Steven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT
Institute of Neurotoxicology & Neurological Disorders

 The ancient of alchemy is concerned with making the
Sorcerer’s Stone, a legendary substance with astonishing powers. The Stone will transform any metal into pure gold.
It also produces the Elixir of Life, which will make the drinker immortal.
 There have been many reports of the Sorcerer’s Stone over the centuries, but the only Stone currently in existence belongs to Mr. Nicolas Flamel, the noted alchemist and opera lover. Mr. Flamel, who celebrated his 665 birthday last year, enjoys a quiet life on Devon with his wife,
Perenelle (658).
From: Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – J.K. Rowling

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1330 – Paris, March 22, 1418 succeeded at the two goals of alchemy: that he made the Philosopher's Stone, which turns base metals into gold, and that he and his wife Perenelle achieved immortality through the "Elixir of
Life".
Flamel had achieved legendary status within the circles of alchemy by the mid 17th Century
Others think untrue – all made up

 word alchemy itself was derived from the Arabic word
al-kimia
 Alchemy is the art of liberating parts of the Cosmos from temporal existence and achieving perfection
 “As above, so below.”
 the body, souls and spirit correspond to salt, sulphur, and mercury

 creation of the philosopher's stone possessing powers
 turning base metals into the noble metals gold or silver
 an elixir of life conferring youth and longevity (creation of a panacea)
 a universal cure for disease,
 a universal solvent alkahest
"The alchemist", by Sir William Fettes
Douglas, 1853

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Egyptian origins predate common era
Egyptian alchemist, 172 BCE Memphis in Egypt???
author of the Hermetic Corpus, a series of sacred texts that are the basis of Hermeticism combination of the Greek god Hermes and the
Egyptian god Thoth
 Egyptian god of wisdom as a patron of astrology and alchemy
 During the Middle Ages and the Renaissance, the writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, known as Hermetica, were popular among alchemists. The "hermetic tradition” refers to alchemy, magic, astrology and related subjects. with practical magic, potions and alchemy

 Also called The Secret of Hermes – by
Hermes Trismegistus ("Hermes the
Thrice-Greatest") 172 BCE
 A text purporting to reveal the secret of the primordial substance and its transmutations
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Translations - Arabic, the Latin, and Isaac Newton
Short – 13-14 lines
Also attributed to Jabir ibn Hayyan
Tablet became a mainstay of medieval and
Renaissance alchemy - greatest primary document of alchemy

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Hermes Trismegistus - Egyptian alchemist
- author of the Hermetic Corpus, a series of sacred texts that are the basis of
Hermeticism
The four classical elements of earth, water, air, and fire are used often in alchemy
“As above, so below” - levels of reality: physical, emotional, and mental, this relates that what happens on any level happens on every other
Still exists as cult believe

 296 AD Diocletian decreed destruction of Egyptian texts on alchemy
 Roman Emperor from 284 to 305
 Arabic / Persian take the lead in alchemy / science
 Greeks & Islamics as basis of alchemy's more scientific principles

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Known as Geber - Born 721 in Tus, Persia; died
815 in Kufa, Iraq a chemist and alchemist, astronomer and astrologer, engineer, geographer, philosopher, physicist, and pharmacist and physician.
first practical alchemist – to science based
Less mystical - More lab based
Expands mystical elements into fire, earth, water , and air credited with the use of over twenty types of now-basic chemical laboratory equipment
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 ultimate goal of takwin — the artificial creation of life
Arabic version of the Emerald Tablet, an ancient work that proved a recurring foundation of and source for alchemical operations

 mercury-sulfur theory, metals differ from each in so far as they contain different proportions of the sulfur and mercury
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The seeds of the modern classification of elements into metals and non-metals could be seen in his chemical nomenclature. He proposed three categories:
"Spirits" which vaporise on heating, like arsenic (realgar, orpiment), camphor, mercury, sulfur, sal ammoniac, and ammonium chloride.
"Metals", like gold, silver, lead, tin, copper, iron, and khar-sini
Non-malleable substances, that can be converted into powders, such as stones.

