View source for Alchemy

{{Short description|Branch of natural philosophy}}
{{Redirect|Alchemist|other uses|Alchemist (disambiguation)|and|Alchemy (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=March 2024}}
[[File:E-codices zbz-Ms-Rh-0172 044 max copy.jpg|thumb|15th century depiction of an [[Ouroboros]] from the alchemical treatise ''{{lang|la|[[Aurora consurgens]]}}'' (Zurich, ''Rheinau 172'').]]
{{Esotericism}}

'''Alchemy''' (from the [[Arabic]] word {{transliteration|ar|al-kīmīā}}, {{lang|ar|الكیمیاء}}) is an ancient branch of [[natural philosophy]], a [[philosophical]] and [[protoscientific]] tradition that was historically practised in [[Chinese alchemy|China]], [[Rasayana|India]], the [[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Muslim world]], and [[Europe]].<ref name="Routledge">{{cite encyclopedia |last=Pereira |first=Michela |editor-last=Craig |editor-first=Edward |editor-link=Edward Craig (philosopher) |encyclopedia=[[Routledge Encyclopedia of Philosophy]] |title=Alchemy |year=2018 |publisher=[[Routledge]] |isbn=978-0-415-25069-6 |doi=10.4324/9780415249126-Q001-1 |quote=Alchemy is the quest for an agent of material perfection, produced through a creative activity (''opus''), in which humans and nature collaborate. It exists in many cultures (China, India, Islam; in the Western world since Hellenistic times) under different specifications: aiming at the production of gold and/or other perfect substances from baser ones, or of the elixir that prolongs life, or even of life itself. Because of its purpose, the alchemists' quest is always strictly linked to the religious doctrine of redemption current in each civilization where alchemy is practised.<br /> In the Western world alchemy presented itself at its advent as a sacred art. But when, after a long detour via Byzantium and Islamic culture, it came back again to Europe in the twelfth century, adepts designated themselves philosophers. Since then alchemy has confronted natural philosophy for several centuries.}}</ref> In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in a number of [[pseudepigraphical]] texts written in [[Egypt (Roman province)|Greco-Roman Egypt]] during the first few centuries AD.<ref name=":1">{{harvnb|Principe|2013|pp=9–14}}.</ref> [[Alchemy#Hellenistic Egypt|Greek-speaking alchemists]] often referred to their craft as "the Art" ({{lang|grc|τέχνη}}) or "Knowledge" ({{lang|grc|ἐπιστήμη}}), and it was often characterised as mystic ({{lang|grc|μυστική}}), sacred ({{lang|grc|ἱɛρά}}), or divine ({{lang|grc|θɛíα}}).<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Keyser |first=Paul T. |date=1990 |title=Alchemy in the Ancient World: From Science to Magic |url=https://hdl.handle.net/2142/12197 |journal=Illinois Classical Studies |language=en |volume=15 |issue=2 |pages=353–378 |hdl=2142/12197 |issn=0363-1923 }}</ref>

Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials.<ref name="Routledge" /><ref>{{cite book |last=Malouin |first=Paul-Jacques |contribution=Alchimie [Alchemy] |title=Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire Raisonné des Sciences, des Arts, et des Métiers |volume=I |location=Paris |year=1751 |editor-last=Diderot |editor-link=Diderot |editor2-last=d'Alembert |editor2-link=D'Alembert |display-editors=0 |translator=Lauren Yoder |title-link=Encyclopédie |work=Encyclopedia of Diderot & d'Alembert - Collaborative Translation Project |hdl=2027/spo.did2222.0000.057}}</ref><ref name=lindy>{{harvnb|Linden|1996|pp=7 & 11}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|For a detailed look into the problems of defining alchemy, see {{Harvnb|Linden|1996|pp=6–36}}}} Common aims were [[chrysopoeia]], the transmutation of "[[base metal]]s" (e.g., [[lead]]) into "[[noble metal]]s" (particularly [[gold]]);<ref name="Routledge" /> the creation of an [[Elixir of life|elixir of immortality]];<ref name="Routledge" /> and the creation of [[Panacea (medicine)|panaceas]] able to cure any disease.<ref>{{cite web |title=Alchemy |url=http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/alchemy |work=Dictionary.com |access-date=21 August 2007 |archive-date=18 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070818081308/http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/Alchemy |url-status=live}}</ref> The perfection of the human body and [[soul]] was thought to result from the alchemical [[Magnum opus (alchemy)|''magnum opus'']] ("Great Work").<ref name="Routledge" /> The concept of creating the [[philosophers' stone]] was variously connected with all of these projects.

Islamic and European alchemists developed a basic set of [[laboratory techniques]], theories, and terms, some of which are still in use today. They did not abandon the [[Ancient Greek philosophy|Ancient Greek philosophical]] idea that everything is composed of [[four elements]], and they tended to guard their work in secrecy, often making use of [[History of cryptography|cyphers]] and cryptic symbolism. In Europe, the [[Latin translations of the 12th century|12th-century translations]] of [[Science in the medieval Islamic world|medieval Islamic works on science]] and the [[Recovery of Aristotle|rediscovery of Aristotelian philosophy]] gave birth to a flourishing tradition of Latin alchemy.<ref name="Routledge" /> This late medieval tradition of alchemy would go on to play a significant role in the development of [[Early modern era|early modern]] science (particularly [[History of chemistry|chemistry]] and [[History of medicine|medicine]]).<ref>{{cite journal |editor-last=Eddy |editor-first=Matthew Daniel |editor2-last=Mauskopf |editor2-first=Seymour |editor3-last=Newman |editor3-first=William R. |editor-link3=William R. Newman |display-editors=0 |ref={{harvid|''CKEMW''|2014}} |title=Chemical Knowledge in the Early Modern World |journal=Osiris |volume=29 |pages=1–15 |date=2014 |url=https://www.academia.edu/6629576 |last1=Newman |first1=William R. |author-link1=William R. Newman |last2=Mauskopf |first2=Seymour H. |last3=Eddy |first3=Matthew Daniel |pmid=26103744 |doi=10.1086/678110 |s2cid=29035688 |access-date=23 August 2014 |archive-date=30 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220730040038/https://www.academia.edu/6629576 |url-status=live  | issn=0369-7827}}</ref>

Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split into an examination of its [[wikt:exoteric|exoteric]] practical applications and its [[esoteric]] spiritual aspects, despite criticisms by scholars such as [[Eric John Holmyard|Eric J. Holmyard]] and [[Marie-Louise von Franz]] that they should be understood as complementary.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|p=16}}</ref><ref name="FRAALC97">{{harvnb|von Franz|1997}}</ref> The former is pursued by [[History of the physical sciences|historians of the physical sciences]], who examine the subject in terms of [[History of chemistry|early chemistry]], [[History of medicine|medicine]], and [[charlatanism]], and the [[philosophical]] and [[Religion|religious]] contexts in which these events occurred. The latter interests historians of [[Western esotericism|esotericism]], [[History of psychology|psychologists]], and some philosophers and [[Spirituality|spiritualists]]. The subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts.

== Etymology ==
{{See also|Etymology of chemistry|l1=Etymology of ''chemistry''}}
The word alchemy comes from [[Old French]] {{lang|fro|alkimie}}, used in [[Medieval Latin]] as {{lang|la-x-medieval|alchymia}}. This name was itself adopted from the [[Arabic]] word {{transliteration|ar|al-kīmiyā}} ({{lang|ar|الكيمياء}}). The Arabic {{transliteration|ar|al-kīmiyā}} in turn was a borrowing of the [[Late Greek]] term {{transliteration|el|khēmeía}} ({{lang|el|χημεία}}), also spelled {{transliteration|el|khumeia}} ({{lang|el|χυμεία}}) and {{transliteration|el|khēmía}} ({{lang|el|χημία}}), with ''[[al-]]'' being the Arabic definite article 'the'.<ref name="OED">{{OED|alchemy}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Liddell |first1=Henry George |last2=Scott |first2=Robert |last3=Jones |first3=Henry Stuart |year=1940 |title=A Greek-English Lexicon |location=Oxford |publisher=Clarendon Press |url=http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus:text:1999.04.0057:entry=xumei/a |postscript=;|access-date=23 February 2021|archive-date=12 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191112060839/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc=Perseus%3Atext%3A1999.04.0057%3Aentry%3Dxumei%2Fa|url-status=live}} {{Cite web |url=https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/alchemy |title=alchemy |website=Oxford Dictionaries {{!}} English|access-date=30 September 2018|archive-date=23 December 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161223133900/https://en.oxforddictionaries.com/definition/alchemy}}</ref> Together this association can be interpreted as 'the process of [[Magnum opus (alchemy)|transmutation]] by which to fuse or reunite with the divine or original form'. Several etymologies have been proposed for the Greek term. The first was proposed by Zosimos of Panopolis (3rd–4th centuries), who derived it from the name of a book, the ''Khemeu''.<ref>George Syncellus, ''Chronography'', 18–9</ref><ref>On the ancient definitions of alchemy in ancient Greek and Syriac texts see Matteo Martelli. 2014. "The Alchemical Art of Dyeing: The Fourfold Division of Alchemy and the Enochian Tradition", In: Dupré S. (eds) ''Laboratories of Art'', Springer, Cham.</ref> Hermann Diels argued in 1914 that it rather derived from χύμα,<ref>Hermann Diels, ''Antike Technik'', Leipzig: Teubner, 1914, pp. 108–109. [[iarchive:bub gb LoEAAAAAMAAJ/page/n125/mode/2up|Read online]]</ref> used to describe metallic objects formed by casting.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=xeiw&la=greek#lexicon |title=Greek Word Study Tool |website=perseus.tufts.edu|access-date=14 February 2020|archive-date=7 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201107084344/http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/morph?l=xeiw&la=greek#lexicon|url-status=live}}</ref>

Others trace its roots to the [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] name {{lang|egy-Latn|kēme}} (hieroglyphic 𓆎𓅓𓏏𓊖 {{lang|egy-Latn|kmt}}), meaning 'black earth', which refers to the fertile and [[wikt:auriferous|auriferous]] soil of the Nile valley, as opposed to red desert sand.<ref name="OED" /> According to the Egyptologist [[Wallis Budge]], the Arabic word ''{{lang|ar-Latn|al-kīmiya}}ʾ'' actually means "the Egyptian [science]", borrowing from the [[Coptic language|Coptic]] word for "Egypt", ''{{lang|cop-Latn|kēme}}'' (or its equivalent in the Mediaeval [[Bohairic]] dialect of Coptic, ''{{lang|cop-Latn|khēme}}''). This Coptic word derives from [[Demotic Egyptian|Demotic]] ''{{lang|egy-Latn|kmỉ}}'', itself from ancient [[Egyptian language|Egyptian]] ''{{lang|egy-Latn|kmt}}''. The ancient Egyptian word referred to both the country and the colour "black" (Egypt was the "black Land", by contrast with the "red Land", the surrounding desert).

