according to whom a good bui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks in World War II, Tanks and Air warfare of World War II, aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in history, causing World War II casualties, the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Allied-occupied Germany, Germany, Allied-occupied Austria, Austria, Occupation of Japan, Japan, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Great Work (Hermeticism)
Great Work () is a term used in Hermeticism and occult traditions descended from it, such as Thelema. Accomplishing the Great Work, symbolized as the creation of the philosopher's stone, represents the culmination of the spiritual path, the attainment of enlightenment, or the rescue of the human soul from the unconscious forces which bind it. The Great Work signifies the spiritual path towards self-transcendence in its entirety. This is the process of bringing unconscious complexes into the conscious awareness, in order to integrate them back into oneself. Ceremonial magic Eliphas Levi Eliphas Levi (1810–1875), one of the first modern ceremonial magicians and inspiration for the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, discussed the Great Work at length, giving it a spiritual meaning by analogy to the alchemical of 'perfecting' lead into gold and mortality into immortality: He further defined it as such: Thelema Within Thelema, the Great Work is generally defined as th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Talisman
A talisman is any object ascribed with religious or magical powers intended to protect, heal, or harm individuals for whom they are made. Talismans are often portable objects carried on someone in a variety of ways, but can also be installed permanently in architecture. Talismans are closely linked with amulets, fulfilling many of the same roles, but a key difference is in their functions. An amulet protects a person or possession against evil forces while a talisman provides good fortune. Talismans have been used in many civilizations throughout history, with connections to astrological, scientific, and religious practices; but the theory around preparation and use has changed in some cultures with more recent, new age, talismanic theory. Talismans are used for a wide array of functions, such as: the personal protection of the wearer, loved ones or belongings, aiding in fertility, and helping crop production. Etymology The word ''talisman'' comes from French , via Arabic (, p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Basil Valentine
Basil Valentine is the Anglicised version of the name Basilius Valentinus, ostensibly a 15th-century alchemist, possibly Canon of the Benedictine Priory of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Germany but more likely a pseudonym used by one or several 16th-century German authors. According to John Maxson Stillman, who wrote on the history of chemistry, there is no evidence of such a name on the rolls in Germany or Rome and no mention of this name before 1600. His putative history, like his imaginary portrait, appears to be of later creation than the writings themselves. During the 18th century it was suggested that the author of the works attributed to Basil Valentine was Johann Thölde, a salt manufacturer in Germany who lived roughly 1565–1624. Modern scholarship now suggests that one author was Thölde, but that others were involved. Thölde published the first five books under Valentine's name. Whoever he was, Basil Valentine had considerable knowledge of chemistry. He demonstra ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Morning Of The Magicians
''The Morning of the Magicians: Introduction to Fantastic Realism'' () is a 1960 book by the journalists Louis Pauwels and Jacques Bergier. As the authors disclaim in their preface, the book is intended to challenge readers' viewpoints on historic events, whether they believe the explanations or not, but with the goal to give readers the opportunity to test their level of cognitive dissonance and critical thinking skills. Although the book presents a collection of "raw material for speculation of the most outlandish order," the same reviewer also noted "it is the instigation of original thought that matters." It covers topics like cryptohistory, ufology, occultism in Nazism, alchemy, spiritual philosophy and is thus often referenced by conspiracy-theory enthusiasts. Written in French, ''Le Matin des magiciens'' was translated into English by Rollo Myers in 1963 under the title ''The Dawn of Magic'', and in 1964 released in the United States as ''The Morning of the Magicians'' ( ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Base Metal
A base metal is a common and inexpensive metal, as opposed to a precious metal such as gold or silver. In numismatics, coins often derived their value from the precious metal content; however, base metals have also been used in coins in the past and today. Specific definitions In contrast to noble metals, base metals may be distinguished by oxidizing or corroding relatively easily and reacting variably with diluted hydrochloric acid (HCl) to form hydrogen. Examples include iron, nickel, lead and zinc. Copper is also considered a base metal because it oxidizes relatively easily, although it does not react with HCl. In mining and economics, the term base metals refers to industrial non-ferrous metals excluding precious metals. These include copper, lead, nickel and zinc. The U.S. Customs and Border Protection agency is more inclusive in its definition of commercial base metals. Its list includes—in addition to copper, lead, nickel, and zinc—the following metals: iron and ste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ferdinand De Lesseps
Ferdinand Marie, Comte de Lesseps (; 19 November 1805 – 7 December 1894) was a French Orientalist diplomat and owner of Main Idea of the Suez Canal, which in 1869 joined the Mediterranean and Red Seas, substantially reducing sailing distances and times between Europe and East Asia. He attempted to repeat this success with an effort to build a Panama Canal at sea level during the 1880s, but the project was devastated by epidemics of malaria and yellow fever in the area, as well as beset by financial problems, and the planned Lesseps Panama Canal was never completed. Eventually, the project was bought out by the United States, which solved the medical problems and changed the design to a non-sea level canal with locks. It was completed in 1914. Ancestry The origins of Lesseps' family are traceable back as far as the end of the 14th century. His ancestors, it is believed, came from Spain, and settled at Bayonne during the period of the Angevin Empire. One of his great-grand ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
House Of Valois
The Capetian House of Valois ( , also , ) was a cadet branch of the Capetian dynasty. They succeeded the House of Capet (or "Direct Capetians") to the List of French monarchs, French throne, and were the royal house of France from 1328 to 1589. Junior members of the family founded cadet branches in House of Valois#Dukes of Orléans, Orléans, House of Valois-Anjou, Anjou, House of Valois-Burgundy, Burgundy, and Counts and dukes of Alençon, Alençon. The Valois descended from Charles, Count of Valois (1270–1325), the second surviving son of King Philip III of France (reigned 1270–1285). Their title to the throne was based on a precedent in 1316 (later retroactively attributed to the Merovingian dynasty, Merovingian Salic law) which excluded females (Joan II of Navarre), as well as male descendants through the wikt:distaff side#English, distaff side (Edward III of England), from the succession to the French throne. After holding the throne for several centuries the Valois ma ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
