Text: Did they confect the Philosopher's Stone? A report on 20th Century testimony © 1995-8 by Tim Scott Version 2.5 (about 4200 words) (August 27, 1998) ----------------------------------------------------------------------- INTRODUCTION. In spite of the mountains of alchemical literature and history that have been written over the centuries, credible testimonies of personal experiences are still extremely scarce. If you limit them to 20th-century references you definitely have a candidate for one of the Shortest Books In The World. This is not too surprising, perhaps, considering the enormous discipline and difficulty of the Great Work of alchemy. Further, it's is not difficult to understand why someone who had developed a technique to cure all diseases, confer immortality and change common metals into precious would be somewhat reticent about his accomplishments. Accounts of people who have attempted the Work and failed are equally scarce. BEGINNING THE SEARCH. With this background, I was originally led to the story of Richard and Isabella Ingalese by a sidebar in the "Alchemy" article of the (landmark) occult encyclopedia, Man, Myth and Magic, originally published in 1970. In this, they claimed, in 1927, to have not only succeeded in confecting the Stone of the Wise, but even used it to resurrect a woman dead 30 minutes. This intrigued me no end, since there was no sequel to the story I could easily discover, and yet here they were, in Los Angeles no less (just 120 miles from my home). Why was no one interested in following this story up? In my view, that sidebar was notable as much for the questions it left unanswered as for the incredible assertions it made. So I resolved to try to find out the story of this intriguing couple. A few years after that, I was visiting the Mayflower Bookstore in Michigan (which was one of the finest occult bookstores I've ever visited) where I managed to acquire a reprint of Richard Ingalese's notes for a public lecture he gave on alchemy in 1927. (Originally published in Los Angeles by the J. F. Rowny Press, 1928. My reprint was one of Frater Albertus' "Golden Manuscripts" series in 1973 with the title "They Made the Philosopher's Stone." Art Kunkin has a copy of this as well as one of the original edition. On my request he compared them and reported to me that the reprint appears to contain the same information as the original.) I also acquired (in person, at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., no less) a copy of an article on the Ingaleses, which appeared in the Nov. 1928 issue of the _Occult Review_. This contained more fascinating clues, the substance of which appears below. [Totally irrelevant digressive anecdote about this article follows: I located the reference for the article in a periodical index first, which stated that it was printed in March 1928. When I requested the issue from the Library, and looked up the issue, the article was nowhere to be found. This was very dismaying, as I had only minutes left before the Library closed, and the next morning I had to leave the city. Leafing through the bound volume of the issues for the year, by pure chance I happened on the November issue which did have the desired article!] In the Occult Review article, Mrs Ingalese explained to author Barbara McKenzie how she and her husband became interested in alchemy: "The years after middle life began to draw on, when much reading of works on alchemy left her in grave doubt as to whether the writers were dealing with a spiritual or a practical discovery...Mrs Ingalese frankly told me that at this time her primary interest in a possible discovery was to stay advancing age and perhaps add another score of working years to man's so-called allotted span." The couple then moved to Los Angeles--I could not discover why--for the express purpose of attempting to create the physical Philosopher's Stone. A suitable house was acquired and a laboratory outfitted, as they pored over the available books and manuscripts to choose a course of action. Everyone who has studied alchemical literature knows it is fraught with blinds, symbolism, hidden meanings, contradictions and omissions. Mrs Ingalese's psychic gifts proved to be of value as they winnowed the material. Their original goal was to create the Oil of Gold. But, in Richard's pamphlet describing their work, he wrote, "...gold at $240 a pound is an expensive thing to experiment with; and, after a while it dawned on us that the principle would be the same if we used copper at 15 cents a pound. So the experiments were transferred to the cheaper metal." (Compare to the cost of gold today! But the ratio of its cost to that of copper is approximately 4500:1 whereas the figures quoted above show a ratio of 1600:1.) After three years of painstaking labor and a steady draining of their financial resources, Mrs Ingalese produced the first success: the red oil of copper. Richard wrote (in "They Made..."): "We thought that victory was close at had, but found it was still some years away. The fifth year gave us the