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 clear recognition of the importance of experimentation,
"The first essential in chemistry is that thou shouldest perform practical work and conduct experiments, for he who performs not practical work nor makes experiments will never attain to the least degree of mastery.”

 Persian (August 26, 865 – 925)
 physician, alchemist and chemist, philosopher, and scholar
 As an alchemist, Razi was known for his study of sulfuric acid
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First physician to distinguish smallpox and measles pioneered use of Humorism (The Four Humors, or
Temperaments) as diagnostic method, the categorization of health via the ratios of the four bodily fluids

 Franciscan monk from what is present-day Spain (1232 - June
29, 1315)
 active botanist and alchemist
 first to discover the chemical group later called ether

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German-Swiss Dec. 17, 1493 – Sept. 24, 1541
Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and general occultist
“All things are poison and nothing (is) without poison; only the dose makes that a thing is no poison. “
“The dose makes the poison”
 See Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus pt. 1 - Primary source; translation of Paracelsus' alchemical writings
“Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines.”

 universal solvent (alkahest)
 Paracelsus recipe: caustic lime, alcohol, carbonate of potash (believed alkahest was the Philosophers Stone)
 Azoth (universal medicine; essential transformative agent of alchemy [in short, divine essence])
 Paracelsus claimed discovery; portraits show him carrying sword inscribed _azoth

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(1628–1665), born in Bermuda, moved from
New England to London England 1650 was an American alchemist, medical practitioner, the “Philosopher by Fire.”
Robert Boyle’s chemistry tutor
Influenced Isaac Newton
Pursued the “secrets” of alchemy, production of pharmaceuticals and the transmutation of metallic substances.
Starkey’s “sophic mercury” was an amalgam of antimony, silver, and mercury, which could dissolve gold into a mixture that when heated, produced the mythical philosopher's stone,
Iatrochemistry - physical health was dependent on a specific balance of bodily fluids

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January 25, 1627 – December 31, 1691 – born in Ireland - natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist, inventor, theologist.
Considered the first modern chemist but with roots in the alchemical tradition pioneer of modern experimental scientific method
Boyle's law - describes the inversely proportional relationship between the absolute pressure and volume of a gas
The Sceptical Chymist (1661) is seen as a cornerstone book in chemistry rejecting alchemical perception of the universe.

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 founded in late medieval Germany by
Christian Rosenkreuz (1378-1484) early
15th century 1407??
founder of the Rosicrucian Order
(Order of the Rose Cross) hermetic and alchemical texts of those times
Became Ancient and Mystical Order
Rosea Crucis (AMORC)

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November 25, 1883 – August 2, 1939, born in Frenchtown, NJ
Rosicrucian author, occultist, and mystic
Ancient and Mystical Order Rosea
Crucis (AMORC) founder and first
Imperator from 1915 until 1939.
 "transmutation" of zinc into gold — a demonstration of classic alchemical principles, in New York City, on
June 22, 1916 hosted by Lewis

 Early scientists trying to understand matter and our relation to it
 Recognized importance of experimentation
 Developed apparatus use be chemists - distillation
Jābir ibn Hayyān

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Liquid metal
Evaporates when heated
Philosophical mercury
(amalgam of mercury, gold, antimony), constituent element of Philosopher's Stone the metals: sulphur, 'the stone which burns', mercury, which contained the idealized principle of metallic properties

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Alchemy – Toxipedia general information on alchemy
Alchemy - Wikipedia article on alchemy
History of Alchemy (overview, written by devotee of alchemy)
Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus pt. 1 (Primary source; translation of Paracelsus' alchemical writings)
Arabic alchemy & toxicology (history on the more science-focused works of 9th/10th century Arab alchemists)
The Twisted History of Alchemy (Economist article on split of chemistry from alchemy)
History of alchemy in America by Mark Stavish (history of alchemy in
America, focus on the modern state of alchemists)
Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Crucis – AMORC web site
The Alchemical Quest - Chemical Heritage Foundation – great interactive site

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Prepared by Steven G. Gilbert, PhD, DABT
Institute of Neurotoxicology & Neurological Disorders
E-mail – sgilbert@innd.org
January 15, 2013 http://www.toxipedia.org/display/toxipedia/Alchemy
 Research assistance from Jeff Williams