What is Alchemy? | Definition of Alchemy Credit: Heiko Barth | Shutterstock Alchemy is an ancient practice shrouded in mystery and secrecy. Its practitioners mainly sought to turn lead into gold, a quest that has captured the imaginations of people for thousands of years. However, the goals of alchemy went far beyond simply creating some golden nuggets. Alchemy was rooted in a complex spiritual worldview in which everything around us contains a sort of universal spirit, and metals were believed not only to be alive but also to grow inside the Earth. When a base, or common, metal such as lead was found, it was thought to simply be a spiritually and physically immature form of higher metals such as gold. To the alchemists, metals were not the unique substances that populate the Periodic Table , but instead the same thing in different stages of development or refinement on their way to spiritual perfection. As James Randi notes in his "Encyclopedia of Claims, Frauds, and Hoaxes of the Occult and Supernatural," "Beginning about the year 100 and reaching its flower in medieval times, alchemy was an art based partly upon experimentation and partly upon magic.

Early investigators of natural processes centered their search on a mythical substance they knew as philosopher's stone, which was supposed to possess many valuable attributes such as the power to heal, to prolong life, and to change base metals into precious metal — such as gold." (This "philosopher's stone" was not a literal stone but instead a wax, liquid, or powder that held magical powers.) History of alchemy Historian Nevill Drury, in his book "Magic and Witchcraft," notes that, "The word alchemy is thought to derive from an Egyptian word, 'chem' or 'qem,' meaning black — a reference to the black alluvial soils bordering the Nile ... We know that the Greek word 'chyma,' meaning to fuse or cast metals, established itself in Arabic as 'al kimia' — from which alchemy is derived." The Arabic role in the spread of alchemy is significant; many books on alchemy were translated into Arabic from the Greek before being introduced to European audiences.

Having the ability to turn lead into gold has obvious benefits these days, but ancient alchemists did not seek to change base metals into gold simply out of greed; as Drury notes, "The alchemists did not regard all metals as equally mature or 'perfect.' Gold symbolized the highest development in nature and came to personify human renewal and regeneration. A 'golden' human being was resplendent with spiritual beauty and had triumphed over the lurking power of evil. The basest metal, lead , represented the sinful and unrepentant individual who was readily overcome by the forces of darkness ... If lead and gold both consisted of fire, air, water, and earth, then surely by changing the proportions of the constituent elements, lead could be transformed into gold. Gold was superior to lead because, by its very nature, it contained the perfect balance of all four elements." Alchemy shows up in some odd places. For instance, Isaac Newton , best known for his study of gravity and his laws of motion , also wrote more than a million words of alchemical notes throughout his lifetime, historians have estimated. In March 2016, the Chemical Heritage Foundation bought a 17th-century alchemy manuscript written by Newton .

Buried in a private collection for decades, the manuscript detailed how to make "philosophic" mercury, thought to be a step toward making the philosopher's stone — a magical substance thought to have the ability to turn any metal into gold and give eternal life. Curator of rare books at the Chemical Heritage Foundation, James Voelkel said the text was likely copied from an American chemist named George Starkey. The Latin text — whose title translates to "Preparation of the [Sophick] Mercury for the [Philosophers'] Stone by the Antimonial Stellate Regulus of Mars and Luna from the Manuscripts of the American Philosopher" — will be available online for those interested to peruse. Is alchemy real? It is clear why alchemy was doomed to fail: it was based on a misunderstanding of basic chemistry and physics. Alchemists based their theories and experiments on the Aristotelian assumption that the world and everything in it are composed of four basic elements (air, earth, fire and water), along with three that were called "essential" substances: salt, mercury and sulfur . Today we know that the universe is made up of atoms and elements.

Since lead and other metals are not composed of fire, air, earth, and water, it's not possible to adjust the percentages of those elements and turn them into gold. Though alchemy never succeeded, that didn't stop people from claiming to have solved the ancient riddle. For centuries, rumors spread that certain people had discovered the philosopher's stone (since immortality was one of its properties, the fact that they're all now dead suggests otherwise). Some wealthy people hired alchemists to conduct research on their behalf, though they never saw returns on their investment. Bogus alchemists were so common in the Middle Ages that several famous writers described them, including poets Ben Jonson and Geoffrey Chaucer (in "The Canterbury Tales"). Though the philosopher's stone was a myth and alchemy failed, the alchemists weren't completely wrong: With modern physics equipment, such as particle accelerators , it is indeed possible to create gold from other elements, though the amounts are sub-microscopic and the process costs far more to create than the resulting gold is worth.

Though alchemy is long gone, the contrast between lead and gold remains; lead is a common, poisonous metal that can harm children and lead to brain damage; gold is highly valued, treasured, and often worn as jewelry. Though alchemy never achieved its goals of immortality or turning lead into gold, it did leave an important legacy: alchemists were early practitioners of what would become modern chemistry. Benjamin Radford is deputy editor of Skeptical Inquirer science magazine and author of six books including Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries. His website is Author Bio Benjamin Radford, Live Science Contributor Benjamin Radford is the Bad Science columnist for Live Science. He covers pseudoscience, psychology, urban legends and the science behind "unexplained" or mysterious phenomenon. Ben has a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in psychology. He has written, edited or contributed to more than 20 books, including " Scientific Paranormal Investigation: How to Solve Unexplained Mysteries " and " Tracking the Chupacabra: The Vampire Beast in Fact, Fiction, and Folklore ." He sometimes appears on television but doesn't like to watch himself.

He has also written and directed two short films and created a board game. Benjamin Radford, Live Science Contributor on Latest on What is Alchemy? | Definition of Alchemy Alchemy | Define Alchemy at Dictionary.com alchemy noun, plural alchemies for 2. 1. a form of chemistry and speculative philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting baser metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life. 2. any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.

Origin of alchemy Greek 1325-1375 1325-1375; earlier alchimie < Old French alquemie < Medieval Latin alchymia < Arabic al the + kīmiyā' < Greek kēmeía transmutation; replacing Middle English alconomye, equivalent to alk(imie) + (astr)onomye astronomy Related forms [al-kem-ik] /ælˈkɛm ɪk/ (Show IPA), alchemical, alchemistic [al-kuh-mis-tik] /ˌæl kəˈmɪs tɪk/ (Show IPA), alchemistical, adjective alchemically, adverb Examples from the Web for alchemy Expand Contemporary Examples There is a sort of alchemy of the masala in some ways, and that journey is parallel to the emotional journey he takes. Obama Style on Martha's Vineyard Elizabeth Gates August 11, 2009 Historical Examples I should lack the alchemy by which I now infuse into my world light, colour, and the Protean spark. Over the Teacups Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr. The language employed by Dr.

Priestley carries us back to the time when chemistry was beginning to emerge from alchemy. British Dictionary definitions for alchemy Expand noun (pl) -mies 1. the pseudoscientific predecessor of chemistry that sought a method of transmuting base metals into gold, an elixir to prolong life indefinitely, a panacea or universal remedy, and an alkahest or universal solvent 2. a power like that of alchemy: her beauty had a potent alchemy Derived Forms alchemic (ælˈkɛmɪk), alchemical, alchemistic, adjective Word Origin C14 alkamye, via Old French from Medieval Latin alchimia, from Arabic al-kīmiyā', from al the + kīmiyā' transmutation, from Late Greek khēmeia the art of transmutation Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.

