Alchemy is a major branch of Western occult science, but for many it is a most misunderstood and ridiculed subject. It is misunderstood by many because when hearing the purpose for transmutation of metals, transforming base metals such as copper and iron into gold, they are inclined to think alchemists were men trying to get rich quick.However, on the whole, this was not true; many alchemists were serious minded men practicing their art, or science as they referred to it; however, there were frauds and charlatans.
But, to fully understand the alchemical process and its purpose one must first comprehend the thought pattern of the alchemists.
This comprehension is partially achieved by temporarily abandoning scientific thought, especially concerning modern chemistry, although as will be seen alchemy was the forerunner of chemistry. The reason for this abandonment is that the thought pattern of the alchemist was different. He only had access to knowledge of materials and minerals of his day; this was all he had to work out his formula, which at times seems ridiculous in the light of current scientific knowledge. In short, alchemists could only describe the workings of materials in the terms they knew.
One indication between the thinking of alchemists and current scientific thought is that the alchemists searched for ideas of the past because they thought the “ancients” knew the secrets of their work and was able to perform it, and their effort was to understand their books; whereas,modern scientists take present knowledge and build unto it so in the future information and products will be discovered that have never been known before.It can be said; the alchemists looked backwards while the present scientists look foreword. Their backward stare did two things for the alchemists; it led them to the origins of the alchemy theory and to its inevitable failure.
The origins of the alchemy theory stretched back to Greece, particularly to the time of Aristotle and his students, and other Greek writers of medicine. This is not surprising since the Greeks initiated theoretical science, and their conjectures were influential throughout the academic world. Although the alchemy theory originated with the Aristotelians there is evidence that alchemy was practiced in Egypt. The working with gold in Egypt was assigned to a priestly class centered in the temple of the god Ptah at Memphis. Ptah was the patron of smelters and goldsmiths, his temple was”goldsmithy,” and his priests were distinguished by such titles as “Great Wielder of the Hammer,” and “He who knows the Secret of the Goldsmiths.” As further evidence, the alchemist Zosimos of Panopolis, writing about 300 CE, said, “I have examined in detail a furnace in the ancient temple of Memphis and he indicated that it was similar to ones used by alchemists. Also there are writings on papyri of recipes for the preparation, or falsification, of silver, gold and other precious stones.
However, the various terms, which the alchemists adopted from the Greeks, had different meanings than they presently do. For example, what became the alchemical process and practice was based on doctrines involving matter, form, and spirit, which possessed different meanings than their current ones.
When speaking of matter, for example, it is currently held that there are different kinds of matter; sulphur and iron are different kinds of matter.But the Aristotelians held there was just one kind of matter only in different shapes; to them sulphur and iron was of the same kind of matter but only in different shapes. Currently when speaking of the shape or form of something the understanding it that its geometrical shape is being referred to; but for the Aristotelians there was just one kind of form; and, according to the Aristotelian theory matter changes shape through the transformation of the qualities of the elementswithin the matter. Then there is the term spirit which currently can mean either a volatile liquid, or a courageous attitude, or an incorporeal life; but in Grecian times the word spiritus or pneuma meant literally “breath,” and could be applied to a vapor, gas, disembodied spirit,or even to the Holy Ghost. The point is to comprehend the alchemical process one must understand the alchemist’s meaning of the terms he uses.
The Aristotelian theory of the four elements of matter was based on a creation theory or myth. All matter was assumed to have come from prima materia, or prime, chaotic matter, which might only come into actual existence if impressed by “form.”The “form” rose out of the chaos of prime matter forming the four elements: fire, air, eater, and earth. Creation by the god was the result of blending these “simple bodies” together in the correct proportions to produce the infinite varieties of life.
According to Aristotle, the four elements are distinguishable from one another by their “qualities.” The four primary qualities are fluid or moist, dry, hot, and cold. Each element possesses two of the primary qualities while the other two are contraries and cannot be combined. Therefore,the four possible of paired qualities are: hot and dry = fire; hot and fluid (or moist) = air; cold and fluid = water; cold and dry = earth. In each element one quality predominates over the other: in earth it is dryness; in water it is cold; in air, fluidity; in fire, heat.
Transmutation supposedly was the obvious consequence of this theory: any element may be transformed into another through the quality which they have in common. Thus, fire can become air through the medium of heat just as air can become water through the medium of fluidity, and so on. Also two elements can become a third by deleting one quality from each: by deleting the dry and cold qualities, fire and water become air, and, by parting with the hot and fluid qualities, the same elements become earth.
Thus, material transmutation is processed through quality changes in matter. These changes were purposely made so to purify matter, and were achieved through burning, calcination, solution, evaporation, sublimation, and crystallization. It was reasoned that if copper and gold were metals consisting of fire, air, water, and earth in differing proportions, then why not change the elemental proportions of copper so to adjust them to the elemental proportions of goal. This was the crux of the alchemical theory; the changing of the elemental proportions in base metals to make rarer ones such as silver and gold.
Thus far Aristotle’s theory was correct; decomposition of matter must occur in order to in act change or transformation. Aristotle also from the observance of nature recognized that certain types of change do not occur; a horse does not change into a lion or a stone. Change, therefore, was naturally regulated, but after being resolved into less highly specified kinds of matter the material could assume other forms, such as in maggots. So this theory appeared to indicate that if any substance was reduced sufficiently to simple matter, that substance could be given the form of any other substance,and, in theory, there was no reason to think that any substance was incapable of being changed into any other.
Again from nature, the Aristotelians, as well as primitive people long before them, saw new things come into being. The most obvious and important change of this kind was the coming-to-be living organisms, and the first problem was to find why new creatures with complete organization (form)should arise where no creature was before. They knew or suspected there was a cause for this; and they named this cause spirit, or spiritus. Another term of the Greeks for spiritus was pneuma, meaning breath. They believed a god or some supernatural being breathed life into the new creatures which gave them existence. Therefore, to them, everything had a spirit, or spiritual life, but only the god or supernatural being was purely spiritual.
