Alchemy

In the history of science, alchemy (Arabic: الكيمياء, al-kimia) refers to both an early form of the investigation of nature and an early philosophical and spiritual discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art all as parts of one greater force. Alchemy has been practiced in Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Persia, India, and China, in Classical Greece and Rome, in Muslim civilization, and then in Europe up to the 19th century—in a complex network of schools and philosophical systems spanning at least 2500 years.

Western alchemy has always been closely connected with Hermeticism, a philosophical and spiritual system that traces its roots to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic Egyptian-Greek deity and legendary alchemist. These two disciplines influenced the birth of Rosicrucianism, an important esoteric movement of the seventeenth century. In the course of the early modern period, mainstream alchemy evolved into modern chemistry.

Today the discipline is of interest mainly to historians of science and philosophy, and for its mystic, esoteric, and artistic aspects. Nevertheless, alchemy was one of the main precursors of modern sciences, and many substances and processes of ancient alchemy continue to be the mainstay of modern chemical and metallurgical industries.

Although alchemy takes on many forms, in pop culture it is most often cited in stories, films, shows, and games as the process used to change lead (or other elements) into gold. Also another form that alchemy takes is in the search for the Philosopher's Stone, in which to obtain the ability to transmute inexpensive metals such as lead into gold ("chrysopoeia" in the Greek language) and/or create an elixir that grants eternal life.

Alchemy as an investigation of Nature

The common perception of alchemists is that they were pseudo-scientists, liars and charlatans, who attempted to turn lead into gold, believing that the universe was composed of the four elements of earth, water, fire, air, and spent most of their time concocting miraculous remedies, poisons, and magic potions.

Although some alchemists were indeed liars and charlatans, most were well-meaning and intelligent middle age to grown men and distinguished scientists, such as Isaac Newton and Robert Boyle. These innovators attempted to explore the nature of chemical substances and processes. They had to rely on experimentation, traditional know-how, rules of thumb and speculative thought in their attempts to uncover the mysteries of the physical universe.

At the same time, it was clear to the alchemists that "something" was generally being conserved in chemical processes, even in the most dramatic changes of physical state and appearance; that is, that substances contained some "principles" that could be hidden under many outer forms, and revealed by proper manipulation. Throughout the history of the discipline, alchemists struggled to understand the nature of these principles, and find some order and sense in the results of their chemical experiments—which were often undermined by impure or poorly characterized reagents, the lack of quantitative measurements, and confusing and inconsistent nomenclature.

Alchemy as a philosophical and spiritual discipline

The best known goals of the alchemists were the transmutation of common metals into gold or silver (less well known is plant alchemy, or "Spagyric"), and the creation of a "panacea," a remedy that supposedly would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. Although these were not the only uses for the science, they were the ones most documented and well known. Starting with the Middle Ages, European alchemists invested much effort on the search for the "philosopher's stone", a legendary substance that was believed to be an essential ingredient for either or both of those goals. The philosopher's stone was believed to mystically amplify the user's knowledge of alchemy so much that anything was attainable. Alchemists enjoyed prestige and support through the centuries, though not for their pursuit of those goals, nor the mystic and philosophical speculation that dominates their literature. Rather it was for their mundane contributions to the "chemical" industries of the day—the invention of gunpowder, ore testing and refining, metalworking, production of ink, dyes, paints, and cosmetics, leather tanning, ceramics and glass manufacture, preparation of extracts and liquors, and so on (It seems that the preparation of aqua vitae, the "water of life", was a fairly popular "experiment" among European alchemists).

On the other hand, alchemists never had the inclination to separate the physical (chemical) aspects of their craft from the metaphysical interpretations. Indeed, from antiquity until well into the Modern Age, a physics devoid of metaphysical insight would have been as unsatisfying as a metaphysics devoid of physical manifestation. For one thing, the lack of common words for chemical concepts and processes, as well as the need for secrecy, led alchemists to borrow the terms and symbols of biblical and pagan mythology, astrology, kabbalah, and other mystic and esoteric fields; so that even the plainest chemical recipe ended up reading like an abstruse magic incantation. Moreover, alchemists sought in those fields the theoretical frameworks into which they could fit their growing collection of disjointed experimental facts.

Starting with the Middle Ages, some alchemists increasingly came to view these metaphysical aspects as the true foundation of alchemy; and chemical substances, physical states, and material processes as mere metaphors for spiritual entities, states and transformations. In this sense, the literal meanings of alchemical formulas were a blind hiding their true spiritual philosophy, which being at odds with the Medieval Church was a necessity that could have otherwise lead them to the "stake and rack" of the Inquisition under charges of heresy.^[1] Thus, both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea symbolized evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible and ephemeral state towards a perfect, healthy, incorruptible and everlasting state; and the philosopher's stone then represented some mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, the twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented some hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are written according to this view, the cryptic alchemical symbols, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works typically contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; and must be laboriously "decoded" in order to discover their true meaning.