oil of sulphur, but not until we had many fires and explosions and two asphyxiations." I wonder what their neighbors thought of this! "The sixth year produced the oil of mercury, the basis of all Alchemy...By this time we had sold all our securities and had two mortgages on our home, but had determined to continue with the work until we met with success, if it took this life and all subsequent ones. But we had all the oils required to make the Stone, and, thus encouraged, we tried to crystallize and fuse them. In 1917 we succeeded in making the White Stone of the Philosophers." The Ingaleses continued the time-honored tradition of using animals to try new drugs. "We dared not try it on ourselves at first. But there was a third member of our family, a beautiful Angora cat of which we were very fond. We took a vote to see which of the three should test out the Stone, and the cat, neglecting to vote, was elected. It survived the first dose, and we repeated it on the following two days, with the cat becoming more frisky than usual...After that we tried it ourselves, each taking a dose at the same moment so we would excarnate together if it should prove fatal. But it proved beneficial and energized our bodies." The writer for the Occult Review was less hesitant to sample the Stone. When Mrs Ingalese asked her if she would care to see and taste the Red Stone she wrote, "I willingly accepted." She then goes on to describe how Mrs Ingalese "[dipped] a silver knife in the bottle and quickly restoppering it, placed the smear--it was little more--on my tongue, saying it must lie there and not be swallowed. I immediately noticed an intense bitterness, which is said to be the gold, but other metals I could not detect. In two or three seconds it had been absorbed or dispersed, so that not even a flavour remained in my mouth." Returning to the account in Richard's lecture: "Encouraged by this success, we redoubled our efforts to make the Red Stone of the Philosophers, which is the one most mentioned in Alchemical writings. This effort was continuous from 1917 to 1920, when our quest was rewarded." Apparently, the Ingalese's work was supported in a more than verbal way: After creating and potentizing the Red Stone, Richard writes: "There were several elderly people whom we were under obligations to help in case our search proved successful, and we offered to share the results of our efforts with them; but, being wisely cautious, they preferred to wait until we had tried out the Stone for a year." I am presuming they obtained investors for their work, in exchange for the promise to share the fruits of it with them should the experiment succeed. Perhaps these same investors held the said mortgages on their home; this information is still being researched. If these mortgages were legally recorded, the records will probably be retrievable from the County of Los Angeles. "After that, our renewal club was formed and we all took the magic medicine ...Mrs Ingalese and I have not done as well as some of the other members of the group because of the condition we were in when we commenced the treatment. >From 1911 to 1920, [the couple was then aged 57-66 and 49-54] though having the knowledge and the means to keep our bodies healthful we did not use mind or any medicine in that behalf because, we could not have known what effect the Alchemical products would have on us. From a physiological viewpoint, those were important years in our lives, since our bodies had reached an age when strict attention and care were necessary to prevent quick deterioration. But, even under those conditions, our bodies now attest the power of the Stone, as all who have known us for the last two decades can testify." As to the Stone's efficacy, Richard makes some interesting observations: "...we tried the stone on many 'incurables.' The number of cases cured was remarkable, but we found it not infallible...We know that the Stone restores virility in men at any age, and normal desire in both sexes..."If a woman has recently passed her change of life, it restores all normal functioning of the sex organs. But, if she has long passed that period, then, childbearing is out of the question." Ms McKenzie adds: "The cure of a case of cancer, given up by all the doctors, was also claimed. After a few doses the disease was said to be arrested, and after some months' treatment was completely cured." "I did not verify these statements," cautiously notes Ms McKenzie, "but record them as given." Richard also mentions: "...incredible as it may appear, I know of one alchemist more than 600 years old, and one whose age is more than 400, and another whose age is 200, and all of these look and function as do men in the prime of life at about 40 years." THE DEAD RAISED. But even this is not as astonishing as his matter-of-fact description of the resuscitation of a dead woman, the wife of a prominent local physician. "Half an hour had elapsed and her body was growing cold. A dose of the dissolved White Stone was put into the mouth of the corpse without perceptible