Topic: Frater Albertus

Brian Cotenoir joins the program to discuss his 45-year career as an alchemist, artist, and award-winning filmmaker. Cotenoir has contributed to Frater Albertus' ParaAlchemy and authored several books including Practical Alchemy and Alchemy: The Poetry of Matter. The guest describes alchemy as an "unhealthy obsession" that encompasses the entire process of creation.

The publication of The Alchemist's Handbook by Frater Albertus in 1976 is identified as a pivotal moment for modern practical alchemy. Cotenoir describes his time working at Weiser's Bookstore, which he likens to an "underground Library of Alexandria," where he studied rare esoteric texts. He explains his current process of creating zines to share "useful" research and side topics with younger practitioners.

Phoenix Aurelius recounts his early experiments with spagyric tinctures in a high school lab and his eventual inheritance of materials from the staff of Frater Albertus. Frater Albertus ran a major alchemical school in Salt Lake City from 1960 to 1984. The conversation highlights Paracelsus as the father of toxicology and the inventor of chemistry, noting how his spiritual philosophies were largely discarded during the scientific revolution.