== History ==
Alchemy encompasses several philosophical traditions spanning some four millennia and three continents. These traditions' general penchant for cryptic and symbolic language makes it hard to trace their mutual influences and genetic relationships. Three major strands exist which appear to be mostly independent, at least in their earlier stages: [[Chinese alchemy]], centered in China; [[Rasayana|Indian alchemy]], centered on the [[Indian subcontinent]]; and Western alchemy, which occurred around the [[Mediterranean Basin|Mediterranean]] and whose center shifted over the millennia from [[Egypt (Roman province)|Greco-Roman Egypt]] to the [[Muslim world|Islamic world]], and finally [[Middle Ages|medieval Europe]]. Chinese alchemy was closely connected to [[Taoism]] and Indian alchemy with the [[Indian religions|Dharmic faiths]]. In contrast, Western alchemy developed its philosophical system mostly independent of but influenced by various [[Western religion]]s. It is still an open question whether these three strands share a common origin, or to what extent they influenced each other.

=== Hellenistic Egypt ===
{{Hermeticism}}
[[File:Man Paris, Grec 2327 fol 83v.jpg|thumb|[[Alembic|Ambix]], cucurbit and [[retort]] of [[Zosimos of Panopolis|Zosimos]] (man. Paris, ''Grec 2327'').]]
The start of Western alchemy may generally be traced to ancient and [[Hellenistic Egypt]], where the city of [[Alexandria]] was a center of alchemical knowledge, and retained its pre-eminence through most of the Greek and Roman periods.<ref>''New Scientist'', 24–31 December 1987</ref> Following the work of André-Jean Festugière, modern scholars see alchemical practice in the Roman Empire as originating from the Egyptian goldsmith's art, Greek philosophy and different religious traditions.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Festugière |first=André-Jean |title=La révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, Vol.1 |publisher=Les Belles Lettres |year=2006 |location=Paris |pages=218–219}}</ref> Tracing the origins of the alchemical art in Egypt is complicated by the [[pseudepigraphic]] nature of texts from the Greek alchemical corpus. The treatises of [[Zosimos of Panopolis]], the earliest historically attested author ([[Floruit|fl.]] c. 300 AD),<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martelli |first1=Matteo |title=L'alchimista antico |date=2019 |publisher=Editrice Bibliografica |isbn=978-88-7075-979-2 |pages=73–86}}</ref> can help in situating the other authors. Zosimus based his work on that of older alchemical authors, such as [[Mary the Jewess]],<ref>See {{cite book |last=Patai |first=Raphael |title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LorvA_5Ex_UC&pg=PA60 |year=1995 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-00642-0 |pages=60–91}}</ref> [[Pseudo-Democritus]],<ref name="Martelli, The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus">{{cite book |last1=Martelli |first1=Matteo |title=The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus |date=2014 |publisher=Maney |location=Leeds}}</ref> and [[Agathodaemon (alchemist)|Agathodaimon]], but very little is known about any of these authors. The most complete of their works, The ''Four Books'' of [[Pseudo-Democritus]], were probably written in the first century AD.<ref name="Martelli, The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus" />

Recent scholarship tends to emphasize the testimony of Zosimus, who traced the alchemical arts back to Egyptian metallurgical and ceremonial practices.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Martelli |first1=Matteo |title=L'alchimista antico |date=2019 |publisher=Editrice Bibliografica |isbn=978-88-7075-979-2}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Grimes |first=Shannon |url=https://rubedo.press/becoming-gold |title=Becoming Gold |publisher=Rubedo Press |year=2018 |location=Auckland|access-date=12 February 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203123/https://rubedo.press/becoming-gold|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite book |last1=Dufault |first1=Olivier |title=Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity |date=2019 |publisher=California Classical Studies |location=Berkeley |isbn=978-1-939926-12-8 |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |access-date=12 February 2020 |archive-date=12 February 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203119/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |url-status=live}}</ref> It has also been argued that early alchemical writers borrowed the vocabulary of Greek philosophical schools but did not implement any of its doctrines in a systematic way.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dufault |first1=Olivier |s2cid=10823051 |title=Transmutation Theory in the Greek Alchemical Corpus |journal=Ambix |year=2015 |volume=62 |issue=3 |pages=215–244 |doi=10.1179/1745823415Y.0000000003 |pmid=26307909 |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/download/hc:24472/CONTENT/dufault-transmutation-theory-in-the-greek-alchemical-corpus.pdf/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://hcommons.org/deposits/download/hc:24472/CONTENT/dufault-transmutation-theory-in-the-greek-alchemical-corpus.pdf/ |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> Zosimos of Panopolis wrote in the ''Final Abstinence'' (also known as the "Final Count")<ref>The title of the τελευταὶα ἀποχή is traditionally translated as the "Final Count". Considering that the treatise does not mention any count nor counting and that it makes a case against the use of sacrifice in the practice of alchemy, a preferable translation would be "the Final Abstinence". See {{Cite book |last=Dufault |first=Olivier |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |title=Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation |publisher=California Classical Studies |year=2019 |location=Berkeley |pages=127–131 |isbn=978-1-939926-12-8|access-date=12 February 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203119/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x|url-status=live}}</ref> that the ancient practice of "tinctures" (the technical Greek name for the alchemical arts) had been taken over by certain "demons" who taught the art only to those who offered them sacrifices. Since Zosimos also called the demons "the guardians of places" ({{lang|el|οἱ κατὰ τόπον ἔφοροι}}, {{transliteration|el|hoi katà tópon éphoroi}}) and those who offered them sacrifices "priests" ({{lang|el|ἱερέα}}, {{transliteration|el|hieréa}}), it is fairly clear that he was referring to the gods of Egypt and their priests. While critical of the kind of alchemy he associated with the Egyptian priests and their followers, Zosimos nonetheless saw the tradition's recent past as rooted in the rites of the Egyptian temples.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Dufault |first=Olivier |url=https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x |title=Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation |publisher=California Classical Studies |year=2019 |location=Berkeley |pages=118–141 |isbn=978-1-939926-12-8|access-date=12 February 2020|archive-date=12 February 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200212203119/https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x|url-status=live}}</ref>

==== Mythology ====
Zosimos of Panopolis asserted that alchemy dated back to [[Ancient Egypt|Pharaonic Egypt]] where it was the domain of the priestly class, though there is little to no evidence for his assertion.<ref>{{cite book |last=Garfinkel |first=Harold |title=Ethnomethodological Studies of Work |publisher=Routledge &Kegan Paul |year=1986 |page=127 |isbn=978-0-415-11965-8}}</ref> Alchemical writers used Classical figures from Greek, Roman, and Egyptian mythology to illuminate their works and allegorize alchemical transmutation.<ref>Yves Bonnefoy. 'Roman and European Mythologies'. University of Chicago Press, 1992. pp. 211–213</ref> These included the pantheon of gods related to the Classical planets, [[Isis]], [[Osiris]], [[Jason]], and many others.

The central figure in the mythology of alchemy is [[Hermes Trismegistus]] (or Thrice-Great Hermes). His name is derived from the [[deity|god]] [[Thoth]] and his Greek counterpart [[Hermes]].<ref>A survey of the literary and archaeological evidence for the background of Hermes Trismegistus in the Greek Hermes and the Egyptian Thoth may be found in Bull, Christian H. 2018. ''The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom''. Leiden: Brill, pp. 33–96.</ref> Hermes and his [[caduceus]] or serpent-staff, were among alchemy's principal symbols. According to [[Clement of Alexandria]], he wrote what were called the "forty-two books of Hermes", covering all fields of knowledge.<ref>[[s:Ante-Nicene Fathers/Volume II/CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA/The Stromata, or Miscellanies/Book VI/Chapter IV.|Clement, ''Stromata'', vi. 4.]]</ref>

==== ''Hermetica'' and ''Emerald Tablet'' ====
{{Main|Hermetica|l1=''Hermetica''|Emerald Tablet|l2=''Emerald Tablet''}}
The ''Hermetica'' are texts attributed to [[Hermes Trismegistus]]. Many of them have close historical connections with Western alchemical philosophy and practice (which was sometimes called the [[hermeticism|hermetic philosophy]] by its practitioners). By modern convention, the ''Hermetica'' is usually subdivided into two main categories, the "technical" and "religio-philosophical" ''Hermetica''. The "technical" ''Hermetica'' deals with alchemy, [[History of astrology|astrology]], medicine, [[History of pharmacy|pharmacology]], and [[Magic (supernatural)|magic]]. Its oldest parts were written in Greek and may go back as far as the second or third century BC.<ref>{{harvnb|Copenhaver|1992|p=xxxiii}}; {{harvnb|Bull|2018|pp=2–3}}. Garth Fowden is somewhat more cautious, noting that our earliest testimonies date to the first century BC (see {{harvnb|Fowden|1986|p=3, note 11}}).</ref>

Many of the texts in the "technical" ''Hermetica'' were later translated, [[Graeco-Arabic translation movement|first into Arabic]] and [[Latin translations of the 12th century|then into Latin]], often being extensively revised and expanded throughout the centuries. Some of them were also originally written in Arabic. In other cases their status as an original work or translation remains unclear.<ref>{{harvnb|Van Bladel|2009|p=17}}.</ref> These Arabic and Latin Hermetic texts were widely copied throughout the [[Middle Ages]]. The most famous of these texts is the ''Emerald Tablet'', also known as the ''Smaragdine Table'' or the ''Tabula Smaragdina'', a compact and cryptic text.<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013|pp=31–32}}.</ref> The earliest known versions of it are four [[Arabic]] recensions preserved in mystical and alchemical treatises between the 8th and 10th centuries AD—chiefly the ''[[Sirr al-khaliqa|Secret of Creation]]'' ({{langx|ar|سر الخليقة|Sirr al-Khalīqa|link=no}}) and the ''[[Secretum Secretorum|Secret of Secrets]]'' ({{langx|ar|سرّ الأسرار|Sirr al-Asrār|label=none}}).<ref>{{harvnb|Kraus|1943|pp=274–275}}; {{harvnb|Weisser|1980|p=46}}.</ref> From the 12th century onward, Latin translations—most notably the widespread so-called ''Vulgate''<ref>{{harvnb|Kahn|1994|p=|pp=XIX, 41}}; {{harvnb|Mandosio|2004|p=683}}; {{harvnb|Caiazzo|2004|pp=700–703}}; {{harvnb|Colinet|1995}}.</ref>—introduced the ''Emerald Tablet'' to Europe, where it attracted great scholarly interest. Medieval commentators such as [[Ortolanus|Hortulanus]] interpreted it as a "foundational text" of alchemical instructions for producing the [[philosopher's stone]] and [[Chrysopoeia|making gold]].<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013|p=32}}; {{harvnb|Debus|2004|p=415}}; {{harvnb|Ruska|1926|pp=193, 209}}.</ref>

