History of Alchemy from Early to Middle Ages

Term Paper (Advanced Seminar), 1997

13 Pages, Grade: 1.5 (A)

T B 

TORSTEN BOCK (AUTHOR)

Free online reading

contents

Introductory remarks

1. The dawn of Alchemy
1.1. The word Alchemy
1.2. Legendary origins of alchemy
1.3. The oldest written sources

2. Alchemy in the West
2.1. Egypt
1.2. The Hellenistic era
2.3. The Arabic era
2.4. The Christian Middle Ages

3. Alchemy in the Far East
3.1. China
3.2. India and Tibet

Concluding remarks

Selected bibliography

Introductory remarks

This paper seeks to investigate the origins and the history of Alchemy. Almost no art or science has been subject to such controversial discussion over centuries than alchemy. It must be said that the alchemists themselves very much contributed to this controversy by keeping their recipes and practices secret. Because of the highly encrypted language and the excessive use of symbols and pictures in many alchemical treatises and works it really does not make wonder that alchemy became denounced as pseudo-science, deception and quite in a few cases even as folly. However, on the other hand there were a number of famous and learned men who seriously believed in alchemy and its possibilities. Also it should not be forgotten that alchemy was the mother of modern chemistry and many alchemists, though by mere chance, discovered on their quest for gold chemical processes and substances that are still in use. Mentioning gold is not to say that this was the one and only aim of all alchemists. As we shall see, alchemists throughout the world actually strove for three aims: wealth, i.e. making and multiplying of gold, silver, and precious stones; longevity, i.e. the panacea universalis, a substance that cures all illnesses; immortality, i.e. the elixir of life which restores youth at any given age.1

In this paper I will try to present the appearances of alchemy in a chronological order, however sometimes it will be necessary to abandon this way because of the parallel development of alchemy in very different regions. Also of interest will be some of the main theories and their development and finally important representatives of alchemy.

1. The dawn of Alchemy

1.1. The word Alchemy

Scholars are not yet sure where the word alchemy actually originates from. The Arabic prefix al- was put in front of an, apparently, much older word. Burckhardt2 traces chemy back to Old Egyptian k ê me/ch ê me = 'black soil' ,which is a name for Egypt, or just 'black' . An argument for that theory is that alchemy later sometimes was named Egyptian Art. According to other theories the word was coined by the Greek alchemists in Alexandria. In Greek it is P0:,^", meaning the stirring of the melted metal. It was then applied to the whole art. Yet another possible origin of the word is in the field of legends to which I will come in the following.

1.2. Legendary origins of alchemy

Basically there are three legends going around about the origin of alchemy. According to the first and perhaps most wide-spread one alchemy was brought into this world by the deity Hermes Trismegistos, who in the course of an ongoing syncretism in Hellenistic Egypt and Greece was equalled to the gods Chnum, Thoth and Ptah. On the basis of that legend alchemy is called the Hermetic Art and if something is sealed air- and watertight it is hermetically sealed.

According to an other legend alchemy, together with magic and other occult arts, came to mankind after the battle of the angels when the Lord threw the rebellious angels out of the heaven. They came down to earth, got married with ordinary women and taught them everything they knew. This knowledge was written down in a book called Chem~. 3 This legend is also apt to explain a possible origin of witches because this book is nothing less than the first Grimoire.4

Finally the third legend says that alchemy was taught to Moses and Aaron by the Lord himself because they were chosen. according to an apocryphal biblical story Moses destroyed the Golden Calf, burnt it to ashes, dissolved the ashes in water and gave the people of Israel to drink. Now, for someone who hears this story it must be quite obvious that if Moses was able to destroy gold so completely he must as well be able to make it.

1.3. The oldest written sources

Unfortunately there are only a few examples of early alchemical writings that have survived till today. Among these artefacts are some fragmentary cuneiform script tablets from old Egypt that contain recipes for making alloys and colouring metals. Burckhardt says that in Egypt alchemy was considered a holy art and therefore was handed down orally. The big fire in the library of Alexandria, too, surely destroyed a number of precious works on alchemy .

The so far oldest known and most famous sources are two papyri from the 3rd century AD. They became known as Papyrus Leidensis and Papyrus Holmiensis5. Both contain a number of recipes for the imitation of gold and silver by forming either gold-containing alloys or simply golden-looking ones like brass. Furthermore they contain recipes for 'making' precious stones and pearls. Some recipes are open deception6. It is held by some scholars that both papyri are compilations of much earlier works. For a very detailed description of the two papyri see the outstanding work of Lippmann. Another source is the tabula smaragdina, ascribed to Hermes Trismegistos. Its authenticity has been doubted at7 not only because the oldest preserved version is an Arabic translation. It contains a very dense summa of alchemy and because of this density is very difficult to understand. There is a number of other works dating back to that period and published under famous names, but most of these works are pseudepigraphs and therefore cannot be taken as a kind of 'authentic' sources.

2. Alchemy in the West

2.1. Egypt

It is very difficult to investigate early alchemy in Egypt, meaning pre-Hellenistic Egypt. Lippmann, Burckhardt et alii hold that here is the true cradle of alchemy, though in a wider sense. The oldest evidences can be traced back to the Old Kingdom (c. 3200 BC). As early as that the Egyptians were good metallurgists. However this metallurgy was in the hands of the priestly caste who claimed to have their knowledge right from the gods Ptah and/or Thoth8. The workshops were in the temples of these gods and the artisans were either priests themselves or slaves of the temple. Bearing this in mind indubitably must have been highly respected for their secret wisdom, a fact that reinforced their power.

Around 1000 BC one can find the first hints of a theory, that there are four elements, Fire, Water, Earth, Air, and everything consists of a mixture of them. If the mixture is changed it theoretically should be possible to transform one substance into an other. This theory usually is ascribed to Aristotle, but apparently similar theories, naming four and sometimes five elements, developed independently in different regions and cultures at about the same time. Also rather early emerged the concept of the seven planets and their corresponding metals, perhaps coming from Babylon.

In the course of time there developed a proper temple industry. They 'multiplied' gold by creating alloys, e.g. electron, with less valuable metals, were skilful in gilding objects for ritual purposes and even created alloys that merely looked like gold, e.g. brass. Apart from these metallurgical enterprises there also appeared the imitating of precious stones and the colouring of glass. The substances in use were mineral salts and certain ashes and slags. At quite an early stage the art of the priests became J,6<@B"D"*@J@H, i.e. was handed down from father to son in order to keep it secret. Burckhardt in particular explains the lack of written artefacts with this secretness.

However, step by step the Egyptian empire declined and foreign influences became stronger. Among those influences were all sorts of philosophical concepts and streams like platonic, pre-Socratic, and Aristotelian philosophy. A new age of alchemy was dawning.

