[Sca-cooks] Ahhh...

[Phil Troy / G. Tacitus Adamantius]

On Friday, June 27, 2003, at 10:54  AM, Leah A. Montgomery wrote:

>> I'm a Saint-Germain man, myself... but what _we_ know doesn't really 
>> change the truth of my statement... these people are clearly famous, 
>> just not the first people you think of when the Inquiring 
>> Photographer asks you on the street to name a philosopher. Unless 
>> you're of a very unusual (and arguably deficient) mindset and 
>> edumacashun. Now if one were asked to name an alchemist, it would be 
>> different, and I wouldn't expect anybody to name Aristotle at the 
>> head of that list, unless, well, see previous.
>>
>> Adamantius, Proud Pedant
>
>
> Ahhh...true, very true. BUT, you were talking about the Philosopher's 
> Stone! Now if someone came up to me and asked me to name someone 
> connected with the Philospher's Stone, I'd have to figure out which 
> one I wanted to choose, Bacon, Magnus, or even St. Germain. (Another 
> one that I learned about from fiction!)

Those are good books, aren't they? I mean, if you're going to do 
sympathetic vampire, and certainly Dracula doesn't qualify unless one 
is _extremely_ revisionist... it does answer many questions about the 
extremely enigmatic, historical Saint-Germain (whose modern relevance 
seems to be attached mainly to some very weird religions, nowadays).

However. I wasn't just talking about the Philosopher's Stone. I was 
talking about the relevance of the term, "The Philosopher's Stone" to 
the field of philosophers and philosophy, which is very little to none. 
Which is why I thought American kids with their dubious educations 
might be excused an ignorance of that particular, slightly silly, 
factoid, and at least comprehend that a Sorceror's Stone is something 
used by a Sorceror, versus the reality that The Philosopher's Stone is 
in fact used by an alchemist, and not by a philosopher. At least not in 
the most common definition of the word, "philosopher". So, I guess my 
point, in a nutshell, is, what difference does it make if American kids 
aren't up on the details of what is essentially a misnomer anyway, and 
when it's quite easy to understand the substitute term which actually 
makes more sense? (We'll leave out the obvious arguments about sorcery 
versus alchemy; I'm sure these terms were created by editors anyway.)

Oh, and Saint-Germain is credited with, among other things, having 
contributed to the development of the modern sweet pea, hence the 
potage that bears his name.

OFC and all...

Adamantius