Sunday, October 10, 2010

Alchemy Introduction, History, Ellements, and The Great Work



Alchemy symbols, originally devised as part of the protoscience of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Note that while notation like this was mostly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists, so this page lists the most common. ~Wikipedia~



"Squaring the Circle": an alchemical glyph (17th c.) of the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.



Alchemy known as "The Great Work" is broken into several chemical:

  1. Psychological
  2. Sociological
  3. Theological
  4. Societal
  5. Planetary Levels
Alchemy works with the; "Three Primes" or "Tria Prima"



Sulphur.svg
  • 1. Sulfur (Omnipresent spirit of life)
Mercury symbol.svg

  • 2. Mercury (Fluid Connection between the high and the low)
Line within circle.svg
  • 3. Salt (Base Matter)


Four Basic Elements:

  • Alchemy fire symbol.svgFire
  • Alchemy water symbol.svg Water
  • Alchemy earth symbol.svg Earth
  • Alchemy air symbol.svg Air


Seven Planetary Metals

Planetary metals were "dominated" or "ruled" by one of the seven planets known by the ancients. Although they occasionally have a symbol of their own (denoted by also:), they were usually symbolized by the planet's symbol.

The planets Uranus and Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto were discovered after the time alchemy had been largely replaced by chemistry, and are not part of traditional Alchemical symbols. Some modern alchemists consider the symbols for these planets to represent the radioactive metals uranium, neptunium and plutonium, respectively. Also, the Monas Hieroglyphica is an alchemical symbol devised by John Dee as a combination of the plantery metal glyphs.

Mundane Elements



Alchemy Compound


12 Core Alchemical Processes

The 12 alchemical processes are considered to be the basis of modern chemical processes. Each of these processes is "dominated" or "ruled" by one of the 12 Zodiac signs.



For more information check out:

Alchemy in Art and Entertainment

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy_in_art_and_entertainment



Alchemy in History

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alchemy_in_history

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