the first matter of the philosophers

7/30/2019 The First Matter of the Philosophers

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The First Matter of the Philosophers

Sapphire Thorpe


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Humus

Could theprima materia of the alchemists be humus?

Humus (from Latin earth, ground) is fully decomposed organic matter (cfnigredo, and chaos:

primordial, formless mass) that is found within soil.

It is a dark brown/black, spongy, jelly-like substance. It contains humins, humic acids, fulvic acids

and glomalin.

A quick google search revealed that many interesting terms are used to describe humus, in sources

ranging from Wikipedia to gardening blogs. (I have highlighted some of these in red).

Wikipedia has this to say on the substance, for instance:

The importance of chemically stable humus is thought by some to be thefertility it provides to soils in both a

physical and chemical sense, though some agricultural experts put a greater focus on other features of it, such

as itsability to suppress disease.

It helps the soil retain moisture

by increasing microporosity, and encouragesthe formation of goodsoil structure. The incorporation ofoxygen into large organic molecular assemblages

generates many active, negatively charged sites that bind to positively chargedions (cations) ofplant nutrients,

making them more available to the plant by way ofion exchange. Humus allows soil organisms to feed and

reproduce, and is often described as the "life-force" of the soil.

From The Soil Guy:

Humus or 'organic matter' is themagic ingredientwhich gives fertility to the soil.

In short, humus brings soil to life.

http://www.thesoilguy.com/SG/Humus-ItsTheDirt

A wordpress blog on glomalin:

Is it just me or does this seem like the soil version of Lucas Force? The terra preta glomalin idea could be

seen as a kind of Roald Dahl magical sponge taking the crap out of our world and converting it into gold. Now

that would be alchemy.

http://tokyobabylon.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/since-terra-preta-was-popular-i-bring-you-glomalin/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_%28soil%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_%28soil%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moisturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moisturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porosityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_structurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_nutritionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_exchangehttp://www.thesoilguy.com/SG/Humus-ItsTheDirthttp://www.thesoilguy.com/SG/Humus-ItsTheDirthttp://tokyobabylon.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/since-terra-preta-was-popular-i-bring-you-glomalin/http://tokyobabylon.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/since-terra-preta-was-popular-i-bring-you-glomalin/http://tokyobabylon.wordpress.com/2007/08/20/since-terra-preta-was-popular-i-bring-you-glomalin/http://www.thesoilguy.com/SG/Humus-ItsTheDirthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ion_exchangehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plant_nutritionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxygenhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soil_structurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Porosityhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moisturehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertility_%28soil%29


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Some definitions

Alchemy

One possible definition ofalchemy is art of the black earth:

From levity.com:

What is the derivation of the word alchemy ?

There are three main ideas about the origin of the word alchemy.

Firstly, from ancient Egyptian transmitted through Arabic 'al-khem', from the Egyptian hieroglyphics

Km.t which form the native name of Egypt, 'Chem', meaning 'black earth'. Thus one derivation of the wordalchemy is the 'Egyptian art', or the 'art of the black earth'.

The second derivation is from the Greek word 'chemeia', found in the writings of Diocletian, the art of making

metal ingots.

The third derivation is from the Greek word 'chumeia', the art of extracting juices or infusions from plants, and

thus herbal medicines and tinctures. From 'chumos' meaning juice.

Humus means earth, and is the substance which makes it black.

Nigredo:

Nigredo, or blackness, in alchemy meansputrefaction or decomposition. The alchemists believed that as a

first step in the pathway to the philosopher's stone all alchemical ingredients had to be cleansed and cooked

extensively to a uniform black matter. (Wikipedia)

Humus is fully decomposed, uniform black matterorganic (once living) matter.

Water of Life (Dune universe):

An "illuminating" poison ... Specifically, that liquidexhalation of a sandworm... produced at the moment of

its death from drowning which is changed within the body of a Reverend Motherto become the narcotic used in

the sietch tau orgy. An "awareness spectrum" narcotic. (Wikipedia)

See the comments on pre-spice mass.

Melange:

Melange, from French mlange (set of diverse elements)derived from mescler(to mingle, mix up)also

called the "spice" is the name of the fictional drug central to the Dune series ofscience fiction novels by

Frank Herbert, and derivative works. (Wikipedia)

Humus is literally a set of diverse elements, all mixed up.

Pre-spice Mass:

Herbert notes in Dune that a pre-spice mass is "thestage of fungusoid wild growthachieved when water isflooded into the excretions ofLittle Makers," the "half-planthalf-animal deep-sand vector of the Arrakis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm_%28Dune%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm_%28Dune%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend_Mother_%28Dune%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcotichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dune_terminology#Shttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/m%C3%A9langehttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mescler#Old_Frenchhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_drughttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28franchise%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fictionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Makerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Makerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Makerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frank_Herberthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Science_fictionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune_%28franchise%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psychoactive_drughttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/mescler#Old_Frenchhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/m%C3%A9langehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Dune_terminology#Shttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narcotichttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reverend_Mother_%28Dune%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm_%28Dune%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stonehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy


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sandworm." Gases are produced which result in "a characteristic 'blow,' exchanging the material from deep

underground for the matter on the surface above it."

Humus (and especially glomalin) is the product of the actions of fungi, and the excretions of worms.

For example, Wikipedia states in its article on Humus:

Lignin, which is quicklytransformed by white-rot fungi, is one of the mainprecursors of humus, together

with by-products of microbial and animal activity. The end-product of this process, the humus, is thusa mixture

of compounds and complex life chemicals (ie, mlange)of plant, animal, or microbial origin that has many

functions and benefits in the soil.Earthwormhumus(vermicompost) is considered by some to be the bestorganic manure there is.

Conclusion

If the First Matter of the alchemists is in fact a literal (as well as metaphorical) substance, then humus

stable, decomposed organic matter found within the earths soilseems like it may be a good

candidate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm_%28Dune%29http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligninhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalting#White_Rothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungushttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/m%C3%A9langehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthwormhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthwormhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicomposthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manurehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vermicomposthttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earthwormhttp://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/m%C3%A9langehttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fungushttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spalting#White_Rothttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ligninhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandworm_%28Dune%29

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