1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Word Origin and History for alchemy Expand n. mid-14c., from Old French alchimie (14c.), alquemie (13c.), from Medieval Latin alkimia, from Arabic al-kimiya, from Greek khemeioa (found c.300 C.E. in a decree of Diocletian against "the old writings of the Egyptians"), all meaning "alchemy." Perhaps from an old name for Egypt (Khemia, literally "land of black earth," found in Plutarch), or from Greek khymatos "that which is poured out," from khein "to pour," related to khymos "juice, sap" [Klein, citing W. Muss-Arnolt, calls this folk etymology]. The word seems to have elements of both origins. Mahn ... concludes, after an elaborate investigation, that Gr.

khymeia was probably the original, being first applied to pharmaceutical chemistry, which was chiefly concerned with juices or infusions of plants; that the pursuits of the Alexandrian alchemists were a subsequent development of chemical study, and that the notoriety of these may have caused the name of the art to be popularly associated with the ancient name of Egypt. [OED] The al- is the Arabic definite article, "the." The art and the name were adopted by the Arabs from Alexandrians and thence returned to Europe via Spain. Alchemy was the "chemistry" of the Middle Ages and early modern times; since c.1600 the word has been applied distinctively to the pursuit of the transmutation of baser metals into gold, which, along with the search for the universal solvent and the panacea, were the chief occupations of early chemistry. Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper alchemy (āl'kə-mē) A medieval philosophy and early form of chemistry whose aims were the transmutation of base metals into gold, the discovery of a cure for all diseases, and the preparation of a potion that gives eternal youth.

The imagined substance capable of turning other metals into gold was called the philosophers' stone. Our Living Language : Because their goals were so unrealistic, and because they had so little success in achieving them, the practitioners of alchemy in the Middle Ages got a reputation as fakers and con artists. But this reputation is not fully deserved. While they never succeeded in turning lead into gold (one of their main goals), they did make discoveries that helped to shape modern chemistry. Alchemists invented early forms of some of the laboratory equipment used today, including beakers, crucibles, filters, and stirring rods. They also discovered and purified a number of chemical elements, including mercury, sulfur, and arsenic. And the methods they developed to separate mixtures and purify compounds by distillation and extraction are still important. The American Heritage® Science Dictionary Copyright © 2002. Published by Houghton Mifflin. All rights reserved. alchemy | pseudoscience | Britannica.com pseudoscience Alchemy, a form of speculative thought that, among other aims, tried to transform base metals such as lead or copper into silver or gold and to discover a cure for disease and a way of extending life.

Alchemist, oil on panel by Thomas Wijck, 17th century. 41 × 37.2 … In a private collection Alchemy was the name given in Latin Europe in the 12th century to an aspect of thought that corresponds to astrology , which is apparently an older tradition. Both represent attempts to discover the relationship of man to the cosmos and to exploit that relationship to his benefit. The first of these objectives may be called scientific, the second technological. Astrology is concerned with man’s relationship to “the stars” (including the members of the solar system); alchemy, with terrestrial nature. But the distinction is far from absolute, since both are interested in the influence of the stars on terrestrial events. Moreover, both have always been pursued in the belief that the processes human beings witness in heaven and on earth manifest the will of the Creator and, if correctly understood, will yield the key to the Creator’s intentions. Nature and significance That both astrology and alchemy may be regarded as fundamental aspects of thought is indicated by their apparent universality. It is notable, however, that the evidence is not equally substantial in all times and places.

Evidence from ancient Middle America (Aztecs, Mayans) is still almost nonexistent; evidence from India is tenuous and from ancient China , Greece, and Islamic lands is only relatively more plentiful. A single manuscript of some 80,000 words is the principal source for the history of Greek alchemy. Chinese alchemy is largely recorded in about 100 “books” that are part of the Taoist canon. Neither Indian nor Islamic alchemy has ever been collected, and scholars are thus dependent for their knowledge of the subject on occasional allusions in works of natural philosophy and medicine, plus a few specifically alchemical works. Similar Topics levitation Nor is it really clear what alchemy was (or is). The word is a European one, derived from Arabic, but the origin of the root word, chem, is uncertain. Words similar to it have been found in most ancient languages, with different meanings, but conceivably somehow related to alchemy. In fact, the Greeks, Chinese, and Indians usually referred to what Westerners call alchemy as “The Art,” or by terms denoting change or transmutation .

The chemistry of alchemy chemistry: Alchemy Superficially, the chemistry involved in alchemy appears a hopelessly complicated succession of heatings of multiple mixtures of obscurely named materials, but it seems likely that a relative simplicity underlies this complexity. The metals gold, silver, copper, lead, iron, and tin were all known before the rise of alchemy. Mercury, the liquid metal, certainly known before 300 bc, when it appears in both Eastern and Western sources, was crucial to alchemy. Sulfur , “the stone that burns,” was also crucial. It was known from prehistoric times in native deposits and was also given off in metallurgic processes (the “roasting” of sulfide ores). Mercury united with most of the other metals, and the amalgam formed coloured powders (the sulfides) when treated with sulfur. Mercury itself occurs in nature in a red sulfide, cinnabar , which can also be made artificially. All of these, except possibly the last, were operations known to the metallurgist and were adopted by the alchemist. Learn why and how alchemists attempted to conceal their chemical knowledge.

© American Chemical Society (A Britannica Publishing Partner) The alchemist added the action on metals of a number of corrosive salts, mainly the vitriols (copper and iron sulfates), alums (the aluminum sulfates of potassium and ammonium), and the chlorides of sodium and ammonium. And he made much of arsenic’s property of colouring metals. All of these materials, except the chloride of ammonia, were known in ancient times. Known as sal ammoniac in the West, nao sha in China, nao sadar in India, and nushādir in Persia and Arabic lands, the chloride of ammonia first became known to the West in the Chou-i ts’an t’ung ch’i, a Chinese treatise of the 2nd century ad. It was to be crucial to alchemy, for on sublimation it dissociates into antagonistic corrosive materials, ammonia and hydrochloric acid, which readily attack the metals. Until the 9th century it seems to have come from a single source, the Flame Mountain (Huo-yen Shan) near T’u-lu-p’an (Turfan), in Central Asia . Britannica Stories Ringling Bros.

Folds Its Tent Finally, the manipulation of these materials was to lead to the discovery of the mineral acids, the history of which began in Europe in the 13th century. The first was probably nitric acid , made by distilling together saltpetre (potassium nitrate) and vitriol or alum. More difficult to discover was sulfuric acid , which was distilled from vitriol or alum alone but required apparatus resistant to corrosion and heat. And most difficult was hydrochloric acid , distilled from common salt or sal ammoniac and vitriol or alum, for the vapours of this acid cannot be simply condensed but must be dissolved in water. Goals World Religions & Traditions “Transmutation” is the key word characterizing alchemy, and it may be understood in several ways: in the changes that are called chemical, in physiological changes such as passing from sickness to health, in a hoped-for transformation from old age to youth, or even in passing from an earthly to a supernatural existence. Alchemical changes seem always to have been positive, never involving degradation except as an intermediate stage in a process having a “happy ending.” Alchemy aimed at the great human “goods”: wealth, longevity, and immortality.

Alchemy was not original in seeking these goals, for it had been preceded by religion , medicine, and metallurgy. The first chemists were metallurgists, who were perhaps the most successful practitioners of the arts in antiquity. Their theories seem to have come not from science but from folklore and religion. The miner and metallurgist, like the agriculturalist, in this view, accelerate the normal maturation of the fruits of the earth, in a magico-religious relationship with nature. In primitive societies the metallurgist is often a member of an occult religious society. Connect with Britannica Facebook Twitter YouTube Instagram Pinterest But the first ventures into natural philosophy , the beginnings of what is called the scientific view, also preceded alchemy. Systems of five almost identical basic elements were postulated in China, India, and Greece, according to a view in which nature comprised antagonistic, opposite forces—hot and cold, positive and negative, and male and female; i.e., primitive versions of the modern conception of energy. Drawing on a similar astrological heritage, philosophers found correspondences among the elements, planets, and metals. In short, both the chemical arts and the theories of the philosophers of nature had become complex before alchemy appeared.