Such belief was previously recorded: They (the Egyptians) say these gods (Isis and Osiris) in their nature do contribute much to the generation of all things, the one being of a hot and active nature, the other moist and cold, but both having something of the air; and that by these all things are brought forth and nourished; and therefore every particular thing in the universe is perfected and completed by the sun and moon, whose qualities, as before declared are five: a spirit (breath) or quickening efficacy, heat or fire, dryness or earth, moisture or water, and air, of which the world does consist as a man is made up of head, hands, feet, and other partshttps://www.themystica.com/mystica.And therefore they called the spirit Zeus which is such by interpretation, because a quickening influence is derived from this into all living creatures, as from the original principle; and upon that account he is esteemed the common parent of all things. (Diodorus Siculus, Bibliotheca Historica [c. 50 BCE])
The alchemical process was still following a natural course. Old matter wears out, decays, whether naturally or man caused made no difference, through decay it became the raw material once more malleable (like prima materia)so to be able to take on knew qualities. The alchemist were thinking of this malleable material like a new seed of a plant; when the plant diesit turns to seed, the feed germinates in the ground giving birth to a new plant. This new plant, however, was usually the rejuvenation of the decayed plant; and when the new plant or other forms of life was entirely different the alchemists said the new form of life had been breathed into it by some supernatural being and/or helped in its growth by the sun and moon. All this was in keeping with their observations; this was the natural birth process, breath from the heavens breathed new life. Everything else required could be explained: for a seed to germinate and grow it needs the warmth of the ground, which comes from the sun, just as the fetus needs the warmth of the womb. And yet, this knowledge did not help solve the alchemists’ problem, how to get the needed thing, which they did not have, to make silver or gold. Simply, they did not have the inspiring breath or seed to make gold.
Needless to say, this led to much consideration as to what to do. Fortunately not too many knew exactly what the alchemists were doing because they fort he most part conducted their activities in secrecy. The initiates were sworn in by an oath of secrecy, “I promise to conceal the secrets of the alchemy science,” which was administered by the master or adept alchemist after he asked them if they would, “Accept the gift of God under the consecrated sign?” The secrecy surrounded alchemy is indicated at by Agrippa von Nesttesheim, a merciless scoffer and blasphemer in the Renaissance,”I could say much more about this art (which I do not find so disagreeable) were it not for the oath of silence usually taken by the initiates into the mysteries.”
During the Middle Ages the alchemists developed a society of their own, which some might call a subculture or an underground culture. This subculture actually was a reestablishment of a pre-Christian culture established by the Arabs during the miraculous Islamic conquests during the 7th and 8thcenturies CE. Even with their new ways of rational experimentation the Arabs retained the Hermetic tradition and included it in their two-fold approach of making gold as well as reveling a way of giving enlightenment to the soul. Therefore, the alchemy tradition which the Europeans finally adopted did not come straight from Egypt and Greece but had absorbed Arabic ideas too to present a Hellenistic culture which the Christian Church thought it had destroyed. Also there was Chinese alchemy.
In this subculture the alchemists occupied a strange position, both religiously and scientifically. They were mystics without being orthodox Catholics,scientists without following the learning of their time, artisans unwilling to teach others what they knew. They were sectarians, the problem-children of medieval society, and their contemporaries were ever hesitant about deciding whether to regard then as pure sages or sacrilegious impostors.
Once dropping out of the regular society they found it easy to drop into this subculture, an underground world that would become the custom that would be alien to the Western Christian society, which had been created just for them. They found themselves comfortably among dedicated men of a quasi-science who evolved a culture unto themselves with their own rules:
Eventually it appeared those becoming alchemists were entering a holy vocation as depicted by the following scene: The dove pictured above this ceremony and suffusing it with heavenly light symbolizes the “royal art” which the Rosarium terms “a gift of the Holy Ghost.” Two angels hovering above sing, “Because you have loved justice andhated evil God thy Lord has anointed you with the oil of joy. Put your trust in God, act like a man, and He shall comfort your heart.”
In his Ordinal of Alchemy (1477) the English alchemist Thomas Norton puts forth some observations summarized as follows:
Not everyone can receive the art, unless there be some person sent by God to instruct him in it. For the matter is so glorious and wonderful that it cannot be fully delivered to any one but by word of mouth. Moreover, if any man would receive it, he must take a sacred oath, that since we his teachers refuse high rank and fame, that he also will not be too eager for these frivolous distinctions, and that he will not be so presumptuous as to make the secret known even to his own son; for propinquity of blood, or affinity, should be held of no account in this our majesty. Nearness of blood, as such, does not exile anyone to be let into the secret, but only virtue, whether in those near to us or in strangers. Therefore, you should carefully test and examine the life, character, and mental aptitude of any person who would be initiated into the art, and then you should bind him, by a sacred oath, not to let our majesty to be commonly or vulgarly known. Only when he begins to grow old and feeble, he may reveal it to one person, but not to more-and that one man must be virtuous and generally approved of by his fellows. For the majesty must always remain a secret science; and the reason that compels us to be so careful is obvious. If any wicked man should learn to practice this art, the event would be impearled with great danger to Christendom.
The practitioner of alchemy, in the Middle Ages, as also noted with magic, was often in the clergy. There were several reasons for this. First the alchemist had to be educated in order to read, translated, and copy the formula. Then the priests were the ones who could read and write sufficiently.The best occupational choices were the priesthood, medicine, or alchemy. Magic was frequently practiced too because then there was little distinction between science and magic. Secondly, one needed an income in order to conduct his experiments; the priesthood provided this, and it also provided the time as the alchemist usually did not have too many other duties. And, it was advisable to keep your alchemical activities a secret because one did not want those not understanding the art to walk in on the experiments or go about describing the experimenter as being weird. This was especially true if the alchemist had a superior who looked unkindly on the art. However, some clerics found alchemy to be profitable when they wanted to finance a crusade, or build a new church or hospital. All activities were not done out of pure charity, though, because they brought renown to their doer sand the hope of prayers of the recipients who had benefited, which hopefully should gain them quicker release from purgatory.
