A Brief and Incomplete History of Alchemy
Alchemy in Historical Context
One of the truly great gifts magick has to offer us is connectivity. The branches of the occult sciences (alchemy, astrology, divination and magick) are based in a foundation of connectivity. The principle of eternity—in which we are not limited by differences of time and space— is especially present in these arts. When we gaze into a crystal ball we may see things to come but also things as they are and were equally. When a magician practices their art they are able to interact with the elements; reach out and create a ripple in physical reality even from the confines of a prison cell. The dead are not lifeless. The fantastic is not fantasy. We do not experience painful separations through magick but joyful communion with what we are usually separated by.
In our daily lives we may experience spirituality or faith almost as one experiences clouds parting to reveal the sun. Like brief moments of beauty that validate an otherwise tragic existence. When we invite magick into our lives, though, we experience life not simply as a tragedy to survive but as an opportunity. This opportunity is what we make of it. Magick is nothing, though, if not an all consuming curiosity to seek out the unknown. To practice magick in earnest is to be madly in love with the mysteries of not only our existence but what lays beyond it. It gives us a reason to live just as being happy in love gives us a reason to live. Magick is a romance that does not fade. Devotion to magick enables us to be faithful in the truest and deepest meaning of the concept. This is why the study of alchemy is worthwhile. Alchemy is the goal of transmuting lead to gold. It is the marriage between faith and reason, between science and magick. It joins the desires of our intellect and our soul.
With magick into our lives we are never, ever truly alone. Likewise, when we open our mind to alchemy we become legion with a collective of magicians joined by a single endeavor. We may be physically separated by lifetimes, oceans, downfalls of civilizations and languages. But the unifying principle of eternity is much stronger than frivolities such as life and death. We can gaze at religion, spirituality, sexuality, politics, culture and the individual outside of our own experience. We may borrow the ancient’s worldview. The peasant, the queen, the slave, the cloistered mystic or the half-starved hermit. This is how magick conspires to build empathy in its practitioners. The connectivity of empathy is what enables magick to work. Magick runs like a river through pathways of potential, connecting the elements to the individual and moving the out of reach closer to us. It abolishes separations and caste systems created by race, class, colonialism or any other -ism mankind has manufactured. With that having been said, let’s step into the shoes of our peers in the field of alchemy. We will hear stories which are fascinating, bizarre and grotesque. Alchemy, of the transmutation of lead into gold, appeals to many for different reasons. Some of them are noble others are wicked.
Mary the Jewess, 1st Century A.D.
Mary the Jewess, also known as The Prophetess, is one of the first known alchemists. Scholars believe she lived in the first century in Alexandria, Egypt. There is an interesting intersection of spiritual and scholarly ideas which began to take shape in this particular time and place. The character that alchemy began to take on, especially as represented in what we know of Mary the Prophetess’s work, certainly mirrors the tenets of Gnosticism in a substantial way.
We know of Mary the Jewess not through her own words but by mentions of her by alchemists whose legacies survived the ravages of time. Legend tells of her being able to complete The Great Work, or the chemical process that transmutes lead into gold, in a single afternoon. We can envision her producing a miracle with the quick, competence of a busy matriarch. She also provides guidance to other alchemists on what tools to use and how when undertaking the Magnum Opus. To this day the instruments she is said to have invented occupy chemistry labs and kitchens (fitting that they should be equally practical in both places). The Bain-Marie is named for her—a device made of copper especially useful for limiting how hot the liquid within becomes. An important thing to take into consideration regarding Mary the Jewess is that she is no different than a great deal of other figures of occult history in that white writers have been quick to identify her as Greek in ethnicity rather than Egyptian. Yet there is not substantial evidence for this claim to stand unchallenged. What we know of Mary’s work shows a distinctly Gnostic bent and Gnosticism shows a great deal of evidence for being rooted in ancient Egyptian religious ideologies.
