What processes are involved in alchemy?
Alchemical processes
- Ablation. The separation of a component by removing the upper part, sometimes by skimming it off the surface or by wicking it up using a feather or cloth.
- Albification. The making of the matter in the alchemical work become white.
- Ablution.
- Amalgamation.
- Ascension.
- Assation.
- Calcination.
- Cementation.
What are key concepts in alchemy?
Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of “base metals” (e.g., lead) into “noble metals” (particularly gold); the creation of an elixir of immortality; and the creation of panaceas able to cure any disease.
What are the four stages of alchemy?
The four stages of the Magnum Opus programme mirror the four stages of alchemical transmutation and of psychological transformation. They they are Nigredo, Albedo, Citrinitas and Rubedo. In psychological terms Jung described these as: Confession, Illumination, Education and Transformation.
What is the highest element in alchemy?
Gold is one of the seven metals of alchemy (gold, silver, mercury, copper, lead, iron & tin). For the alchemist, it represented the perfection of all matter on any level, including that of the mind, spirit, and soul. The symbol for gold could also be used to represent the sun in astrology.
What are the 7 metals of alchemy?
There were seven metals known to the ancients and recognised by alchemists: lead, tin, iron, copper, mercury, silver, and gold.
What are the 3 main goals of alchemy?
Simplified, the aims of the alchemists were threefold: to find the Stone of Knowledge (The Philosophers’ Stone), to discover the medium of Eternal Youth and Health, and to discover the transmutation of metals.
Who wrote magnum opus?
The magnum opus of Nobel laureate Olga Tokarczuk – a novel that has taken seven years to translate and has brought its author death threats in her native Poland – is to be published in English.
Does the fifth element exist?
According to ancient and medieval science, aether (/ˈiːθər/, alternative spellings include æther, aither, and ether), also known as the fifth element or quintessence, is the material that fills the region of the universe beyond the terrestrial sphere.
What is silver’s old name?
The chemical element silver is classed as transition metal. It has been known since ancient times. Its discoverer and discovery date are unknown.
What are the seven heavenly bodies?
any of the seven celestial bodies: Sun, Moon, Venus, Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, and Saturn that in ancient belief have motions of their own among the fixed stars.
What’s the next step in the Alchemy process?
So for the alchemist, the next step would be building structures through exterior organizations (leading by example) and creating something (a paradigm, perhaps) that reflects the quality of his/her thinking in this new found consciousness. Step 3. Separation The reddening stage of the lesser work brings us to the Moon or silver.
What are the symbols of the Alchemy of transformation?
This is a subtle statement of the fundamental bipolar energies that drive the alchemy of transformation. Spiritus, Anima, and Corpus form a large inverted triangle that stands behind the central emblem. Together they symbolize the three archetypal celestial forces that the alchemists termed Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt.
What makes up the body of an alchemist?
The star-shaped pattern that makes up the body of the alchemist represents what Paracelsus called the “star in man,” the hidden process that is going on in our souls, just as it is the hidden process behind the evolution of the Anima Mundi or the soul of the universe.
What was the tool used by the alchemists?
To guide us through this process, we are going to make use of a tool actually used by the alchemists – a meditative mandala first published in 1759 as an illustration for the book “Azoth of the Philosophers” by the legendary German alchemist Basil Valentine.