The Alchemist's Other Apprentice


Chapter VI


In which Peter
discusses Esoteric Sciences with an Alchemist
and is Bested by a Boy


Griffin Street was on the border between the best and worst areas of town. To the south were the taverns that clustered around the east end of the market district. To the north, the residences of the rich spread down from the castle, Here were artists, craftsmen, and smaller shops selling more obscure items; antiques, herbs, rare books. Stephen pointed to the tall stone building across from where they stood.

“That’s it.” he said. “We sent a message to him earlier saying that a candidate had been found, so he will be expecting you. Just knock on the door and tell him you would like to be considered for his apprenticeship.”

Stephen turned and extended his hand again. “Whatever you choose to do I wish you good fortune. I judge you to be a reasonable and competent person. I am sure you will do well in whatever course you choose. As long as you can avoid confrontations with the law.” He added with his mischievous smile. “As for Dee,” he said glancing across the street, “I have met him on several occasions and spoken at length with persons who know him well. I can tell you that he is a genuine scholar and that I know of no one else in this city that can teach you more. Knowledge is power Peter. And power can be freedom. Choose well.” He released Peter’s hand and turned to walk away down the street.

“You’re not going to take me in?” Peter asked.

“The instructions were clear,” Stephen said, turning back to him. “He doesn’t want anyone who doesn’t come of their own free will. The decision is yours.”

“But what about what the jailer said? You told him I wouldn’t be back?”

Stephen's smile beamed even brighter. “I only told him you wouldn’t run away and you haven’t, you have been released. What you do now is up to you. I must warn you though. If your name appears on the jail census again they won’t be sending me to release you. You are on your own. Just as you like it, I believe. Good fortune Peter!” Stephen waved a hand and was gone, lost from sight around the corner.

On my own. Am I really? Peter wondered. If I walked away would Stephen appear suddenly beside me, to advise me differently or to take me back to jail. Would the city guard be waiting. Is this a test.

If it were a test Peter didn’t want to give them the satisfaction of seeing him take it. He didn’t want to fail it and be taken back to jail, and he didn’t want to pass it and passively be led into whatever it was that they really wanted. Still, if he couldn’t think of a way to simply disappear into thin air he would have to do one or the other.

He turned to look at the tall stone house Stephen had indicated. It was the second from the corner on a street that seemed to be about half businesses and half residences. The bland two story structure to the left appeared to be a Bakery. The place on the right had an unadorned front with only one small door and a sign above it that indication that it was a potter’s shop. The house of Dee itself, although not elaborate, was architecturally more interesting than the others. It had a row of small, heavily barred windows just above the street that told of a dark basement blow. The door was simple, arched and recessed, at the top of a short rise of stairs. There were big windows, in front, one on each side of the entry, but they were about ten feet above the street and too high to see into. The second story presented only a regular row of medium sized windows. The third story broke into what seemed to be three towers that reached above the structures to either side. The tallest central tower was ringed with a narrow walkway and all three had a variety of seemingly haphazard windows that looked out in all directions across the city

It must be a wonderful view from up there Peter thought as he started across the street, taking the high windows to be a good sign, perhaps even an omen.

The heavy wooden door opened to his hesitant knock, and a young boy, perhaps two or three years younger than Peter stood blinking at him.

“May I help you?” the boy asked simply. He was shorter than Peter and dressed in very simple yet clean and new clothes. His hair was cut short and neat and his cheeks were scrubbed pink. It made Peter wonder what he must look like in his ragged unwashed clothes and his tangled shoulder length mop of brown hair.

“I was told to come here to see a man named Dee. They told me he needs an apprentice.

The younger boy’s eyes widened slightly. He stepped back to allow Peter to enter and said politely, “I shall inform Master Dee of your presence. Whom shall I say is visiting?”

It was a moment before Peter understood that the boy wanted his name. “Peter, he said. “My name is Peter, and the King’s Court Clerk sent me.”

“Very good,” said the boy, “Please wait here.”

The boy disappeared down the hallway leaving Peter alone to wonder if this had been a good idea. That boy was so formal and proper. Will they want me to act like that Peter wondered? He grinned, imagining himself, “Yes sir. No sir. Will that be all sir? How may I assist you sir?” Somehow he just couldn’t see himself doing that.

