Some Pictish symbol stones are alchemy/astronomy recipes

NOTE: THIS PAGE IS CONSTANTLY EVOLVING.

As I learn more about modern chemistry while collaborating with Copilot, I have to refine the ideas, recipes and theories accordingly. What you see on this page is my current understanding and is confirmed via relentless discussions with copilot.

I know, that sounds ridiculous, doesn't it? What do the stars have to do with mixing chemicals? In the modern age, not much. We can control the temperature and environment of everything, so we don't have to worry about the natural temperature. But thousands of years ago before all of this, that probably wasn't happening. Consider this:

In a time before controlled temperature environments, how would you be able to guarantee the success of a chemical reaction? By knowing what season it occurs in, of course. The change in seasons correlates with the change in temperature, and temperature is one of the most important aspects of chemistry. This is the theory of Astroalchemy, and I will decipher a stone for you to demonstrate.

WARNING: THIS RECIPE IS INSANE AND DANGEROUS, DO NOT ATTEMPT

I WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR STUPIDITY

This is rather impressive ancient chemistry, albeit very toxic and probably not a great idea. The circles with gold inside are Arsenopyrite. It appears that their literal translation of the symbol is "arsenic with gold in it". Arsenopyrite seems to be a commonly used material in these recipes. They're not recipes for some mystical or magical thing, but rather simple recipes for the creation of many useful things. There are three possible uses for this specific recipe:

1. Yellow paint

2. Soil Fertilizer (actually more likely because of the specific seasons)

3. Mustard Gas (Yes, for war. Probably discovered first.)

Here is the actual recipe:

WARNING: TOXIC GAS REACTION

1. When the Hydra constellation is visible, and regulus is the brightest star in the sky (Late winter to early spring specifically for temperature control)

2. Boil Ethyl to dehydrate, producing ethylene

3. Insert arsenopyrite, which will set off a chain of individual chemical reactions that appear to be one long reaction.

-First the ethyl reacts with saturated soil nitrates to produce nitric acid.

-Then the nitric acid decomposes the arsenopyrite, separating the materials.

-The nitric acid reacts with the aluminum, releasing hydrogen, creating hydrochloric acid

-The hydrochloric acid reacts with the remaining ethylene to produce chloroethane

-the chloroethane would react with the arsenic trisulfides to produce a heavy mustard gas

-When the gas dissipates, the leftover chemical brew is Chloroethane, having evaporated all of the arsenic trisulfide. 

This astrochemical decipher is not representative of every symbol stone. Some of them omit alchemy, some of them omit astronomy, and many of them are intentionally decorative. But this one specifically is a possible demonstration of how astronomy and alchemy were used in tandem to produce more powerful chemical reactions. 

The brilliance of this recipe is something else entirely. But unlike our modern age chemistry where we understand these things down to their finest materials; this was likely an observational recipe. They did not know what arsenopyrite was made of, but they knew it reacted this specific way with dehydrated ethyl. They also didn't know that dehydrating ethyl created a new compound, which is why it's just considered to be ethyl. One major safety hazard among all of this is the guaranteed production of mustard gas. It's likely that this stuff was made in a very safe environment using a combination of canvas and charcoal masks for respiration, as well as their trademark blue protective paint.  It is extremely likely that this was first discovered by a poor soul who wasn't expecting severe chemical burns, which led to the creation of other things to better handle and understand what could be harvested from this mega reaction.

So, the reality here is that you absolutely SHOULD NOT DO THIS because you could potentially poison yourself with something horribly harmful. Instead, go buy a good soil with a good mix of safe things because that is much smarter. But there is no denying how intelligent this process is, if not very reckless. It probably took years of trial and error to perfect this formula, and when it was inscribed on this stone it was probably only ever taught to a few people. There is a real risk of death in producing this stuff, so they probably didn't just tell everybody how to do it willy-nilly. Seriously, don't do this. I don't think I can stress that enough.

This opens up a completely different can of worms. Is it possible that the Picts found a way to use this deadly gas as a weapon? They were always described as warriors who would go out naked after painting themselves blue. Could it be that this blue paint was actually some kind of skin protection to prevent them from getting burned if they touched the ground? Could it be that they removed their clothes so that they didn't contaminate them? They certainly didn't run out into the mustard gas, but you don't have to. Mustard gas residue causes severe skin burns. The Picts may have been using chemical warfare in the ancient world, long before the years of World War 1.