1.2. The Hellenistic era

Several scholars and most encyclopaediae place the beginning of alchemy in this period. Indeed alchemy during this era reached a bright bloom. The centre of this new period became Alexandria with its great library. Characteristic of it was a heretofore unknown religious syncretism. As mentioned above, the Greek god Hermes Trismegistos in Hellenistic Egypt became mixed with the gods Chnum, Thoth, and Ptah and was equally worshipped. The Ouruboros, a snake that eats its own tail, is the symbol of two old Egyptian gods9 and at the same time of the Greek Agathodaimon, also a snake-shaped god. The latter later on was sometimes referred to as Egyptian philosopher, king, or god.10 The Egyptians readily accepted virtually every new philosophical idea and absorbed it into their own thinking, re-shaping and adapting it freely according to their needs. Among the important theories of the time is that of the ovum philosophicum, the egg that contains all four elements. Heraklitos and Xenophanes framed it in the formula ª< 6"Â B?< (one and all). Plato and Aristotle developed a transmutation theory on the basis of the four-element theory. A substance can be transformed into an other substance by adding or reducing certain features. For instance if you add heat to water it becomes steam, i.e. changes its state from liquid to gas. Likewise it must be possible to transmute base metals into silver or gold. The new concept here was that of the prima materia, the black original state of all matter without features. The process is described as follows: first reduce the base metal to the materia prima (black ash, coal, slag, blackness of crows), as the next step the salting ( taricheia, sepsis of Isis), Alloiosis and Metabolè under the influence of the sulphurs, salts, and 'waters' .11 In the phial there is a constant movement "<@(upward, male, active, fire, air, spirit of Mercury) and 6"J@ ( downward, female, passive, Water, Earth, spirit of Sulphur). The reaction of these two sprits creates the homunculus which is rising through the colours to gold. There were lots of imaginations about the time span required for the transmutation. Numbers vary between 9 hours, 7, 14, 21, 40, 41, 110 days and 4, 6, 9,12 months. Likewise there are to be found descriptions of 4 steps of transmutation (nigredo - black, reduction of the metal to the prima materia, albedo - white, adding of purified mercury, citrinitas - yellow, adding of purified sulphur, rubedo - red, the mixture of the ingredients results in gold); 7 steps in connection with the seven planets(calcinatio - Mercury, putrefactio - Saturn, sublimatio - Jupiter, solutio - Moon, distillatio - Venus, coagulatio - Mars, extractio - Sun); 10 steps12, and 12 steps in correspondence to the zodiacal signs ( Aries - calcinatio, Taurus - congelatio, Gemini - fixatio, Cancer - solutio, Leo - digestio, Virgo - distillatio, Libra - sublimatio, Scorpio - separatio, Sagittarius - ceratio, Capricornus - fermentatio, Aquarius - multiplicatio, Pisces - proiectio). There co-existed the concepts of the tetrasomy ( copper, lead, tin, and iron as dead bodies), which is resurrected by the pneuma theion (divine spirit), and the three principles of Mercury (soul), Sulphur (spirit) and Sal (body), the trinity of which was called Androgyn. The most influential concept, however, was the idea of a substance which accelerates or causes transmutation at all, respectively, a substance known as xerion, elixir, philosophers' stone. Natural philosophy of that time held that all metals will one day reach the perfection of gold and that the seed of gold is in every metal. By means of the stone they sought to speed up nature and produce gold or silver in a much shorter time. Another belief was that base metals are 'ill' and have to be 'cured' with 'the stone'. From the 4th century onwards there developed a theory that mercury instead of gold is original part of all metals.

With the decline of the old religion there of course was connected a decline of the status of the priests. In reaction to this the priests adopted the claim of not creating substitutes of equal value but of making gold and silver itself. Under the influence of the younger Stoa superstition and mysticism rose. Alchemy became increasingly connected with magic and mancy. Alchemical treatises began to demand outer and inner purity. The adept should be free from envy, hatred and avarice. What's more, the adept must be chaste and for the time of the work keep a strict diet. Magical formulas and invocations together with purifying rituals emerged. An oath of secretness was established that ruled to speak about the art either not at all, or tecte (encrypted). The alchemist now had to observe the stars and wait for favourable constellations and some authors claimed, that the work must be begun on special days or in a special season. The methods and substances were being more and more obscured and the practical value of the writings gradually sank. As possible causes for the failure of the work were listed envy of demons, bad influence of the planets, the wrong season, ignorance or inappropriate use of the rituals and formulas.

Let me now come to some of the representatives of that period's alchemy and, in passing, their works. The first one to mention is Bolos of Mendes (around 200 BC). He brought with him the idea of the unity of the cosmos and interpreted the works of the Egyptian in this way. He seems to have been a practically working man because he wrote a book called 'Physica et Mystica' (title of the Latin translation). It contains a number of, rather obscure; recipes for the making of gold and colouring of metals. The next one is the disputed Hermes Trismegistos. between the 1st century BC and the 3rd century AD there was been published a vast number of works under the name of Hermes. The actual Corpus Hermeticum consists of 18 works, none of which really speaks about alchemy.

According to Haage the Corpus Hermeticum realiter is more a Gnostic than alchemical work and it merely was interpreted alchemically. The most tangible and historically authentic alchemist of the Hellenistic period, and perhaps its last great one, was Zosimos of Panopolis. He lived at the turn of the 4th to the 5th century. He was both a critical and productive author who built several apparatus himself. Zosimos was convinced of the possibility of transmuting base metals into gold by means of a certain substance. He described it as a dry, intensively red powder and called it P¬D4@< (xerion). His works are 'the divine water', 'of chemical devices and furnaces' ( to him goes back the Athanor13 ), 'of chemistry' and 'of the holy art'. In all his works he stresses that the way to the xerion leads via observation of and insight into nature. He also repeatedly pleads for keeping the art secret and encoded. Those who are really learned and chosen will be able to understand, those who aren't should leave the matter untouched.

Throughout the whole period there emerged lots of pseudepigraphs ascribed to Democritos, Isis, Maria Hebraica, Cleopatra and Hermes Trismegistos. A quite famous example for these pseudepigraphs is the chryspoiia by an author who called herself Cleopatra. It uses lots of pictures and symbols, among these the Ouruboros as symbol of the great work with the words ª< Jò B?< (one is all) inside. The writings of Synesius of Kyrene, Heliodoros, Dioskoros et alii have come down to us, however their historical existence is disputed. The preferred genres of these alchemical works were recipe, allegory, riddle poetry, visions of revelation, didactic poetry and letters, dialogue treatises, and commentaries.14

Evidently the 'making' of gold was very popular and successful in Hellas, because in 296 emperor Diocletian of Byzantium saw himself forced to order the burning of alchemical works, either because he feared that Alexandria could stand up against his kingdom, or he as a Christian deemed these writings heretical. In fact he might have been afraid of an economic chaos because of counterfeit money.

2.3. The Arabic era

While in Hellenistic Egypt and Greece alchemy was still in full bloom a new era was approaching with the expansion of the Arabic influence from Syria and Persia. The Arabs conquered huge areas from Asia via Northern Africa to Spain. Unlike other conquerors they did not destroy the culture and philosophy they encountered on their campaigns but treated them with great interest and respect. According to Lippmann no other expanding culture ever was so tolerant towards other cultures. Unavoidably they came across the blooming alchemy at the school of Alexandria and soon after (c. 7th century) the first translations of Greek works emerged, first in Syrian, later in Arabic. At their work the translators did not hesitate simply to take over Greek terms for devices and substances and prefix them with the Arabic al-15. The Arabs had a slightly more technical view on alchemy. Of course they also worked on transmuting base metals into gold but increasingly they discovered its use for medicine, If 'the stone' (al-iksir, elixir) is able to cure metals it must also be able to cure humans. The Arabic physicians dealt with the humoral pathology of Galenos, a concept on the basis of the four bodily liquids blood, black and yellow gall, and mucus. Galenos thought that if all these liquids are in equilibrium, man is healthy and even-tempered. He explains the human tempers16 with the gaining of the ascendancy of one of the four liquids. The medicine so far depended on herbal remedies. The experiments of the alchemists, however, gradually led to a pharmacopoeia of mineral remedies which step by step replaced the herbs. The same experiments with 'strong, i.e. corrosive, waters' several hundred years later led to the discovery of the mineral acids. The alleged founder of Arabic alchemy is Prince Khalid Jazid Ibn Mu'awija (635-704) of the Umaiyade dynasty. He strove in vain for the crown of the caliph and therefore he allegedly occupied himself with medical, astrological, and alchemical studies. He initiated the translation of several Greek works into Arabic. He gathered a number of scholars of his time at his court but had them incarcerated and executed because the promised transmutation always failed.