Regional variations Chinese alchemy Neither in China nor in the West can scholars approach with certitude the origins of alchemy, but the evidences in China appear to be slightly older. Indeed, Chinese alchemy was connected with an enterprise older than metallurgy—i.e., medicine . Belief in physical immortality among the Chinese seems to go back to the 8th century bc, and belief in the possibility of attaining it through drugs to the 4th century bc. The magical drug, namely the “elixir of life” ( elixir is the European word), is mentioned about that time, and that most potent elixir, “drinkable gold,” which was a solution (usually imaginary) of this corrosion-resistant metal, as early as the 1st century bc—many centuries before it is heard of in the West. Although non-Chinese influences (especially Indian) are possible, the genesis of alchemy in China may have been a purely domestic affair.

It emerged during a period of political turmoil, the Warring States Period (from the 5th to the 3rd century bc), and it came to be associated with Taoism —a mystical religion founded by the 6th-century-bc sage Lao-tzu—and its sacred book, the Tao-te Ching (“Classic of the Way of Power”). The Taoists were a miscellaneous collection of “outsiders”—in relation to the prevailing Confucians—and such mystical doctrines as alchemy were soon grafted onto the Taoist canon. What is known of Chinese alchemy is mainly owing to that graft, and especially to a collection known as Yün chi ch’i ch’ien (“Seven Tablets in a Cloudy Satchel”), which is dated 1023. Thus, sources on alchemy in China (as elsewhere) are compilations of much earlier writings. Britannica Lists & Quizzes Editor Picks: Exploring 10 Types of Basketball Movies The oldest known Chinese alchemical treatise is the Chou-i ts’an t’ung ch’i (“Commentary on the I Ching ”).

In the main it is an apocryphal interpretation of the I Ching (“Classic of Changes”), an ancient classic especially esteemed by the Confucians, relating alchemy to the mystical mathematics of the 64 hexagrams (six-line figures used for divination). Its relationship to chemical practice is tenuous, but it mentions materials (including sal ammoniac) and implies chemical operations. The first Chinese alchemist who is reasonably well known was Ko Hung (ad 283–343), whose book Pao-p’u-tzu (pseudonym of Ko Hung) contains two chapters with obscure recipes for elixirs, mostly based on mercury or arsenic compounds . The most famous Chinese alchemical book is the Tan chin yao chüeh (“Great Secrets of Alchemy”), probably by Sun Ssu-miao (ad 581–after 673). It is a practical treatise on creating elixirs (mercury, sulfur, and the salts of mercury and arsenic are prominent) for the attainment of immortality, plus a few for specific cures for disease and such other purposes as the fabrication of precious stones.

Altogether, the similarities between the materials used and the elixirs made in China, India, and the West are more remarkable than are their differences. Nonetheless, Chinese alchemy differed from that of the West in its objective. Whereas in the West the objective seems to have evolved from gold to elixirs of immortality to simply superior medicines, neither the first nor the last of these objectives seems ever to have been very important in China. Chinese alchemy was consistent from first to last, and there was relatively little controversy among its practitioners, who seem to have varied only in their prescriptions for the elixir of immortality or perhaps only over their names for it, of which one Sinologist has counted about 1,000. In the West there were conflicts between advocates of herbal and “chemical” (i.e., mineral) pharmacy, but in China mineral remedies were always accepted. There were, in Europe, conflicts between alchemists who favoured gold making and those who thought medicine the proper goal, but the Chinese always favoured the latter.

Since alchemy rarely achieved any of these goals, it was an advantage to the Western alchemist to have the situation obscured, and the art survived in Europe long after Chinese alchemy had simply faded away. Trending Topics Opium Wars Chinese alchemy followed its own path. Whereas the Western world, with its numerous religious promises of immortality, never seriously expected alchemy to fulfill that goal, the deficiencies of Chinese religions in respect to promises of immortality left that goal open to the alchemist. A serious reliance on medical elixirs that were in varying degrees poisonous led the alchemist into permanent exertions to moderate those poisons, either through variation of the ingredients or through chemical manipulations. The fact that immortality was so desirable and the alchemist correspondingly valued enabled the British historian of science Joseph Needham to tabulate a series of Chinese emperors who probably died of elixir poisoning. Ultimately a succession of royal deaths made alchemists and emperors alike more cautious, and Chinese alchemy vanished (probably as the Chinese adopted Buddhism , which offered other, less dangerous avenues to immortality), leaving its literary manifestations embedded in the Taoist canons.

Indian alchemy The oldest Indian writings, the Vedas (Hindu sacred scriptures), contain the same hints of alchemy that are found in evidence from ancient China, namely vague references to a connection between gold and long life. Mercury , which was so vital to alchemy everywhere, is first mentioned in the 4th- to 3rd-century-bc Artha-śāstra , about the same time it is encountered in China and in the West. Evidence of the idea of transmuting base metals to gold appears in 2nd- to 5th-century-ad Buddhist texts, about the same time as in the West. Since Alexander the Great had invaded India in 325 bc, leaving a Greek state (Gandhāra) that long endured, the possibility exists that the Indians acquired the idea from the Greeks, but it could have been the other way around. It is also possible that the alchemy of medicine and immortality came to India from China, or vice versa; in any case, gold making appears to have been a minor concern, and medicine the major concern, of both cultures . But the elixir of immortality was of little importance in India (which had other avenues to immortality).

The Indian elixirs were mineral remedies for specific diseases or, at the most, to promote long life. As in China and the West, alchemy in India came to be associated with religious mysticism, but much later—not until the rise of Tantrism (an esoteric , occultic, meditative system), ad 1100–1300. To Tantrism are owed writings that are clearly alchemical (such as the 12th-century Rasārṇava, or “Treatise on Metallic Preparations”). From the earliest records of Indian natural philosophy, which date from the 5th–3rd centuries bc, theories of nature were based on conceptions of material elements (fire, wind, water, earth, and space), vitalism (“animated atoms”), and dualisms of love and hate or action and reaction. The alchemist coloured metals and on occasion “made” gold, but he gave little importance to that. His six metals (gold, silver, tin, iron, lead, and copper), each further subdivided (five kinds of gold, etc.), were “killed” (i.e., corroded) but not “resurrected,” as was the custom of Western alchemy.

Rather, they were killed to make medicines. Although “the secrets of mercurial lore” became part of the Tantric rite, mercury seems to have been much less important than in China. The Indians exploited metal reactions more widely, but, although they possessed from an early date not only vitriol and sal ammoniac but also saltpetre , they nevertheless failed to discover the mineral acids. This is the more remarkable because India was long the principal source of saltpetre, which occurs as an efflorescence on the soil, especially in populous tropical countries. But it lacks the high degree of corrosivity of metals possessed by the vitriols and chlorides and played a small part in early alchemy. Saltpetre appears particularly in 9th- to 11th-century-ad Indian and Chinese recipes for fireworks, one of which—a mixture of saltpetre, sulfur, and charcoal—is gunpowder . Saltpetre first appears in Europe in the 13th century, along with the modern formula for gunpowder and the recipe for nitric acid. Hellenistic alchemy Western alchemy may go back to the beginnings of the Hellenistic period (c. 300 bc–c.

ad 300), although the earliest alchemist whom authorities have regarded as authentic is Zosimos of Panopolis (Egypt), who lived near the end of the period. He is one of about 40 authors represented in a compendium of alchemical writings that was probably put together in Byzantium (Constantinople) in the 7th or 8th century ad and that exists in manuscripts in Venice and Paris. Synesius, the latest author represented, lived in Byzantium in the 4th century. The earliest is the author designated Democritus but identified by scholars with Bolos of Mende, a Hellenized Egyptian who lived in the Nile Delta about 200 bc. He is represented by a treatise called Physica et mystica (“Natural and Mystical Things”), a kind of recipe book for dyeing and colouring but principally for the making of gold and silver. The recipes are stated obscurely and are justified with references to the Greek theory of elements and to astrological theory.