Secrecy pervaded most of the alchemical process especially the rare treatises that are found. Trying to decipher any meaning from them seems a chaotic endeavor. The information within the works seems deliberately concealed by obscurity that it was only meaningful to the author and not to anyone not initiated into the specific secret which enabled them to understand the work. As previously mentioned a man’s character was highly regarded in alchemy, this was especially true when entrusting one’s work to another, particularly initiates. This served as a major reason for the obscurity within treatises. Such secrecy was ensured by the alchemist’s secret oath. The alchemist swore not to tell any man his secrets unless he knew that man to be worthy, and sought the knowledge, not to gain riches, for the knowledge itself.
However, not all who engaged in the art were sincere. It is noted that it was easier to detect a fraudulent alchemist; there was nothing secretive about him. His swindles were so simple and attractive that it was obvious why there were papal bulls and civil laws enacted against the so-called Multipliers of Metals. The numerous swindlers saw no need to practice the tedious process of the alchemists; they just claimed to possess the stone,or a sample and/or a quick recipe for making it. The surest signs of a fraudulent alchemist were his itinerant lifestyle and his eagerness to talk. Their business was so lucrative that their descendants are the unscrupulous gold traders of today.
These dishonest dealings posed such a serious problem that it brought about the Statute in 1403-4 which was deliberately aimed at getting ridof the frauds while the genuine experimenter still had no trouble securing his license. This was especially true in time of war, such as the Wars of the Roses, as the Kings of England were extremely short of money and encouraged the makers of gold who were themselves only too glad to pay the license fees.
It was at the end of the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th when the origin of modern chemistry started. This new science was more interested in studying the nature of things rather than their relationships to other things, particularly God. This was a major distinction between chemistry and alchemy. The other distinction as previously mentioned is that alchemy seeks knowledge by looking backwards to the past by thinking that the ancient teachers and adepts had knowledge that would perfect alchemy skills, while chemistry looked forward discovering new knowledge about the nature of things which led to further discoveries. As is known, chemistry with its discovery of the periodical table of atomic weight overcame the failure of alchemy in the physical sense, combining minerals to make new ones. However, these distinctions did not spell the demise of alchemy; they just separated men of different interests, future scientists from the alchemists.
There was not only a division of scientists from alchemists, there was a division of worldviews as well. The new scientists were speaking of laws which they claimed governed nature, and such claims were unsettling to men who still held the view of a cosmos with the vast empyrean heaven enclosing the concentric spheres of the planets which, in their turn, governed all of the changes in the world. This was the divine worldview–a world created by God, governed by him, and ended by him–which the new science was discarding, that caused those clinging to this view, whether scientist or philosopher,to find it renunciation repugnant and nearly impossible to defend. Their assumptions were right because many difficulties resulted in attempting to resolve both views. What resulted out of this entire conflict is what is still presently termed the mind/matter, or body, conflict; in short,the mind is separated from the physical body, each dealt with separately.
However, the former worldview was essential to alchemy. Thus, in the late 17th century alchemy books gradually began omitting details of practical arts, experiments, and started describing a spiritual universe. This also coincided with the 17th century inquirer’s conception of the aim of “natural philosophy” which was to give the complete account of the natural world including God’s and man’s participation in it. As can be seen, in alchemy the operations of nature were still considered important, and eventually joining this view was Hermetic philosophy. Hermetic philosophy was compatible because of its central idea of a causal chain of descent from God to matter. This philosophy essentially parallels Biblical scripture: The eternal idea of all things originated with God. The goodness and beauty of the idea compelled him to make a material copy. God, the Father, is the supernatural foundation or basis of his creatures; God, the Son, is the pattern in whose image they are made; God, the Holy Ghost, is the spirit that framed the creation indue proportion to the pattern. God, the Father, is compared to the Sun; God, the Son, to light; and God, the Holy Ghost, to a fiery love, a Divine heat.
The conjunction of natural philosophy with Hermetic philosophy perhaps was impressive but it provided no resolution to the problem inherited in the physical aspect of alchemy; even when the base metals were transformed practically back into prime mater (ash) again there was still no known way to make them possess the new traits required for them to become silver or gold. Alchemy just did not have this ability even though there where claims hat some alchemists accomplished it. Since most alchemists were unwilling to let go of their worldview, the art became more spiritual in describing God and his relationship to his creatures.
But until the 18th century some renowned men considered alchemy a serious study. Among them was Isaac Newton who it is said devoted more time to studying and writing about alchemy than either optics or physics the work for which he is famous. Most of the information concerning Newton’s studies in occultism is speculative since much of his work was destroyed by fire in his laboratory and that knowledge is gone forever. However, while doing alchemical work he appeared to have suffered a nervous breakdown which may have resulted from the psychological transformation that the alchemy process was supposed to produce or from a metallic poison caused by mercury, lead or some other substance. Like many men of the day who shared Newton’s interests, Newton had knowledge of both astronomy and astrology, at that time interrelated, and some describe him a good astronomer as well as a good alchemist. Although Newton was good at physical sciences, his mathematical studies led to his discoveries in physics and astronomy, it would be incorrect to describe his worldview as purely mechanist; like other alchemy experts he still was interested in relationships between the world, God, and man.