A shining authority of Arabic alchemy was Djabir Ibn Hajjan (c.720-819), in the newer research called Geber arabicus, in order to contrast him from Geber latinus who lived at the end of the 13th century. He advocated the experiment and practical work as the sources of theory. According to him mere brooding is futile. He developed a new theory of transmutation. At the beginning the matter must be reduced to the four elements. As a second step the ingredients must be brought into an equilibrium. For that purpose Djabir worked out a system of mathematical proportions that basically goes back to neo-Platonian and Pythagorean ideas. Now the matter must be reconstructed to the configuration of gold. He also worked on the concept of the lapis philosophorum. He defined it as trinity of soul, spirit and body in an equilibrium. In that state it is both volatile and constant, male and female, hot and cold, and moist and dry.

The very voluminous Corpus Gabirianum (8th-10th century) in two versions, one in 112 volumes, one in 70 volumes, is ascribed to him and a man called Al-Hasan ibn an-Nakid al-Mausili who lived in the middle/end of the 9th and the beginning of the 10th century. The long version of the Corpus Gabirianum is an extensive treatise on antique sciences in general. The 30 volumes that have come down to us contain a number of methods to create the elixir out of mineral and/or organic ingredients. The short version, apparently written by Djabir himself, consists of 70 volumes and contains an again extensive but complete and systematic description of the Djabirian alchemy. In these books Djabir repeatedly refers to the works of Greek authorities, not knowing that most of these are pseudepigraphs. Later ( in the 12th century) Gerhard of Cremona translated them into Latin and published the under the title Liber divinitatis de LXX.

Another very influential alchemist was Abu Bakr Muhammed ibn Zakarija 'ar-Razi (c.865-925) , often called Rhazes. He was a famous and successful physician and managed a hospital in Baghdad. He occupied himself with the Greek philosophy of nature and the Galenic humoral pathology and alchemy. In general he accepted Djabir's theories except his idea of the proportions of the ingredients. He again adopted a Sal-Sulphur-Mercury theory. During his practical studies he worked out a new classifying system. He distinguished between animal, vegetable, and earth-like matter and sub-divided the latter into volatile (spirits), metals (bodies), stones, vitriols, boraxes, and salts, thus making a big step towards systematic chemistry. Another theory of his was a corpuscular theory according to which all matter consists of atoms. The properties of the single matters depends from the density of the atoms - a very progressive view regarding the time when it was formulated. He perhaps did not know how close he was to truth. His main work was the Liber Secretorum 17 in which he laid down his theories and methods. Towards the end of his life he re-edited it and published an abridged version under the title Secretum Secretorum.

The latest one who deserves mentioning in the context of Arabic alchemy is Abu Ali al-Hussain Ibn Abdallah Ibn Sina (980-1037), latinized Avicenna. Like his colleague Rhazes he actually was a physician of high reputation. He studies the works of his predecessors and comes to believe that a real transmutation of metals is plainly impossible. Alchemy and the alchemists only can copy and imitate nature. He occupies himself with the elixir only for medical purposes. The search for gold has been abandoned for the sake of longevity. His main work Canon Medicinae (in the 12th century translated by Gerhard of Cremona) is one of the fundamental works of mediaeval medicine. A large number of pseudepigraphs was published under his name.

2.4. The Christian Middle Ages

During the 11th and 12th century Christian scholars became increasingly interested in science and philosophy of the Greek and Arab and thus became aware of alchemy as well. Cities like Paris, Salerno and Toledo became centres of education and science. Many philosophical and alchemical were translated into Latin, first of all in Spain and Sicily, then still occupied by the Arab. These works were regarded as the wisdom of 'the Old' and avidly studied, however some scholars, among them Adelard of Bath (1070-1146), stood up against the blind and un-reflected reception of the works. After their opinion one certainly should read these works but should not see in them the ultima ratio but rather a basis for own research. His contemporary Hortulanus wrote a compendium and a dictionary of alchemy and published a commentary of the tabula smaragdina. Alanus ab Insulis (1125- 1203) again wrote against the lack of scholarly self-consciousness he encountered among his contemporaries. He was abbot of Clairvaux and a very learned man. Because of his almost biblical age his contemporaries believed that he must have found the elixir. he wrote a book of recipes in rather obscure language. The books that by that time were read most were Djabir's Liber divinitatis de LXX, pseudo-Rhazes Liber lumen luminum and De aluminibus et salibus, a mixture of exoteric- scientific parts and esoteric - mystical allegories.

One of the greatest scholars of the middle Ages, Albertus Magnus (1193-1280), dedicated much of his life and work to alchemy. He, despite the works of Avicenna which he should have read, believed in the possibility of the transmutation and accordingly took effort in research. The essence of his theories and ideas he wrote down in his important works De Alchymia, De rebus metallicis et mineralibus, and Octo capita de philosophorum lapide. His contemporary Roger Bacon (1214-1292), like Albertus Magnus a very learned man18, had studied and taught at the important universities of his time. Bacon enjoyed a high reputation for trying out all experiments he read about. His concern for alchemy, however, caused him, he was member of the Franciscan order, several problems because about that time beginning in Spain alchemy became banned as un-Christian and pagan. In his main works Speculum Alchimiae, Opus tertium and his other writings he turned against the rising influence of occultism and magic19. He pleaded for alchemy as a serious science and a basis of philosophy of nature, and its practical side has nothing to do with mysticism and occult practices.

Notwithstanding the opposition of the clergy, alchemy became very popular during the 13th and 14th century. For the first time alchemy was included into encyclopaedias, e.g. De proprietatibus rerum by Bartholomaeus Anglicus (end of 12th century), Liber de natura rerum by Thomas Cantimpratensis(1201-1262), and Speculum maior by Vincenz of Beauvais, and lots of books with sometimes very obscure recipes were circulating. Allegedly alchemy also found its way into art and literature. According to Haage the Grail in Wolfram of Eschenbach's 'Parzival' is an allegory of the lapis philosophorum. This sounds intelligible because one of the properties both shared by the Grail and the philosophers' stone is to cure all diseases. The making and multiplying of gold and silver, like in the Hellenistic days, must have been very popular and profitable. The clergy increasingly frowned on this phenomenon until in 1317 Pope John XXII. issued the bull ' Spondent quas non exhibent ' which strictly prohibited counterfeiting.

