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<b>Alchemy</b> (<a href="Arabic_language" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>:<i>al-kimia</i>) (<a href="Hebrew_language" title="Hebrew language">Hebrew</a>:אלכימיה <i>al-khimia</i>)  is both a <a href="Philosophy" title="philosophy">philosophy</a> and a practice with an aim of achieving ultimate <a href="Wisdom" title="wisdom">wisdom</a> as well as <a href="Immortality" title="immortality">immortality</a>, involving the improvement of the alchemist as well as the making of several substances described as possessing unusual properties. The practical aspect of alchemy generated the basics of modern <a href="Inorganic_chemistry" title="inorganic chemistry">inorganic chemistry</a>, namely concerning procedures, equipment and the identification and use of many current substances.</p>
<p>The fundamental ideas of alchemy are said to have arisen in the ancient <a href="Persian_Empire" title="Persian Empire">Persian Empire</a>.<sup id="_ref-1" class="reference"><a href="#_note-1" title="">[1]</a></sup> Alchemy has been practiced in <a href="Mesopotamia" title="Mesopotamia">Mesopotamia</a> (comprising much of today's <a href="Iraq" title="Iraq">Iraq</a>), <a href="Ancient_Egypt" title="Ancient Egypt">Egypt</a>, <a href="Persia" title="Persia">Persia</a> (today's <a href="Iran" title="Iran">Iran</a>), <a href="India" title="India">India</a>, <a href="Chinese_alchemy" title="Chinese alchemy">China</a>, <a href="Japan" title="Japan">Japan</a>, <a href="Korea" title="Korea">Korea</a> and in <a href="Classical_Antiquity" title="Classical Antiquity">Classical</a> <a href="Ancient_Greece" title="Ancient Greece">Greece</a> and <a href="Ancient_Rome" title="Ancient Rome">Rome</a>, in the <a href="Islamic_Golden_Age" title="Islamic Golden Age">Muslim civilizations</a>, and then in <a href="Europe" title="Europe">Europe</a> up to the 20th century, in a complex <a href="Social_network" title="Social network">network</a> of schools and philosophical systems spanning at least 2500 years.</p>
<table id="toc" class="toc" summary="Contents">
<tr>
<td>
<div id="toctitle">
<h2>Contents</h2>
</div>
<ul>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Etymology">Etymology</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Alchemy_as_a_philosophical_and_spiritual_discipline">Alchemy as a philosophical and spiritual discipline</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Psychology">Psychology</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Magnum_opus">Magnum opus</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Alchemy_as_a_subject_of_historical_research">Alchemy as a subject of historical research</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#History">History</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Modern_connections_to_alchemy">Modern connections to alchemy</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Alchemy_in_traditional_medicine">Alchemy in traditional medicine</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Nuclear_transmutation">Nuclear transmutation</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#In_Literature">In Literature</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#In_popular_culture">In popular culture</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#In_contemporary_art">In contemporary art</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#See_also">See also</a>
</li>
<ul>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Other_alchemical_pages">Other alchemical pages</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Alchemy_and_psychoanalysis">Alchemy and psychoanalysis</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Other_resources">Other resources</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Related_and_alternative_philosophies">Related and alternative philosophies</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Substances_of_the_alchemists">Substances of the alchemists</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-2"><a href="#Scientific_connections">Scientific connections</a>
</li>
</ul>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#Notes">Notes</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#References">References</a>
</li>
<li class="toclevel-1"><a href="#External_links">External links</a>
</li>
</ul>
</ul></td></tr></table><hr/>
<a id="Etymology" name="Etymology"/><h2>Etymology</h2>
<p>{{main}}
Alchemy, in general, derives from the <a href="Old_French" title="Old French">Old French</a> <i>alkemie;</i> from the <a href="Arabic_language" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a> <i>al-kimia:</i> "the art of transformation."  Some scholars{{Who}} believe the Arabs borrowed the word <i>kemia</i> from <a href="Kemetic_language" title="Kemetic language">Kemitian</a> for the study of blackness.<sup id="_ref-2" class="reference"><a href="#_note-2" title="">[2]</a></sup> Others, such as Mahdihassan,<sup id="_ref-3" class="reference"><a href="#_note-3" title="">[3]</a></sup> argue that its origins are <a href="Chinese_language" title="Chinese language">Chinese</a>.</p>
<p>During the seventeenth century the change of name from Alchemy to chemistry took place, with the work of <a href="Robert_Boyle" title="Robert Boyle">Robert Boyle</a>, sometimes known as "The father of Chemistry" {{Citation needed}}, who in his book "The Skeptical Chymist" attacked <a href="Paracelsus" title="Paracelsus">Paracelsus</a> and the old <a href="Aristotle" title="Aristotle">Aristotelian</a> <a href="Classical_element" title="Classical element">concepts of the elements</a> and laid down the foundations of modern chemistry.</p>
<a id="Alchemy_as_a_philosophical_and_spiritual_discipline" name="Alchemy_as_a_philosophical_and_spiritual_discipline"/><h2>Alchemy as a philosophical and spiritual discipline</h2>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:William_Fettes_Douglas_-_The_Alchemist.jpg" title="&quot;Renel the Alchemist&quot;, by Sir William Douglas, 1853"><img src="William_Fettes_Douglas_-_The_Alchemist.jpg" alt="&quot;Renel the Alchemist&quot;, by Sir William Douglas, 1853" title="&quot;Renel the Alchemist&quot;, by Sir William Douglas, 1853" class="location-left type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">"Renel the Alchemist", by Sir William Douglas, 1853</div>
<a class="internal" href="File:Raimundus_Lullus_alchemic_page.jpg" title="Page from alchemic treatise of Ramon Llull, 16th century"><img src="Raimundus_Lullus_alchemic_page.jpg" alt="Page from alchemic treatise of Ramon Llull, 16th century" title="Page from alchemic treatise of Ramon Llull, 16th century" class="location-left type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Page from alchemic treatise of <a href="Ramon_Llull" title="Ramon Llull">Ramon Llull</a>, 16th century</div></p>
<p>Alchemy became known as the <i>spagyric art</i> after Greek words meaning <i>to separate</i> and <i>to join together</i> in the 16th century, the word probably being coined by Paracelsus. Compare this with one of the dictums of Alchemy in Latin: <small><a href="SOLVE_ET_COAGULA" title="SOLVE ET COAGULA">SOLVE ET COAGULA</a></small> — <i>Separate, and Join Together</i> (or <i>dissolve and coagulate</i>).</p>
<p>The best-known goals of the <a href="List_of_alchemists" title="List of alchemists">alchemists</a> were the <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/transmutation">transmutation</a> of common metals into <a href="Gold" title="gold">gold</a> (called <a href="Chrysopoeia" title="chrysopoeia">chrysopoeia</a>) or <a href="Silver" title="silver">silver</a> (less well known is plant alchemy, or "<a href="Spagyric" title="spagyric">spagyric</a>"); the creation of a "<a href="Panacea_(medicine)" title="panacea (medicine)">panacea</a>", or the <a href="Elixir_of_life" title="elixir of life">elixir of life</a>, a remedy that, it was supposed, would cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely; and the discovery of a <a href="Alkahest" title="Alkahest">universal solvent</a>.<sup id="_ref-4" class="reference"><a href="#_note-4" title="">[4]</a></sup> Although these were not the only uses for the discipline, they were the ones most documented and well-known. Certain Hermetic schools argue that the transmutation of lead into gold is analogical for the transmutation of the physical body (Saturn or lead) into Solar energy (gold) with the goal of attaining immortality.<sup id="_ref-5" class="reference"><a href="#_note-5" title="">[5]</a></sup> This is described as Internal Alchemy. Starting with the <a href="Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a>, <a href="Alchemy_and_chemistry_in_Islam" title="Alchemy and chemistry in Islam">Arabic</a> and European alchemists invested much effort in the search for the "<a href="Philosopher's_stone" title="philosopher's stone">philosopher's stone</a>", a legendary substance that was believed to be an essential ingredient for either or both of those goals.  Alchemists were alternately persecuted or supported through the centuries.   For example in 1317 Pope John XXII issued a Bull against alchemical counterfeiting, and the Cistercians banned the practice amongst their members.  In 1403, Henry IV of England banned the practice of Alchemy.  In the late 14th century, Piers the Ploughman and <a href="Chaucer" title="Chaucer">Chaucer</a> both painted unflattering pictures of Alchemists as thieves and liars.  By contrast, <a href="Rudolf_II%2C_Holy_Roman_Emperor" title="Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor">Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor</a>, in the late 16th century, sponsored various alchemists in their work at his court in Prague.</p>
<p>It is a popular belief that Alchemists made mundane contributions to the "chemical" industries of the day—ore testing and refining, metalworking, production of gunpowder, ink, dyes, paints, cosmetics, <a href="Tanning" title="Tanning">leather tanning</a>, ceramics, glass manufacture, preparation of extracts, liquors, and so on (it seems that the preparation of <i><a href="Aqua_vitae" title="aqua vitae">aqua vitae</a></i>, the "water of life", was a fairly popular "experiment" among European alchemists).  In reality, although Alchemists contributed <a href="Distillation" title="distillation">distillation</a> to Western Europe, they did little for any known industry.  Goldsmiths knew long before Alchemists appeared how to tell what was good gold or fake, and industrial technology grew by the work of the artisans themselves, rather than any Alchemical helpers.</p>
<p>The double origin of Alchemy in Greek philosophy as well as in Egyptian and Mesopotamian technology set, from the start, a double approach: the technological, operative one, which <a href="Marie-Louise_von_Franz" title="Marie-Louise von Franz">Marie-Louise von Franz</a> call <a href="Extravert" title="extravert">extravert</a>, and the mystic, contemplative, psychological one, which von Franz names as <a href="Introvert" title="introvert">introvert</a>. These are not mutually exclusive, but complementary instead, as meditation requires practice in the real world, and conversely.<sup id="_ref-FRAALC97_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-FRAALC97" title="">[6]</a></sup></p>
<p>Several early alchemists, such as <a href="Zosimos_of_Panopolis" title="Zosimos of Panopolis">Zosimos of Panopolis</a>, are recorded as viewing alchemy as a spiritual discipline, and, in the Middle Ages, metaphysical aspects increasingly came to be viewed as the true foundation of the art. Organic and inorganic chemical substances, physical states, and molecular material processes as mere metaphors for spiritual entities, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformations. In this sense, the literal meanings of 'Alchemical Formulas' were a blind, hiding their true <a href="Spiritual_philosophy" title="spiritual philosophy">spiritual philosophy</a>, which being at odds with the Medieval Christian Church was a necessity that could have otherwise led them to the "stake and rack" of the Inquisition under charges of heresy.<sup id="_ref-7" class="reference"><a href="#_note-7" title="">[7]</a></sup> Thus, both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal panacea symbolized evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible, and ephemeral state towards a perfect, healthy, incorruptible, and everlasting state; and the philosopher's stone then represented a mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist himself, the twin goal symbolized his evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented a hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are written according to this view, the cryptic <a href="Alchemical_symbol" title="alchemical symbol">alchemical symbols</a>, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works typically contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; and must be laboriously "decoded" in order to discover their true meaning.</p>
<p>In his <i>Alchemical Catechism</i>, <a href="Paracelsus" title="Paracelsus">Paracelsus</a> clearly denotes that his usage of the metals was a symbol:</p><blockquote>Q. When the Philosophers speak of gold and silver, from which they extract their matter, are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgar gold and silver?
<p>A. By no means; vulgar silver and gold are dead, while those of the Philosophers are full of life.<sup id="_ref-8" class="reference"><a href="#_note-8" title="">[8]</a></sup></p></blockquote>

