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Clearly we owe a great deal to the practice of Alchemy. It is, after all, the root of modern chemistry, pharmacopeia and, to an extent, medicine. Its influence is also felt in physical sciences to an extent. However, few really understand the origin and driving forces of alchemy. There is a trend today to focus on making the ‘Philosophers Stone’, transmuting lead into gold, and creating potions of immortality. Most people do not understand the true meaning behind these stories and teachings. I hope that this brief introduction will help to clarify things a bit.
The practice of alchemy in a physical sense has been around almost as long as man. Much of the work on medicines, pigments and other practical uses were developed in ancient Egypt. In Egypt, however, spirituality and magic permeated all aspects of life. Therefore, while these sciences were used to make physical medicine, there was also a spiritual meaning. Obviously if there is healing taking place, there must be spiritual development which initiates the healing. These technologies encountered Greek philosophy, Gnosticism and hermeticism, and traveled with the Egyptians and Greeks throughout Egypt and Syria. Spreading to Islamic peoples, texts were translated from Greek to Arabic. Islam’s embrace of science caused rapid advances in alchemy, and it also supplied influences from India and China. In 1144, the first of the alchemic texts was translated into Latin. Alchemy flowed over Europe, and was a respected science through the end of the seventeenth century, when it was phased out in favor of the more scientific chemistry. In the late nineteenth and early twentieth century’s interest in alchemy for its spiritual, psychological and healing aspects.
Everyone will agree that the work of the alchemist was to change ‘lead’ into ‘gold’. This is true, although not as everyone may think. Much of ancient alchemical and magical texts were written in code. ‘Gold’ was the perfected substance, and ‘lead’ was the raw materials. There are many different formulas for creating ‘gold’. Probably as many different formulas as there are alchemists, with good reason. The ‘gold’ may be a completed medicine, or oil, or whatever the alchemist was trying to create. As today, people paid well for their services and many were sponsored by nobility. Looking at this, it is easy to see where the gold came from.
All of this, however, was secondary to the alchemist’s true goal, which is to make the alchemical change on themselves. To take that raw material, that ‘lead’, that composes the human condition and transmute it into refined ‘gold’. Lead was seen as an overabundance of pure, unrefined Mercury, a little Sulfur and a heavy but porous Salt. Mercury, in alchemical ‘code’ is Spirit, Sulfur is the Soul and Salt is the Body. The Soul is the divine spark that is the cause of all life. The Spirit is the personality, the individuality that the soul clothes itself in to experience this life, and the Body is, of course, the physical body and the world we live in. All of these qualities originally come from Materia Prima, the Prime Material. In alchemical terms, Sulfur is what boils, an oil; Mercury is whatever rises as fumes, a liquor; and Salt is whatever is left in the ashes. This gives a good indication of the qualities of Spirit, Soul and Body.
Through the alchemical process the Mercury, Sulphur and Salt are separated from the ‘lead’, balanced and refined, and then recombined in proper balance to form ‘gold’. This process of refinement works on the physical existence, on the personality (intellectual and emotional levels) and on the spiritual breaking them down, working on them to make sure they function at their highest capability, and rebuilding. This is done to each element individually and with specific order. First, they worked on their physical world. They perfected their outer ‘gold’, securing a means of supporting themselves. They used their skills to heal and help others, improving the world around them. Then they worked on themselves, becoming more educated, more compassionate and more balanced in their emotions. Finally, they worked toward the spiritual goal of refining themselves to be more in harmony with that divine spark. When this is all done, they are integrated, creating the new and improved ‘golden’ self. This new self is the Philosophers Stone.
As you can see, the science of alchemy had both an outer and inner meanings. Many myths and misconceptions have sprung up about alchemy, and with good reason. Still, there will be those who say that changing lead into gold is possible. This is highly unlikely, as lead has a lower number of neutrons than gold, so you would have to do that kind of an operation inside something like the Sun. However, it is possible with a process called slow neutron bombardment to take mercury, with a higher atomic number than gold, and knock off neutrons from the mercury atoms, changing them to gold isotopes. This was first done by a Japanese scientist in 1924 named Hantaro Nagaoka. The process produces a radioactive isotope of gold. Not something you want laying around. Also, the process costs WAY more than what you get out of it in gold. If you use a fast moving neutron bombardment, such as in a supercollider, the mercury will be transformed into stable gold. Again, however, the cost of doing so still a lot more than what it would gain from selling the gold. To those that still hold to the notion that the Philosophers Stone will bring you immortality, I refer you to The Epistle of Maryanus, the Hermit and Philosopher to Prince Kahlid ibn Yazid which states that the Philosophers Stone can cure the illnesses of matter and men. That is a far cry from immortality.
I truly hope this helps to bring some clarity and understanding to a subject that has been twisted by popular fiction into something that alchemists of old would find laughable at best and insulting at worst.
Works referenced in writing this article:
Brian Cotnoir, The Weiser Concise Guide to Alchemy. 2006. Weiser Books. Califorinia.
Frater Albertus, The Alchemist’s Handbook. 1974. Samuel Weiser, Inc. New York.
Israel Regardie, The Philosopher’s Stone. 1970. Llewellyn Publications. Minnesota.
Morienus, A Testament of Alchemy. 1974. Trans. Lee Stavenhagen. Brandeis University Press. A translation of The Epistle of Maryanus, the Hermit and Philosopher to Prince Kahlid ibn Yazid.
Paracelsus, The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Aureolus Philippus Theophratus Bombast, of Hohenhiem, called Paracelsus the Great. 2 Vols. 1967. Edited and trans. A. E. Waite. University Books Inc. New York.
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