in alchemy, does the color green have any significance?

Question

I'm talking about the precursor of chemistry, by which people hundreds of years ago tried to turn lead into gold

Answer 1

In alchemy, green represents anti-thetical tendencies. It is the color of vegetation and decomposition. The ancient Egyptians depicted Osiris, the God of Death, as green.

Answer 2

Keeping this WITHIN the realm of fact which Alchemists were trying to find, the color green was used to classify the metals.
As in, each element burned a different color. Want an example? If you ever get your hands on magnesium, grind it into a powder and throw it into an OUTDOOR fire WITH a cover over your mouth.
It should turn the fire White. This means, beyond a doubt, it is the element they had payed their money for. If tyhey had no name for the metal they would study it, test the properties and uses, then usually classified it by the color it burned.
Magnesium = White

-Hytegia, The Alchemist

Answer 3

In nature the color of green indicates many things including fertility, finance, healing and luck and in the chemical world there is what is called a streak test for stones. This test involves the fine powders of any stone regardless of the stones color and when scratched on at streak plate or unglazed porcelain plate at a fresh fracture will produce an unalterable color. Often this is not just one color but will be a combination of colors. These color variations help to determine the stones properties and ultimately what the composition of the stone really is from it's basic elements. The stones used in producing the material that alchemists used to try to turn into gold always streaked a strong green however there were so many variations of the green that finding the correct stones to work with were the ultimate test of the alchemist fruits.

Answer 4

Yeah, it has something to do with a dragon or something like that. The different stages of transmutation (the lead->gold process) each have different colors assigned to them. I think they're black, red, green, gold...maybe a couple of others. That was helpful. I don't remember all the steps. I think the colors are different metal compounds, like if you add something to lead, it turns red, and then something else makes whatever that was turn to some other color...it doesn't work. But the alchemy was also kind of a mystical process to describe turning base metal (animal instincts) to gold (the higher self.) That might work.

Answer 5

Immappam deserves the 10.

Answer 6

most likely it only pointed out that there was a copper content in the mix.....

oh, and scotty drank "green" in the original and in the next generation.

-eagle