<a id="Psychology" name="Psychology"/><h3>Psychology</h3>

<p>Alchemical symbolism has been occasionally used  by <a href="Psychology" title="psychology">psychologists</a> and philosophers. <a href="Carl_Jung" title="Carl Jung">Carl Jung</a> reexamined alchemical symbolism and theory and began to show the inner meaning of alchemical work as a <a href="Spirituality" title="spirituality">spiritual</a> path.<sup id="_ref-Jung.2C_C._G._1944_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Jung.2C_C._G._1944" title="">[9]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-10" class="reference"><a href="#_note-10" title="">[10]</a></sup> Alchemical philosophy, symbols and methods have enjoyed something of a renaissance in <a href="Post-modernism" title="post-modernism">post-modern</a> contexts.{{Citation needed}}</p>
<p>Jung saw alchemy as a Western proto-psychology dedicated to the achievement of <a href="Individuation" title="individuation">individuation</a>.<sup id="_ref-Jung.2C_C._G._1944_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Jung.2C_C._G._1944" title="">[9]</a></sup> In his interpretation, alchemy was the vessel by which <a href="Gnosticism" title="Gnosticism">Gnosticism</a> survived its various purges into the <a href="Renaissance" title="Renaissance">Renaissance</a>,<sup id="_ref-11" class="reference"><a href="#_note-11" title="">[11]</a></sup>, a concept also followed by others such as <a href="Stephan_A._Hoeller" title="Stephan A. Hoeller">Stephan A. Hoeller</a>. In this sense, Jung viewed alchemy as comparable to a <a href="Yoga" title="Yoga">Yoga</a> of the East, and more adequate to the Western mind than Eastern religions and philosophies. The practice of Alchemy seemed to change the mind and spirit of the Alchemist. Conversely, spontaneous changes on the mind of Western people undergoing any important stage in <a href="Individuation" title="individuation">individuation</a> seems to produce, on occasion, imagery known to Alchemy and relevant to the person's situation.<sup id="_ref-12" class="reference"><a href="#_note-12" title="">[12]</a></sup></p>
<p>His interpretation of <a href="Chinese_alchemy" title="Chinese alchemy">Chinese alchemical texts</a> in terms of his <a href="Analytical_psychology" title="analytical psychology">analytical psychology</a> also served the function of comparing Eastern and Western alchemical imagery and core concepts and hence its possible inner sources (<a href="Jungian_archetypes" title="Jungian archetypes">archetypes</a>).<sup id="_ref-13" class="reference"><a href="#_note-13" title="">[13]</a></sup><sup id="_ref-14" class="reference"><a href="#_note-14" title="">[14]</a></sup></p>
<p><a href="Marie-Louise_von_Franz" title="Marie-Louise von Franz">Marie-Louise von Franz</a>, a disciple of Jung, continued Jung's studies on Alchemy and it's psychological meaning.</p>
<a id="Magnum_opus" name="Magnum_opus"/><h3>Magnum opus</h3>
<p>{{main}}
<i>The Great Work</i>; mystic interpretation of its four stages:<sup id="_ref-15" class="reference"><a href="#_note-15" title="">[15]</a></sup>
</p>
<ul>
<li><i><a href="Nigredo" title="nigredo">nigredo</a> (-putrefactio)</i>, blackening (-putrefaction): corruption, dissolution, <a href="Individuation" title="individuation">individuation</a>, <i>see also <a href="Suns_in_alchemy#Opus_Magnum" title="Suns_in_alchemy">Suns in alchemy - Sol Niger</a></i></li>
<li><i><a href="Albedo_(alchemy)" title="Albedo (alchemy)">albedo</a></i>, whitening: purification, burnout of impurity; the moon, female</li>
<li><i><a href="Citrinitas" title="citrinitas">citrinitas</a></i>, yellowing: spiritualisation, enlightenment; the sun, male;</li>
<li><i><a href="Rubedo" title="rubedo">rubedo</a></i>, reddening: unification of man with god, unification of the limited with the unlimited.</li></ul>

