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'''Alchemy''' is an early [[protoscience|protoscientific]] practice combining elements of [[chemistry]], [[physics]], [[astrology]], [[art]], [[semiotics]], [[metallurgy]], [[medicine]], [[mysticism]], and [[religion]]. There were three main goals many alchemists sought for. The most renowned goal of alchemy is the [[transmutation]] of any metal into either [[gold]] or [[silver]]. |
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[[File:Alchemy of Happiness.png|thumb|upright|''[[Kimiya-yi sa'ādat]]'' (''The Alchemy of Happiness'') – a text on Persian Islamic philosophy and spiritual alchemy by [[Al-Ghazali|Al-Ghazālī]] (1058–1111).]] |
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Also they tried to create [[universal panacea]], a remedy that would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. The [[philosopher's stone]] was the key in these goals. This mythical substance, which could just as well be powder or liquid as a stone, had the ability to do both. The third goal was creating human life. Alchemy can be regarded as the precursor of the modern science of chemistry prior to the formulation of the [[scientific method]]. |
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{{Use dmy dates|date=June 2013}} |
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'''Alchemy''' is a [[philosophical]] and [[protoscience|protoscientific]] tradition practiced throughout [[Europe]], [[Africa]], [[Brazil]] and [[Asia]]. It aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects.<ref>{{citation |last=Malouin |first=Paul-Jacques |contribution=Alchimie [Alchemy] |contribution-url=http://hdl.handle.net/2027/spo.did2222.0000.057 |title=[[Encyclopédie]] ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts, et des Métiers, ''Vol. I'' |location=Paris |date=1751 |editor-last=Diderot |editor-link=Diderot |editor2-last=d'Alembert |editor2-link=D'Alembert |display-editors=0 |publisher=translated by Lauren Yoder in 2003 for Michigan Publishing's ''The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project''}}.</ref><ref name=lindy>{{harvp|Linden|1996|pp=7 & 11}}.</ref>{{refn|group=n|For a detailed look into the problems of defining alchemy, see {{Harvnb|Linden|1996|pp=6–36}}}} Common aims were [[chrysopoeia]], the [[transmutation of elements|transmutation]] of "[[base metal]]s" (e.g., [[lead]]) into "[[noble metal]]s" (particularly [[gold]]); the creation of an [[elixir of immortality]]; the creation of [[panacea (medicine)|panaceas]] able to cure any disease; and the development of an [[alkahest]], a universal [[solvent]].<ref>{{citation |contribution=Alchemy |contribution-url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alchemy |title=Dictionary.com }}.</ref> The perfection of the [[human body]] and [[soul]] was thought to permit or result from the [[Magnum opus (alchemy)|alchemical magnum opus]] and, in the [[Hellenistic period|Hellenistic]] and western tradition, the achievement of [[gnosis]].<ref name=lindy /> In Europe, the creation of a [[philosopher's stone]] was variously connected with all of these projects. |
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In English, the term is often limited to descriptions of European alchemy, but similar practices existed in the [[Chinese alchemy|Far East]], the [[Rasayana|Indian subcontinent]], and the [[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Muslim world]]. In Europe, following the [[12th-century Renaissance]] produced by the translation of [[Islamic science|Islamic works on science]] and the [[Recovery of Aristotle]], [[list of alchemists|alchemists]] played a significant role in [[early modern era|early modern]] [[science]]<ref>{{citation |editor-last=Eddy |editor-first=Matthew Daniel |editor2-last=Mauskopf |editor2-first=Seymour |editor3-last=Newman |editor3-first=William R. |display-editors=0 |ref={{harvid|''CKEMW''|2014}} |title=Chemical Knowledge in the Early Modern World |date=2014 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |location=Chicago |url=https://www.academia.edu/6629576/_with_Seymour_H._Mauskopf_and_William_R._Newman_An_Introduction_to_Chemical_Knowledge_in_the_Early_Modern_World_Osiris_26_2014_1-15 }}.</ref> (particularly [[history of chemistry|chemistry]] and [[history of medicine|medicine]]). Islamic and European alchemists developed a structure of basic [[laboratory techniques]], theory, terminology, and [[experimental method]], some of which are still in use today. However, they continued [[classical antiquity|antiquity]]'s belief in [[four elements]] and guarded their work in secrecy including [[history of cryptography|cyphers]] and cryptic symbolism. Their work was guided by [[Hermeticism|Hermetic principles]] related to [[Magic (paranormal)|magic]], [[mythology]], and [[religion]].<ref>Wouter J. Hanegraaff (Cambridge University Press: 2012), ''Alchemy between Science and Religion'', [https://books.google.ro/books?id=02bfnhO0H8sC&printsec=frontcover&hl=de&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false ''Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture'']</ref> |
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The word ''alchemy'' comes from the [[Arabic language|Arabic]] ''al-kimiya'' or ''al-khimiya'' (الكيمياء or الخيمياء), which is probably formed from the article ''al-'' and the [[Greek language|Greek]] word ''khumeia'' (χυμεία) meaning "cast together", "pour together", "weld", "alloy", etc. (from ''khumatos'', "that which is poured out, an ingot"). Another widely reported etymology links the word with "Al Kemi", meaning "the Egyptian Art", since [[Ancient Egypt]]ians called their land "Kemi" and were widely regarded as powerful magicians throughout the ancient world. |
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Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split into an examination of its [[exoteric]] practical applications and its [[esoteric]] spiritual aspects, despite the arguments of scholars like [[Eric John Holmyard|Holmyard]]<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|p=16}}</ref> and [[Marie-Louise von Franz|von Franz]]<ref name="FRAALC97">{{harvp|von Franz|1997}}.</ref> that they should be understood as complementary. The former is pursued by [[history of the physical sciences|historians of the physical sciences]] who examine the subject in terms of [[history of chemistry|early chemistry]], [[history of medicine|medicine]], and [[charlatanism]], and the philosophical and religious contexts in which these events occurred. The latter interests historians of [[esotericism]], [[history of psychology|psychologists]], and some philosophers and [[spirituality|spiritualists]]. The subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts. Despite this split, which von Franz believes has existed since the Western traditions' origin in a mix of [[Greek philosophy]] that was mixed with [[Ancient Egyptian technology|Egyptian]] and [[Mesopotamian science|Mesopotamian technology]],<ref name="FRAALC97" /> numerous sources have stressed an integration of esoteric and exoteric approaches to alchemy as far back as [[Pseudo-Democritus]]'s first-century {{sc|ad}} ''On Physical and Mystical Matters'' ({{lang-grc-gre|Physika kai Mystika}}).<ref>Matteo Martelli, The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus (Maney, 2013).</ref> |
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==Overview== |
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The common perception of alchemists is that they were [[pseudoscience|pseudo-scientists]] who attempted to turn [[lead]] into [[gold]], believed all matter was composed of the [[classical element|four elements]] of earth, air, fire, and water, and dabbled around the edges of [[mysticism]] and [[magic (paranormal)|magic]]. From today's perspective, their endeavours and beliefs have limited validity, but if we are to be objective we should judge them in the context of their times. They were attempting to explore and investigate nature before many of the most basic scientific tools and practices were available, relying instead on [[rule of thumb|rules of thumb]], traditions, basic observations, and mysticism to fill in the gaps. |
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{{anchor|Etymology}} |
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To understand the alchemists, it is helpful to consider how wonderfully magical the conversion of one substance into another, which had formed the basis of [[metallurgy]] since its inception at the end of the [[Neolithic]], would seem in a culture with no formal understanding of [[physics]] or [[chemistry]]. To the alchemist, there was no compelling reason to separate the chemical (material) dimension from the interpretive, symbolic or philosophical one. In those times a physics devoid of metaphysical insight would have been as partial and incomplete as a metaphysics devoid of physical manifestation. So the [[alchemical symbol]]s and processes often had both an inner meaning referring to the spiritual development of the practitioner as well as a material meaning connected to physical transformation of matter. |
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== Etymology == |
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The [[transmutation]] of base [[metal]]s into gold symbolized an endeavour toward perfection or the utmost heights of actual existence. The alchemists believed that the whole universe was tending towards a state of perfection; and gold, due to its immunity to decay, was considered to be the most perfect of substances. By attempting to transmute base metals into gold, they were, in effect, trying to give the universe a helping hand. It was also logical to think that understanding the secret of gold's immutability might provide the key to ward off disease and organic decay; hence the intertwining of chemical, spiritual and [[astrology|astrological]] themes that was characteristic of medieval alchemy. |
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{{See also|Chemistry (etymology)}} |
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The word alchemy comes from [[Old French]] ''alquemie'', ''alkimie'', used in [[Medieval Latin]] as ''alchymia''. This name was itself brought from the [[Arabic]] word ''al-kīmiyā’'' ({{rtl-lang|ar|الكيمياء}}) composed of two parts: the [[Late Greek]] term ''hēmeía'' (χημεία), ''khēmía'' (χημία), meaning 'to fuse or cast a metal'<ref>[http://oxforddictionaries.com/view/entry/m_en_gb0017630#DWS-M_EN_GB-037342 alchemy], Oxford Dictionaries</ref> <ref>See, for example, the etymology for χημεία in {{Cite book| edition = Eighth edition, revised throughout| publisher = Clarendon Press| last = Liddell| first = Henry George|author2=Robert Scott| title = A Greek-English Lexicon| location = Oxford| year = 1901| isbn = 0-19-910205-8}}</ref>, and the Arabic [[definite article]] ''[[al-]]'' ({{rtl-lang|ar|الـ}}), meaning 'The'.<ref name=OED>{{OED|alchemy}} Or see {{OEtymD|alchemy|accessdate=April 7, 2010}}.</ref> Together this association can be interpreted as 'the process of [[Magnum_opus_(alchemy)|transmutation]] by which to fuse or reunite with the divine or original form'. Its roots can be traced to the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] name ''kēme'' (hieroglyphic 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 ''khmi'' ), meaning ‘black earth’ which refers to the fertile and auriferous soil of the Nile valley, as opposed to red desert sand.<ref name=OED /><br> |
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According to the Egyptologist [[Wallis Budge]], the Arabic word ''al-kīmiyaʾ'' actually means "the Egyptian [science]", borrowing from the [[Coptic language|Coptic]] word for "Egypt", ''kēme'' (or its equivalent in the Mediaeval [[Bohairic]] dialect of Coptic, ''khēme''). This Coptic word derives from [[Demotic Egyptian|Demotic]] ''kmỉ'', itself from ancient [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] ''kmt''. The ancient Egyptian word referred to both the country and the colour "black" (Egypt was the "Black Land", by contrast with the "Red Land", the surrounding desert); so this etymology could also explain the nickname "Egyptian black arts". However, according to [[Carl August Friedrich Mahn|Mahn]], this theory may be an example of [[folk etymology]].<ref name="OED" /> Assuming an Egyptian origin, chemistry is defined as follows: |
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Thus, the naïve interpretations of some alchemists, or the fraudulent hopes fostered by others should not diminish the undertakings of the more sincere practitioners. Further, the field of alchemy evolved greatly over time, beginning as a metallurgical/medicinal arm of religion, maturing into a rich field of study in its own right, devolving into mysticism and outright charlatanism, and in the end providing some of the fundamental [[empirical knowledge]] of the fields of chemistry and modern [[medicine]]. |
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:'''Chemistry''', from the ancient [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] word "khēmia" meaning transmutation of earth, is the [[science]] of [[matter]] at the [[atom]]ic to [[molecular]] scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such as [[molecule]]s, [[crystal]]s, and [[metal]]s. |
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Up to the [[18th century]], alchemy was actually considered serious science in Europe; for instance, [[Isaac Newton]] devoted a great deal of time to the Art (see [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]]). Other eminent alchemists of the Western world are [[Roger Bacon]], Saint [[Thomas Aquinas]], [[Tycho Brahe]], [[Thomas Browne]], and [[Parmigianino]]. The decline of alchemy began in the [[18th century]] with the birth of modern chemistry, which provided a more precise and reliable framework for matter transmutations and medicine, within a new grand design of the universe based on rational materialism. |
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Thus, according to Budge and others, chemistry derives from an Egyptian word ''khemein'' or ''khēmia'', "preparation of black powder", ultimately derived from the name ''khem'', Egypt. A decree of [[Diocletian]], written about 300 AD in Greek, speaks against "the ancient writings of the Egyptians, which treat of the ''khēmia'' [[Chrysopoeia|transmutation]] of gold and silver".<ref>''[[Oxford English Dictionary#Electronic versions|Oxford English Dictionary Online]],'' s.v. alchemy</ref> |
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Matter transmutation, the old ideal of alchemy, enjoyed a moment in the sun in the [[20th century]] when physicists were able to convert lead atoms into gold atoms via a [[nuclear reaction]]. However, the new gold atoms, being unstable [[isotope]]s, lasted for under five seconds before they broke apart. More recently, reports of table-top element transmutation — by means of [[electrolysis]] or [[sonic cavitation]] — were the pivot of the [[cold fusion]] controversy of 1989. None of those claims could be reliably duplicated. In either case, the required conditions were well beyond the reach of the old alchemists. |
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The Medieval Latin form was influenced by Greek ''chymeia'' (χυμεία) meaning ‘mixture’ and referring to [[pharmaceutical chemistry]].<ref>See, for example, both the etymology given in the Oxford English Dictionary and also that for χυμεία in {{Cite book| edition = A new edition, revised and augmented throughout| publisher = Clarendon Press| last = Liddell| first = Henry George|author2=Robert Scott|author3=Henry Stuart Jones| title = A Greek-English Lexicon| location = Oxford| year = 1940|url = http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=xumeia&la=greek#lexicon| isbn = 0-19-910205-8}}</ref> |
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Alchemical symbolism has been occasionally used in the [[20th century]] by [[psychology|psychologists]] and philosophers. [[Carl Jung]] reexamined alchemical symbolism and theory and began to show the inner meaning of alchemical work as a [[spirituality|spiritual]] path. Alchemical philosophy, symbols and methods have enjoyed something of a renaissance in [[post-modernism|post-modern]] contexts, such as the [[New Age]] movement. Even some physicists have played with alchemical ideas in books such as ''[[The Tao of Physics]]'' and ''[[The Dancing Wu Li Masters]]''. |
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== History == |
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The history of alchemy has become a vigorous academic field. As the obscure — ''hermetic'', of course — language of the alchemists is gradually being "deciphered", historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucian society]] and other mystic societies, [[witchcraft]], and of course the evolution of [[science]] and [[philosophy]]. |
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Alchemy is several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships. One can distinguish at least three major strands, which appear to be largely independent, at least in their earlier stages: [[Chinese alchemy]], centered in China and its zone of cultural influence; [[Rasayana|Indian alchemy]], centered on the [[Indian subcontinent]]; and Western alchemy, which occurred around the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] and whose center has shifted over the millennia from [[Egypt (Roman province)|Greco-Roman Egypt]], to the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]], and finally [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]]. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to [[Taoism]] and Indian alchemy with the [[Indian religions|Dharmic faiths]], whereas Western alchemy developed its own philosophical system that was largely independent of, but influenced by, various [[Western religion]]s. It is still an open question whether these three strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other. |
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=== Hellenistic Egypt === |
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==History== |
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[[File:Zosimosapparat.jpg|thumb|left|300px| Ambix, cucurbit and retort of [[Zosimos of Panopolis|Zosimos]], from [[Marcelin Berthelot]], ''Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs'' (3 vol., Paris, 1887–1888).]] |
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[[Image:Alchemy-Digby-RareSecrets.png|thumb|right|300px|Extract and symbol key from a 17th century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in [[astrology]] at the time.]] |
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Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents, and their general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships. |
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The start of Western alchemy may generally be traced to ancient and [[Hellenistic Egypt]], where the city of [[Alexandria]] was a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods.<ref>''New Scientist'', 24–31 December 1987</ref> Here, elements of technology, religion, mythology, and [[Hellenistic philosophy]], each with their own much longer histories, combined to form the earliest known records of alchemy in the West. [[Zosimos of Panopolis]] wrote the oldest known books on alchemy,{{citation needed|date=February 2013}} while [[Mary the Jewess]] is credited as being the first non-fictitious Western alchemist. They wrote in [[Greek language|Greek]] and lived in [[Egypt]] under [[Roman Empire|Roman]] rule. |
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One can distinguish at least two major strands, which appear to be largely independent, at least in their earlier stages: [[Chinese alchemy]], centered in [[China]] and its zone of cultural influence; and [[Western alchemy]], whose center has shifted over the millennia between [[Egypt]], [[Greece]] and [[Rome]], the [[Islam]]ic world, and finally back to [[Europe]]. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to [[Taoism]], whereas Western alchemy developed its own philosophical system, with only superficial connections to the major Western religions. It is still an open question whether these two strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other. |
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'''Mythology''' – Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to [[Ancient Egypt|Pharaonic Egypt]] where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion.<ref>{{cite book|last=Garfinkel|first=Harold|title=Ethnomethodological Studies of Work|publisher=Routledge &Kegan Paul|year=1986|pages=127|isbn=0-415-11965-0}}</ref> Alchemical writers used Classical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemical transmutation.<ref>Yves Bonnefoy. 'Roman and European Mythologies'. University of Chicago Press, 1992. pp. 211–213</ref> These included the pantheon of gods related to the Classical planets, [[Isis]], [[Osiris]], [[Jason]], and many others. |
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===Alchemy and astrology=== |
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Alchemy in the [[Western world]] and other locations where it was widely practiced was (and in many cases still is) closely allied and intertwined with traditional [[Babylon]]ian-Greek style [[astrology]]; in numerous ways they were built to complement each other in the search for [[occult|hidden knowledge]]. Traditionally, each of the seven [[planet]]s in the solar system as known to the ancients was associated with, held dominion over, and ''[[astrological sign|ruled]]'' a certain metal. |
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The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is [[Hermes Trismegistus]] (or Thrice-Great Hermes). His name is derived from the [[deity|god]] [[Thoth]] and his Greek counterpart [[Hermes]]. Hermes and his [[caduceus]] or serpent-staff, were among alchemy's principal symbols. According to [[Clement of Alexandria]], he wrote what were called the "forty-two books of Hermes", covering all fields of knowledge.<ref>[[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume II/CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA/The Stromata, or Miscellanies/Book VI/Chapter IV.|Clement, ''Stromata'', vi. 4.]]</ref> The ''[[Hermetica]]'' of Thrice-Great Hermes is generally understood to form the basis for Western alchemical philosophy and practice, called the [[hermeticism|hermetic philosophy]] by its early practitioners. These writings were collected in the first centuries of the common era. |
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The list of rulership is as follows: |
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* The [[Sun]] rules [[Gold]] |
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* The [[Moon]], [[Silver]] |
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* [[Mercury (planet)|Mercury]], [[Mercury (element)|Mercury]] |
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* [[Venus (planet)|Venus]], [[Copper]] |
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* [[Mars (planet)|Mars]], [[Iron]] |
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* [[Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter]], [[Tin]] |
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* [[Saturn (planet)|Saturn]], [[Lead]] |
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'''Technology''' – The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of [[metallurgy]], extending back to 3500 {{sc|bc}}.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|1996|p=12}}</ref> Many writings were lost when the [[Roman Emperor|emperor]] [[Diocletian]] ordered the burning of alchemical books<ref>{{cite book|last=Partington|first=James Riddick|title=A Short History of Chemistry|year=1989|pages=20|isbn=0-486-65977-1|publisher=Dover Publications|location=New York}}</ref> after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria ({{sc|ad}} 292). Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived, most notable among them the [[Stockholm papyrus]] and the [[Leyden papyrus X]]. Dating from {{sc|ad}} 300–500, they contained recipes for dyeing and making artificial gemstones, cleaning and fabricating pearls, and manufacturing of imitation gold and silver.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|2003|p=46}}</ref> These writings lack the mystical, philosophical elements of alchemy, but do contain the works of [[Bolus of Mendes]] (or [[Pseudo-Democritus]]), which aligned these recipes with theoretical knowledge of astrology and the [[classical elements]].<ref name="Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent 1996, p13">''A History of Chemistry'', Bensaude-Vincent, Isabelle Stengers, ''Harvard University Press'', 1996, '''p13'''</ref> Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos, the change took place that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermetic art.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|1996|p=14}}</ref> |
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Some ''modern'' [[alchemist]]s/[[astrologers]] obviously associate: |
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* [[Uranus (planet)|Uranus]] with [[Uranium]] |
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* [[Neptune (planet)|Neptune]], [[Neptunium]] |
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* [[Pluto (planet)|Pluto]], [[Plutonium]] |
