Frater Albertus
Encyclopedia
Frater Albertus Spagyricus (Dr. Albert Richard Riedel) (1911–1984); founder of the Paracelsus Research Society in Salt Lake City, which later evolved into the Paracelsus College. Based on the Paracelsian
concept of three essentials, Body, Soul and Spirit, Frater Albertus developed a system of teaching alchemical
concepts using the spagyric technique of separation and cohobation
. The unique gradated courses allowed students to explore aspects of the vegetable
, mineral
and animal
kingdoms in an understandable and accessible way. Previous to this, one had to be a member of a fraternity or secret society in order to gain access to structured teaching. After his death in 1984, the college ceased operations in the United States
but continued to carry on the tradition in Australia
. Frater Albertus had a profound effect on the way Alchemy
and particularly the Spagyric method was disseminated and understood in the mid to late 20th century. His works were translated into many languages.
]
French
Spanish
Italian
Paracelsus
Paracelsus was a German-Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist....
concept of three essentials, Body, Soul and Spirit, Frater Albertus developed a system of teaching alchemical
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
concepts using the spagyric technique of separation and cohobation
Cohobation
In pre-modern chemistry and alchemy, cohobation was the process of repeated distillation of the same matter, with the liquid drawn from it; that liquid being poured again and again upon the matter left at the bottom of the vessel....
. The unique gradated courses allowed students to explore aspects of the vegetable
Vegetable
The noun vegetable usually means an edible plant or part of a plant other than a sweet fruit or seed. This typically means the leaf, stem, or root of a plant....
, mineral
Mineral
A mineral is a naturally occurring solid chemical substance formed through biogeochemical processes, having characteristic chemical composition, highly ordered atomic structure, and specific physical properties. By comparison, a rock is an aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids and does not...
and animal
Animal
Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and...
kingdoms in an understandable and accessible way. Previous to this, one had to be a member of a fraternity or secret society in order to gain access to structured teaching. After his death in 1984, the college ceased operations in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
but continued to carry on the tradition in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. Frater Albertus had a profound effect on the way Alchemy
Alchemy
Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose early practitioners’ claims to profound powers were known from antiquity. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied; these include the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone possessing powers including the capability of turning base...
and particularly the Spagyric method was disseminated and understood in the mid to late 20th century. His works were translated into many languages.
Written works
- Drei Novellen 1932
- Dachstubenverse eines Ausgewanderten (Attic Poems of an Emigrant)
- The Alchemist's Handbook 1960
- From One to Ten 1966
- Praxis Spagyrica Philosophia (Leipzig, 1711) (1966 PRS limited ed. 500 copies) 1998 Weiser with From One to Ten
- The Seven Rays of the QBL (1st. Ed. 1981.) 1985 Weiser
- Praktische Alchemie im Zwanzigsten Jahrhundert 1970 PRS (German)
- Men and Cycles of the Universe 1970
- The Alchemist of the Rocky Mountains 1976 PRS (limited edition 500 copies)
- Gently I Answered and Said 1978 PRS (limited edition 500 copies)
]
Associated works
- Parachemy 1973–1979
- Parachemica 1976 - 1980 P.R.S. (Aust.)
- Essentia 1980 - 1984
- AMO 1983 Paracelsus College; First English translation from German by Robert Firmage; introduction by Frater Albertus
- Golden Manuscripts 1973-74 Para Publishers
Translations (provisional list)
German- Praktische Alchemie im Zwanzigsten Jahrhundert 1970 PRS
- Der Mensch und die kosmischen Zyklen 1971
- Von Eins bis Zehn 1972
- Der Alchemist aus den Rocky Mountains 1980
- Die Sieben Strahlen der Q.B.L. 1973
- [Gently 1979?]
French
- Le Manuel de l'Alchimiste translator Denis Claing; Les Ateliers du MAAT/ L.P.N
Spanish
- Manual del Alquimista 1980
- El Hombre y los Ciclos del Universo
Italian
- Manuale dell’Alchimista 1978 Astrolabio