<p>After the 15th century, many writers tended to compress <i><a href="Citrinitas" title="citrinitas">citrinitas</a></i> into <i><a href="Rubedo" title="rubedo">rubedo</a></i> and consider only three stages.<sup id="_ref-16" class="reference"><a href="#_note-16" title="">[16]</a></sup></p>
<p>However, it is in citrinitas that the Chemical Wedding takes place, generating the Philosophical Mercury without which the Philosopher's Stone, triumph of the Work, could never be accomplished.<sup id="_ref-17" class="reference"><a href="#_note-17" title="">[17]</a></sup></p>
<p>Within the Magnum Opus was the creation of the <a href="Sanctum_Moleculae" title="Sanctum Moleculae">Sanctum Moleculae</a>, that is the 'Sacred Masses' that were derived from the <a href="Sacrum_Particulae" title="Sacrum Particulae">Sacrum Particulae</a>, that is the 'Sacred Particles', needed to complete the process of achieving the Magnum Opus.{{Citation needed}}</p>
<a id="Alchemy_as_a_subject_of_historical_research" name="Alchemy_as_a_subject_of_historical_research"/><h2>Alchemy as a subject of historical research</h2>

<p>The history of alchemy has become a vigorous academic field. As the obscure hermetic language of the alchemists is gradually being "deciphered", historians are becoming more aware of the intellectual connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, <a href="Kabbala" title="kabbala">kabbalism</a>, <a href="Spiritualism" title="spiritualism">spiritualism</a>, <a href="Rosicrucianism" title="Rosicrucianism">Rosicrucianism</a>, and other mystic movements, <a href="Cryptography" title="cryptography">cryptography</a>, <a href="Witchcraft" title="witchcraft">witchcraft</a>, and the evolution of <a href="Science" title="science">science</a> and <a href="Philosophy" title="philosophy">philosophy</a>.</p>
<a id="History" name="History"/><h3>History</h3>

<p>In a historical sense, Alchemy is the pursuit of transforming common metals into valuable gold.</p>
<p>{{main}}</p>
<p>According to <a href="Marie-Louise_von_Franz" title="Marie-Louise von Franz">Marie-Louise von Franz</a>, the initial basis for alchemy are the pre-socratic Greek philosophers, such as <a href="Empedocles" title="Empedocles">Empedocles</a>, <a href="Thales_of_Miletus" title="Thales of Miletus">Thales of Miletus</a> and <a href="Heraclitus" title="Heraclitus">Heraclitus</a>, Egyptian <a href="Mummy" title="mummy">mummification</a> and metal technology, and <a href="Mesopotamian" title="Mesopotamian">Mesopotamian</a> technology and <a href="Astrology" title="astrology">astrology</a>.<sup id="_ref-FRAALC97_b" class="reference"><a href="#_note-FRAALC97" title="">[6]</a></sup></p>
<p>The origins of Western alchemy are traceable back to <a href="Ancient_Egypt" title="ancient Egypt">ancient Egypt</a>.<sup id="_ref-18" class="reference"><a href="#_note-18" title="">[18]</a></sup> The <a href="S:Leyden_papyrus_X" title="s:Leyden papyrus X">Leyden papyrus X</a> and the <a href="Stockholm_papyrus" title="Stockholm papyrus">Stockholm papyrus</a> along with the <a href="Greek_magical_papyri" title="Greek magical papyri">Greek magical papyri</a> comprise the first "book" on alchemy still existent.  <a href="Greek_philosophy" title="Greek philosophy">Greek</a> and <a href="Indian_philosophy" title="Indian philosophy">Indian philosophers</a> theorized that there were only four <a href="Classical_elements" title="classical elements">classical elements</a> (rather than today's 117 <a href="Chemical_element" title="chemical element">chemical elements</a>, a useful analogy is with the highly similar <a href="State_of_matter" title="state of matter">states of matter</a>); Earth, Fire, Water, and Air. The Greek philosophers, in order to prove their point, burned a log: The log was the earth, the flames burning it was fire, the smoke being released was air, and the smoldering soot at the bottom was bubbling water. Because of this, the belief that these four "elements" were at the heart of everything soon spread, only later being replaced in the <a href="Middle_Ages" title="Middle Ages">Middle Ages</a> by <a href="Geber" title="Geber">Geber</a>'s theory of seven elements, which was then replaced by the modern theory of chemical elements during the <a href="Early_modern_period" title="early modern period">early modern period</a>.</p>
<p><a class="internal" href="Image:Alchemy-Digby-RareSecrets.png" title="Extract and symbol key from a 17th-century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in astrology at the time."><img src="Alchemy-Digby-RareSecrets.png" alt="Extract and symbol key from a 17th-century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in astrology at the time." title="Extract and symbol key from a 17th-century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a one-to-one correspondence with symbols used in astrology at the time." class="location-right type-thumb"/>
</a>
<div class="thumbcaption">Extract and symbol key from a 17th-century book on alchemy. The symbols used have a <a href="Bijection" title="Bijection">one-to-one correspondence</a> with symbols used in <a href="Astrology" title="astrology">astrology</a> at the time.</div></p>
<p>Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and "genetic" relationships. Alchemy starts becoming much clearer in the 8th century with the works of the <a href="Alchemy_and_chemistry_in_Islam" title="Alchemy and chemistry in Islam">Islamic alchemist</a>, <a href="Geber" title="Geber">Jabir ibn Hayyan</a> (known as "<a href="Geber" title="Geber">Geber</a>" in Europe), who introduced a <a href="Scientific_method" title="Scientific method">methodical</a> and <a href="Experiment" title="experiment">experimental</a> approach to scientific research based in the <a href="Laboratory" title="laboratory">laboratory</a>, in contrast to the ancient Greek and Egyptian alchemists whose works were mainly allegorical.<sup id="_ref-Kraus_a" class="reference"><a href="#_note-Kraus" title="">[19]</a></sup></p>
<p>Other famous alchemists include <a href="Wei_Boyang" title="Wei Boyang">Wei Boyang</a> in <a href="Chinese_alchemy" title="Chinese alchemy">Chinese alchemy</a>; <a href="Calid" title="Calid">Calid</a> and <a href="Rhazes" title="Rhazes">Rhazes</a> in <a href="Alchemy_and_chemistry_in_Islam" title="Alchemy and chemistry in Islam">Islamic alchemy</a>; <a href="Nagarjuna_(metallurgist)" title="Nagarjuna (metallurgist)">Nagarjuna</a> in <a href="History_of_metallurgy_in_the_Indian_subcontinent" title="History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent">Indian alchemy</a>; and <a href="Albertus_Magnus" title="Albertus Magnus">Albertus Magnus</a> and <a href="Pseudo-Geber" title="pseudo-Geber">pseudo-Geber</a> in European alchemy; as well as the anonymous author of the <i><a href="Mutus_Liber" title="Mutus Liber">Mutus Liber</a></i>, published in France in the late 17th century, which was a 'wordless book' that claimed to be a guide to making the <a href="Philosopher's_stone" title="philosopher's stone">philosopher's stone</a>, using a series of 15 symbols and illustrations. The philosopher's stone was an object that was thought to be able to amplify one's power in alchemy and, if possible, grant the user ageless immortality, unless he fell victim to burnings or drowning; the common belief was that fire and water were the two greater elements that were implemented into the creation of the stone.</p>
<p>In the case of the Chinese and European alchemists, there was a difference between the two. The European alchemists tried to transmute lead into gold, and, no matter how futile or toxic the element, would continue trying until it was royally outlawed later into the century. The Chinese, however, paid no heed to the philosopher's stone or transmutation of lead to gold; they focused more on medicine for the greater good. During Enlightenment, these "elixirs" were a strong cure for sicknesses, unless it was a test medicine. In general, most tests were fatal, but stabilized elixirs served great purposes. On the other hand, the Islamic alchemists were interested in alchemy for a variety of reasons, whether it was for the transmutation of metals or <a href="Takwin" title="Takwin">artificial creation of life</a>, or for practical uses such as <a href="Islamic_medicine" title="Islamic medicine">Islamic medicine</a> or the <a href="Inventions_in_the_Islamic_world" title="Inventions in the Islamic world">chemical industries</a>.</p>
<p>A tentative outline is as follows:</p>