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'''Philosophy''' – Alexandria acted as a melting pot for philosophies of [[Pythagoreanism]], [[Platonism]], [[Stoicism]] and [[Gnosticism]] which formed the origin of alchemy's character.<ref name="Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent 1996, p13" /> An important example of alchemy's roots in Greek philosophy, originated by [[Empedocles]] and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: [[Earth (classical element)|earth]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Water (classical element)|water]], and [[Fire (classical element)|fire]]. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed.<ref>{{cite book | author=Lindsay, Jack | title=The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt | location=London | publisher=Muller | year=1970 | isbn= 0-389-01006-5 | page=16 }}</ref> The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are; "...True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form."<ref>{{cite book | first=Titus | last=Burckhardt | authorlink=Titus Burckhardt | title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul | location=Baltimore | publisher=Penguin | year=1967 | page=66 | others=Trans. William Stoddart | isbn=0-906540-96-8}}</ref> Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept. |
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As both these planets and these metals were not discovered until relatively recently, there is no [[Classical antiquity|classical]] or [[Precedent|traditional basis]] for these associations as there is for the ancient planets and metals. |
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Alchemy coexisted alongside emerging [[Christianity]]. [[Lactantius]] believed Hermes Trismegistus had prophesied its birth. [[Augustine of Hippo|St Augustine]] later affirmed this in the 4th & 5th centuries, but also condemned Trismegistus for idolatry.<ref>Fanning, Philip Ashley. ''Isaac Newton and the Transmutation of Alchemy: An Alternative View of the Scientific Revolution.'' 2009. p.6</ref> Examples of Pagan, Christian, and Jewish alchemists can be found during this period. |
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As [[Isaac Newton]] was (indisputably) a well known alchemist of his time period, and astrology and alchemy were and in some cases still are very closely linked, it is plausible that Newton had a very good working knowledge of astrology, or at the very least a basic understanding of astrological methodology as it was related to alchemy. Logically then, one would certainly have to know a good bit about astrology in order to use alchemy effectively, and Newton along with other prominent alchemists of his time definitely knew this. For more informations see [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]]. |
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Most of the Greco-Roman alchemists preceding Zosimos are known only by pseudonyms, such as [[Moses of Alexandria|Moses]], Isis, [[Cleopatra the Alchemist|Cleopatra]], [[Pseudo-Democritus|Democritus]], and [[Ostanes]]. Others authors such as Komarios, and [[Chymes]], we only know through fragments of text. After {{sc|ad}} 400, Greek alchemical writers occupied themselves solely in commenting on the works of these predecessors.<ref>F. Sherwood Taylor. ''Alchemists, Founders of Modern Chemistry.'' p.26.</ref> By the middle of the 7th century alchemy was almost an entirely mystical discipline.<ref>Allen G. Debus. ''Alchemy and early modern chemistry: papers from Ambix.'' p. 36</ref> It was at that time that [[Khalid Ibn Yazid]] sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Islamic world, facilitating the translation and preservation of Greek alchemical texts in the 8th and 9th centuries.<ref>Glen Warren Bowersock, Peter Robert Lamont Brown, Oleg Grabar. ''Late antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world.'' p. 284–285</ref> |
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===Chinese alchemy === |
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Whereas Western alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble ones, Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine. The [[philosopher's stone]] of European alchemists can be compared to the [[Grand Elixir of Immortality]] sought by Chinese alchemists. However, in the hermetic view, these two goals were not unconnected, and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the [[universal panacea]]; therefore, the two traditions may have had more in common than it initially appears. |
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=== India === |
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[[Black powder]] may have been the most important invention of Chinese alchemists. Described in [[9th century]] texts and used in [[fireworks]] by the [[10th Century]], it was used in [[cannon]]s by [[1290]]. From China, the use of gunpowder spread to [[Japan]], the [[Mongol]]s, the Arab world and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in [[1241]], and in Europe starting with the 14th century. |
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{{Main article|Rasayana}} |
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{{See also|History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent}} |
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The [[Vedas]] describe a connection between eternal life and gold.<ref name=eb /> The use of [[Mercury (element)|Mercury]] for alchemy is first documented in the 3rd– or 4th–century ''[[Arthashastra]]''. [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] texts from the 2nd to 5th centuries mention the transmutation of base metals to gold. Greek alchemy may have been introduced to Ancient India through the invasions of [[Alexander the Great]] in 325 {{sc|bc}}, and kingdoms that were culturally influenced by the Greeks like [[Gandhāra]], although hard evidence for this is lacking.<ref name=eb>Multhauf, Robert P. & Gilbert, Robert Andrew (2008). ''Alchemy''. Encyclopædia Britannica (2008).</ref> |
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The 11th-century [[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Persian chemist]] and [[Medicine in medieval Islam|physician]] [[Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī]], who visited Gujarat as part of the court of [[Mahmud of Ghazni]], reported that they |
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Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoist forms of [[traditional Chinese medicine|medicine]], such as [[Acupuncture]] and [[Moxibustion]], and to [[martial arts]] such as [[Tai Chi Chuan]] and [[Kung Fu]] (although some Tai Chi schools believe that their art derives from the Hygienic or Philosophical branches of Taoism, not the Alchemical). |
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{{bquote|have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them, which in [[Sanskrit]] is called [[Rasayāna]] and in Persian [[Rasavātam]]. It means the art of obtaining/manipulating ''Rasa'': nectar, mercury, and juice. This art was restricted to certain operations, metals, drugs, compounds, and medicines, many of which have mercury as their core element. Its principles restored the health of those who were ill beyond hope and gave back youth to fading old age.}} |
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The goals of alchemy in India included the creation of a divine body (Sanskrit ''divya-deham'') and immortality while still embodied (Sanskrit ''jīvan-mukti''). Sanskrit alchemical texts include much material on the manipulation of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized with the semen of the god Śiva and the menstrual blood of the goddess Devī. |
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Some early alchemical writings seem to have their origins in the [[Kaula]] tantric schools associated to the teachings of the personality of [[Matsyendranath]]. Other early writings are found in the Jaina medical treatise ''Kalyāṇakārakam'' of Ugrāditya, written in South India in the early 9th century.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Meulenbeld|first1=G. Jan|title=History of Indian Medical Literature|date=1999–2002|publisher=Egbert Forsten|location=Groningen|pages=IIA, 151–155|ref=HIML}}</ref> |
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===Indian alchemy=== |
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Little is known in the West about the character and history of [[India]]n alchemy. An [[11th century]] [[Persia]]n alchemist named [[al-Biruni]] reported that they "have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them, which is called [[Rasavātam]]. It means the art which is restricted to certain operations, drugs, compounds, and medicines, most of which are taken from plants. Its principles restored the health of those who were ill beyond hope and gave back youth to fading old age." The best example of a text based on this science is ''The Vaishashik Darshana'' of Kanad (fl. 600 BC), who described an atomic theory over a century before Democritus. |
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Two famous early Indian alchemical authors were [[Nagarjuna (metallurgist)|Nāgārjuna Siddha]] and Nityanātha Siddha. Nāgārjuna Siddha was a Buddhist monk. His book, ''Rasendramangalam'', is an example of Indian alchemy and medicine. Nityanātha Siddha wrote ''Rasaratnākara'', also a highly influential work. In Sanskrit, ''rasa'' translates to "mercury", and Nāgārjuna Siddha was said to have developed a method of converting mercury into gold.<ref>See Dominik Wujastyk, "An Alchemical Ghost: The Rasaratnākara of Nāgarjuna" in ''Ambix'' 31.2 (1984): 70-83. Online at https://univie.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk/Papers/152766/</ref> |
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===Alchemy in Ancient Egypt=== |
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Western alchemists generally traced the origin of their art to [[Ancient Egypt|Ancient (Pharaonic) Egypt]]. [[Metallurgy]] and [[mysticism]] were inexorably tied together in the ancient world, as the transformation of drab ore into shining metal must have seemed to be an act of magic governed by mysterious rules. It is claimed therefore that Alchemy in Ancient Egypt was the domain of the priestly class. |
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Reliable scholarship on Indian alchemy has been advanced in a major way by the publication of ''The Alchemical Body'' by David Gordon White.<ref>See bibliographical details and links at https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3266066W/The_Alchemical_Body</ref> Trustworthy scholarship on Indian alchemy must now take the findings of this work into account. |
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The city of [[Alexandria]] in Egypt was a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained its preeminence even after the decline of ancient Egyptian culture, through most of the Greek and Roman periods. Unfortunately, practically no original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived. Those writings, if they existed, were likely lost when the [[Roman Emperor|emperor]] [[Diocletian]] ordered the burning of alchemical books after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria ([[296]]), which had been a center of Egyptian alchemy. Egyptian alchemy is known mostly through the writings of ancient (Hellenic) [[Greece|Greek]] philosophers, which in turn have often survived only in Islamic translations. |
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An important modern bibliography on Indian alchemical studies has also been provided by David Gordon White at [http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0046.xml?rskey=skoSqW&result=1&q=rasayana#firstMatch Oxford Bibliographies Online].<ref>{{doi|10.1093/OBO/9780195399318-0046}}</ref> |
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Legend has it that the founder of Egyptian alchemy was the god [[Thoth]], called Hermes-Thoth or Thrice-Great Hermes (''[[Hermes Trismegistus]]'') by the Greek. According to legend, he wrote what were called the forty-two Books of Knowledge, covering all fields of knowledge — including alchemy. Hermes's symbol was the [[caduceus]] or serpent-staff, which became one of many of alchemy's principal symbols. The "[[Emerald Tablet]]" or ''[[Hermetica]]'' of Thrice-Greatest Hermes, which is known only through Greek and [[Arabic language|Arabic]] translations, is generally understood to form the basis for Western alchemical philosophy and practice, called the [[hermeticism|hermetic philosophy]] by its early practitioners. |
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The contents of 39 Sanskrit alchemical treatises have been analysed in detail in G. Jan Meulenbeld's ''History of Indian Medical Literature''.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Meulenbeld|first1=G. Jan|title=History of Indian Medical Literature|date=1999–2002|publisher=Egbert Forsten|location=Groningen|pages=IIA, 581–738}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|To wit, the ''Ānandakanda, Āyurvedaprakāśa, Gorakṣasaṃhitā, Kākacaṇḍeśvarīmatatantra, Kākacaṇḍīśvarakalpatantra, Kūpīpakvarasanirmāṇavijñāna, Pāradasaṃhitā, Rasabhaiṣajyakalpanāvijñāna, Rasādhyāya, Rasahṛdayatantra, Rasajalanidhi, Rasakāmadhenu, Rasakaumudī, Rasamañjarī, Rasamitra, Rasāmṛta, Rasapaddhati, Rasapradīpa, Rasaprakāśasudhākara, Rasarājalakṣmī, Rasaratnadīpikā, Rasaratnākara, Rasaratnasamuccaya, Rasārṇava, Rasārṇavakalpa, Rasasaṃketakalikā, Rasasāra, Rasataraṅgiṇī, Rasāyanasāra, Rasayogasāgara, Rasayogaśataka, Rasendracintāmaṇi, Rasendracūḍāmaṇi, Rasendramaṅgala, Rasendrapurāṇa, Rasendrasambhava, Rasendrasārasaṅgraha, Rasoddhāratantra'' or ''Rasasaṃhitā'', and '' Rasopaniṣad''. }} The discussion of these works in HIML gives a summary of the contents of each work, their special features, and where possible the evidence concerning their dating. Chapter 13 of HIML, ''Various works on rasaśāstra and ratnaśāstra'' (or ''Various works on alchemy and gems'') gives brief details of a further 655 (six hundred and fifty-five) treatises. In some cases Meulenbeld gives notes on the contents and authorship of these works; in other cases references are made only to the unpublished manuscripts of these titles. |
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The first point of the "Emerald Tablet" tells the purpose of hermetical science: "in truth certainly and without doubt, whatever is below is like that which is above, and whatever is above is like that which is below, to accomplish the miracles of one thing." ([[Johann Ludwig Burkhardt|Burckhardt]], p. 196-7). This is the [[macrocosm]]-[[microcosm]] belief central to the hermetic philosophy. In other words, the human body (the microcosm) is affected by the exterior world (the macrocosm), which includes the heavens through [[astrology]], and the earth through the [[element]]s. (Burckhardt,p. 34-42) |
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A great deal remains to be discovered about Indian alchemical literature. The content of the Sanskrit alchemical corpus has not yet (2014) been adequately integrated into the wider general history of alchemy. |
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Following this, the Greek-speaking Macedonians conquered Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria in [[332]]. This brought them into contact with Egyptian ideas. |
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{{anchor|Islamic alchemy|Islamic world}} |
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===Alchemy in the Greek world=== |
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The Greeks appropriated the hermetical beliefs of the Egyptians and melded with them the philosophies of [[Pythagoras|Pythagoreanism]], [[ionianism]], and [[gnosticism]]. Pythagorean philosophy is, essentially, the belief that numbers rule the universe, originating from the observations of sound, stars, and geometric shapes like triangles, or anything from which a [[ratio]] could be derived. [[Ionia]]n thought was based on the belief that the universe could be explained through concentration on [[phenomenon|natural phenomena]]; this philosophy is believed to have originated with [[Thales]] and his pupil [[Anaximander]], and later developed by [[Plato]] and [[Aristotle]], whose works came to be an integral part of alchemy. According to this belief, the universe can be described by a few unified [[law (principle)|natural laws]] that can be determined only through careful, thorough, and exacting philosophical explorations. The third component introduced to hermetical philosophy by the Greeks was [[gnosticism]], a belief prevalent in the Christian and early post-Christian [[Roman empire]], that the world is imperfect because it was created in a flawed manner, and that learning about the nature of spiritual matter would lead to salvation. They further believed that [[God]] did not "create" the universe in the classic sense, but that the universe was created "from" him, but was corrupted in the process (rather than becoming corrupted by the transgressions of Adam and Eve, i.e. [[original sin]]). According to Gnostic belief, by worshipping the cosmos, nature, or the creatures of the world, one worships the True God. Gnostics do not seek salvation from sin, but instead seek to escape ignorance, believing that sin is merely a consequence of ignorance. Platonic and neo-Platonic theories about universals and the omnipotence of God were also absorbed. |
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=== Muslim world === |
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One very important concept introduced at this time, originated by [[Empedocles]] and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: ''earth'', ''air'', ''water'', and ''fire''. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed. (Lindsay, p. 16) |
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{{Main article|Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam}} |
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[[File:Jabir ibn Hayyan.jpg|thumb|right|[[Jābir ibn Hayyān|Jabir ibn Hayyan]] (Geber), considered the "father of [[chemistry]]", introduced a [[Scientific method|scientific]] and [[experiment]]al approach to alchemy.]] |
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After [[The fall of the roman empire|the fall of the Roman Empire]], the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about [[Islam]]ic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations.<ref>{{cite book | first=Titus | last=Burckhardt | authorlink=Titus Burckhardt | title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul | location=Baltimore | publisher=Penguin | year=1967 | page=46 | others=Trans. William Stoddart | isbn=0-906540-96-8}}</ref> The word ''alchemy'' itself was derived from the Arabic word ''al-kīmiyā’'' (الكيمياء). The early Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. [[Plato]]nic and [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuries through [[Syriac language|Syriac]] translations and scholarship. |
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The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are. "...True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form." (Hitchcock, p. 66) Later alchemists (if Plato and Aristotle can be called alchemists) extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept. |
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In the late 8th century, [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]] (Latinized as "Geber" or "Geberus") introduced a new approach to alchemy, based on [[scientific method]]ology and controlled [[experiment]]ation in the [[laboratory]], in contrast to the ancient Greek and Egyptian alchemists whose works were often allegorical and unintelligible, with very little concern for laboratory work.<ref name=Kraus /> Jabir is thus "considered by many to be the father of [[chemistry]]",<ref>{{Cite journal|first=Zygmunt S.|last=Derewenda|year=2007|title=On wine, chirality and crystallography|journal=Acta Crystallographica Section A|volume=64|pages=246–258 [247]|doi=10.1107/S0108767307054293|pmid=18156689|bibcode = 2008AcCrA..64..246D |doi-access=free}}</ref> albeit others reserve that title for [[Robert Boyle]] or [[Antoine Lavoisier]]. The science historian, Paul Kraus, wrote: |
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===Alchemy in the Roman Empire=== |
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The [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] adopted Greek alchemy and metaphysics, just as they adopted much of Greek knowledge and philosophy. By the end of the [[Roman empire]] the Greek alchemical philosophy had been joined to the philosophies of the Egyptians to create the cult of Hermeticism. (Lindsay) |
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{{quote|To form an idea of the historical place of Jabir's alchemy and to tackle the problem of its sources, it is advisable to compare it with what remains to us of the alchemical literature in the [[Greek language]]. One knows in which miserable state this literature reached us. Collected by [[Byzantine science|Byzantine scientists]] from the tenth century, the corpus of the Greek alchemists is a cluster of incoherent fragments, going back to all the times since the third century until the end of the Middle Ages. |
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However, the development of [[Christianity]] in the Empire brought a contrary line of thinking, stemming from [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustine]] (354-430 AD), an early Christian philosopher who wrote of his beliefs shortly before the fall of the Roman Empire. In essence, he felt that [[reason]] and [[faith]] could be used to understand God, but [[experimental philosophy]] was evil: "There is also present in the soul, by means of these same bodily sense, a kind of empty longing and curiosity which aims not at taking pleasure in the flesh but at acquiring experience through the flesh, and this empty curiosity is dignified by the names of learning and science." (Augustine, p. 245) |
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The efforts of Berthelot and Ruelle to put a little order in this mass of literature led only to poor results, and the later researchers, among them in particular Mrs. Hammer-Jensen, Tannery, Lagercrantz, von Lippmann, Reitzenstein, Ruska, Bidez, Festugiere and others, could make clear only few points of detail .... |
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Augustinian ideas were decidedly anti-experimental, yet when Aristotelian experimental techniques were made available to the West they were not shunned. Still, Augustinian thought was well ingrained in [[medieval society]] and was used to show alchemy as being un-Godly. Ultimately, by the high middle ages, this line of thought created a permanent rift separating alchemy from the very religion that had fostered its birth. |
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The study of the Greek alchemists is not very encouraging. An even surface examination of the Greek texts shows that a very small part only was organized according to true experiments of laboratory: even the supposedly technical writings, in the state where we find them today, are unintelligible nonsense which refuses any interpretation. |
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Much of the Roman knowledge of Alchemy, like that of the Greeks and Egyptians, is now lost. In Alexandria, the centre of alchemical studies in the Roman Empire, the art was mainly oral and in the interests of secrecy little was committed to paper. (Whence the use of "hermetic" to mean "secretive".) (Lindsay, p. 155) It is possible that some writing was done in Alexandria, and that it was subsequently lost or destroyed in fires and the turbulent periods that followed. |
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It is different with Jabir's alchemy. The relatively clear description of the processes and the alchemical apparati, the methodical classification of the substances, mark an experimental spirit which is extremely far away from the weird and odd esotericism of the Greek texts. The theory on which Jabir supports his operations is one of clearness and of an impressive unity. More than with the other Arab authors, one notes with him a balance between theoretical teaching and practical teaching, between the ''[[Ilm (Arabic)|`ilm]]'' and the ''`amal''. In vain one would seek in the Greek texts a work as systematic as that which is presented, for example, in the ''Book of Seventy''.<ref name=Kraus>Kraus, Paul, Jâbir ibn Hayyân, ''Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam. I. Le corpus des écrits jâbiriens. II. Jâbir et la science grecque,''. Cairo (1942–1943). Repr. By Fuat Sezgin, (Natural Sciences in Islam. 67–68), Frankfurt. 2002: |
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===Alchemy in the Islamic world=== |
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(cf. {{cite web|author=[[Ahmad Y Hassan]]|title=A Critical Reassessment of the Geber Problem: Part Three|url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/geber/geber%2003.html|accessdate=16 September 2014}})</ref>}} |
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After the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development moved to the Middle East. Much more is known about [[Islam]]ic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Islamic translations. (Burckhardt p. 46) |
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Jabir himself clearly recognized and proclaimed the importance of experimentation: |
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The Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. [[Plato]]nic and [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated. Islamic alchemists such as [[Abu Bakr Mohammad Ibn Zakariya al-Razi|al-Razi]] (Latin Rasis or Rhazes) contributed key chemical discoveries of their own, such as the technique of [[distillation]] (the words ''[[alembic]]'' and ''[[alcohol]]'' are of [[Arabic language|Arabic]] origin), the [[muriatic acid|muriatic]], [[sulfuric acid|sulfuric]], and [[nitric acid|nitric]] acids, soda (''al-natrun'') and potash (''[[alkali]]'') – from which derive the international names of [[Sodium]] and [[Potassium]], ''Natrium'' and ''Kalium'' – and more. The discovery that [[aqua regia]], a mixture of nitric and muriatic acids, could dissolve the noblest metal — gold — was to fuel the imagination of alchemists for the next millennium. |