Area context would have us believe that this was, in fact, used as a weapon of war. Aberlemno is also home to large collection of cross-shaped memorial stones, as well as a depiction of a battle featuring men on horseback. It is very likely that Aberlemno is actually a Pict war memorial, dedicated to the warriors who fell in battle. The close proximity of the mustard gas recipe, perhaps the weapon that won them the battle, to the memorials themselves are indication that this was a meaningful battle to them. It warranted the erection of many ornate stones, each dedicated to a contribution to the war effort. Many of these stones are rather advanced for a tribe of naked blue people to have erected.

Some time ago, a large collection of silver Pict artifacts was uncovered. Among them was a ball that was split in half. Both halves had a hole carved into the center of them. What we have here is a mustard gas landmine. The idea is simple:

1. Arsenic Trisulfide is put into a half-ball container that sits flat upon the ground

2. Ethyl is poured into the container over the powder so that it doesn't release too quickly

3. A cork, probably made of wood, is shaped in such a way that it will depress into the container when stepped on.

4. When the enemy approaches the battlefield, the mines will get stepped on. Under the foot of a horse, these landmine corks would surely fall into the container. When the container is opened, gas pours out over the battlefield.

5. When the gas clears, the Picts approach with a protective blue paint and spears. The paint is to prevent chemical residue burns, and the spears are to fight against anybody who may still be alive.

If it sounds brutal, that's because it is. There are a couple of questions that I have answers for:

Q: How did they know when the enemy was coming?

A: If this was a war that stretched for many years, they were probably keeping reconnaissance in areas around their settlements. Recon is a natural human ability retained from hunting.

Q: What is the blue paint made of?

A: Scroll down to the segment that explains it.

Q: What proof do you have that these people were creating chemicals?

A: There is a visual display at the bottom of this page with normal mapped rocks showing chemical burn for alchemical stones, and one astronomical stone that does not have chemical burns. Also, the exact materials required for my interpreted recipes can be found naturally throughout Scotland. Also, there is a lexicon of alchemical symbols to interpret from spread between many different alchemical tables. Finally, Bing Copilot has corroborated the possibility of every reaction, as well as the locations of materials and historical alchemical precedents. So to answer your question: Quite a lot.

Q: How do you read the stones?

A: You can find the grimoire describing the types of stones and how to read them further down on the page.

The Picts didn't just carve these stones for one reason. They each convey messages about different things related to civilization. Take for example the Kintore fish stone. Undecipherable? Hardly. Just use your mind a little bit and think about what it means. If you can't figure it out by yourself, I've gone through the trouble of deciphering it for you.

It's not so difficult. The harvest moon is a common event used to indicate the beginning of harvesting season. This stone was likely a landmark for agriculturists to tell their descendants how to maintain crops. They could explain the harvest moon, and the natural indicators of the season in a way that was visible. We don't know if they had writing or not, but these stones were erected to protect information permanently. This is valuable information that we still use today, so it's not unlikely that cultures found ways to pass the message in ways other than writing. These pictographs are important insights into the ancient cultures of the area, whether it was the Picts or somebody else. 

The dates of these stones vary from area to area, and quite a few of them have been moved from their original positions. But they date in range anywhere from 600AD to 900AD officially. I seriously doubt that. Many of them appear to be much older and some show signs of weathering. Scotland has been repeatedly washed by storms, floods and weather events. The original village of Kinloss is completely submerged beneath the ocean and the ground, having been swept away by storms. There is no real way to stratigraphically date these stones if they were submerged within the ground, because the land of Scotland was and is notoriously volatile. In other words, there is no definitive proof that these stones were carved from 600AD to 900AD.

I find it hard to believe that a mysterious group of blue savages showed up naked, waged a bunch of war with sticks and rocks, and somehow carved all of this complex knowledge in just 300 years. It is much more likely that these stones depict many centuries of knowledge that has been refined from a pre-historic civilization. Not skyscrapers, cars and advanced technology. If they had that stuff, they wouldn't have had to measure the temperatures of chemicals by using the stars. Instead, these people used materials and the wisdom and knowledge of nature. They used nature to their advantage because it is a greater machine than any we could ever build. It aided greatly in the development of precise work, all of which was deemed to be so important that it would be scribed into stones that now stand centuries later. Humans still practice these things. Look at our own war memorials. We don't just talk about what the soldiers did. We put their images on display next to their weapons and artifacts. We provide a visual aid for the people who can't read, and visual enhancement to the people who can. We do a more advanced version of this exact same thing. 