==== Technology ====
The dawn of Western alchemy is sometimes associated with that of [[metallurgy]], extending back to 3500&nbsp;BC.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|1996|p=12}}</ref> Many writings were lost when the [[Roman emperor]] [[Diocletian]] ordered the burning of alchemical books<ref>{{cite book |last=Partington |first=James Riddick |title=A Short History of Chemistry |url=https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofch0000part_q6h4|url-access=registration |year=1989 |page=[https://archive.org/details/shorthistoryofch0000part_q6h4/page/20 20] |isbn=978-0-486-65977-0 |publisher=Dover Publications |location=New York}}</ref> after suppressing a revolt in Alexandria (AD&nbsp;292). Few original Egyptian documents on alchemy have survived, most notable among them the [[Stockholm papyrus]] and the [[Leyden papyrus X]]. Dating from AD&nbsp;250 to 300, they contained recipes for dyeing and making artificial gemstones, cleaning and fabricating pearls, and manufacturing of imitation gold and silver.<ref>Caley, E. R. (1927) "The Stockholm Papyrus : An English Translation with brief notes" Journal of Chemical Education IV:8 : 979–1002.</ref> These writings lack the mystical, philosophical elements of alchemy, but do contain the works of [[Bolus of Mendes]] (or [[Pseudo-Democritus]]), which aligned these recipes with theoretical knowledge of astrology and the [[classical elements]].<ref name="Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent 1996, p13">''A History of Chemistry'', Bensaude-Vincent, Isabelle Stengers, ''Harvard University Press'', 1996, '''p13'''</ref> Between the time of Bolus and Zosimos, the change took place that transformed this metallurgy into a Hermetic art.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|1996|p=14}}</ref>

==== Philosophy ====
Alexandria acted as a melting pot for philosophies of [[Pythagoreanism]], [[Platonism]], [[Stoicism]] and [[Gnosticism]] which formed the origin of alchemy's character.<ref name="Chemistry, Bensaude-Vincent 1996, p13" /> An important example of alchemy's roots in Greek philosophy, originated by [[Empedocles]] and developed by Aristotle, was that all things in the universe were formed from only four elements: [[Earth (classical element)|earth]], [[Air (classical element)|air]], [[Water (classical element)|water]], and [[Fire (classical element)|fire]]. According to Aristotle, each element had a sphere to which it belonged and to which it would return if left undisturbed.<ref>{{cite book |author=Lindsay, Jack |title=The Origins of Alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt |location=London |publisher=Muller |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-389-01006-7 |page=[https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/16 16] |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/16}}</ref> The four elements of the Greek were mostly qualitative aspects of matter, not quantitative, as our modern elements are; "True alchemy never regarded earth, air, water, and fire as corporeal or chemical substances in the present-day sense of the word. The four elements are simply the primary, and most general, qualities by means of which the amorphous and purely quantitative substance of all bodies first reveals itself in differentiated form."<ref>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=66 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref> Later alchemists extensively developed the mystical aspects of this concept.

Alchemy coexisted alongside emerging [[Christianity]]. [[Lactantius]] believed Hermes Trismegistus had prophesied its birth. [[Augustine of Hippo|St&nbsp;Augustine]] later affirmed this in the 4th and 5th centuries, but also condemned Trismegistus for idolatry.<ref>Fanning, Philip Ashley. ''Isaac Newton and the Transmutation of Alchemy: An Alternative View of the Scientific Revolution.'' 2009. p.6</ref> Examples of Pagan, Christian, and Jewish alchemists can be found during this period.

Most of the Greco-Roman alchemists preceding Zosimos are known only by pseudonyms, such as [[Moses of Alexandria|Moses]], Isis, [[Cleopatra the Alchemist|Cleopatra]], [[Pseudo-Democritus|Democritus]], and [[Ostanes]]. Others authors such as Komarios, and [[Chymes]], we only know through fragments of text. After AD&nbsp;400, Greek alchemical writers occupied themselves solely in commenting on the works of these predecessors.<ref>F. Sherwood Taylor. ''Alchemists, Founders of Modern Chemistry.'' p.26.</ref> By the middle of the 7th century, alchemy was almost an entirely mystical discipline.<ref>[[Allen G. Debus]]. ''Alchemy and early modern chemistry: papers from Ambix.'' p. 36</ref> It was at that time that [[Khalid Ibn Yazid]] sparked its migration from Alexandria to the Islamic world, facilitating the translation and preservation of Greek alchemical texts in the 8th and 9th centuries.<ref>Glen Warren Bowersock, Peter Robert Lamont Brown, Oleg Grabar. ''Late antiquity: a guide to the postclassical world.'' pp. 284–285</ref>

=== Byzantium ===
Greek alchemy was preserved in medieval [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]] manuscripts after the fall of [[Roman Egypt|Egypt]], and yet historians have only relatively recently begun to pay attention to the study and development of Greek alchemy in the Byzantine period.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Roberts |first1=Alexandre M. |title=Framing a Middle Byzantine Alchemical Codex |journal=Dumbarton Oaks Papers |date=2019 |volume=73 |pages=69–70 |url=https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:31587/ |access-date=8 February 2021 |archive-date=18 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118131404/https://hcommons.org/deposits/item/hc:31587/ |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== India ===
{{Main|Rasayana|l1=''Rasayana''}}
{{See also|History of metallurgy in the Indian subcontinent}}
The 2nd millennium BC text [[Vedas]] describe a connection between eternal life and gold.<ref name=eb /> A considerable knowledge of metallurgy has been exhibited in a third-century AD<ref>{{cite book |last=Olivelle |first=Patrick |contribution=Introduction |date=31 January 2013|title=King, Governance, and Law in Ancient India |pages=1–60 |publisher=Oxford University Press |doi=10.1093/acprof:osobl/9780199891825.003.0001 |isbn=978-0-19-989182-5}}</ref> text called [[Arthashastra]] which provides ingredients of explosives (Agniyoga) and salts extracted from fertile soils and plant remains (Yavakshara) such as saltpetre/[[Niter|nitre]], perfume making (different qualities of perfumes are mentioned), granulated (refined) Sugar.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Arthasastra_English_Translation : R Shamasastry: Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming |url=https://archive.org/details/Arthasastra_English_Translation|access-date=11 July 2020 |website=Internet Archive |page=171 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Partington |first=J. R. |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fNZBSqd2cToC&q=sanskrit+word+for+saltpetre&pg=PA214 |title=A History of Greek Fire and Gunpowder |date=1999 |publisher=JHU Press |isbn=978-0-8018-5954-0 |pages=209–211 |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Kauṭalya |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=FFJz72h5qjUC&q=arthashastra+perfume&pg=PA43 |title=The Arthashastra |date=1992 |publisher=Penguin Books India |isbn=978-0-14-044603-6 |page=43 |language=en}}</ref> [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] texts from the 2nd to 5th centuries mention the transmutation of base metals to gold. According to some scholars Greek alchemy may have influenced Indian alchemy but there are no hard evidences to back this claim.<ref name=eb>[[Robert P. Multhauf|Multhauf, Robert P.]] & Gilbert, Robert Andrew (2008). ''Alchemy''. Encyclopædia Britannica (2008).</ref>

The 11th-century [[Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam|Persian chemist]] and [[Medicine in medieval Islam|physician]] [[Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī]], who visited Gujarat as part of the court of [[Mahmud of Ghazni]], reported that they
{{blockquote|have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them, which in [[Sanskrit]] is called [[Rasayana|Rasāyana]] and in Persian [[Rasavātam]]. It means the art of obtaining/manipulating ''Rasa'': nectar, mercury, and juice. This art was restricted to certain operations, metals, drugs, compounds, and medicines, many of which have mercury as their core element. Its principles restored the health of those who were ill beyond hope and gave back youth to fading old age.}}
The goals of alchemy in India included the creation of a divine body (Sanskrit ''divya-deham'') and immortality while still embodied (Sanskrit ''jīvan-mukti''). Sanskrit alchemical texts include much material on the manipulation of mercury and sulphur, that are homologized with the semen of the god Śiva and the menstrual blood of the goddess Devī.

Some early alchemical writings seem to have their origins in the [[Kaula (Hinduism)|Kaula]] tantric schools associated to the teachings of the personality of [[Matsyendranath]]. Other early writings are found in the Jaina medical treatise ''Kalyāṇakārakam'' of Ugrāditya, written in South India in the early 9th century.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Meulenbeld |first1=G. Jan |author-link1=Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld |title=History of Indian Medical Literature |date=1999–2002 |publisher=Egbert Forsten |location=Groningen |pages=IIA, 151–155 |ref=HIML}}</ref>

Two famous early Indian alchemical authors were [[Nagarjuna (metallurgist)|Nāgārjuna Siddha]] and Nityanātha Siddha. Nāgārjuna Siddha was a Buddhist monk. His book, ''Rasendramangalam'', is an example of Indian alchemy and medicine. Nityanātha Siddha wrote ''Rasaratnākara'', also a highly influential work. In Sanskrit, ''rasa'' translates to "mercury", and Nāgārjuna Siddha was said to have developed a method of converting mercury into gold.<ref>{{cite journal |url=https://univie.academia.edu/DominikWujastyk/Papers/152766/ |last=Wujastyk |first=Dominik |year=1984 |title=An Alchemical Ghost: The Rasaratnākara of Nāgarjuna |journal=Ambix |volume=31 |issue=2 |pages=70–83 |doi=10.1179/amb.1984.31.2.70 |pmid=11615977 |access-date=28 December 2017 |archive-date=11 May 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200511080759/https://www.academia.edu/221269/An_Alchemical_Ghost_The_Rasaratn%C4%81kara_by_N%C4%81g%C4%81rjuna |url-status=live}}</ref>