Most end with the phrase “One nature rejoices in another nature; one nature triumphs over another nature; one nature masters another nature,” which authorities variously trace to the Magi (Zoroastrian priests), Stoic pantheism (a Greek philosophy concerned with nature), or to the 4th-century-bc Greek philosopher Aristotle . It was the first of a number of such aphorisms over which alchemists were to speculate for many centuries. In 1828 a group of ancient papyrus manuscripts written in Greek was purchased in Thebes (Egypt), and about a half-century later it was noticed that among them, divided between libraries in Leyden (the Netherlands) and Stockholm, was a tract very like the Physica et mystica. It differed, however, in that it lacked the former’s theoretical embellishments and stated in some recipes that only fraudulent imitation of gold and silver was intended. Scholars believe that this kind of work was the ancestor both of the Physica et mystica and of the ordinary artist’s recipe book. The techniques were ancient.

Archaeology has revealed metal objects inlaid with colours obtained by grinding metals with sulfur, and Homer’s description (8th century bc) of the shield of Achilles gives the impression that the artist in his time was virtually able to paint in metal. Democritus is praised by most of the other authors in the Venice–Paris manuscript, and he is much commented upon. But only Zosimos shows what had become of alchemy after Bolos of Mende. His theory is luxuriant in imagery, beginning with a discussion of “the composition of waters, movement , growth, embodying and disembodying, drawing the spirits from bodies and binding the spirits within bodies” and continuing in the same vein. The “base” metals are to be “ennobled” (to gold) by killing and resurrecting them, but his practice is full of distillation and sublimation, and he is obsessed with “spirits.” Theory and practice are joined in the concept that success depends upon the production of a series of colours, usually black, white, yellow, and purple, and that the colours are to be obtained through Theion hydōr (divine or sulfur water—it could mean either).

Zosimos credits these innovations mainly to Maria (sometimes called “the Jewess”), who invented the apparatus, and to Agathodaimon, probably a pseudonym. Neither is represented (beyond Zosimos’ references) in the Venice–Paris manuscript, but a tract attributed to Agathodaimon, published in 1953, shows him to be preoccupied with the colour sequence and complicating it by using arsenic instead of sulfur. Thus, the colour-producing potentialities of chemistry were considerable by the time of Zosimos. Zosimos also shows that alchemical theory came to focus on the idea that there exists a substance that can bring about the desired transformation instantly, magically, or, as a modern chemist might say, catalytically. He called it “the tincture,” and had several. It was also sometimes called “the powder” (xērion), which was to pass through Arabic into Latin as elixir and finally (signifying its inorganic nature) as the “ philosopher’s stone ,” “a stone which is not a stone,” as the alchemists were wont to say.

It was sometimes called a medicine for the rectification of “base” or “sick” metals, and from this it was a short step to view it as a drug for the rectification of human maladies. Zosimos notes the possibility, in passing. When the objective of alchemy became human salvation, the material constitution of the elixir became less important than the incantations that accompanied its production. Synesius, the last author in the Venice–Paris manuscript, already defined alchemy as a mental operation, independent of the science of matter. An illustration depicting an alchemist combining the philosopher’s stone with gold to produce new … Photos.com/Thinkstock Thus, Greek alchemy came to resemble, in both theory and practice, that of China and India. But its objectives included gold making; thus it remained fundamentally different. Arabic alchemy Arabic alchemy is as mysterious as Greek in its origins, and the two seem to have been significantly different. The respect in which Physica et mystica was held by the Greek alchemists was bestowed by the Arabs on a different work, the Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistos , the reputed Hellenistic author of various alchemical, occultic, and theological works.

Beginning “That which is above is like to that which is below, and that which is below is like to that which is above,” it is brief, theoretical, and astrological. Hermes “the thrice great” (Trismegistos) was a Greek version of the Egyptian god Thoth and the supposed founder of an astrological philosophy that is first noted in 150 bc. The Emerald Tablet, however, comes from a larger work called Book of the Secret of Creation, which exists in Latin and Arabic manuscripts and was thought by the Muslim alchemist ar-Rāzī to have been written during the reign of Caliph al-Maʾmūn (ad 813–833), though it has been attributed to the 1st-century-ad pagan mystic Apollonius of Tyana . Some scholars have suggested that Arabic alchemy descended from a western Asiatic school and that Greek alchemy was derived from an Egyptian school. As far as is known, the Asiatic school was not Chinese or Indian. What is known is that Arabic alchemy was associated with a specific city in Syria, Harran, which seems to have been a fountainhead of alchemical notions.

And it is possible that the distillation ideology and its spokeswoman, Maria—as well as Agathodaimon—represented the alchemy of Harran , which presumably migrated to Alexandria and was incorporated into the alchemy of Zosimos. The existing versions of the Book of the Secret of Creation have been carried back only to the 7th or 6th century but are believed by some to represent much earlier writings, although not necessarily those of Apollonius himself. He is the subject of an ancient biography that says nothing about alchemy, but neither does the Emerald Tablet nor the rest of the Book of the Secret of Creation. On the other hand, their theories of nature have an alchemical ring, and the Book mentions the characteristic materials of alchemy, including, for the first time in the West, sal ammoniac. It was clearly an important book to the Arabs, most of whose eminent philosophers mentioned alchemy, although sometimes disapprovingly. Those who practiced it were even more interested in literal gold making than had been the Greeks. The most well-attested and probably the greatest Arabic alchemist was ar- Rāzī (c. 850–923/924), a Persian physician who lived in Baghdad.

The most famous was Jābir ibn Ḥayyān , now believed to be a name applied to a collection of “underground writings” produced in Baghdad after the theological reaction against science. In any case, the Jābirian writings are very similar to those of ar-Rāzī. Ar-Rāzī classified the materials used by the alchemist into “bodies” (the metals), stones, vitriols, boraxes, salts, and “spirits,” putting into the latter those vital (and sublimable) materials, mercury, sulfur, orpiment and realgar (the arsenic sulfides), and sal ammoniac . Much is made of sal ammoniac, the reactive powers of which seem to have given Western alchemy a new lease on life. Ar-Rāzī and the Jābirian writers were really trying to make gold, through the catalytic action of the elixir. Both wrote much on the compounding of “strong waters,” an enterprise that was ultimately to lead to the discovery of the mineral acids, but students have been no more able to find evidence of this discovery in the writings of the Arabic alchemists than in those of China and India.

The Arabic strong waters were merely corrosive salt solutions. Ar-Rāzī’s writing represents the apogee of Arabic alchemy, so much so that students of alchemy have little evidence of its later reorientation toward mystical or quasi-religious objectives. Nor does it seem to have turned to medicine, which remained independent. But there was a tendency in Arabic medicine to give greater emphasis to mineral remedies and less to the herbs that had been the chief medicines of the earlier Greek and Arabic physicians. The result was a pharmacopoeia not of elixirs but of specific remedies that are inorganic in origin and not very different from the elixirs of ar-Rāzī. This new pharmacopoeia was taken to Europe by Constantine of Africa , a Baghdad-educated Muslim who died in 1087 as a Christian monk at Monte Cassino (Italy). The pharmacopoeia also appeared in Spain in the 11th century and passed from there to Latin Europe, along with the Arabic alchemical writings, which were translated into Latin in the 12th century. Latin alchemy In the 12th century the Christian West began to shed its habit of indifference or hostility to the secular literature of ancient and alien civilizations.

