ALCHEMY

a form of speculative thought that, among other aims, tried to transform base metals such as lead or copper into silver or gold and to discover a cure for disease and a way of extending life. Alchemy was the name given in Latin Europe in the 12th century to an aspect of thought that corresponds to astrology, which is apparently an older tradition. Both represent attempts to discover the relationship of man to the cosmos and to exploit that relationship to his benefit. The first of these objectives may be called scientific, the second technological. Astrology is concerned with man's relationship to the stars (including the members of the solar system); alchemy, with terrestrial nature. But the distinction is far from absolute, since both are interested in the influence of the stars on terrestrial events. Moreover, both have always been pursued in the belief that the processes human beings witness in heaven and on earth manifest the will of the Creator and, if correctly understood, will yield the key to the Creator's intentions. pseudoscience whose aims were to transform base metals such as lead or copper into silver or gold. Although such attempts have involved chemical procedures, evidence linking alchemy with the development of chemistry itself remains inconclusive. The theory that five elements (air, water, earth, fire, space) in various combinations constitute all matter was postulated in almost identical form in ancient China, India, and Greece. Further, the world of matter was seen to function by means of antagonistic, opposing forcese.g., hot and cold, wet and dry, positive and negative, male and female. Under their similar astrological heritages, philosophers of these three cultures found correspondences among the elements, planets, and metals. Astrologers believed that events in the macrocosm of the natural world were reflected in the human microcosm, and vice versa. Thus, under the proper astrological influences, a perfection, or healing, of lead into gold might occur, just as the human soul could achieve a perfect state in heaven. The artisan in his laboratory could perhaps hasten this process by careful nurture and long heating, by killing the metal and then reviving it in a finer form. While the practical alchemists invented and used many laboratory apparatuses and procedures that in modified form are used today, they were still essentially artisans and did not wish to reveal their trade secrets. In an effort to preserve the esoteric nature of their practices, they devised many concealing, symbolic names for the materials with which they worked. These confusing tendencies were intensified as the mystically minded began to develop alchemical ideas. As Hellenistic philosophy shifted more and more from the technical scientific viewpoint to the emphasis on divine revelation of Gnosticism, Neoplatonism, and Christianity, the alchemical writings became esoteric to the point of total obscurity. In time the Chinese practitioners, who sought to make gold not for its own sake but as an elixir of immortality, also came to emphasize the esoteric aspects at the expense of all practical technique, and the art degenerated into a mass of superstition. Alchemy in India eventually met with a similar fate. Arabic alchemy is as mysterious in its origins as the other currents. It presumably migrated during the Hellenistic period to Egypt, where it became incorporated into the work of the first alchemist whose identity has been authenticated, Zosimos of Panopolis. Through their contact with China, the Arabs adopted the use of a transmuting medicine, the mysterious substance that appears later in European alchemy as the philosopher's stone. Translations of the Arabic works of ar-Razi (c. 850923/924) by Christian scholars in the 12th century led to a revival of alchemy in Europe. By 1300 the subject was being discussed by the leading philosophers, scientists, and theologians of the day. Important alchemical discoveries of the period include the mineral acids and alcohol. Medical chemistry, or pharmacy, emerged from this revival two centuries later under the influence of Paracelsus (14931541), a Swiss-German alchemist. Renaissance physicists and chemists began to discount the possibility of transmutation on the basis of a renewed interest in Greek atomism. The chemical facts that had been accumulated by the alchemists were now reinterpreted and made the basis upon which modern chemistry was erected. It was not until the 19th century, however, that the possibility of chemical gold-making was conclusively contradicted by scientific evidence. Sporadic revivals of alchemical philosophies and techniques persisted into the 20th century. Additional reading John Ferguson, Bibliotheca Chemica: A Catalogue of the Alchemical, Chemical and Pharmaceutical Books in the Collection of the Late James Young of Kelly and Durris, 2nd ed., 2 vol. (1954), the most important bibliography of alchemy, carefully and copiously annotated; Alan Pritchard, Alchemy: A Bibliography of English-Language Writings (1980), a comprehensive work, valuable for its listing of secondary material; M. Berthelot and Ch.-m. Ruelle (eds.), Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs, 3 vol. (188788, reprinted 1967), the principal source for all studies of Hellenistic alchemy, although its accuracy has often been impugned; Titus Burckhardt, Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul (1967; originally published in German, 1960); C.A. Burland, The Arts of the Alchemists (1967), a valuable source for iconography; Mircea Eliade, The Forge and the Crucible, 2nd ed. (1978; originally published in French, 1956), a comparison of alchemy with the practices of the primitive metallurgist; Richard Russell (trans.), The Works of Geber (1678, reprinted 1928; originally published in Latin, 1545), the most famous and important medieval Latin work on alchemy; E.J. Holmyard, Alchemy (1957, reprinted 1968), a general history; C.G. Jung, Psychology and Alchemy, 2nd rev. ed. (1968, reprinted 1980; originally published in German, 2nd rev. ed., 1952), a classic psychological interpretation of alchemy; Jack Lindsay, The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt (1970), a popular work but with a detailed consideration of occult ideas; Robert P. Multhauf, The Origins of Chemistry (1967), a discussion of Greek, Arabic, and European alchemy, with an extensive bibliography; Praphulla Chandra Ray, A History of Hindu Chemistry from the Earliest Times to the Middle of the Sixteenth Century, A.D., 2 vol. (190209), a valuable study; Herbert Silberer, Problems of Mysticism and Its Symbolism (1917, reprinted 1971 as Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts; originally published in German, 1914), an early Freudian interpretation of alchemy; Nathan Sivin, Chinese Alchemy: Preliminary Studies (1968); H.E. Stapleton, The Antiquity of Alchemy, Ambix, 5(1 and 2):143 (October 1953), on the relationship between Greek and Arabic alchemy; F.S. Taylor, A Survey of Greek Alchemy, The Journal of Hellenic Studies, 50:109139 (1930), an excellent English-language summary; Arthur Edward Waite, The Secret Tradition in Alchemy: Its Development and Records (1926, reprinted 1969), a spiritual interpretation; and Ambix (3 times per year), the journal of the Society for the History of Alchemy and Early Chemistry and the principal source of new historical research.