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{{bquote|The first essential in chemistry is that thou shouldest perform practical work and conduct experiments,<br /> for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain to the least degree of mastery.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1931|p=60}}</ref>}} |
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Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. |
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The most influential author in this regard was arguably [[Abu Musa Jabir Ibn Hayyan|Jabir Ibn Hayyan]] (Arabic جابر إبن حيان, Latin Geberus; usually rendered in English as Geber). Jabir's ultimate goal was [[takwin]], the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to and including human life. He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of ''hotness'', ''coldness'', ''dryness'', and ''moistness''. (Burkhardt, p. 29) According to Geber, in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result. (Burckhardt, p. 29) By this reasoning, the search for the [[philosopher's stone]] was introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate [[numerology]] whereby the root letters of a substance's name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to the element's physical properties. |
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Early Islamic chemists such as [[Jābir ibn Hayyān|Jabir Ibn Hayyan]], [[Al-Kindi]] ("Alkindus") and [[Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi]] ("Rasis" or "Rhazes") contributed a number of key chemical discoveries, such as the muriatic ([[hydrochloric acid]]), [[sulfuric acid|sulfuric]] and [[nitric acid]]s, and more. The discovery that [[aqua regia]], a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids, could dissolve the noblest metal, gold, was to fuel the imagination of alchemists for the next millennium. |
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It is now commonly accepted that Chinese alchemy influenced Arabic alchemists (Edwards pp. 33-59; Burckhardt, p. 10-22), although the extent of that influence is still a matter of debate. Likewise, [[Hinduism|Hindu]] learning was assimilated into Islamic alchemy, but again the extent and effects of this are not well known. |
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Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard was arguably Jabir. Jabir's ultimate goal was ''[[Takwin]]'', the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to, and including, human life. He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of ''hotness'', ''coldness'', ''dryness'', and ''moistness''.<ref name=burckhardt29 /> According to Jabir, in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result.<ref name=burckhardt29>{{cite book | first=Titus | last=Burckhardt | authorlink=Titus Burckhardt | title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul | location=Baltimore | publisher=Penguin | year=1967 | page=29 | others=Trans. William Stoddart | isbn=0-906540-96-8}}</ref> By this reasoning, the search for the [[philosopher's stone]] was introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate [[numerology]] whereby the root letters of a substance's name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to the element's physical properties. |
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===Alchemy in Medieval Europe=== |
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[[Image:JosephWright-Alchemist-1.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''The Alchemist in Search of the Philosophers Stone''. By [[Joseph Wright of Derby]], [[1771]]]] |
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Because of its strong connections to the Greek and Roman cultures, alchemy was rather easily accepted into Christian philosophy, and Medieval European alchemists extensively absorbed Islamic alchemical knowledge. [[Gerbert of Aurillac]], who was later to become [[Pope Silvester II]], (d. 1003) was among the first to bring Islamic science to Europe from [[Spain]]. Later men such as [[Adelard of Bath]], who lived in the [[12th century]], brought additional learning. But until the [[13th century]] the moves were mainly assimilative. (Hollister p. 124, 294) |
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The elemental system used in medieval alchemy also originated with Jabir. His original system consisted of seven elements, which included the five [[classical element]]s ([[aether (classical element)|aether]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Earth (classical element)|earth]], [[Fire (classical element)|fire]], and [[Water (classical element)|water]]) in addition to two [[chemical element]]s representing the metals: [[Sulfur|sulphur]], "the stone which burns", which characterized the principle of combustibility, and [[Mercury (element)|mercury]], which contained the idealized principle of metallic properties. Shortly thereafter, this evolved into eight elements, with the Arabic concept of the three metallic principles: sulphur giving flammability or combustion, mercury giving volatility and stability, and [[Salt (chemistry)|salt]] giving solidity.<ref name="r8">Strathern, Paul. (2000), ''Mendeleyev's Dream – the Quest for the Elements'', New York: [[Berkley Books]]</ref> The [[atomic theory]] of [[corpuscularianism]], where all physical bodies possess an inner and outer layer of minute particles or corpuscles, also has its origins in the work of Jabir.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Distilling knowledge: alchemy, chemistry, and the scientific revolution|first=Bruce T.|last=Moran|publisher=[[Harvard University Press]]|year=2005|isbn=0-674-01495-2|page=146|quote=a corpuscularian tradition in alchemy stemming from the speculations of the medieval author Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan)}}</ref> |
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In this period there appeared some deviations from the [[Augustine of Hippo|Augustinian]] principles of earlier Christian thinkers. [[Anselm of Canterbury|Saint Anselm]] ([[1033]]–[[1109]]) was an Augustinian who believed faith must precede rationalism, as Augustine and most theologians prior to Anselm had believed, but Anselm put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. His views set the stage for the philosophical explosion to occur. [[Saint Abelard]] followed Anselm's work, laying the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle reached the West. His major influence on alchemy was his belief that Platonic universals did not have a separate existence outside of man's [[consciousness]]. Abelard also systematized the analysis of philosophical contradictions. (Hollister, p. 287-8) |
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From the 9th to 14th centuries, alchemical theories faced criticism from a variety of practical Muslim chemists, including [[Al-Kindi|Alkindus]],<ref>Felix Klein-Frank (2001), "Al-Kindi", in [[Oliver Leaman]] & [[Hossein Nasr]], ''History of Islamic Philosophy'', p. 174. London: [[Routledge]].</ref> [[Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]],<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Marmura | first1 = Michael E. |name-list-format=vanc| year = 1965 | title = ''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwan Al-Safa'an, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Sina'' by Seyyed [[Hossein Nasr]] | url = | journal = Speculum | volume = 40 | issue = 4| pages = 744–6 | doi=10.2307/2851429}}</ref> [[Avicenna]]<ref>[[Robert Briffault]] (1938). ''The Making of Humanity'', p. 196–197.</ref> and [[Ibn Khaldun]]. In particular, they wrote refutations against the idea of the [[Philosopher's stone|transmutation of metals]]. |
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[[Robert Grosseteste]] ([[1170]]–[[1253]]) was a pioneer of the scientific theory that would later be used and refined by the alchemists. He took |
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Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observations, experimentation, and conclusions in making scientific evaluations. Grosseteste also did much work to bridge Platonic and Aristotelian thinking. (Hollister pp. 294-5) |
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=== East Asia === |
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[[Albertus Magnus]] ([[1193]]–[[1280]]) and [[Thomas Aquinas]] ([[1225]]–[[1274]]) were both [[Dominican Order|Dominican]]s who studied Aristotle and worked at reconciling the differences between philosophy and Christianity. Aquinas also did a great deal of work in developing the [[scientific method]]. He even went as far as claiming that universals could be discovered only through [[logical reasoning]]: this ran contrary to the commonly held Platonic belief that universals were found through [[divine illumination]] alone. Magnus and Aquinas were among the first to take up the examination of alchemical theory, and could be considered to be alchemists themselves, except that these two did little in the way of [[experimentation]]. One major contribution of Aquinas was the belief that since [[reason]] could not run in opposition to God, reason must be compatible with [[theology]]. (Hollister p. 290-4, 355) |
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{{Main article|Chinese alchemy}} |
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[[File:Esoteric Taijitu.svg|thumb| upright=0.5|Taoist alchemists often use this alternate version of the [[taijitu]].]] |
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Whereas European alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble metals, Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine. The [[philosopher's stone]] of European alchemists can be compared to the [[Elixir of life|Grand Elixir of Immortality]] sought by Chinese alchemists. However, in the hermetic view, these two goals were not unconnected, and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the [[Panacea (medicine)|universal panacea]]; therefore, the two traditions may have had more in common than initially appears. |
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[[Black powder]] may have been an important invention of Chinese alchemists. As previously stated above, [[China|Chinese]] alchemy was more related to medicine. It is said that the Chinese invented gunpowder while trying to find a [[potion]] for eternal life. Described in 9th-century texts{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} and used in [[fireworks]] in China by the 10th century,{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} it was used in [[cannon]]s by 1290.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} From China, the use of [[gunpowder]] spread to Japan, the [[Mongol]]s, the Muslim world, and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in 1241, and in Europe by the 14th century. |
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The first true alchemist in Medieval Europe was [[Roger Bacon]]. His work did as much for alchemy as [[Robert Boyle]]'s was to do for [[chemistry]] and [[Galileo Galilei|Galileo]]'s for [[astronomy]] and [[physics]]. Bacon ([[1214]]–[[1294]]) was an Oxford [[Franciscan]] who explored [[optics]] and [[linguistics|languages]] in addition to alchemy. The Franciscan ideals of taking on the world rather than rejecting the world led to his conviction that experimentation was more important than reasoning: "Of the three ways in which men think that they acquire [[knowledge]] of things: authority, [[reason|reasoning]], and [[experience]]; only the last is effective and able to bring peace to the intellect." (Bacon p. 367) "[[Experimental Science]] controls the conclusions of all other sciences. It reveals truths which reasoning from [[law (principle)|general principles]] would never have discovered." (Hollister p. 294-5) Roger Bacon has also been attributed with originating the search for the philosopher's stone and the elixir of life: "That medicine which will remove all impurities and corruptibilities from the lesser metals will also, in the opinion of the wise, take off so much of the corruptibility of the body that human life may be prolonged for many centuries." The idea of [[immortality]] was replaced with the notion of [[longevity|long life]]; after all, man's time on Earth was simply to wait and prepare for immortality in the world of God. Immortality on Earth did not mesh with Christian theology. (Edwards p. 37-8) |
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Chinese alchemy was closely connected to [[Taoist]] forms of [[traditional Chinese medicine]], such as [[Acupuncture]] and [[Moxibustion]], and to martial arts such as [[T'ai chi ch'uan|Tai Chi Chuan]]{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} and [[Kung Fu]] (although some Tai Chi schools believe that their art derives from the philosophical or hygienic branches of Taoism, not Alchemical). In fact, in the early [[Song dynasty]], followers of this Taoist idea (chiefly the elite and upper class) would ingest [[cinnabar|mercuric sulfide]], which, though tolerable in low levels, led many to suicide.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Thinking that this consequential death would lead to freedom and access to the Taoist heavens, the ensuing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method of alchemy in favor of external sources{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} (the aforementioned Tai Chi Chuan,{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} mastering of the [[qi]],{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} etc.) |
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Bacon was not the only alchemist of the high middle ages, but he was the most significant. His works were used by countless alchemists of the fifteenth through nineteenth centuries. Other alchemists of Bacon's time shared several traits. First, and most obviously, nearly all were members of the clergy. This was simply because few people outside the parochial schools had the education to examine the Arabic-derived works. Also, alchemy at this time was sanctioned by the church as a good method of exploring and developing theology. Alchemy was interesting to the wide variety of churchmen because it offered a rationalistic view of the universe when men were just beginning to learn about rationalism. (Edwards p. 24-7) |
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=== Medieval Europe === |
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So by the end of the thirteenth century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Most importantly, the alchemists were all true |
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Christians. They believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (e.g., if one could learn |
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[[File:Joseph Wright of Derby The Alchemist.jpg|thumb|right|''[[The Alchemist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone]]'', by Joseph Wright, 1771]] |
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the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the [[soul|human soul]].) These men believed the philosophers' stone was a substance that was capable of purifying base metals (and thereby [[transmutation|transmuting]] them to gold) as well as purifying the soul. They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, |
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[[File:WMS 446, R. Lullius, Ymage de Vie, late 15th Wellcome L0031726.jpg|thumb|"An illuminated page from a book on alchemical processes and receipts", ca. 15th century.]] |
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and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded [[jargon]] set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practiced their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made [[observation]]s and [[theory|theories]] about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God. (Burckhardt p. 149) |
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The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe may be dated to 11 February 1144, with the completion of [[Robert of Chester]]'s translation of the Arabic ''Book of the Composition of Alchemy''. Although European craftsmen and technicians preexisted, Robert notes in his preface that alchemy was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of his writing. The translation of Arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century [[Toledo, Spain]], through contributors like [[Gerard of Cremona]] and [[Adelard of Bath]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=105–108}}</ref> Translations of the time included the [[Turba Philosophorum]], and the works of [[Avicenna]] and [[al-Razi]]. These brought with them many new words to the European vocabulary for which there was no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol, carboy, elixir, and athanor are examples.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|p=110}}</ref> |
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In the fourteenth century, these views underwent a major change. [[William of Ockham]], an [[Oxford]] Franciscan who died in [[1349]], attacked the [[Thomist]] view of compatibility between faith and reason. His view, widely accepted today, was that God must be accepted on faith alone; He could not be limited by human reason. Of course this view was not incorrect if one accepted the postulate of a limitless God versus limited human reasoning capability, but it virtually erased alchemy from practice in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. (Hollister p. 335) [[Pope John XXII]] in the early [[1300s]] issued an edict against alchemy, which effectively removed all church personnel from the practice of the Art. (Edwards, p.49) The climate changes, [[Black death|Black plague]], and increase in [[war|warfare]] and [[famine]] that characterized this century no doubt also served to hamper philosophical pursuits in general. |
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Meanwhile, theologian contemporaries of the translators made strides towards the reconciliation of faith and experimental rationalism, thereby priming Europe for the influx of alchemical thought. The 11th-century [[Anselm of Canterbury|St Anselm]] put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. In the early 12th century, [[Peter Abelard]] followed Anselm's work, laying down the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle had reached the West. In the early 13th century, [[Robert Grosseteste]] used Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observation, experimentation, and conclusions when conducting scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did much work to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.<ref name=hollister294f>{{cite book | author=Hollister, C. Warren | title=Medieval Europe: A Short History | location=Blacklick, Ohio | publisher=McGraw–Hill College | year=1990 | isbn=0-07-557141-2 | edition=6th |pages=294f}}</ref> |
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[[image:flamel-figures.png|thumb|250px|[[Nicholas Flamel]] had these mysterious alchemical symbols carved on his [[tomb]] in the Church of the [[Holy Innocents]] in Paris.]] |
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Alchemy was kept alive by men such as [[Nicolas Flamel]], who was noteworthy only because he was one of the few alchemists writing in those troubled times. Flamel lived from [[1330]] to [[1417]] and would serve as the [[archetype]] for the next phase of alchemy. He was not a religious scholar as were many of his predecessors, and his entire interest in the subject revolved around the pursuit of the philosopher's stone, which he is reputed to have found; his work spends a great deal of time describing the processes and reactions, but never actually gives the formula for carrying out the transmutations. Most of his work was aimed at gathering alchemical knowledge that had existed before him, especially as regarded the philosophers' stone. (Burckhardt pp.170-181) |
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Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemical knowledge in Europe remained centered on translations, and new Latin contributions were not made. The efforts of the translators were succeeded by that of the encyclopaedists. In the 13th century, [[Albertus Magnus]] and [[Roger Bacon]] were the most notable of these, their work summarizing and explaining the newly imported alchemical knowledge in Aristotelian terms.<ref>John Read. ''From Alchemy to Chemistry.'' 1995 p.90</ref> Albertus Magnus, a [[Dominican Order|Dominican monk]], is known to have written works such as the ''Book of Minerals'' where he observed and commented on the operations and theories of alchemical authorities like Hermes and Democritus and unnamed alchemists of his time. Albertus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation of metals. From the time shortly after his death through to the 15th century, more than 28 alchemical tracts were misattributed to him, a common practice giving rise to his reputation as an accomplished alchemist.<ref>James A. Weisheipl. ''Albertus Magnus and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays.'' PIMS. 1980. p.187-202</ref> Likewise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert's student [[Thomas Aquinas]]. |
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Through the [[high middle ages]] (1300-1500) alchemists were much like Flamel: they concentrated on looking for the philosophers' stone and the elixir of youth, now believed to be separate things. Their cryptic allusions and [[symbolism]] led to wide variations in interpretation of the art. For example, many alchemists during this period interpreted the purification of the soul to mean the [[transmutation]] of lead into gold (in which they believed elemental [[mercurius|mercury]], or 'quicksilver', played a crucial role). These men were viewed as [[magic (paranormal)|magicians and sorcerers]] by many, and were often persecuted for their practices. (Edwards pp. 50-75; Norton pp lxiii-lxvii) |
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Roger Bacon, a [[Franciscan Order|Franciscan monk]] who wrote on a wide variety of topics including [[optics]], [[comparative linguistics]], and medicine, composed his ''[[Opus Majus|Great Work]]'' ({{lang-la|Opus Majus}}) for {{nowrap|[[Pope Clement IV]]}} as part of a project towards rebuilding the [[medieval university]] curriculum to include the new learning of his time. While alchemy was not more important to him than other sciences and he did not produce allegorical works on the topic, he did consider it and astrology to be important parts of both natural philosophy and theology and his contributions advanced alchemy's connections to [[soteriology]] and Christian theology. Bacon's writings integrated morality, salvation, alchemy, and the prolongation of life. His correspondence with Clement highlighted this, noting the importance of alchemy to the papacy.<ref>Edmund Brehm. "Roger Bacon's Place in the History of Alchemy." ''Ambix.'' Vol. 23, Part I, March 1976.</ref> Like the Greeks before him, Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemy into practical and theoretical spheres. He noted that the theoretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle, the natural philosophers, and all Latin writers of his time. The practical, however, confirmed the theoretical thought experiment, and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=120–121}}</ref> In later European legend, however, Bacon became an archmage. In particular, along with Albertus Magnus, he was credited with the forging of a [[brazen head]] capable of answering its owner's questions. |
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[[Tycho Brahe]], better known for his [[astronomical]] and [[astrological]] investigations, was also an alchemist. He had a laboratory built for that purpose at his [[Uraniborg]] observatory/research institute. |
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Soon after Bacon, the influential work of [[Pseudo-Geber]] (sometimes identified as [[Paul of Taranto]]) appeared. His ''Summa Perfectionis'' remained a staple summary of alchemical practice and theory through the medieval and renaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion of practical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercury theory, and the unusual clarity with which they were described.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=134–141}}.</ref> By the end of the 13th century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one could learn the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the [[soul|human soul]]). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded [[jargon]] set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practiced their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made [[observation]]s and [[theory|theories]] about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God.<ref>{{cite book | first=Titus | last=Burckhardt | authorlink=Titus Burckhardt | title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul | location=Baltimore | publisher=Penguin | year=1967 | page=149 | others=Trans. William Stoddart | isbn=0-906540-96-8}}</ref> |