In his Alchemical Catechism, Paracelsus clearly denotes that his usage of the metals was a symbol:

Q. When the Philosophers speak of gold and silver, from which they extract their matter, are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgar gold and silver? A. By no means; vulgar silver and gold are dead, while those of the Philosophers are full of life.^[2]

Alchemy and astrology

Since its earliest times, alchemy has been closely connected to astrology—which, in the Islamic world and Europe, generally meant the traditional Babylonian-Greek school of astrology. Alchemical systems often postulated that each of the seven planets known to the ancients "ruled" or was associated with certain metals. See the separate article on astrology and alchemy for further details. In Hermeticism it is linked with both astrology and theurgy.

Psychology

Carl Jung saw alchemy as a Western proto-psychology dedicated to the achievement of individuation; in his interpretation, alchemy was the vessel by which Gnosticism survived its various purges into the Renaissance. In this sense, Jung viewed alchemy as comparable to a Yoga of the West. Jung also interpreted Chinese alchemical texts in terms of his analytical psychology as means to individuation.

Alchemy in the age of science

Western alchemy was a forerunner of modern scientific chemistry. Alchemists used many of the same tools that we use today. These tools were not usually sturdy or in good condition, especially during the Dark Ages of Europe. Many transmutation attempts failed when alchemists unwittingly made unstable chemicals. This was made worse by the unsafe conditions.

Up to the 16th century, alchemy was actually considered serious science in Europe; for instance, Isaac Newton devoted considerably more of his time and writing to the study of alchemy (see Isaac Newton's occult studies) than he did to either optics or physics, for which he is famous. Other eminent alchemists of the Western world are Roger Bacon, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Tycho Brahe, Thomas Browne, and Parmigianino. The decline of alchemy began in the 18th century with the birth of modern chemistry, which provided a more precise and reliable framework for matter transmutations and medicine, within a new grand design of the universe based on rational materialism.

In the first half of the nineteenth century, one established chemist, Baron Carl Reichenbach, worked on concepts similar to the old alchemy, such as the Odic force, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.

Matter transmutation, the old goal of alchemy, enjoyed a moment in the sun in the 20th century when physicists were able to convert lead atoms into gold atoms via a nuclear reaction. However, the new gold atoms, being unstable isotopes, lasted for under five seconds before they broke apart. More recently, reports of table-top element transmutation—by means of electrolysis or sonic cavitation—were the pivot of the cold fusion controversy of 1989. None of those claims have yet been reliably duplicated.

Alchemical symbolism has been occasionally used in the 20th century by psychologists and philosophers. Carl Jung reexamined alchemical symbolism and theory and began to show the inner meaning of alchemical work as a spiritual path. Alchemical philosophy, symbols and methods have enjoyed something of a renaissance in post-modern contexts, such as the New Age movement.

Modern alchemy

In modern times, progress has been made toward achieving the goals of alchemy using different means than those of traditional alchemy. These developments may on occasion be called "alchemy" for rhetorical reasons.

As of 2006, a universal panacea remains elusive, though futurists such as Ray Kurzweil believe sufficiently advanced nanotechnology may prolong life indefinitely. Some say the third goal of alchemy has been fulfilled by IVF and the cloning of a human embryo, although these technologies fall far short of creating a human life from scratch.

The aim of artificial intelligence research could be said to be creating a life from scratch, and those philosophically opposed to the possibility of AI have compared it with alchemy, such as Herbert and Stuart Dreyfus in their 1960 paper Alchemy and AI. However, because the specific aim of alchemy is human transmutation rather than creating life from scratch, genetic research, particularly splicing would be closer to this goal.

Although Alchemy is sneered upon, many modern theories, such as the conservation of energy, have roots in Alchemy. An equivalent exchange must be presented to produce something else of equivalent nature in Alchemy.

Nuclear transmutation

In 1919, Ernest Rutherford used artificial disintegration to convert nitrogen into oxygen. This process or transmutation has subsequently been carried out on a commercial scale by bombarding atomic nuclei with high energy particles from modern particle accelerators and in nuclear reactors. Indeed, in 1980, Glenn Seaborg transmuted lead into gold, though the amount of energy used and the microscopic quantities created negated any possible financial benefit.