At the end of this chapter the attention should be drawn to the work of Geber latinus (end of 13th-beginning of 14th century) . It is not completely proved yet, whether he really lived or not, however in his corpus there are some ideas that cannot have been those of Djabir Ibn Hajjan, alias Geber arabicus. His view of alchemy is that of an applied natural science and he is in favour of experiments rather than mere theory. his main works are S umma perfectionis magisterii, Liber de investigatione perfectionis, and Theorica et Practica. As sources for his Summa prfectionis magisterii the following works can be identified: Rhazes Liber Secretorum de voce Bubacaris, Geber arabicus Liber divinitatis de LXX, pseudo-Rhazes De aluminibus et salibus, pseudo-Aristotle De perfecta magisteria, Avicenna De congelatione et conglutinatione lapidum, pseudo-Avicenna De re recta, and Albertus Magnus De mineralibus. From these books and apparently after own studies Geber developed a new corpuscular theory and a new transmutation theory. To him all substances consist of corpuscles of different size which make them impure. Only if the alchemist is able to bring the substances into the state of mediocris substantia, i.e. all corpuscles are of the same size, they are fit for a transmutation. His recipe for a transmutation is as follows: 1. purify Mercury and Sulphur by sublimation, 2. fix the volatile Mercury by another sublimation, 3. sublime the Sulphur with iron and copper, and 4. bring the Mercury and the Sulphur, now both in mediocris substantia, to an reaction. As can be seen, the Sal is missing, to me a fact that clearly distinguishes him from Geber arabicus. Of his predecessors he picked up the idea that Mercury is a basic component of all metals and extended it to his theory of the lapis philosophorum being pure Mercury in mediocris substantia.

Like in all epochs before also in the Middle Ages of course there circulated pseudepigraphs in abundance. Again the names of the Greek philosophers, Hermes Trismegistos, but also of contemporary scholars like Arnaldus of Villanova and Raimundus Lullus, who somewhere in their lives occupied themselves with alchemy but never published own alchemical works, were to be found under sometimes obscure books of yet more obscure recipes.

3. Alchemy in the Far East

3.1. China

Let us now leave the West and direct our attention to the cultures of the Far East. Here in China and India also and alchemistic art developed but due to some cultural and historical peculiarities unfortunately the research so far did not quite succeed to detect the real origins of Eastern alchemy.

The roots of Chinese alchemy go far back into time, although most preserved written evidences are from the first few centuries AD. It can be held that they are compilations of much older works. An especially tragic date for the historians of China was the year 213 BC when emperor Shi-Huang-Ti ordered the burning of all books he could get, except those about farming, medicine, pharmacy, tree cultivation, and fortune-telling. Fortunately soon after him in the Han-period (205 BC-220 AD) there was much effort to replace the loss but lots of gaps evidently were carelessly filled with conjectures. Surely at these times forgery was booming.

The most striking difference to Western alchemy is that the Chinese give little or no importance to the making and multiplying of gold. The main goal of Chinese alchemy is the elixir of immortality. An argument for the old age Chinese alchemy is the belief in immortality which can be traced back to the 8th century BC, as early as in the 4th century BC it was believed that it is possible to attain immortality, and finally in the 1st century BC the corresponding drug was first mentioned in a treatise as 'drinkable gold'20. The Chinese philosophy already in ancient times developed the cosmic principle of Yin and Yang, represented by the symbol [. Either bears the seed of the other and neither could be without the other. The philosophy of nature is based on the concept of five elements (Fire, Water, Wood, Earth, Metal). In older research sometimes this is ascribed to Babylonian and/or Chaldean influences but more recent studies seem to have dropped that thought. Another philosophical root of Chinese alchemy is Taoism. This philosophical-religious movement was founded in the 6th century BC by Lao- Tse and its main work is the Tao-Te-King ('classic way of power'). From the beginning on the Taoists were outsiders and soon the movement split up into a purist and mystic fraction. The latter were said to possess super- natural powers and consequently the evolving alchemy was grafted onto them. Thanks to this and a collection called 'Yün chi ch'i ch'ien' ('seven tablets in a cloudy satchel') from 1023 AD we know some more about Chinese alchemy. The book 'Tan chin yao chüeh ('great secrets of alchemy'), ascribed to a certain Sun-Ssu -Miao (581-after 673), probably is the most famous Chinese alchemical work that has come down to us. It is a practical treatise on creating elixirs for attaining immortality, using organic and mineral ingredients (Mercury, Sulphur, salts of Mercury and arsenic are mentioned), and several recipes for the cure of diseases. Because some ingredients are highly poisonous it is no surprise that several monarchs died of elixir poisoning. Both alchemists and emperors became more cautious after a whole series of such royal deaths. In the centuries to come the Chinese presumably lost interest in alchemy because alchemical texts became more and more scarce and finally ceased completely.

3.2. India and Tibet

In India and Tibet there existed a kind of alchemy that strictly speaking was no alchemy in the true sense of the word but more or less pharmacy and, to apply the Paracelsian term, iatrochemistry. Lippmann reproaches especially Indian authors for a lack of chronological thinking. He criticises that newer findings simply were included into new editions of older works. Transmutation of metals into gold plays only a very marginal role in the older texts of that region. Immortality neither was a main objective of the Indians and Tibetans because their religions already offer a way to it. In India the Hinduistic god Shiva was thought to have invented alchemy, and Mercury, first mentioned in the Artha-sastra (4th-3rd century BC), was called the 'semen of Shiva'. In the oldest Indian texts, the Sanskrit Vedas, there are hints of alchemy close to that of China, and Lippmann thinks that there were mutual influences, at least after the rise of Buddhism. In Buddhist texts of the 2nd-5th century AD there emerges the idea of transmuting base metals into gold. According to Lippmann some alchemical knowledge was 'imported' from the West because the terms and processes are strikingly similar to Greek and Arabic ones. In Northern India up to the 8th century the existence of alchemy can be verified to a certain extent by Tibetan translations of alchemical texts, found in Buddhist stupas. These texts are about panaceae and transmutations of metals. As I said above, alchemy in India in fact was pharmacy. Accordingly the Indian 'alchemists' were mainly physicians. Unfortunately there are no names mentioned because almost every Indian alchemical work was published anonymously. They created very effective remedies using the salts of the metals, either of natural sources or chemically produced, sal ammoniac, sulphur, mercury, and other minerals. As a kind of 'spin-off' they also found methods for imitating precious stones and mixing colours for dyeing and colouring of cloth and, not to forget, make-up. With the rise of Tantrism between the 12th and 14th century alchemy, then surely influenced by the Western cultures, became associated with mysticism. Since there is no written evidence for alchemy after the mid of the 14th century it can be assumed that it died out as in neighbouring China.

Concluding remarks

In Europe alchemy did not simply fade away like in Asia. On the contrary during the renaissance and later in the 16th and 17th century it reached another climax. Generations of adepts were feverishly searching for the philosophers' stone and many of them ruined themselves completely. Nevertheless important inventions and discoveries were made, for instance the discovery of the mineral acids, the aqua vitae (alcohol), the Glauber salt, new methods for the production of steel, and so on. However, there were also very many cunning deceivers who roamed the land and pretended to be able to make gold. Many monarchs had their court alchemists because they hoped for an increase in their finance. Those court alchemists sometimes led comfortable lives but in many cases they also were hanged on the infamous gilded gallows when their patrons lost patience. A good example for recipes of the 17th century is a collection published 1992 by Heiko Skerra21. Parallel to the practical branch of alchemy there developed a mystical and occult movement. Secret societies and Hermetic orders emerged and worked out an inner alchemy. The transmutation was used by them as an allegory for the process of an inner catharsis the result of which should be an enlarged consciousness and a higher self.