As previously mentioned in earlier centuries it is known or speculated that clerics were involved in alchemy among the renowned was Albetus Magnus, besides being an astute scholar of Aristotelian philosophy which he applied to Christian theology that earned him the honorary title of Doctor of the Church (Doctor Universalis) and canonization of Saint Albert the Great by the Roman Catholic Church, this 13th century Dominican friar, and Bishop of Ratisbourg, was also a teacher of alchemy and chemistry. He is credited for isolating arsenic in 1250, and allegedly discovered the Philosopher’s Stone. It is said he told his alchemy student to practice the art in secrecy. Some claimed he was a magician, whether true or not is uncertain,just may be jealousy of others. He famous student was Thomas Aquinas.
Saint Thomas Aquinas, another Dominican friar, appears to have followed in his teacher’s, Albertus Magnus, footsteps by being one of thirty-three people to be given the honorary title of Doctor of the Church. He is the most famous classical proponent of natural philosophy and created the Thomistic school of philosophy which long served as the primary philosophical approach of the Catholic Church. He attributed much to the development of the scientific theory; and, even went so far as to claim that universals could be discovered only through logical reasoning, and, since reason could not run in opposition to God, reason must be compatible to theology. This was in opposition to the generally held Platonic belief that universals were only revealed through divine illumination. Both Magnus and Aquinas might be called theoretical alchemists since they were among the first to examine the alchemy theory, but did little experimentation.
Roger Bacon, a 13th century Franciscan friar, was an Oxford philosopher who placed a great importance on empiricism while advocating the scientific method. According to some his later studies showed a reliance on occultism, particularly the alchemy tradition. He was acquainted with the Arab world and their alchemical studies. Being one of the greatest intellects of his time, he rejected blind adherence to past authority, both in theological and scientific studies. In his Opus Majus he described alchemy as well as mathematics, optics, the manufacturing of gunpowder, the positions and sizes of celestial bodies,the anticipation of later inventions such as microscopes, telescopes, spectacles, flying machines, and steam boats. He studied astrology and believed that the celestial bodies influenced fate and the mind of humans. It is known that Bacon later was not too well liked within the Franciscan Order, forone reason at the time no member was to publish any of their work without special permission which he did not request; also, it is rumored that he was imprisoned for a time Order in 1278, whether for his advanced scientific views or for his attacks of the clergy is uncertain. Then he was in Acona,and had disseminated Islamic alchemy, protested against the ignorance and immorality of the clergy, and roused accusations of Witchcraft. Bacon is called the first true alchemist of the medieval period, and his work did for alchemy what Robert Boyle’s did for chemistry and Galileo’s did for astronomy and physics.
The alchemical process was described originally as the process of the transmutation of metals, which branched out in various directions. The broadest description of this process is the best because no two alchemists would give you the same description of the process.
However, in the common area there were four distinct stages that were characterized by the original colors mentioned in Heraclitus: melanosis(blackening), leukosis (whitening), xanthosis (yellowing), and iosis (reddening).
The division of the process into four was referred to as the quartering of philosophy. Eventually in the 15th or 16th century the colors were decreased to three, and the xanthosis, otherwise called the citrinitas that gradually fell into disuse and seldom mentioned. The other two were viriditas and melanosis or nigredo.
These colors were gradually replaced by the four elements: earth, water, fire, and air with their qualities of hot, cold, dry, and moist which corresponded to the three colors black, white, and red.
The blackness symbolized the initial state of chaos or prima materia, prime matter. Out of this prime mater came everything. On this rest the theory of the conjunction, union, of things, such as the union of opposites, or male and female. Within this union of metals there was the assumption that the based metal dies and the more precious one was resurrected. Or it was thought to come back as a thing of many colors, sometimes described as a peacock’s tail. Eventually this hypothesis led to the adoption of the color of white which was considered to contain all colors. Here the first main goal of the process was reached, the metal had changed to its silver or moon state, which many alchemists considered the final goal; but it was not, because the metal still has to be elevated to its gold or sun state. The albedo is, allegorically speaking, the daybreak, but not until the rebedo is reached is there sunrise; this is the extra step required. Originally the transition from albedo to rebedo was accomplished by citrinitas that was later omitted. This was done in a very high intense fire. The red and white are the King and Queen who, at this stage, celebrate their “chemical wedding.”
There were no fixed definitions and order of stages in the alchemical process because each alchemist had his personal concept of his goal. Their strived for goal varied: sometimes the goal was the white or red tincture, the philosopher’s stone, which, as a hermaphrodite, contained both; philosophical gold, golden glass, or malleable glass. Others sought the lapis philosophorum, which is prima materia; while others sought means of making gold or the divine original man, compared to the Gnostic Anthropos.
No matter the goal, one basic idea lies behind the goal, which is prima materia, the substance from which it came. Many maintained prima materia contained either one or two, perhaps both, parts: water and fire. Although these parts or elements are opposites, even antagonistic, they play an important role. Many believe they are one and the same. Surely, they are within the stone. As seen in other articles the stone was believed by many necessary to bring about transformation; many others believed a little stone within the mixture enhanced the transmutation.
Like the philosopher’s stone possessing many names, the water, certainly within it, has a thousand names. Some swore that the whole (alchemical) work and its substance are the same, nothing but water; and the treatment of the work also occurs in water. This is because of the fact that everything is contained in this one substance of water and that is the sulphur philosophorum, which is the water and soul, oil, Mercurius and Sol, the first of nature, the eagle, the lachyrma, the first hyle of the wise, and the materia prima of the first body. This water is, as some call it, philosophical water and different from real water; but real water can be the same as philosophical water; although, philosophical water is different from vulgar vinegar which is not the same as philosophical vinegar. Philosophical water is simple and unmixed but contains two substances which are of our mineral and of simple water. These composite waters form the philosophical Mercuricus that is assumed to produce the prima materia itself. In this some alchemists gather together three elements instead of two; but two are sufficient, frequently allegorically referred to as male and female, or brother and sister. They may also be called simple water poison, quicksilver, cambar, gum, vinegar, urine, sea-water, dragon, and serpent.