Unduplicated transmutation claims

In 1964, George Ohsawa and Michio Kushi, based on the claims of Corentin Louis Kervran, reportedly successfully transmuted sodium into potassium, by use of an electric arc, and later of carbon and oxygen into iron.^{[citation needed]} In 1994, R. Sundaresan and J. Bockris reported that they had observed fusion reactions in electrical discharges between carbon rods immersed in water. However, these claims have not been replicated by other scientists, and the idea is now thoroughly discredited.

Alchemy as a subject of historical research

The history of alchemy has become a vigorous academic field. As the obscure hermetic language of the alchemists is gradually being "deciphered", historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, kabbalism, spiritualism, Rosicrucianism, and other mystic movements, cryptography, witchcraft, and the evolution of science and philosophy.

History

Extract and symbol key from a 17th century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in astrology at the time.

Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships.

One can distinguish at least two major strands, which appear to be largely independent, at least in their earlier stages: Chinese alchemy, centered in China and its zone of cultural influence; and Western alchemy, whose center has shifted over the millennia between Egypt, Greece and Rome, the Islamic world, and finally back to Europe. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to Taoism, whereas Western alchemy developed its own philosophical system, with only superficial connections to the major Western religions. It is still an open question whether these two strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other.

A major text of alchemy, called the Mutus Liber, was published in France in the late 17th century. This was a 'wordless book' that claimed to be a guide to making the philosopher's stone, using a series of 15 symbols and illustrations.

Etymology

The word chemistry comes from the earlier study of alchemy, which is basically the quest to make gold from earthen starting materials. As to the origin of the word “alchemy” the question is a debatable one, it certainly has Greek origins, and some, following E. Wallis Budge, have also asserted Egyptian origins. Alchemy, generally, derives from the old French alkemie; and the Arabic al-kimia: "the art of transformation." The Arabs borrowed the word “kimia” from the Greeks when they conquered Alexandria in the year AD 642. A tentative outline is as follows:

Egyptian alchemy [5,000 BC – 400 BC]
Greek alchemy [332 BC – AD 642], the Greeks founded Alexandria and the world’s largest library
Chinese alchemy [142 AD], in the book The Kinship of the Three by Wei Boyang
Arabian alchemy [642 AD – 1200], the Arabs take over Alexandria; Jabir is the main chemist
European alchemy [1300 – Present], Saint Albertus Magnus builds on Arabic alchemy
Chemistry [1661], Boyle writes his classic chemistry text The Sceptical Chymist
Chemistry [1787], Lavoisier writes his classic Elements of Chemistry
Chemistry [1803], Dalton publishes his Atomic Theory

Thus, an alchemist was called a 'chemist' in popular speech, and later the suffix "-ry" was added to this to describe the art of the chemist as "chemistry".

Notes

^ Blavatsky, H.P. (1888). [[The Secret Doctrine]]. Theosophical Publishing Company. pp. vol ii, 238. ISBN 978-1557000026. {{cite book}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
^ Paracelsus. "Alchemical Catechism". Retrieved 2007-04-18.

References

Cavendish, Richard, The Black Arts, Perigee Books
Gettgins, Fred (1986). Encyclopedia of the Occult. London: Rider.
Hart-Davis, Adam (2003). Why does a ball bounce? 101 Questions that you never thought of asking. New York: Firefly Books.
Marius (1976). On the Elements. Berkeley: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02856-2. Trans. Richard Dales.
Weaver, Jefferson Hane (1987). The World of Physics. New York: Simon & Schuster.
Zumdahl, Steven S. (1989). Chemistry (2nd ed. ed.). Lexington, Maryland: D.C. Heath and Company. ISBN 0-669-16708-8. {{cite book}}: |edition= has extra text (help)
Greenberg, Adele Droblas (2000). Chemical History Tour, Picturing Chemistry from Alchemy to Modern Molecular Science. Wiley-Interscience. ISBN 0-471-35408-2.

External links

The Alchemy website - Alchemy from a metaphysical perspective.
Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry
Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Alchemy
Antiquity, Vol. 77 (2003) - "A 16th century lab in a 21st century lab".
The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry, Muir, M. M. Pattison (1913)
"Transforming the Alchemists", New York Times, August 1, 2006. Historical revisionism and alchemy.
Electronic library with some 350 alchemical books (15th- and 20th-century)

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[1] Blavatsky, H.P. (1888). [[The Secret Doctrine]]. Theosophical Publishing Company. pp. vol ii, 238. ISBN 978-1557000026. {{cite book}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)

[2] Paracelsus. "Alchemical Catechism". Retrieved 2007-04-18.

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