Alchemy
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In the history of science, alchemy (from Arabic الخيمياء [al-khīmiyā]) is an ancient proto-scientific practice and philosophical discipline that combines elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism and art.[citation needed] Alchemy was practiced in Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Persia, India and China, in Ancient Greece and the Roman Empire, in the Islamic Empire and then in Europe until the 18th century, in a complex network of schools and philosophical systems spanning at least 2,500 years.
Western alchemy has always been closely related to Hermeticism, a philosophical and spiritual system that traces its roots to Hermes Trismegistus, a Greco-Egyptian syncretic deity and legendary alchemist. These two disciplines influenced the birth of Rosicrucianism, an important esoteric movement of the 17th century. Over the course of early modern times, the dominant alchemy evolved into today's chemistry.
It is currently of interest to historians of science and philosophy, as well as for its mystical, esoteric, and artistic aspects. Alchemy was one of the main forerunners of modern science, and many of the substances, tools, and processes of ancient alchemy have served as fundamental building blocks of modern chemical and metallurgical industries.
Although alchemy takes many forms, in popular culture it is most often cited in stories, movies, shows, and games as the process used to transform lead (or other elements) into gold. Another form that alchemy adopts is that of the search for the philosopher's stone, with which he intended to achieve both eternal life and the transmutation of any metal into gold.
In the spiritual plane of alchemy, alchemists had to transmute their own soul before transmuting metals. This means that they had to purify themselves, prepare themselves through prayer and fasting.
Overview
Alchemy as an investigation of nature
The popular perception of alchemists in recent centuries is that they were charlatans who tried to turn lead into gold, spending most of their time making miraculous remedies, poisons, and magical potions.
They based their science on the fact that the universe was made up of four classical elements which they called by the common name of the substances that represent them, namely: earth, air, fire and water, and with them they intended to prepare a fifth element that would contain the power of the four in its maximum exaltation and balance.
Most were educated, intelligent, and well-meaning researchers, and even distinguished scientists, such as Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle. These innovators attempted to explore and investigate nature itself. The base is a knowledge of the regime of fire and of the elemental substances which, after deep meditations, is put into practice, beginning by building an atanor or alchemical furnace. Often the deficiencies had to be filled with experimentation, traditions and many speculations to deepen their art.
For the alchemists, every substance was made up of three parts: mercury, sulfur and salt, these being the vulgar names that were commonly used to designate the spirit, soul and body, these three parts were called principles. By manipulation of the substances and through different operations, they separated each one of the three parts that later had to be purified individually, each one according to the fire regime that is conducive to it, the salt with fusion fire and the mercury and sulfur with recurrent and soft distillations. After the three parts were purified in a task that used to take a long time, and during which the planetary aspects had to be monitored, the three parts had to unite to form the initial substance again. Once all this was done, the substance acquired certain powers.
Throughout the history of alchemy, apprentice alchemists strove to understand the nature of these principles and found some order and meaning in the results of their alchemical experiments, albeit often undermined by impure reagents. or poorly characterized, lack of quantitative measurements and hermetic nomenclature. This motivated that, after years of intense efforts, many ended up ruined and cursing alchemy. The apprentices generally had to start by working in the vegetable kingdom until mastering the regime of fire, the various operations and the regime of time.
In order to differentiate common substances from those manufactured by their art, the alchemists designated them by the same name according to some of their properties, although they proceeded to add the name "philosophical" or "our". Thus, they spoke of "our water" to differentiate it from running water. However, throughout the alchemical texts it is assumed that the apprentice already knows how to differentiate one from the other and, sometimes, it is not used explicitly, since according to the hermetic art "pearls should not be given to pigs", reason for which many failed to follow the different recipes to the letter. "Enlightenment" was only achieved after arduous years of rigorous study and experimentation. Once the apprentice managed to control the fire, the time of the processes and the processes themselves in the vegetable kingdom, he was ready to access the major arcana, that is, the same works in the animal and mineral kingdom. They maintained that the potency of the remedies was proportional to each nature.
The works of the alchemists were based on nature, so each kingdom had a goal: the mineral kingdom the transmutation of base metals into gold or silver, the animal kingdom the creation of a "panacea", a remedy that supposedly would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. All of them were the result of the same operations. What changed was the raw material, the duration of the processes and the vigilance and force of the fire. An intermediate goal was to create what was known as menstruation and what he offered was a multiplication of himself by immersion of other similar substances in fusion/dissolution (according to their nature) with them. So that both the generation and the regeneration of elemental substances were achieved. These are not the only uses of this science, although they are the best known and best documented. Since the Middle Ages, European alchemists have invested a lot of effort and money in the search for the philosopher's stone.
Alchemy as a spiritual and philosophical discipline
Alchemists held that the Philosopher's Stone mystically amplified the user's knowledge of alchemy as much as possible. Many apprentices and false alchemists, believed to be true alchemists, enjoyed prestige and support for centuries, though not because of their pursuit of these goals or because of the mystical and philosophical speculation that flowed from their literature, but because of their mundane contributions to the cottage industries. of the time: the obtaining of gunpowder, the analysis and refining of minerals, metallurgy, the production of ink, dyes, paints and cosmetics, leather tanning, the manufacture of ceramics and glass, the preparation of extracts and liquors, etc.. The preparation of aqua vitae, the "water of life", was quite a popular experiment among European alchemists.
