The Dying Alchemists

The Dying Alchemists is a reflection on existence through prose, poetry and art, from our thoughts as conscious creatures on this planet and how it feels to be human, to the way in which the Universe reveals itself through the grand and majestic unfolding we see all around us.

An Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of a treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest. No one knows what the treasure is, or if Santiago will be able to surmount the obstacles along the way. But what starts out as a journey to find worldly goods turns into a discovery of the treasures found within.

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger... Monty Bannerman's father is a leading genetic scientist, and Nobel Prize winner, whose company has just been taken over by what will soon be the world's biggest pharmaceutical giant. He had some misgivings about their company ethics - but ultimately, he needs their money, and they need his mind. Then a journalist comes to Monty's door, with a far-fetched story about the pharmaceutical company. She doesn't believe what she's being told for a moment - but within a few short weeks, events are making the apparently fantastic claims look horrifyingly like the truth. Behind the respectable facade of the multi-national company which calls itself the 'World's Most Caring Company' lies an outrage against the whole human race... 'Peter James is getting better with every book.' Times 'Peter James is one of the best crime writers in the business.' Karin Slaughter Read more from the multi-million copy bestselling author of the Roy Grace novels: Possession Dreamer Sweet Heart Twilight Prophecy Host Alchemist Denial The Truth Faith * Each Peter James novel can be read as a standalone*

Two Sudanese "lost boys." Both fathers murdered during civil war. Both mothers forced into exile where the only law was violence. To survive, the boys became ruthless loners and child soldiers, until they found mystic mentors who transformed them into their true destinies. One: known to the streets as the Supreme Raptor; the other: known to the Greeks as Horus, son of Osiris. Separated by seven thousand years, and yet connected by immortal truth. Born in fire. Baptized in blood. Brutalized by the wicked. Sworn to transform the world and themselves. They are the Alchemists of Kush.

Unlike most other studies of alchemy and literature, which focus on alchemical imagery in poetry of specific periods or writers, this book traces the figure of the alchemist in Western literature from its first appearance in the Eighth Circle of Dante's Inferno down to the present. From the beginning alchemy has had two aspects: exoteric or operative (the transmutation of baser metals into gold) and esoteric or speculative (the spiritual transformation of the alchemist himself). From Dante to Ben Jonson, during the centuries when the belief in exoteric alchemy was still strong and exploited by many charlatans to deceive the gullible, writers in major works of many literatures treated alchemists with ridicule in an effort to expose their tricks. From the Renaissance to the Enlightenment, as that belief weakened, the figure of the alchemist disappeared, even though Protestant poets in England and Germany were still fond of alchemical images. But when eighteenth-century science almost wholly undermined alchemy, the figure of the alchemist began to emerge again in literature—now as a humanitarian hero or as a spirit striving for sublimation. Following these esoteric romanticizations, as scholarly interest in alchemy intensified, writers were attracted to the figure of the alchemist and his quest for power. The fin-de-siecle saw a further transformation as poets saw in the alchemist a symbol for the poet per se and others, influenced by the prevailing spiritism, as a manifestation of the religious spirit. During the interwar years, as writers sought surrogates for the widespread loss of religious faith, esoteric alchemy underwent a pronounced revival, and many writers turned to the figure of the alchemist as a spiritual model or, in the case of Paracelsus in Germany, as a national figurehead. This tendency, theorized by C. G. Jung in several major studies, inspired after World War II a vast popularization of the figure in novels—historical, set in the present, or juxtaposing past and present— in England, France, Germany, Italy, Brazil, and the United States. The inevitable result of this popularization was the trivialization of the figure in advertisements for healing and cooking or in articles about scientists and economists. In sum: the figure of the alchemist in literature provides a seismograph for major shifts in intellectual and cultural history.

The four classical elements of earth, water, air and fire are present in Genesis and continue to be significant throughout Christianity. Different streams of thought, such as the School of Chartres, and Celtic Christianity, have emphasised them in different ways. In this unique book, Bastiaan Baan, an experienced spiritual thinker, brings these elements together with ideas from Rudolf Steiner's anthroposophy. He considers, in particular, how elemental beings -- nature spirits -- relate to the four elements, and explores the role of elemental beings in our world. This is a fascinating and original work on the connections between Christianity and the natural world.

"It was the genius of C.G. Jung to discover in the 'holy technique' of alchemy a parallel to the psychological individuation process. This book, by Jung's long-time friend and co-worker, completely demystifies the subject. Designed as an introduction to Jung's more detailed studies, and profusely illustrated, here is a lucid and practical account of what the alchemists were really looking for--emotional balance and wholeness"--back cover.