result. Fifteen minutes later a second dose was administered and the heart commenced to pulsate weakly. Fifteen minutes later a third dose was given and soon the woman opened her eyes. In the course of a few weeks the woman became convalescent, after which she lived seven years." WHAT NEXT? This is incredibly tantalizing and, prima facie, unbelievable. But what purpose could be served by Ingalese fabricating this story? Surely there must be some corroborating material somewhere. A whole host of other questions suggest themselves: What did the resuscitated woman finally die from, and at what age? What caused her to die in the first place? What other techniques (if any) were used to attempt to revive her? Why wasn't the Stone used again in the second place? Richard ended his pamphlet stating that, even at their advanced ages of 67 and 73, both he and his wife looked and felt young and extremely healthy. "This is our testimony in behalf of Alchemy and the Alchemists, which each person may accept, or reject, according to his conviction, until such time as our bodies, now 67 and 73 years of age, respectively, by their youth and vigor, will compel acceptance of our statements." And then...? Besides Richard's statement, and the _Occult Review_ article, I found none but passing mentions of the Ingaleses in the occult literature of the next 40+ years, until the above mentioned _Man, Myth and Magic_ article. Even Cockburn's book, though published in 1940, makes no mention of them even though as practicing alchemists, you would think he would have had some interest in researching their techniques. DID THE STONE GRANT THEM IMMORTALITY? Unfortunately, the reality seems to be more prosaic. Research in Los Angeles records by kind volunteers unearthed the death records of both Isabella and Richard. It would be romantic to imagine that they faked their deaths and are living under different names in India, but the death certificates of both of them contain plenty of corroborating facts, such as the attending doctor's statement, history of their illness, whether a autopsies were performed, and details of the interment. If this is all a massive conspiracy, it's perfectly and extremely elaborately done. Isabella died of "chronic myocarditis" in May 1934, and Richard of "pulmonary edema, senility" and related causes in October of that year. His death certificate shows him under a doctor's care starting about a week after her death. [I'm going to eventually put all the info about the death certificates in an Appendix.] His death was reported by neighbor Paul Hamilton, who was the executor and beneficiary of in Richard's will, in recognition for unspecified service and help he provided the Ingaleses. I am still trying to find more information about him. So now my researches are aimed at answering some of the following remaining questions. What happened to their laboratory, their notes, and--for that matter--their store of the White and the Red Stones? Is it possible that there is a cupboard in some old house or building in L.A. containing some vials of a panacea or an elixir of immortality? What about the other members of the "Renewal Club"? Would it not be enlightening to learn their later histories? What about the multi-centenarian alchemists Richard claimed to know? Did Richard and Isabella have any students carry on their work? If so, who were they? Did they publish anything? I did visit their last address in 1996, and the house was still standing. However, I didn't have the nerve to walk up to the front door and say, "May I come in and see if there was an alchemical laboratory in your attic 70 years ago?" I asked these questions of anyone I met who was interested in alchemy, but nobody knew the answer. One or two veteran alchemists remarked that they had heard that the Ingaleses had lived in New York previously, and that a preliminary search of L. A. records came up empty. Frater Albertus, in the introduction to his edition of Richard's pamphlet, loftily states, "We are not greatly concerned here with the individuals known as Richard and Isabella Ingalese nor to their whereabouts up to the nineteen thirties and thereafter." Here I must disagree with the revered Frater. Are we not, indeed? Perhaps I am too inquistive for my own good, but it seemed to me that it would be intensely interesting to a practical alchemist to learn more about two of the incredibly few people who ever explicitly claimed have succeeded in the Great Work. OTHER RANDOM BITS AND PIECES OF THE PUZZLE. The first interesting thing my research revealed is that both Richard and Isabella changed their names after their marriage around 1896. Richard was born Richard Ward in Savannah, Georgia in 1862, and Isabella was born Mary Robbins in New York City in 1854. They lived in several places until 1910, when they moved to California. They spent one year or so in San Jose, then moved to Los Angeles around 1912. Mrs Ingalese was occupied full time as a psychic, healer and teacher, and her husband was a lawyer, who specialized in mining and corporation law. She