Alchemists were never willing to separate the physical aspects from the metaphysical interpretations of their art. The lack of a common vocabulary for chemical processes and concepts, as well as the need for secrecy, led alchemists to borrow terms and symbols from Biblical and pagan mythology, astrology, the Kabbalah, and other mystical and esoteric fields, thus that even the simplest chemical recipe ended up looking like a dull magic spell. Furthermore, alchemists searched in these fields for theoretical frames of reference within which their growing collection of unrelated experimental facts could fit.
Starting in the Middle Ages, some alchemists increasingly began to view these metaphysical aspects as the true foundations of alchemy and chemical substances, physical states, and material processes as mere metaphors for spiritual entities, states, and transformations. In this way, both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea symbolized the evolution from an imperfect, sick, corruptible and ephemeral state to a perfect, healthy, incorruptible and eternal state; and the philosopher's stone then represented some mystical key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, this twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented some hidden truth or spiritual power that would lead to that goal. In texts 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 they must be painstakingly "decoded" in order to discover their true meaning.
Alchemy and Astrology
Alchemy in the West and other places where it was widely practiced was (and in many cases still is) closely related and intertwined with traditional Greek-Babylonian style astrology. In many ways they were developed to complement each other in the search for hidden knowledge. Traditionally, each of the seven celestial bodies of the solar system known to the ancients was associated with, ruled over, and ruled a certain metal. In hermeticism it is related to both astrology and theurgy.
Alchemy in the Scientific Age
From Western alchemy arises modern science. The alchemists used many of the tools used today. These tools were often self-made and could be in good condition, especially during the Early Middle Ages. Many transmutation attempts failed as alchemy apprentices unknowingly brewed unstable compounds, made worse by precarious security conditions.
Until the 17th century, alchemy was actually considered a serious science in Europe: for example, Isaac Newton devoted much more time and writing to the study of alchemy than to optics or physics, for which he is famous. Other eminent alchemists of the Western world include Roger Bacon, St. Thomas Aquinas, Tycho Brahe, Thomas Browne, Ramon Llull, and Parmigianino. The birth of modern chemistry arose with alchemy apprentices disenchanted with their non-alchemical progress and with resentful critics of alchemy; Both of them achieved progress in various fields of nature in the 18th century, with which they provided a more precise and reliable framework for industrial preparations and medicine, free from the hermeticism of alchemy (because alchemy was never lavished as science of crowds), and entering into a new general design of knowledge based on rationalism. From then on, any character who was connected to alchemy or who "obscured" his texts was despised by the nascent modern scientific current.
Such is the case, for example, of Baron Carl Reichenbach, a well-known chemist from the first half of the 19th century, who worked on concepts similar to ancient alchemy, such as the odic force, but his work did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.
The transmutation of matter enjoyed a sweet moment in the 20th century, when physicists managed to transform lead atoms into gold atoms through nuclear reactions. However, the new gold atoms, being highly unstable isotopes, resisted less than five seconds before disintegrating. More recently, reports of transmutation of heavy elements—by electrolysis or sonic cavitation—were at the origin of the cold fusion controversy in 1989. None of these findings has yet been able to be reliably reproduced.
Alchemical symbolism has been used occasionally in the 20th century by psychologists and philosophers. Carl Jung reviewed alchemical symbolism and theory and began to conceive the deeper meaning of alchemist work as a spiritual path. Alchemical philosophy, symbols, and methods have enjoyed something of a renaissance in postmodern contexts such as the New Age movement.
Alchemy as an object of historical research
The history of alchemy has become a vigorous academic field. As the obscure hermetic language of the alchemists is gradually "unscrambled," historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as sociology and the psychology of intellectual communities, cabalism, spiritualism, rosicrucianism and other mystical movements, cryptography, witchcraft, and the evolution of science and philosophy.
Etymology
The word alchemy comes from the Arabic al-khīmiyaˀ (الخيمياء), which could be formed by the article al- and the Greek word khumeia (χυμεία), meaning "cast together", "pour together", "solder", "alloy", etc. (from khumatos, “what is poured”, “ingot”, or from Persian kimia, “gold”). A decree of Diocletian, written in Greek around the year 300, ordered the burning of "the ancient writings of the Egyptians, which dealt with the art of making gold and silver" the khēmia transmutation. The Arabic word kīmiyaˀ, without the article, has given rise to “chemistry” in Spanish and other languages, and al-kīmiyaˀ means, in modern Arabic, “chemistry”.
It has been suggested that the Arabic word al-kīmiyaˀ actually originally meant “Egyptian science”, borrowing the Coptic word kēme, “Egypt” Thus alchemy was the "art of Keme" (or its equivalent in the medieval Bohairic dialect of Coptic, khēme). The Coptic word derives from the demotic kmỉ, and this in turn from the ancient Egyptian kmt. This last word designated both the country and the color 'black' (Egypt was the 'black land', in contrast to the 'red land', the surrounding desert), so this etymology could also explain the nickname 'black magic'. Egyptian». However, this theory may just be an example of folk etymology.
In the Middle Ages the expression ars chimica used to refer to alchemy.
Sometimes, the word chrysopeia is considered synonymous with alchemy, but this is much more than just the search for the method to make gold. The word chrysopeia comes from the Greek χρυσoσ, "gold", and πoιεω, "to make". The prefix chryso enters into the formation of words in which gold is involved, such as chrysotherapy (treatment of certain diseases by means of gold salts).