The difference between their way and our way is that our modern way will not last forever. Photographs burn. Wood rots. Metal rusts and decays. If America were to ever get buried like Egypt, the re-discoverers of the next era would uncover our great statue of Lincoln. They would believe we believed he was a god. They would later uncover the war memorials. They would assume that the soldiers were our entire civilization. They would discover the Washington monument, and they would assume we were obsessed with penises. They would discover the ancient artifacts that we have replicated for museums, and they would assume this to be our iconography of gods and monsters. They would discover the pyramids of America, and they would be as lost about their purpose as we are about theirs. People are very quick to dramatize reality, because they simply don't want a normal story. The ancients are mysterious, and therefore mystical. We, one day, will be those bastardized ancients.

This next stone is a stroke of ancestral brilliance beyond many of the others.  It involves the use of Solar Wind, a property that compresses and elongates the magnetic field of Earth depending on whether it is day or night. The way it works is simple, but before I break it down; here's the actual decipherment of the stone.

Now let me explain what you're looking at:

1. During the nighttime, when the magnetic field is elongated

2. Put magnets in a silver crucible. Silver is not magnetic, and actually pushes magnetism away. This causes the crucible to rumble (intensity likely depends on size of the magnet)

3. Put Ethyl in the crucible

4. Put Arsenopyrite into the ethyl/magnet brew

5. Lightly heat the Arsenopyrite/Ethyl mix until the ethyl becomes Ethyl Nitrate* but do not overboil and dehydrate the ethyl or the compound may spontaneously combust into toxic gas. 

5. The repellent reaction of the silver and magnets will force gold out of the Arsenopyrite while simultaneously pulling the iron onto the magnet. 

6. Again, this will only work if the magnetic field is elongated. This increases the magnetic rumble reaction of the silver crucible. You might not actually physically see the rumble, but it is definitely happening. The ultrasound vibrations are catalyzing numerous reactions at once.

-*Ethyl Nitrate is a volatile acid. In modern times, we turn Ethyl Nitrate into many things including medicine and perfume. We don't use Ethyl Nitrate by itself, rather we add Urea to it which kills the acidity and reduces the volatility. To that effect, we have no definitive data that shows what happens to rocks that are submerged in acidic ethyl nitrate for a long time. We definitively know that shaking and vibration causes faster dissolution of materials, so perhaps the acidic ethyl nitrate will not do anything without the rumble.

**POST ANALYSIS EDIT**

I ran this recipe through Copilot to determine whether or not it makes sense. Copilot agrees that this theoretical recipe may actually be very real, and that the reactions to the shifting gravitational/magnetic fields are rooted in Alchemical history. Copilot also agrees that the silver rumble, though likely not visible, is actually very real. Copilot confirmed silver's reaction with magnets and gold, as well as the reaction of Iron with ethyl nitrate. Copilot also confirmed that Gold is completely unaffected by ethyl nitrate. General searching was able to confirm that gold can definitely be harvested from arsenopyrite.

So, what the hell is this? Why does it sound like the mythical practice of turning iron into gold? Well, that's because that's exactly what it is. What you are looking at is an astroalchemical formula designed specifically to extract gold from arsenopyrite. It's not a magical conversion from one thing to the other. It's more like a metal distillation technique. Surprisingly, many people in the modern age have discovered a longer and more tedious method to accomplish this same thing. Jeff Williams pulled gold from pyrite using a sifting machine. The YouTube channel Golden Science extracted gold from pyrite using a long and tedious acid distillation method. Another YouTube channel, GRH channel, used a long and tedious method of hand separation and organic separation. All of these three methods have one major problem that this stone's method does NOT have. They contaminate the gold with leftover minerals, acids and chemicals that overall decrease the purity of the gold. This is one instance in which our ancestors using natural science were more advanced than we are today.

