he transmutation was.
'It is,' he said, 'the place of the operation which is called purification
[in the original, topos askeseos], for the people who wish to become
virtuous come there and become spirits shunning the body.' And I asked
him, 'Are you also a spirit [pneuma]?' 'I am,' said he, 'a spirit and the
guardian of spirits.' During this conversation and amid the noise of the
boiling water and the cries of the people, I perceived a man of brass,
holding in his hand a book of lead, and I heard him tell me in a loud
voice: 'See, I command all those who are subjected to punishments to learn
from this book. I command every one to take the book of lead and to write
in it with his hand until his pharynx is developed, the mouth is opened,
and the eyes have taken their place again.' The act followed the word, and
the master of the house, present at this ceremony, said to me, 'Stretch
your neck and see what is done.' 'I see,' said I. 'The brazen man that you
see,' said he, 'and who has left his own flesh, is the priest before the
altar. It is he who has been given the privilege of disposing of this
water.' In going over all this in my imagination I awoke and said to
myself, 'What is the cause of this occurrence? What indeed is it? Is it
not the water white, yellow, boiling, divine?' I found that I had reasoned
well.... Finally, to be brief, build, my friend a temple of a single stone
[monolith] ... a temple that has neither beginning nor end, and in the
interior of which there is found a spring of purest water, and bright as
the sun. It is with the sword in hand that one must search and penetrate
into it, for the entrance is narrow. It is guarded by a dragon, which has
to be killed and flayed. By putting the flesh and the bones together you
make a pedestal up which you will climb to reach the temple, where you
will find what you are looking for. For the priest, who is the brazen man
whom you saw sitting near the spring, changes his nature and is
transformed into a man of silver, who can, if you wish, change himself
into a man of gold.... Do not reveal anything of this to any one else and
keep these things for yourself, for silence teaches virtue. It is very
fine to understand the transmutation of the four metals, lead, copper,
tin, silver, and to know how they change into perfect gold...."

Psychoanalysis, like comparative mythology, makes it probable that the
killing or dismemberment of the father figure is equivalent to cas