must have been married once before, as Richard's bio states that he married "Mrs. Mary Robbins Weller" in 1896. In addition, they were also avid students of what was then called "New Thought" and wrote a number of books, including "Occult Philosophy" and "The History and Power of Mind," many of which can still be found in used bookstores today. [I will append a complete bibliography of their writings to a later revision of this paper.] The two or three I've read contain no mention of alchemy at all and indeed are, frankly, indistinguishable to me from countless other "metaphysical" books which authors seemed to crank out in the early 1900s: vaporous metaphysical theories with no practical application. Ingalese also wrote: "We have never made gold, nor gems. That is a branch that is exceedingly interesting; and when we have the leisure, we shall pursue that part of the art..." Did they ever go on to this phase of the work? Both Richard in his pamphlet and Isabella in her interview seem to be the model of rational, sensible people. They do not give the impression of being fanatics, charlatans or self-deluded. Ms McKenzie writes with admirable conservatism (for an occult writer): "These are big claims, and I was not in the least credulous regarding the matter, for time and direct observation of specific cases alone could justify the statements. But I was impressed by the modesty and care of the statements made by Mrs Ingalese." In fact, Richard gives several examples of charlatans, con-men and misguided seekers in the course of his talk, and makes the commonsensical observation: "If a person poses as a teacher, ask for some evidence of his knowledge before you enroll as his student...No honest man could object to such requirements." He is referring to alchemical teachers specifically, but certainly this is generally true. The next question that arises is: precisely how did they work? It is very difficult to find a clear path through the mass of alchemical literature, and teachers were no doubt hard to find in the early 1900s in Southern California. The Ingaleses patiently read and collected alchemical books and manuscripts for more than a decade, and after a thorough examination of the available alchemical literature, Richard stated in his lecture that he agreed with this statement: "Some one has said, 'You can destroy all other books on alchemy, for their knowledge and more is contained in the alchemical writings of Paracelsus." Mrs Ingalese told the Occult Review's Mrs McKenzie that A. E. Waite's edition of _The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus_ were "the volumes that afforded her the most encouragement and help in her subsequent efforts." But as far as specifics go, neither Richard in his pamphlet nor Isabella in her interview vouchsafed any details. [Note: Waite's edition of the Paracelsus material was first published in London in 1894, which was reproduced (rather beautifully) by University Press in 1967. I believe there may be a still later Weiser reprint. I am in the process of carefully reading the two volumes to see if I can deduce, from the few clues Richard gave in his lecture, the techniques they used in their work.] As a woman alchemist, Isabella Ingalese is extremely unusual; in fact none appear in the literature I'm familiar with except as partners or assistants to their husbands. (In fact, a study of these women would be extremely interesting. Nicholas and Perenelle Flamel and Thomas Vaughn and [?] come to mind. I mentioned this to my [then] wife, proposing the title "Alchemists and their women." She immediately retorted that a better title would be "Women and their Alchemists." Touche'!) "PARACELSIA." An interesting discovery was that the Ingaleses recorded a legal document in 1919 in which they intended to form a cooperative community, with 11 others, on a 440 acre parcel of land in rural San Diego county, to be called: "PARACELSIA." This did not ever appear to actually be done, but in 1940 the property was acquired by another New Thought writer, Flower Newhouse, and in 1996 it is still being operated as a spiritual retreat. A NOTE ABOUT COCKREN. A tangential sidelight: It is interesting to note another 20th Century Alchemist who claimed to have achieved the Magistery. This was Archibald Cockren, who wrote a small book published in London in 1940. The first 120 of its 158 pages were devoted to historical and theoretical overviews of Alchemy, just as the first three quarters of Richard Ingalese's lecture was an overview of alchemical history and theory. Cockren then describes in a few pages, leaving out large and significant details, his laboratory alchemical work. Nowhere does he mention the Ingaleses, nor is there any indication he was even aware of their work, even though the _Occult Review_ article was published in London in 1927. However, there are interesting clues in his writing, which led William Leo, in his 1972 book "Alchemy" to attempt to "fill in the blanks." Cockren's book would, I think, repay a closer analysis and perhaps that could be the