<ol>
<li>Egyptian alchemy [5000 BC &amp; nbsp;– 400 BC], beginning of alchemy</li>
<li><a href="Rasayana" title="Rasayana">Indian alchemy</a> [1200 BC – Present]<sup id="_ref-20" class="reference"><a href="#_note-20" title="">[20]</a></sup>, related to <a href="History_of_metallurgy_in_the_Indian_subcontinent" title="History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent">Indian metallurgy</a>; <a href="Nagarjuna_(metallurgist)" title="Nagarjuna (metallurgist)">Nagarjuna</a> was an important alchemist</li>
<li>Greek alchemy [332 BC &amp; nbsp;– 642 AD], studied at the <a href="Library_of_Alexandria" title="Library of Alexandria">Library of Alexandria</a> <a href="Stockholm_papyrus" title="Stockholm papyrus">Stockholm papyrus</a></li>
<li><a href="Chinese_alchemy" title="Chinese alchemy">Chinese alchemy</a> [142 AD], <a href="Wei_Boyang" title="Wei Boyang">Wei Boyang</a> writes <i><a href="The_Kinship_of_the_Three" title="The Kinship of the Three">The Kinship of the Three</a></i></li>
<li><a href="Alchemy_and_chemistry_in_Islam" title="Alchemy and chemistry in Islam">Islamic alchemy</a> [700 – 1400], <a href="Muslim" title="Muslim">Muslims</a> were at the forefront of Alchemy and Chemistry in the period of the <a href="Islamic_Golden_Age" title="Islamic Golden Age">Islamic Golden Age</a> or Islamic Renaissance.</li>
<li><a href="Alchemy_and_chemistry_in_Islam" title="Alchemy and chemistry in Islam">Islamic chemistry</a> [800 – Present], <a href="Al-Kindi" title="Al-Kindi">Alkindus</a> and <a href="Avicenna" title="Avicenna">Avicenna</a> refute transmutation, <a href="Rhazes" title="Rhazes">Rhazes</a> refutes four <a href="Classical_element" title="classical element">classical elements</a>, and <a href="Nas%C4%ABr_al-D%C4%ABn_al-T%C5%ABs%C4%AB" title="Nasīr al-Dīn al-Tūsī">Tusi</a> discovers <a href="Conservation_of_mass" title="conservation of mass">conservation of mass</a></li>
<li>European alchemy [1300 – Present], Saint <a href="Albertus_Magnus" title="Albertus Magnus">Albertus Magnus</a> builds on Arabic alchemy</li>
<li>European chemistry [1661 – Present], <a href="Robert_Boyle" title="Robert Boyle">Boyle</a> writes <i>The Sceptical Chymist</i>, <a href="Antoine_Lavoisier" title="Antoine Lavoisier">Lavoisier</a> writes <i><a href="Trait%C3%A9_%C3%89l%C3%A9mentaire_de_Chimie" title="Traité Élémentaire de Chimie">Traité Élémentaire de Chimie</a> (Elements of Chemistry)</i>, and <a href="John_Dalton" title="John Dalton">Dalton</a> publishes his <i>Atomic Theory</i></li></ol>

<a id="Modern_connections_to_alchemy" name="Modern_connections_to_alchemy"/><h2>Modern connections to alchemy</h2>

<p><a href="Alchemy_(Islam)" title="Alchemy (Islam)">Islamic alchemy</a> was a forerunner of modern scientific <a href="Chemistry" title="chemistry">chemistry</a>. Alchemists used many of the same laboratory tools that are used today. These tools were not usually sturdy or in good condition, especially during the medieval period of Europe. Many transmutation attempts failed when alchemists unwittingly made unstable chemicals. This was made worse by the unsafe conditions.</p>
<p>Up to the 16th century, alchemy was considered serious science in Europe; for instance, <a href="Isaac_Newton" title="Isaac Newton">Isaac Newton</a> devoted considerably more of his writing to the study of alchemy (see <a href="Isaac_Newton's_occult_studies" title="Isaac Newton's occult studies">Isaac Newton's occult studies</a>) than he did to either optics or physics, for which he is famous. Other eminent alchemists of the <a href="Western_world" title="Western world">Western world</a> are <a href="Roger_Bacon" title="Roger Bacon">Roger Bacon</a>, Saint <a href="Thomas_Aquinas" title="Thomas Aquinas">Thomas Aquinas</a>, <a href="Tycho_Brahe" title="Tycho Brahe">Tycho Brahe</a>, <a href="Thomas_Browne" title="Thomas Browne">Thomas Browne</a>, and <a href="Parmigianino" title="Parmigianino">Parmigianino</a>. The decline of alchemy began in the 18th century with the birth of modern chemistry, which provided a more precise and reliable framework for matter transmutations and medicine, within a new grand design of the universe based on rational <a href="Materialism" title="materialism">materialism</a>.</p>
<a id="Alchemy_in_traditional_medicine" name="Alchemy_in_traditional_medicine"/><h3>Alchemy in traditional medicine</h3>
<p>Traditional medicines involve transmutation by alchemy, using pharmacological or a combination of pharmacological and spiritual techniques.  In <a href="Chinese_medicine" title="Chinese medicine">Chinese medicine</a> the alchemical traditions of <a href="Pao_zhi" title="pao zhi">pao zhi</a> will transform the nature of the temperature, taste, body part accessed or toxicity.  In <a href="Ayurveda" title="Ayurveda">Ayurveda</a> the <a href="Samskara_(Ayurvedic)" title="Samskara (Ayurvedic)">samskaras</a> are used to transform <a href="Heavy_metals" title="heavy metals">heavy metals</a> and toxic herbs in a way that removes their toxicity.  These processes are actively used to the present day.<sup id="_ref-21" class="reference"><a href="#_note-21" title="">[21]</a></sup></p>
<a id="Nuclear_transmutation" name="Nuclear_transmutation"/><h3>Nuclear transmutation</h3>
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{{main}}</p>
<p>In 1919, <a href="Ernest_Rutherford" title="Ernest Rutherford">Ernest Rutherford</a> used <a href="Artificial_disintegration" title="artificial disintegration">artificial disintegration</a> to convert <a href="Nitrogen" title="nitrogen">nitrogen</a> into <a href="Oxygen" title="oxygen">oxygen</a>.<sup id="_ref-22" class="reference"><a href="#_note-22" title="">[22]</a></sup> From then on, this sort of <i>scientific transmutation</i> has been routinely performed in many <a href="Nuclear_physics" title="nuclear physics">nuclear physics</a>-related laboratories and facilities, like <a href="Particle_accelerator" title="particle accelerator">particle accelerators</a>, <a href="Nuclear_power_station" title="nuclear power station">nuclear power stations</a> and <a href="Nuclear_weapons" title="nuclear weapons">nuclear weapons</a> as a by-product of <a href="Fission" title="fission">fission</a> and other physical processes.</p>
<a id="In_Literature" name="In_Literature"/><h3>In Literature</h3>