From the above description it is evident that philosophical water was considered the stone or prima materia; and simultaneously also considered its solvent. This appears to be the case in the following recipe:
Grind the stone to a very find powder and put it into the sharpest celestial (coelestino) vinegar, and it will at once dissolve into philosophical water.
[Editor’s note: One thinks the philosopher’s stone is just that, an article which can be anything and do anything that is wished for. It can be the substance to be dissolved as well as the solvent. It resembles the Holy Grail in that it defies description.)
When considering fire, it can be said, it plays the same role as water. Fire resides in the Hermetic vessel, which may be the retorts or smelting furnaces that the transformation takes place in. For alchemists this vessel was important in its peculiar connections to both the prima materia and the lapis. It was considered marvelous and must be completely round to imitate the spiral cosmos, so that the influence of the stars might contribute toward a successful operation. This was the kind of matrix, or uterus from which the fillius philosophorum, the miraculous stone, was born. So the vessel was not only required to be round but egg-shaped as well. Suddenly the Hermetic vessel assumes a larger image than a retort or flask; it becomes a mystical concept, a true symbol like all ideas central to alchemy. Now the vas is the water, aqua permaneus, which is the Mercurius of philosophers. But not only is it water, it is also fire.
It was in the furnace, varying in sizes to render different degrees of heat, that the main alchemical processes occurred. The kerotakis, a triangular shaped palate on which were placed the metals to be vaporized-usually sulphur and mercury or some other substance, was placed at the lower end inside of the cylindrical and spherical container. The orifice at the top of the contained was sealed with a hemispherical cover. Upon heating the volatile metals, the vapors rose to the top as due to the action the liquids secreted to the bottom. A continuous reflux action was maintained; and depending on the substances used, lead and copper on the kerotakis and sulpher below, there theoretically was this changing of colors: blackness, first stage, toward a whitening color then to a yellowing.
There are contained in the history of alchemy many more symbols attached to the vessels, and most would be nonsensical to the modern chemist, but they all conveyed mystical symbolisms like the one mentioned above. Was this mysticism or magic the secret of the royal art which drew so many earnest alchemists to it? From other articles one realizes that it was not for monetary gain; even though there were some claims of successful transmutations they were held in suspect by many. The real question is what enticed intellectuals like Isaac Newton, Albetus Magnus, Thomas Aquinas, Roger Bacon, and Paracelsus to study alchemy; they were scientists in their own right. As one sees, for example, Roger Bacon did much toward the development of the scientific method, which is now seen as directly opposed to a quasi-science such as alchemy. True, from alchemy came modern chemistry and medicine, Paracelsus proved that; but the attraction to alchemy seemed to run much deeper. Perhaps the clue lies in its motto: What nature is slow to perfect, the alchemist can help her to perfect. This appears to be the challenge, to perfect nature, which, many thought, led to the perfection of man too.
It is not surprising that alchemy, especially in the Middle Ages, had religious overtones because if one considers it transmutation is similar to substantiation. The alchemists were trying to transform one metal into another while the priests during the Mass were changing bread and wine into the body and blood of Christ. Since many alchemists were of the clergy, many were doing both.
Alchemy represented this reunion by various, perhaps the best known is the “chemical marriage,” But, the alchemists were not satisfied just to let this chemical marriage represent the marriage of man and woman, no, to them, it was more significant than that. They tried through repeated distillation to produce an actual sky-blue fluid of the subtlest consistency which they called caelum, their heaven.
Producing this fluid was the second stage, but not the total goal of the alchemist. In other words, the caelum was not the Philosopher’s Stone.The Philosopher’s Stone has not been significantly mentioned thus far and the following description of the third stage or degree which the alchemist strives for will indicate why. The third stage of the conjunction is universal. This is not just the desire to change things, matter or the Self, back into prima materia, no, it is the attempting to return to the “first” prima materia, the chaotic state before creation. This is the premises of the alchemist motto: “What nature leaves imperfect, the alchemist perfects.” Further he can say, “Man, I, in an invisible act of creation put the stamp of perfection on the world by giving it objective existence.” This honor is usually given to the Creator, thus letting man view the world as the life of a machine, counted down to the last detail, which along with the psyche, runs on senselessly, obeying foreknown and predetermined rules.
Then Jung thought of his old Pueblo Indian friend and of envying his certainty that he had to help his father the sun to cross the sky each day.Jung realized Western man long-for myth which he had abandoned: “Human consciousness created objective existence and meaning, and man found his indispensable place in the great process of being.”
Jung’s purpose for studying alchemy was psychological, for to him alchemy was analogous to analytical psychology because both use similar processes.Whereas in alchemy base metals are melted to make rarer ones, in analytical psychology the conscious is confronted unconscious. Usually in analysis when the conscious and unconscious are brought together in confrontation there are personality characteristics or traits that are not harmonious with each other; the purpose of analysis is to harmonize these traits in order to gain a functioning personality. Just as in the alchemist’s furnace the impurities are burned away, so to in psychoanalysis the disharmonious personality traits are worked through.
The functional personality provides inner security, which should be the finished product-the Stone-but is it? As Jung said, The presence of a sense of inner security by no means proves the product will be stable to withstand the disturbing or hostile influences of an environment. The adept had to experience again and again how unfavorable circumstances or a technical blunder or-as it seemed to him-some devilish accident hindered the completion of his work; if so, he had to start his work all over again. So too, the psychoanalyst experiences the same conditions: he is never sure his client can withstand the rigors of life until tested. If not, then the therapy has to be done again until the wanted results are achieved. “In nature the resolution of opposites is always an energetic process: she acts symbolically in the truest sense of the word, doing something that expresses both sides,just as a waterfall visibly mediates between above and below”
In short, neither process is passive. When in analysis “Spare no effort to devote yourself to the task, follow the sequent transformations of the spontaneous fantasy attentively and carefully. Above all, don’t let anything from outside, that does not belong, get into it; for the fantasy-image has ‘everything that it needs.’ In this way one is certain of not interfering by conscious caprice and of giving the unconscious a free hand. In short,the alchemical operation seems to us the equivalent of the psychological process of active imagination.”
