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Philosopher’s stone, in Western alchemy, an unknown substance, also called “the tincture” or “the powder,” sought by alchemists for its supposed ability to transform base metals into precious ones, especially gold and silver. Alchemists also believed that an elixir of life could be derived from it. Inasmuch as alchemy was concerned with the perfection of the human soul, the philosopher’s stone was thought to cure illnesses, prolong life, and bring about spiritual revitalization.
The philosopher’s stone, variously described, was sometimes said to be a common substance, found everywhere but unrecognized and unappreciated. The quest for the stone encouraged alchemists from the Middle Ages to the end of the 17th century to examine in their laboratories numerous substances and their interactions. The quest thereby provided a body of knowledge that ultimately led to the sciences of chemistry, metallurgy, and pharmacology.
The process by which it was hoped common metals such as iron, lead, tin, and copper could be turned into the more valuable metals involved heating the base material in a characteristic pear-shaped glass crucible (called the vase of Hermes or the philosopher’s egg). Colour changes were carefully watched—black indicating the death of the old material preparatory to its revitalization; white, the colour required for change into silver; and red, the highest stage, the colour required for change into gold.
Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. "philosopher’s stone". Encyclopedia Britannica, 13 May. 2024, www.britannica.com/topic/philosophers-stone. Accessed 19 May 2024.
Driving home from the grocery store on a country road ....I came upon these 5 learned scholars....who seemed to be discussing the works of Socrates , Lao Tzu and other great thinkers . Not wanting to disturb their musings , I took a quick shot through the car window ...and went on my merry way ...
thanks for the visit ....Happy Fence Friday :-)
Homer (Omiros) @ University of Freiburg (GER)
Fittingly, the two gentlemen on the lower left were conversing in Greek. :-)
And so my portraits continue ....sigh.
The last one I think , before I get on the final stretch of "Over The Top' and "Karst" range of shots.
Took this picture on the Philosopher's Walk (哲学の道). Kyoto has so many beautiful temples and shrines, but sometimes the most beautiful shots are the unplanned and unexpected.
Shadows of apartment buildings reach across a man-made beach towards the surf line. Very little of the Belgian coast is not built up.
The simplicity of this image invites us to focus on the essence, the core, and the heart of a subject. It beckons us to peel back the layers, revealing a profound intricacy beneath the surface.
But simplicity is not a destination. It's a starting point—a canvas upon which we paint the hues of complexity that add depth, richness, and meaning to our existence.
I invite you to strip away the superfluous and trust in the innate beauty that emerges. In this delicate balance, photography reveals its true essence—an art form that stirs emotions, tells stories, and forges deep connections.
“My book, sir philosopher, is the nature of created things, and it is always at hand when I wish to read the words of God.”
-Evagrius Ponticus, The Praktikos & Chapters on Prayer (Kalamazoo: Cistercian Publications, 1981), 39.
From time to time I wonder in which world an owl is when it's looking lik this guy, staring somewhere inside. Same with my cats - sometimes they look in the same way..
This Hall is thought to have been a large throne room where the emperor held audiences and met in council with court luminaries. It is a vast rectangular hall with a large apse and was extravagantly decorated with precious marble and the seven niches on the back wall were adorned with statues of philosophers. Hadrian’s villa, built by the emperor (117-138 AD) as summer imperial retreat, is a vast open air museum of some the finest architecture of the Roman world and the Roman Empires largest and richest villa ever built. It is a UNSECO World Heritage Site. [www.stevensklifas.com]
Hadrian's Villa is a vast area of land with many pools, baths, fountains and classical Greek and Roman architecture set in what would have been a mixture of landscaped gardens, wilderness areas and cultivated farmlands. Due to Hadrian's travels, he also commissioned Egyptian style buildings and statues, even naming some of the buildings after Egyptian cities or temples.
The buildings are constructed in travertine, brick, lime, pozzolana, and tufa. The complex contains over 30 buildings, covering at least a square kilometre (250 acres, an area larger than the city of Pompeii), of which much is still unexcavated. Villas were typically sited on hilltops, but with its fountains, pools and gardens, Hadrian's villa required abundant sources of water, which was supplied by aqueducts feeding Rome, including the Aqua Anio Vetus, Aqua Anio Novus, Aqua Marcia, and Aqua Claudia. To avail themselves of those sources, the villa had to be located on land lower than the aqueduct.[Wikipedia]
A creation of the Italian Sculptor Francesco Monti, a faculty member in the College of Architecture and Fine Arts, they were installed between 1949 and 1953.
University of Santo Tomas
Sampaloc Manila Philippines
Philosopher's Falls, Nestled in the Tarkine area of western Tasmania, The walk has some of the most majestic rainforest I've seen.
This pinhole photograph was taken with the Thingyfy pinhole lens and my Nikon D850. The bust of Plato is in my collection and in this composition it sits on the "Complete Works of Plato". The inspiration for this photograph (especially the colour scheme, light and shade) was William Henry Fox Talbot (1800-1877) and his wonderful early photographs of the, "Bust of Patroclus". www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/266044
The modern philosopher and mathematician, A.N. Whitehead once said that all the Western philosophical tradition is but a footnote to Plato (428-348 BC). There is a strong argument that Plato is the greatest genius in human history, since he was the FIRST to synthesize all the fundamental questions of life. From first principles he thought up questions that had not even been conceived before. As a Platonist myself, I can only concur with these views.
plato.stanford.edu/entries/plato/
We do well to remember that Plato was also a disciple of Socrates, the philosophical gadfly who was made to drink hemlock for his beliefs which challenged the status quo of his day. To these thinkers philosophy was not an academic exercise, but the very stuff of life and spirituality itself. It was a sacred calling. It was a disciplined path of commitment to discovering Truth.