Scholarship on Indian alchemy is in the publication of ''The Alchemical Body'' by David Gordon White.<ref>See bibliographical details and links at https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3266066W/The_Alchemical_Body {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230709172936/https://openlibrary.org/works/OL3266066W/The_Alchemical_Body |date=9 July 2023 }}</ref>

A modern bibliography on Indian alchemical studies has been written by White.<ref>{{Cite web |doi=10.1093/OBO/9780195399318-0046 |title=Rasāyana (Alchemy) |publisher=Oxford University Press |work=Oxford Bibliographies Online |year=2011 |last1=White |first1=David Gordon |url=http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0046.xml?rskey=skoSqW&result=1&q=rasayana#firstMatch|access-date = 15 August 2012|archive-date = 22 April 2020|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20200422082736/http://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/view/document/obo-9780195399318/obo-9780195399318-0046.xml?rskey=skoSqW&result=1&q=rasayana#firstMatch|url-status = live}}</ref>

The contents of 39 Sanskrit alchemical treatises have been analysed in detail in [[Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld|G. Jan Meulenbeld]]'s ''History of Indian Medical Literature''.<ref name="Egbert Forsten">{{cite book |last1=Meulenbeld |first1=G. Jan |author-link1=Gerrit Jan Meulenbeld |title=History of Indian Medical Literature |date=1999–2002 |publisher=Egbert Forsten |location=Groningen |pages=IIA, 581–738}}</ref>{{refn|group=n|To wit, the ''Ānandakanda'', ''Āyurvedaprakāśa'', ''Gorakṣasaṃhitā'', ''Kākacaṇḍeśvarīmatatantra'', ''Kākacaṇḍīśvarakalpatantra'', ''Kūpīpakvarasanirmāṇavijñāna'', ''Pāradasaṃhitā'', ''Rasabhaiṣajyakalpanāvijñāna'', ''Rasādhyāya'', ''Rasahṛdayatantra'', ''Rasajalanidhi'', ''Rasakāmadhenu'', ''Rasakaumudī'', ''Rasamañjarī'', ''Rasamitra'', ''Rasāmṛta'', ''Rasapaddhati'', ''Rasapradīpa'', ''Rasaprakāśasudhākara'', ''Rasarājalakṣmī'', ''Rasaratnadīpikā'', ''Rasaratnākara'', ''Rasaratnasamuccaya'', ''Rasārṇava'', ''Rasārṇavakalpa'', ''Rasasaṃketakalikā'', ''Rasasāra'', ''Rasataraṅgiṇī'', ''Rasāyanasāra'', ''Rasayogasāgara'', ''Rasayogaśataka'', ''Rasendracintāmaṇi'', ''Rasendracūḍāmaṇi'', ''Rasendramaṅgala'', ''Rasendrapurāṇa'', ''Rasendrasambhava'', ''Rasendrasārasaṅgraha'', ''Rasoddhāratantra'' or ''Rasasaṃhitā'', and ''Rasopaniṣad''.<ref name="Egbert Forsten" /> }} The discussion of these works in HIML gives a summary of the contents of each work, their special features, and where possible the evidence concerning their dating. Chapter 13 of HIML, ''Various works on rasaśāstra and ratnaśāstra'' (or ''Various works on alchemy and gems'') gives brief details of a further 655 (six hundred and fifty-five) treatises. In some cases Meulenbeld gives notes on the contents and authorship of these works; in other cases references are made only to the unpublished manuscripts of these titles.

A great deal remains to be discovered about Indian alchemical literature. The content of the Sanskrit alchemical corpus has not yet (2014) been adequately integrated into the wider general history of alchemy.

=== Islamic world ===
{{Main|Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam}}
[[File:Man Florence, Ashburnham 1166 fol 12r.jpg|thumb|300x300px|15th-century artistic impression of [[Jābir ibn Hayyān|Jabir ibn Hayyan]] (Geber), Codici Ashburnhamiani 1166, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, Florence]]
After [[the Fall of the Roman Empire|the fall of the Roman Empire]], the focus of alchemical development moved to the Islamic World. Much more is known about [[Islam]]ic alchemy because it was better documented: indeed, most of the earlier writings that have come down through the years were preserved as Arabic translations.<ref>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=46 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref> The word ''alchemy'' itself was derived from the Arabic word ''al-kīmiyā'' (الكيمياء). The early Islamic world was a melting pot for alchemy. [[Plato]]nic and [[Aristotle|Aristotelian]] thought, which had already been somewhat appropriated into hermetical science, continued to be assimilated during the late 7th and early 8th centuries through [[Syriac language|Syriac]] translations and scholarship.

In the late ninth and early tenth centuries, the Arabic works attributed to [[Jābir ibn Hayyān]] (Latinized as "Geber" or "Geberus") introduced a new approach to alchemy. [[Paul Kraus (Arabist)|Paul Kraus]], who wrote the standard reference work on Jabir, put it as follows:

{{blockquote|To form an idea of the historical place of Jabir's alchemy and to tackle the problem of its sources, it is advisable to compare it with what remains to us of the alchemical literature in the [[Greek language]]. One knows in which miserable state this literature reached us. Collected by [[Byzantine science|Byzantine scientists]] from the tenth century, the corpus of the Greek alchemists is a cluster of incoherent fragments, going back to all the times since the third century until the end of the Middle Ages.

The efforts of Berthelot and Ruelle to put a little order in this mass of literature led only to poor results, and the later researchers, among them in particular Mrs. Hammer-Jensen, Tannery, Lagercrantz, von Lippmann, Reitzenstein, Ruska, Bidez, Festugière and others, could make clear only few points of detail ....

The study of the Greek alchemists is not very encouraging. An even surface examination of the Greek texts shows that a very small part only was organized according to true experiments of laboratory: even the supposedly technical writings, in the state where we find them today, are unintelligible nonsense which refuses any interpretation.

It is different with Jabir's alchemy. The relatively clear description of the processes and the alchemical apparati, the methodical classification of the substances, mark an experimental spirit which is extremely far away from the weird and odd esotericism of the Greek texts. The theory on which Jabir supports his operations is one of clearness and of an impressive unity. More than with the other Arab authors, one notes with him a balance between theoretical teaching and practical teaching, between the ''[[Ilm (Arabic)|'ilm]]'' and the ''amal''. In vain one would seek in the Greek texts a work as systematic as that which is presented, for example, in the ''Book of Seventy''.<ref name=Kraus>Kraus, Paul, Jâbir ibn Hayyân, ''Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam. I. Le corpus des écrits jâbiriens. II. Jâbir et la science grecque,''. Cairo (1942–1943). Repr. By Fuat Sezgin, (Natural Sciences in Islam. 67–68), Frankfurt. 2002:
(cf. {{cite web |author=Ahmad Y Hassan |title=A Critical Reassessment of the Geber Problem: Part Three |url=http://www.history-science-technology.com/geber/geber%2003.html|access-date=16 September 2014|author-link=Ahmad Y Hassan|archive-date=28 May 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140528120216/http://www.history-science-technology.com/geber/geber%2003.html|url-status=live}})</ref>}}

Islamic philosophers also made great contributions to alchemical hermeticism. The most influential author in this regard was arguably Jabir. Jabir's ultimate goal was ''[[Takwin]]'', the artificial creation of life in the alchemical laboratory, up to, and including, human life. He analysed each Aristotelian element in terms of four basic qualities of ''hotness'', ''coldness'', ''dryness'', and ''moistness''.<ref name=burckhardt29 /> According to Jabir, in each metal two of these qualities were interior and two were exterior. For example, lead was externally cold and dry, while gold was hot and moist. Thus, Jabir theorized, by rearranging the qualities of one metal, a different metal would result.<ref name=burckhardt29>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=29 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref> By this reasoning, the search for the [[philosopher's stone]] was introduced to Western alchemy. Jabir developed an elaborate [[numerology]] whereby the root letters of a substance's name in Arabic, when treated with various transformations, held correspondences to the element's physical properties. The [[atomic theory]] of [[corpuscularianism]], where all physical bodies possess an inner and outer layer of minute particles or corpuscles, also has its origins in the work of Jabir.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Distilling knowledge: alchemy, chemistry, and the scientific revolution |first=Bruce T. |last=Moran |publisher=[[Harvard University Press]] |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-674-01495-4 |page=146 |quote=a corpuscularian tradition in alchemy stemming from the speculations of the medieval author Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan)}}</ref>

From the 9th to 14th centuries, alchemical theories faced criticism from a variety of practical Muslim chemists, including [[Al-Kindi|Alkindus]],<ref>Felix Klein-Frank (2001), "Al-Kindi", in [[Oliver Leaman]] & [[Hossein Nasr]], ''History of Islamic Philosophy'', p. 174. London: [[Routledge]].</ref> [[Abū al-Rayhān al-Bīrūnī]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marmura |first1=Michael E. |name-list-style=vanc |year=1965 |title=''An Introduction to Islamic Cosmological Doctrines: Conceptions of Nature and Methods Used for Its Study by the Ikhwan Al-Safa'an, Al-Biruni, and Ibn Sina'' by Seyyed Hossein Nasr |journal=Speculum |volume=40 |issue=4 |pages=744–746 |doi=10.2307/2851429 |jstor=2851429}}</ref> [[Avicenna]]<ref>[[Robert Briffault]] (1938). ''The Making of Humanity'', pp. 196–197.</ref> and [[Ibn Khaldun]]. In particular, they wrote refutations against the idea of the [[Philosopher's stone|transmutation of metals]].

