Outline of alchemy

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

Mandala from the Musaeum Hermeticum incorporating the septenary, four elements, tria prima, and hieros gamos

• 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

Mandala illustrating key alchemical concepts, symbols, and processes. From Spiegel der Kunst und Natur.

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

Alchemical apparatus. (Carlo Lancillotti, 1681.)

• 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

Hermes Trismegistus – traditionally credited as the author of the Hermetica and legendary founder of Western alchemy. (Maier, 1617)

Main article: List of 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