Fulcanelli facts for kids
Fulcanelli was the mysterious name used by a French writer and alchemist who lived in the 1920s. An alchemist was someone who studied a very old practice that combined science, magic, and philosophy. People still don't know who Fulcanelli really was! His name might be a mix of "Vulcan," the Roman god of fire, and "El," an ancient name for God, suggesting "Sacred Fire."
Fulcanelli became famous because so much about him was a secret, and then he just disappeared. People say he managed to turn lead into gold not once, but twice! The first time was in 1922. He supposedly changed 100 grams of lead into gold with his student, Eugène Canseliet. They used a special "Projection Powder," also known as the Philosopher's Stone, which Fulcanelli had made. This happened in a lab in Sarcelles, France. The second time was in 1937, when he reportedly turned 225 grams of lead into gold and 100 grams of silver into uranium. This happened at a place called Château de Léré, and several scientists were there to see it. After this, Fulcanelli was never seen again.
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Who Was Fulcanelli?
Fulcanelli was probably a French person who knew a lot about old alchemical ideas, building design, art, science, and different languages. He wrote two books that were published after he disappeared. His most important book, Le Mystère des Cathédrales (The Mystery of the Cathedrals), was published in 1926. He left the notes for this book with his only student, Eugène Canseliet. Only 300 copies of the first edition were printed in Paris.
Many people have guessed who Fulcanelli might have been. Some thought he was a famous French expert in hidden knowledge, maybe even a member of an old royal family. Others believed he was part of a secret group called the Brothers of Heliopolis, which included his student Eugène Canseliet and an artist named Jean-Julien Champagne. One idea, from a student of Canseliet, was that Fulcanelli was actually Jules Violle, a well-known French physicist. Some comparisons of handwriting from 1996 showed that Jean-Julien Champagne's writing looked very similar to Fulcanelli's.
By 1916, Fulcanelli had taken Eugène Canseliet, who was only 16, as his first student. Later, in 1921, he taught the sons of Ferdinand de Lesseps, and in 1922, two more students joined him. In 1925, Fulcanelli moved to a new place in Paris, where he supposedly succeeded in turning regular metals into gold. However, many records from that time (between 1910 and 1940) suggest that Julien Champagne was the real author, perhaps using ideas from a librarian named Pierre Dujols. The name "Fulcanelli" first appeared around 1910.
In 1960, a popular book called The Morning of the Magicians made the mystery of Fulcanelli, the Master Alchemist, famous around the world.
Who Taught Fulcanelli?
While some people wonder if Canseliet himself was Fulcanelli, Canseliet believed that Fulcanelli's own teacher was Basil Valentine, an alchemist from the 1400s. Fulcanelli also mentioned his wife in a strange letter he kept. He said, "...When my wife told me the good news" and "...my wife, with the inexplicable intuition of sensitives, had a really strange dream." This shows his wife was important to his work, which alchemists called the "Great Work."
What Happened to Fulcanelli?
According to a writer named Louis Pauwels, Fulcanelli survived World War II and completely disappeared after Paris was freed in 1945. No one could find him. In August 1945, American military intelligence asked Jacques Bergier to help find Fulcanelli because they wanted to know if he had information about German atomic energy research. Bergier couldn't say where Fulcanelli was, and the military seemed okay with that.
Fulcanelli's Warning
Walter Lang reported that Fulcanelli contacted Jacques Bergier to warn a French atomic physicist, André Helbronner, about the dangers of nuclear weapons. Fulcanelli claimed that nuclear weapons had been used before in history. Sadly, Professor Helbronner and others were killed by the Gestapo (a secret police force) near the end of World War II.
The meeting between Jacques Bergier and Fulcanelli supposedly happened in June 1937 in a lab in Paris. Here's what Fulcanelli reportedly told Bergier:
"You are very close to a big discovery, just like other scientists today. Please, be very, very careful. I warn you... Releasing nuclear power is easier than you think. The man-made radioactivity can poison our planet's air in a very short time, just a few years. Also, atomic explosives can be made from tiny amounts of metal, powerful enough to destroy whole cities. I'm telling you this as a fact: alchemists have known this for a very long time...
I won't try to prove what I'm about to say, but please tell Mr. Helbronner: certain shapes made from very pure materials can release atomic forces without needing electricity or special vacuum machines... The secret of alchemy is this: there's a way to control matter and energy to create what modern scientists call 'a field of force.' This field helps the person observing it and gives them a special view of the universe. From this view, they can see things usually hidden by time, space, matter, and energy. This is what we call the Great Work."
When Bergier asked Fulcanelli about the Philosopher's Stone, Fulcanelli replied, "...the most important thing is not changing metals, but changing the person doing the experiment. It's an old secret that a few people rediscover every century. Sadly, only a few succeed..."
In December 1938, German chemists Otto Hahn and Fritz Strassmann reported that they had found the element barium after hitting uranium with tiny particles called neutrons. Lise Meitner and her nephew Otto Robert Frisch later explained that this was nuclear fission, which is how atomic bombs work.
A Meeting in Spain
According to Canseliet, he met Fulcanelli one last time in 1953, years after Fulcanelli had disappeared. Canseliet went to Spain and was taken to a castle high in the mountains to meet his old teacher. Canseliet had known Fulcanelli as an old man in his 80s, but now Fulcanelli looked younger and different. He seemed to be a mix of male and female, a being Fulcanelli called "The Divine Androgyne." Their meeting was short, and Fulcanelli disappeared again without a trace.
The Phonetic Cabala
Fulcanelli also talked about something he called the "Phonetic Cabala." This was his special way of using language. It focused on how words sound similar and other symbolic ways to give words deeper meanings. It's different from the Hebrew Kabbalah. Fulcanelli believed its ideas were found in the words of ancient Greek gods.
Fulcanelli's Books
Fulcanelli wrote two main books:
- Le Mystère des Cathédrales (The Mystery of the Cathedrals), written in 1922 and published in Paris in 1926.
- Les Demeures Philosophales (Dwellings of the Philosophers), published in Paris in 1929.
These books are written in a very mysterious and scholarly way. They are full of Latin and Greek wordplay, alchemical symbols, hidden meanings, and lessons in special languages. This made them hard for regular readers to understand.
A third book, Finis Gloriae Mundi (End of the World's Glory), was also supposedly being prepared. Fulcanelli left the notes for this book with Canseliet. However, Fulcanelli decided it wasn't the right time for the book to be published, so it never officially came out. A book with the same name, claiming Fulcanelli as the author, was published much later, but it was found to be fake.
See also
In Spanish: Fulcanelli para niños