Alchemy in history
Alchemy encompasses various philosophical traditions spanning nearly four millennia and three continents. The general predilection of these traditions for cryptic and symbolic language makes it difficult to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships.
At least two main trends can be distinguished, which seem to be largely independent, at least in their early stages: Chinese alchemy, centered on China and its zone of cultural influence, and Western alchemy, whose center shifted along of time between Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Islamic world, and finally Europe again. Chinese alchemy was closely related to Taoism, while Western alchemy developed its own philosophical system, with only superficial relationships with the major Western religions. The question is still open as to whether these two branches share a common origin or to what extent they influenced each other.
Alchemy in Ancient Egypt
The origin of Western alchemy can be located in Ancient Egypt, from the confluence of sacerdotal science with Hellenistic philosophy in the Ptolemaic era. However, despite the fact that the classical symbolic corpus belongs to the latter At this stage, ancient Egyptian cosmogony and the idea of nature are at the origin of many alchemical ideas, since metallurgy and mysticism were inexorably linked in the ancient world. Alchemy, medicine, and even magic were aspects of religion in Ancient Egypt, and therefore the domain of the priestly class. According to Egyptian tradition, Pharaoh Cheops was the oldest alchemist and the author of the first treatise on alchemy.
Egyptian alchemy is known primarily through the writings of ancient Greek (Hellenic) philosophers, which in turn have often survived only in Islamic translations. Virtually no original Egyptian document on alchemy has survived. These writings, if they existed, were probably lost when the Emperor Diocletian ordered the burning of alchemical books after putting down a revolt in Alexandria (292), which had been a center of Egyptian alchemy.[citation needed]
However, recent archaeological expeditions have unearthed evidence of chemical analysis during the Naqada periods. For example, a copper tool dated to this time bears traces of having been used in this way. Furthermore, the process of tanning animal skins was already known in pre-dynastic Egypt as early as the 6th millennium BCE. c.
Other evidence clearly indicates that early alchemists in Ancient Egypt had devised plaster pastes as early as 4000 B.C. C., cementing mortars around 2500 B.C. C. and glass in 1500 B.C. C. The chemical reaction involved in the production of calcium oxide is one of the oldest known: CaCO3 + heat ⇒ CaO + CO2 In Ancient Egypt, cosmetics, faience and also pitch for shipbuilding. Papyrus had also been invented around 3000 B.C. C.[citation required]
Legend has it that the founder of Egyptian alchemy was the god Tot, called Hermes-Tot or Hermes Trismegisto ("Thrice Great") by the Greeks. According to legend, he wrote the so-called forty-two Books of Knowledge, covering all fields of knowledge, alchemy included. Hermes's symbol was the caduceus or snake rod, which became one of the many major symbols of alchemy. The Emerald or Hermetic Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, known only from Greek and Arabic translations, is normally considered[citation needed] the basis of the Western alchemical philosophy and practice, called the Hermetic philosophy by its early followers.
In the second precept of the Emerald Tablet, he recounts the purpose of hermetic science: «truly certainly and without a doubt, everything that is below is like what is above, and everything that is above is like what is above. it is below, to perform the miracles of a thing». This is the main macrocosm-microcosm belief for Hermetic philosophy. In other words, the human body (the microcosm) is affected by the outer world (the macrocosm), which includes the heavens through astrology and the earth through the elements, though when one achieves mastery over the world inside, he begins to be able to control the outside world in unconventional ways.
It has been speculated[citation needed] that a riddle on the Emerald Tablet ("was carried in the womb by the wind") alludes to the distillation of oxygen from saltpeter, a process that was unknown in Europe until its (re)discovery by Sendivogius in the 17th century.
In the fourth century B.C. Greek-speaking Macedonians conquered Egypt and founded the city of Alexandria in 332. This brought them into contact with Egyptian ideas (see "Alchemy in the Greek World" below).[citation needed]
Chinese alchemy
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Chinese alchemy is related to Taoism, consequently, its practitioners use concepts such as: the five elements; the Tao, the relationship between Yin and Yang; the Qi; the I Ching; Chinese astrology; the principles of Feng Shui, Traditional Chinese Medicine, etc. While Western alchemy ended up focusing on the transmutation of common metals into other noble ones, Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine. The philosopher's stone of the European alchemists can be compared to the great elixir of immortality pursued by the 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. Thus the two traditions may have had more in common than initially appears.
Gunpowder may have been an important invention of Chinese alchemists. Described in texts from the 9th century century and used in fireworks in the X, was used in cannons around 1290. From China, the use of gunpowder spread to Japan, the Mongols, the Arab world, and Europe. Gunpowder was used by the Mongols against the Hungarians in 1241 and in Europe from the 14th century.
Chinese alchemy was closely related to Taoist forms of traditional Chinese medicine, such as acupuncture and moxibustion, and to martial arts such as Tai Chi Chuan and Kung Fu (although some Tai Chi schools believe its art derives from the philosophical or hygienic branches of Taoism, not from alchemistry). In fact, at the beginning of the Song dynasty, the followers of this Taoist idea (mainly the elite and the upper class) ingested cinnabar, which, although tolerable in low doses, led many to death due to its high mercury content (85 %), which induced poisoning. Believing that these deaths would lead to freedom and access to the Taoist heavens, the ensuing deaths encouraged people to avoid this form of alchemy in favor of external sources (the aforementioned Tai Chi Chuan, Qi mastery, etc.).