Christian scholars were particularly attracted to Muslim Spain and Sicily and there made translations from both Arabic and Greek works, many of which were in some degree familiar, but some of which, including the literature of alchemy, were new. The Greek alchemy of the Venice–Paris manuscript had much less impact than the work of ar-Rāzī and other Arabs, which emerged among the voluminous translations made in Spain about 1150 by Gerard of Cremona . By 1250 alchemy was familiar enough to enable such encyclopaedists as Vincent of Beauvais to discuss it fairly intelligibly, and before 1300 the subject was under discussion by the English philosopher and scientist Roger Bacon and the German philosopher, scientist, and theologian Albertus Magnus . To learn about alchemy was to learn about chemistry, for Europe had no independent word to describe the science of matter. It had been touched upon in works concerned with other forms of change—e.g., the motion of projectiles, the aging of man, and similar Aristotelian concepts.

On the practical side there were also artists’ recipe books; but for the first time in the works of Bacon and Albertus Magnus change was discussed in a truly chemical sense, with Bacon treating the newly translated alchemy as a general science of matter for which he had great hopes. But the more familiar alchemy became, the more clearly it was understood that gold making was the almost exclusive objective of alchemy, and Europeans proved no more resistant to the lure of this objective than their Arabic predecessors. By 1350, alchemical tracts were pouring out of the scriptoria (monastic copying rooms), and the Europeans had even taken over the tradition of anonymity and false attribution . One authority wrote at length about supposed disagreements between two Arabs, Iahiae Abindinon and Geber Abinhaen, who were probably two versions of the name of Jābir ibn Ḥayyān. The most famous Jābirian work in Europe, The Sum of Perfection , is now thought to have been an original European composition. At about this time personal reminiscences of alchemists began to appear.

Most famous was the Paris notary Nicolas Flamel (1330–1418), who claimed that he dreamed of an occult book, subsequently found it, and succeeded in deciphering it with the aid of a Jewish scholar learned in the mystic Hebrew writings known as the Kabbala . In 1382 Flamel claimed to have succeeded in the “Great Work” (gold making); certainly he became rich and made donations to churches. By 1300 alchemists had begun the discovery of the mineral acids, a discovery that occupied about three centuries between the first evidence of the new strong water (aqua fortis—i.e., nitric acid ) and the clear differentiation of the acids into three kinds: nitric, hydrochloric, and sulfuric. These three centuries saw prodigious efforts in European alchemy, for these spontaneously reactive and highly corrosive substances opened a whole new world of research. And yet, it was of little profit to chemistry, for the experiments were inhibited by the old objectives of separating the base metals into their “elements,” concocting elixirs, and other traditional procedures.

The “water of life” (aqua vitae; i.e., alcohol ) was probably discovered a little earlier than nitric acid, and some physicians and a few alchemists turned to the elixir of life as an objective. John of Rupescissa , a Catalonian monk who wrote c. 1350, prescribed virtually the same elixirs for metal ennoblement and for the preservation of health. His successors multiplied elixirs, which lost their uniqueness and finally simply became new medicines, often for specific ailments. Medical chemistry may have been conceived under Islam , but it was born in Europe. It only awaited christening by its great publicist, Paracelsus (1493–1541), who was the sworn enemy of the malpractices of 16th-century medicine and a vigorous advocate of “folk” and “chemical” remedies. By the end of the 16th century, medicine was divided into warring camps of Paracelsians and anti-Paracelsians, and the alchemists began to move en masse into pharmacy.

Paracelsian pharmacy was to lead, by a devious path, to modern chemistry, but gold making still persisted, though methods sometimes differed. SalomonTrismosin, purported author of the Splendor solis, or “Splendour of the Sun” (published 1598), engaged in extensive visits to alchemical adepts (a common practice) and claimed success through “kabbalistic and magical books in the Egyptian language.” The impression given is that many had the secret of gold making but that most of them had acquired it from someone else and not from personal experimentation. Illustrations, often heavily symbolic, became particularly important, those of Splendor solis being far more complex than the text but clearly exercising a greater appeal, even to modern students. Page 1 of 2 Alchemy - origins, transmutation, study, practise and science Alchemy Alchemy Origins, transmutation, study, practise and science In this, the tenth article of our occult studies course , we shall discuss how the study and practise of the sacred science of Alchemy may unlock the doors of Divine Wisdom. You can find full details about our occult studies course by clicking the link above.

Introduction If you have stumbled upon this page because you suppose, or have been led to believe, that alchemy is something anyone can master in a week or two with the aim of getting rich quick, we are afraid that you are doomed to disappointment and should stop reading now. If, on the other hand, your interest is prompted by the sincere desire to be of service to humanity, then you will find much to inspire and facilitate your alchemical studies in this article. It is rather amusing that chemistry, which is such an important part of modern science, has grown out of the much ridiculed researches and practices, as well as superstitions, of the ancient alchemists. What is still more amusing is the fact that the alchemists used strange terms in order to hide their secrets, which, together with the many ridiculous names they gave to the various ingredients they needed in their work, successfully pulled the innocent legs of their successors (the chemists), who, taking these terms at their face value, now laugh heartily at these foolish alchemists.

How these seemingly foolish, but really very wise, old men must be chuckling in their beards as they look down from above and see their detractors struggling with the hidden meanings of the weird phrases with which their diaries and manuscripts are filled. It reminds us of the veiled teachings of the other occult and mystical sciences, consisting of subtle words and phrases with hidden meanings, very mysterious to the vulgar mind, such as the famous "Holy Grail" which now enjoys great notoriety in the public imagination through the novels of Dan Brown and others. Such fantasies continue to give rise to the most absurd ideas and fanciful speculations, causing a multitude of short-lived "occult orders" of all kinds to spring up, in order to spread their wonderful "secret" knowledge, only to fall down with a mighty bang, or fade out like a movie when the power fails; each according to its inherent proclivities and predestined fate. . . .and the wise ones silently stride past! The origins of Alchemy What is the meaning of the word alchemy? Opinions differ. One theory is that the word is derived from the Arabic Kimya, or chemistry, and al.

Kimya in its turn being derived from the late Greek word Chemeia, which also means chemistry, or from Chemeia, mingling, or Cheein, to pour out or mix. But one Egyptologist of the last century, E. A. Wallis Budge, thought that its root might lie in the ancient Egyptian word Khemeia, which refers to the preparation of the black ore, or powder, which is the active principle used by alchemists in the transmutation of metals. Thus it is quite likely that this ancient Egyptian word, to which the Arabs prefixed the article al, is the real root of the word alchemy The Egyptians had the reputation of being skilled workers in metal from the very earliest times onward, and the Greek writers state that they knew the secret of transmuting base metals into gold and silver. Some writers have said that alchemical science first took form in Byzantium in the fourth century A.D., but we think it much more likely that this was due to part of the secret science of the ancient Egyptians leaking out through the indiscretions of some disciples which, trickling through via Alexandrian and Hellenic sources, founded the structure of the early and medieval schools of alchemy.