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One of these men who emerged at the beginning of the sixteenth century was named [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]]. This alchemist believed himself to be a wizard and actually thought himself capable of summoning [[spiritual being|spirit]]s. His influence was negligible, but like Flamel, he produced writings which were referred to by alchemists of later years. Again like Flamel, he did much to change alchemy from a mystical philosophy to an [[occult]]ist magic. He did keep alive the philosophies of the earlier alchemists, including experimental science, numerology, etc., but he added magic theory, which reinforced the idea of alchemy as an occultist belief. In spite of all this, Agrippa was still a Christian, though his views often came into conflict with the church. (Edwardes p.56-9; Wilson p.23-9) |
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In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessible to Europeans outside the confines of Latin speaking churchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shifted from scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed social commentary on the alchemists themselves.<ref>Tara E. Nummedal. ''Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' University of Chicago Press, 2007. p. 49</ref> [[Dante]], [[Piers Plowman]], and [[Chaucer]] all painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars. [[Pope John XXII]]'s 1317 edict, ''[[Spondent quas non exhibent]]'' forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-alchemists.<ref>John Hines, II, R. F. Yeager. ''John Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition.'' Boydell & Brewer. 2010. p.170</ref> In 1403, Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals (although it was possible to buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically, and a number were granted by Henry VI and Edward IV<ref>D. Geoghegan, "A licence of Henry VI to practise Alchemy" Ambix, volume 6, 1957, pages 10-17</ref>). These critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy, which continued with an increasingly Christian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian imagery of death and resurrection employed in the alchemical texts of [[Petrus Bonus]], [[John of Rupescissa]], and in works written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnold of Villanova.<ref>[[Leah DeVun]]. ''From Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupescissa in the late Middle Ages.'' Columbia University Press, 2009. p. 104</ref> |
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===Alchemy in the Modern Age and Renaissance=== |
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[[Image:Fettes.jpg|thumb|250px|right|''The Alchemist''. By Sir [[William Fettes Douglas]], [[19th century]]]] |
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European alchemy continued in this way through the dawning of the [[Renaissance]]. The era also saw a flourishing of [[con artist]]s who would use chemical tricks and sleight of hand to "demonstrate" the transmutation of common metals into gold, or claim to possess secret knowledge that — with a "small" initial investment — would surely lead to that goal. |
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[[Nicolas Flamel]] is a well-known alchemist, but a good example of [[pseudepigraphy]], the practice of giving your works the name of someone else, usually more famous. Though the historical Flamel existed, the writings and legends assigned to him only appeared in 1612.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|2003|p=123}}</ref><ref>"Nicolas Flamel. Des Livres et de l'or" by Nigel Wilkins</ref> Flamel was not a religious scholar as were many of his predecessors, and his entire interest in the subject revolved around the pursuit of the [[philosopher's stone]]. His work spends a great deal of time describing the processes and reactions, but never actually gives the formula for carrying out the transmutations. Most of 'his' work was aimed at gathering alchemical knowledge that had existed before him, especially as regarded the philosopher's stone.<ref>{{cite book | first=Titus | last=Burckhardt | authorlink=Titus Burckhardt | title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul | location=Baltimore | publisher=Penguin | year=1967 | pages=170–181 | others=Trans. William Stoddart | isbn=0-906540-96-8}}</ref> Through the [[late Middle Ages|14th and 15th centuries]], alchemists were much like Flamel: they concentrated on looking for the philosophers' stone. [[Bernard Trevisan]] and [[George Ripley (alchemist)|George Ripley]] made similar contributions. Their cryptic allusions and [[symbol]]ism led to wide variations in interpretation of the art. |
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The most important name in this period is Philippus Aureolus [[Paracelsus]], (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, [[1493]]–[[1541]]) who cast alchemy into a new form, rejecting some of the occultism that had accumulated over the years and promoting the use of observations and experiments to learn about the human body. He rejected Gnostic traditions, but kept much of the Hermetical, neo-Platonic, and Pythagorean philosophies; however, Hermetical science had so much Aristotelian theory that his rejection of Gnosticism was practically meaningless. In particular, Paracelsus rejected the magic theories of Agrippa and Flamel. He did not think of himself as a magician, and scorned those who did. (Williams p.239-45) |
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=== Renaissance and early modern Europe === |
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Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine, and wrote "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines." (Edwardes, p.47) His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them. (Debus & Multhauf, p.6-12) While his attempts of treating diseases with such remedies as Mercury might seem ill-advised from a modern point of view, his basic idea of chemically produced medicines has stood time surprisingly well. |
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{{Further|Renaissance magic|natural magic}} |
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[[File:Raimundus Lullus alchemic page.jpg|thumb|right|Page from alchemic treatise of [[Ramon Llull]], 16th century]] |
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[[File:Splendor Solis 22 sun rising over city.jpg|thumb|right |The red sun rising over the city, the final illustration of 16th century alchemical text, ''[[Splendor Solis]]''. The word [[rubedo]], meaning "redness", was adopted by alchemists and signalled alchemical success, and the end of the great work.]] |
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During the [[Renaissance]], Hermetic and Platonic foundations were restored to European alchemy. The dawn of medical, pharmaceutical, occult, and entrepreneurial branches of alchemy followed. |
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[[Image:Alchemik_Sedziwoj_Matejko.JPG|thumb|left|400px|Alchemist Michal Sedziwoj|"Alchemik Michał Sędziwój", oil on board by [[Jan Matejko]], 73 x 130 cm, Museum of Arts in [[Lodz|Łódź]].]] |
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In [[England]], the topic of alchemy in that time frame is often associated with Doctor [[John Dee]] ([[13 July]] [[1527]] – [[December]], [[1608]]), better known for his role as [[astrologer]], cryptographer, and general "scientific consultant" to [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]]. Dee was considered an authority on the works of [[Roger Bacon]], and was interested enough in alchemy to write a book on that subject (''Monas Hieroglyphica'', [[1564]]) influenced by the [[Kabbala]]. Dee's associate [[Edward Kelley]] — who claimed to converse with [[angel]]s through a crystal ball and to own a powder that would turn [[mercury (element)|mercury]] into [[gold]] — may have been the source of the popular image of the alchemist-charlatan. |
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In the late 15th century, [[Marsilo Ficino]] translated the [[Corpus Hermeticum]] and the works of Plato into Latin. These were previously unavailable to Europeans who for the first time had a full picture of the alchemical theory that Bacon had declared absent. [[Renaissance Humanism]] and [[Renaissance Neoplatonism]] guided alchemists away from physics to refocus on mankind as the alchemical vessel. |
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Among other alchemist of this time, worthy of note is [[Michal Sedziwoj|Michał Sędziwój]] (''Michael Sendivogius'') ([[1566]] - [[1636]]), a [[Poland|Polish]] alchemist, philosopher and medical doctor, pioneer of chemistry. He assumed that air contains [[oxygen]], 170 years before [[Karl Wilhelm Scheele|Scheele]] and [[Joseph Priestley|Priestley]], by warming nitre ([[saltpetre]]). He thought of the gas given off as "the elixir of life". |
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Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into a broader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, astrology, and Christian cabala.<ref>Peter J. Forshaw. '"Chemistry, That Starry Science" - Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology and Alchemy' (2013)</ref><ref>Peter J. Forshaw, 'Cabala Chymica or Chemia Cabalistica – Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala' (2013)</ref> A key figure in this development was German [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]] (1486–1535), who received his Hermetic education in Italy in the schools of the humanists. In his ''De Occulta Philosophia'', he attempted to merge [[Kabbalah]], Hermeticism, and alchemy. He was instrumental in spreading this new blend of Hermeticism outside the borders of Italy.<ref>Glenn Alexander Magee. ''Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition.'' Cornell University Press. 2008. p.30</ref><ref>Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. ''The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction.'' Oxford University Press. 2008 p.60</ref> |
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===The decline of Western alchemy=== |
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The demise of Western alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for "ancient wisdom". Although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the [[17th century]], alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years, and in fact may have reached its apogee in the [[18th century]]. |
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Philippus Aureolus [[Paracelsus]], (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) cast alchemy into a new form, rejecting some of Agrippa's occultism and moving away from [[chrysopoeia]]. Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote, "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines."<ref>{{cite book | author=Edwardes, Michael | title=The Dark Side of History | location=New York | publisher=Stein and Day | year=1977 | page=47 | isbn=0-552-11463-4 }}</ref> |
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[[Robert Boyle]] ([[1627]]–[[1691]]), better known for his studies of gases (cf. [[Boyles law]]) pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data; in a typical experiment, Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out, the wind characteristics, the position of the sun and moon, and the barometer reading, all just in case they proved to be relevant. (Pilkington p.11) This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the [[18th century|18th]] and [[19th century|19th]] centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries of [[Antoine Lavoisier|Lavoisier]] and [[John Dalton]] — which finally provided a logical, quantitative and reliable framework for understanding matter transmutations, and revealed the futility of longstanding alchemical goals such as the philospher's stone. |
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His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them.<ref>{{cite book | author=[[Debus, Allen G.]] |author2=Multhauf, Robert P. | title=Alchemy and Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century | location=Los Angeles | publisher=William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California. | year=1966 | pages=6–12 }}</ref> Paracelsian practical alchemy, especially herbal medicine and plant remedies has since been named [[spagyric]] (a synonym for alchemy from the Greek words meaning ''to separate'' and ''to join together'', based on the Latin alchemic maxim: ''solve et coagula'').<ref>Joseph Needham. ''Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 5, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Physiological Alchemy.'' Cambridge University Press. P.9</ref> [[Iatrochemistry]] also refers to the pharmaceutical applications of alchemy championed by Paracelsus. |
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Meanwhile, Paracelsian alchemy led to the development of modern medicine. Experimentalists gradually uncovered the workings of the human body, such as blood circulation ([[William Harvey|Harvey]], [[1616]]), and eventually traced many diseases to infections with germs ([[Robert Koch|Koch]] and [[Louis Pasteur|Pasteur]], [[19th century]]) or lack of ''natural'' nutrients and [[vitamin]]s ([[James Lind|Lind]], [[Christiaan Eijkman|Eijkman]], [[Casimir Funk|Funk]], et al.). Supported by parallel developments in organic chemistry, the new science easily displaced alchemy from its medical roles, interpretive and prescriptive, while deflating its hopes of miraculous elixirs and exposing the ineffectiveness or even toxicity of its remedies. |
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[[John Dee]] (13 July 1527 – December, 1608) followed Agrippa's occult tradition. Though better known for angel summoning, divination, and his role as [[astrologer]], cryptographer, and consultant to [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], Dee's alchemical<ref>“''Monas hieroglyphica'' is not a traditional alchemical work, but has important theoretical insights about a cosmic vision, in which alchemy played an important part.”{{cite web | last = Szőnyi| first = György E.| year = 2015 | url = http://www.renesancni-texty.upol.cz/soubory/publikace/Latin_Alchemical_Literature_of_Czech_Provenance.pdf | title = ‘Layers of Meaning in Alchemy in John Dee’s Monas hieroglyphica and its Relevance in a Central European Context‘| publisher = Centre for Renaissance Texts, 2015, 118 }}</ref> ''Monas Hieroglyphica'', written in 1564 was his most popular and influential work. His writing portrayed alchemy as a sort of terrestrial astronomy in line with the Hermetic axiom ''As above so below''.<ref>William Royall Newman, Anthony Grafton. ''Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe''. MIT Press, 2001. P.173.</ref> During the 17th century, a short-lived "supernatural" interpretation of alchemy became popular, including support by fellows of the [[Royal Society]]: [[Robert Boyle]] and [[Elias Ashmole]]. Proponents of the supernatural interpretation of alchemy believed that the [[philosopher's stone]] might be used to summon and communicate with angels.<ref>* ''Journal of the History of Ideas, 41'', 1980, '''p. 293-318''' |
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Thus, as science steadily continued to uncover and rationalize the clockwork of the universe, founded on its own materialistic metaphysics, Alchemy was left deprived of its chemical and medical connections — but still incurably burdened by them. Reduced to an arcane philosophical system, poorly connected to the material world, it suffered the common fate of other [[esoteric]] disciplines such as [[astrology]] and [[Kabbalah]]: excluded from [[university]] curricula, shunned by its former patrons, [[damned knowledge|ostracized]] by scientists, and commonly viewed as the epitome of [[charlatan]]ism and [[superstition]]. |
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*{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|pp=399}} |
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* ''The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest'', by Lawrence M. Principe, 'Princeton University Press', 1998, '''pp. 188 90'''</ref> |
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Entrepreneurial opportunities were common for the alchemists of Renaissance Europe. Alchemists were contracted by the elite for practical purposes related to mining, medical services, and the production of chemicals, medicines, metals, and gemstones.<ref>Tara E. Nummedal. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' p.4</ref> [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor]], in the late 16th century, famously received and sponsored various alchemists at his court in Prague, including Dee and his associate [[Edward Kelley]]. [[James IV of Scotland|King James IV of Scotland]],<ref>''Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland'', vol. iii, (1901), 99, 202, 206, 209, 330, 340, 341, 353, 355, 365, 379, 382, 389, 409.</ref> [[Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], [[Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], [[Augustus, Elector of Saxony]], [[Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn]], and [[Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel]] all contracted alchemists.<ref>Tara E. Nummedal. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' p.85-98</ref> John's son [[Arthur Dee]] worked as a court physician to [[Michael I of Russia]] and [[Charles I of England]] but also compiled the alchemical book ''[[Fasciculus Chemicus]]''. |
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These developments could be interpreted as part of a broader reaction in European intellectualism against the [[Romanticism|Romantic]] movement of the preceding century. Be as it may, it is sobering to observe how a discipline that held so much intellectual and material prestige, for more than two thousand years, could disappear so easily from the universe of Western thought. |
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[[File:Alchemik Sedziwoj Matejko.JPG|thumb|left|250px|''Alchemist [[Sendivogius]]'' (1566–1636) by [[Jan Matejko]], 1867]] |
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Though most of these appointments were legitimate, the trend of pseudo-alchemical fraud continued through the Renaissance. ''Betrüger'' would use sleight of hand, or claims of secret knowledge to make money or secure patronage. Legitimate mystical and medical alchemists such as [[Michael Maier]] and [[Heinrich Khunrath]] wrote about fraudulent transmutations, distinguishing themselves from the [[con artist]]s.<ref>Tara E. Nummedal. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' p.171</ref> False alchemists were sometimes prosecuted for fraud. |
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The terms "chemia" and "alchemia" were used as synonyms in the early modern period, and the differences between alchemy, chemistry and small-scale assaying and metallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. There were important overlaps between practitioners, and trying to classify them into alchemists, chemists and craftsmen is anachronistic. For example, [[Tycho Brahe]] (1546–1601), an alchemist better known for his [[astronomical]] and [[astrological]] investigations, had a laboratory built at his [[Uraniborg]] observatory/research institute. [[Michał Sędziwój|Michael Sendivogius]] (''Michał Sędziwój'', 1566–1636), a [[Poland|Polish]] alchemist, philosopher, medical doctor and pioneer of chemistry wrote mystical works but is also credited with distilling [[oxygen]] in a lab sometime around 1600. Sendivogious taught his technique to [[Cornelius Drebbel]] who, in 1621, applied this in a submarine. [[Isaac Newton]] devoted considerably more of his writing to the study of alchemy (see [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]]) than he did to either optics or physics. Other early modern alchemists who were eminent in their other studies include [[Robert Boyle]], and [[Jan Baptist van Helmont]]. Their Hermeticism complemented rather than precluded their practical achievements in medicine and science. |
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===Alchemy in literature=== |
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Many authors lampooned alchemists and used them as the butt of satirical attacks. The most famous of these is the play ''[[The Alchemist]]'' by [[Ben Jonson]]. |
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=== Late modern period === |
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In the [[Harry Potter]] children's books, a "Philosopher's Stone" (in the American edition, a "sorcerer's stone") is mentioned. This stone was created by alchemists within the world created by [[J.K. Rowling]]. This stone could turn any metal into pure gold, and created an "Elixir of Life" that enabled the drinker to live forever. Nicholas Flamel is also given brief reference. |
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[[File:The Shannon Portrait of the Hon Robert Boyle.jpg|thumb|right|[[Robert Boyle]]]] |
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[[File:Alchemist.png|thumb|right|An alchemist, pictured in Charles Mackay's ''[[Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds]]''.]] |
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The decline of European alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for "ancient wisdom". Although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the 17th century, alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years, and in fact may have reached its peak in the 18th century. As late as 1781 [[James Price (chemist)|James Price]] claimed to have produced a powder that could transmute mercury into silver or gold. Early modern European alchemy continued to exhibit a diversity of theories, practices, and purposes: "Scholastic and anti-Aristotelian, Paracelsian and anti-Paracelsian, Hermetic, Neoplatonic, mechanistic, vitalistic, and more—plus virtually every combination and compromise thereof."<ref name="Alchemy Restored">Principe, Lawrence M. "Alchemy Restored." Isis 102.2 (2011): 305-12. Web.</ref> |
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[[Robert Boyle]] (1627–1691) pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data. Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out, the wind characteristics, the position of the Sun and Moon, and the barometer reading, all just in case they proved to be relevant.<ref>{{cite book | author=Pilkington, Roger | title=Robert Boyle: Father of Chemistry | location=London | publisher=John Murray | year=1959 | page=11 }}</ref> This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries of [[Antoine Lavoisier|Lavoisier]] and [[John Dalton]]. |
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In the second part of ''[[Faust]]'', [[Johann Wolfgang von Goethe]] portrays Faust's servant Wagner using alchemy to create a [[homunculus]]. |
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Beginning around 1720, a rigid distinction was drawn between "alchemy" and "chemistry" for the first time.<ref name="NewmanPrincipe2002p37">{{Harvnb|Newman|Principe|2002|p=37}}</ref><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp386">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=386}}</ref> By the 1740s, "alchemy" was now restricted to the realm of gold making, leading to the popular belief that alchemists were charlatans, and the tradition itself nothing more than a fraud.<ref name="Alchemy Restored" /><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp386" /> In order to protect the developing science of modern chemistry from the negative censure of which alchemy was being subjected, academic writers during the scientific Enlightenment attempted, for the sake of survival, to separate and divorce the "new" chemistry from the "old" practices of alchemy. This move was mostly successful, and the consequences of this continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, and even to the present day.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanpp386–7">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|pp=386–7}}</ref> |
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The term 'alchemical' is sometimes used to refer to a study that is stumbling toward becoming science but has not reached that state yet. For instance, [[Larry Niven]] in his [[Known Space]] stories describes twentieth century [[psychology]] as being 'in its alchemical stages', before it is perfected by later generations into a true science. |
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During the occult revival of the early 19th century, alchemy received new attention as an occult science.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp387">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=387}}</ref><ref name="KripalShuck2005p27">{{Harvnb|Kripal|Shuck|2005|p=27}}</ref> The esoteric or occultist school, which arose during the 19th century, held (and continues to hold) the view that the substances and operations mentioned in alchemical literature are to be interpreted in a spiritual sense, and it downplays the role of the alchemy as a practical tradition or protoscience.<ref name="NewmanPrincipe2002p37" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Eliade|1994|p=49}}</ref><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp388">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=388}}</ref> This interpretation further forwarded the view that alchemy is an art primarily concerned with spiritual enlightenment or illumination, as opposed to the physical manipulation of apparatus and chemicals, and claims that the obscure language of the alchemical texts were an allegorical guise for spiritual, moral or mystical processes.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp388" /> |
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==References== |
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* Augustine (1963). ''The Confessions.'' Trans. Rex Warner. New York: Mentor Books. |
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* Burckhardt, Titus (1967). ''Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul.'' Trans. William Stoddart. Baltimore: Penguin. |
