Note[1]
On the seventh day of June, 1905, there died at V— Dr. C. K—, one of our greatest authorities in electrochemical science and an inventor of worldwide renown. He was not only a person of high intelligence and eminent scientific accomplishments, but also of extraordinary kindness and amiability, exercising a charming influence over all persons coming in contact with him. The daily papers contain long articles, saying among other things, after speaking of his discoveries: “He was known as a most fascinating personality, combining in his character perfect honesty with extreme kindness; his altruistic love for all beings was practically shown by his benevolence and by his being always ready to help the afflicted and to relieve the suffering.” He was a “self-made man,” wealthy, strong in body and mind, and almost worshiped by his family and his friends.
But Dr. K— was not satisfied with diving deep within the mysteries of “natural science”; he also wanted to conquer the realm of the invisible. He was a born mystic, a “genius” by intuition; he occupied himself with studies of occult science all his life, and his great “hobby,” if it may be so called, was the practice of Alchemy. Well knowing that no practical results can be obtained in this line without the possession of certain occult powers, he sought everywhere for “Masters” to instruct him, and tried all the different systems of “Yoga” which were thought by the medieval mystics and by the philosophies of the East, as well as those prescribed by traveling fakirs and would be HinduAdepts, some of whom were for weeks or months guests in his house.
For a long time his exercises did not have the desired result; but at last he fell into the clutches of a certain “teacher” (Hindu), who taught him breathing exercises and other things. Dr. K— was delighted at having, as he expressed himself, “now at last and unexpectedly found that for which he had been striving all his life.” He continued his alchemical experiments with renewed vigor, and it appears from his correspondence that his experiments in making the Elixir of Life, during the first stages of the process, were successful, as the material employed went through the changes described in the old books on Alchemy and in the Secret Symbols of the Rosicrucians of the 16th and 17th Century; all of which goes to show that these prescriptions and symbols are not to be taken merely as allegories representing spiritual processes on the mental plane, but that there actually exists a correspondence between the correlation of spiritual powers and chemical processes on the material plane.
Soon, however, some remarkable occurrences took place in Dr. K—’s chemical laboratory. Unearthly noises were heard, the bottles and furniture began to move in a strange manner, apparitions appeared for one moment and disappeared the next, and one day Dr. K—’s assistant, a young man of robust health, fell down dead. His body was subjected by the physicians to a postmortem examination, but they could not find anything to account for this sudden death.
A couple of extracts from private letters which Dr. K— wrote to me during that time may be interesting and instructive.
(April 26, 1904.) “I am progressing favorably with my experiments. At the same time I have to contend continually with a very gruesome crowd of …. for the preparation of the Elixir. However, I begin to get accustomed to that fight, as a trainer of wild animals gets familiar with ferocious beasts. At first it seemed as if the blood would freeze in my veins; but . . . .”
Again he writes in answer to my objections:—
“I agree with you, that these arts as such are perhaps objectionable; but they open at least a new field of knowledge, and in so far they must be of some use. However, the dwellers on the threshold are to be dreaded; there are hosts of them guarding the door.”
Soon after the death of his assistant, Dr. K—, who heretofore was always in perfect health, began to become subject to certain nervous troubles which nobody could explain. He soon fell into an entirely helpless state, resembling paralysis. The greatest medical authorities attended him for months; but, as may be imagined, not two of them agreed in their opinions regarding the cause of his disease. Finally he had himself transported to Egypt, where he remained during the winter and returned in the spring, considerably improved in health. After his return to V— he visited his laboratory and died suddenly in the following night.
I have been intimately acquainted with Dr. K— for twenty years, and as I closely followed the different phases through which he went in his efforts to obtain mastery over the “occult,” it seems to me very clear that he became a victim of the elemental powers, which he evoked, and whose influences may have been still adhering to his laboratory even after his return; for I am quite convinced that certain thoughts or states of mind will adhere to certain localities. Proofs of it may be found in abundance in current literature. He was of a religious turn of mind, and his experiments were not made for any vulgar, selfish purpose, but in the interest of science, and with a view of benefiting humanity. Nevertheless, it is said that we should never attempt to make divine powers subservient to any material purpose, however noble that purpose may be, and that wherever a spark of personal interest glows (be it ambition or the desire of intellectual knowledge) the powers of darkness will be attracted and destroy the work.
It is, therefore, not without good reason that the secrets of Magic and Alchemy were in olden times revealed only to those who had passed through the process of purification, outgrown the illusions of life, freed themselves of earthly ties, and obtained sufficient self-control to master their passions. It is said that if the imprudent inquirer trespasses upon forbidden ground, danger will beset him at every step. “He will evoke powers that he cannot control and the currents of blind force will become infested by numberless creatures of matter and instinct under multifarious, aerial forms.”
Now if it is even extremely dangerous to awaken magical powers for the gratification of scientific curiosity, what then is to be said of those would be magicians who seek to prostitute divine powers for the purpose of robbing the people or making a profit? Their own salvation rests in their ignorance and non-possession of power. They are not magicians, but merely common cheats.
The above case of my friend Dr. K— which I have here recorded is only one among many of a similar kind which have come to my knowledge within the last two years, wherein some of my own acquaintances in their desire for power have reached for the forbidden fruit before they were tall enough to attain it, and the result was disease and death, insanity and suicide.
Notes:
[1] The Danger of “Experimenting in Occultism.” Franz Hartmann, M.D. The Occult Review 3, no. 3 (March 1906), 133-35. {This article was reformatted from the original, but with the content unchanged other than fixing minor typos, by Robert Hütwohl, ©2025}