<p>A play by <a href="Ben_Jonson" title="Ben Jonson">Ben Jonson</a>, <a href="The_Alchemist_(play)" title="The Alchemist (play)">The Alchemist</a>, is a satirical and skeptical take on the subject</p>
<p>Part 2 of <a href="Goethe" title="Goethe">Goethe</a>'s <a href="Faust" title="Faust">Faust</a>, is full of alchemical symbolism.<sup id="_ref-23" class="reference"><a href="#_note-23" title="">[23]</a></sup></p>
<p>According to <i>Hermetic Fictions: Alchemy and Irony in the Novel</i> (<a href="Keele_University" title="Keele University">Keele University</a> Press, 1995), by David Meakin, alchemy is also featured in such novels as those by <a href="William_Godwin" title="William Godwin">William Godwin</a>, <a href="Percy_Bysshe_Shelley" title="Percy Bysshe Shelley">Percy Bysshe Shelley</a>, <a href="Emile_Zola" title="Emile Zola">Emile Zola</a>, <a href="Jules_Verne" title="Jules Verne">Jules Verne</a>, <a href="Marcel_Proust" title="Marcel Proust">Marcel Proust</a>, <a href="Thomas_Mann" title="Thomas Mann">Thomas Mann</a>, <a href="Hermann_Hesse" title="Hermann Hesse">Hermann Hesse</a>, <a href="James_Joyce" title="James Joyce">James Joyce</a>, <a href="Gustav_Meyrink" title="Gustav Meyrink">Gustav Meyrink</a>, <a href="Lindsay_Clarke" title="Lindsay Clarke">Lindsay Clarke</a>, <a href="Marguerite_Yourcenar" title="Marguerite Yourcenar">Marguerite Yourcenar</a>, <a href="Umberto_Eco" title="Umberto Eco">Umberto Eco</a>, <a href="Michel_Butor" title="Michel Butor">Michel Butor</a>, <a href="Paulo_Coelho" title="Paulo Coelho">Paulo Coelho</a>, <a href="Amanda_Quick" title="Amanda Quick">Amanda Quick</a>, <a href="Gabriel_Garc%C3%ADa_Marquez" title="Gabriel García Marquez">Gabriel García Marquez</a> and Maria Szepes.</p>
<p>The Alchemist Daughter</p>
<a id="In_popular_culture" name="In_popular_culture"/><h3>In popular culture</h3>
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{{in popular culture}}
The subject of alchemy is extensively used in many animations, graphic novels, and video games, often in the form of special abilities. 
</p>
<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="Fullmetal_Alchemist" title="Fullmetal Alchemist">Fullmetal Alchemist</a></i>, alchemy and transmutation are treated as sciences, mixed with magic but fully understandable and utilizable with proper knowledge. <i>Fullmetal Alchemist</i> also refers to <a href="First_Law_of_Thermodynamics" title="First Law of Thermodynamics">equivalency</a> or equivalent exchange for alchemy to work. </li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="Buso_Renkin" title="Buso Renkin">Buso Renkin</a></i>, Alchemy is used primarily as a means for superpowers and creation of <a href="Homunculi" title="homunculi">homunculi</a>, however it holds little resemblance to "actual" alchemy.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="Venture_Bros." title="Venture Bros.">Venture Bros.</a></i> a member of the Order of the Triad is The Alchemist, a character who is seeking the <a href="Philosopher's_stone" title="philosopher's stone">philosopher's stone</a>.</li></ul>

<p>Alchemy is also used in many video games:</p>

<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="Castlevania_(series)" title="Castlevania (series)">Castlevania (series)</a></i>, Alchemy is depicicted as a field that experiments with the principles of God's creation of the world. The hero of each game (usually part of the Belmont family) uses a whip created with alchemy (the Vampire Killer) to fight their way through a castle infested with classic monsters to eventually reach the final boss, Dracula, who is granted eternal life by the Crimson Stone. The stone is said to be one of two stones accidentally created when a failed attempt at creating the Philosopher's Stone occurred. The stone is said to grant eternal life but also carry the curse of the vampire. In addition, Death offers his allegiance to whoever possesses the Crimson Stone. The second stone created by this failure is the Ebony Stone. The Ebony Stone is a stone that envelopes all of its surroundings in an eternal darkness. Castlevania: Lament of Innocence for the Playstation 2 (the beginning of Castlevania's chronology) makes more reference to alchemy than any other Castlevania game. </li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="Might_%26_Magic_VII:_For_Blood_and_Honour" title="Might &amp; Magic VII: For Blood and Honour">Might &amp; Magic VII: For Blood and Honour</a></i> <a class="externallink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_VII:_For_Blood_and_Honor" rel="nofollow" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_VII:_For_Blood_and_Honor"><a class="externallink" href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_VII:_For_Blood_and_Honor" rel="nofollow" title="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_VII:_For_Blood_and_Honor">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Might_and_Magic_VII:_For_Blood_and_Honor</a></a>, Alchemy is a skill that characters can learn, which provides access to potion making, using ingredients with varying potency, using the skill level as a bonus; higher ranking allows access to more complex potions, up to "black" potions, which give characters a permanent boost in statistics, as opposed to a set period of time</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="World_of_Warcraft" title="World of Warcraft">World of Warcraft</a></i>, <a class="externallink" href="http://www.wowwiki.com/Alchemy" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.wowwiki.com/Alchemy">Alchemy</a> is a profession the player's character can learn in order to create special potions or flasks to be used for adding to the character's statistics for a set period of time, usually in preparation for big battles as in the case of instances/dungeons.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="Secret_of_Evermore" title="Secret of Evermore">Secret of Evermore</a></i>, the only video game from Square's North American division, alchemy takes the place of the normal magic system. The main character receives alchemic formulas instead of spells and by combining a wide variety of ingredients (such as wax, oil, limestone, and dry ice) a reaction will take place such as fireballs, healing, or shields.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>The <i><a href="Atelier_(series)" title="Atelier (series)">Atelier</a></i> and <i><a href="Mana_Khemia" title="Mana Khemia">Mana Khemia</a></i> series from GUST also heavily emphasize on alchemy. The games feature hundreds of ingredient and recipes that players need to find or derive themselves. Additionally, all weapons and certain items must be made, or synthesized, and they are not sold in shops, which therefore makes alchemy essential in character growth.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li><i><a href="Zork_Nemesis" title="Zork Nemesis">Zork Nemesis</a></i> features a slightly stylised (to fit the fictional world of <a href="Zork" title="Zork">Zork</a>) vision of alchemy, and uses knowledge of the processes as clues to solving puzzles.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>The Plot of the 2003 <i>Core Design</i> video game <i><a href="Tomb_Raider:_The_Angel_of_Darkness" title="Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness">Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness</a></i> draws heavily from Alchemic lore and legend.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In <i><a href="RuneScape" title="RuneScape">RuneScape</a></i>, there are two different levels of alchemy. Low Alchemy turns items into a small amount of gold, while High Alchemy turns items into a large amount of gold.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In the <i><a href="Eternal_Champions" title="Eternal Champions">Eternal Champions</a></i> video game series, there is a character named Xavier Pendragon, who accidentally gives himself seemingly supernatural powers through a failed alchemy experiment.</li></ul>