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* Debus, Allen G. and Multhauf, Robert P. (1966). ''Alchemy and Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century.'' Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California. |
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* Edwardes, Michael (1977). ''The Dark Side of History.'' New York: Stein and Day. |
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* Gettings, Fred (1986). ''Encyclopedia of the Occult.'' London: Rider. |
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* Hitchcock, Ethan Allen (1857). ''Remarks Upon Alchemy and the Alchemists.'' Boston: Crosby, Nichols. |
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* Hollister, C. Warren (1990). ''Medieval Europe: A Short History.'' 6th ed. Blacklick, Ohio: McGraw-Hill College. |
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* Lindsay, Jack (1970). ''The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt.'' London: Muller. |
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* Marius (1976). ''On the Elements.'' Trans. Richard Dales. Berkeley: University of California Press. |
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* Norton, Thomas (Ed. John Reidy) (1975). ''Ordinal of Alchemy.'' London: Early English Text Society. |
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* Pilkington, Roger (1959). ''Robert Boyle: Father of Chemistry.'' London: John Murray. |
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* Weaver, Jefferson Hane (1987). ''The World of Physics'' New York: Simon & Schuster. |
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* Wilson, Colin (1971). ''The Occult: A History.'' New York: Random House. |
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* Zumdahl, Steven S. (1989). ''Chemistry.'' 2nd ed. Lexington, Maryland: D. C. Heath and Co. |
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In the 19th-century revival of alchemy, the two most seminal figures were [[Mary Anne Atwood]] and [[Ethan A. Hitchcock (general)|Ethan Allen Hitchcock]], who independently published similar works regarding spiritual alchemy. Both forwarded a completely esoteric view of alchemy, as Atwood claimed: "No modern art or chemistry, notwithstanding all its surreptitious claims, has any thing in common with Alchemy."<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp391">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=391}}</ref><ref name="Rutkin2001p143">{{Harvnb|Rutkin|2001|p=143}}</ref> Atwood's work influenced subsequent authors of the occult revival including [[Eliphas Levi]], [[Arthur Edward Waite]], and [[Rudolf Steiner]]. Hitchcock, in his ''Remarks Upon Alchymists'' (1855) attempted to make a case for his spiritual interpretation with his claim that the alchemists wrote about a spiritual discipline under a materialistic guise in order to avoid accusations of blasphemy from the church and state. In 1845, Baron [[Carl Reichenbach]], published his studies on [[Odic force]], a concept with some similarities to alchemy, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.<ref>Daniel Merkur. ''Gnosis: An Esoteric Tradition of Mystical Visions and Unions.'' SUNY Press. 1993 p.55</ref> |
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=== Women in alchemy === |
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[[Image:Alchemical Laboratory - Project Gutenberg eText 14218.jpg|thumbnail|right|250px|An Alchemical Laboratory, from ''The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry'']] |
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Several women appear in the earliest history of alchemy. [[Michael Maier]] names [[Mary the Jewess]], [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]], [[Medera]], and [[Taphnutia]] as the four women who knew how to make the philosopher's stone.<ref>Raphael Patai. ''The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book.'' p. 78.</ref> Zosimos' sister Theosebia (later known as Euthica the Arab) and [[Isis the Prophetess]] also played a role in early alchemical texts. |
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==See also== |
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The first alchemist whose name we know is said to have been [[Mary the Jewess]] (c. 200 A.D.).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|title=Women in Chemistry: Their Changing Roles from Alchemical Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century|author1=Rayner-Canham, M |author2=Rayner-Canham, G|publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation|year=2005|isbn=9780941901277|location=|pages=2–4}}</ref> Early sources claim that Mary (or Maria) devised a number of improvements to alchemical equipment and tools as well as novel techniques in chemistry.<ref name=":0" /> Her best known advances were in heating and distillation processes. The laboratory water-bath, known eponymously (especially in France) as the [[bain-marie]], is said to have been invented or at least improved by her.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book|last=Patai|first=R|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=1995|isbn=9780691006420|location=|pages=60–80}}</ref> Essentially a double-boiler, it was (and is) used in chemistry for processes that require gentle heating. The tribikos (a modified distillation apparatus) and the kerotakis (a more intricate apparatus used especially for sublimations) are two other advancements in the process of distillation that are credited to her.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The origins of alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt|last=Lindsay|first=J|publisher=Barnes & Noble|year=1970|isbn=9780389010067|location=New York|pages=240–250}}</ref> The occasional claim that Mary was the first to discover hydrochloric acid is not accepted by most authorities.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/1094-alchemy#anchor2|title=Alchemy|last=Gaster|first=Moses|date=2011|website=Jewish Encyclopedia|publisher=Funk & Wagnalls Company|access-date=April 6, 2016}}</ref> Though we have no writing from Mary herself, she is known from the early fourth century writings of [[Zosimos of Panopolis]].<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book|last=Patai|first=R|publisher=Princeton University Press|year=|isbn=9780691006420|location=|pages=81–93}}</ref> |
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*''[[The Alchemist (play)|The Alchemist]]'', an English Renaissance play by [[Ben Johnson]] |
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*''[[The Alchemist (book)|The Alchemist]]'', an allegorical book by [[Paulo Coelho]]. |
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Due to the proliferation of [[pseudepigrapha]] and anonymous works, it is difficult to know which of the alchemists were actually women. After the Greco-Roman period, women's names appear less frequently in the alchemical literature. Women vacate the history of alchemy during the medieval and renaissance periods, aside from the fictitious account of [[Perenelle Flamel]]. [[Mary Anne Atwood]]'s ''A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery'' (1850) marks their return during the nineteenth century occult revival. |
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===Other alchemical pages=== |
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*[[Vulcan of the alchemists]] |
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*[[Philosopher's stone]] |
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*[[Hermeticism]] |
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*[[Transmutation]] |
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*[[Duality]] |
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*[[The four humours]] |
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*[[Alkahest]], [[arcanum]], [[berith]], [[elixir]], [[quintessence]] |
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*[[Alembic]] |
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*[[Circle with a point at its centre]] |
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*[[Goldwasser|Gold water]] |
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*[[Alchemical symbol]] |
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*[[Operative Alchemy]] |
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*[[Fullmetal Alchemist]] <!--if not relate just delete it --> (Japanese [[Anime]]) |
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=== Modern historical research === |
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===Alternative philosophies=== |
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The history of alchemy has become a significant and recognized subject of academic study.<ref name="Antoine Faivre 1995. p.viii–xv">Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff. ''Western esotericism and the science of religion.'' 1995. p.viii–xvi</ref> As the language of the alchemists is analyzed, historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the evolution of science and [[philosophy]], the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, [[Kabbalah|kabbalism]], [[spiritualism]], [[Rosicrucianism]], and other mystic movements.<ref>[http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/exeseso/ See Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism website]</ref> Institutions involved in this research include The Chymistry of Isaac Newton project at [[Indiana University]], the [[University of Exeter]] Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO), the [[European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism]] (ESSWE), and the [[University of Amsterdam]]'s Sub-department for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the [[Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica]] in Amsterdam. A recipe found in a mid 19th century kabbalah based book features step by step instructions on turning copper into gold. The author attributed this recipe to an ancient manuscript he located.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://jewishnews.com/2015/09/27/old-jewish-book-outlines-how-to-turn-copper-into-gold|title=Old Jewish Book Outlines how to Turn Copper into Gold|access-date=2016-04-21}}</ref> |
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*[[Western mystery tradition]] |
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*[[Astrology]] |
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*[[Necromancy]], [[magic (paranormal)|magic]], |
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*[[Esotericism]], [[Rosicrucianism]], [[Illuminati]] |
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*[[Taoism]] and the [[Five Elements]] |
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*[[Kayaku-Jutsu]] |
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*[[Acupuncture]], [[moxibustion]], [[ayurveda]], [[homeopathy]] |
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*[[Anthroposophy]] |
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*[[Psychology]] and [[Carl Jung]] |
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*[[New Age]] |
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Journals which publish regularly on the topic of Alchemy include '[[Ambix]]', published by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, and '[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]', published by The History of Science Society. |
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===Scientific connections=== |
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== Core concepts == |
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[[File:Fotothek df tg 0006104 Theosophie ^ Alchemie ^ Judentum ^ Kabbala.jpg|thumb|Mandala illustrating common alchemical concepts, symbols, and processes. From ''Spiegel der Kunst und Natur''.]] |
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Western alchemical theory corresponds to the worldview of late antiquity in which it was born. Concepts were imported from [[Neoplatonism]] and earlier Greek [[cosmology]]. As such, the [[Classical elements]] appear in alchemical writings, as do the seven [[Classical planets]] and the corresponding seven [[metals of antiquity]]. Similarly, the gods of the Roman pantheon who are associated with these luminaries are discussed in alchemical literature. The concepts of [[prima materia]] and [[anima mundi]] are central to the theory of the [[philosopher's stone]]. |
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=== Hermeticism === |
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In the eyes of a variety of esoteric and [[Hermeticism|Hermetic]] practitioners, alchemy is fundamentally spiritual. Transmutation of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection.<ref name="Antoine Faivre 1995. p.96">Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff. ''Western esotericism and the science of religion.'' 1995. p.96</ref> The writings attributed to [[Hermes Trismegistus]] are a primary source of alchemical theory. He is named "alchemy's founder and chief patron, authority, inspiration and guide".<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|2003|pp=9}}</ref> |
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Early alchemists, such as [[Zosimos of Panopolis]] (c. AD 300), highlight the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul.<ref>Allen G. Debus. ''Alchemy and early modern chemistry.'' The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry. p.34.</ref> This approach continued in the Middle Ages, as metaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and material processes were used as metaphors for [[spirit]]ual entities, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformation. In this sense, the literal meanings of 'Alchemical Formulas' were a blind, hiding their true [[spiritual philosophy]]. Practitioners and patrons such as [[Melchior Cibinensis]] and [[Pope Innocent VIII]] existed within the ranks of the church, while [[Martin Luther]] applauded alchemy for its consistency with Christian teachings.<ref>Raphael Patai. ''The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book.'' Princeton University Press. p.4</ref> Both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea symbolized evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible, and ephemeral state toward a perfect, healthy, incorruptible, and everlasting state, so the philosopher's stone then represented a mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, the twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented a hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are written according to this view, the cryptic [[alchemical symbol]]s, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works typically contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; and must be laboriously decoded to discover their true meaning. |
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In his 1766 ''Alchemical Catechism'', Théodore Henri de Tschudi denotes that the usage of the metals was merely symbolic: |
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{{quote|<poem>Q. When the Philosophers speak of gold and silver, from which they extract their matter, are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgar gold and silver? |
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A. By no means; vulgar silver and gold are dead, while those of the Philosophers are full of life.<ref>Théodore Henri de Tschudi. Hermetic Catechism in his ''L'Etoile Flamboyant ou la Société des Franc-Maçons considerée sous tous les aspects.'' 1766. (A.E. Waite translation as found in ''The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.'')</ref></poem>}} |
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=== Magnum opus === |
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{{Main article|Magnum opus (alchemy)}} |
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The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a series of four stages represented by colors. |
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*''[[nigredo]]'', a blackening or melanosis |
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*''[[Albedo (alchemy)|albedo]]'', a whitening or leucosis |
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*''[[citrinitas]]'', a yellowing or xanthosis |
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*''[[rubedo]]'', a reddening, purpling, or iosis<ref>Joseph Needham. ''Science & Civilisation in China: Chemistry and chemical technology. Spagyrical discovery and invention: magisteries of gold and immortality.'' Cambridge. 1974. p.23</ref> |
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== Modern alchemy == |
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Due to the complexity and obscurity of alchemical literature, and the 18th-century disappearance of remaining alchemical practitioners into the area of chemistry; the general understanding of alchemy has been strongly influenced by several distinct and radically different interpretations.<ref>{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=385}}</ref> Those focusing on the exoteric, such as historians of science [[Lawrence M. Principe]] and [[William R. Newman]], have interpreted the 'decknamen' (or code words) of alchemy as physical substances. These scholars have reconstructed physicochemical experiments that they say are described in medieval and early modern texts.<ref>Richard Conniff. "Alchemy May Not Have Been the Pseudoscience We All Thought It Was." [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/alchemy-may-not-been-pseudoscience-we-thought-it-was-180949430/#ixzz2sYcrpZl7 Smithsonian Magazine.] February 2014.</ref> At the opposite end of the spectrum, focusing on the esoteric, scholars, such as George Calian<ref> |
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{{cite book|last= Calian |first= George |title= Alkimia Operativa and Alkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy |publisher= Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU |year= 2010 |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://archive.org/stream/AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnThe/FlorinGeorgeCalian-AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnTheHistoriographyOfAlchemy#page/n0/mode/2up |accessdate= |ref= harv }}</ref> and Anna Marie Roos,<ref>Anna Marie Roos (2013), Review of ''The Secrets of Alchemy'', [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1369848613001143 ''Studies in History and Philosophy of Science'' '''44''']</ref> who question the reading of Principe and Newman, interpret these same decknamen as spiritual, religious, or psychological concepts. |
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Today new interpretations of alchemy are still perpetuated, sometimes merging in concepts from [[New Age]] or radical environmentalism movements.<ref>{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=396}}</ref> Groups like the [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucians]] and [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] have a continued interest in alchemy and its symbolism. Since the Victorian revival of alchemy, "occultists reinterpreted alchemy as a spiritual practice, involving the self-transformation of the practitioner and only incidentally or not at all the transformation of laboratory substances.",<ref name="Alchemy Restored" /> which has contributed to a merger of [[magic (paranormal)|magic]] and alchemy in popular thought. |
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=== Traditional medicine === |
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{{Main article|Ayurveda|Traditional Chinese medicine}} |
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Traditional medicine can use the concept of the transmutation of natural substances, using pharmacological or a combination of pharmacological and spiritual techniques. In [[Ayurveda]], the [[Samskara (Ayurvedic)|samskaras]] are claimed to transform [[heavy metals]] and toxic herbs in a way that removes their toxicity. These processes are actively used to the present day.<ref>Junius, Manfred M; ''The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy: An Herbalist's Guide to Preparing Medicinal Essences, Tinctures, and Elixirs''; Healing Arts Press 1985</ref> |
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Spagyrists of the 20th century, [[Frater Albertus|Albert Richard Riedel]] and Jean Dubuis, merged Paracelsian alchemy with occultism, teaching laboratory pharmaceutical methods. The schools they founded, ''Les Philosophes de la Nature'' and ''The Paracelsus Research Society'', popularized modern spagyrics including the manufacture of herbal tinctures and products.<ref>Joscelyn Godwin. ''The Golden Thread: The Ageless Wisdom of the Western Mystery Traditions.'' Quest Books, 2007. p.120</ref> The courses, books, organizations, and conferences generated by their students continue to influence popular applications of alchemy as a New Age medicinal practice. |
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=== Psychology === |
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Alchemical symbolism has been important in depth and analytical psychology and was revived and popularized from near extinction by the Swiss psychologist [[Carl Jung|Carl Gustav Jung]]. Initially confounded and at odds with alchemy and its images, after being given a copy of the translation of ''The Secret of the Golden Flower'', a Chinese alchemical text, by his friend Richard Wilhelm, Jung discovered a direct correlation or parallels between the symbolic images in the alchemical drawings and the inner, symbolic images coming up in dreams, visions or imaginations during the psychic processes of transformation occurring in his patients. A process, which he called "process of individuation". He regarded the alchemical images as symbols expressing aspects of this "process of [[individuation]]" of which the creation of the gold or lapis within were symbols for its origin and goal.<ref name="Jung, C. G. 1944">Jung, C. G. (1944). Psychology and Alchemy (2nd ed. 1968 Collected Works Vol. 12 {{ISBN|0-691-01831-6}}). London: Routledge. E.g. §41, §116, §427, §431, §448.</ref><ref name="Polly Young-Eisendrath, Terence Dawson. ''The Cambridge companion to Jung.'' Cambridge University Press. 1997. p.33"/> Together with his alchemical ''mystica soror'', Jungian Swiss analyst [[Marie-Louise von Franz]], Jung began collecting all the old alchemical texts available, compiled a lexicon of key phrases with cross-references<ref>Anthony Stevens: ''On Jung.'' (A new and authoritiative introduction to Jung's life and thought), Penguin Books, London 1990, {{ISBN|0140124942}}, p. 193.</ref> and pored over them. The volumes of work he wrote brought new light into understanding the art of transubstantiation and renewed alchemy's popularity as a symbolic process of coming into wholeness as a human being where opposites brought into contact and inner and outer, spirit and matter are reunited in the ''[[hieros gamos]]'' or divine marriage. His writings are influential in psychology and for persons who have an interest in understanding the importance of dreams, symbols and the unconscious archetypal forces ([[Jungian archetypes|archetypes]])<ref name="Polly Young-Eisendrath, Terence Dawson. ''The Cambridge companion to Jung.'' Cambridge University Press. 1997. p.33">Polly Young-Eisendrath, Terence Dawson. ''The Cambridge companion to Jung.'' Cambridge University Press. 1997. p.33</ref><ref>C.G. Jung Preface to [[Richard Wilhelm (sinologist)|Richard Wilhelm]]'s translation of the [[I Ching]].</ref><ref>C.-G. Jung Preface to the translation of [[Secret of the Golden Flower|The Secret of The Golden Flower]].</ref> that influence all of life. |
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Both von Franz and Jung have contributed greatly to the subject and work of alchemy and its continued presence in psychology as well as contemporary culture. Jung wrote volumes on alchemy and his magnum opus is Volume 14 of his Collected Works, ''[[Mysterium Coniunctionis|Mysterium Conuinctionis]].'' |
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=== Literature === |
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{{Main article|Alchemy in art and entertainment}} |
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Alchemy has had a long-standing relationship with art, seen both in alchemical texts and in mainstream entertainment. ''Literary alchemy'' appears throughout the history of English literature from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]] to [[J. K. Rowling]], and also the popular Japanese manga [[Full Metal Alchemist]]. Here, characters or plot structure follow an alchemical magnum opus. In the 14th century, Chaucer began a trend of alchemical satire that can still be seen in recent fantasy works like those of Terry Pratchett. |
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Visual artists had a similar relationship with alchemy. While some of them used alchemy as a source of satire, others worked with the alchemists themselves or integrated alchemical thought or symbols in their work. Music was also present in the works of alchemists and continues to influence popular performers. In the last hundred years, alchemists have been portrayed in a magical and spagyric role in fantasy fiction, film, television, novels, comics and video games. |
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== See also == |
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{{div col|colwidth=15em}} |
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*[[Alchemy in art and entertainment]] |
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*[[Biological transmutation]] |
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*[[Chemistry]] |
*[[Chemistry]] |
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*[[Chinese alchemy]] |