“Master Peter?” The boy had returned, “Master Dee will see you. This way.”

Peter followed as the boy went further into the house. The halls and rooms were dark, all furnished with rich dark red wood. Narrow bookshelves stood in every nook and the walls between were hung with paintings and dotted with small glowing amber lamps. Every corner seemed filled with paraphinalia but Peter was able to see little of it as he was led to a larger, well lit room. Here the bookshelves covered the walls and reached to the ceiling. High backed chairs sat on an exotic carpet and faced a wide fireplace with a gently crackling flame. In the biggest chair a man with a short white beard looked up from his book.

“Welcome Peter,” he said. “Come, sit.”

Peter sat in the chair indicated and the man put his book away on a small table. “That will be all for now Tommy, but stay nearby, I will call you soon.” Peter caught the younger boy’s eye as he left the room, but he couldn’t guess anything from his expression.

“Why have you come?” The man, Artimus Dee obviously, asked him.

Peter tried not to squirm in his seat as he felt the mans eye’s on him. Why is he asking, Peter wondered, surely he knows. Surely he engineered my being here.

“I was told that you needed an apprentice.” Peter said at last guessing that this is what Dee wanted to hear.

“Yes,” the man said. “Yes I do think that I should have another apprentice. But tell me, why do you think it should be you.”

He wants me to beg for the job, Peter thought, he wants me to say I will be a good boy and I will work hard and I will do anything to stay here and make myself your slave.

Peter sat quietly staring back at the man, trying to weigh his options. He wasn’t going to beg. After all, he had no idea what this man really wanted him for. At last he said, “I haven’t really decided what course of action would be best for me.”

“Hmmm,” the man said, sitting back in his chair and watching Peter. “That is perhaps very wise of you at this point. Tell me this; if you did choose to accept an apprenticeship here, do you think that you will be able to handle it?”

“Handle it in what way?” Peter asked cautiously.

“Intellectually,” the man said. “There would be almost continuous study. When you are not reading you would be practicing some art. Even simple chores would be accompanied by observation and concentration exercises. There would be much to learn. Very much.”

“I can learn anything,” Peter replied. “Anything I want to,” he added.

“That is good. Confidence is essential.” Dee looked into the fire but continued talking, “I have heard that you have run away from several previous homes.”

Here it comes, thought Peter. This is were he threatens me with eternal misfortune if I should run away from this wondrous opportunity.

“I’ve looked at the situations you were in and I think you made reasonable choices.”

Peter’s mouth dropped open but he shut it quickly. This man was surprising and very, very subtle. It was going to be difficult for him to stay in control of his life if he chose to stay here. It was going to be very difficult just to guess what Dee was really up to.

“Your ability to make choices for yourself without being manipulated by others is very important to me,” the man continued. “I find that the ability to think for ones self, to bear ones own counsel, to trust in ones own instincts above the urgings of others, is a difficult matter to teach. I would prefer to work with someone who thinks for himself to begin with. Would you mind if we do a simple test?”

Peter looked up, surprised, nothing the man was saying was what Peter had expected. “Uh, sure.” Peter said at last focusing on the question.

“Sit back and rest your arms on the arms of the chair,” Dee said. “Just let them relax there and get yourself comfortable.”

Peter did as he was told, wondering what this part was all about. He had a feeling that things were starting to move along a little to quickly. He needed time to think. He let himself get comfortable in the chair and listened as the old man continued to talk.

“From what I have heard you must have had a strenuous week. I’ll wager that it was an uncomfortable night trying to sleep in that jail cell also.” Dee opened a box on the table at his side and removed a pipe and began to slowly fill it as he talked. “It will be very relaxing for you to get a good nights rest. You probably feel much calmer already, just having the opportunity to sit back in that soft chair and relax with no one chasing you and nowhere important to go to. It must feel good just to let all the tension drain out of you and to simply rest and relax for awhile.

Peter was watching the man’s hands as he slowly stuffed the pipe full and with such slow and gentle movements, brought the pipe to his mouth. His voiced droned on as he slowly reached back to the box and Peter could feel himself melting into the big chair as the man removed a long match and, striking it, slowly lit his pipe, puffing heavy white clouds into the air. The match slowly moved forward and as Dee talked about rest and worries drifting like clouds, the match lit a candle on the small table between them and the flame grew to fill Peter’s sleepy gaze.