That this is so is confirmed by the fact that the originator of alchemy has always been said to be Hermes Trismegistus, whose works are supposed to contain a complete record of all its mysteries. After the conquest of Egypt by the Arabs in the seventh century, the Arabian scholars carried on the work of the Alexandrian School, which by the eighth century had reached Morocco, where it flourished exceedingly. Later on it spread to Spain where, from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, it established itself in the colleges of Seville, Cordoba and Grenada, from which the science spread throughout the rest or Europe. Transmutation For many years scientists and other unenlightened people sneered and scoffed at the idea of transmutation, but with the discovery of nuclear fission in the last century, science was finally able to transmute a minute quantity of mercury into gold by subjecting it to nuclear bombardment.

More recently, some scientists claim to have succeeded in not only making gold, but transmuting many other elements too, such as calcium, copper, zinc and iron, using various nuclear technologies, including "cold fusion", but these continuing experiments, interesting though they are, would take us too far away from our present aim, which is to discover the sacred keys of alchemy that unlock the doors of Divine Wisdom, as opposed to material knowledge. The old alchemists had a theory that all matter is of one and the same basic origin and that all forms of matter contain the same spiritual principle which is permanent, although the body or outer form is transitory, and one outer form may be substituted for another. As you will have noted, this is very similar to the prevailing scientific view, only science still denies the spiritual, preferring instead to rake over the mud of materialism in their search for ever more elusive and tenuous elementary particles such as the mysterious "Higgs Boson" or so-called "God particle". Truly, there are none so blind as those who will not see! We investigate some of the latest scientific theories about matter and compare them with the facts of Occult Science in our articles on why matter matters and gravitational waves .

It was taught that each metal is under the influence of one of the planets, and the alchemists referred to them under astrological symbols such as the Sun for gold, the Moon for silver, Mercury for mercury, Venus for copper, Mars for iron, Jupiter for tin and Saturn for lead. For this reason many alchemists paid great attention to astrological conditions before carrying out important experiments. That they were right to do so has been confirmed by modern science which has discovered a close connection between the Moon and silver, for instance, which metal follows the phases of the Moon from month to month. We are told that the original matter of metals is double in its essence, being a dry heat combined with warm moisture, and that air is water coagulated by fire, capable of producing a universal dissolvent. The neophyte must be wary of interpreting these terms literally. As we have mentioned earlier, great confusion exists in alchemical nomenclature, and the gibberish employed by charlatans who in later times pretended to a knowledge of alchemy they did not possess, does not make things clearer! The beginner must also acquire a thorough knowledge of the manner in which metals grow in the bowels of the earth.

These are engendered by sulphur, which is male, and mercury, which is female, and the crux of alchemy is to obtain their seed—a process which the alchemical philosophers have not described with any degree of clarity. The physical theory of transmutation is based on the composite character of metals, and on the presumed existence of a substance which, applied to matter, exhalts and perfects it. Eugenius Philalethes (Thomas Vaughan) and other alchemists have called this "The Light"—a statement we would not disagree with and which the serious student should meditate upon. Consequently, it was thought that the elements of all metals are similar, differing only in purity and proportion. The entire trend of the metallic kingdom is towards the manufacture of gold, and the production of the baser metals is only the accidental result of an unfavourable environment. The Philosopher's Stone is the combination of the male and female seeds which beget gold. But the composition of these is so veiled by complex symbolism as to make their identification an impossibility for all but the trained Initiate . Frankly, we know of only one truly great occult order which offers such training to its students today and they operate under the strictest secrecy.

In spite of all this the matter of transmutation is comparatively simple and depends mainly on a flux producing immense heat, and the three ingredients needed to make this flux are so common in nature that it is surprising that modern science has not discovered them before. Perhaps this is just as well, as the manufacture of gold in large quantities would create a world disaster besides which the present financial meltdowns would seem like a mild hiccup, especially if the secret fell into the hands of the unscrupulous. That the financial powers in the world have recognised this danger is proved by the many stringent laws controlling the sale of gold all over the world. Even if one produced gold alchemically, having first discovered the secret, it would be extremely difficult to put any appreciable amounts into circulation. Many swindlers have pretended to have this secret over the centuries, and for all we know, still do, and have employed the most cunning devices to trap the unwary and the "get rich quick" enthusiasts.

The Philosopher's Stone This mysterious Stone is described in The Golden Treatise of Hermes Trismegistus as follows: "In the cavern of the metals there is hidden the Stone that is venerable, splendid in colour, a mind sublime, and an open sea." The Six Keys of Eudoxus goes on to tell us that this stone: "has a bright glittering: it contains a Spirit of a sublime original; it is the Sea of the Wise, in which they angle for their mysterious Fish." Hermes adds: "Behold, I have declared that which had been concealed, since the work is both with you and about you." These few words from two of the very best works on alchemy sum up what the Philosopher's Stone is and where it is to be found. To say more would not help the puffer or the quack to discover the secret, whereas those who are worthy and ready will undoubtedly find it through their own efforts; such is the law in alchemical studies. Out of the Philosopher's Stone the alchemist prepared the Elixir of Life, and this was done by making a solution of the stone in spirits of wine.

This Elixir would restore the flower of youth and ensure a long and healthy life, but not prolong it indefinitely—this latter idea is a fanciful addition of fiction writers! Paracelsus says: "The Philosopher's Stone purges the whole body of man, and cleanses it from all impurities by the introduction of new and youthful forces, which it joins to the nature of man. There is nothing which might deliver the mortal body from death: but there is one Thing which may postpone decay, renew youth, and prolong short human life." Once again, this peer among alchemists says all in a few words. In Paracelsus' work on The Tincture of the Philosophers he tells us that we should mix the "rose-coloured blood from the Lion" with the "gluten from the Eagle". But here we are on different ground, because he means the preparation of the Philosopher's Stone in a mystical manner, and not the objective or material ways referred to earlier. The blood of the Lion and the gluten from the eagle are terms to disguise sulphur and mercury, which here is used in a philosophical or mystical way.

It is equivalent to the hidden meaning of the "Chymical Marriage", and represents perfect unity, such as the conjunction of the sexes in marriage. Only, here it is marriage of a different kind, and has nothing at all to do with sex as we understand it in the material way. Paracelsus describes this Medicine as follows: "This is the spirit of Truth, which the world cannot comprehend without the interposition of the Holy Ghost, or without the instruction of those who know it. The same is of a mysterious nature, wondrous strength, boundless power. By Avicenna this Spirit is named the Soul of the World. For, as the Soul moves all the limbs of the Body, so also is this Spirit in all elementary created things. It is beheld from afar, and found near; for it exists in every thing, in every place, and at all times. It has the powers of all creatures; its action is found in all elements, and the qualities of all things therein, even in the highest perfection.

It heals all dead and living bodies without other medicine, converts all metallic bodies into gold, and there is nothing like unto it under Heaven." He could have added that it is the greatest secret of the Initiates, and those who know it and have been able to demonstrate it unto themselves, have all knowledge, all freedom, all understanding, all compassion and all Love. The three aspects of Alchemy Alchemy can be regarded either as a philosophy, as an experimental and physical science, or as a combination of the two. Many enquirers make the mistake of taking a one-sided view, the chemists calling the alchemists fools on account of the mystical language they employ, and the alchemists deriding the chemists for their materialism, whilst many mystics take a purely transcendental view, regarding alchemy as the transmutation of the Higher Self of man and its perfection. The latter idea found its development in the "Chymical Marriage of Christian Rosenkreutz", an anonymous 17th century manuscript which has spawned a host of "Rosicrucian" teachings of all kinds, ranging from the sublime, through the fanciful, to the implausible and ridiculous.

There were also many alchemists who only interested themselves in the chemical operations on the physical plane, of whom Paracelsus says: "These do not give themselves up to ease and idleness. They devote themselves diligently to their labours, sweating whole nights over fiery furnaces. These do not kill their time with empty talk, but find their delight in their laboratory." Other alchemists were at the same time also mystics, who considered their science as a Divine gift. Trithemius of Spanheim, whose advice to a young student we reproduce at right, was one of these.