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*[[Isaac Newton's occult studies]] |
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*[[ |
*[[Cupellation]] |
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*[[Hermes Trismegistus]] |
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*[[Historicism]] |
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*[[History of chemistry]] |
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*[[List of alchemists]] |
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*[[List of topics characterized as pseudoscience]] |
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*[[Magnum opus (alchemy)]] |
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*[[Mary the Jewess]] |
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*[[Nuclear transmutation]] |
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*[[Outline of alchemy]] |
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*[[Philosopher's Stone]] |
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*[[Physics]] |
*[[Physics]] |
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*[[Porta Alchemica]] |
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*[[Scientific method]] |
*[[Scientific method]] |
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*[[Superseded scientific theories]] |
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*[[Protoscience]], [[Pseudoscience]], and [[Anti-science]] |
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*[[Synthesis of precious metals]] |
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*[[Obsolete scientific theories]] |
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{{div col end}} |
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*[[Historicism]] |
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== Notes == |
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===Substances of the alchemists=== |
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{{reflist|group=n}} |
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*[[Gold]] • [[silver]] • [[lead]] • [[copper]] • [[zinc]] • [[mercury (element)|mercury]] |
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*[[Phosphorus]] • [[sulfur]] • [[arsenic]] • [[antimony]] |
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*[[Vitriol]] • [[magnesium|magnesia]] • [[gunpowder]] |
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*[[Ammonia]] • [[ammonium chloride]] • [[alcohol]] |
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* Acids: [[sulfuric acid|sulfuric]] •[[hydrochloric acid|muriatic]] • [[nitric acid|nitric]] • [[acetic acid|acetic]] • [[formic acid|formic]] • [[citric acid|citric]] |
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*[[Aqua regia]] |
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== |
== References == |
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*[[List of alchemists]] |
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*[[List of occultists]] |
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== |
=== Citations === |
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{{Reflist}} |
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=== Bibliography === |
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{{refbegin}} |
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*{{cite book|last= Calian |first= George |title= Alkimia Operativa and Alkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy |publisher= Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU |year= 2010 |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://archive.org/stream/AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnThe/FlorinGeorgeCalian-AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnTheHistoriographyOfAlchemy#page/n0/mode/2up |accessdate= |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last= Eliade |first= Mircea |authorlink= Mircea Eliade |title=[[The Forge and the Crucible]]|publisher= [[State University of New York Press]] |year= 1994 |url= |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last= Forshaw |first= Peter J |chapter = Chemistry, That Starry Science – Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology and Alchemy |title= Sky and Symbol |url= https://www.academia.edu/5317837/Chemistry_That_Starry_Science_-_Early_Modern_Conjunctions_of_Astrology_and_Alchemy}} |
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*{{cite book|last= Forshaw |first= Peter J |article = Cabala Chymica or Chemica Cabalistica – Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala |title= Ambix, Vol. 60:4 |url= https://www.academia.edu/5237828/Cabala_Chymica_or_Chemia_Cabalistica_-_Early_Modern_Alchemists_and_Cabala}} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Holmyard |first1= Eric John |authorlink1= Eric John Holmyard |title= Makers of Chemistry |publisher= [[Clarendon Press]] |location = Oxford |year= 1931 |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://archive.org/details/makersofchemistr029725mbp |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Holmyard |first1= Eric John |authorlink1= Eric John Holmyard |title= Alchemy |publisher= [[Courier Dover Publications]] |year= 1957 |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=7Bt-kwKRUzUC&lpg=PP1&dq=alchemy&pg=PP1&hl=en#v=onepage&q&f=false |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Linden |first1= Stanton J. |title= Darke Hierogliphicks: Alchemy in English literature from Chaucer to the Restoration |publisher= [[University Press of Kentucky]] |year= 1996 |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3JUfBgAAQBAJ&lpg=PP1&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Linden |first1= Stanton J. |title= The Alchemy Reader: from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton |publisher= [[Cambridge University Press]] |year= 2003 |isbn= |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Newman |first1= William R. |last2= Principe |first2= Lawrence M. |authorlink2= Lawrence M. Principe |title= Alchemy Tried in the Fire |publisher= [[University of Chicago Press]] |year= 2002 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=eQERmMdykZEC&lpg=PP1&dq=alchemy&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last1= von Franz |first1= Marie Louise |authorlink= Marie-Louise von Franz |title= Alchemical Active Imagination |publisher= [[Shambhala Publications]] |location= Boston |year= 1997 |isbn= 0-87773-589-1 |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=wOVUUMirSnEC&lpg=PP1&dq=alchemy&pg=PP1#v=onepage&q&f=false |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Kripal |first1= Jeffrey John |authorlink1= Jeffrey John Kripal |last2= Shuck |first2= Glenn W. |authorlink2= Glenn Shuck |title= On the Edge of the Future |publisher= [[Indiana University Press]] |date=July 2005 |isbn= 978-0-253-34556-1 |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=mffc2m9D3REC |accessdate= 17 December 2011 |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book| last=Principe| first=Lawrence M.|title=The secrets of alchemy|location=Chicago &London|publisher=University of Chicago Press|year=2013|isbn=978-0-226-68295-2}} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Principe |first1= Lawrence M. |authorlink1= Lawrence M. Principe |last2= Newman |first2= William R. |authorlink2= |editor1-last= Newman |editor1-first= William R. |editor1-link= |editor2-last= Grafton |editor2-first= Anthony |editor2-link= Anthony Grafton |title= Secrets of Nature, Astrology and Alchemy in Modern Europe |publisher= [[MIT Press]] |year= 2001 |isbn= 978-0-262-14075-1 |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CMuJGpztRFMC |accessdate= 17 December 2011 |chapter= Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy |chapterurl= |pages= 385–432 |ref= harv }} |
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*{{cite book|last1= Rutkin |first1= H. Darrel |editor1-last= Newman |editor1-first= William R. |editor2-last= Grafton |editor2-first= Anthony |editor2-link= Anthony Grafton |title= Secrets of Nature, Astrology and Alchemy in Modern Europe |publisher= [[MIT Press]] |year= 2001 |isbn= 978-0-262-14075-1 |oclc= |doi= |bibcode= |arxiv= |asin= |jfm= |jstor= |lccn= |mr= |ol= |osti= |rfc= |ssrn= |zbl= |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CMuJGpztRFMC |accessdate= 17 December 2011 |chapter= Celestial Offerings: Astrological Motifs in the Dedicatory Letters of Kepler's ''Astronomia Nova'' and Galileo's ''Sidereus Nuncius'' |chapterurl= |pages= 133–172 |ref= harv }} |
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{{refend}} |
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== External links == |
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{{Wiktionary}} |
{{Wiktionary}} |
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{{Wiktionary|alchemy}} |
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* [http://www.levity.com/alchemy/texts.html Alchemy prime source documents online] |
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{{Wikiquote}} |
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* [http://www.hermeticresearch.org Hermetic Research] is a Portal on serious Hermetic study and discussion. |
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{{Commons category|Alchemy}} |
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* [http://tooting.webspace.fish.co.uk/green/key.html The Key] Modern operative work |
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{{Wikisource|Portal:Alchemy|Alchemy}} |
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* [http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-04 ''Dictionary of the History of Ideas'':] Alchemy |
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{{Wikibooks}} |
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* [http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14218 The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry], 1913, from [[Project Gutenberg]] |
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* [http://www.ambix.org/ SHAC: Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry] |
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* [http://www.esswe.org/ ESSWE: European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism] |
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* [http://www.aseweb.org/ Association for the Study of Esotericism] |
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* [http://www.alchemywebsite.com/ The Alchemy Website.] – [[Adam McLean]]'s online collections and academic discussion. |
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* {{In Our Time|Alchemy|p003k9bn|Alchemy (Peter Forshaw, Lauren Kassell and Stephen Pumfrey)}} |
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* [http://xtf.lib.virginia.edu/xtf/view?docId=DicHist/uvaBook/tei/DicHist1.xml;chunk.id=dv1-04 ''Dictionary of the History of Ideas'':] Alchemy |
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* [http://beinecke.library.yale.edu/digitallibrary/alchemy.html Book of Secrets: Alchemy and the European Imagination, 1500–2000] – A digital exhibition from the [http://www.library.yale.edu/beinecke/ Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University] |
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Revision as of 02:17, 13 July 2018
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/03/Alchemy_of_Happiness.png/170px-Alchemy_of_Happiness.png)
Alchemy is a philosophical and protoscientific tradition practiced throughout Europe, Africa, Brazil and Asia. It aimed to purify, mature, and perfect certain objects.[1][2][n 1] Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease; and the development of an alkahest, a universal solvent.[3] The perfection of the human body and soul was thought to permit or result from the alchemical magnum opus and, in the Hellenistic and western tradition, the achievement of gnosis.[2] In Europe, the creation of a philosopher's stone was variously connected with all of these projects.
In English, the term is often limited to descriptions of European alchemy, but similar practices existed in the Far East, the Indian subcontinent, and the Muslim world. In Europe, following the 12th-century Renaissance produced by the translation of Islamic works on science and the Recovery of Aristotle, alchemists played a significant role in early modern science[4] (particularly chemistry and medicine). Islamic and European alchemists developed a structure of basic laboratory techniques, theory, terminology, and experimental method, some of which are still in use today. However, they continued antiquity's belief in four elements and guarded their work in secrecy including cyphers and cryptic symbolism. Their work was guided by Hermetic principles related to magic, mythology, and religion.[5]
Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split into an examination of its exoteric practical applications and its esoteric spiritual aspects, despite the arguments of scholars like Holmyard[6] and von Franz[7] that they should be understood as complementary. The former is pursued by historians of the physical sciences who examine the subject in terms of early chemistry, medicine, and charlatanism, and the philosophical and religious contexts in which these events occurred. The latter interests historians of esotericism, psychologists, and some philosophers and spiritualists. The subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts. Despite this split, which von Franz believes has existed since the Western traditions' origin in a mix of Greek philosophy that was mixed with Egyptian and Mesopotamian technology,[7] numerous sources have stressed an integration of esoteric and exoteric approaches to alchemy as far back as Pseudo-Democritus's first-century AD On Physical and Mystical Matters (Greek: Physika kai Mystika).[8]
Etymology
The word alchemy comes from Old French alquemie, alkimie, used in Medieval Latin as alchymia. This name was itself brought from the Arabic word al-kīmiyā’ (Template:Rtl-lang) composed of two parts: the Late Greek term hēmeía (χημεία), khēmía (χημία), meaning 'to fuse or cast a metal'[9] [10], and the Arabic definite article al- (Template:Rtl-lang), meaning 'The'.[11] Together this association can be interpreted as 'the process of transmutation by which to fuse or reunite with the divine or original form'. Its roots can be traced to the Egyptian name kēme (hieroglyphic 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 khmi ), meaning ‘black earth’ which refers to the fertile and auriferous soil of the Nile valley, as opposed to red desert sand.[11]
According to the Egyptologist Wallis Budge, the Arabic word al-kīmiyaʾ actually means "the Egyptian [science]", borrowing from the Coptic word for "Egypt", kēme (or its equivalent in the Mediaeval Bohairic dialect of Coptic, khēme). This Coptic word derives from Demotic kmỉ, itself from ancient Egyptian kmt. The ancient Egyptian word referred to both the country and the colour "black" (Egypt was the "Black Land", by contrast with the "Red Land", the surrounding desert); so this etymology could also explain the nickname "Egyptian black arts". However, according to Mahn, this theory may be an example of folk etymology.[11] Assuming an Egyptian origin, chemistry is defined as follows:
- Chemistry, from the ancient Egyptian word "khēmia" meaning transmutation of earth, is the science of matter at the atomic to molecular scale, dealing primarily with collections of atoms, such as molecules, crystals, and metals.
Thus, according to Budge and others, chemistry derives from an Egyptian word khemein or khēmia, "preparation of black powder", ultimately derived from the name khem, Egypt. A decree of Diocletian, written about 300 AD in Greek, speaks against "the ancient writings of the Egyptians, which treat of the khēmia transmutation of gold and silver".[12]
The Medieval Latin form was influenced by Greek chymeia (χυμεία) meaning ‘mixture’ and referring to pharmaceutical chemistry.[13]
History
Alchemy is several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships. One can distinguish at least three major strands, which appear to be largely independent, at least in their earlier stages: Chinese alchemy, centered in China and its zone of cultural influence; Indian alchemy, centered on the Indian subcontinent; and Western alchemy, which occurred around the Mediterranean and whose center has shifted over the millennia from Greco-Roman Egypt, to the Islamic world, and finally medieval Europe. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoism and Indian alchemy with the Dharmic faiths, whereas Western alchemy developed its own philosophical system that was largely independent of, but influenced by, various Western religions. It is still an open question whether these three strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other.
Hellenistic Egypt
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Zosimosapparat.jpg)
The start of Western alchemy may generally be traced to ancient and Hellenistic Egypt, where the city of Alexandria was a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods.[14] Here, elements of technology, religion, mythology, and Hellenistic philosophy, each with their own much longer histories, combined to form the earliest known records of alchemy in the West. Zosimos of Panopolis wrote the oldest known books on alchemy,[citation needed] while Mary the Jewess is credited as being the first non-fictitious Western alchemist. They wrote in Greek and lived in Egypt under Roman rule.
Mythology – Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to Pharaonic Egypt where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion.[15] Alchemical writers used Classical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemical transmutation.[16] These included the pantheon of gods related to the Classical planets, Isis, Osiris, Jason, and many others.
The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is Hermes Trismegistus (or Thrice-Great Hermes). His name is derived from the god Thoth and his Greek counterpart Hermes. Hermes and his caduceus or serpent-staff, were among alchemy's principal symbols. According to Clement of Alexandria, he wrote what were called the "forty-two books of Hermes", covering all fields of knowledge.[17] The Hermetica of Thrice-Great Hermes is generally understood to form the basis for Western alchemical philosophy and practice, called the hermetic philosophy by its early practitioners. These writings were collected in the first centuries of the common era.
Technology – The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of metallurgy, extending back to 3500 BC.[18] Many writings were lost when the emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books[19] after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria (AD 292). Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived, most notable among them the Stockholm papyrus and the Leyden papyrus X. Dating from AD 300–500, they contained recipes for dyeing and making artificial gemstones, cleaning and fabricating pearls, and manufacturing of imitation gold and silver.[20] These writings lack the mystical, philosophical elements of alchemy, but do contain the works of Bolus of Mendes (or Pseudo-Democritus), which aligned these recipes with theoretical knowledge of astrology and the classical elements.[21] Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos, the change took place that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermetic art.[22]
Philosophy – Alexandria acted as a melting pot for philosophies of Pythagoreanism, Platonism, Stoicism and Gnosticism which formed the origin of alchemy's character.[21] An important example of alchemy's roots in Greek philosophy, originated by Empedocles and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: earth, air, water, and fire. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed.[23] The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are; "...True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form."[24] Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.
Alchemy coexisted alongside emerging Christianity. Lactantius believed Hermes Trismegistus had prophesied its birth. St Augustine later affirmed this in the 4th & 5th centuries, but also condemned Trismegistus for idolatry.[25] Examples of Pagan, Christian, and Jewish alchemists can be found during this period.
Most of the Greco-Roman alchemists preceding Zosimos are known only by pseudonyms, such as Moses, Isis, Cleopatra, Democritus, and Ostanes. Others authors such as Komarios, and Chymes, we only know through fragments of text. After AD 400, Greek alchemical writers occupied themselves solely in commenting on the works of these predecessors.[26] By the middle of the 7th century alchemy was almost an entirely mystical discipline.[27] It was at that time that Khalid Ibn Yazid sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Islamic world, facilitating the translation and preservation of Greek alchemical texts in the 8th and 9th centuries.[28]
India
The Vedas describe a connection between eternal life and gold.[29] The use of Mercury for alchemy is first documented in the 3rd– or 4th–century Arthashastra. Buddhist texts from the 2nd to 5th centuries mention the transmutation of base metals to gold. Greek alchemy may have been introduced to Ancient India through the invasions of Alexander the Great in 325 BC, and kingdoms that were culturally influenced by the Greeks like Gandhāra, although hard evidence for this is lacking.[29]
The 11th-century Persian chemist and physician Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī, who visited Gujarat as part of the court of Mahmud of Ghazni, reported that they
have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them, which in Sanskrit is called Rasayāna and in Persian Rasavātam. It means the art of obtaining/manipulating Rasa: nectar, mercury, and juice. This art was restricted to certain operations, metals, drugs, compounds, and medicines, many of which have mercury as their core element. Its principles restored the health of those who were ill beyond hope and gave back youth to fading old age.
The goals of alchemy in India included the creation of a divine body (Sanskrit divya-deham) and immortality while still embodied (Sanskrit jīvan-mukti). Sanskrit alchemical texts include much material on the manipulation of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized with the semen of the god Śiva and the menstrual blood of the goddess Devī.
Some early alchemical writings seem to have their origins in the Kaula tantric schools associated to the teachings of the personality of Matsyendranath. Other early writings are found in the Jaina medical treatise Kalyāṇakārakam of Ugrāditya, written in South India in the early 9th century.[30]
Two famous early Indian alchemical authors were Nāgārjuna Siddha and Nityanātha Siddha. Nāgārjuna Siddha was a Buddhist monk. His book, Rasendramangalam, is an example of Indian alchemy and medicine. Nityanātha Siddha wrote Rasaratnākara, also a highly influential work. In Sanskrit, rasa translates to "mercury", and Nāgārjuna Siddha was said to have developed a method of converting mercury into gold.[31]
Reliable scholarship on Indian alchemy has been advanced in a major way by the publication of The Alchemical Body by David Gordon White.[32] Trustworthy scholarship on Indian alchemy must now take the findings of this work into account.
An important modern bibliography on Indian alchemical studies has also been provided by David Gordon White at Oxford Bibliographies Online.[33]
The contents of 39 Sanskrit alchemical treatises have been analysed in detail in G. Jan Meulenbeld's History of Indian Medical Literature.[34][n 2] The discussion of these works in HIML gives a summary of the contents of each work, their special features, and where possible the evidence concerning their dating. Chapter 13 of HIML, Various works on rasaśāstra and ratnaśāstra (or Various works on alchemy and gems) gives brief details of a further 655 (six hundred and fifty-five) treatises. In some cases Meulenbeld gives notes on the contents and authorship of these works; in other cases references are made only to the unpublished manuscripts of these titles.
A great deal remains to be discovered about Indian alchemical literature. The content of the Sanskrit alchemical corpus has not yet (2014) been adequately integrated into the wider general history of alchemy.
Muslim world
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/00/Al-Jaahith_-_African_Arab_Naturalist_-_Basra_-_al_jahiz.jpg/220px-Al-Jaahith_-_African_Arab_Naturalist_-_Basra_-_al_jahiz.jpg)
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about Islamic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations.[35] The word alchemy itself was derived from the Arabic word al-kīmiyā’ (الكيمياء). The early Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. Platonic and Aristotelian thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuries through Syriac translations and scholarship.
In the late 8th century, Jābir ibn Hayyān (Latinized as "Geber" or "Geberus") introduced a new approach to alchemy, based on scientific methodology and controlled experimentation in the laboratory, in contrast to the ancient Greek and Egyptian alchemists whose works were often allegorical and unintelligible, with very little concern for laboratory work.[36] Jabir is thus "considered by many to be the father of chemistry",[37] albeit others reserve that title for Robert Boyle or Antoine Lavoisier. The science historian, Paul Kraus, wrote:
To form an idea of the historical place of Jabir's alchemy and to tackle the problem of its sources, it is advisable to compare it with what remains to us of the alchemical literature in the Greek language. One knows in which miserable state this literature reached us. Collected by Byzantine scientists from the tenth century, the corpus of the Greek alchemists is a cluster of incoherent fragments, going back to all the times since the third century until the end of the Middle Ages.
