Gold and the Philosopher’s Stone: Treating Chronic Physical and Mental Illness with Mineral Remedies By Dr. Peter Grunewald
Gold and the Philosopher’s Stone is a fascinating combination of spirit and science, in the best tradition of Rudolf Steiner’s catalog. Indeed, fans or devotees of Steiner will enjoy this tremendously, and really appreciate Grunewald’s research and unique contributions to this field. Newcomers may wish to bone-up a bit beforehand, as the book is loaded with esoteric language and references to Steiner’s philosophies and worldview.
The author, a general practitioner and advisor for children and adults, has done extensive research in using minerals in the treatment for a variety of mental and physical illnesses. Unlike traditional allopathic medicine however, these minerals are used to help integrate all the layers of a human — this means the physical body, the etheric body, the astral body, and the ego force.
From this viewpoint, it is the failure to integrate all the layers with the ego that is the cause of most genetic disorders. This includes the need to integrate past-life experiences and environmental influences as well. If this is true, it is a model of medicine that completely overturns our current understanding of the “causes” of a variety of genetic disorders.
According to Grunewald’s findings, real progress is being made with these treatments even with the most entrenched of genetic or inherited illness. Using this model, everything is psychosomatic at some level — in layman’s terms, something is out of balance or not fully integrated. Health is balance, in this case incorporating the spiritual side with the physical side.
The “out of balance part’ is where it gets fascinating, and where Grunewald gets into the nitty-gritty of the specific minerals (nine minerals and one nosode) for each treatment. That is where the “alchemy” comes in as each mineral assists in balancing specific polar opposite qualities (think: flexibility/rigidity, or mania/depression). Grunewald gives us some interesting background on each of the minerals, how they factor in the human body and indeed, why minerals are so important in human evolution.
There is a wealth of information packed into this slim book that bears close reading. The appendices at the back of the book include some of Rudolf Steiner’s lectures and are very helpful. Readers may even wish to peruse them beforehand to familiarize themselves with the language and philosophy upon which Grunewald has based his research. Either way, Gold and the Philosopher’s Stone has much to offer by way of information and Dr. Peter Grunewald has done a fine job of extending our understanding of this non-traditional medical model.