Azoth

Azoth is an epic poem by John Sandbach. It tells the story of the alchemical creation of the most important homunculus ever to be born in the land of Aab. Her name is Azorma, and to make her first a proper laboratory must be created, a laboratory pure enough to support her essence. This laboratory is the Isle of Azoth, created by the famed Alchemist Israak of Aab. And so, one wonders, is Azoth itself also an homunculus? And has Israak conferred on it by the power of his own creativity the power for it to create on its own?Israak's undertaking is monumental and requires the help of two women, his assistant Magrena, a master in the wisdom of plant spirits, and the strange and beautiful Urimu, Princess of the Blue Isle. Behind all stands the mysterious and wry master known as Irnad, Magrena's teacher, and some say, the greatest seer of Aab.As in all truly creative acts there's an element of risk, and in this particular creation the risk is extreme, for Azorma is an embodiment of the laboratory in which she was made - the Isle of Azoth and the dark land hidden beneath it: Lybdis. Her fate is destined to resonate through the whole history of Aab, both past and future.Sandbach's poem is visionary and filled with a wealth of symbology. It represents a distillation of his many years as an astrologer, poet, and mystic, and is rich in episodic side stories concerning the nature of magic and the hidden laws from which the tapestry of our reality is woven. This major work consists of 133 cantos, 133 being 7 times 19, 7 signifying Sagittarius and 19 signifying Pisces, Sagittarius and Pisces being the two signs ruled by the planet Jupiter.