The efforts of Berthelot and Ruelle to put a little order in this mass of literature led only to poor results, and the later researchers, among them in particular Mrs. Hammer-Jensen, Tannery, Lagercrantz, von Lippmann, Reitzenstein, Ruska, Bidez, Festugiere and others, could make clear only few points of detail ....
The study of the Greek alchemists is not very encouraging. An even surface examination of the Greek texts shows that a very small part only was organized according to true experiments of laboratory: even the supposedly technical writings, in the state where we find them today, are unintelligible nonsense which refuses any interpretation.
It is different with Jabir's alchemy. The relatively clear description of the processes and the alchemical apparati, the methodical classification of the substances, mark an experimental spirit which is extremely far away from the weird and odd esotericism of the Greek texts. The theory on which Jabir supports his operations is one of clearness and of an impressive unity. More than with the other Arab authors, one notes with him a balance between theoretical teaching and practical teaching, between the `ilm and the `amal. In vain one would seek in the Greek texts a work as systematic as that which is presented, for example, in the Book of Seventy.[36]
Jabir himself clearly recognized and proclaimed the importance of experimentation:
The first essential in chemistry is that thou shouldest perform practical work and conduct experiments,
for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain to the least degree of mastery.[38]
Early Islamic chemists such as Jabir Ibn Hayyan, Al-Kindi ("Alkindus") and Muhammad ibn Zakarīya Rāzi ("Rasis" or "Rhazes") contributed a number of key chemical discoveries, such as the muriatic (hydrochloric acid), sulfuric and nitric acids, and more. The discovery that aqua regia, a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acids, could dissolve the noblest metal, gold, was to fuel the imagination of alchemists for the next millennium.
Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard was arguably Jabir. Jabir's ultimate goal was Takwin, the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to, and including, human life. He analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of hotness, coldness, dryness, and moistness.[39] According to Jabir, in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result.[39] By this reasoning, the search for the philosopher's stone was introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate numerology whereby the root letters of a substance's name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to the element's physical properties.
The elemental system used in medieval alchemy also originated with Jabir. His original system consisted of seven elements, which included the five classical elements (aether, air, earth, fire, and water) in addition to two chemical elements representing the metals: sulphur, "the stone which burns", which characterized the principle of combustibility, and mercury, which contained the idealized principle of metallic properties. Shortly thereafter, this evolved into eight elements, with the Arabic concept of the three metallic principles: sulphur giving flammability or combustion, mercury giving volatility and stability, and salt giving solidity.[40] The atomic theory of corpuscularianism, where all physical bodies possess an inner and outer layer of minute particles or corpuscles, also has its origins in the work of Jabir.[41]
From the 9th to 14th centuries, alchemical theories faced criticism from a variety of practical Muslim chemists, including Alkindus,[42] Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī,[43] Avicenna[44] and Ibn Khaldun. In particular, they wrote refutations against the idea of the transmutation of metals.
East Asia
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Whereas European alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble metals, Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine. The philosopher's stone of European alchemists can be compared to the Grand Elixir of Immortality sought by Chinese alchemists. However, in the hermetic view, these two goals were not unconnected, and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the universal panacea; therefore, the two traditions may have had more in common than initially appears.
Black powder may have been an important invention of Chinese alchemists. As previously stated above, Chinese alchemy was more related to medicine. It is said that the Chinese invented gunpowder while trying to find a potion for eternal life. Described in 9th-century texts[citation needed] and used in fireworks in China by the 10th century,[citation needed] it was used in cannons by 1290.[citation needed] From China, the use of gunpowder spread to Japan, the Mongols, the Muslim world, and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in 1241, and in Europe by the 14th century.
Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoist forms of traditional Chinese medicine, such as Acupuncture and Moxibustion, and to martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan[citation needed] and Kung Fu (although some Tai Chi schools believe that their art derives from the philosophical or hygienic branches of Taoism, not Alchemical). In fact, in the early Song dynasty, followers of this Taoist idea (chiefly the elite and upper class) would ingest mercuric sulfide, which, though tolerable in low levels, led many to suicide.[citation needed] Thinking that this consequential death would lead to freedom and access to the Taoist heavens, the ensuing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method of alchemy in favor of external sources[citation needed] (the aforementioned Tai Chi Chuan,[citation needed] mastering of the qi,[citation needed] etc.)
Medieval Europe
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The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe may be dated to 11 February 1144, with the completion of Robert of Chester's translation of the Arabic Book of the Composition of Alchemy. Although European craftsmen and technicians preexisted, Robert notes in his preface that alchemy was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of his writing. The translation of Arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century Toledo, Spain, through contributors like Gerard of Cremona and Adelard of Bath.[45] Translations of the time included the Turba Philosophorum, and the works of Avicenna and al-Razi. These brought with them many new words to the European vocabulary for which there was no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol, carboy, elixir, and athanor are examples.[46]
Meanwhile, theologian contemporaries of the translators made strides towards the reconciliation of faith and experimental rationalism, thereby priming Europe for the influx of alchemical thought. The 11th-century St Anselm put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. In the early 12th century, Peter Abelard followed Anselm's work, laying down the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle had reached the West. In the early 13th century, Robert Grosseteste used Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observation, experimentation, and conclusions when conducting scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did much work to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.[47]
Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemical knowledge in Europe remained centered on translations, and new Latin contributions were not made. The efforts of the translators were succeeded by that of the encyclopaedists. In the 13th century, Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon were the most notable of these, their work summarizing and explaining the newly imported alchemical knowledge in Aristotelian terms.[48] Albertus Magnus, a Dominican monk, is known to have written works such as the Book of Minerals where he observed and commented on the operations and theories of alchemical authorities like Hermes and Democritus and unnamed alchemists of his time. Albertus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation of metals. From the time shortly after his death through to the 15th century, more than 28 alchemical tracts were misattributed to him, a common practice giving rise to his reputation as an accomplished alchemist.[49] Likewise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert's student Thomas Aquinas.
Roger Bacon, a Franciscan monk who wrote on a wide variety of topics including optics, comparative linguistics, and medicine, composed his Great Work (Latin: Opus Majus) for Pope Clement IV as part of a project towards rebuilding the medieval university curriculum to include the new learning of his time. While alchemy was not more important to him than other sciences and he did not produce allegorical works on the topic, he did consider it and astrology to be important parts of both natural philosophy and theology and his contributions advanced alchemy's connections to soteriology and Christian theology. Bacon's writings integrated morality, salvation, alchemy, and the prolongation of life. His correspondence with Clement highlighted this, noting the importance of alchemy to the papacy.[50] Like the Greeks before him, Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemy into practical and theoretical spheres. He noted that the theoretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle, the natural philosophers, and all Latin writers of his time. The practical, however, confirmed the theoretical thought experiment, and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine.[51] In later European legend, however, Bacon became an archmage. In particular, along with Albertus Magnus, he was credited with the forging of a brazen head capable of answering its owner's questions.
Soon after Bacon, the influential work of Pseudo-Geber (sometimes identified as Paul of Taranto) appeared. His Summa Perfectionis remained a staple summary of alchemical practice and theory through the medieval and renaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion of practical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercury theory, and the unusual clarity with which they were described.[52] By the end of the 13th century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one could learn the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the human soul). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded jargon set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practiced their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made observations and theories about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God.[53]
In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessible to Europeans outside the confines of Latin speaking churchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shifted from scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed social commentary on the alchemists themselves.[54] Dante, Piers Plowman, and Chaucer all painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars. Pope John XXII's 1317 edict, Spondent quas non exhibent forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-alchemists.[55] In 1403, Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals (although it was possible to buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically, and a number were granted by Henry VI and Edward IV[56]). These critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy, which continued with an increasingly Christian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian imagery of death and resurrection employed in the alchemical texts of Petrus Bonus, John of Rupescissa, and in works written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnold of Villanova.[57]
Nicolas Flamel is a well-known alchemist, but a good example of pseudepigraphy, the practice of giving your works the name of someone else, usually more famous. Though the historical Flamel existed, the writings and legends assigned to him only appeared in 1612.[58][59] Flamel was not a religious scholar as were many of his predecessors, and his entire interest in the subject revolved around the pursuit of the philosopher's stone. His work spends a great deal of time describing the processes and reactions, but never actually gives the formula for carrying out the transmutations. Most of 'his' work was aimed at gathering alchemical knowledge that had existed before him, especially as regarded the philosopher's stone.[60] Through the 14th and 15th centuries, alchemists were much like Flamel: they concentrated on looking for the philosophers' stone. Bernard Trevisan and George Ripley made similar contributions. Their cryptic allusions and symbolism led to wide variations in interpretation of the art.
Renaissance and early modern Europe
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During the Renaissance, Hermetic and Platonic foundations were restored to European alchemy. The dawn of medical, pharmaceutical, occult, and entrepreneurial branches of alchemy followed.
In the late 15th century, Marsilo Ficino translated the Corpus Hermeticum and the works of Plato into Latin. These were previously unavailable to Europeans who for the first time had a full picture of the alchemical theory that Bacon had declared absent. Renaissance Humanism and Renaissance Neoplatonism guided alchemists away from physics to refocus on mankind as the alchemical vessel.
Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into a broader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, astrology, and Christian cabala.[61][62] A key figure in this development was German Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa (1486–1535), who received his Hermetic education in Italy in the schools of the humanists. In his De Occulta Philosophia, he attempted to merge Kabbalah, Hermeticism, and alchemy. He was instrumental in spreading this new blend of Hermeticism outside the borders of Italy.[63][64]
Philippus Aureolus Paracelsus, (Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) cast alchemy into a new form, rejecting some of Agrippa's occultism and moving away from chrysopoeia. Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote, "Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines."[65]
His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them.[66] Paracelsian practical alchemy, especially herbal medicine and plant remedies has since been named spagyric (a synonym for alchemy from the Greek words meaning to separate and to join together, based on the Latin alchemic maxim: solve et coagula).[67] Iatrochemistry also refers to the pharmaceutical applications of alchemy championed by Paracelsus.
John Dee (13 July 1527 – December, 1608) followed Agrippa's occult tradition. Though better known for angel summoning, divination, and his role as astrologer, cryptographer, and consultant to Queen Elizabeth I, Dee's alchemical[68] Monas Hieroglyphica, written in 1564 was his most popular and influential work. His writing portrayed alchemy as a sort of terrestrial astronomy in line with the Hermetic axiom As above so below.[69] During the 17th century, a short-lived "supernatural" interpretation of alchemy became popular, including support by fellows of the Royal Society: Robert Boyle and Elias Ashmole. Proponents of the supernatural interpretation of alchemy believed that the philosopher's stone might be used to summon and communicate with angels.[70]
Entrepreneurial opportunities were common for the alchemists of Renaissance Europe. Alchemists were contracted by the elite for practical purposes related to mining, medical services, and the production of chemicals, medicines, metals, and gemstones.[71] Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor, in the late 16th century, famously received and sponsored various alchemists at his court in Prague, including Dee and his associate Edward Kelley. King James IV of Scotland,[72] Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg, Augustus, Elector of Saxony, Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn, and Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel all contracted alchemists.[73] John's son Arthur Dee worked as a court physician to Michael I of Russia and Charles I of England but also compiled the alchemical book Fasciculus Chemicus.
Though most of these appointments were legitimate, the trend of pseudo-alchemical fraud continued through the Renaissance. Betrüger would use sleight of hand, or claims of secret knowledge to make money or secure patronage. Legitimate mystical and medical alchemists such as Michael Maier and Heinrich Khunrath wrote about fraudulent transmutations, distinguishing themselves from the con artists.[74] False alchemists were sometimes prosecuted for fraud.
The terms "chemia" and "alchemia" were used as synonyms in the early modern period, and the differences between alchemy, chemistry and small-scale assaying and metallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. There were important overlaps between practitioners, and trying to classify them into alchemists, chemists and craftsmen is anachronistic. For example, Tycho Brahe (1546–1601), an alchemist better known for his astronomical and astrological investigations, had a laboratory built at his Uraniborg observatory/research institute. Michael Sendivogius (Michał Sędziwój, 1566–1636), a Polish alchemist, philosopher, medical doctor and pioneer of chemistry wrote mystical works but is also credited with distilling oxygen in a lab sometime around 1600. Sendivogious taught his technique to Cornelius Drebbel who, in 1621, applied this in a submarine. Isaac Newton devoted considerably more of his writing to the study of alchemy (see Isaac Newton's occult studies) than he did to either optics or physics. Other early modern alchemists who were eminent in their other studies include Robert Boyle, and Jan Baptist van Helmont. Their Hermeticism complemented rather than precluded their practical achievements in medicine and science.
Late modern period
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The decline of European alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for "ancient wisdom". Although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the 17th century, alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years, and in fact may have reached its peak in the 18th century. As late as 1781 James Price claimed to have produced a powder that could transmute mercury into silver or gold. Early modern European alchemy continued to exhibit a diversity of theories, practices, and purposes: "Scholastic and anti-Aristotelian, Paracelsian and anti-Paracelsian, Hermetic, Neoplatonic, mechanistic, vitalistic, and more—plus virtually every combination and compromise thereof."[75]
Robert Boyle (1627–1691) pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data. Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out, the wind characteristics, the position of the Sun and Moon, and the barometer reading, all just in case they proved to be relevant.[76] This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries of Lavoisier and John Dalton.
Beginning around 1720, a rigid distinction was drawn between "alchemy" and "chemistry" for the first time.[77][78] By the 1740s, "alchemy" was now restricted to the realm of gold making, leading to the popular belief that alchemists were charlatans, and the tradition itself nothing more than a fraud.[75][78] In order to protect the developing science of modern chemistry from the negative censure of which alchemy was being subjected, academic writers during the scientific Enlightenment attempted, for the sake of survival, to separate and divorce the "new" chemistry from the "old" practices of alchemy. This move was mostly successful, and the consequences of this continued into the 19th and 20th centuries, and even to the present day.[79]
During the occult revival of the early 19th century, alchemy received new attention as an occult science.[80][81] The esoteric or occultist school, which arose during the 19th century, held (and continues to hold) the view that the substances and operations mentioned in alchemical literature are to be interpreted in a spiritual sense, and it downplays the role of the alchemy as a practical tradition or protoscience.[77][82][83] This interpretation further forwarded the view that alchemy is an art primarily concerned with spiritual enlightenment or illumination, as opposed to the physical manipulation of apparatus and chemicals, and claims that the obscure language of the alchemical texts were an allegorical guise for spiritual, moral or mystical processes.[83]
In the 19th-century revival of alchemy, the two most seminal figures were Mary Anne Atwood and Ethan Allen Hitchcock, who independently published similar works regarding spiritual alchemy. Both forwarded a completely esoteric view of alchemy, as Atwood claimed: "No modern art or chemistry, notwithstanding all its surreptitious claims, has any thing in common with Alchemy."[84][85] Atwood's work influenced subsequent authors of the occult revival including Eliphas Levi, Arthur Edward Waite, and Rudolf Steiner. Hitchcock, in his Remarks Upon Alchymists (1855) attempted to make a case for his spiritual interpretation with his claim that the alchemists wrote about a spiritual discipline under a materialistic guise in order to avoid accusations of blasphemy from the church and state. In 1845, Baron Carl Reichenbach, published his studies on Odic force, a concept with some similarities to alchemy, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.[86]
Women in alchemy
Several women appear in the earliest history of alchemy. Michael Maier names Mary the Jewess, Cleopatra the Alchemist, Medera, and Taphnutia as the four women who knew how to make the philosopher's stone.[87] Zosimos' sister Theosebia (later known as Euthica the Arab) and Isis the Prophetess also played a role in early alchemical texts.
The first alchemist whose name we know is said to have been Mary the Jewess (c. 200 A.D.).[88] Early sources claim that Mary (or Maria) devised a number of improvements to alchemical equipment and tools as well as novel techniques in chemistry.[88] Her best known advances were in heating and distillation processes. The laboratory water-bath, known eponymously (especially in France) as the bain-marie, is said to have been invented or at least improved by her.[89] Essentially a double-boiler, it was (and is) used in chemistry for processes that require gentle heating. The tribikos (a modified distillation apparatus) and the kerotakis (a more intricate apparatus used especially for sublimations) are two other advancements in the process of distillation that are credited to her.[90] The occasional claim that Mary was the first to discover hydrochloric acid is not accepted by most authorities.[91] Though we have no writing from Mary herself, she is known from the early fourth century writings of Zosimos of Panopolis.[92]
Due to the proliferation of pseudepigrapha and anonymous works, it is difficult to know which of the alchemists were actually women. After the Greco-Roman period, women's names appear less frequently in the alchemical literature. Women vacate the history of alchemy during the medieval and renaissance periods, aside from the fictitious account of Perenelle Flamel. Mary Anne Atwood's A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery (1850) marks their return during the nineteenth century occult revival.
Modern historical research
The history of alchemy has become a significant and recognized subject of academic study.[93] As the language of the alchemists is analyzed, historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the evolution of science and philosophy, the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, kabbalism, spiritualism, Rosicrucianism, and other mystic movements.[94] Institutions involved in this research include The Chymistry of Isaac Newton project at Indiana University, the University of Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO), the European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism (ESSWE), and the University of Amsterdam's Sub-department for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam. A recipe found in a mid 19th century kabbalah based book features step by step instructions on turning copper into gold. The author attributed this recipe to an ancient manuscript he located.[95]
Journals which publish regularly on the topic of Alchemy include 'Ambix', published by the Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry, and 'Isis', published by The History of Science Society.
Core concepts
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Western alchemical theory corresponds to the worldview of late antiquity in which it was born. Concepts were imported from Neoplatonism and earlier Greek cosmology. As such, the Classical elements appear in alchemical writings, as do the seven Classical planets and the corresponding seven metals of antiquity. Similarly, the gods of the Roman pantheon who are associated with these luminaries are discussed in alchemical literature. The concepts of prima materia and anima mundi are central to the theory of the philosopher's stone.
Hermeticism
In the eyes of a variety of esoteric and Hermetic practitioners, alchemy is fundamentally spiritual. Transmutation of lead into gold is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection.[96] The writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus are a primary source of alchemical theory. He is named "alchemy's founder and chief patron, authority, inspiration and guide".[97]
Early alchemists, such as Zosimos of Panopolis (c. AD 300), highlight the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul.[98] This approach continued in the Middle Ages, as metaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and material processes were used as metaphors for spiritual entities, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformation. In this sense, the literal meanings of 'Alchemical Formulas' were a blind, hiding their true spiritual philosophy. Practitioners and patrons such as Melchior Cibinensis and Pope Innocent VIII existed within the ranks of the church, while Martin Luther applauded alchemy for its consistency with Christian teachings.[99] Both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea symbolized evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible, and ephemeral state toward a perfect, healthy, incorruptible, and everlasting state, so the philosopher's stone then represented a mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, the twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented a hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are written according to this view, the cryptic alchemical symbols, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works typically contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; and must be laboriously decoded to discover their true meaning.
In his 1766 Alchemical Catechism, Théodore Henri de Tschudi denotes that the usage of the metals was merely symbolic:
Q. When the Philosophers speak of gold and silver, from which they extract their matter, are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgar gold and silver?
A. By no means; vulgar silver and gold are dead, while those of the Philosophers are full of life.[100]
Magnum opus
The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a series of four stages represented by colors.
