The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to alchemy: Alchemy – A philosophical tradition recognized as protoscience, that includes the application of Hermetic principles, and practices related to mythology, religion, and spirituality.
Branches Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam Chinese Alchemy Neidan Processing (Chinese materia medica) Iatrochemistry Spagyric New Age Psychoanalysis Analytical psychology Individuation Metacognition Rasayana
Influences Influences upon alchemy – alchemy developed dependent on a number of influences and experienced regional and period-specific variations:
Aristotelianism Esotericism Western Esotericism Esoteric Christianity Gnosticism Hermeticism Humorism Metallurgy History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent Platonism Neoplatonism Pseudoscience Pythagoreanism Taoism Stoicism
Related fields Anthroposophy Astrology Ayurveda Homeopathy Kayaku-Jutsu Magic, magick Moxibustion Tay al-Ard Yoga Nidra
Concepts
Alchemical elements – Primarily the four Classical elements of: Fire (classical element) Water (classical element) Earth (classical element) Air (classical element) For variations see: Wu Xing • Mahābhūta • Five elements (Japanese philosophy) Alchemy in art and entertainment Alkahest Anima mundi Chrysopoeia Filius philosophorum Takwin Homunculus Philosopher's stone Cintamani Elixir of life Panacea Prima materia Yliaster Septenary of the seven metals and Classical planets in Western alchemy Lead • tin • copper • iron • mercury • silver • gold Saturn • Jupiter • Venus • Mars • Mercury • Moon • Sun Tria Prima (three primes) Salt • mercury • sulfur Body • soul • spirit Unity of opposites or coincidentia oppositorum Hieros Gamos Rebis
Processes Magnum opus – great work of alchemy consisting of:
Nigredo Albedo Citrinitas (sometimes excluded) Rubedo Alchemists also engaged in practical and symbolic processes including:
Calcination Ceration Cohobation Congelation Digestion Distillation Fermentation Filtration Fixation Multiplication Projection Solution Sublimation
Symbolism
Alchemical symbol – 1. Glyphs
AGLA Monas Hieroglyphica 2. Imagery
Suns in alchemy Undine (alchemy) 3. Visual Symbolism
Porta Alchemica Serpent (symbolism) Caduceus Ouroboros Nehushtan
Scientific connections Biological transmutation Chemistry Historicism Nuclear transmutation Obsolete scientific theories Physics Scientific method Synthesis of noble metals
Substances of the alchemists phosphorus • sulfur (sulphur) • arsenic • antimony vitriol • quartz • cinnabar • pyrites • orpiment • galena magnesia • lime • potash • natron • saltpetre • kohl ammonia • ammonium chloride • alcohol • camphor sulfuric acid (sulphuric acid) • hydrochloric acid • nitric acid • acetic acid • formic acid • citric acid • tartaric acid aqua regia • gunpowder blue vitriol • green vitriol • vinegar • salt more...
Apparatus Stills
Alembic Retort Retort stand Vessels
Aludel Crucible Hessian crucible Cupels Mortar and pestle Heating devices
Athanor Bain-marie Sand bath
Alchemy organizations Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism Freemasonry Rosicrucianism
Alchemical texts Axiom of Maria Alchemical Studies (Carl Jung) Aurora consurgens Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit Cantong qi Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz Hermetica Emerald Tablet Sirr al-khalīqa ("The Secret of Creation") The Hermetical Triumph Fasciculus Chemicus Musaeum Hermeticum Mutus Liber Rosary of the Philosophers Splendor Solis Theatrum Chemicum Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum The Mirror of Alchimy Turba Philosophorum
Journals Ambix Aries Early Science and Medicine Isis
Alchemists
The most influential names in the history of alchemy include:
Hermes Trismegistus – by tradition, the founder of Western alchemy; many alchemical works were attributed to him. Wei Boyang – authored the earliest known book on theoretical alchemy in China. Pseudo-Democritus – anonymous author of the oldest extant works of Greco-Egyptian alchemy. Zosimos of Panopolis – influential Greco-Egyptian alchemist. Khālid ibn Yazīd – credited with introducing alchemy to the Islamic world. Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana – earliest known source of the sulfur-mercury theory of metals and the Emerald Tablet. Jābir ibn Hayyān – notable for the theory of the balance (ʿilm al-mīzān), the theory of artificial generation (ʿilm al-takwīn), and a general emphasis on experimental science. Pseudo-Geber – later Latin alchemist who wrote the influential Summa perfectionis. Roger Bacon – staunch proponent of the use of alchemy. Paracelsus – developer of iatrochemistry. Robert Boyle – alchemist critical of Paracelsus, credited as the father of modern chemistry. Mary Anne Atwood – key figure in the occult revival of alchemy. Carl Jung – merged alchemy and psychoanalytic thought.
See also Outline of chemistry Outline of medicine
External links
SHAC: Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry ESSWE: European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism Association for the Study of Esotericism The Alchemy Website. – Adam McLean's online collections and academic discussion. Inner Garden Alchemy Research Group: a non-profit foundation that aims to transmit the alchemical tradition. Alchemy on In Our Time at the BBC Dictionary of the History of Ideas: Alchemy Book of Secrets: Alchemy and the European Imagination, 1500-2000 – A digital exhibition from the Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library at Yale University