From the 14th century onwards, many materials and practices originally belonging to Indian alchemy ([[Rasayana]]) were assimilated in the Persian texts written by Muslim scholars.<ref>{{harvnb|Speziale|2019}}</ref>

=== East Asia ===
{{Main|Chinese alchemy}}
Researchers have found evidence that Chinese alchemists and philosophers discovered complex mathematical phenomena that were shared with Arab alchemists during the medieval period. Discovered in BC China, the "magic square of three" was propagated to followers of [[Jabir ibn Hayyan|Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān]] at some point over the proceeding several hundred years.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Needham |first=Joseph |title=Theoretical Influences of China on Arabic Alchemy |publisher=UC Biblioteca Geral 1 |year=1987 |page=11}}</ref> Other commonalities shared between the two alchemical schools of thought include discrete naming for ingredients and heavy influence from the natural elements. The silk road provided a clear path for the exchange of goods, ideas, ingredients, religion, and many other aspects of life with which alchemy is intertwined.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Saliba |first=George |date=2008 |title="China and Islamic Civilization: Exchange of Techniques and Scientific Ideas" |url=https://edspace.american.edu/silkroadjournal/wp-content/uploads/sites/984/2017/09/China-and-Islamic-Civilization.pdf |website=American University |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=23 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221223213548/https://edspace.american.edu/silkroadjournal/wp-content/uploads/sites/984/2017/09/China-and-Islamic-Civilization.pdf |url-status=live}}</ref>

[[File:Esoteric Taijitu.svg|thumb|upright|Taoist alchemists often use this alternate version of the [[taijitu]].]]
Whereas European alchemy eventually centered on the transmutation of base metals into noble metals, Chinese alchemy had a more obvious connection to medicine.<ref name="ASOCA">[Obed Simon Johnson, A Study of Chinese Alchemy, Shanghai, Commercial P, 1928. rpt. New York: Arno P, 1974.]</ref> The philosopher's stone of European alchemists can be compared to the [[Elixir of life|Grand Elixir of Immortality]] sought by Chinese alchemists. In the hermetic view, these two goals were not unconnected, and the philosopher's stone was often equated with the [[Panacea (medicine)|universal panacea]]; therefore, the two traditions may have had more in common than initially appears.

As early as 317 AD, [[Ge Hong]] documented the use of metals, minerals, and elixirs in early Chinese medicine. Hong identified three ancient Chinese documents, titled ''Scripture of Great Clarity, Scripture of the Nine Elixirs'', and ''Scripture of the Golden Liquor,'' as texts containing fundamental alchemical information.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=3}}</ref> He also described alchemy, along with meditation, as the sole spiritual practices that could allow one to gain immortality or to transcend.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=6}}</ref> In his work ''Inner Chapters of the Book of the Master Who Embraces Spontaneous Nature'' (317 AD), Hong argued that alchemical solutions such as elixirs were preferable to traditional medicinal treatment due to the spiritual protection they could provide.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=125}}</ref> In the centuries following Ge Hong's death, the emphasis placed on alchemy as a spiritual practice among Chinese [[Taoism|Daoists]] was reduced.<ref name=":5">{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=142}}</ref> In 499 AD, [[Tao Hongjing]] refuted Hong's statement that alchemy is as important a spiritual practice as Shangqing meditation.<ref name=":5" /> While Hongjing did not deny the power of alchemical elixirs to grant immortality or provide divine protection, he ultimately found the ''Scripture of the Nine Elixirs'' to be ambiguous and spiritually unfulfilling, aiming to implement more accessible practising techniques.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |title=Great Clarity: Daoism and Alchemy in Early Medieval China |publisher=Stanford University Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-0-8047-6773-6 |page=145}}</ref>

In the early 700s, [[Neidan]] (also known as internal alchemy) was adopted by Daoists as a new form of alchemy. Neidan emphasized appeasing the inner gods that inhabit the human body by practising alchemy with compounds found in the body, rather than the mixing of natural resources that was emphasized in early Dao alchemy.<ref name=":6">{{Cite journal |last=Pregadio |first=Fabrizio |date=2021 |title=The Alchemical Body in Daoism |url=https://muse.jhu.edu/pub/5/article/782220 |journal=Journal of Daoist Studies |volume=14 |issue=14 |pages=99–127 |doi=10.1353/dao.2021.0003 |s2cid=228176118 |issn=1941-5524|url-access=subscription }}</ref> For example, saliva was often considered nourishment for the inner gods and did not require any conscious alchemical reaction to produce. The inner gods were not thought of as physical presences occupying each person, but rather a collection of deities that are each said to represent and protect a specific body part or region.<ref name=":6" /> Although those who practised Neidan prioritized meditation over external alchemical strategies, many of the same elixirs and constituents from previous Daoist alchemical schools of thought continued to be utilized in tandem with meditation. Eternal life remained a consideration for Neidan alchemists, as it was believed that one would become immortal if an inner god were to be immortalized within them through spiritual fulfilment.<ref name=":6" />

Chinese alchemy was closely connected to [[Taoist]] forms of [[traditional Chinese medicine]], such as [[Acupuncture]] and [[Moxibustion]].<ref name="ASOCA" /> In the early [[Song dynasty]], followers of this Taoist idea (chiefly the elite and upper class) would ingest [[cinnabar|mercuric sulfide]], which, though tolerable in low levels, led many to suicide.{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} Thinking that this consequential death would lead to freedom and access to the Taoist heavens, the ensuing deaths encouraged people to eschew this method of alchemy in favour of external sources{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} (the aforementioned Tai Chi Chuan,{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} mastering of the [[qi]],{{Citation needed|date=September 2015}} etc.) Chinese alchemy was introduced to the West by [[Obed Simon Johnson]].<ref name="ASOCA" />

=== Medieval Europe ===
<!-- [[Aludel]] links to this section-->
[[File:WMS 446, R. Lullius, Ymage de Vie, late 15th Wellcome L0031726.jpg|thumb|"An illuminated page from a book on alchemical processes and receipts", ca. 15th century]]

The introduction of alchemy to Latin Europe may be dated to 11 February 1144, with the completion of [[Robert of Chester]]'s translation of the {{lang|la|[[Liber de compositione alchemiae]]}} ("Book on the Composition of Alchemy") from an Arabic work attributed to [[Khalid ibn Yazid]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Moureau |first1=Sébastien |year=2020 |title=Min al-kīmiyāʾ ad alchimiam. The Transmission of Alchemy from the Arab-Muslim World to the Latin West in the Middle Ages |journal=Micrologus |volume=28 |issue= |pages=87–141 |hdl=2078.1/211340 |url=http://hdl.handle.net/2078.1/211340}} p. 116.</ref> Although European craftsmen and technicians pre-existed, Robert notes in his preface that alchemy (here still referring to the [[philosophers' stone|elixir]] rather than to the art itself)<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Halleux |first1=Robert |year=1996 |title=The Reception of Arabic Alchemy in the West|editor1-last=Rashed|editor1-first=Roshdi|editor1-link=Roshdi Rashed |encyclopedia=Encyclopedia of the History of Arabic Science |volume=3 |location=London |publisher=Routledge |pages=886–902 |isbn=978-0-415-02063-3}} p. 890; {{harvnb|Moureau|2020|p=90}}.</ref> was unknown in Latin Europe at the time of his writing. The translation of Arabic texts concerning numerous disciplines including alchemy flourished in 12th-century [[Toledo, Spain]], through contributors like [[Gerard of Cremona]] and [[Adelard of Bath]].<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=105–108}}</ref> Translations of the time included the [[Turba Philosophorum]], and the works of [[Avicenna]] and [[Muhammad ibn Zakariya al-Razi]]. These brought with them many new words to the European vocabulary for which there was no previous Latin equivalent. Alcohol, [[carboy]], [[elixir]], and [[athanor]] are examples.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|p=110}}</ref>

Meanwhile, theologian contemporaries of the translators made strides towards the reconciliation of faith and experimental rationalism, thereby priming Europe for the influx of alchemical thought. The 11th-century [[Anselm of Canterbury|St&nbsp;Anselm]] put forth the opinion that faith and rationalism were compatible and encouraged rationalism in a Christian context. In the early 12th century, [[Peter Abelard]] followed Anselm's work, laying down the foundation for acceptance of Aristotelian thought before the first works of Aristotle had reached the West. In the early 13th century, [[Robert Grosseteste]] used Abelard's methods of analysis and added the use of observation, experimentation, and conclusions when conducting scientific investigations. Grosseteste also did much work to reconcile Platonic and Aristotelian thinking.<ref name=hollister294f>{{cite book |author=Hollister, C. Warren |title=Medieval Europe: A Short History |location=Blacklick, Ohio |publisher=McGraw–Hill College |year=1990 |isbn=978-0-07-557141-4 |edition=6th |pages=[https://archive.org/details/medievaleurope00cwar/page/294 294f] |url=https://archive.org/details/medievaleurope00cwar/page/294}}</ref>

Through much of the 12th and 13th centuries, alchemical knowledge in Europe remained centered on translations, and new Latin contributions were not made. The efforts of the translators were succeeded by that of the encyclopaedists. In the 13th century, [[Albertus Magnus]] and [[Roger Bacon]] were the most notable of these, their work summarizing and explaining the newly imported alchemical knowledge in Aristotelian terms.<ref>John Read. ''From Alchemy to Chemistry''. 1995 p.90</ref> Albertus Magnus, a [[Dominican Order|Dominican friar]], is known to have written works such as the ''Book of Minerals'' where he observed and commented on the operations and theories of alchemical authorities like [[Hermes Trismegistus]], [[pseudo-Democritus]] and unnamed alchemists of his time. Albertus critically compared these to the writings of Aristotle and Avicenna, where they concerned the transmutation of metals. From the time shortly after his death through to the 15th century, more than 28 alchemical tracts were misattributed to him, a common practice giving rise to his reputation as an accomplished alchemist.<ref>{{interlanguage link|James A. Weisheipl|it|James Athanasius Weisheipl|sv|James Athanasius Weisheipl}}. ''Albertus Magnus and the Sciences: Commemorative Essays.'' PIMS. 1980. pp. 187–202</ref> Likewise, alchemical texts have been attributed to Albert's student [[Thomas Aquinas]].

Roger Bacon, a [[Franciscan Order|Franciscan friar]] who wrote on a wide variety of topics including [[optics]], [[comparative linguistics]], and medicine, composed his ''[[Opus Majus|Great Work]]'' ({{langx|la|Opus Majus}}) for {{nowrap|[[Pope Clement IV]]}} as part of a project towards rebuilding the [[medieval university]] curriculum to include the new learning of his time. While alchemy was not more important to him than other sciences and he did not produce allegorical works on the topic, he did consider it and astrology to be important parts of both natural philosophy and theology and his contributions advanced alchemy's connections to [[soteriology]] and Christian theology. Bacon's writings integrated morality, salvation, alchemy, and the prolongation of life. His correspondence with Clement highlighted this, noting the importance of alchemy to the papacy.<ref>Edmund Brehm. "Roger Bacon's Place in the History of Alchemy." ''Ambix.'' Vol. 23, Part I, March 1976.</ref> Like the Greeks before him, Bacon acknowledged the division of alchemy into practical and theoretical spheres. He noted that the theoretical lay outside the scope of Aristotle, the natural philosophers, and all Latin writers of his time. The practical confirmed the theoretical, and Bacon advocated its uses in natural science and medicine.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=120–121}}</ref> In later European legend, he became an archmage. In particular, along with Albertus Magnus, he was credited with the forging of a [[brazen head]] capable of answering its owner's questions.

