“When you possess great treasures within you and try to tell others of them, normally people don't believe you” – The Alchemist (Paulo Coelho)
When we hear the alchemy word, the book named “The Alchemist” may occur to our minds. This novel which tells the story of a shepherd's journey to Egypt to find gold, advises to be happy in life, had broken sales records, it is also etched into the memory of some of us. But when it comes to "Alchemy", we need to know more than that. Likewise, alchemy is known as an interesting occupation throughout history. Today in this article, I wanted to briefly discuss what alchemy is, whether it is scientific or not why it is interesting. Alchemy is a concept that expresses the philosophy of a period and the primitive investigation of nature. The alchemy word derives from the word "alkheemee" in Arabic.
Alchemy states to past works in order to convert worthless materials into gold, to find a treatment of helpless diseases and to possess the elixir of immortality. Alchemy examines the interaction between space and human by the expression of alchemical sources and it is aimed at making that human being eternal. According to this understanding, the human being will be under heaven, will not die from helpless diseases, and beyond that will remain in the world forever with the elixir of immortality. When we talk about it, it is possible to say that we are interested in alchemy that we can imagine expressing our imaginary works and it is an interesting subject when we consider the 2500 years past.
Chemistry, Metallurgy, Physics, Medicine, Astrology, Semiotics, Mysticism, Spiritualism and Art ... Different fields from each other… Art, medicine and mysticism, all in one ... Alchemy has been arguing that it is an occupation that has all these things. The alchemy that beginning in Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt, Iran, India and China, began to be seen in Greece, the Roman Empire and the Islamic states in the following period. It became an important occupation in medieval Europe after the 12th century. As you can see, alchemists have seen demand despite different cultures in different geographies. It is remarkable that the spread of human beings' desire to be eternal and the dream of wealth without the distinction of faith and culture.
Is Alchemy a Science Branch?
We can definitely state that alchemy is not a scientific discipline. The experimental methods used by the alchemists may be similar to chemistry, but there is no positive approach to chemistry. It is stated that some of the materials used today were used by alchemists centuries ago, and that the work that laid the foundations of chemistry was alchemy. It is interesting to note that materials such as caustic soda, sulfur, mercury, slaked lime, nitric acid have been used centuries ago. But the fact that the philosophical dimensions of the result that are desired to be achieved when these things have struggled are heavy, and occasionally similar to witchcraft, makes it away from science. Although it is stated that chemical progress contributions such as finding gunpowder, refining of mines, development of cosmetics, ceramics, glass and paint production and liquor and essence production its method is different from chemistry.
From another point of view, it can be said that the relationship between astrology and astronomy is also between alchemy and chemistry.
In other words, people of past ages have ascribed to mystical meanings to physical phenomena.
For example, the alchemists accept the existence of the four elements that Plato has spoken of, just as other primitive sciences and present day pseudoscientist have accepted. These are Fire, Water, Air, Earth. These elements have been used as symbols of some properties beyond their general meanings.
Fire: It represents divine power. It represents enlightenment because it gives the light. It contains elements of masculinity. It generally represents enlightenment, at the same time, the torment and it also represents destructiveness.
Water: Total opposite the fire. It represents femininity. Water is changeable. It represents the Moon. In addition to being life giving and purifying, it also represents privacy.
Air: It is a neutral element and contains properties of fire and water. It represents the mind.
Earth: It symbolizes plentifulness and earnings. It has the properties of three other elements.
Alchemy also conveys the thought system of these elements in practice. These elements are associated with actions such as heating, angering, pouring, evaporating, filtering. Furthermore, according to alchemy there is the difference between male and female. According to this separation, the sun is the male, the world is the female. Also, three worlds are mentioned in alchemical teachings. These are Archetypes (God), Macrocosmos (Nature) and Microcosmos (Human). Human beings are made up of three things: "Soul, Life, Body". In the world of elements, the equivalent is "sulfur, salt, mercury". Here the two principles against sulfur and mercury, the salt represents the principle in the middle.
The alchemists, of course, have experimented with things in their work, but as you can see, the aim and meaning are concentrated in metaphysical dimensions. The "panacea" (the essence of immortality) that the alchemists want to acquire and desire that turn the mines into gold was encompassed their long working periods. Although it is not possible to find a "Philosophers Stone" which is the building stone of the immortality potion, it has become one of the biggest targets. Due to the that Alchemy was not separated from metaphysical interpretations, over time, it made a metaphysical basis and made an effort to make chemical substances a tool for giving information about spiritual being. The lack of terminology in the chemical field has led the alchemists to use pagan mythology, astrology and kabbalah terms over time. For this reason, alchemists have even expressed the simplest experiments in mixed terms as a mystical endeavor.
Alchemy, Hermeticism and Esotericism Relations
There are two possible concepts that you might face when you investigate alchemy. These are Hermeticism and Esotericism. Esotericism is a teaching of philosophy that is passed on to competent persons through a "initiation" (right path) by a master. Information should not be transferred to noncompetent people. Hermetism is the teachings of Hermes Trismegistus, an alchemist who divinized and believed that he had lived in ancient Egypt. The common feature of these two concepts is that they belong to the philosophical-spiritual world. Alchemy is closely related to these two teachings. For this reason, alchemy has become a subject of examination of the field of philosophy over time.
Journey to gold from worthless materials…
Throughout history, it is believed that the alchemists are dealing with making gold from worthless materials. It is only those who have worked for this purpose, but according to the alchemists who are interested in the spiritual direction of work, their main purpose is to reach the Philosophers Stone. I would like to talk about Philosophers Stone again but it will be good to give some information about the work of making gold in advance.
The alchemists tried to convert the worthless materials to gold with a mixture that named "red potion". The transformation of the metal into gold is a step by step process, first purged, purified, and then gold after it is completely removed. Gold making works are usually done on lead and mercury. Some alchemists have mixed mercury with sulfur, arsenic and ammonium chloride. The magical words and mixed drawings they used make it difficult to get detailed information on this subject. Alchemists also made chemical examinations to make poisons, magic potions, as well as gold making.
The secret that can not be found - Philosophers Stone
According to alchemists the basis of finding the secret of immortality based on the Philosophers Stone. This Philosophers Stone is also the key to the spiritual world. The great faith in the Philosophers Stone has brought along swindlers who benefit from this. Today, belief in the Philosophers Stone is now very low.
Although alchemy is one of the favorite works of a period, it has lost its influence today. Throughout history, alchemists have been passed as the swindler. It is interesting that scientists such as Isaac Newton, Robert Boyle and physicist Arnaldus de Villa Nova had interested in alchemy for a while. Alchemy should be regarded as a separate occupation from science. The success of the alchemy has not been proved and the goals to be reached have not gone beyond narrations throughout history. The difficulty of deciphering the complex terms and forms that the alchemists leave behind because of their desire to protect their work from noncompetent people also makes it difficult to study this work.
Image Sources
- Alchemist Heating a Pot, by David Teniers the Younger (1610 - 1690)
- The Alchemist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone, by Joseph Wright, 1771
- Symbols in medieval Arabic alchemy inspired by Egyptian hieroglyphs: Kitab al-Aqalim by Abu ‘l-Qasim al-‘Iraqi in British Library
- Alchemical Symbols
- Rendition of ancient Egyptian stele showing the Pharoah Akhenaten and the life-giving Aten, which the alchemists would later refer to as the First Matter. Akhenaten rediscovered the Emerald Tablet around 1450 BC and tried to implement its principles in Egyptian society
- Symbolic Red Potion