Similar advice was given by Basil Valentine, who writes: "First there should be the invocation of God, flowing from the depth of a pure and sincere heart, and a conscience which should be free from all ambition, hypocrisy and vice, as also from all cognate faults, such as arrogance, boldness, pride, luxury, worldly vanity, oppression of the poor, and similar iniquities which should all be rooted out of the heart—that when a man appears before the Throne of Grace, to regain the health of his body, he may come with a conscience weeded of all tares, and be changed into a pure temple of God cleansed of all that defiles." This beautiful quotation may be applied equally to all other magical arts as showing the necessary selfless and devotional attitude we should adopt towards them, for unless we DO approach them with a clean mind and purified Higher Self, the mysteries will not be unveiled to us.

So we have seen that alchemy is of a dual nature; spiritual and religious on the one hand, and physical and material on the other, and that these sides or aspects complete one another, just as the material and spiritual make man a complete being, whether on earth, or elsewhere in the many spheres or mansions of God's Universe. Black Magic in Science It has ever been the complaint of many scientists (and the vulgar) that the alchemists kept all their discoveries carefully hidden, disguising their theories with the cloak of obscure allegories, arcane symbolism and archaic language. The reason for this strange behaviour of these learned men is that they did not wish their secrets to fall into the hands of unscrupulous people who would use them for their own selfish gratification, and also to destroy their fellowmen and women. We could wish that modern scientists were equally reticent, so that we should not have to witness the terrible spectacle of seeing tens of thousands of people wiped out by atomic bombs, or crippled for life by the fiendish biological and chemical weapons scientists have developed, and are still developing in their poison vats.

Neither should we hear of the merciless slaughter of innocent women and children in unprotected towns and cities in the many wars that have raged incessantly, and still rage, across this sorry-troubled globe. All these devilish discoveries for the destruction of human life, health and happiness would have remained hidden, or at least controlled, so as not to hurt those who have no defence against them, if modern science had the same wisdom as the grand old alchemists of long ago. Please do not think that we are against progress or modern science; far from it. Progress is one of the finest and most glorious privileges of man, but it should be controlled in such a manner that it produces the greatest amount of good for all and not for the few who sit in the seats of worldly power, whether they wield that power from a presidential palace, a laboratory, bank or boardroom. Science has done much to improve the material well-being and conditions of man, but it could do very much more in all directions if it would but learn to embrace the spirit that animates all things rather than continuing to cling blindly to its materialist dogmas.

Bulwer-Lytton, in his occult novel Zanoni says: "Discover what will destroy life, and you are a great man!—what will prolong it, and you are an imposter! Discover some invention in machinery that will make the rich more rich and the poor more poor, and they will build you a statue! Discover some mystery in art that will equalise physical disparities, and they will pull down their own houses to stone you!" How little has changed since Lord Lytton wrote these words more than 150 years ago. Indeed, many would say that things are immeasurably worse today, and that for every material benefit science confers on mankind, she exacts an ever-heavier price in untold suffering and moral and spiritual decay. On no account should any scientist ever place into the hands of his or her paymasters any knowledge which could harm mankind. The specious justification that is often trotted out by scientists that science is "impartial" and therefore not responsible for the use to which its discoveries are put, is sophistry of the worst possible kind. It is no different from putting a loaded gun into the hands of dangerous lunatic and disclaiming all responsibility for what he does with it.

Such morally bankrupt and irresponsible scientists are black magicians of the deepest dye, not one whit less wicked than their Atlantean predecessors, and like those sorcerers of old, they will all go down into the pit, but not before they have despoiled this earth and everything that lives upon it with the fruits of their evil genius. Let no one doubt these words, or think we exaggerate; for we can see very far into the future...and tremble at that which we behold! But then again, perhaps one does not need to look so far ahead to see where the arrogance, vanity, ambition and blindness of so many scientists is leading mankind? The study and practise of Alchemy It is not possible in this short article to enter into highly technical discussions of alchemical elements, principles and practises. We can only give you hints and suggest books in which you can study these things further, should you be sufficiently interested and motivated to do so.

We would also add that those who are impatient should never meddle with alchemy, but go out and have 'fun' instead, for Patience is the Root of all the magical arts and sciences, to which must be added the ability to read between the lines of the books by the various writers we have mentioned in this article. So, if you feel called to the Great Work and have the necessary mental and moral qualifications, set to and may good fortune attend your labours. To assist you in this we would recommend the following books: Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus. A. E. Waite. 2 volumes. 1894, reprinted Kessinger Publishing, 2002. The Hermetic Museum. A. E. Waite. 1893, reprinted 1999, 2007, various publishers. 12 March 2013 — © Copyright occult-mysteries.org. Updated 17 August 2016.

Search our website The Emerald Tablet Unlocking the doors of Divine Wisdom through the study and practise of the sacred science of alchemy The first name we find in the history of alchemy is that of Hermes Trismegistus . He is to be regarded as the Father of the Art of alchemy. Whether there ever was such a person, or whether he was another name for Thoth, the Egyptian God of learning, is a question we cannot enter into here. We are told that Alexander the Great found the tomb of Hermes in a cave near Hebron. Perhaps Hermes was one of the great Egyptian initiates, or the name may have been an allegorical one for the successive possessors of the secret lore, or the High Priest of the Egyptian Temple, just as we find the names of successive Grand Masters of Secret Occult Orders perpetuated from olden times right up to this present day. In this tomb was found the "Smaragdine Tablet", or the Emerald Tablet, on which were inscribed in Phoenician characters the following thirteen sentences: Firstly, I speak not fictitious things, but that which is certain and most true.

Secondly, What is below is like that which is above, and what is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing. Thirdly, And as all things were produced by the meditation of one Being, so all things were produced from this one thing by adaptation. Fourthly, Its father is the Sun, its mother the Moon; the wind carries it in its belly, its nurse is the spirituous earth. Fifthly, It is the cause of all perfection throughout the whole world. Sixthly, Its power is perfect if it be changed into earth. Seventhly, Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, acting prudently and with judgment. Eighthly, Ascend with the greatest sagacity from the earth to heaven, and then descend again to the earth, uniting together the powers of things superior of the whole world, and all obscurity will fly far away from you. Ninthly, This thing has more fortitude than fortitude itself, because it overcomes all subtle things, and penetrates every solid thing. Tenthly, Thus were all things created. Eleventhly, Thence proceed wonderful adaptations which are produced in this way.

Twelfthly, Therefore am I called Hermes Trismegistus, possessing the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. Thirteenthly, That which I had to say concerning the operation of the Sun is completed. The translation of these verses is our own and differs significantly from that given in books and elsewhere on the Internet. These differences will not be lost on the discerning reader. We would add that the Emerald Tablet contains all that we have discussed in our occult studies course and more. The secrets of creation, of alchemy, of magic, of wisdom, mystical knowledge, and occult philosophy—and they are all the same thing. But whether this One Thing Hermes refers to is God, Spirit, or what you will, it cannot be put into words. It cannot be taught by one man to another, although it can be hinted at as we have done throughout our website—but no more. This is the Secret of secrets which opens all mysteries. It can only be found by each man by himself; and to each it will come in a different way and have a meaning that none other can fully share or understand.