Soon after Bacon, the influential work of [[Pseudo-Geber]] (sometimes identified as [[Paul of Taranto]]) appeared. His ''Summa Perfectionis'' remained a staple summary of alchemical practice and theory through the medieval and renaissance periods. It was notable for its inclusion of practical chemical operations alongside sulphur-mercury theory, and the unusual clarity with which they were described.<ref>{{Harvnb|Holmyard|1957|pp=134–141}}</ref> By the end of the 13th century, alchemy had developed into a fairly structured system of belief. Adepts believed in the macrocosm-microcosm theories of Hermes, that is to say, they believed that processes that affect minerals and other substances could have an effect on the human body (for example, if one could learn the secret of purifying gold, one could use the technique to purify the [[soul|human soul]]). They believed in the four elements and the four qualities as described above, and they had a strong tradition of cloaking their written ideas in a labyrinth of coded [[jargon]] set with traps to mislead the uninitiated. Finally, the alchemists practised their art: they actively experimented with chemicals and made [[observation]]s and [[theory|theories]] about how the universe operated. Their entire philosophy revolved around their belief that man's soul was divided within himself after the fall of Adam. By purifying the two parts of man's soul, man could be reunited with God.<ref>{{cite book |first=Titus |last=Burckhardt | author-link=Titus Burckhardt |title=Alchemy: Science of the Cosmos, Science of the Soul |location=Baltimore |publisher=Penguin |year=1967 |page=149 |others=Trans. William Stoddart |isbn=978-0-906540-96-1}}</ref>

{{Infobox UK legislation
| short_title           = Gold and Silver Act 1403
| type                  = Act
| parliament            = Parliament of England
| long_title            = It shall be felony to use the craft of multiplication of gold or silver.
| year                  = 1404
| citation              = [[5 Hen. 4]]. c. 4
| introduced_commons    =
| introduced_lords      =
| territorial_extent    =
| royal_assent          = 20 March 1404
| commencement          = 14 January 1404
| expiry_date           =
| repeal_date           =
| amends                =
| replaces              =
| amendments            =
| repealing_legislation = [[Royal Mines Act 1688]]
| related_legislation   =
| status                = repealed
| legislation_history   =
| theyworkforyou        =
| millbankhansard       =
| original_text         =
| revised_text          =
| use_new_UK-LEG        =
| UK-LEG_title          =
| collapsed             = yes
}}
In the 14th century, alchemy became more accessible to Europeans outside the confines of Latin-speaking churchmen and scholars. Alchemical discourse shifted from scholarly philosophical debate to an exposed social commentary on the alchemists themselves.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and Authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' University of Chicago Press, 2007. p. 49</ref> [[Dante]], [[Piers Plowman]], and [[Chaucer]] all painted unflattering pictures of alchemists as thieves and liars. [[Pope John XXII]]'s 1317 edict, ''[[Spondent quas non-exhibent]]'' forbade the false promises of transmutation made by pseudo-alchemists.<ref>John Hines, II, R. F. Yeager. ''John Gower, Trilingual Poet: Language, Translation, and Tradition.'' Boydell & Brewer. 2010. p.170</ref> Roman Catholic Inquisitor General [[Nicholas Eymerich]]'s ''[[Directorium Inquisitorum]]'', written in 1376, associated alchemy with the performance of demonic rituals, which Eymerich differentiated from magic performed in accordance with scripture.<ref name=":7">{{Cite journal |last=Tarrant |first=Neil |date=2018 |title=Between Aquinas and Eymerich: The Roman Inquisition's Use of Dominican Thought in the Censorship of Alchemy |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00026980.2018.1512779 |journal=Ambix |language=en |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=210–231 |doi=10.1080/00026980.2018.1512779 |pmid=30134775 |s2cid=52070616 |issn=0002-6980 |access-date=16 December 2022 |archive-date=16 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221216012751/https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00026980.2018.1512779 |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref> This did not, however, lead to any change in the Inquisition's monitoring or prosecution of alchemists.<ref name=":7" /> In 1404, Henry IV of England banned the practice of multiplying metals by the passing of the {{visible anchor|Gold and Silver Act 1403}} ([[5 Hen. 4]]. c. 4) (although it was possible to buy a licence to attempt to make gold alchemically, and a number were granted by Henry VI and Edward IV).<ref>D. Geoghegan, "A licence of Henry VI to practise Alchemy" Ambix, vol. 6, 1957, pp. 10–17</ref> These critiques and regulations centered more around pseudo-alchemical charlatanism than the actual study of alchemy, which continued with an increasingly Christian tone. The 14th century saw the Christian imagery of death and resurrection employed in the alchemical texts of [[Petrus Bonus]], [[John of Rupescissa]], and in works written in the name of Raymond Lull and Arnold of Villanova.<ref>[[Leah DeVun]]. ''From Prophecy, Alchemy, and the End of Time: John of Rupescissa in the late Middle Ages.'' Columbia University Press, 2009. p. 104</ref><ref>[[Peter Forshaw]], 'Death and Rebirth in Alchemy', in ''On Death: Perspectives on Endings and Eternities,'' edited by Elias Linden, Stockholm: Bokvörlaget Stolpe, 2025, pp. 166-183</ref>

[[File:Joseph Wright of Derby The Alchemist.jpg|thumb|left|upright|''[[The Alchemist in Search of the Philosopher's Stone]]'', by Joseph Wright, 1771]]
[[Nicolas Flamel]] is a well-known alchemist to the point where he had many [[pseudepigraphy|pseudepigraphic]] imitators. Although the historical Flamel existed, the writings and legends assigned to him only appeared in 1612.<ref>{{Harvnb|Linden|2003|p=123}}</ref><ref>"Nicolas Flamel. Des Livres et de l'or" by Nigel Wilkins</ref>

A common idea in European alchemy in the medieval era was a metaphysical "[[Homer]]ic chain of wise men that link[ed] heaven and earth"<ref name=":32">{{Cite book |last1=Carlson |first1=Kathie |title=The Book of Symbols: Reflections on Archetypal Images |last2=Flanagin |first2=Michael N. |last3=Martin |first3=Kathleen |last4=Martin |first4=Mary E. |last5=Mendelsohn |first5=John |last6=Rodgers |first6=Priscilla Young |last7=Ronnberg |first7=Ami |last8=Salman |first8=Sherry |last9=Wesley |first9=Deborah A. |publisher=[[Taschen]] |year=2010 |isbn=978-3-8365-1448-4 |editor-last=Arm |editor-first=Karen |location=Köln |page=514 |editor-last2=Ueda |editor-first2=Kako |editor-last3=Thulin |editor-first3=Anne |editor-last4=Langerak |editor-first4=Allison |editor-last5=Kiley |editor-first5=Timothy Gus |editor-last6=Wolff |editor-first6=Mary}}</ref> that included ancient pagan [[Philosophy|philosophers]] and other important historical figures.

=== Renaissance and early modern Europe ===
{{Further|Renaissance magic|Natural magic}}
{{multiple image
| total_width       = 300
| image1            = Raimundus Lullus alchemic page.jpg
| caption1          = Page from alchemic treatise of [[Ramon Llull]], 16th century
| image2            = Harley 3469, f.33v.jpg
| caption2          = The red sun rising over the city, the final illustration of 16th-century alchemical text, ''[[Splendor Solis]]''. The word [[rubedo]], meaning "redness", was adopted by alchemists and signalled alchemical success, and the end of the great work.
}}

During the [[Renaissance]], Hermetic and Platonic foundations were restored to European alchemy. The dawn of medical, pharmaceutical, occult, and entrepreneurial branches of alchemy followed.

In the late 15th century, [[Marsilio Ficino]] translated the [[Corpus Hermeticum]] and the works of Plato into Latin. These were previously unavailable to Europeans who for the first time had a full picture of the alchemical theory that Bacon had declared absent. [[Renaissance Humanism]] and [[Renaissance Neoplatonism]] guided alchemists away from [[physics]] to refocus on mankind as the alchemical vessel.

Esoteric systems developed that blended alchemy into a broader occult Hermeticism, fusing it with magic, astrology, and Christian cabala.<ref>Peter J. Forshaw. '"Chemistry, That Starry Science" – Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology and Alchemy' (2013)</ref><ref>Peter J. Forshaw, 'Cabala Chymica or Chemia Cabalistica – Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala' (2013)</ref> A key figure in this development was German [[Heinrich Cornelius Agrippa]] (1486–1535), who received his Hermetic education in Italy in the schools of the humanists. In his ''De Occulta Philosophia'', he attempted to merge [[Kabbalah]], Hermeticism, and alchemy. He was instrumental in spreading this new blend of Hermeticism outside the borders of Italy.<ref>Glenn Alexander Magee. ''Hegel and the Hermetic Tradition.'' Cornell University Press. 2008. p.30</ref><ref>Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. ''The Western Esoteric Traditions: A Historical Introduction.'' Oxford University Press. 2008 p.60</ref>

[[Paracelsus]] (Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) cast alchemy into a new form, rejecting some of Agrippa's occultism and moving away from [[chrysopoeia]]. Paracelsus pioneered the use of chemicals and minerals in medicine and wrote, "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."<ref>{{cite book |author=Edwardes, Michael |title=The Dark Side of History |location=New York |publisher=Stein and Day |year=1977 |page=47 |isbn=978-0-552-11463-9}}</ref>

His hermetical views were that sickness and health in the body relied on the harmony of man the microcosm and Nature the macrocosm. He took an approach different from those before him, using this analogy not in the manner of soul-purification but in the manner that humans must have certain balances of minerals in their bodies, and that certain illnesses of the body had chemical remedies that could cure them.<ref>{{cite book |author=Debus, Allen G. |author2=Multhauf, Robert P. |author2-link=Robert P. Multhauf |title=Alchemy and Chemistry in the Seventeenth Century |location=Los Angeles |publisher=William Andrews Clark Memorial Library, University of California. |year=1966 |pages=6–12 |author-link=Allen G. Debus}}</ref> [[Iatrochemistry]] refers to the pharmaceutical applications of alchemy championed by Paracelsus.