“Your arms are heavy too,” Dee was saying, just like your legs. Your arms are so heavy now that you couldn’t possibly lift them from the chair. Your arms are so heavy it is as if they have become part of the chair and they have melted into the chair arms and become one with them. Even if you had the strength, even if you had the desire, or the will, your arms are so heavy now that they are part of the chair and you could not possibly lift them.”

The candle flame glowed gold and amber in Peter’s gaze and he heard his name called through it. “Peter.”

“Yes,” he replied weakly.

“Peter, your arms have become part of the chair. You cannot lift them. Go ahead and try. Try to lift your arms Peter. You will find that you cannot.”

My arms, Peter thought. He has been talking about my arms. They do feel heavy. My whole body feels heavy. He says I cannot lift my arms.

Peter’s mind seemed to come back from the flame. He says I cannot lift my arms. But that is ridiculous. He is trying to do something to me. But that is impossible, he was only talking, he couldn’t really have done anything, my arms must be all right. So why haven't I moved? Peter thought? It is because I haven’t tried he realized. He felt his arms resting on the chair. He relaxed and lifted his arms above his head. The candle flame was gone. No, there it was, flickering on the table. Dee was smiling at him.

“What?” he asked. “There is nothing wrong with my arms.”

“Of course there isn’t. But you would be surprised how many men will sit there and struggle against themselves as if there were.”

“But why? Why would they do that.”

“I’m not at all sure,” said Dee putting his pipe away and closing the box. “It’s one of the things I’m investigating. The important thing for us at this moment is that you have shown that you will not believe something simply because it has been suggested to you. You have instead, quite naturally, shaken off the words and images that were thrown at you and tested the question for yourself.”

Dee rose and walked over to windows. “The implication here, Peter, is that if I spend a dozen years teaching you it will not be wasted the first time some trickster seeks to misdirect you.

“A dozen!” Peter was wide awake now, “What is there in the world to teach that can take a dozen years?”

Dee turned, laughing, and sat on the window sill. “I’ve been at it myself for well over fifty years and I have no illusions that I’ve even scratched the surface.”

Peter stood also, and began to wander about the room as he asked, “At what exactly.” Without realizing it, he was finding that it was very easy to talk to this man.

“It’s everything Peter. Simply everything.” With all traces of laughter gone from his face now, Dee tried to explain. “The goal of my kind is to save humanity from itself one simple little life at a time. We strive to lead by example. We teach any who will learn. We advise any who will listen.”

“In order to advise well and teach wisely we must know and understand...” he hesitated, “simply everything.”

Peter could see the heads of people passing on the street below as Dee sought the words to describe ‘simply everything’.

“In order to know how to do things, you must know how things work. You must study physics, mechanics, engineering. To deal with people, you must know how people work; you must study psychology, sociology and anthropology. To know what is happening in the universe, to know where the universe is going, where we are going. To know what our purpose is, we must strive to understand our very beginnings and see where our journey has led us thus far. Only then, when we have discovered and understood the past and recognized how it has developed into the present, can we attempt to guess where we are headed in the future and only then can we make our best choices for today.”

“But sir, how can any man know all of that?” Peter was trying to understand what the man was saying, but it all sounded overwhelming.

“Oh, you’re right of course, no man can understand everything. Still, it is our goal to find out how much we can understand, and by teaching others, by giving the next generation a better start, to see how much we can improve our understanding in each generation, all in hopes that some day mankind can learn to be at peace with himself, his world and his universe. We can’t hope to understand this universe in our lifetime Peter. We probably cannot hope to understand it completely in a hundred or even a thousand lifetimes. But, neither can we stop trying. We will not give up, we will not concede. We will face the challenge and continue the struggle no matter how many thousands of generations it may require.”

“Who is We?” Peter interjected, standing squarely and facing Dee, for he was beginning to feel that this question was pivotal, and one that Dee might be reluctant to answer.

Dee was quiet a long time. He sat leaning back on the window sill with the changing street scene flowing behind him and watching the young person before him. At last, as if he had made some unspoken decision, he said, “There is no formal organization and no specific name. Throughout history groups and individuals have taken up the task, some adding years of research and discovery to human understanding. Many groups have become extinct and have left the task untended for centuries before another individual has resurrected it and carried it forward. There have been famous saints and famous scholars, and there have been ten times as many unknown geniuses who have furthered the cause.”