For some the gap between the activities of Paracelsus, and his predecessors, and those of Carl Jung may seem too wide to bridge, but this is not true.Both Paracelsus and Jung demonstrated the alchemical process, or method, can still be utilized to benefit the modern world. It is true chemistry replaced the inadequacy of alchemy; chemistry transmutes materials into new ones, which has become its purpose. But this should not mean the demise of alchemy in the modern world. While scientific discoveries come from chemistry and the other sciences which provide humans with new conveniences in life,these sciences still have not assured humans of their proper place in the world, particularly the natural world. If anyone doubts that just the world’s environmental problems are a good testimony.
Currently one of man’s biggest obstacles is learning, or relearning, his proper place within life’s natural cycle. According to Christian belief man lives in the world but is not of it. Many feel, especially environmentalists, this is a major reason that man has ravaged the land, taken more than he have given back. One example given is of the ancients, when cutting a tree for firewood or to build a lodging they world pray over the tree stump asking the spirit of the land for forgiveness; now lumber companies haul timber out of forests by the truckload. It is in instances such as this that alchemy can help man again to find his place in nature and help save her.
Here is a list of Suggested Ancient Alchemy Books:
This section presents sections related to the alchemy world.
The following articles are presented:
Albedo
Alembic
Androgyne
Argent vive
Azoth
Caduceus
Chemical wedding
Chinese alchemy
Circulatorium
Citrinitas
Coagulation
Cock and Hen
Doubling According to Moses
Dragon
Dew
Eagle
Emerald Tablet, The
Ergon
Eve
Fifth element
First Matter
Flying Slave
Gold
Imbibation
Imperfect metals
Islamic alchemy
King Sol
Lady’s mantle
Lead
Lion
Mercurius
Moon
Mother
Nicholas Flamel
Nigredo
Opus alchymicum
Ouroboros
Pagan Vision of Alchemy
ParacelsusParergon
Philosopher’s Stone
Philosophical lead
Philosophical mercury
Philosophical salt
Philosophical sulphur
Philosophical tree
Prima materia
Queen Luna
Quintessence
Recipes, The
Rubedo
Virgin
Virgin’s milk
White Elixir
For more on Alchemy, see: The Alchemy Virtual Library, Alchemy Symbol.
Sources:
Adler, Robert E. “Paracelsus: Renaisannce Rebel” Medical Firsts: From Hippocrates to the Human Genome. Hoboken, NJ. John Wiley & Sons, 2004. pp. 46-52.
Alchemy. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy>.
Aristotle. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aristotle>
Thomas Aquinas. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Aquinas>.
Roger Bacon. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roger_Bacon>.
Doctor of the Church. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_of_the_Church>.
Fabricius, Johannes. Alchemy: The Medieval and Their Royal Art. London. Diamond Books. 1976
Galen. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galen>.
Hannah, Barbara. Jung: His Life and Work, A Biographical Memoir. New York. G. P. Putnam & Sons. 1976 Hayman, Ronald, A Life of Jung. New York. W. W. Norton. 1999.
Albertis Magnus. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albertus_Magnus>.
Natural philosophy (theology). <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_theology>
Isaac Newton. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton>.
Isaac Newton’s Occult studies. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Isaac_Newton%27s_occult_studies>.
Taylor, F. Sherwood. Alchemists, Founders of Modern Chemistry. Kessinger Publishing
Thomism. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomism>.
White elixir also known in alchemy as the “white stone” or “white rose” is the “medicine” is attained during the lunar stage of the opus alchymicun and had the power to change base metals into silver. A.G.H
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 305
Virgin’s milk, in alchemy, is the pure white texture created by the albedo and which could transform based metals into silver. The term is also applied to the white philosophical mercury–mercurial water or “water of life”–known as Mercurius. A.G.H
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 299
Virgin is a term or symbol in alchemy used to express the feminine aspect of the prima materia. It can also express the feminine nature of the Mercurius, sometimes portrayed as hermaphroditic. A.G.H
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 299
Rubedo, in alchemy, is the final or “reddening” stage of the opus alchymicum which is characterized by the reddening of the white matter of the stone that was purified during the albedoprocess. In he coniunctio or chemical wedding between King Sol and Queen Luna, the white stone is now ready to reunited with the spirit and is given form through the reddening process of “rubification.” Alchemists refer to this as “blushing,” meaning the philosopher’s stone has been attained. A.G.H
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 249
The early alchemists had recipes listing ingredients or techniques by which they made metals. The basis for many of these recipes was to introduce to base metals properties which the metals lacked. Today this is unreasonable, genuine gold no matter the length that it is heated never changes color. However, it must be said, that modern jeweler’s gold would not pass this test because it usually contains certain amounts of copper, and therefore will change color. But the early alchemists, it must be remembered were not knowledgeable of this fact concerning true gold. Also, these alchemists were not aware that each metal has a specific gravity or weight. No other metal can match it. Therefore, these alchemists figured if through a process they got a metal appearing like gold or silver, they had produced the metal.
The processes usually involved one of two techniques: either preparing white or yellow alloys by fusion or coloring the metal’s surface. Their reasoning for doing this was that if another metal had the property of whiteness or yellowness, that property could be removed from that metal and inserted into the metal which lacked the property. Color was considered an “activity” of the metal, its pneuma or spirit. By adding a color which the metal lacked, the alchemists considered that they were giving it spirit, enriching it. Needless to say, white metals were easier to come by because there are many more white alloys with similar densities as silver but fewer yellow ones, all of which are less dense than gold.