[[John Dee]] (13 July 1527 – December 1608) followed Agrippa's occult tradition. Although better known for angel summoning, divination, and his role as [[astrologer]], cryptographer, and consultant to [[Elizabeth I of England|Queen Elizabeth I]], Dee's alchemical<ref>"''Monas hieroglyphica'' is not a traditional alchemical work, but has important theoretical insights about a cosmic vision, in which alchemy played an important part."{{cite web |last=Szőnyi |first=György E. |year=2015 |url=http://www.renesancni-texty.upol.cz/soubory/publikace/Latin_Alchemical_Literature_of_Czech_Provenance.pdf |title='Layers of Meaning in Alchemy in John Dee's Monas hieroglyphica and its Relevance in a Central European Context' |publisher=Centre for Renaissance Texts, 2015, 118| access-date = 22 June 2016| archive-date = 12 August 2016| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160812223446/http://www.renesancni-texty.upol.cz/soubory/publikace/Latin_Alchemical_Literature_of_Czech_Provenance.pdf| url-status = live}}</ref> ''Monas Hieroglyphica'', written in 1564 was his most popular and influential work. His writing portrayed alchemy as a sort of terrestrial astronomy in line with the Hermetic axiom ''As above so below''.<ref>[[William R. Newman|William Royall Newman]], Anthony Grafton. ''Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Early Modern Europe''. MIT Press, 2001. P.173.</ref> During the 17th century, a short-lived "supernatural" interpretation of alchemy became popular, including support by fellows of the [[Royal Society]]: [[Robert Boyle]] and [[Elias Ashmole]]. Proponents of the supernatural interpretation of alchemy believed that the philosopher's stone might be used to summon and communicate with angels.<ref>
* ''Journal of the History of Ideas'', '''41''', 1980, pp. 293–318
* {{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|pp=399}}
* ''The Aspiring Adept: Robert Boyle and His Alchemical Quest'', by [[Lawrence M. Principe]], 'Princeton University Press', 1998, '''pp. 188 90'''</ref>
[[File:Cappella Sansevero (15041603867) (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|''[[Veiled Christ]]'', a 1753 statue by [[Giuseppe Sanmartino]], was widely believed to be created by alchemy.{{citation needed|date=August 2025}}]]
Entrepreneurial opportunities were common for the alchemists of Renaissance Europe. Alchemists were contracted by the elite for practical purposes related to mining, medical services, and the production of chemicals, medicines, metals, and gemstones.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' p.4</ref> [[Rudolf II, Holy Roman Emperor]], in the late 16th century, famously received and sponsored various alchemists at his court in Prague, including Dee and his associate [[Edward Kelley]]. [[James IV of Scotland|King James IV of Scotland]],<ref>''Accounts of the Lord High Treasurer of Scotland'', vol. iii, (1901), 99, 202, 206, 209, 330, 340, 341, 353, 355, 365, 379, 382, 389, 409.</ref> [[Julius, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], [[Henry V, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg]], [[Augustus, Elector of Saxony]], [[Julius Echter von Mespelbrunn]], and [[Maurice, Landgrave of Hesse-Kassel]] all contracted alchemists.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' pp. 85–98</ref> John's son [[Arthur Dee]] worked as a court physician to [[Michael I of Russia]] and [[Charles I of England]] but also compiled the alchemical book ''[[Fasciculus Chemicus]]''.

[[File:Alchemik Sedziwoj Matejko.JPG|thumb|''Alchemist [[Sendivogius]]'' (1566–1636) by [[Jan Matejko]], 1867]]
Although most of these appointments were legitimate, the trend of pseudo-alchemical fraud continued through the Renaissance. ''Betrüger'' would use sleight of hand, or claims of secret knowledge to make money or secure patronage. Legitimate mystical and medical alchemists such as [[Michael Maier]] and [[Heinrich Khunrath]] wrote about fraudulent transmutations, distinguishing themselves from the [[con artist]]s.<ref>[[Tara Nummedal|Tara E. Nummedal]]. ''Alchemy and authority in the Holy Roman Empire.'' p.171</ref> False alchemists were sometimes prosecuted for fraud.

The terms "chemia" and "alchemia" were used as synonyms in the early modern period, and the differences between alchemy, chemistry and small-scale assaying and metallurgy were not as neat as in the present day. There were important overlaps between practitioners, and trying to classify them into alchemists, chemists and craftsmen is anachronistic. For example, [[Tycho Brahe]] (1546–1601), an alchemist better known for his [[astronomical]] and [[astrological]] investigations, had a laboratory built at his [[Uraniborg]] observatory/research institute. [[Michał Sędziwój|Michael Sendivogius]] (''Michał Sędziwój'', 1566–1636), a [[Poland|Polish]] alchemist, philosopher, medical doctor and pioneer of chemistry wrote mystical works but is also credited with distilling [[oxygen]] in a lab sometime around 1600. Sendivogious taught his technique to [[Cornelius Drebbel]] who, in 1621, applied this in a submarine. [[Isaac Newton]] devoted considerably more of his writing to the study of alchemy (see [[Isaac Newton's occult studies]]) than he did to either optics or physics. Other early modern alchemists who were eminent in their other studies include [[Robert Boyle]], and [[Jan Baptist van Helmont]]. Their Hermeticism complemented rather than precluded their practical achievements in medicine and science.

=== Later modern period ===
[[File:The Shannon Portrait of the Hon Robert Boyle.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Robert Boyle]]]]
[[File:Alchemist.png|thumb|right|An alchemist, pictured in Charles Mackay's ''[[Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds]]'']]
The decline of European alchemy was brought about by the rise of modern science with its emphasis on rigorous quantitative experimentation and its disdain for "ancient wisdom". Although the seeds of these events were planted as early as the 17th century, alchemy still flourished for some two hundred years, and in fact may have reached its peak in the 18th century. As late as 1781 [[James Price (chemist)|James Price]] claimed to have produced a powder that could transmute mercury into silver or gold. Early modern European alchemy continued to exhibit a diversity of theories, practices, and purposes: "Scholastic and anti-Aristotelian, Paracelsian and anti-Paracelsian, Hermetic, Neoplatonic, mechanistic, vitalistic, and more—plus virtually every combination and compromise thereof."<ref name="Alchemy Restored">{{cite journal |last1=Principe |first1=Lawrence M |author-link1=Lawrence M. Principe |year=2011 |title=Alchemy Restored |journal=Isis |volume=102 |issue=2 |pages=305–12 |doi=10.1086/660139 |pmid=21874690 |s2cid=23581980}}</ref>

[[Robert Boyle]] (1627–1691) pioneered the scientific method in chemical investigations. He assumed nothing in his experiments and compiled every piece of relevant data. Boyle would note the place in which the experiment was carried out, the wind characteristics, the position of the Sun and Moon, and the barometer reading, all just in case they proved to be relevant.<ref>{{cite book |author=Pilkington, Roger |title=Robert Boyle: Father of Chemistry |location=London |publisher=John Murray |year=1959 |page=11}}</ref> This approach eventually led to the founding of modern chemistry in the 18th and 19th centuries, based on revolutionary discoveries and ideas of [[Antoine Lavoisier|Lavoisier]] and [[John Dalton]].

Beginning around 1720, a rigid distinction began to be drawn for the first time between "alchemy" and "chemistry".<ref name="NewmanPrincipe2002p37">{{Harvnb|Newman|Principe|2002|p=37}}</ref><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp386">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=386}}</ref> By the 1740s, "alchemy" was now restricted to the realm of gold making, leading to the popular belief that alchemists were charlatans, and the tradition itself nothing more than a fraud.<ref name="Alchemy Restored" /><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp386" /> In order to protect the developing science of modern chemistry from the negative censure to which alchemy was being subjected, academic writers during the 18th-century scientific Enlightenment attempted to divorce and separate the "new" chemistry from the "old" practices of alchemy. This move was mostly successful, and the consequences of this continued into the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanpp386–7">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|pp=386–7}}</ref>

During the occult revival of the early 19th century, alchemy received new attention as an occult science.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp387">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=387}}</ref><ref name="KripalShuck2005p27">{{Harvnb|Kripal|Shuck|2005|p=27}}</ref> The esoteric or occultist school that arose during the 19th century held the view that the substances and operations mentioned in alchemical literature are to be interpreted in a spiritual sense, less than as a practical tradition or protoscience.<ref name="NewmanPrincipe2002p37" /><ref>{{Harvnb|Eliade|1994|p=49}}</ref><ref name="PrincipeNewmanp388">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=388}}</ref> This interpretation claimed that the obscure language of the alchemical texts, which 19th century practitioners were not always able to decipher, were an allegorical guise for spiritual, moral or mystical processes.<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp388" />

Two seminal figures during this period were [[Mary Anne Atwood]] and [[Ethan A. Hitchcock (general)|Ethan Allen Hitchcock]], who independently published similar works regarding spiritual alchemy. Both rebuffed the growing successes of chemistry, developing a completely esoteric view of alchemy. Atwood wrote: "No modern art or chemistry, notwithstanding all its surreptitious claims, has any thing in common with Alchemy."<ref name="PrincipeNewmanp391">{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=391}}</ref><ref name="Rutkin2001p143">{{Harvnb|Rutkin|2001|p=143}}</ref> Atwood's work influenced subsequent authors of the occult revival including [[Eliphas Levi]], [[Arthur Edward Waite]], and [[Rudolf Steiner]]. Hitchcock, in his ''Remarks Upon Alchymists'' (1855) attempted to make a case for his spiritual interpretation with his claim that the alchemists wrote about a spiritual discipline under a materialistic guise in order to avoid accusations of blasphemy from the church and state. In 1845, Baron [[Carl Reichenbach]], published his studies on [[Odic force]], a concept with some similarities to alchemy, but his research did not enter the mainstream of scientific discussion.<ref>Daniel Merkur. ''Gnosis: An Esoteric Tradition of Mystical Visions and Unions.'' SUNY Press. 1993 p.55</ref>

In 1946, [[Louis Cattiaux]] published the Message Retrouvé, a work that was at once philosophical, mystical and highly influenced by alchemy. In his lineage, many researchers, including Emmanuel and Charles d'Hooghvorst, are updating alchemical studies in France and Belgium.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Croire l'Incroyable. L'Ancien et le Nouveau dans l'étude des religions |last=Arola |first=Raimon |publisher=Beya |year=2006 |isbn=2-9600364-7-6 |location=Grez-Doiceau}}</ref>

=== Women ===
Several women appear in the earliest history of alchemy. [[Michael Maier]] names four women who were able to make the philosophers' stone: [[Mary the Jewess]], [[Cleopatra the Alchemist]], [[Medera]], and [[Paphnutia the Virgin|Taphnutia]].<ref>Raphael Patai. ''The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book.'' p. 78.</ref> Zosimos's sister Theosebia (later known as Euthica the Arab) and [[Isis the Prophetess]] also played roles in early alchemical texts.

