What is alchemy?

Question

How is portrayed? In books, TV, Anime, etc???

Is there anyone out there that practices it?

Answer 1

yes, there are modern day alchemists, and no, it's nothing like the kind you see in anime shows. so turn off that full metal alchemist, what you see there is a load of crap. a parody of alchemy and all that has been acomplished. if you ask almost anyone, they'll tell you "alchemy was an early form of chemistry where people tried to turn lead into gold, but they failed misribly." this, i'm glad to say, is also false.

alchemy is the fundimental alteration of nature, based on the 4 main elements, earth, air, water, and fire. transformations of base metals to gold were some early plights of alchemy, and true, an alchemist never sucessfully turned lead - or any other metal - into gold. this was not the first and only goal of the alchemists. later on, they assessed that the use of the 7 main metals, which are mecury, sulphur, gold, silver, quicksilver, zinc, and iron. through process of distilation, combination, and aging, alchemists created many useful substances. dyes made from the elements in a matter of days in a pelican (glass distilation device), which in this day was a great acheivement, for before this dyes were made in large, unbearably putrid vats, taking weeks at a time to produce. tintuctures, which helped to speed along the effects of nature, turning heated and pressured coal into diamonds in a matter of years, again revolutionary due the the millions of years a natural diamond takes to form in the earth's crust. and of course, the alchemists crowning, though little known, acheivement, the perpetual flame.

although the perpetual flame is noted in few alchemical texts, and few people to this day believe in it's existance, the perpetual flame, or "everburning lights of Trithemius" is entirely practicle. imagine a flame that, instead of burning woal or coal, burnt the very nitrogen in the air around us. nitrogen, released when a living creature dies, is a secondary source of energy to plants and the most abundant chemical in the air around you. such records of the flames are in existance, as decribed in a letter to Abbot of Sponheim by a mister Bartholomeus Korndorffer in 1408.

"Two unquenchable eternall lights are founde and to be seen hearin, which I Bartholomeus Korndorffer have written of a disciple of Mr Trittemius Abbot of Sponheim, which did affirme with an oath that they were never published nor opened before, only that his Mr the Abbot had bestowed one of them unto a great potentat. this famous Maus Trittemius, which lived in time of the great Imperiour Maximilian the first, and none like unto him was to be founde in his age, hath done much good with his artes, not mingled with divilish worcke, as some malicious men doe accuse his, butt he did knowe all what was done in the world of what he desireth by the starres of ministerie, he hath also tolde of things to come manie times. Once as was travaling, came to S. Moritz, and found an acquaintance to whome I spoke, he was glad to see mee, he invited mee to dinner, and another named servatius Hohel, which had been with the Abbot at Sponheim and served him 12 years. He wwas vere civill, yet sometime he spoke a word of this arte. Now as wee came together, and dinner beying past Mr Hohell desireth mee to goe with him to his chammer, which i did discoursing of diverse matter of artes and seying he was an antient man, I desired to leave him allone to his studie butt he would not left mee, and bespoke a meale by his hostess, which wee two did take in his chammer. Mr Hohel did bestowe uppon mee that time, the handwriting of Mr Trittemius whearin thease two incombustible lights were wrytten, and some magick peeces, which I did trye 7 prouve affterwards & founde them to be vere true & right. Mr Hohel tolde mee also that his Mr Trithemius had bestowed one of those lights unto this great potentat the Emperour Maximilian, and placed it in a glass in his chammer, which the sayd potentat had keept vere well, and many had seen the lightning thereof. After that a sickness aryseth that the Emperour did departe from that place, & came not to this place again in 20 years: but as he came theather at the least, Mr Trittemius beying dead long before, he remembered this light & went presently to see it, which was found theare with all tokens unquenchable as Mr Trittemius had lefft it, & the people of that castel tolde the Emperor that they had seene continually a lightning in that place, licke a lampe in a church. Wherefore this Emperour lefft the light years still burning wheare it shall surne still at this daye, which is a great secret in this worlde. the Emperour Maximilian hath given 6000 crownes for those temporall everlasting lights."

now i realize that the old english in this text is not very clear, but the letter is basicaly describing a servant of Abbot traveling to a place where he was sold an everlasting flame that he found to have truly been everlasting. the recipie of the alchemical flame of eternity s also in the old hand of the 1400's, and some procedures described have been lost in translation or unidentified, so there is a good chance that the true recipie might be lost in the eaves of time forever. the recipie for such a flame is as follows.

Take 4 unces of sulphur, & so much of calcyned alume, bruise them together, put it into an earthen sublimatorie, place it into a coale fier, well lited, let the sulphur ascend through the Alume, and in 8 houres is it prepared.