subject of a future article. CAN ANYONE HELP? If anyone reading this has any more leads or suggestions I welcome them. Since so far this version of the paper is only published on the Internet, you who are reading this probably have email. So write to me at: tims@crow-caw.com or tims45@aol.com I welcome all correspondence about the Ingaleses, Cockren or my other research hobby, Franz Bardon. Appendix A: Information from the Death Certificates of the Ingaleses. Richard Ingales[sic] Sept 2, 1934 (City) No 11497 Vol 342 1. Place of death: dist no 1901 County: LA City: LA Local Registered no: 11497 Street and no: 5429 Hollywood Blvd (place of death) 2. Full Name: Richard Ingalese Residence: 5429 Hollywood Blvd 3. Sex: male 4. Color or race: white 5. Widower 5a. If married, widowed or divorced, name of h or w: Isabella Ingalese 6. Date of Birth: April 21, 1863 7. Age: 71 years, 5 months, 11 days 8. Trade: atty-author 9. Industry/business where work was done: office 10. Date deceased last worked at this occupation: 1930 11. Total years spent in this occupation: 40 12. Birthplace: Savanah (sic), GA 13. Father's Name: Wm Wade 14. F Birthplace: Savanana GA (sic) 15. Mother Maiden Name: Susan Prendigast (preueligast? hard to read) 16. M Birthplace: Savanna (sic) GA 17. length of residence city: 20 yrs (1914-1934) california: 20 yrs 18. Informant (signature): Paul Hamilton address: 5433 1Ž2 Hollywood Blvd LA 19. Burial, cremation or removal? Cremation Place: Hollywood Crematory Date: 10/4/34 20. Embalmer License No: 2300 Signature: W. Franklin Farnsworth Funeral Director: Le Roy Bagley Mortuary Address: 5440 Hollywood Blvd. 21. Filed: 10/4/34 22. Date of Death: 10/2/1934 23. Medical Certificate of death: I hereby certify that I attended deceased from 5/22/34 to 10/2/34; that I last saw him alive on 10/1/34 and that the death occurred on the above stated date at the hour of 10pm. The principal cause of death and related causes of importance, in order of onset were as follows: Pulmonary Aeduma Acute (onset 9-30-34) Arterio Sclerosis, softening of brain - senility (onset 9-25-34) Was there an autopsy: Yes Name, laboratory test confirming diagnosis: autopsy 27. Signature B. H. Sprague, MD 6630 Sunset Blvd LA CA Isabell Ingalese Jan 16, 1934 City No. 5966 Vol 337 Removals 337-R 1. Place of death: Dist No 1901 Local Registered No: 5966 County: LA City: LA Street and No: L.A. Co. Gen. Hosp. 2. Full Name: Ingalese, Isabella Residence: 960 S. Menlo St. 3. Sex: Female 4. Color or Race: Cauc. 5. Married 5a. If married, widowed or divorced, name of h or w: Richard Ingalese 6. Date of Birth: Jan 30, 1856 7. Age: 78 years 3 months 16 days 8. Trade, profession, kind of work: None. 12. Birthplace: New York, New York 13. Father: Unknown 14. F Birthplace City or Town: Unknown State: Vermont 15. Mother Maiden Name: Eliza Hale 16. M Birthplace: City or Town: unknown State: unknown 17. Length of residence city: 22 yrs (1912-1934) california: 22 yrs 18. Informant: LA Co. Gen. Hosp. 1200 N. State St. 19. Cremation place: Hollywood Crematory Date: 5/18/34 20. Embalmer license no: 1990 signature: Clarence O Bagly funeral director: Le Roy Bagley Mortuary address: 5440 Hollywood Blvd 21. Filed: May 17 1934 22. Date of Death: May 16, 1934 23. Medical Certificate of Death I hereby certify that I attended deceased from May 14, 1934 to May 16, 1934; that I last saw her alive on May 16, 34 and that death occurred on the above stated date at the hour of 3 am. The principal cause of death and related causes of importance, in order of onset, were as follows: Chronic myocarditis (onset ?) Decompensation Eedema (onset 2 weeks) Other contributory causes of importance: Chronic neptiritis No operation, no autopsy Name of laboratory test confirming diagnosis: Physical exam & urinanalysis 27. Signature: J Herbert Marks, MD 815 So Hill St Appendix B: Bibliography This is extremely fragmentary at the moment, but I'm working on it! Isabella Ingalese Occult Philosophy Richard Ingalese The History and Power of Mind Richard and Isabella Ingalese The Greater Mysteries ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Acknowledgments: I wish to thank Richard Merlin, Steve Peak, Art Kunkin, Pat Zalewski and a Mysterious Unnamed Other (J. Z.) who have been invaluable for either moral support, encouragement, and/or real actual research. Without all of their help this project probably would never have gone very far. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- History of this article: Originally written 8/1/92, slightly edited 12/18/95 and August 1998. Largely updated March and May 1996. ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This file is currently located at: ftp://ftp.vigra.com/users/tims/ingalese.doc (Word 97 version) or ftp://ftp.vigra.com/users/tims/ingalese.doc ftp://ftp.vigra.com/users/tims/ingalese.txt (text version)ftp://ftp.vigra.com/users/tims/ingalese.doc You can contact me via email at: tims@crow-caw.com Or more traditionally at P.O. Box 19278, San Diego, CA 92159 (USA)

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