“You want to hear names? I will tell you some. I have worked with the Holy Order of the Rose Cross and the Brotherhood of Saint Giordano. Before us where alchemists and Gnostics. Cathars and Kaballists. There were the secret teachings of the Chaldees, the Egyptians and the Babalonians. There is the mysterious teaching of Hermes Trismagistous that is found everywhere yet all clues to it’s origins prove false. There were writings of our sort found at Sumer, and before that, symbols in caves and shards of sculpture that point to even earlier understanding.

“The names you see, are unimportant. Anyone may take up the Great Work. Anyone may learn something new and pass it onward to leave his mark on history. The task Peter, is evolution. Mankind will evolve whether we make any effort to hurry it along or not, but there have always been people who are not satisfied with our current level of evolution and who strive to force themselves and mankind to grow into what we can be tomorrow. The Great Work is to become in yourself all that you can possibly be; to push your mind soul body and spirit to develop as much as you possibly can, and then to invite mankind to come along to a better future.”

“Wow,” Peter said.

“Wow indeed,” said Dee. “How does it sound to you. Do you want to find out how much you can learn, how high you can jump, how fast you can run, if you can compose a sonata or sculpt a goddess?” “Is that the job then, to learn many things and work as an advisor?”

“That’s one way. That is what I do, but you can work as anything you want. The more you know the more options you have. I suspect that young Tommy will become a great architect.”

That was the first mention of the other boy in the house and Peter wanted to know more, but he wasn’t finished with the previous subject yet.

“What has any of this to do with alchemy?” He asked.

“Ah,” began Dee, “you have heard some of alchemy. What exactly have you heard of it?

“It has to do with cooking metals and changing lead to gold. Do you do that?” Peter was taking some initiative in this conversation at last. Making gold from anything was a con game and Peter knew it. If Dee admitted to making “gold” Peter would know his true motives. But, he did not.

“I will begin your instruction by telling you the secret of alchemy. It is a symbolic language for passing on truths that are much more important than making your own riches. The secret methods concealed in the language of alchemy are none other than those of the Great Work itself. Lead is a symbol for the normal man, the person you are before you begin. Gold is symbolic of the cleansed, refined and purified person that you can become. The cooking, as you describe it, is the purification and refining process that you must put yourself through in order to become the best person you can be. The true goal of alchemy is the Great Work and it has nothing at all to do with making actual gold. It is simply a secret language used among adepts during dark times.”

“Oh,” said Peter.

“To the point! Will you stay here and study with young Tommy and I?”

“Uh, yes.”

“Uh, yes it is then! Let us begin. We will study many things but let us begin with some discussion of observation, and let us begin that with observation of the people around us. Tommy!” “Yes sir.” Tommy had appeared almost instantaneously.

“Did you observe the man who brought Peter here?”

“Yes sir, I did. I saw him from the window. They stood across the street and spoke for a few moments.”

“Good. Peter, please tell us everything you can about the man who brought you. Every observation and deduction you can think of.”

It seemed like an odd request to Peter. Dee spoke as if it where some sort of test, but he wondered if Dee might just be fishing for information about Stephen or maybe about anyone from the Palace Administration.

“Well,” began Peter, willing to go along with anything temporarily, “His name was Stephen and he said he was an assistant in the Court Clerks Office. I think he was rather light on his feet, fast and athletic, which I thought was rather odd for a clerk.

“Good point,” Dee said. “Anything else?”

Peter tried to think, they had spoken together for almost two hours, he must have learned something about the man.

“He didn’t talk much about himself,” Peter said. “He seemed very nice, he gave me good advice, he seemed to think that it really was best for me to come here. I think he really wanted to be helpful to me.” “Good,” said Dee. “And what does it all add up to for you?”

Peter shrugged, “He’s just a nice guy who performed an errand for you.”

“And what about being too athletic for a clerk.?” Dee prodded.

“I don’t know. Not all clerks have to be fat and lazy. So what if he’s in good shape?”

