“This is one of the very best books I’ve yet read on alchemy, and I’ve been studying/writing/lecturing on this subject for thirty years! The first few essays on Egyptian alchemy are excellent, well-written, well-researched and insightful. It is sheer joy to read fresh, new, innovative thinking on alchemy that is founded on sound scholarship. Another great chapter tackles the work of Rene Schwaller (de Lubicz is a title!) and for the first time, after struggling with the source material, do I understand and appreciate this man’s incredible work and fantastic theories. There’s lots more: gold in ruby glass, the problem of salt, the use of entheogens, surrealism and alchemy, etc. The notion that, among its many other etymological roots, khem also means the black ‘pupil of the eye’ is itself worth the price of this book. Aaron Cheak is to be congratulated not only for drawing some excellent scholars together, but also for his lucid essays (6 of 16). This isn’t a book for readers who are new to the subject, but is required reading for those who have a passionate, determined interest in alchemy and want to delve deeper into its diverse traditions.”