Indian alchemy
Little is known in the West about the character and history of Indian alchemy. An 11th century century Persian alchemist named al-Biruni reported that "they have a science similar to alchemy which is quite characteristic of them.", which is called Rasayāna, in Persian Rasavātam. It means the art of obtaining and manipulating Rasa, nectar, mercury, juice. This art is restricted to certain operations, metals, drugs, compounds, and medicines, most of which have mercury as their primary ingredient. Its principles restore health to those sick who were evicted and youth to the withered old people. However, it is certain that Indian alchemy, like all its science, focuses on achieving mokṣa: perfection, immortality, liberation. Thus, he concentrates his efforts on making the human body immortal. There are many traditional stories of alchemists still alive from time immemorial thanks to the effects of their experiments.
Ayurvedic medical texts have aspects related to alchemy, such as having cures for all known diseases and methods of treating the sick by anointing oils. The best example of a text based on this science is the Vaisheshika of Kanada (between 200 BC and 200 AD), who describes an atomic theory similar to that of the Greek Democritus.
Since alchemy would eventually become integrated into the vast field of Indian scholarship, influences from other metaphysical doctrines such as samkhya, yoga, vaisheshika, and ayurveda were inevitable. However, most of the Rasayāna texts have their roots in the Kaula tantric schools related to the personality teachings of Matsyendranath.
Rasayāna was understood by very few people at that time. Two famous examples were Nagarjunacharya and Nityanadhiya. The first was a Buddhist monk who, in ancient times, headed the great university of Nagarjuna Sagar. The well-known book of his, Rasaratanakaram, is a famous example of ancient Indian medicine.
In traditional Indian medical terminology rasa translates as 'mercury', and Nagarjunacharya was said to have developed a method of turning it into gold. Most of his original works have been lost, but his teachings still have a strong influence on traditional Indian medicine (Āyurveda).
Alchemy in the Greek world
The Greek city of Alexandria in Egypt was a center of alchemical learning that retained its preeminence through most of the Greek and Roman eras. The Greeks appropriated the Egyptian hermetic beliefs and united them with the Pythagorean, Jonist and Gnostic philosophies. The Pythagorean philosophy is essentially the belief that numbers rule the universe, arising from observations of sound, stars, and geometric shapes such as triangles or anything from which a ratio can be derived. Jonist thought was based on the belief that the universe could be explained by concentrating on natural phenomena; This philosophy is believed to have been pioneered by Thales of Miletus and his pupil Anaximander and further developed by Plato and Aristotle, whose works became an integral part of alchemy. According to this belief, the universe can be described by a few unified laws that can be determined only through careful, painstaking, and arduous philosophical explorations. The third component introduced to hermetic philosophy by the Greeks was Gnosticism, a belief, widespread in the Christian Roman Empire, that the world is imperfect because it was imperfectly created and that learning about the nature of spiritual substance would lead to the Salvation. They even believed that God did not "create" the universe in the classical sense, but that the universe was created "out of" him but became corrupted in the process (rather than being corrupted by Adam and Eve's transgressions, i.e., by sin). original). According to Gnostic beliefs, by worshiping the cosmos, nature, or the creatures of the world, one worships the True God. Many Gnostic sects even held that the Biblical deity would be evil and should be seen as a fallen emanation of the High God whom they sought to worship and unite with. However, the aspect of the Abrahamic god as being evil did not really play any role in alchemy, but the aspect of the ascent to the High God probably had a lot of influence. Platonic and Neoplatonic theories on universals and the omnipotence of God were also absorbed (their main beliefs view the physical aspect of the world as imperfect and believe in God as a transcendent cosmic mind).
A very important concept introduced at this time, conceived by Empedocles and developed by Aristotle, was that everything in the universe was made up of just 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 intact.
The four elements of the Greeks were mostly qualitative aspects of matter and not quantitative as our modern elements are. «... True alchemy never treated earth, air, water and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the current sense of the word. The four elements were simply the primary and most general qualities by means of which the formless and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first presented itself in a differentiated form. Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.
Aristotle believed that the combination of each element explains the variety of things in the world. Heavy substances such as metals were considered to be made up primarily of the element earth, with a small amount of matter from the other elements. He believed that when the sun's rays fell on the water, they produced an exhalation of steam that was wet and cold. This exhalation was encased in dry earth, compressed, and finally turned into metal. According to Aristotle, all metals that are fusible or malleable, such as iron, copper, or gold, were formed in this way. Mineral formation, on the other hand, occurred when the sun's rays fell on dry land. They produced an exhalation of smoke that was hot and dry, and the action of the heat produced the minerals. In this category, Aristotle included substances that cannot be melted, as well as substances such as sulfur.
Alchemy in the Roman Empire
The Romans adopted Greek alchemy and metaphysics, as they adopted much of their knowledge and philosophy. At the end of the Roman Empire, alchemical philosophy had joined the philosophies of the Egyptians, creating the cult of Hermeticism.
However, the development of Christianity in the Empire brought an opposite line of thought, coming from Augustine of Hippo (354-430), an early Christian philosopher who wrote about his beliefs shortly before the fall of the Roman Empire. In essence, Augustine felt that reason and faith could be used to understand God, but that experimental philosophy was harmful: "There is also present in the soul, through the means of these same bodily senses, a kind of empty longing and curiosity that pretends not to get the pleasure of the flesh but to gain experience through it, and this empty curiosity dignifies itself with the names of knowledge and science".
Augustinian ideas were decidedly anti-experimental, although Aristotelian experimental techniques were not rejected when they became available in the West. Even so, Augustinian thought had strong roots in medieval society and was used to show alchemy as contrary to God.