Selected bibliography

Alchemie und die Alchemisten. Baden-Baden: AMORC-Bücher.1993

Brockhaus Enzyklopädie in vierundzwanzig Bänden: Neunzehnte, völlig neu bearbeitete Ausgabe. Erster Band A- APT, Mannheim: Brockhaus 1986

Burckhardt, Titus: Alchemie: Sinn und Weltbild. Neudruck Andechs: Dingfelder Verlag 1993

Haage, Bernhard Dietrich: Alchemie im Mittelalter; Ideen und Bilder - von Zosimus bis Paracelsus. Zürich/Düsseldorf: Artemis und Winckler, 1996

Lippmann, Edmund O. von: Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie. Mit einem Anhange: Zur älteren Geschichte der Metalle. Hildesheim/New York: Olms 1978

Schmieder, Karl Christoph: Geschichte der Alchemie. Halle 1832, Neudruck Langen: Roller 1987 Skerra, Heiko: Alchemie, der Stein der Weisen. Rhede(Ems):Ewert 1992

The New Enzyclopædia Britannica, Volume 25. Macropædia. Enzyclopædia Britannica, Inc. Chicago/Auckland/London/Madrid/Manila/Paris/Rome/Seoul/Sydney/Tokyo/Toronto

[...]

---

1 In different cultures these aims were different in their importance

2 Burckhardt, Titus: Alchemie: Sinn und Weltbild, 2. Aufl., Andechs:Dingfelder Verlag 1992

3 see also Lippmann, Edmund O. von : Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie. Mit einem Anhang: Zur älteren Geschichte der Metalle. Hildesheim/New York: Olms 1978, pp 310-312

4 secret book of magic, according to a wide-spread vernacular belief each witch possesses an own copy of it5 after the names of the libraries which keep them: Leiden and Stockholm

6 cf. Haage, Berhard Dietrich: Alchemie im Mittelalter, Ideen und Bilder - von Zosimus bis Paracelsus, Zürich /Düsseldorf: Artemis und Winckler, 1996, p. 70

7 Lippmann: Entstehung und Ausbreitung der Alchemie... p. 558 8 the god of fire and the god of wisdom

9 Apophis, the incarnation of darkness, and the Mhn snake, that protects the sun-god Re from Apophis10 it became custom to put living snakes into the foundations of a new temple

11 the hydor theion (divine water, spirit of mercury ), which resurrects the black prima materia

12 see Haage: Alchemie im Mittelalter... pp. 16-17

13 special kind of alchemical oven

14 cf. Haage: Alchemie im Mittelalter... p. 110

15 as in Al-chemy, Al-embic ( from ambix), Al-embroth ( sal divinum)

16 sanguine, choleric, melancholic, and phlegmatic

17 'secret' in this respect meaning 'technical knowledge, know how'

18 and therefore called doctor mirabilis

19 especially see his Epistola de secretis operibus artis et naturae et nullitate magiae

20 the term aurum potabile in the West refers to / is synonymous to panacea universalis

21 Alchemie, der Stein der Weisen. Rhede(Ems): Ewert 1992

13 of 13 pages

Details

Title

History of Alchemy from Early to Middle Ages

College

University of Leipzig

Course

Alchemy in Art and Literature

Grade

1.5 (A)

Author

Torsten Bock (Author)

Year

1997

Pages

13

Catalog Number

V94692

File size

366 KB

Language

English

Notes

Auf Wunsch liegt auch eine (gekürzte) deutsche Version vor.

Tags

History, Alchemy, Early, Middle, Ages, Literature

Quote paper

Torsten Bock (Author), 1997, History of Alchemy from Early to Middle Ages, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/94692

 "Different Moments in the One Cycle": Alchemical and Blakean Symbolism in Michael Bedard's Redwork

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Although it does contain an element of fantasy, Michael Bedard's Redwork, winner of both the Governor General's Award and the Canadian Library Association's Book of the Year for Children Award in 1990, seems at first glance to be a relatively conventional problem novel. That is, it focuses on the actions of a boy who faces a series of problems at home, in his neighborhood, and at work that test and develop his character, giving him new confidence in himself, allowing him to establish meaningful relationships with others, and providing him with a direction for his future life. Redwork goes beyond the narrow limits of self-absorbed adolescent identity, however, because Bedard interweaves symbols and plot parallels based on two related but somewhat arcane systems of spiritual development, that of the medieval alchemists and that of the visionary poet William Blake. The implicit and explicit use of these systems amplifies the conventional theme of a boy's coming of age, making it part of a larger spiritual theme.

Bedard articulated this idea in an interview with Dave Jenkinson: "We are all in very real ways completed in one another. It's a vital concern of mine, and I can see it repeating in the things that I do" (69). In Redwork, Bedard repeats this "vital concern" by tracing the relationship of a young boy, Cass Parry, and an old man, Arthur Magnus. Cass eventually realizes that his meeting with Magnus is actually a self-discovery, a finding of "some secret part of himself he had not even dreamed was there. They were but different moments in the one cycle" (217). This climactic recognition suggests that their friendship represents a spiritual and psychological development, a profound connection between people of markedly different generations. Thus we can see Redwork modifying the conventional egocentric notion of development into altruistic themes of spiritual transformation and mutual completion.

Redwork is intellectually complex, but the alchemical and Blakean symbolism operate within a relatively simple and accessible story. Fifteen-year-old Cass Parry has led a peripatetic life, moving from apartment to apartment while his single-parent mother, who supports them with her meager salary as a maid, struggles to complete a long-delayed M.A. thesis on Blake. Shortly after moving into the upper floor of a decrepit house in a wealthy neighborhood, Cass begins experiencing strange dreams that take him back to the trenches of World War I. He also faces several major problems. Sid Spector, a gang leader, physically threatens him when Cass shows interest in Arthur Magnus, the owner of the house. Sid extorts money to protect children from Magnus, whom children fear as a witch, and does not want contact with Magnus to appear safe. When Cass takes a job at a theater because his mother's salary is not sufficient to buy food, he also earns the enmity of the head usher, Fischer, who thinks he is interfering with his own plans to seduce Cass's friend Maddy Harrington. Fischer thus tries to have Cass fired. Finally, Cass runs into conflict with Magnus himself when he and Maddy spy on Magnus's mysterious nightly activities in the garage, with the result that Magnus, who is an alchemist, tries to evict Cass and his mother. When Cass and Maddy save him from a leaking gas stove, however, Magnus confides in the two adolescents and enlists their help in his alchemical experiments. They nearly succeed in creating the philosopher's stone, the goal of the experiments, but Sid distracts Cass, taking him away from his duty of tending the fire. Consequently, the experiment explodes. Nevertheless, Cass and Maddy receive from Magnus a new purpose in life: they will continue the alchemical quest.

Although the two symbolic systems are interwoven into this plot, alchemy forms both the dramatic center and the thematic core. Dramatically, alchemy provides the quest for the elusive philosopher's stone that has absorbed Arthur Magnus for over seventy years. Bearing a name suggestive of Albertus Magnus (c. 1200-1280), the learned teacher of Thomas Aquinas and a writer to...