Avicenna, 11th century AD, Arabian physician
Avicenna was an Arabian physician of the Muslim faith who wrote prolifically on scientific and philosophical matters. Although he is credited with writing hundreds of books which probably contain ideas that seem primitive by our contemporary understanding of science’s standards, he also had a firmer grasp on the nature of metals. For instance, he theorized that the seven metals may be of the same genus but could not be chemically altered into a different metal altogether. Although this is not entirely true (mercury can be turned to Silver under the right conditions
Abu Mansur Muwaffah, 10th century AD, Persian alchemist
In an attempt to accomplish what my guess would be the Albedo stage (whitening and coagulation of chemical substances) , Muwaffuh created plaster of Paris. He understood this discovery to be medically useful to repair broken bones. Muwaffah also correctly warned of certain chemical combinations commonly produced by aspiring chemists and alchemists were poisonous. Through Muwaffuh’s legacy we see a highly important facet of alchemy represented clearly—-much scientific inquiry was motivated by a deep wish to know God through an understanding of how the world worked in a mechanical sense. However the byproduct was many discoveries that fell outside the realm of alchemy but were useful to serving humanity either in a medical or technical context.
Sir Isaac Newton, English scientist 1642-1726
Perhaps the most renowned of alchemists. This is certainly due to both the merit of his contributions to math and science and the privilege of his identity. Historians and scholars have been granted a greater degree of access into the inner life of Newton through the availability of his writings. In 1936 his writings on alchemy were auctioned off at Sotheby’s. Like his predecessors the gnostics, Newton was deeply spiritual but did not ascribe to Christianity in any conventional or orthodox sense. He seems to have had a great degree of independence in thought where religion was concerned. The driving force behind Newton’s work was as a scientist was alchemical. However, he kept these pursuits private as they were not looked on favorably by either the law or the scientific community. After reading his writings on alchemy its clear that some of the discoveries he made in the field of optics and illusions are the direct result of him gazing through a prism or a test-tube held to a flame while conducting experiments in pursuit of .
This is just one of a multitude of discoveries he made by scrupulously observing every facet of his alchemical experiments. After reading them it seems safe to conclude that all of his devotion to science was in service to alchemy. Although his writings on alchemy have been labelled “shocking” or “incoherent” you may look them up online at http://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/mss/norm/ALCH00041 . They were written with great beauty and passion. At certain points I was struck by how earnest he was when writing on alchemy. The writings in Keynes MS take on the same tone of ecstatic fervor as the writings of mystics, who were also often labelled as mad. It is not often that we can read about chemistry and sense the deeply personal connection the author holds to his work.
Cleopatra the Alchemist, Egypt 3rd Century AD
I was unable to find available primary sources by Cleopatra the Alchemist so I know her work by reputation only in all honesty. Her writing on alchemy are said to use strong analogies of creating the Philosopher’s Stone by tending to the chemical process as a mother tends to an infant. This feminized writing style has made her somewhat of a subject of curiosity for scholars using a feminist lens to study work. Her legacy contains three remaining written works—two discuss her and one was authored by Cleopatra herself.
Gille de Rais, France 1405-1440
De Rais was a depraved aristocratic serial killer and pedophile in the middle ages. A former knight who fought beside Joan of Arc, he eventually was executed for sexually assaulting and killing hundreds of children throughout France. Part of what led de Rais to the slaughter of children for ritual was the influence of an occultist said to be capable of conjuring demons which one could strike deals with. The particular demon being conjured allegedly required tributes in the form of children’s lives. Part of the reason why alchemy was punishable by death in Europe is that, apart from the practice being deemed heretical, wealthy families were continuously being swindled by alchemists claiming to be able to multiply their wealth for a fee. The crimes of de Rais may seem especially fitting with what we may view as the primitive belief systems of the Dark Ages. In reality, though, genuine advancements in science, technology and chemistry were being made centuries before his time. De Rais was simply a mad man under the influence of outlandish ideas that were circulating in the 1400s.