Much of Roman alchemical knowledge, like that of the Greeks and Egyptians, has been lost. In Alexandria, the center of alchemical studies in the Roman Empire, the art was mainly oral and in the interest of secrecy little was trusted on paper. (Hence the use of "hermetic" to indicate "reserved") It is possible that some work was written in Alexandria and subsequently lost or burned in the turbulent periods that followed.
Alchemy in the Islamic world
After the fall of the Roman Empire, the focus of alchemical development shifted to the Islamic world. Much more is known about Islamic alchemy because it was better documented: in fact, most of the early writings that have survived over the years have done so as Islamic translations.
The Islamic world was a crucible for alchemy. Platonic and Aristotelian thought, which had already been to some extent included in hermetic science, continued to be assimilated. Islamic alchemists such as al-Razi (Latin Rasis) and Jabir ibn Hayyan (Latin Geber) contributed key chemical discoveries of their own, such as the technique of distillation (the words alembic and alcohol are of Arab origin), muriatic (hydrochloric), sulfuric and nitric acids, soda, potash and more. (From the Arabic names for these last two substances, al-natrun and al-qalīy, Latinized as Natrium and Kalium, come the modern symbols for sodium and potassium.) The discovery that aqua regia, a mixture of nitric and hydrochloric acid, 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 possibly Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan (in Arabic جابر إبن حيان, in Latin Geberus, normally written in Spanish as Geber). Jabir's primary goal was takwin, the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to and including human life. Jabir analyzed each Aristotelian element in terms of the four basic qualities of heat, cold, dryness and moisture. According to him, 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 wet. In this way, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different one could be obtained. With this reasoning, the search for the philosopher's stone was introduced into Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate numerology whereby the initials of a substance's name in Arabic, when various transformations were applied to them, corresponded to the physical properties of the element.
Alchemy in Medieval Europe
Due to its strong connections to Greek and Roman cultures, alchemy was fairly easily accepted into Christian philosophy and Islamic alchemical knowledge was extensively absorbed by European medieval alchemists. Gerbert of Aurillac (died 1003), later to become Pope Sylvester II, was one of the first to bring Islamic science to Europe from Spain. Later, men like Adelard of Bath, who lived in the 12th century, brought additional teachings. But until the 13th century the movements were mainly assimilative.
Some deviations from the Augustinian principles of early Christian thinkers appeared in this period. Saint Anselm (1033-1109) was a Benedictine who believed that faith must precede reason, as Augustine and most theologians before him had believed, although he added the view that faith and reason were compatible and he fostered the latter in a Christian context. His views laid the foundation for the philosophical explosion that was to occur. Pedro Abelardo continued Anselmo's work, laying the groundwork for the acceptance of Aristotelian thought before Aristotle's early works reached the West. His main influence on alchemy was his belief that Platonic universals had no separate existence outside of man's consciousness. Abelardo also systematized the analysis of philosophical contradictions.
Robert Grosseteste (1170-1253) was a pioneer of scientific theory that would later be used and refined by alchemists. Grosseteste took Abelardo's methods of analysis and added the use of observations, experimentation, and conclusions when making scientific evaluations. He also worked hard to bridge the gap between Platonic and Aristotelian thought.
Albert the Great (1193-1280) and Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274) were two Dominicans who studied Aristotle and worked to reconcile the differences between philosophy and Christianity. Thomas Aquinas also worked hard to develop the scientific method. He even went so far as to claim that universals could be discovered only by logical reasoning and, since reason cannot be opposed to God, it must therefore be compatible with theology. This contradicted the commonly held Platonic belief that universals they were found only by divine illumination. Both were among the first to undertake the examination of alchemical theory and could be considered alchemists themselves, except for the fact that they did little in the way of experimentation.
The first true alchemist in medieval Europe was Roger Bacon. His work meant as much for alchemy as Robert Boyle's for chemistry and Galileo Galilei's for astronomy and physics. Bacon (1214-1294) was a Franciscan from Oxford who studied optics and languages as well as alchemy. Franciscan ideals of conquering the world rather than rejecting it led to his conviction that experimentation was more important than reasoning: "Of the three ways in which men think they acquire knowledge of things: authority, reasoning, and experience, only the latter is effective and capable of bringing peace to the intellect." "Experimental science controls the conclusions of all other sciences. It reveals truths that reasoning from general principles would never have discovered." Roger Bacon has also been credited with initiating the quest for the Philosopher's Stone and the Elixir of Life: "That medicine which will remove all impurities and corruptions from minor metals also, in the opinion of the wise, will remove so much of the corruptibility of the body that human life can be prolonged for many centuries. The idea of immortality was replaced by the notion of longevity: after all, the time man spends on Earth was simply to wait and prepare for immortality in God's world. Immortality on Earth did not fit with Christian theology.
Bacon was not the only alchemist of this time but he was the most important. His works were used by countless alchemists between the XV and XIX . Other alchemists of the same time shared various traits. First, and most obviously, almost all of them were members of the clergy. This was simply because few people outside the parochial schools had the necessary education to examine works derived from Arabic. Furthermore, 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 clerics because it offered a rationalist view of the universe where men were just beginning to learn about rationalism.