- nigredo, a blackening or melanosis
- albedo, a whitening or leucosis
- citrinitas, a yellowing or xanthosis
- rubedo, a reddening, purpling, or iosis[101]
Modern alchemy
Due to the complexity and obscurity of alchemical literature, and the 18th-century disappearance of remaining alchemical practitioners into the area of chemistry; the general understanding of alchemy has been strongly influenced by several distinct and radically different interpretations.[102] Those focusing on the exoteric, such as historians of science Lawrence M. Principe and William R. Newman, have interpreted the 'decknamen' (or code words) of alchemy as physical substances. These scholars have reconstructed physicochemical experiments that they say are described in medieval and early modern texts.[103] At the opposite end of the spectrum, focusing on the esoteric, scholars, such as George Calian[104] and Anna Marie Roos,[105] who question the reading of Principe and Newman, interpret these same decknamen as spiritual, religious, or psychological concepts.
Today new interpretations of alchemy are still perpetuated, sometimes merging in concepts from New Age or radical environmentalism movements.[106] Groups like the Rosicrucians and Freemasons have a continued interest in alchemy and its symbolism. Since the Victorian revival of alchemy, "occultists reinterpreted alchemy as a spiritual practice, involving the self-transformation of the practitioner and only incidentally or not at all the transformation of laboratory substances.",[75] which has contributed to a merger of magic and alchemy in popular thought.
Traditional medicine
Traditional medicine can use the concept of the transmutation of natural substances, using pharmacological or a combination of pharmacological and spiritual techniques. In Ayurveda, the samskaras are claimed to transform heavy metals and toxic herbs in a way that removes their toxicity. These processes are actively used to the present day.[107]
Spagyrists of the 20th century, Albert Richard Riedel and Jean Dubuis, merged Paracelsian alchemy with occultism, teaching laboratory pharmaceutical methods. The schools they founded, Les Philosophes de la Nature and The Paracelsus Research Society, popularized modern spagyrics including the manufacture of herbal tinctures and products.[108] The courses, books, organizations, and conferences generated by their students continue to influence popular applications of alchemy as a New Age medicinal practice.
Psychology
Alchemical symbolism has been important in depth and analytical psychology and was revived and popularized from near extinction by the Swiss psychologist Carl Gustav Jung. Initially confounded and at odds with alchemy and its images, after being given a copy of the translation of The Secret of the Golden Flower, a Chinese alchemical text, by his friend Richard Wilhelm, Jung discovered a direct correlation or parallels between the symbolic images in the alchemical drawings and the inner, symbolic images coming up in dreams, visions or imaginations during the psychic processes of transformation occurring in his patients. A process, which he called "process of individuation". He regarded the alchemical images as symbols expressing aspects of this "process of individuation" of which the creation of the gold or lapis within were symbols for its origin and goal.[109][110] Together with his alchemical mystica soror, Jungian Swiss analyst Marie-Louise von Franz, Jung began collecting all the old alchemical texts available, compiled a lexicon of key phrases with cross-references[111] and pored over them. The volumes of work he wrote brought new light into understanding the art of transubstantiation and renewed alchemy's popularity as a symbolic process of coming into wholeness as a human being where opposites brought into contact and inner and outer, spirit and matter are reunited in the hieros gamos or divine marriage. His writings are influential in psychology and for persons who have an interest in understanding the importance of dreams, symbols and the unconscious archetypal forces (archetypes)[110][112][113] that influence all of life.
Both von Franz and Jung have contributed greatly to the subject and work of alchemy and its continued presence in psychology as well as contemporary culture. Jung wrote volumes on alchemy and his magnum opus is Volume 14 of his Collected Works, Mysterium Conuinctionis.
Literature
Alchemy has had a long-standing relationship with art, seen both in alchemical texts and in mainstream entertainment. Literary alchemy appears throughout the history of English literature from Shakespeare to J. K. Rowling, and also the popular Japanese manga Full Metal Alchemist. Here, characters or plot structure follow an alchemical magnum opus. In the 14th century, Chaucer began a trend of alchemical satire that can still be seen in recent fantasy works like those of Terry Pratchett.
Visual artists had a similar relationship with alchemy. While some of them used alchemy as a source of satire, others worked with the alchemists themselves or integrated alchemical thought or symbols in their work. Music was also present in the works of alchemists and continues to influence popular performers. In the last hundred years, alchemists have been portrayed in a magical and spagyric role in fantasy fiction, film, television, novels, comics and video games.
See also
- Alchemy in art and entertainment
- Biological transmutation
- Chemistry
- Chinese alchemy
- Cupellation
- Hermes Trismegistus
- Historicism
- History of chemistry
- List of alchemists
- List of topics characterized as pseudoscience
- Magnum opus (alchemy)
- Mary the Jewess
- Nuclear transmutation
- Outline of alchemy
- Philosopher's Stone
- Physics
- Porta Alchemica
- Scientific method
- Superseded scientific theories
- Synthesis of precious metals
Notes
- ^ For a detailed look into the problems of defining alchemy, see Linden 1996, pp. 6–36
- ^ To wit, the Ānandakanda, Āyurvedaprakāśa, Gorakṣasaṃhitā, Kākacaṇḍeśvarīmatatantra, Kākacaṇḍīśvarakalpatantra, Kūpīpakvarasanirmāṇavijñāna, Pāradasaṃhitā, Rasabhaiṣajyakalpanāvijñāna, Rasādhyāya, Rasahṛdayatantra, Rasajalanidhi, Rasakāmadhenu, Rasakaumudī, Rasamañjarī, Rasamitra, Rasāmṛta, Rasapaddhati, Rasapradīpa, Rasaprakāśasudhākara, Rasarājalakṣmī, Rasaratnadīpikā, Rasaratnākara, Rasaratnasamuccaya, Rasārṇava, Rasārṇavakalpa, Rasasaṃketakalikā, Rasasāra, Rasataraṅgiṇī, Rasāyanasāra, Rasayogasāgara, Rasayogaśataka, Rasendracintāmaṇi, Rasendracūḍāmaṇi, Rasendramaṅgala, Rasendrapurāṇa, Rasendrasambhava, Rasendrasārasaṅgraha, Rasoddhāratantra or Rasasaṃhitā, and Rasopaniṣad.
References
Citations
- ^ Malouin, Paul-Jacques (1751), "Alchimie [Alchemy]", Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts, et des Métiers, Vol. I, Paris: translated by Lauren Yoder in 2003 for Michigan Publishing's The Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert Collaborative Translation Project
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(help). - ^ a b Linden (1996), pp. 7 & 11.
- ^ "Alchemy", Dictionary.com.
- ^ Chemical Knowledge in the Early Modern World, Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2014.
- ^ Wouter J. Hanegraaff (Cambridge University Press: 2012), Alchemy between Science and Religion, Esotericism and the Academy: Rejected Knowledge in Western Culture
- ^ Holmyard 1957, p. 16
- ^ a b von Franz (1997).
- ^ Matteo Martelli, The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus (Maney, 2013).
- ^ alchemy, Oxford Dictionaries
- ^ See, for example, the etymology for χημεία in Liddell, Henry George; Robert Scott (1901). A Greek-English Lexicon (Eighth edition, revised throughout ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-910205-8.
- ^ a b c "alchemy". Oxford English Dictionary (Online ed.). Oxford University Press. (Subscription or participating institution membership required.) Or see Harper, Douglas. "alchemy". Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved 7 April 2010..
- ^ Oxford English Dictionary Online, s.v. alchemy
- ^ See, for example, both the etymology given in the Oxford English Dictionary and also that for χυμεία in Liddell, Henry George; Robert Scott; Henry Stuart Jones (1940). A Greek-English Lexicon (A new edition, revised and augmented throughout ed.). Oxford: Clarendon Press. ISBN 0-19-910205-8.
- ^ New Scientist, 24–31 December 1987
- ^ Garfinkel, Harold (1986). Ethnomethodological Studies of Work. Routledge &Kegan Paul. p. 127. ISBN 0-415-11965-0.
- ^ Yves Bonnefoy. 'Roman and European Mythologies'. University of Chicago Press, 1992. pp. 211–213
- ^ Clement, Stromata, vi. 4.
- ^ Linden 1996, p. 12
- ^ Partington, James Riddick (1989). A Short History of Chemistry. New York: Dover Publications. p. 20. ISBN 0-486-65977-1.
- ^ Linden 2003, p. 46
- ^ a b A History of Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent, Isabelle Stengers, Harvard University Press, 1996, p13
- ^ Linden 1996, p. 14
- ^ Lindsay, Jack (1970). The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt. London: Muller. p. 16. ISBN 0-389-01006-5.
- ^ Burckhardt, Titus (1967). Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. Trans. William Stoddart. Baltimore: Penguin. p. 66. ISBN 0-906540-96-8.
- ^ Fanning, Philip Ashley. Isaac Newton and the Transmutation of Alchemy: An Alternative View of the Scientific Revolution. 2009. p.6
- ^ F. Sherwood Taylor. Alchemists, Founders of Modern Chemistry. p.26.
- ^ Allen G. Debus. Alchemy and early modern chemistry: papers from Ambix. p. 36
- ^ Glen Warren Bowersock, Peter Robert Lamont Brown, Oleg Grabar. Late antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world. p. 284–285
- ^ a b Multhauf, Robert P. & Gilbert, Robert Andrew (2008). Alchemy. Encyclopædia Britannica (2008).
- ^ Meulenbeld, G. Jan (1999–2002). History of Indian Medical Literature. Groningen: Egbert Forsten. pp. IIA, 151–155.
- ^ See Dominik Wujastyk, "An Alchemical Ghost: The Rasaratnākara of Nāgarjuna" in Ambix 31.2 (1984): 70-83. Online at https://univie.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk/Papers/152766/
- ^ See bibliographical details and links at https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3266066W/The_Alchemical_Body
- ^ doi:10.1093/OBO/9780195399318-0046
- ^ Meulenbeld, G. Jan (1999–2002). History of Indian Medical Literature. Groningen: Egbert Forsten. pp. IIA, 581–738.
- ^ Burckhardt, Titus (1967). Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. Trans. William Stoddart. Baltimore: Penguin. p. 46. ISBN 0-906540-96-8.
- ^ a b Kraus, Paul, Jâbir ibn Hayyân, Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam. I. Le corpus des écrits jâbiriens. II. Jâbir et la science grecque,. Cairo (1942–1943). Repr. By Fuat Sezgin, (Natural Sciences in Islam. 67–68), Frankfurt. 2002: (cf. Ahmad Y Hassan. "A Critical Reassessment of the Geber Problem: Part Three". Retrieved 16 September 2014.)
- ^ Derewenda, Zygmunt S. (2007). "On wine, chirality and crystallography". Acta Crystallographica Section A. 64: 246–258 [247]. Bibcode:2008AcCrA..64..246D. doi:10.1107/S0108767307054293. PMID 18156689.
- ^ Holmyard 1931, p. 60
- ^ a b Burckhardt, Titus (1967). Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. Trans. William Stoddart. Baltimore: Penguin. p. 29. ISBN 0-906540-96-8.
- ^ Strathern, Paul. (2000), Mendeleyev's Dream – the Quest for the Elements, New York: Berkley Books
- ^ Moran, Bruce T. (2005). Distilling knowledge: alchemy, chemistry, and the scientific revolution. Harvard University Press. p. 146. ISBN 0-674-01495-2.
a corpuscularian tradition in alchemy stemming from the speculations of the medieval author Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan)
- ^ Felix Klein-Frank (2001), "Al-Kindi", in Oliver Leaman & Hossein Nasr, History of Islamic Philosophy, p. 174. London: Routledge.
- ^ Marmura, Michael E. (1965). "An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwan Al-Safa'an, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Sina by Seyyed Hossein Nasr". Speculum. 40 (4): 744–6. doi:10.2307/2851429.
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suggested) (help) - ^ Robert Briffault (1938). The Making of Humanity, p. 196–197.
- ^ Holmyard 1957, pp. 105–108
- ^ Holmyard 1957, p. 110
- ^ Hollister, C. Warren (1990). Medieval Europe: A Short History (6th ed.). Blacklick, Ohio: McGraw–Hill College. pp. 294f. ISBN 0-07-557141-2.
- ^ John Read. From Alchemy to Chemistry. 1995 p.90
- ^ James A. Weisheipl. Albertus Magnus and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays. PIMS. 1980. p.187-202
- ^ Edmund Brehm. "Roger Bacon's Place in the History of Alchemy." Ambix. Vol. 23, Part I, March 1976.
- ^ Holmyard 1957, pp. 120–121
- ^ Holmyard 1957, pp. 134–141.
- ^ Burckhardt, Titus (1967). Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. Trans. William Stoddart. Baltimore: Penguin. p. 149. ISBN 0-906540-96-8.
- ^ Tara E. Nummedal. Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire. University of Chicago Press, 2007. p. 49
- ^ John Hines, II, R. F. Yeager. John Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition. Boydell & Brewer. 2010. p.170
- ^ D. Geoghegan, "A licence of Henry VI to practise Alchemy" Ambix, volume 6, 1957, pages 10-17
- ^ Leah DeVun. From Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupescissa in the late Middle Ages. Columbia University Press, 2009. p. 104
- ^ Linden 2003, p. 123
- ^ "Nicolas Flamel. Des Livres et de l'or" by Nigel Wilkins
- ^ Burckhardt, Titus (1967). Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul. Trans. William Stoddart. Baltimore: Penguin. pp. 170–181. ISBN 0-906540-96-8.
- ^ Peter J. Forshaw. '"Chemistry, That Starry Science" - Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology and Alchemy' (2013)
- ^ Peter J. Forshaw, 'Cabala Chymica or Chemia Cabalistica – Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala' (2013)
- ^ Glenn Alexander Magee. Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition. Cornell University Press. 2008. p.30
- ^ Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction. Oxford University Press. 2008 p.60
- ^ Edwardes, Michael (1977). The Dark Side of History. New York: Stein and Day. p. 47. ISBN 0-552-11463-4.
- ^ Debus, Allen G.; Multhauf, Robert P. (1966). Alchemy and Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century. Los Angeles: William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California. pp. 6–12.
- ^ Joseph Needham. Science and Civilisation in China: Volume 5, Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Part 5, Spagyrical Discovery and Invention: Physiological Alchemy. Cambridge University Press. P.9
- ^ “Monas hieroglyphica is not a traditional alchemical work, but has important theoretical insights about a cosmic vision, in which alchemy played an important part.”Szőnyi, György E. (2015). "'Layers of Meaning in Alchemy in John Dee's Monas hieroglyphica and its Relevance in a Central European Context'" (PDF). Centre for Renaissance Texts, 2015, 118.
- ^ William Royall Newman, Anthony Grafton. Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe. MIT Press, 2001. P.173.
- ^ * Journal of the History of Ideas, 41, 1980, p. 293-318
- Principe & Newman 2001, pp. 399
- The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest, by Lawrence M. Principe, 'Princeton University Press', 1998, pp. 188 90
- ^ Tara E. Nummedal. Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire. p.4
- ^ Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland, vol. iii, (1901), 99, 202, 206, 209, 330, 340, 341, 353, 355, 365, 379, 382, 389, 409.
- ^ Tara E. Nummedal. Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire. p.85-98
- ^ Tara E. Nummedal. Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire. p.171
- ^ a b c Principe, Lawrence M. "Alchemy Restored." Isis 102.2 (2011): 305-12. Web.
- ^ Pilkington, Roger (1959). Robert Boyle: Father of Chemistry. London: John Murray. p. 11.
- ^ a b Newman & Principe 2002, p. 37
- ^ a b Principe & Newman 2001, p. 386
- ^ Principe & Newman 2001, pp. 386–7
- ^ Principe & Newman 2001, p. 387
- ^ Kripal & Shuck 2005, p. 27
- ^ Eliade 1994, p. 49
- ^ a b Principe & Newman 2001, p. 388
- ^ Principe & Newman 2001, p. 391
- ^ Rutkin 2001, p. 143
- ^ Daniel Merkur. Gnosis: An Esoteric Tradition of Mystical Visions and Unions. SUNY Press. 1993 p.55
- ^ Raphael Patai. The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book. p. 78.
- ^ a b Rayner-Canham, M; Rayner-Canham, G (2005). Women in Chemistry: Their Changing Roles from Alchemical Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century. Chemical Heritage Foundation. pp. 2–4. ISBN 9780941901277.
- ^ Patai, R (1995). The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book. Princeton University Press. pp. 60–80. ISBN 9780691006420.
- ^ Lindsay, J (1970). The origins of alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt. New York: Barnes & Noble. pp. 240–250. ISBN 9780389010067.
- ^ Gaster, Moses (2011). "Alchemy". Jewish Encyclopedia. Funk & Wagnalls Company. Retrieved 6 April 2016.
- ^ Patai, R. The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book. Princeton University Press. pp. 81–93. ISBN 9780691006420.
- ^ Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff. Western esotericism and the science of religion. 1995. p.viii–xvi
- ^ See Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism website
- ^ "Old Jewish Book Outlines how to Turn Copper into Gold". Retrieved 21 April 2016.
- ^ Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff. Western esotericism and the science of religion. 1995. p.96
- ^ Linden 2003, pp. 9
- ^ Allen G. Debus. Alchemy and early modern chemistry. The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry. p.34.
- ^ Raphael Patai. The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book. Princeton University Press. p.4
- ^ Théodore Henri de Tschudi. Hermetic Catechism in his L'Etoile Flamboyant ou la Société des Franc-Maçons considerée sous tous les aspects. 1766. (A.E. Waite translation as found in The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.)
- ^ Joseph Needham. Science & Civilisation in China: Chemistry and chemical technology. Spagyrical discovery and invention: magisteries of gold and immortality. Cambridge. 1974. p.23
- ^ Principe & Newman 2001, p. 385
- ^ Richard Conniff. "Alchemy May Not Have Been the Pseudoscience We All Thought It Was." Smithsonian Magazine. February 2014.
- ^
Calian, George (2010). Alkimia Operativa and Alkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy. Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU.
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(help) - ^ Anna Marie Roos (2013), Review of The Secrets of Alchemy, Studies in History and Philosophy of Science 44
- ^ Principe & Newman 2001, p. 396
- ^ Junius, Manfred M; The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy: An Herbalist's Guide to Preparing Medicinal Essences, Tinctures, and Elixirs; Healing Arts Press 1985
- ^ Joscelyn Godwin. The Golden Thread: The Ageless Wisdom of the Western Mystery Traditions. Quest Books, 2007. p.120
- ^ Jung, C. G. (1944). Psychology and Alchemy (2nd ed. 1968 Collected Works Vol. 12 ISBN 0-691-01831-6). London: Routledge. E.g. §41, §116, §427, §431, §448.
- ^ a b Polly Young-Eisendrath, Terence Dawson. The Cambridge companion to Jung. Cambridge University Press. 1997. p.33
- ^ Anthony Stevens: On Jung. (A new and authoritiative introduction to Jung's life and thought), Penguin Books, London 1990, ISBN 0140124942, p. 193.
- ^ C.G. Jung Preface to Richard Wilhelm's translation of the I Ching.
- ^ C.-G. Jung Preface to the translation of The Secret of The Golden Flower.
Bibliography
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(help) - Eliade, Mircea (1994). The Forge and the Crucible. State University of New York Press.
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(help) - Forshaw, Peter J. "Chemistry, That Starry Science – Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology and Alchemy". Sky and Symbol.
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- Holmyard, Eric John (1931). Makers of Chemistry. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
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(help) - Holmyard, Eric John (1957). Alchemy. Courier Dover Publications.
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(help) - Linden, Stanton J. (1996). Darke Hierogliphicks: Alchemy in English literature from Chaucer to the Restoration. University Press of Kentucky.
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(help) - Linden, Stanton J. (2003). The Alchemy Reader: from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton. Cambridge University Press.
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(help) - Newman, William R.; Principe, Lawrence M. (2002). Alchemy Tried in the Fire. University of Chicago Press.
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(help) - von Franz, Marie Louise (1997). Alchemical Active Imagination. Boston: Shambhala Publications. ISBN 0-87773-589-1.
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