<p>Alchemy is referenced in print (fiction):</p>

<ul>
<li><i><a href="Harry_Potter_and_the_Philosopher's_Stone" title="Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone">Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone</a>,</i> as the name would suggest, has as a central theme a magical stone (called the Philosopher's Stone) that is supposed to grant ever-lasting life and be able to turn anything to gold. For the American publication, the name was changed to "Sorcerer's Stone," but the parallels between the book's magical stone and the alchemists' philosophers stone are still unmistakable.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li><i><a href="The_Alchemist_(novel)" title="The Alchemist (novel)">The Alchemist</a>,</i> by <a href="Paulo_Coelho" title="Paulo Coelho">Paulo Coelho</a>, discusses one boy's quest to fulfill his destiny, and on the way he is aided by an alchemist.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>Another novel called <i>The Alchemist</i> by <a href="Donna_Boyd" title="Donna Boyd">Donna Boyd</a> explains the life of an immortal Egyptian going about life from Ancient Egypt to modern civilization.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li><i><a href="The_Alchemyst:_The_Secrets_of_the_Immortal_Nicholas_Flamel" title="The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel">The Alchemyst: The Secrets of the Immortal Nicholas Flamel</a></i> by <a href="Michael_Scott" title="Michael Scott">Michael Scott</a> centers on twins, Sophie and Josh Newman, who are guided through their prophesied quest by <a href="Nicholas_Flamel" title="Nicholas Flamel">Nicholas Flamel</a>, a well-known alchemist in the 14th century.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>Short story by <a href="H._P._Lovecraft" title="H. P. Lovecraft">H. P. Lovecraft</a> [1908] (1986). "The Alchemist". in <a href="S._T._Joshi" title="S. T. Joshi">S. T. Joshi</a> (ed.). <i><a href="Dagon_and_Other_Macabre_Tales" title="Dagon and Other Macabre Tales">Dagon and Other Macabre Tales</a></i> (9th corrected printing ed.). Sauk City, WI: <a href="Arkham_House" title="Arkham House">Arkham House</a>. <a class="external text" href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0870540394" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0870540394">ISBN 0-87054-039-4</a>.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>Alchemy serves as one of the themes in <a href="White_Wolf" title="White Wolf">White Wolf</a>'s <i><a href="Promethean:_The_Created" title="Promethean: The Created">Promethean: The Created</a></i> <a href="Role-playing_game" title="role-playing game">role-playing game</a>, using the humours, classical metals, and the ideas of refinement and the Magnum Opus as central ideas.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>In <a href="Star_Wars" title="Star Wars">Star Wars</a>, the Sith have their own variation called <i><a href="Wookieepedia:Sith_alchemy" title="Wookieepedia:Sith alchemy">Sith alchemy</a></i>, which calls upon the use of chemical science combined with their magic to create hideous, <a href="Mutant_(fictional)" title="Mutant (fictional)">unnatural</a> beasts of the dark side, <a href="Conjuration" title="Conjuration">summon forth</a> <a href="Monster" title="monster">monsters</a> called Sithspawn, <a href="Congelation" title="Congelation">strengthen</a> their weapons and armor, brew an anger inducing poison, create an appearance altering mask and commit various acts of <a href="Zombies_in_popular_culture" title="Zombies in popular culture">corporeal</a> <a href="http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/reanimate">resurrection</a>. Darth Plagueis used this science to discover a technique similar to the real-world <a href="Elixir_of_life" title="Elixir of life">Elixir of life</a>.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li>John Crowley's Aegypt sequence of critically acclaimed novels which speculate on the alchemies that have the power to transform ordinary life.</li></ul>

<p>Alchemy is also referenced in Music:</p>

<ul>
<li>California band <a href="Thrice" title="Thrice">Thrice</a> created a four-EP set named the <a href="Alchemy_Index" title="Alchemy Index">Alchemy Index</a>, which centers around each of the four elements involved in the alchemical process.</li></ul>


<ul>
<li><a href="Marilyn_Manson" title="Marilyn Manson">Marilyn Manson</a> created an album named <a href="Holy_Wood_(In_the_Shadow_of_the_Valley_of_Death)" title="Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)">Holy Wood (In the Shadow of the Valley of Death)</a>, which contains numerous alchemical and <a href="Occult" title="occult">occult</a> references (including <a href="Tarot" title="Tarot">Tarot</a>.)</li></ul>

<a id="In_contemporary_art" name="In_contemporary_art"/><h3>In contemporary art</h3>
<p>In the twentieth century alchemy was a profoundly important source of inspiration for the Surrealist artist <a href="Max_Ernst" title="Max Ernst">Max Ernst</a>, who used the symbolism of alchemy to inform and guide his work. M.E. Warlick wrote his <i>Max Ernst and Alchemy</i> describing this relationship in detail.</p>
<p>Contemporary artists use alchemy as inspiring subject matter, like <a href="Odd_Nerdrum" title="Odd Nerdrum">Odd Nerdrum</a>, whose interest has been noted by <a href="Richard_Vine" title="Richard Vine">Richard Vine</a>, and the painter <a href="Michael_Pearce" title="Michael Pearce">Michael Pearce</a> <sup id="_ref-24" class="reference"><a href="#_note-24" title="">[24]</a></sup>, whose interest in alchemy dominates his work. His works <i>Fama</i> <sup id="_ref-25" class="reference"><a href="#_note-25" title="">[25]</a></sup> and <i>The Aviator's Dream</i> <sup id="_ref-26" class="reference"><a href="#_note-26" title="">[26]</a></sup> particularly express alchemical ideas in a painted allegory.</p>
<a id="See_also" name="See_also"/><h2>See also</h2>

<p>{{MultiCol}}
</p><a id="Other_alchemical_pages" name="Other_alchemical_pages"/><h3>Other alchemical pages</h3>

<ul>
<li><a href="Alchemical_symbol" title="Alchemical symbol">Alchemical symbol</a></li>
<li><a href="Alchemy_in_art_and_entertainment" title="Alchemy in art and entertainment">Alchemy in art and entertainment</a></li>
<li><a href="Alchemy_in_history" title="Alchemy in history">Alchemy in history</a></li>
<li><a href="Alembic" title="Alembic">Alembic</a></li>
<li><a href="Alkahest" title="Alkahest">Alkahest</a></li>
<li><a href="Astrology_and_alchemy" title="Astrology and alchemy">Astrology and alchemy</a></li>
<li><a href="Berith" title="Berith">Berith</a></li>
<li><a href="Jakob_Boehme" title="Jakob Boehme">Jakob Boehme</a></li>
<li><a href="Circle_with_a_point_at_its_centre" title="Circle with a point at its centre">Circle with a point at its centre</a></li>
<li><a href="Elixir_of_life" title="Elixir of life">Elixir of life</a></li>
<li><a href="Emerald_Tablet" title="Emerald Tablet">Emerald Tablet</a></li>
<li><a href="Robert_Fludd" title="Robert Fludd">Robert Fludd</a></li>
<li><a href="Humorism" title="Humorism">Four Humors</a></li>
<li><a href="Hermeticism" title="Hermeticism">Hermeticism</a></li>
<li><a href="Homunculus" title="Homunculus">Homunculus</a></li>
<li><a href="Michael_Maier" title="Michael Maier">Michael Maier</a></li>
<li><a href="Musaeum_Hermeticum" title="Musaeum Hermeticum">Musaeum Hermeticum</a></li>
<li><a href="Paracelsus" title="Paracelsus">Paracelsus</a></li>
<li><a href="Philosopher's_stone" title="Philosopher's stone">Philosopher's stone</a></li>
<li><a href="Quintessence" title="Quintessence">Quintessence</a></li>
<li><a href="Herbert_Silberer" title="Herbert Silberer">Herbert Silberer</a></li>
<li><a href="Vulcan_of_the_alchemists" title="Vulcan of the alchemists">Vulcan of the alchemists</a></li>
<li><a href="Monas_Hieroglyphica" title="Monas Hieroglyphica">Monas Hieroglyphica</a></li>
<li><a href="Frater_Albertus" title="Frater Albertus">Frater Albertus</a></li></ul>

<a id="Alchemy_and_psychoanalysis" name="Alchemy_and_psychoanalysis"/><h3>Alchemy and psychoanalysis</h3>