Most attempts at this were unsuccessful, but there were exceptions were the coincidences of color between the reagent and the product that seemed to support the rule. In the case of producing silver white alloys of various metals were generally used. These were usually alloys containing copper, silver, and arsenic. In this particular recipe it was indicated that if copper was “whitened,” its alloy with silver would not have a dark color. In another recipe named “Making of Silver with Tutia” the alloy preparation contained silver, lead, zinc, and copper. All alchemists of the age did not regard the whitening of copper the making of genuine silver, but it is a prime example of altering the color of a metal. Again one must be reminded most true alchemists took their art seriously and were honest, but their primitive methods left much room for charlatans.
The apparent successes in making gold were much easier to come by. The early recipes of the alchemist generally included these four methods:
The making of yellow alloys of base metals, much like brass.
The preparation of debased gold.
The superficial coloring of metals or alloys.
A series of very complex processes in which distilled liquids were employed or in which metals were subjected to the actions of vapors.
Most of these methods were employed in the production of brassy alloys of copper, tin, and zinc, which in modern times are called ormula, oroide, Mannbein gold, and so on, and were certainly known to Greek alchemists. Although zinc in metallic form was not known then, these alloys were prepared from smelting mixtures of other metals or their ores with cadinia, a mixture of metallic oxides containing various proportions of zinc found as deposits in flues of smelting furnaces. It is highly unlikely any of these methods produced a single ounce of gold that a goldsmith would accept, but the yellow appearance gave hope for success.
The most successful attempt at making gold was called “doubling” gold, which doubled the weight of gold. (See Doubling According to Moses) Greek alchemists knew it as diplosis. It basically was supported by the fact that while silver lends a greenish tent to gold, and copper a reddish tent, the admixture of both silver and copper hardly changes its tent at all. Most likely the alchemist did not think that he was falsifying gold, rather he saw the gold as acting as a seed which, nourished by the copper and silver, grew at their expense until the entire mass was gold. Some preparations of alloys in this manner today are legal on the European Continent; just as are 18-carat and other gold-copper alloys are in Great Britain. A.G.H.
Source:
Taylor, F. Sherwood. Alchemists, Founders of Modern Chemistry. Kessinger Publishing. pp. 30-35
Quintessence (Latin, quinta essentia, “fifth essence or element”) is in Pythagorean mysticism the fifth element or spirit that fills the universe generating its life and vitality. Quintessence encompasses the other four elements considered by ancient alchemists, fire, air, water, and earth; therefore, it is ‘pure essence’ essential for life. In Hinduism it is known as akasha; in alchemy azoth, or the transcendental philosopher’s stone.
Although the term Quintessence was widely used by alchemists during the Middle Ages, this concept is much older and we would have to refer to Classical Greece where Empédocles began to speak of a fifth perfect element existing in all things.
The quintessence is perfection itself, the philosopher’s stone, the elixir of life that is only possible once a state of purity is reached and transmutation is achieved in gold, which does not necessarily refer to metal, since the quintessence resides in all things that exist on Earth.
Solomon defined it in the following terms:
Fifth being of a mixed thing … Like a very subtle soul drawn from its body and from the superfluity of the four elements by a very subtle and very perfect distillation, and by that means it is spiritualized, that is, it becomes very spiritual, very subtle , very pure, as incorruptible, astral and celestial …
However, not only Solomon and Empedocles tried to explain the Quintessence, throughout history many alchemists and even friars tried to study, understand and unveil the Quintessence.
The French alchemist Cyliani said that the Quintessence was:
Care should be taken not to lose the slightest portion, since it is the true quintasencia of the common regenerated gold, in which the three principles that are associated …
In the tenth century of our era, Hugo de Santalla in his De secretis naturae defended the
“existence of a primordial element in the form of heat or igneous spirit, of subtle material consistency, which would be present throughout the universe, providing it with movement, communicating its parts, and that it would be able to both form and decompose any natural substance. “
In the XIV century Paris rises as a city of vital importance in the studies of a Quintessence, thanks to the development and publication of texts Textus alkimie published in Paris around the year 1325, as well as the Liber super textum hermetis.
Regardless of who has created and / or developed the theory, the quintessence is then understood as the true nature of things in their purest and most perfect state and therefore, difficult to achieve and even to see.
From a cosmic point of view, Quintassence can be termed as dark matter or antigravity. Of course, few scientists have been able to agree on the existence of this “fifth element” and since it is something that can not be seen or touched, it is difficult to be accepted from skepticism. However, from the point of view that is defined, the quintessence is an energy that resides in all things and of a purity impossible to equal by any terrestrial element.
Other meanings are:
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 242
Queen Luna in alchemy is the embodiment of the receptive female principle possessing the qualities “cold and moist” giving rise to the albedo or white elixir which can transmute base metals into silver. This female principle receives the male qualities “hot and dry” symbolized by King Sol to dissolve the metal into its original creative matter of prima materia. A.G.H
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 241
Prima materia, prime matter, like the goal of the alchemical process has various definitions, with no one definition considered prominent. This is because alchemists had personal definitions of prima materia. Many definitions even contradicted one another. They range from lead, iron, gold, quicksilver, salt, sulphur, vinegar, water, fire, earth, water of life, blood, poison, spirit, clouds, sky, dew, shadow, sea, mother, moon, dragon, Venus, microcosm, and so on. It is not surprising that Ruland’s Lexicon gives fifty synonyms and more could be included.