However, this is one of the only examples of what can be categorized as satanic alchemy (to my knowledge). The reason why de Rais’ example of satanism is significant is because we’re able to view satanism outside of a modern context. In other words prior to Satan taking on a role as a social symbol of freedom against orthodoxy and dogma. Whereas Christianity is concerned with eternal life theistic satanism at this juncture in history was concerned with death.
Fang, 1st century B.C., China
There’s really limited information available about this particular alchemist, probably because of the sheer amount of time that has passed since her life. However, she is one of the earliest documented figures attributed with making advances in the field of alchemy. There are several other female alchemists from China who have received recognition throughout the ages. One of the most noteworthy aspects of Fang’s contribution is not necessarily that she’s a woman but rather her scholarship occurred centuries prior to most recorded Western alchemical attempts. Furthermore her extraction methods are still useful to this day.
Alchemy and Psychology
In Western psychology the work of Carl Jung has played a significant role in creating a bridge between the world of metaphysics and psychiatry. His contributions are not to be taken lightly. Jung added a level of eloquence and crystalized many philosophical concepts present in religious symbolism into a coherent shape. He also took lofty spiritual goals, such as alchemy, and grounded them in a more personal practical application and shape by approaching it as a psychotherapeutic analogy. Jung is somewhat of an icon because of these contributions. The psychotherapist has a lasting cultural imprint, especially in the field of metaphysics, which has taken on a hugely psychological approach to translating occult symbolism.
The Chemical Process of Alchemy
The eternal nature of symbolism employed by faiths separated through great cultural differences reveals a great deal worth contemplating. This is especially true where the colors and images of alchemy are concerned. It’s history is rich with contributions from an array of places, periods and vantage points that are vastly different. Alchemy has a history in the East and West. Yet, there is great congruence in the meaning of the phases and colors that are so important to our understanding of alchemy. And this congruence occurs in spite of the colors employed in the alchemical spectrum taking on dramatically different tones in sociopolitical contexts based on geography. Or, more specifically, colonization’s relationship to each geography. By looking at the colors of alchemy we are able to perceive of the spectrum of colors outside the associations we have been instilled with in a politicized context. Black no longer means evil, white no longer means virginal, yellow no longer sickly or cowardly, red not simply angered and undisciplined. In a sense alchemy allow us to conceive of colors with a greater degree of innocence and wisdom. Varying approaches to the Magnum Opus describe different stages—some use 4, some 7, some 9.
The phases of alchemy are signified by:
-nigredi (blackening),
-albedo (whitening),
-citrinitas (yellowing), and
-rubedo ( reddening). The Phoenix and the Peacock are birds often found vibrantly rendered on a yellowed leaf of a medieval manuscript. The synthesis of all these colors is required for the Mangnus Opus to be completed.
Nigredi
Nigredi is the initial phase of alchemy. It is the prima materia, or organic matter, in which gold is produced. It is the womb in which all metals are born. It is the earth in its most organic state. Alchemy may have several stages, but it is a unified process whose outcome is a spectacle of colors. Nigredi is no more and no less than any other stage. Alchemy cannot be accomplished by skipping any of the steps. This step requires the extreme heat to coagulate but also burn off extraneous minerals and metals.
Metal: Lead (Saturn) (The Tower)
Albedo
Whitening is the second phase of alchemy. At this juncture metal is divided into two parts—most probably mercury and silver through heat. The two parts remain essential to the rest of the process, neither one is to be discarded. Metal: Mercury/ Quicksilver/ Silver/ Moon
Citrinitas
The yellowing of the substance undergoing alchemical transformation. It is associated with the Sun (Gold). Traditionally the sun would be associated with a masculine energy that was meant to be paired with the feminine Moon. This builds on the literal and metaphorical aims of alchemy to unify a substance.
Rubedo
The completed work of the Magnum Opus is a large, ruby colored stone beyond the value of gold. In medieval symbolism it is often represented as the phoenix. The philosopher’s stone would hold the power to grant eternal life and the capacity for those who encountered it to be spiritually self-actualized.