<ul>
<li><a href="Carl_Jung" title="Carl Jung">Carl Jung</a></li>
<li><a href="Marie-Louise_von_Franz" title="Marie-Louise von Franz">Marie-Louise von Franz</a></li>
<li><a href="Analytical_psychology" title="Analytical psychology">Analytical psychology</a></li></ul>

<a id="Other_resources" name="Other_resources"/><h3>Other resources</h3>

<ul>
<li><a href="List_of_alchemists" title="List of alchemists">List of alchemists</a></li>
<li><a href="List_of_magical_terms_and_traditions" title="List of magical terms and traditions">List of magical terms and traditions</a></li>
<li><a href="List_of_occultists" title="List of occultists">List of occultists</a></li></ul>
<p>{{ColBreak}}</p>
<a id="Related_and_alternative_philosophies" name="Related_and_alternative_philosophies"/><h3>Related and alternative philosophies</h3>

<ul>
<li><a href="Western_mystery_tradition" title="Western mystery tradition">Western mystery tradition</a></li>
<li><a href="Internal_alchemy" title="Internal alchemy">Internal alchemy</a></li>
<li><a href="Astrology" title="Astrology">Astrology</a></li>
<li><a href="Necromancy" title="Necromancy">Necromancy</a>, <a href="Magic_(paranormal)" title="magic (paranormal)">magic</a>, <a href="Magick_(Aleister_Crowley)" title="Magick (Aleister Crowley)">magick</a></li>
<li><a href="Esotericism" title="Esotericism">Esotericism</a>, <a href="Rosicrucianism" title="Rosicrucianism">Rosicrucianism</a>, <a href="Illuminati" title="Illuminati">Illuminati</a></li>
<li><a href="Taoism" title="Taoism">Taoism</a> and the <a href="Five_Elements" title="Five Elements">Five Elements</a></li>
<li><a href="Asemic_writing" title="Asemic writing">Asemic writing</a></li>
<li><a href="Kayaku-Jutsu" title="Kayaku-Jutsu">Kayaku-Jutsu</a></li>
<li><a href="Acupuncture" title="Acupuncture">Acupuncture</a>, <a href="Moxibustion" title="moxibustion">moxibustion</a>, <a href="Ayurveda" title="ayurveda">ayurveda</a>, <a href="Homeopathy" title="homeopathy">homeopathy</a></li>
<li><a href="Anthroposophy" title="Anthroposophy">Anthroposophy</a></li>
<li><a href="Psychology" title="Psychology">Psychology</a> and <a href="Carl_Jung" title="Carl Jung">Carl Jung</a></li>
<li><a href="New_Age" title="New Age">New Age</a></li>
<li><a href="Tay_al-Ard" title="Tay al-Ard">Tay al-Ard</a></li></ul>

<a id="Substances_of_the_alchemists" name="Substances_of_the_alchemists"/><h3>Substances of the alchemists</h3>

<ul>
<li><a href="Lead" title="lead">lead</a> • <a href="Tin" title="tin">tin</a> • <a href="Iron" title="iron">iron</a> • <a href="Copper" title="copper">copper</a> • <a href="Mercury_(element)" title="mercury (element)">mercury</a> • <a href="Silver" title="silver">silver</a> • <a href="Gold" title="gold">gold</a></li>
<li><a href="Phosphorus" title="phosphorus">phosphorus</a> • <a href="Sulfur" title="sulfur">sulfur (sulphur)</a> • <a href="Arsenic" title="arsenic">arsenic</a> • <a href="Antimony" title="antimony">antimony</a></li>
<li><a href="Vitriol" title="vitriol">vitriol</a> • <a href="Quartz" title="quartz">quartz</a> • <a href="Cinnabar" title="cinnabar">cinnabar</a> • <a href="Pyrites" title="pyrites">pyrites</a> • <a href="Orpiment" title="orpiment">orpiment</a> • <a href="Galena" title="galena">galena</a></li>
<li><a href="Magnesium_oxide" title="magnesium oxide">magnesia</a> • <a href="Calcium_oxide" title="calcium oxide">lime</a> • <a href="Potash" title="potash">potash</a> • <a href="Natron" title="natron">natron</a> • <a href="Saltpetre" title="saltpetre">saltpetre</a> • <a href="Kohl_(cosmetics)" title="kohl (cosmetics)">kohl</a></li>
<li><a href="Ammonia" title="ammonia">ammonia</a> • <a href="Ammonium_chloride" title="ammonium chloride">ammonium chloride</a> • <a href="Alcohol" title="alcohol">alcohol</a> • <a href="Camphor" title="camphor">camphor</a></li>
<li><a href="Sulfuric_acid" title="sulfuric acid">sulfuric acid (sulphuric acid)</a> • <a href="Hydrochloric_acid" title="hydrochloric acid">hydrochloric acid</a> • <a href="Nitric_acid" title="nitric acid">nitric acid</a> • <a href="Acetic_acid" title="acetic acid">acetic acid</a> • <a href="Formic_acid" title="formic acid">formic acid</a> • <a href="Citric_acid" title="citric acid">citric acid</a> • <a href="Tartaric_acid" title="tartaric acid">tartaric acid</a></li>
<li><a href="Aqua_regia" title="aqua regia">aqua regia</a> • <a href="Gunpowder" title="gunpowder">gunpowder</a></li>
<li><a href="Carmot" title="carmot">carmot</a></li></ul>

<a id="Scientific_connections" name="Scientific_connections"/><h3>Scientific connections</h3>

<ul>
<li><a href="Chemistry" title="Chemistry">Chemistry</a></li>
<li><a href="Physics" title="Physics">Physics</a></li>
<li><a href="Synthesis_of_noble_metals" title="Synthesis of noble metals">Synthesis of noble metals</a></li>
<li><a href="Nuclear_transmutation" title="Nuclear transmutation">Nuclear transmutation</a></li>
<li><a href="Scientific_method" title="Scientific method">Scientific method</a></li>
<li><a href="Protoscience" title="Protoscience">Protoscience</a> and <a href="Pseudoscience" title="Pseudoscience">Pseudoscience</a></li>
<li><a href="Obsolete_scientific_theories" title="Obsolete scientific theories">Obsolete scientific theories</a></li>
<li><a href="Historicism" title="Historicism">Historicism</a></li></ul>