Besides these definitions, which are partly chemical and mythological, there are the philosophical ones which have deeper meanings. For instance, in the treatise of Komarios one finds the definition of “Hades.” In Olympiodorus the black earth contained the “accursed of God.” The Consilium consigii says the father of gold and silver, their prima materia, is “the animal of earth and sea,” or “man,” or “part of man,” that is his hair, blood, and so on. Dorn, student of Paracelsus, said prima materia was “Adamica,” which coincides with Paracelsus’ limbus microcosmicus. The materials of the stone are none other than sulphur and Mercuricus. Alchemists assumed man could complete the work of the prima materia because he possessed a soul. Not so stated, but assumed believed, the soul came from God, therefore, man was capable of doing God’s work–alchemists function as God. Further works testify that the prima materiamay be anything and may become anything. Mylius described prima materia as the elementium primordiale, the “pure subject and unity of forms.” Prima materia is further described in the Rosarium as the “root of itself.” Therefore, because it roots in itself it is autonomous and dependent on nothing.
Paracelsus, in his Philosophia ad Atheninses, declared this unique materia a secret having absolutely nothing to do with the elements. It fills the entire regio aetherea, and is the mother of the elements and every created thing. Paracelsus’ definition is strictly scripturally based. He described it mysterious, prepared by God in such a way that there will be nothing like it again. It was corrupted beyond reparation, presumably by the Fall of Adam, and cannot be returned to.
The description which Jung gives to the works of Paracelsus and Dorn clearly identifies the reason or reasons why Middle Age alchemy took on a religious atmosphere. Not only did Paracelsus reconcile his professional views with his own Christianity, but he instilled them in alchemical thought. Using the Bible, Paracelsus and others, connected prima materia to God; “before Abraham was made, I am.” (John 8:58) Since prima materia is supposedly the stone, also, this also demonstrated the stone is without beginning or end. Jung noted many Christians hearing this would not believe their ears, but it was plainly stated in the Liber Platonis quartorum, “That from which things arise is the invisible and immovable God.” It must be admitted that probably just a few philosophers pressed to this extreme conclusion, but even its aspect makes their veiled allusions more transparent. Even though most of alchemical thought seems absurd in comparison to modern scientific thinking, it should not be forgotten that the Middle Ages greatly influenced present culture.
One should remember that the important difference between the alchemists and chemists was that the former looked back while the latter looked forward. The alchemists thought those before them, the ancients, had the secrets of the art; all they had to do was discover these secrets, which, perhaps, was part of their goal or quest. For the future chemists, as well as other scientists, their goal lied in discovering secrets of the future. When examining this difference and comparison one readily sees that most of the world population is still on the alchemical path. Most people cling to religious beliefs which at best give them superficial comfort just as the stone did for the alchemists. Most people are Paracelsan, they pray to God to heal them when sick but go to the physician to prescribe medicine to cure them. Paracelsus sought to keep his religious beliefs but was intelligent enough to initiate modern medicine.
One could say that current thinking that we are all gods because we have the spirit of God within us held by some, especially nature worshippers, possibly originated from alchemical thought. The English alchemist Sir George Ripley (c. 1415-1490) wrote, “The philosophers tell the inquirer that the birds bring us the lipas, every man has it, it is in every place, in you, in me, in everything, in time and space.” “It offers itself in lowly form [vili figura]. From it springs our eternal water [aqua permanens].” Ripley said prima materia is water, the material principle of all bodies, including mercury. It is the hyle, stuff, mater, which God brought from the chaos. It is the black earth which Adam was made of and which he took with him from Paradise. Since this prima material contained water it also contained fire, as both were said to be within the philosopher’s stone; therefore, it is believe the stone always existed coming from Paradise too.
This is why, this author thinks, that Jung said the Middle Ages influenced modern society. Perhaps not in the alchemical sense because modern chemistry and other sciences have proven to be more effective, but in the social-religious sense, it must be reiterated that Western culture is still on an alchemical path. Most Western societies seek to perfect themselves through a religion which has failed for thousands of years. Religious leaders resemble the alchemists in thinking those before them had the answers when religious history is lavished with stories of thieves, liars, murderers, those committing adultery, and so on. Religion has not changed human behavior, and thanks to the Devil it does not have to.
Even though, allegorically speaking, most if the world is on the alchemical path it is still not too late to follow the lead of Paracelsus; he recognized both good and bad in nature and used it to promote good. He acknowledged this when his critics said his medicines were poisonous. His response was that all things are poisonous; it’s the dosage that matters. Although Jung demonstrated the similarities between alchemy and psychology, he never denied the pitfalls of each, the bad points that must be confronted and worked out. In this confrontation there is no easy answer or magic bullet, no prima materia or philosopher’s stone. It is time to recognize the world is the hermaphrodite stone which man lives on. The world is both good and evil, both life and death; how man uses the world will determine the outcome of both the world and man. Man can continue seeking the stone in eternal heavenly salvation for himself, or he can, like the chemist, discover new ways in which everyone can live peacefully. The dosage or stone lies in the actions of humankind. A.G.H.
Source:
Jung, C. G. Psychology and Alchemy. 2nd. ed. (Transl. by R. F. C. Hull). “The Collected Works of Jung” Vol. 12. Bollingen Series XX. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press. 1970. pp. 317-327.
Philosophical tree was a frequently used representation by medieval alchemists of the opus alchymicum. The tree at times was made to represent the various stages of the alchemical process. This could be the prima materia, capable of transforming and refining metals through various stages. In some instances the tree was displayed growing on the earth’s crust and others as a tree on an island surrounded by ocean. The tree has seven branches representing the seven planetary metals with its roots and trunk nourish by the mercurial sea. A.G.H
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 231
Philosophical sulphur, in alchemy, is the fiery masculine hot dry seed of metals. Different from ordinary sulphur, it is an abstract principle relating to qualities of matter providing material structure and form as well as representing the principle of growth. A.G.H
Source:
Drury, Nevil. The Watkins Dictionary of Magic. London. Watkins Publishing. 2005. p. 231