“Very true,” said Dee surprising him. Every time Peter didn’t answer the way he was expected too, he was prepared for some argument in return, but Dee always agreed with him instead. It was confusing. Peter didn’t know what to think about Dee’s manner yet.

Dee returned to his chair and sat down. “Tommy, what can you tell us about this man?”

Tommy sat up straight and tall in the big chair, his legs dangling a few inches from the floor. He spoke as if he were delivering a report. “The man identified as Stephen, Assistant Court Clerk of King Phillip I, appeared to be approximately five feet six inches tall and appeared to weigh approximately one hundred thirty pounds. He had dark skin, dark eyes and long dark hair. He wore the uniform of the palace administration with a few notable exceptions. He was of sanguinary humor...”

“Not phlegmatic?” Dee interrupted.

“No, cerebrotonic, yet catlike, athletic, as Peter has said. His stance was always balanced with his weight shifting smoothly like a fighter. His back was always to the wall as they talked and he kept himself aware of every other person on the street. Peter is correct, he is far too alert for a clerk.”

“Is?” Asked Dee

“Appears to be.” Tommy amended. And there are the variations in his uniform. He did not wear those black slippers that the palace workers wear. He had instead, woodsman's boots, soft ones, such as a scout might wear. Also, he wore a darker garment under his uniform shirt, you could see it a bit at the collar, perhaps a sweater.”

“Hmmm,” said Dee, watching both boys closely, “What do you suppose that could mean?”

“The blue castle uniforms are quite bright and distinctive. They can be identified easily from a great distance. If he were to remove that undergarment and wear it on top, over the uniform, he could quickly and efficiently make himself much less identifiable.”

Oh, that’s just too much, thought Peter. These two are practically paranoid. They are seeing dark motives behind everything, even behind this mans choice of underwear. “Your thoughts Peter?” Dee must have seen his expression change.

Peter took a deep breath, might as well just say what was on his mind he decided. “You’re looking for schemes and subterfuge behind common everyday things. This man probably just gets cold easily. He wore a sweater beneath his shirt to stay warm, it doesn't have to be anything else.”

“Excellent point Peter.” Dee said smiling. “We must never forget to consider the obvious. The simplest and most efficient answer is most likely to be correct. He leaned back in his seat still watching the boys. He has done it again thought Peter. He says I’m right no matter what I say. There is something unusual behind that habit.

Damn! Now he has got me suspecting things. Maybe he is just trying to be nice.

“Still,” Dee continued, “were you cold this morning? You are wearing considerably less than he was.”

“No,” Peter admitted. “I didn’t notice that I was cold at all.”

“There was something else,” Tommy said. “Something that Peter couldn’t see. When he walked away, around the corner he stopped and talked with a beggar on the street. I think he gave the man a coin.” Dee said nothing, waiting for the boys to go on.

Peter squirmed a little in his seat. “Probably paid him to watch me, or grab me if I ran away.”

“I don’t think so,” said Tommy. The other man couldn’t see you and neither of them looked toward the corner where you were. They looked at the sky and gestured toward the mountains. I think they were discussing the weather.”

“OK,” said Peter. “So he’s just a friendly guy. He likes to talk to people.”

“Possible,” said Tommy. “Maybe even probable.” He glanced at Dee as he said that. “But,” he continued, “Making contacts and being friendly with street people is very important if you are interested in intelligence gathering.”

“What?” asked Peter, surprised. “What could there be of importance that a beggar on the street could tell you?”

“Oh, nothing in particular.” Tommy explained, looking down at his feet and seeming to feel self conscious as he spoke to the older boy. “It’s just that you would need to make friends with as many of them as possible. There are lots of them and they are out on the streets every day and they see everything that goes on. It would be to your advantage to be on good terms with them so that they know and like you. Someday you may want to ask something as simple as ‘Which way did they go?’ or ‘Did you see any guards go in there?’ If they recognize you as a friend they will tell you. If they don’t know you at all, you are unlikely ever to get an honest answer out of them.

Peter saw that Dee was patiently looking at him, waiting for his response.

“All right, that seems reasonable.” Peter knew it was reasonable. He knew you couldn’t survive on the streets a moment if you made enemies of those people. They would lie to you, rob you, send the guards after you, grab you and try to sell you, anything. Your only chance on the street was to try to achieve some camaraderie with them. They had to see you as one of their own.

