MarzAat

Review: “The Spagyric Quest of Beroaldus Cosmopolita”, Arthur Machen, 1888.

This story, from the 25-year old Machen, involves alchemy.  “Spagyric”, in fact, is a synonym for “alchemy” in English.  A canon, Beroaldus, is magically transported from night to day, and a scholar shows up to guide him on his alchemical quest. The story ends with a moral that the Philosopher’s Stone is to be found within and not in the world.