"Different Moments in the One Cycle":Alchemical and Blakean Symbolism in Michael Bedard's Redwork

Raymond E. Jones
Children's Literature Association Quarterly
Johns Hopkins University Press
Volume 20, Number 1, Spring 1995
pp. 3-8
10.1353/chq.0.0951

ARTICLE
https://muse.jhu.edu/article/249464
View Citation
Additional Information

VITRIOL IN THE HISTORY OF CHEMISTRY
Contents
1. Introduction
2. Vitriol in Antiquity
3. Vitriol in Arabic Alchemy
4. Vitriol in Indian Alchemy
5. Vitriol in European Alchemy and Mineral Industry
6. Vitriol and the Mineral Acids
6.1. Nitric Acid
6.2. Sulfuric Acid
7. Conclusions

1. Introduction

Although chemistry is widely considered among its practitioners to be a modern science, technological processes based on chemical reactions have been in standard use from the distant past. The production of salts, dyes and paints, cosmetics, and fermented beverages made use of techniques and reactions common to chemical experimentation (such as filtration, dissolution, and sublimation). 

Among these early crafts, metallurgy involved a widening knowledge of metals and their

alloys, and entailed the recognition of certain stones as metallic ores. However, these activities seem to represent only a practical, applied use of chemical processes. Although craft--workers may have developed their own concepts regarding the substances involved in a given process, records of such

ideas have not come down to us, and the discoveries and improvements they made seem to have been based largely on a trial-and-error approach.

The ancient considerations on the nature of matter that have come down to us were composed by philosophers who considered the problem of change. In attempting to understand the objects of the natural world and the changes these objects undergo, the idea of earth, air, fire, and water as material

elements was first postulated by the Greek natural philosopherEmpedocles (492-432 BC), and was brought into its most well known form by Aristotle (384-322 BC). Analogous theories appeared around the same time in China (fire, earth, water metal, and wood) and India (earth, water, fire, air, and space)1

.

Western alchemy appears to have arisen in Hellenistic Egypt and the Near East during the last couple of centuries BC, in conjunction with several mystical sects and the increasingly common craft practices of creating imitation precious stones and metals 2. Although it lacked the logical rigor of earlier Greek philosophies, alchemy nonetheless attempted to engage the complex world of chemical processes and mineral substances in a scientific way, which eventually led to ideas involving the transmutation of base metals into precious ones and the preparation of a substance for extending the human life-span. The term protochemistry is often used to refer to some of these activities, and it is this aspect of alchemical activity with which the present work is concerned

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.530.4167&rep=rep1&type=pdf

VLADIMÕR KARPENKO
Department of Physical and Macromolecular Chemistry 
 and JOHN A. NORRIS

Department of Philosophy and History of Natural Sciences,

Faculty of Science, Charles University, 

Albertov 6, 128 43

Prague 2

e-mail: karpenko@natur.cuni.cz

Received 20.XII.2001

Keywords: alchemy, mineralogy, vitriols, sulfates, nitric acid,

sulfuric acid, ar-R·zÌ, Pseudo-Geberian corpus

Kundalini-like notions in ancient Egypt

 Here is an excerpt from Jack Lindsay's magnificent work of
scholarship 

ORIGINS OF ALCHEMY IN GRAECO-ROMAN EGYPT  
Barnes and Noble, 1970, 
pp. 190-3.  

He gives evidence for the existence of an awareness of the Kundalini,
the Serpent Power, in ancient Egypt.  The paragraphing is mine.

Dan Washburn

------------------------------------

... it is of interest to note that the notion of up-and-down,
down-and-up, as distinct from that of the lower world merely reflecting
the upper, is to be found in ancient Egyptian thought. The caduceus of
Hermes has prototypes that can be found in early eastern imagery, from
India to Egypt.

The rod or staff can be linked in a general way with the sacred Tree,
Mountain, or Ded-pillar that are prominent in Egyptian mythology and
ritual; and much light is cast on the inner meaning of these symbols by
Indian ideas. There we find the idea of an invisible canal called nadi
in Sanskrit (from n„da, movement). Various translations have been made
of the term: subtle canals (tubes), luminous arteries, psychic canals or
nerves. There were many nadi, but three chief ones: Ida, Pingala, and
Susumna. The last-named, the most important, corresponded to the
vertebral column, Brahma-danda: "the microcosm of the macrocosm." It was
the great road for the movement of the spiritual forces of the body; and
around it were twined, like the two snakes on Hermesí staff, the two
other nadi, Ida on the left, female and passive, and Pingala on the
right, male and active. On the top of Susumna, at a point corresponding
to the top of the skull, shone the Sun. Along the central axis were
located six main centres or cakras (circles, wheels, represented in the
shamanist rituals of Central Asia by the six cuts made in the Tree
before which the shaman falls in his possessed fit of initiation and
which in turn represent the six heavens through which he ascends, with
mimed episodes at each stage.) 

At the base of the spine, like a snake coiled in its spirals, sleeps
Kundalini, the ìigneous serpentine powerî, which awakens during the
initiation and rises up, from base to top, through the various cakras
till it reaches Sahasrara, located at the suture on the crown where the
two parietal bones meet. This aperture, the Brahme (Brahme-randhra), is
the place where ìthe Sun rises.î The original text thus expresses the
imagery: ìThe Bride [Kundalini] entering into the Royal Highway [the
central nadi] and resting at certain spots [the six cakras] meets and
embraces the Supreme Bridegroom and in the embrace makes springs of
nectar gush out.î A Brahmin of Malabar, speaking of the Dravidian
caduceus, said, "The snakes that enlace represent the two currents that
run, in opposite directions, along the spine."

But can we definitely transport these notions into ancient Egypt? It
seems that we can. Take such a representation as that from the tomb of
Ramses VI of a staff on which stands a mummified figure; between him and
the staff-top is a pair of horns, and wriggling across the staff, lower
down, in opposite directions, are two snakes. The dead man, at the last
Hour in the Book of the Underworld, leaves his mortal remains, sloughs
them, and is reborn as the scarab Khepri. A stele sets out the idea:
"Homage to you, Mummy, that are perpetually rejuvenated and reborn." The
horns on top of the staff are called Wpt, "summit of the skull, to open,
divide separate" -- that is, the parietal bones are thought of as
opening to release the reborn dead-man. Wpt also means the Zenith of the
Heaven. A figure in the tomb of Osorkon II at Tanis stands with a snake
in each hand; the snakes criss-cross in their undulant movement, forming
an X across the body. A symbol often cut on scarabs and scaraboids is
that of the Ded pillar with a snake hanging on either side, the heads
going in opposite directions. The word Imakh (Blessed) in its ending and
especially in its determinative is represented by the spinal column with
an indication of the medulla; the ending also denotes the canal or
channel of the spine of the snake through which the Sun passes -- the
Night Sun in the Underworld. So the one symbol brings together the ideas
of Blessedness, Spine, Spinal Canal (of the Sun). The Sun emerging at
the end of the snake staff is both the dead man reborn and the newborn
Sun (Khepri); the dead man emerges from the spinal column at the top of
the skull, and is rebornóthe sun emerges from the spinal night-canal and
is reborn; the dead man and the sun are one.

We may add that Sa, which means the Back, the Spine, and which enters
into the god name Besa, is homonymous with Sa, which means Protection.
The determinate connected with Imakh appears also in Pesedj, which takes
on the meaning of both Spine and Illuminationóa meaning attested from
the time of the Pyramid Texts. The root Ima of Imakh merges again with
the homonymous Tree assimilated to the Ded-pillar and expressing the
luminosity of the sun.