So by the end of the 13th century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured belief system. Adherents believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is, they believed that processes affecting minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one learned the secret of purifying gold, could use the same technique to purify the human soul). They believed in the four elements and four qualities described above and had a strong tradition of hiding their written ideas in a maze of coded jargon full of traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, alchemists practiced their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made observations and theories about how the universe worked. His entire philosophy revolved around his belief that the soul of man was divided within him after the fall of Adam. By purifying both parts of the soul of man, he could be reunited with God.
In the 14th century important changes took place. On the one hand, in the year 1317, Pope John XXII prohibited the practice of alchemy through the Spondent Pariter bull that removed all members of the church from practicing this art. However, it is believed that this The same pope was interested in alchemical study and also wrote a treatise entitled Ars transmutatoria in which he narrated how he made 200 one-quintal gold bars. This was not new within the church since in 1295 Franciscan legislation prohibited writing, reading and even owning books on alchemy. Meanwhile, the philosophers of the time varied their views since William of Ockham, a Franciscan of Oxford who died in 1349, attacked the Thomistic view of the compatibility of faith and reason. His opinion, widely accepted today, was that God must be accepted on faith alone, since He could not be limited by human reason. Of course this view was not incorrect if one accepted the postulate of an unlimited God in the face of limited human ability to reason, but it virtually eliminated alchemy as an accepted practice for centuries XIV and XV. Climate changes, the Black Death and the increase in wars and famines that characterized this century undoubtedly also served as an obstacle to the philosophical exercise in general.
Alchemy was kept alive by men like Nicolas Flamel, noteworthy only because he was one of the few alchemists to write in these troubled times. Flamel lived between 1330 and 1417 and would serve as an archetype for the next phase of alchemy. He was not a religious researcher like many of his predecessors and his entire interest in art revolved around the search for the Philosopher's Stone, which he is said to have found. His works devote a great deal of space to describing processes and reactions, but never really go so far as to give the formula for achieving transmutations. Most of his work was dedicated to collecting alchemical knowledge before him, especially in relation to the philosopher's stone.
During the late Middle Ages (1300-1500) alchemists were much like Flamel: they concentrated on finding the philosopher's stone and the elixir of youth, now thought to be separate things. Its cryptic allusions and symbolism led to wide variations in the 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 mercury played a crucial role). These men were considered magicians and sorcerers by many and were frequently persecuted for their practices.
One of these men who emerged in the early 16th century was named Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa. This alchemist believed he was a magician and could summon spirits. His influence was negligible but, like Flamel, he produced writings that were referred to by alchemists of later years. Again like Flamel, he did quite a bit to change alchemy from a mystical philosophy to occult magic. He kept alive the philosophies of earlier alchemists, including experimental science, numerology, etc., but added magical theory, which reinforced the idea of alchemy as an occult belief. Despite all this, Agrippa considered himself a Christian, although his views frequently conflicted with the Church, in statements by Edwardes (1977, p. 56-9) and Wilson (1971, p. 23). -9).
Alchemy in the modern era and the Renaissance
European alchemy continued on this same path until the dawn of the Renaissance. This era also saw a flourishing of con artists who used chemical tricks and sleight of hand to "demonstrate" the transmutation of base metals into gold, or who claimed to possess knowledge of the secret that (with a "small" initial investment) would surely lead to to it.
The most important name of this period is Paracelsus (1493-1541), who gave alchemy a new shape, rejecting some of the occultism that had accumulated over the years and promoting the use of observations and experiments to learn on the human body. Paracelsus rejected the Gnostic traditions but retained much of the Hermetic, Neoplatonic, and Pythagorean philosophies; yet hermetic science had so much Aristotelian theory that its rejection of Gnosticism was practically meaningless. In particular, he rejected the magical theories of Flamel and Agrippa. Paracelsus did not see himself as a magician and he despised those who did.
Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemical compounds and minerals in medicine. He wrote that “Many have said that alchemy is to make gold and silver. For me that is not the purpose, but to consider only the virtue and power that may be in medicines." His hermetic views were that the disease and health of the body depended on the harmony of man (the microcosm) and nature (the macrocosm). Paracelsus took a different approach than his predecessors, using this analogy not as a reference to the purification of the soul but to the fact that humans must maintain certain balances of minerals in their bodies and that for certain diseases of these there were chemical remedies that could cure them... While his attempts to treat diseases with remedies such as mercury might seem counterproductive from a modern point of view, his basic idea of chemically produced medicines has held up surprisingly well.
In England alchemy at this time is often associated with John Dee (1527-1608), best known for his roles as astrologer, cryptographer, and general "scientific adviser" to Queen Elizabeth I. Dee was considered an authority on alchemy. work of Roger Bacon and was interested enough in alchemy to write a book about it (Monas Hieroglyphica, 1564), influenced by Kabbalah. Dee's associate, Edward Kelley—who claimed to converse with angels through a crystal ball and to possess a powder that would turn mercury into gold—may have been the source of the popular image of the quack-alchemist.
A lesser-known alchemist from this era is Michael Sendivogius (1566-1636), a Polish philosopher, physician, and pioneer of chemistry. According to some sources, he distilled oxygen in the laboratory around 1600, 170 years before Scheele and Priestley, by heating saltpeter. He thought that the resulting gas was "the elixir of life." Shortly after discovering this method, Sendivogius is believed to have taught his technique to Cornelius Drebbel, who in 1621 would give it practical application on a submarine.
Tycho Brahe (1546-1601), known for his astronomical and astrological research, was also an alchemist. He had a laboratory built specifically for this purpose at Uraniborg, his observatory and research institute.
