Alchemy

Alchemy

ALCHEMY: The science by aid of which the chemical philosophers of

medieval times attempted to transmute the baser metals into gold or silver.

There is considerable divergence of opinion as to the etymology of the word,

but it would seem to be derived from the Arabic al=the, and kimya=chemistry,

which in turn derives from the late Greek chemica=chemistry, from chumeia=a

mingling, or cheein, 'to pour out' or 'mix', Aryan root ghu, to pour,

whence the word 'gush'. Mr. A. Wallis Budge in his "Egyptian Magic",

however, states that it is possible that it may be derived from the

Egyptian word khemeia, that is to say 'the preparation of the black ore',

or 'powder', which was regarded as the active principle in the

transmutation of metals. To this name the Arabs affixed the article 'al',

thus giving al-khemeia, or alchemy.

HISTORY OF ALCHEMY: From an early period the Egyptians possessed the

reputation of being skillful workers in metals and, according to Greek

writers, they were conversant with their transmutation, employing

quicksilver in the process of separating gold and silver from the native

matrix. The resulting oxide was supposed to possess marvelous powers, and

it was thought that there resided within in the individualities of the

various metals, that in it their various substances were incorporated.

This black powder was mystically identified with the underworld form of the

god Osiris, and consequently was credited with magical properties. Thus

there grew up in Egypt the belief that magical powers existed in fluxes and

alloys. Probably such a belief existed throughout Europe in connection

with the bronze-working castes of its several races. Its was probably in

the Byzantium of the fourth century, however, that alchemical science

received embryonic form. There is little doubt that Egyptian tradition,

filtering through Alexandrian Hellenic sources was the foundation upon

which the infant science was built, and this is borne out by the

circumstance that the art was attributed to Hermes Trismegistus and

supposed to be contained in its entirety in his works.

The Arabs, after their conquest of Egypt in the seventh century, carried

on the researches of the Alexandrian school, and through their

instrumentality the art was brought to Morocco and thus in the eighth

century to Spain, where it flourished exceedingly. Indeed, Spain from the

ninth to the eleventh century became the repository of alchemic science,

and the colleges of Seville, Cordova and Granada were the centers from

which this science radiated throughout Europe.

The first practical alchemist may be said to have been the Arbian Geber,

who flourished 720-750. From his "Summa Perfectionis", we may be justified

in assuming that alchemical science was already matured in his day, and

that he drew his inspirations from a still older unbroken line of adepts.

He was followed by Avicenna, Mesna and Rhasis, and in France by Alain of

Lisle, Arnold de Villanova and Jean de Meung the troubadour; in England by

Roger Bacon and in Spain itself by Raymond Lully. Later, in French alchemy

the most illustrious names are those of Flamel (b. ca. 1330), and Bernard