We see, then, in ancient Egyptian thought a system closely analogous to
that of India which we discussed. The individual spine and the
world-pillar are identified; there is a concept of life-forces moving up
and down this axis; the skull top is also the sky-zenith; the new birth
of the life-force is one with the rising of the sun. The
microcosm-macrocosm relationship is very close to what we find in
alchemy, but with the latter the whole system operates on a new and
higher level of philosophic and scientific thinking.

In Greek thought we do not find anything so precise as the systems in
Sanskrit and Egyptian; but with the growth of ideas about the pervasive
pneuma the notion of forces descending into the body and ascending out
of it appears. Porphyrios cites an Oracle of Apollo:

The stream separating from Phoibosí splendour on high and enveloped in
the pure Airís sonorous breath falls enchanted by songs and by ineffable
words about the Head of the blameless recipient:
it fills the soft integument of the tender membranes, ascends through
the Stomach and rises up again and produces a lovely song from the
mortal pipe.

Porphyrios comments that the descending pneuma enters into the body,
ìand, using the soul as a base, gives out a sound through the mouth as
through an instrument.î We are reminded of the ecstatic noises of the
Gnostics which were thought to echo the music of the spheres. The lovely
song from the mortal aulos seems to go straight up to the celestial
source of pneuma in the sun. The down-and-up, up-and-down pattern is
completed.

Perhaps a confused version of the ideas we saw associated with Imakh,
Sa, Pesedj, appears in a magical intaglio of terracotta where we see a
serpent twining round a star-topped staff; parallel with the staff rise
an altar surmounted with a staff (starred at either end) on the right
and a schematic human form standing on its head on the left. Here there
seems depicted an up-and-down flow of forces. On a blue-flecked onyx a
monstrous figure (with scarab-body, human legs, head of a maned animal)
stands crowned, holding in each hand a staff round which a snake twines.
One staff has a goat-head, the other a dog-head; and under the
creatureís feet is an Ouroboros enclosing a man, perhaps ithyphallic,
and what seems a thunderbolt. The head of the Ouroboros is down at the
bottom. The crown is made of a disk set on long horns and flanked with
four uraei. There seem here defined two contrary motions: one of the
scarab-sun (upwards to the large crown), and one of the cosmic serpent
(downwards into the underworld of death). Interpretation of such obscure
objects cannot but be doubtful, though there does seem a link with the
complex of ideas and images we have discussed. A passage in
Hippolytos' account of the Peratai [a gnostic sect - Dan] also reveals
this complex in a slightly confused form. He is discussing an
up-and-down movement. The Son, he says, brings down from above the
paternal Signs and again carries aloft those Signs when they have been
"roused from a dormant condition and made into paternal characteristics
-- substantial from unsubstantial being; transferring them hither from
thence". The Son's cerebellum is "in the form of a Serpent", that is, a
serpent-head, "and they allege that this, by an ineffable and
inscrutable process, attracts through the pineal gland the pneumatic and
life-giving substance emanating from the vaulted chamber [? both the
skull and the heavenly vault]. And on receiving this, the cerebellum in
an ineffable way imparts the Idea, just as the Son does, to Matter; or,
in other words, the seeds and genera of things produced according to the
flesh flow along into the spinal marrow." Though the description is
unclear, the idea of an up-and-down, down-and-up flow of pneuma is
certainly present, as also that of an entry of divine force through the
cerebellum into the spinal column. The Peratai thus interpreted the
phrase, "I am the Door," in John.81

We may add that the idea of the staff of Hermes as a resolving or
balancing power between two opposing principles (the snakes) appears in
a tale, given by Hyginus, that Mercury saw two snakes fighting in
Arcadia and put his staff between them, thus arresting the conflict;
hence the caduceus as an emblem of peace.
 
Jack Lindsay
ORIGINS OF ALCHEMY IN GRAECO-ROMAN EGYPT  
Barnes and Noble, 1970

PERMANENT URL

https://tinyurl.com/y2zoeb92

Alchemy: how a tradition spanning millennia became modern chemistry

MAY 16, 2015 BY THE SPACED-OUT SCIENTIST


Alchemy is generally seen as an archaic proto-science based on superstition that is of little interest to the modern chemist. In truth, chemistry owes much to alchemy, which covers philosophical traditions and chemical history spanning several millennia in the Middle East, China, India and Europe. Alchemy has played a significant role in the development of modern chemistry, medicine and psychology.

The etymology of the modern word, chemistry, comes from the Arabic alkīmiyā (al ‘the’ + kīmiyā), which comes from the ancient Greek word chēmeía, meaning “black magic”. The Greek word is derived from the ancient Coptic word for “Egypt”, “kēme”, which means “black earth”, a type of fertile soil that is left after the annual flooding of the Nile.

Alchemy can generally be defined as an ancient art form that seeks purification of the soul and immortality in parallel with the transmutation of chemical elements where gold symbolizes perfection. Alchemists made medicines and pharmaceuticals, and endeavoured to understand the material basis of the world. Although the alchemists practiced actual chemistry and medicine, turning lead into gold symbolized a spiritual transmutation equivalent to an awakened consciousness present in all forms and which created the universe.

Mandala illustrating key alchemical concepts, symbols, and processes. 1615 AD

In Western alchemy, perfection is achieved through the action of the Philosophers Stone. Alchemists believed that it could turn any substance into gold, prolong life and cure illness. The Philosophers Stone is created from “prima materia”, which is the primitive formless base of all matter, similar to our modern concepts of dark matter or chaos.

Western alchemy: from ancient Egypt to Renaissance Europe

The Ancient Egyptians were some of the first practitioners of alchemy around 2000 BC, and much of the early chemical knowledge in Egypt was linked to embalming the dead and religious ritual. The Ancient Greek king, Alexander the Great conquered Egypt and founded Alexandria in 331 BC, which became the intellectual and cultural center of the ancient world. Alexandria became a major hub for alchemy, bringing together Egyptian, Greek and Jewish knowledge and culture.Roman floor mosaic of Alexander the Great, originally from the House of Faun in Pompeii, 100 BC

Between 400-600 AD, most Alchemical texts were lost and the remainder shifted to the Islamic world due to the repeated destruction of the Library of Alexandria and of non-Christian texts during the late Roman Empire. The Islamic world became a melting pot for alchemical knowledge.

The crusades, which began in 1096 AD, brought the West into contact with Islamic knowledge, which contributed to the re-emergence of alchemy in medieval Europe. It re-gained popularity in Renaissance Europe, and until as late as the 17th century, many notable modern scientists were also alchemists, including Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle, who is considered the father of chemistry.

Alchemical apparatus. 1681 AD.

Indian alchemy

Alexander the Great invaded India in 325 BC, which suggests that there may have been some influence between Indian and Greco-Egyptian alchemy. Indian alchemy or Rasayana, which means the art of manipulating Rasa, meaning nectar, mercury or juice, was closely associated to the Dharmic faiths (Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism). Indian alchemy began in approximately 1200 BC and is an early from of Ayurvedic medicine focused on extending lifespan. Indian alchemists created medicines composed of various metals, including mercury and other substances that were combined with herbs.

Chinese alchemy

The beginnings of Chinese alchemy are unclear but probably emerged sometime between 400 BC – 100 AD. It is closely associated to Taoism and Chinese traditional medicine, Acupuncture, Tai Chi, Qigong and focuses on the purification of the body in spirit in the hopes of obtaining immortality. The Chinese alchemists concocted alchemical medicines or elixirs, which were often composed of metals like gold and silver, and other compounds.