The Decline of Western Alchemy
The demise of Western alchemy was due to 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 thrived for some two hundred years, and indeed It may have reached its peak in the 18th century century. In 1781, James Price claimed to have produced a powder that could transmute mercury into silver or gold. Likewise, another well-known alchemist was the Hungarian Archbishop Jorge Lippay, who carried out several investigations for the Germanic Emperor Leopold I of Habsburg, an enthusiastic believer in the theory of the creation of gold.
Robert Boyle, best known for his studies of gases (see Boyle's Law), was one of the pioneers of the scientific method in chemical investigations. Boyle made no assumptions in his experiments and collected all the relevant data: in a typical experiment he would note the location, the characteristics of the wind, the positions of the sun and moon, and the barometric reading, in case they later turned out to be relevant. This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and XIX, based on the groundbreaking discoveries of Lavoisier and John Dalton, which ultimately provided a logical, quantitative and reliable framework for understanding the transmutations of matter, revealing the futility of traditional alchemical goals such as the philosopher's stone.
Meanwhile, Paracelsian alchemy led to the development of modern medicine. Experimentalists gradually discovered the mechanisms of the human body, such as the circulation of the blood (Harvey, 1616), and finally located the origin of many diseases in infections with germs (Koch and Pasteur, XIX) or lack of natural nutrients and vitamins (Lind, Eijkman, Funk et al.). Supported by the parallel development of organic chemistry, the new science easily displaced alchemy in its medical, interpretive, and prescriptive applications, while dashing its hopes for miraculous elixirs and showing the ineffectiveness and even toxicity of its remedies.
In this way, as science continually discovered and rationalized the mechanisms of the universe, founded on its own materialistic metaphysics, alchemy became stripped of its chemical and medical connections, but incurably subject to them. Reduced to an arcane philosophical system, poorly related to the material world, alchemy suffered the fate common to other esoteric disciplines such as astrology and Kabbalah: excluded from university studies, shunned by its former patrons, ostracized by scientists and commonly regarded as the epitome of quackery and superstition. However, the Rosicrucians and Freemasons have always been interested in alchemy and its symbolism. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica in Amsterdam.
These advances could be interpreted as part of a broader reaction of European intellectualism against the romantic movement of the previous century.
Alchemy in modern times
In the present day progress has been made towards some of the goals of alchemy albeit using scientific methods.
Arguably the goal of artificial intelligence research is precisely to create a life from scratch,[citation needed] and those philosophically opposed to the possibility of AI they have compared it to alchemy, such as Herbert and Stuart Dreyfus in their 1960 essay Alchemy and AI. However, since the specific goal of alchemy is human transmutation rather than the creation of life from scratch, genetic research, especially splicing, would be closer to it.[citation needed]
Nuclear Transmutation
In 1919 Ernest Rutherford used artificial disintegration to convert nitrogen into oxygen, albeit using methods of nuclear bombardment. This process or transmutation has subsequently been carried out on a commercial scale by bombarding atomic nuclei with high-energy particles in particle accelerators and nuclear reactors.[citation needed]
The idea of converting lead into gold is not entirely incorrect since, theoretically, it would be enough to extract 3 protons from a lead atom (82 protons) to obtain another but gold (79 protons). In fact, in 1980 Glenn T. Seaborg transmuted lead into gold, except that the resulting gold barely lasts a few seconds due to its atomic instability and the amount obtained is so microscopic that its profitability is unthinkable.
Unverified transmutation claims
In 1964 George Ohsawa and Michio Kushi, based on one of Corentin Louis Kervran's early claims, reported succeeding in transmuting sodium into potassium using an electric arc, and later carbon and oxygen into iron[ citation required]. In 1994, R. Sundaresan and J. Bockris reported observing fusion reactions in electrical discharges between carbon rods immersed in water. However, none of these claims have been replicated by other scientists and the idea is now widely discredited.
Analytical Psychology
The Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung began his contact with alchemy from a clear lack of interest: "Alchemy seemed to me a pretentious and ridiculous thing." His opinion would change radically in 1928 as a result of the comment requested by the sinologist Richard Wilhelm on the translation of the first eight sections of a Chinese physiological alchemy treatise of the century XIII: The Secret of the Golden Flower, a Buddhist book with a Taoist basis. The beginning of his contact with alchemy was therefore determined by contemplating in the work the bases of the individuation process, as well as a process center that he later called himself. It took him ten years to create a dictionary of references crusades in order to understand the meanings included in the alchemical texts, as well as fifteen years to have a library similar to those of their dreams. To all of this, we must not forget the importance that various relevant historical figures played for Jung's access to the essence of alchemy, such as María la Judía, Zosimus of Panópolis or Paracelsus.
Jung saw alchemy as a Western protopsychology dedicated to the achievement of individuation. In his interpretation, alchemy was the vessel in which Gnosticism survived its various purges in the Renaissance. In this sense, Jung saw alchemy as comparable to yoga in the West. He also interpreted the Chinese alchemical texts in terms of his analytical psychology as a means for individuation.
Jung argues in his work Psychology and Alchemy (1944) that observable phenomena of the unconscious, such as dreams, contain symbolic elements that can also be found in alchemical symbology. In addition, he dedicates an analysis to the parallelism between the concepts of the so-called philosopher's stone, on the one hand, and the figure of Christ, on the other.
Through the figures of the Rosarium philosophorum included in his work The psychology of transference (1946) he illustrated those transference phenomena that occurred in the individuation process.
