Facts You Didn’t Know About Alchemy
Alchemy is a blend of pseudoscience, magic, and mystical philosophy. It was popular from the time of early Christianity until about 1700. Alchemists tried to change less costly metals into silver and gold. They also tried to find the elixir of life (a substance that would cure disease and lengthen life). They failed to find it, but their work in preparing and studying chemical substances helped the science of chemistry develop.
Some alchemists were only fakes. But others were learned people who had more philosophical goals. They felt that if they learned how to make gold from lesser metals, they could also perfect other things. They considered gold the perfect metal because of its beautiful luster and its resistance to rusting.
Some alchemy was practiced in China and India before the birth of Christ. But it developed into a major system in Egypt during the next 300 years. The Greek-speaking scholars of Alexandria used it in trying to explain how Egyptian artisans made things. Greek-Egyptian alchemy spread through Syria and Persia to the Arabs. It spread to Western Europe during the 1100’s and 1200’s.
Alchemists drew their theories of matter from the ancient Greeks. They believed that all matter was made up of a single, formless substance. Alchemists thought this substance became the four elements–earth, air, fire, and water–when combined with hot or cold and wet or dry. They thought they could change one substance into another merely by changing the balance of these elements, a process called transmutation. This theory led them to try producing gold from other metals. In the early 1500’s, Swiss scientist Paracelsus tried to substitute sulfur, mercury, and salt for earth, air, fire, and water. Alchemists also searched for the philosopher’s stone (a magical substance that was supposedly able to make the transmutation process easier).
Gold’s lasting quality led many persons to believe that they would find the secret of long life or even immortality if they could discover how to make gold from lesser substances. The Chinese once believed that eating from golden dishes prolonged life.
Alchemy was associated with many religious beliefs. It was believed that the techniques used to make gold were symbolically related to death, corruption, regeneration, and resurrection. Alchemy and astrology became closely related because of the belief that each heavenly body represented and controlled a certain metal. Some thought the sun represented gold; the moon, silver; Mars, iron; Venus, copper; Jupiter, tin; Saturn, lead; and Mercury, the metal mercury, also called quicksilver. Alchemists believed that the positions of these bodies influenced the success or failure of their work.
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3 Responses to “Facts You Didn’t Know About Alchemy”
On October 26, 2008 at 10:04 am
Great article! I didn’t know that much about alchemy, but you whetted my curiousity.
On May 5, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I new most of this stuff, but not all. Very good
On May 29, 2009 at 7:19 am
Very, very good!
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