Chinese woodcut: Daoist internal alchemy. 1615 AD. Credit: Wellcome Library, London. Wellcome Images

Much of the central concepts between Chinese, Indian and Western alchemy are remarkably similar. It is unknown whether these forms of alchemy share common origins and whether they influenced each other. However, from 334-323 B.C., Alexander the Great conquered many parts of the East, which helped exchange knowledge between Eastern and Western cultures, so it is possible that influence occurred.

The decline of alchemy

How did such an important intellectual and philosophical tradition existing for several millennia suddenly disappear from Western thought?

Aspects of Indian and Chinese alchemy were absorbed by modern science and chemistry, and other aspects were preserved in other systems such as Hindu traditional medicine, Ayurveda, as well as Chinese traditional medicine, Acupuncture and modern Tai Chi and Qigong.

In the 18th century, Western alchemy was in decline due to the birth of modern chemistry, which detached itself from religion and spirituality, and embraced a more precise and empirical framework based on the scientific method. Alchemy was then generally understood to mean “gold making”, which gave rise to the popular belief that alchemy is charlatanism and superstition. Poor translations of adulterated documents with esoteric and spiritualistic interpretations also contributed to alchemy’s decline.

Alchemy is still practiced today by a small number of practitioners who focused symbolic and spiritual aspects of alchemy, combined with a “New Age” approach. Some alchemical techniques are still actively practiced in traditional medicine, using a combination of pharmacological and spiritual techniques. Many secret societies, such as the Freemasons and Rosecrucians have also always been interested in alchemical symbolism.

Alchemy’s influence on modern science

Alchemy made important contributions to metalworking, refining, production of gunpowder, ceramics, glass, ceramics, ink, dyes, paints, cosmetics, extracts, liquors etc. Alchemists conceptualized chemical elements into the first rudimentary periodic tables and introduced the process of distillation to Western Europe. They were also among the first to extract metals from ores and compose various inorganic acids and bases.

Some examples:
Sulfuric acid was first described (approx. 1300 AD) by the alchemist, Pseudo-Geber. Sulfuric acid is the most used substance in chemical industries today after water, air, coal and oil.
The alchemist Andreas Libavius (1555 – 1616 AD) was the first to describe the preparation of free hydrochloric acid, of tin tetrachloride, and of ammonium sulfate.
Libravius and Pseudo-Geber described the preparation of aqua regia (“royal water”), a mixture of nitric acid and hydrochloric acid, which can dissolve gold.
The alchemist Albertus Magnus (1193-1280 AD) is often credited for the discovery of arsenic, although it was probably known to earlier alchemists.
Chinese alchemists invented gunpowder or black powder in the 9th century.
Indian alchemy made important contributions to metallurgy. High-quality, high carbon steel was already being produced in India between 300-200 BC, and was exported throughout Asia and Europe.

A replica of Libavius’ laboratory

But there is much more than early chemistry to the story.

Alchemy was influential in the formulation of Isaac Newton’s laws of motion and universal gravitation, as well as in his work on optics. Alchemy is also central to Jung’s idea of the Collective Unconscious. Much of the vast array of symbols used in alchemy draws from the Collective Unconscious of the West. The history of alchemy is very complex, and it is impossible to even scratch the surface in this article.

Next week, we’ll focus on Western alchemy, a tradition that began in ancient Alexandria and eventually emerged in medieval Europe, in order to elaborate on some central concepts and figures: Hermetic philosophy, Hermes Trismegistus and some of the key surviving texts, such as the legendary Emerald Tablet.

THE SPACED-OUT SCIENTIST
Spaced-out thoughts from a mystical scientist
A CANADIAN SITE

Alchemy in the Ancient World: From Science to Magic
PAUL T. KEYSER
 "Alchemy" is the anglicised Byzantine name given to what its practitioners referred to as "the Art"  or "Knowledge" , often characterised as divine (Geia), sacred (lepd) or mystic.  While this techne underwent many changes in the course of its life of over two thousand years (and there are traces of it even in modem times, as I will discuss), a recognisable common denominator in all the writings is the search for a method of transforming base metals (copper, iron, lead, tin) into noble (electrum, gold or silver).^ There is unfortunately no modem critical edition of any of these writings (the extant editions being old or uncritical or both), though the Bude has begun the process.^ In this essay I sketch the background and origins of the ancient alchemy, as well as its later transmutation into a mystical art of personal transformation. Finally I tum to the modem period and briefly examine the influence of this mystical tradition in our own world-picture.
https://www.ideals.illinois.edu/bitstream/handle/2142/12197/illinoisclassica151990keyser.pdf?sequence=2

  

The Alchemy of Glass: Counterfeit, Imitation, and ... - IRCPS

https://ircps.org › sites › ircps.org › files › aestimatio › 2010-17_Keyser

by PT Keyser - ‎Related articles

Beretta emphasizes the complex and multicultural origins of alchemy [xi] and builds ... The Origin of Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt. London. Letrouit, J. 1995.

“‘I teach you the Superman…’: Self-Sacrifice and the Alchemical Creation of Nietzsche’s Übermensch.”

Dr. Melanie J. van Oort – Hall
https://www.girard.nl/texts_online/v/Van_Oort-Hall_Melanie_2.pdf

I. Übermensch as Divine Ideal

a. A Process of Self-Divinization
In this paper, we would like to explore the historical background of sacrifice and divinity in Friedrich
Nietzsche’s philosophy. Peter Berkowitz, in Nietzsche: The Ethics of an Immoralist, has shown how
Nietzsche’s philosophy is oriented towards the process of self-divinization. Nietzsche’s philosophy is
an attempt to work out what kind of human beings would be necessary, if “God is dead,” (The Gay
Science, § 125) and “the world is the will to power – and nothing besides!”1
 (Will to Power § 1067)
Berkowitz says that based on Nietzsche’s love of truth, “which he sometimes calls his gay science,” he
comes to the conclusion that the final good or perfection “for human beings consists in the act of selfdeification.”2
 Lucy Huskinson has suggested that Nietzsche’s later teaching on the Übermensch is
really his re-interpretation of the esoteric doctrine of the Higher Self, which is the understanding of
“God” in the Hermetic Tradition.3
 A point we will explore later on in this paper.
Although Nietzsche mentions the Übermensch in his early Notebooks, in the Prologue of Thus
Spoke Zarathustra, he officially announces the Persian prophet’s teaching on the subject.4
 Zarathustra descends his mountain cave, out of his so-called love for humanity. Knowing in his heart that “God is
dead,” he wants to bring humanity a gift. In the next section § 3, we learn that the so-called gift is
Nietzsche’s Übermensch, which he announces in a market square. For Nietzsche, the Übermensch is
the answer to the “death of God” (Z, I, “Of the Bestowing Virtue,” 3), and the destiny of humanity
itself depends upon its realization on earth (The Will to Power § 987).5
 The Übermensch is not a transcendent ideal, but a superhuman species (Z, I, “Of the Bestowing Virtue,” 1)

SELF DIVINIZATION COULD ALSO BE SEEN IN MARXIST TERMS AS SELF VALORIZATION

SELF DIVINIZATION SOUNDS A LOT LIKE TRANSHUMANISM

AND OF COURSE.....