Finally, in his work Mysterium coniunctionis (1955-1956), he configured the culmination of the confrontation between alchemy and analytical psychology. As a third part of said work, the Aurora consurgens will be included, edited and commented by Marie-Louise von Franz.
There would still remain an important unpublished work that Jung dedicated to alchemy and that the Philemon Foundation will make public in 2022.
Alchemy Classics
- Albertus Magnus, Compositis Composites (The compound of the compounds).
- Altus, Mutus Liber (The silent book).
- Arnau de Vilanova, Semite Semitæ (The road).
- Basilius Valentinus, Carrus Triumphalis Antimonii (The triumphal chariot of the antimony); Duodecim Claves.
- Bernardo de Treviso, The Green Dream.
- Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica.
- Conversation of King Calid and philosopher Morien on the Magisterium of Hermes.
- Donum Dei.
- Elias Ashmole, Theatrum chemicum britannicum.
- Eugenio Filaleteo, Hermetic art discovered.
- Fulcanelli, The mystery of the cathedrals; The philosophial purples; Finis Gloriæ Mundi.
- Georges Aurach, The garden of wealth.
- Hermes Trismegisto, Emerald Table.
- Instruction of a father to his son about the solar tree.
- Lambspring, Lambspring Book.
- Jacques Le Tesson, The work of the green lion.
- The collarbone or the universal key (attributed to Raimundus Lullus).
- Le Crom, Treaty of the Salt of the philosophers.
- Book of Picatrix.
- Lucas Jennis, Musaeum hermeticum.
- Michael Maier, Atalanta Fugiens; Scrutinium Chymicum; Septimana Philosophica; Arcana Arcanissima; Viatorum; Lusus Scrius; Symbola Aureæ; Themis Aurea o De Circulo Physico Cuadrato.
- Michael Sendivogius, Philosophical Charter; Novum Lumen Chymicum; Dialogus Mercurii; Tractatus de Sulphure; Ænigma Philosphicum.
- Nicholas Flamel, The book of hieroglyphic figures; The desired desire.
- Roberto Valensis, The glory of the world or The Table of Paradise.
- Roger Bacon, Speculum Alchemiæ (The mirror of alchemy); Alchemia Major; De Ione Viridi; Breviaram de dono Dei; Secretm secretrum; Epistolæ de secretis operibus artis et naturæ ac mullitate magiæ.
- Rosarium philosophorum.
- Speculum veritatis.
- Splendor Solis.
- Stolcius von Stolcenberg, Vyridarium Chymicum.
- Paracelso Teofrasto, Opera Omnia; De Natura Rerum Libri Novem; Thesaurus Thesaurorum Alchimistorum (The Treasure of the Alchemists).
- Theatrum chemicum (Chemical theatre), compilation of alchemical treaties of the Renaissance.
- Thomas Aquinas, Aurora consurgens; Treaty of the Philosopheric Stone; Treaty on the Art of Alchemy.
- Treaty of the Secret of Philosophical Art: the Arqueta of the Small Peasant.
- Turba philosophorum.
- Valentine Andreae, The alchemical weddings of Christian Rosacruz.
Alchemy in popular culture
Many writers satirized alchemists and used them as targets for satirical attacks. Two famous ancient examples are:
- Geoffrey Chaucer, The Canon's Yeoman's Prologue and Tale (c. 1380). The protagonist, a alchemist on his way to Canterbury, says that "he will be filled with silver and gold."
- Ben Jonson, The alchemist (c. 1610). In this work of five acts, the characters assemble an alchemy workshop to swindle people.
In more recent works alchemists are often presented in a more romantic and mystical light and little distinction is often made between alchemy, magic and witchcraft:
- William Shakespeare, The tempest (1611). It is his work most influenced by alchemy, plagued by alchemistry and with Prospero as archetypal magic.
- Mary Shelley, Frankenstein (1818). Victor Frankenstein uses both alchemy and modern science to create Frankenstein's monster.
- Vladimir Odoyevski, Salamandra (1828).
- Goethe, second part of Fausto (1832). Wagner, Fausto's servant, uses alchemy to create a counterpart.
- Honoré de Balzac, The search for the absolute (1834)
- Antal Szerb, The legend of the Pendragons (1934).
- Gabriel García Márquez, Hundred years of solitude (1967). An alchemist named Melquíades is added to the surrealist atmosphere of the novel (see magic realism).
- Ian Watson, The Gardens of Delights (1980). A future alchemist, helped by a powerful alien, creates a planet based on the painting of Bosch The garden of delights.
- In some of the novels Mundodisco by Terry Pratchett (1983-2015) appears an alchemist guild. They are known to fly their guild regularly. They play a particularly important role in Men of Arms (1993).
- John Crowley, Ægypt (1987-2007). Therapy of novels of magical realism that extensively treat Dr. Dee, alchemy, astrology and magic.
- Paulo Coelho, The alchemist (1988). The protagonist knows an alchemist and learns the principles of alchemy.
- Umberto Eco, Foucault pendulum (1988).
- J. K. Rowling, Harry Potter and Philosopher Stone (1997). In it appears Nicolas Flamel as a character.
- Neal Stephenson, Baroque Cycle (2003-2004). It includes real and imaginary alchemists such as Isaac Newton, Duillier and Enoch Root.
- Hiromu Arakawa, Fullmetal Alchemist (2001-2010). The author recreates a parallel world governed by the principles of alchemy.