"But gold isn't magnetic!" I hear you cry out. You're absolutely right, it isn't. But iron is magnetic. Iron is Ferromagnetic, meaning it has an extreme observable magnetic reaction. We aren't really pulling pyrite out of arsenopyrite. We're actually completely decimating the entire structure of the arsenopyrite to separate the real gold that exists inside. This is the reason for the ethyl. When ethyl reacts with the sulfurs and soil nitrates inside of Arsenopyrite, it becomes ethyl nitrate. We have never used this method in the modern age to extract gold from gold-bearing pyrite, though we probably should. 

The magnets react with the silver crucible, causing a magnetic rumble that forces the raw materials to separate faster than average. As the iron separates, it draws itself away from the original arsenopyrite. Meanwhile, the other chemicals are saturating the ethyl which creates ethyl nitrate. The reason this was done at night is the same reason the Aberlemno stone uses constellations to define the seasons. This was an ancient time, before the age of controlled environments and manipulation of magnetic machines. The only way this method of gold extraction works is if the process is conducted during the elongated downwind magnetic field. Conveniently, this also prevents light from intrusively taking more gravity than it needs, allowing for extra gravity. This specific set of atmospheric conditions enhances the rumble created by the reaction of the silver crucible to the magnet, therefore increasing the speed and efficiency of the gold distillation process. 

There are going to be skeptics. Those who swear to God that the Pict stones could not possibly have been alchemy, because they also contain symbols of astronomy. Pict stones could not have been alchemy, because the symbols have symbols inside of them. But honestly, have you ever considered the idea that Alchemy was not originally written inside of a circlet? I'll tell you exactly how to read the stones, and you yourself can determine whether or not it makes sense to you. 

PICT STONE GRIMOIRE - 6/6/2024

HOW TO READ THE ALCHEMICAL PICTISH STONES:

1. Stones are read from top to bottom

2. Animals are almost always constellations

3. The top is reserved for the primary time when the recipe works

4. If another time is needed to clarify, it will be added to the bottom. This is a literal "between these times" symbology. 

5. Alchemical symbols are overlaid on top of each other, with each step in the process separated into its own set of overlays. Arsenopyrite in Ethyl for example.

6. Aqua Vitae (Ethyl) is turned sideways with one extra line

7. Magnet is turned upside down

8. The horizontal crescent moon symbol means "Silver Crucible" consistently. The symbol itself is silver, and the orientation of the symbol means crucible. The silver crucible almost always has a magnet in it.

9. The Arsenic symbol with gold inside means Arsenopyrite consistently. 

SPECIFIC RULES FOR ASTRONOMY-STRICT STONES:

1. The earth is represented by a large circle, with two smaller circles to represent the sun and the moon. 

2. Astronomy stones tend to correlate with specific seasons or seasonal events that are important for agriculture, fishing, hunting, and the collection of resources. 

PICTOGRAPHIC ALCHEMICAL/ASTRONOMICAL STONES

1. The alchemy represented on a battle memorial stone is almost always correlated to a weapon that was used in the war. For instance, The Battle of Aberlemno stone has the recipe for Arsenic Triethyl, an incredibly toxic gas that can be converted into many different things including other toxic gasses. 

2. The astronomy on battle stones, when not accompanied by an alchemical recipe, are always indicative of the season in which the battle took place. They act in the same way as we would use numbers to date memorials today. Even during the presence of the alchemical symbol, we must assume that battle stones are always dated by constellations, and that the alchemical recipe is just a simplified version of the "weapon" that won the battle

CROSS STONES

1. These are strictly memorial stones with no greater meaning. They may have a symbol or an icon that relates to whoever is being memorialized. It would be unreasonable if not outright ignorant to assume that the Picts were carving intellectual stones but not carving gravestones. 

2. The bigger the stone, the more important the person. If they were tribal, then the largest stones likely represent a village elder, a shaman, or a warrior. If they were societal, the biggest stones likely represent a general, a king, or a person of great notoriety.

3. Not everybody was worthy of a memorial stone. The time and effort necessary to carve the stones would not warrant the creation of one for a commoner. Everybody who had a stone, big or small, contributed to their society through either war efforts, alchemy, astronomy, or civilization sciences. 

The Picts couldn't possibly have used all of these chemicals for war, right? They couldn't possibly protect themselves from gas burns, right? Nay, I say. The Picts are actually situated in the prime location for the creation of a skin protectant that can be mass produced.

The ingredients are simple:

Powdered Kyanite

Charcoal

Kyanite, found abundantly in Scotland, is a blue fragile mineral that doesn't require a lot of technology to decimate. It's an aluminosilicate, meaning it's a reflective mineral mix of glass and metal. 