<p>{{EndMultiCol}}</p>
<a id="Notes" name="Notes"/><h2>Notes</h2>
<p>{{reflist}}</p>
<a id="References" name="References"/><h2>References</h2>
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</p>
<ul>
<li>Cavendish, Richard, The Black Arts, Perigee Books</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}} Trans. Richard Dales.</li>
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<li>{{cite book}}</li>
<li>{{cite book}}</li></ul>
<p>{{refend}}</p>
<a id="External_links" name="External_links"/><h2>External links</h2>
<p>{{wikiquote}}
{{commons}}
</p>
<ul>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.balashon.com/2009/03/alchemy.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.balashon.com/2009/03/alchemy.html">Etymology of "alchemy"</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/27755" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/27755">Hidden Symbolism of Alchemy and the Occult Arts</a> by Herbert Silberer</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.levity.com/alchemy/index.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.levity.com/alchemy/index.html">The Alchemy website</a> - Alchemy from a metaphysical perspective.</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.al-kemi.org" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.al-kemi.org">The al-kemi.org website</a> - Alchemy from a spiritual/philosophical perspective.</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.ambix.org/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.ambix.org/">Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.alchemywebsite.com/emb_apparatus.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.alchemywebsite.com/emb_apparatus.html">Alchemy images</a></li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-04" rel="nofollow" title="http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/cgi-local/DHI/dhi.cgi?id=dv1-04"><i>Dictionary of the History of Ideas</i>:</a> Alchemy</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/martinon/index.html" rel="nofollow" title="http://antiquity.ac.uk/ProjGall/martinon/index.html"><i>Antiquity</i>, Vol. 77 (2003)</a> - "A 16th century lab in a 21st century lab".</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14218" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.gutenberg.org/etext/14218">The Story of Alchemy and the Beginnings of Chemistry</a>, Muir, M. M. Pattison (1913)</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/science/01alch.html?ex=1312084800&amp;en=4445e5f8f9c7b3c0&amp;ei=5090&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/01/science/01alch.html?ex=1312084800&amp;en=4445e5f8f9c7b3c0&amp;ei=5090&amp;partner=rssuserland&amp;emc=rss">"Transforming the Alchemists"</a>, <a href="New_York_Times" title="New York Times">New York Times</a>, August 1, 2006. <a href="Historical_revisionism" title="Historical revisionism">Historical revisionism</a> and alchemy.</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.revistaazogue.com/biblio.htm#N_3_" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.revistaazogue.com/biblio.htm#N_3_">Electronic library</a> with hundreds alchemical books (15th- and 20th century) and 65 original manuscripts.</li>
<li><a class="externallink" href="http://www.chymistry.org/" rel="nofollow" title="http://www.chymistry.org/">The Chymistry of Isaac Newton</a> - A scholarly site devoted to the alchemical, or chymical, writings of Isaac Newton.</li></ul>

<p>


</p>
<p>{{Link FA}}
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<a href="http://af.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemie">af:Alchemie</a>
<a href="http://ar.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D8%AE%D9%8A%D9%85%D9%8A%D8%A7%D8%A1">ar:خيمياء</a>
<a href="http://az.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C6%8Flkimya">az:Əlkimya</a>
<a href="http://bn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A6%86%E0%A6%B2%E0%A6%95%E0%A7%87%E0%A6%AE%E0%A6%BF">bn:আলকেমি</a>
<a href="http://bs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alhemija">bs:Alhemija</a>
<a href="http://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%85%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%8F">bg:Алхимия</a>
<a href="http://ca.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alqu%C3%ADmia">ca:Alquímia</a>
<a href="http://cs.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchymie">cs:Alchymie</a>
<a href="http://co.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchimia">co:Alchimia</a>
<a href="http://cy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcemi">cy:Alcemi</a>
<a href="http://da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkymi">da:Alkymi</a>
<a href="http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemie">de:Alchemie</a>
<a href="http://et.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkeemia">et:Alkeemia</a>
<a href="http://el.wikipedia.org/wiki/%CE%91%CE%BB%CF%87%CE%B7%CE%BC%CE%B5%CE%AF%CE%B1">el:Αλχημεία</a>
<a href="http://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alquimia">es:Alquimia</a>
<a href="http://eo.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkemio">eo:Alkemio</a>
<a href="http://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%A9%DB%8C%D9%85%DB%8C%D8%A7%DA%AF%D8%B1%DB%8C">fa:کیمیاگری</a>
<a href="http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchimie">fr:Alchimie</a>
<a href="http://fy.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algemy">fy:Algemy</a>
<a href="http://ga.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailceimic">ga:Ailceimic</a>
<a href="http://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alquimia">gl:Alquimia</a>
<a href="http://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EC%97%B0%EA%B8%88%EC%88%A0">ko:연금술</a>
<a href="http://hy.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D5%84%D5%A1%D5%BF%D5%A5%D5%B6%D5%A1%D5%A4%D5%A1%D6%80%D5%A1%D5%B6%D5%AB_%D5%B1%D5%A5%D5%BC%D5%A1%D5%A3%D6%80%D5%A5%D6%80%D5%A8_%D6%84%D5%AB%D5%B4%D5%AB%D5%A1%D5%B5%D5%AB_%D5%B4%D5%A1%D5%BD%D5%AB%D5%B6">hy:Մատենադարանի ձեռագրերը քիմիայի մասին</a>
<a href="http://hr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkemija">hr:Alkemija</a>
<a href="http://io.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkemio">io:Alkemio</a>
<a href="http://id.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkimia">id:Alkimia</a>
<a href="http://is.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gullger%C3%B0arlist">is:Gullgerðarlist</a>
<a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchimia">it:Alchimia</a>
<a href="http://he.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D7%90%D7%9C%D7%9B%D7%99%D7%9E%D7%99%D7%94">he:אלכימיה</a>
<a href="http://ka.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%83%90%E1%83%9A%E1%83%A5%E1%83%98%E1%83%9B%E1%83%98%E1%83%90">ka:ალქიმია</a>
<a href="http://la.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemia">la:Alchemia</a>
<a href="http://lv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al%C4%B7%C4%ABmija">lv:Alķīmija</a>
<a href="http://lt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemija">lt:Alchemija</a>
<a href="http://hu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alk%C3%ADmia">hu:Alkímia</a>
<a href="http://mk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%85%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0">mk:Алхемија</a>
<a href="http://ml.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B4%86%E0%B4%B2%E0%B5%8D%E2%80%8D%E0%B4%95%E0%B5%86%E0%B4%AE%E0%B4%BF">ml:ആല്‍കെമി</a>
<a href="http://mr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%8D%E0%A4%95%E0%A5%87%E0%A4%AE%E0%A5%80">mr:अल्केमी</a>
<a href="http://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkimia">ms:Alkimia</a>
<a href="http://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemie">nl:Alchemie</a>
<a href="http://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%8C%AC%E9%87%91%E8%A1%93">ja:錬金術</a>
<a href="http://no.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkymi">no:Alkymi</a>
<a href="http://nn.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkymi">nn:Alkymi</a>
<a href="http://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemia">pl:Alchemia</a>
<a href="http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alquimia">pt:Alquimia</a>
<a href="http://ro.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchimie">ro:Alchimie</a>
<a href="http://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%85%D0%B8%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%8F">ru:Алхимия</a>
<a href="http://sq.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkimia">sq:Alkimia</a>
<a href="http://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy">simple:Alchemy</a>
<a href="http://sk.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alch%C3%BDmia">sk:Alchýmia</a>
<a href="http://sl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkimija">sl:Alkimija</a>
<a href="http://sr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%85%D0%B5%D0%BC%D0%B8%D1%98%D0%B0">sr:Алхемија</a>
<a href="http://sh.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkemija">sh:Alkemija</a>
<a href="http://su.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alk%C3%A9mi">su:Alkémi</a>
<a href="http://fi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkemia">fi:Alkemia</a>
<a href="http://sv.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkemi">sv:Alkemi</a>
<a href="http://tl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alkimiya">tl:Alkimiya</a>
<a href="http://th.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E0%B8%81%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%80%E0%B8%A5%E0%B9%88%E0%B8%99%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%A3%E0%B9%88%E0%B9%81%E0%B8%9B%E0%B8%A3%E0%B8%98%E0%B8%B2%E0%B8%95%E0%B8%B8">th:การเล่นแร่แปรธาตุ</a>
<a href="http://tr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simya">tr:Simya</a>
<a href="http://uk.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%90%D0%BB%D1%85%D1%96%D0%BC%D1%96%D1%8F">uk:Алхімія</a>
<a href="http://vi.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gi%E1%BA%A3_kim_thu%E1%BA%ADt">vi:Giả kim thuật</a>
<a href="Zh-yue:%E7%85%89%E9%87%91%E8%A1%93" title="zh-yue:煉金術">zh-yue:煉金術</a>
<a href="Bat-smg:Alkem%C4%97j%C4%97" title="bat-smg:Alkemėjė">bat-smg:Alkemėjė</a>
<a href="http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%82%BC%E9%87%91%E6%9C%AF">zh:炼金术</a></p></text>
    </revision>
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