Dee suddenly sat up straight in his chair and spread his hands wide. “Conclusions?” he said.

Peter was silent, not sure what was expected.

Dee looked at Tommy and Tommy replied, “Stephen, has a position close to the King. He cultivates ties with street people. He is prepared to change his appearance if necessary. He works in an office but wears the shoes of a woodsman. He is alert, cautious and wary. He moves like a warrior. Stephen is a spy.”

“Is?” asked Dee again, with one eyebrow raised.

Tommy looked embarrassed. “I suspect that the probability is high that Stephen has gained the position of court clerk for the purposes of information gathering,” he quickly amended.

“Very good,” said Dee. “Both of you have made some very good observations. Peter you will note that Tommy makes use of some terminology that you are not yet familiar with but that you will be able to aquire for yourself easily enough if you wish. Simply because we have discussed what can be guessed about this person today, you will find that you will see more in each person you meet tomorrow. This is a vital skill that we will exercise ourselves in daily. Be aware of everyone and everything you see and we will discuss the details each evening.”

“Peter, let me give you a quick example of how much your observation can improve.” Dee rose and went to one of the shelves that enclosed the room and returned with a small red velvet bag. He sat in his chair and spoke to Peter. “I will pour the contents of this bag on the table. After thirty seconds I will return the contents to the bag and I will ask you to name from memory as many of the items as you can. If you do not recognize an item a brief description will do.”

Peter nodded and Dee pored out the bag.

Peter could hear a clock ticking quietly in the room and the sound of a wagon on the street as he looked through the collection of items on the table. There was jewelry, stones, coins, shells and other items. After a short time Dee’s hand swept in and scooped everything back into the bag.

“Peter?”

“There was a smooth purple stone and another like it in a gold setting like a necklace. There were coins with square holes in them, a beetle nut and a sea shell,” he paused, knowing there was more, but his mind was blank. “There was a fire cracker,” he added, and was quiet again.

Dee waited several moments, then when Peter looked up and shrugged, he said “Tommy?”

Tommy had not been looking. Peter had not thought that he would be playing the game. He had just been sitting quietly in his seat. He could see the items on the table clearly from where he sat, but he had not leaned forward and studied them intently the way Peter had.

“There were fifteen items.” Tommy said, “ There were three pieces of amethyst. One in raw crystal form, two were polished smooth, and one of those was set on a yellow metal setting. There was a broken piece of turquoise, an obsidian arrow head with the tip broken off, a piece of amber, an agate marble, a sea shell, three Chinese coins, a small pewter turtle, a fire cracker, a plectrum as for a lute or other stringed instrument, and a single die, the number facing up was six.”

Peter’s mouth was open again, but he closed it as Dee addressed him. “Although Tommy has not seen these items before, he has played this game many times. It serves us now to demonstrate for you how much your simplest observational skills can increase simply by practicing. The more you can condition your mind to grasp and hang on to things, Peter, the more you can learn. The more you learn, the more freedom you will have to make your own choices when you are an adult.

“Now, we have spoken long enough and you can probably use some fresh air and exercise. Tommy, if you would please, get your bag, and take Peter with you.

As Tommy ran out of the room Dee put his hand on Peter’s shoulder. “Peter, I know we have discussed a lot of things in a very short time. Don’t worry about individual details too much. There will be plenty of time to absorb everything in the years to come. I just want to speak to you about one last thing that I want you to keep in mind. I told you that you are highly desirable as an alchemist’s apprentice because you are able to think for yourself. I have to tell you also, that for every positive force there is also a negative force. It is simply the way of our universe.

Peter, it is good that you can think for yourself, but beware that you do not think only of yourself. The greatness of a man, the degree of a man’s personal evolution, is measured in how well he is able to think beyond his own needs. A baby can think only of himself and act only for it’s own good. Some children learn to think of the welfare of their families, their parents or siblings. Some adults are able to think and act in the best interests of their communities or for what they perceive of as their people, Some great men will learn to do what is best for all of mankind.

It is important that you are able to think for yourself, but remember that it is not the same as thinking of yourself. Always do what you think is best Peter, but do what you think is best for everyone around you.”

“Ready,” Tommy said as he returned to the room with a dark cotton bag hanging over one shoulder.