Thearof take at the lesse 2 1/2 unces, and one unce of good christallick venetian porras, bruse them two small togeather, put it into a flat glasse that it may lye flatly, poure uppon it a stronge sharpe 4 times distilled spirit of wine uppon it, & extracte it in ashes sofftly to the oyle, poure it uppon again, extracte it to the oyle, poure it uppon again & drawe it of agayne; take a litle of the sulphure, laye it uppon a red hott copper plate, and when it floweth like wax without smoking then is it prepared, if not then must thou extract theareof more of the spirit of wine, till it sustineth the proove & it is prepared.

Nowe take alumephume, make therof a top not as long as a little finger, and halfe as thicke, foulde it about with whyte silke, put it thus whole into a venetian little glasse, & joyne thearunto of the prepared sulphure, place it a day & night in hott sande, that the top be continually in the sulphur. Nowe take the top thearout, and put it into such a glasse, that the top looke out a little, adde thearunto of the prepared incombustible chyburals, place the glasse into hott sand till the sulphure melteth, and cleaveth beneath and upward about the top, that it be seene but a little above, kindle the top with a common light, & it beginneth to burne presently, and the sulphure remaineth flowing, take the light and place it wheare you wilt, and it burneth continually for ever.

you might further inquire about the phlisopher's stone. the best description i can give you is that of a stone formed of distilation that is so pure it can pass it's purity onto anything it comes in contact with, i.e. the belief of it's touch turning base metals into gold or granting the user immortality. if it suits your taste better, here is a 16th century poem titled "Description of the Stone," describing vaugly the nature and concotuion on the stone.

Though Daphne fly from Phoebus bright,
Yet shall they both be one,
And if you understand this right,
You have our hidden Stone.
For Daphne she is faire and white:
But Volatile is she;
Phoebus a fixed God of might,
And red as blood is he.
Daphne is a Water Nymph,
And hath of Moysture store,
Which Phoebus doth consume with heate,
And dryes her very sore.
They being dryed into one,
Of christall flood must drinke,
Till they be brought to a white Stone:
Which wash with Virgins milke,
So longe untill they flow as wax,
And no fume you can see,
Then have you all you neede to aske,
Praise God and thankfull be.

I hope this infromation has been helpful to you, and though long, it has been all hand-typed, not just taken off sites like wikipedia, although the recipies, letter to Abbot, and Description of the Stone are all courticy of http://www.levity.com/alchemy . and, in case you were wondering, yes. i am an alchemist.

Answer 2

Alchemy replaced into arguably a fore runner to sought after chemistry, yet had no clinical foundation. Supposedly it in contact the seek for the legendary logician's stone, which might enable the alchemist to tutor base metals into gold. The experimentation which occured could have been a effective portion of the clinical technique -probable rather risky too. The observations made might have led the previous experimenters to type hypotheses regarding the character of the components they have been working with, which could be examined and carry approximately an expertise of their nature. Chemical reactions are no longer prompted by making use of whether that's an entire moon or you solid spells. that's commonly shown by making use of experimentation. further, we now be responsive to that chemical reactions can not regulate the atomic characteristics of the textile. The Curies sophisticated pitchblend to isolate and extract radium. they did no longer create it from some thing else. subsequently the unique objective replaced into shown to be unachievable and consistent with fake hypotheses. it quite is been kindly suggested that alchemy grew to become a quest to alter the character of the experimenter, by way of complicated artwork and gaining expertise of, particularly than to transmute base metals. subsequently the strengthen of the alchemist's soul replaced into the real objective. perhaps they replaced society by making use of giving us functional and functional products, drugs and so on. somebody as quickly as suggested approximately clinical practices that there is no such factor as option drugs, in basic terms drugs which fits and that which does no longer. further, there is no such factor as "option" technology. If we don't be responsive to the way some organic technique works, filling the gaps in our expertise by making use of ascribing some supernatural tension to it quite is not an evidence. that's organic superstition and psychological laziness. See the Wikipedia link under:

Answer 3

A really interesting subject. The similarity between lead and gold (both soft, malleable, heavy) made people think that they could convert lead into gold. Not a bad idea.

You can study alchemy in a historical context. Greeks, Islamic alchemy, european, etc

Answer 4

Alchemy is generally the changing of one mineral into another, like lead into gold.

Answer 5

people who practiced alchemy were basicly attempting to turn base metals (most likely lead)into gold. Obviously, they never achieved their goal. you might see it in fantasy books and movies, but it's not practiced anymore, as far as i know.