Alchemy - Influence on Health, Science & Religion

Alchemy is an ancient craft that was about transmutation - the transformation of something corruptible into something eternal. Alchemists combined their practical laboratory experiments of purifying and combining substances with meditations, spiritual philosophies and astrology.

A classic ritual for the alchemist was to combine purified sulfur and mercury to form the Philosopher's Stone (red mercury sulfide), which had the power to transform lead into gold.

Alchemy can be traced back to Egyptian origins. The ancient Egyptians were masters of metallurgy by 3000 BCE. They were also skilled at extracting essential oils from plants, fermenting juices, dying textiles and tinting glass.

The word Alchemy is derived from the Arabic phrase Al-Khemia, which literally means from the land of Khem. Khem is an Egyptian term that refers to the fertile black soil in the Nile region.

Alchemy surfaced in China by 500 BCE. Alchemy was revitalized in Europe around 700CE when the Arabs spread alchemy to Spain.

Eastern alchemists were more interested in the Elixir of Life and spiritual aspects. Western alchemists were more materialistic in their quest to turn lead into gold. Some rulers in Europe had gilded gallows reserved for hanging alchemists that failed to produce gold.

The Church considered alchemy to be witchcraft. It is estimated that more than 3 million people were burned at the stake during the Middle Ages. The Church also proclaimed cats were demons, so cats were burnt along with witches.

The metaphors and philosophies of alchemy share the symbolism in religion.

The Philosopher's Stone that transformed lead into gold represented spiritual purity, rebirth, transformation. The Philosophy was the key to the Elixir of Life (representing healing and immortality).

Sulfur and mercury are considered to be two contraries that combine to become one. This symbolism is also represented by yin and yang (from Taoist alchemy), sun and moon, light and dark, soul and spirit, masculine and feminine, black and white.

In Christian alchemy, marriage was considered to be the union of one's soul and the spirit of Christ, the magical Stone that transforms one's life.

The Phoenix, the mythical bird that rose from the ashes, is a symbol of the new creature that was reborn or resurrected after death in the fire.

The ancient alchemists were skilled at making tinctures, tonics, essential oils, balms and elixirs.

They believed the essence of life was within substances and believed these could be separated out and recombined for therapeutic and spiritual transformations. Life force was like a substance that could be separated from living things and be preserved in special tinctures to make sick people well.

During the Middle Ages, anyone who healed with herbs or sought natural cures was accused of witchcraft and was burned at the stake. The Church claimed the devil caused disease, which could only be cured by exorcisms by priests.

So many cats were killed by the Church that the rat population surged, contributing to the spread of the Black Death (bubonic plague) which wiped out nearly half the population of Europe.

The alchemists produced herbal tinctures and tonics that provided relief to various ailments.

Paracelsus was an alchemist. He introduced opium narcotics and other pharmaceutical compounds. Many contained mercury and silver. He treated epilepsy as a disease and not as demon possession as the Church insisted.

Paracelsus gave alcohol its modern name. Alcohol was considered to contain spiritual essences which could be used as medical elixirs. The term 'spirits' when referring to liquor comes from alchemy.

In the 17th century, Brand distilled several barrels of urine in his quest to discover the Philosopher's Stone. The goo left over glowed in the dark and Brand named it 'phosphorus' meaning 'light' in Greek. Phosphorus was sold as an aphrodisiac and medical panacea, until it was recognised as highly poisonous. It was then labelled 'the devil's element.'

An early cipher for the planet Saturn was Rx, which medieval alchemists wrote on a piece of paper to be eaten as a cure. Today, Rx is still written on prescriptions issued by medical doctors.

Alternative therapeutic practitioners today use ancient alchemy healing philosophies. Chiropractic, homeopathy, naturopathy, herbology, yoga, aromatherapy, Tai Chi and and hypnotherapy are all derived from alchemy.

During their quest to discover the Philosopher's Stone and make the Elixir of Life, alchemists discovered thousands of chemical substances, such as acids and alcohols. They also invented apparatus such as furnaces, crucibles and stills and purification techniques such as distillation and crystallization.

The alchemists were fascinated with mercury, the only liquid metal at room temperature, which they extracted by heating the ore, cinnabar. They didn't know that these substances were toxic and many would have been affected by heavy metal poisoning.

Sir Isaac Newton considered himself an alchemist before a scientist, but his alchemy works weren't published. His contributions to science were incidental to his study of alchemy. He proposed that light was both matter and energy.

Chemistry emerged in the 17th century when the mystical and spiritual aspects were abandoned and only the physical and chemical properties of substances were explored. The theory of atoms was proposed and with new knowledge, chemists went on to discover all the elements which make up the periodic table (previously it was believed that the elements were fire, water, air and earth).

Chemistry was commercialized in the 18th century and the race for developing new drugs and miraculous chemicals replaced the lure for gold.

Einstein, an alchemist, revisited Newton's ideas and developed theories of wave-particle duality of light. Quantum physics is an alchemical pseudoscience where subatomic particles can be tele-transported and particles are energy - the stuff of science fiction.

In 1901, when Rutherford and Soddy discovered radioactive thorium changed into radium, Soddy exclaimed, "Rutherford, this is transmutation!" Rutherford quipped back, "...don't call it transmutation. They'll have our heads off as alchemists."

Main reference:  Complete Idiot's Guide to Alchemy, Dennis Hauck