Those that have found it, have all knowledge and wisdom, so far as these are obtainable on earth, and they inevitably will recognise others who have it. It creates a sort of Cosmic Free-Masonry, and the sign of it is written on the forehead; but it can only be read correctly by the Initiate. To the Initiate the pretenders to this Wisdom are like glass; they see right through it into the very depths of that person's heart and soul. . . NOTE You can read more about Hermes and the Mystery Teachings of ancient Egypt in our article on Hermetic Philosophy. Advice to Alchemists The advice of Trithemius of Spanheim to his students If you, who reads this, feel that you are worthy and ready to take up the study of alchemy, whether in its physical, mystical, or both aspects, then we can do no better than commend to you the advice of Trithemius of Spanheim to a young student of his: "Now, art thou a man, in whose soul the image of Divinity is sealed for eternity, think first what is thy desire in the searching after these mysteries! Is it wealth, honour, fame, power, might, aggrandizement, and the like?

Perhaps thy heart says, All! all these I would gladly crave! If so, this is my answer; seek first to know thyself thoroughly, cleanse thy heart from all wicked, vain, and rapacious desires. "Thinkest thou, oh man! to attain power to gratify thy lusts, to enrich thy coffers, to build houses, to raise thyself to the pinnacle of human admiration; if these are thy hopes and desires, thou hast reason to lament thy being born: all such desires are immediately from the devil, I mean that Being whose engines (i. e. myriads of demons) are continually in the act of placing sensual delights and luxuries before the depraved minds and hearts of man, and whose chief business and property it is to counteract the benevolent actions and inspirations of those blessed spirits who are the instruments of God our Creator. "Fear God and love thy neighbour; use no deceit, swear not, neither lye; let all thy actions be sincere. Here, O man! is the grand seal of all earthly wisdom, the true talisman of human happiness.

When thou shalt accomplish this, behold nothing will be impossible unto thee as far as God permits: then with all speed apply thy mind and heart to attain knowledge and wisdom; with all humility throw thy dependence on God alone, the author of all things that cannot die." Preparation of a Man Extracts from Francis Barrett's instructions on the Preparation of a Man to qualify him for the study and practise of alchemy quoted from The Magus (1801). LESSON I. The preparation for this work is simply this: Learn to cast away from thee all vile affections—all levity and inconstancy of mind; let all thy dealings be free from deceit and hypocrisy; avoid the company of vain young men; hate all profligacy, and profane speaking. LESSON II. Keep thy own, and thy neighbours' secrets; court not the favours of the rich; despise not the poor, for he who does will be poorer than the poorest. LESSON III. Give to the needy and unfortunate what little thou canst spare; for he that has but little, whatever he spares to the miserable, God shall amply reward him. LESSON IV.

Be merciful to those who offend thee, or who have injured thee; for what must that man's heart be, who would take heavy vengeance on a slight offence? Thou shalt forgive thy brother until seventy times seven. LESSON V. Be not hasty to condemn the actions of others, lest thou shouldst, the next hour, fall into the very same error; despise scandal and tattling; let thy words be few. LESSON VI. Study day and night, and supplicate thy Creator that he would be pleased to grant thee knowledge and understanding; and that the pure spirits may have communication with, and influence, in thee. LESSON VII. Be not overcome with drunkenness; for, be assured, that half the evils that befall mankind originate in drunkenness: for too great a quantity of strong liquors deprive men of their reason. I pray you to avoid this dreadful vice. LESSON VIII. Avoid gluttony, and all excess—it is very pernicious and from the Devil. These are the things that constantly tempt man and by which he falls a prey to his spiritual adversary (the lower self); for these vices render him incapable of receiving any good or divine gift. LESSON IX.

Covet not much gold, but learn to be satisfied with enough; for to desire more than enough, is to offend the Deity. LESSON X. Read often these ten preparatory Lessons to fit thee for the great work; for the more pure thou art in heart and mind, by so much quicker shall you perceive those high secrets we teach, and which are entirely hid from the discernment of the vicious and depraved, because it never can happen that such a source of treasure can be attained merely to satisfy our more gross, earthly, and vain desires and inclinations. When thou shalt have so far purified thy heart, thou shalt then see with other eyes than thou dost at present—thy spiritual eye will be opened, and thou shalt read man as plain as thou wilt our books. You can read Francis Barrett's book The Magus, from which these extracts have been taken at the Sacred Texts Archive . The Magus is one of the primary sources for the study of Alchemy, Astrology, and the Kabbalah and well worthy studying.

NOTE Whenever these two eminent writers (Trithemius of Spanheim and Francis Barrett) speak of the "devil", they are primarily referring to the lower self of man with its various sensual desires, passions, vices, etc. Indeed, we may say that this is the ONLY "devil" the occult student need ever fear, for until and unless the lower self is controlled the real secrets of the Great Art will remain forever beyond his grasp. A tale of ancient India by J Michaud PhD This virtually unknown occult biography is the true story of one man's search for wisdom and enlightenment. The book begins with the birth and childhood of Ruru—a seeker after mysteries—whom we follow in his journey of discovery through the gorgeous scenery of the India of 2,000 years ago. We make the acquaintance of many different characters in this book, such as a most lovable Ascetic and an evil Black Dwarf; a learned Brahman Priest and a menacing, wandering monk; a wise and kind old philosopher and the seductive Princess Sulochana and her chattering maid; all drawn with unerring skill by the author.

We witness a terrifying 'black mass' by an evil wizard which actually took place; share the extraordinary tests and trials of Ruru as he is initiated into the Arcane Mysteries; partake in strange adventures; exotic love scenes; meet a Master who surely represents the ideal of every Seeker; and—above all— discover some of the hidden secrets of the Universe, so far as they may be disclosed. To sum up: this is a unique Book, as one critic declares; a Book which shines with the luminous colours of a magnificent opal of great price. © COPYRIGHT occult-mysteries.org | all rights reserved | Privacy | Terms & Conditions proud to be powered by 2pawspress Alchemy | Superpower Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Ivy Valentine (Soul Calibur) is capable using alchemy from her father-in-laws research. Two Sith Alchemists (Star Wars) Doctor Alchemy (DC) wreaks havoc using the power of the Philosopher's Stone. Diablo (Marvel) Kazuki Mutō (Buso Renkin) using his Arms Alchemy weapon: Sunlight Heart. Kinjō (Buso Renkin) using his Arms Alchemy weapon: Peaky Gulliver.

Victor Powered (Buso Renkin) using his Arms Alchemy weapon: Fatal Attraction. Genji Ikusabe (Buso Renkin) using his Arms Alchemy weapon: Gekisen. Shōsei Sakaguchi (Buso Renkin) using his Arms Alchemy weapon: Buster Baron. Edward Elric (Fullmetal Alchemist), one of the few alchemists who does not require a Transmutation Circle to perform alchemical transmutations excluding the alchemy that is very advanced. Van Hohenheim (Fullmetal Alchemist) - also known as Hohenheim of Light: deceptively ancient and extremely powerful alchemist... and a Human Philosopher's Stone Multiple forms of the philosopher's stone in Fullmetal Alchemist. Father (Fullmetal Alchemist) and his Homunculus creations, Sloth, Greed, Gluttony, Lust, and Envy. Edward and Alphonse Elric are both alchemical prodigies. Master Alchemist (Valkyrie Crusade) Alchemist (Valkyrie Crusade) Mephistopheles (Valkyrie Crusade) is a demon lord with very powerful and unique alchemy and magic and posses the power to grant wishes.

Flamel (Valkyrie Crusade) Wahl Icht's robot (Fairy Tail) can use alchemical magic to alter the metallic components of his body to make him able to mot only to be unharmed by electricity, but to absorb it as well. Wahl Icht (Fairy Tail) using his elemental abilities to merge Zinc and Copper to create 9MM bullets.

Question: What is an alchemist likely to be searching for?
Answer: Philosopher's stone