Charcoal, both found naturally and created artificially, is the carbon catalyst that allows for adhesion to the skin, as well as an extra carbon layer of protection. 

I surmise that these materials were combined to mass produce blue protective paint. The Picts would attack their enemies with gas, and when the gas cleared, they would storm their enemies. Their naked-blue appearance both created fear and protected the wearers from gas residue. If they touched an enemy soldier or some stray object, they would be less likely to be hurt with severe skin abrasions. This is not perfect but remember; this society is ancient. This is likely long before the days of gas masks.

But wait, how would they know that the blue paint protected them? Through years, maybe centuries, of trial and error. It is likely that the volatile mixtures were discovered first. That then led to years of experimentation with different materials that might be able to protect flesh from the gasses. Eventually, they discover that kyanite, which is very fragile and looks like glass, can be easily made into a reflective powder. This is then added to charcoal which adds an extra protective layer accidentally, as the original purpose of the charcoal is merely to be a temporary adhesive. This mix of kyanite and charcoal is then later used in the production of canvas bag face masks to protect the respiratory system. It is likely that the blue paint was used to produce chemicals long before it was ever used in battle. 

I had a conversation with somebody about the Aberlemno stone many years ago. I first thought about mustard gas and chemical weathering when I saw the thick yellow staining leftover on the rock, and the thick telltale depressions. This person, I don't remember who, told me that it simply wasn't possible for the Pict stones to be alchemical because they were all different. I've been looking into these stones for many years now, and it's only as an adult where I have the consciousness to more precisely research these subjects. 

That person was wrong. Incredibly wrong. Not possible? More like misunderstood. This person's idea of impossibility was predicated on the assumption that the stones all bore different markings with different meanings. That's true, for sure. But it's also true that one of those meanings is most definitely a form of Pict alchemy. Just dismissing the entire possibility was the least scientific perspective I have ever seen in my life, and it is something I've been warned to be prepared for. With the pursuit of science comes criticism. That criticism, whether it's good or bad, is always a perspective worth considering because it brings us closer to the real answers. In this case, the criticism led me through years of research, and I arrived back at the conclusion with which I began. The Aberlemno alchemy stone is a recipe for volatile chemicals. After corroborating my ideas with Copilot, many of my ideas were either confirmed to be correct or they were corrected enough to come to the real conclusion. We can assume with some certainty that the Picts were engaging in early chemical warfare, and that chemical warfare was something that their society took pride in. Enough pride to carve the recipes into stone. 

These symbol stones mean something personal to me. Scotland is where my lineage comes from. I'm working incredibly hard to contribute something important or useful to society. I've been through the years of studying alchemy to learn what the alchemical symbols mean. I've studied other hieroglyphs and pictographs relentlessly. I avoided knowledge of modern chemistry so that when I deciphered the alchemical meanings of the stones, I could verify that information against our modern chemistry system. Bing A.I was helpful in correcting me on the production of mustard gas, but also confirmed that it is more likely that I am correct having translated the process almost exactly without knowing modern chemistry. 

- The My first assessment of the Aberlemno stone was conceived on the idea of separate chemicals reactions over a mixing process. With the help of Copilot, I was able to determine that every ingredient in the Arsenopyrite was capable of producing the chain of reactions individually with dehydrated ethyl. This would appear to be one large reaction to our ancestors, when really it is a chain of small reactions that eventually produce a final product. Copilot corroborated each individual reaction and confirmed that these reactions would happen during the dissolution process. It also confirmed that cultures who actually documented their alchemy were generalizing materials because they didn't understand their complex chemical makeups. 

-There were no mistakes with the iron-to-gold recipe. The A.I. agrees that the use of nature as I described would affect the materials as I described. It found no flaws in this recipe. 

If nobody else wants to understand them, that's fine. But I speak with %99 certainty that my theories and decipherments are correct. I know how long I've worked on this project, and I know that nobody else has taken the approach that I have. I am not a scientist. I am not an archaeologist. I'm a researcher, who compiles collections of many sciences into one theory, that I can then corroborate using the knowledge of Copilot. Having Copilot to work with is like having a team of dedicated minds who can simultaneously spit out corrections and ideas faster than I can search for them. It has been essential and deserves credit for the role it plays in this research.