The first alchemist whose name we know was Mary the Jewess ({{circa|200 A.D.}}).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |title=Women in Chemistry: Their Changing Roles from Alchemical Times to the Mid-Twentieth Century |author1=Rayner-Canham, M |author2=Rayner-Canham, G |publisher=Chemical Heritage Foundation |year=2005 |isbn=978-0-941901-27-7 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/womeninchemistry0000rayn/page/2 2–4] |url=https://archive.org/details/womeninchemistry0000rayn/page/2}}</ref> Early sources claim that Mary (or Maria) devised a number of improvements to alchemical equipment and tools as well as novel techniques in chemistry.<ref name=":0" /> Her best known advances were in heating and distillation processes. The laboratory water-bath, known eponymously (especially in France) as the [[bain-marie]], is said to have been invented or at least improved by her.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book |last=Patai |first=R |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-691-00642-0 |pages=60–80}}</ref> Essentially a double-boiler, it was (and is) used in chemistry for processes that required gentle heating. The tribikos (a modified distillation apparatus) and the kerotakis (a more intricate apparatus used especially for sublimations) are two other advancements in the process of distillation that are credited to her.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The origins of alchemy in Graeco-Roman Egypt |last=Lindsay |first=J |publisher=Barnes & Noble |year=1970 |isbn=978-0-389-01006-7 |location=New York |pages=[https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/240 240–250] |url=https://archive.org/details/trent_0116301348557/page/240}}</ref> Although we have no writing from Mary herself, she is known from the early-fourth-century writings of [[Zosimos of Panopolis]].<ref>{{Cite book |title=The Jewish Alchemists: A History and Source Book |last=Patai |first=R |publisher=Princeton University Press |year=1994 |isbn=978-0-691-00642-0 |pages=81–93}}</ref> After the Greco-Roman period, women's names appear less frequently in alchemical literature.

Towards the end of the Middle Ages and beginning of the Renaissance, due to the emergence of print, women were able to access the alchemical knowledge from texts of the preceding centuries.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last=Ray |first=Meredith K. |title=Daughters of alchemy: women and scientific culture in early modern Italy |date=2015 |isbn=978-0-674-42587-3 |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |publisher=Harvard University Press |oclc=905902839}}</ref> [[Caterina Sforza]], the Countess of Forlì and Lady of Imola, is one of the few confirmed female alchemists after Mary the Jewess. As she owned an apothecary, she would practice science and conduct experiments in her botanic gardens and laboratories.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal |last=Boschiero |first=Luciano |date=1 July 2017 |title=The secret lives of women |journal=Metascience |language=en |volume=26 |issue=2 |pages=199–200 |doi=10.1007/s11016-016-0144-z |s2cid=151860901 |issn=1467-9981}}</ref> Being knowledgeable in alchemy and pharmacology, she recorded all of her alchemical ventures in a manuscript named {{lang|it|Experimenti}} ('Experiments').<ref name=":3" /> The manuscript contained more than four hundred recipes covering alchemy as well as cosmetics and medicine.<ref name=":2" /> One of these recipes was for the water of talc.<ref name=":2" /> [[Talc]], which makes up talcum powder, is a mineral which, when combined with water and distilled, was said to produce a solution which yielded many benefits.<ref name=":2" /> These supposed benefits included turning silver to gold and rejuvenation.<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Sforza |first=Caterina |title=Experimenti de la Ex[ellentissi]ma S[igno]ra Caterina da Furlj Matre de lo inllux[trissi]mo S[ignor] Giovanni de Medici |publisher=Loescher |year=1893 |isbn=978-1-147-83327-0 |location=Rome |pages=617–18 |language=it |translator-last=Pasolini |translator-first=Pier Desiderio |trans-title=Caterina Sforza |chapter=3 |translator-last2=Sylvester |translator-first2=Paul}}</ref> When combined with white wine, its powder form could be ingested to counteract poison.<ref name=":4" /> Furthermore, if that powder was mixed and drunk with white wine, it was said to be a source of protection from any poison, sickness, or plague.<ref name=":4" /> Other recipes were for making hair dyes, lotions, lip colours.<ref name=":2" /> There was also information on how to treat a variety of ailments from fevers and coughs to epilepsy and cancer.<ref name=":1" /> In addition, there were instructions on producing the quintessence (or [[Aether (classical element)|aether]]), an elixir which was believed to be able to heal all sicknesses, defend against diseases, and perpetuate youthfulness.<ref name=":1" /> She also wrote about creating the illustrious [[philosophers' stone]].<ref name=":1" />

Some women known for their interest in alchemy were [[Catherine de' Medici]], the Queen of France, and [[Marie de' Medici]], the following Queen of France, who carried out experiments in her personal laboratory.<ref name=":2" /> Also, [[Isabella d'Este]], the Marchioness of Mantua, made perfumes herself to serve as gifts.<ref name=":2" /> Due to the proliferation in alchemical literature of [[pseudepigrapha]] and anonymous works, however, it is difficult to know which of the alchemists were actually women. This contributed to a broader pattern in which male authors credited prominent noblewomen for beauty products with the purpose of appealing to a female audience. For example, in {{lang|it|Ricettario galante}} ("Gallant Recipe-Book"), the distillation of lemons and roses was attributed to [[Elisabetta Gonzaga]], the duchess of Urbino.<ref name=":2" /> In the same book, [[Isabella d'Aragona]], the daughter of Alfonso II of Naples, is accredited for recipes involving [[alum]] and mercury.<ref name=":2" /> [[Ippolita Maria Sforza]] is even referred to in an anonymous manuscript about a hand lotion created with rose powder and crushed bones.<ref name=":2" />

As the sixteenth century went on, scientific culture flourished and people began collecting "secrets". During this period "secrets" referred to experiments, and the most coveted ones were not those which were bizarre, but the ones which had been proven to yield the desired outcome.<ref name=":2" />  In this period, the only book of secrets ascribed to a woman was {{lang|it|I secreti della signora Isabella Cortese}} ('The Secrets of Signora Isabella Cortese').<ref name=":2" /> This book contained information on how to turn base metals into gold, medicine, and cosmetics.<ref name=":2" /> However, it is rumoured that a man, [[Girolamo Ruscelli]], was the real author and only used a female voice to attract female readers.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Sacco |first=Francesco G. |date=March 2016 |title=Meredith K. Ray, Daughters of Alchemy: Women and Scientific Culture in Early Modern Italy. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015. pp. 291. ISBN 978-0-674-50423-3 |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-for-the-history-of-science/article/abs/meredith-k-ray-daughters-of-alchemy-women-and-scientific-culture-in-early-modern-italy-cambridge-ma-harvard-university-press-2015-pp-291-isbn-9780674504233-4500-3395-hardback/81117AA39C92F6F86BACF185AD15262F |journal=The British Journal for the History of Science |language=en |volume=49 |issue=1 |pages=122–123 |doi=10.1017/S0007087416000078 |s2cid=146847844 |issn=0007-0874 |access-date=6 December 2022 |archive-date=6 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221206101904/https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-for-the-history-of-science/article/abs/meredith-k-ray-daughters-of-alchemy-women-and-scientific-culture-in-early-modern-italy-cambridge-ma-harvard-university-press-2015-pp-291-isbn-9780674504233-4500-3395-hardback/81117AA39C92F6F86BACF185AD15262F |url-status=live|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

In the nineteenth-century, [[Mary Anne Atwood]]'s ''A Suggestive Inquiry into the Hermetic Mystery'' (1850) marked the return of women during the [[occult revival]].

=== Modern historical research ===
The history of alchemy has become a recognized subject of academic study.<ref>{{harvnb|Principe|2013}}.</ref> As the language of the alchemists is analysed, historians are becoming more aware of the connections between that discipline and other facets of Western cultural history, such as the evolution of science and [[philosophy]], the sociology and psychology of the intellectual communities, [[Kabbalah|kabbalism]], [[Spiritualism (beliefs)|spiritualism]], [[Rosicrucianism]], and other mystic movements.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/exeseso/ |title=Exeter Centre for the Study of Esotericism. School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Exeter, UK |publisher=University of Exeter|access-date=7 June 2011|archive-date=14 August 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814143841/http://centres.exeter.ac.uk/exeseso/}}</ref> Institutions involved in this research include The Chymistry of Isaac Newton project at [[Indiana University]], the [[University of Exeter]] Centre for the Study of Esotericism (EXESESO), the [[European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism]] (ESSWE), and the [[University of Amsterdam]]'s Sub-department for the History of Hermetic Philosophy and Related Currents. A large collection of books on alchemy is kept in the [[Bibliotheca Philosophica Hermetica]] in Amsterdam.

Journals which publish regularly on the topic of Alchemy include ''[[Ambix]]'', published by the [[Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry]], and ''[[Isis (journal)|Isis]]'', published by the [[History of Science Society]].

== Core concepts ==
[[File:Cabala, speculum artis et naturae, in alchymia; exinde, quid, lapis sophorum antiquissimus.png|thumb|Mandala illustrating common alchemical concepts, symbols, and processes. From ''Spiegel der Kunst und Natur''.]]
Western alchemical theory corresponds to the worldview of late antiquity in which it was born. Concepts were imported from [[Neoplatonism]] and earlier Greek [[cosmology]]. As such, the [[classical element]]s appear in alchemical writings, as do the seven [[classical planet]]s and the corresponding seven [[metals of antiquity]]. Similarly, the gods of the [[List of Roman deities|Roman pantheon]] who are associated with these luminaries are discussed in alchemical literature. The concepts of [[prima materia]] and [[anima mundi]] are central to the theory of the [[philosopher's stone]].

=== Magnum opus ===
{{Main|Magnum opus (alchemy)}}
The Great Work of Alchemy is often described as a series of four stages represented by colours.
* ''[[nigredo]]'', a blackening or melanosis
* ''[[Albedo (alchemy)|albedo]]'', a whitening or leucosis
* ''[[citrinitas]]'', a yellowing or xanthosis
* ''[[rubedo]]'', a reddening, purpling, or iosis<ref>Joseph Needham. ''Science & Civilisation in China: Chemistry and chemical technology. Spagyrical discovery and invention: magisteries of gold and immortality.'' Cambridge. 1974. p.23</ref>

== Modernity ==
Due to the complexity and obscurity of alchemical literature, and the 18th-century diffusion of remaining alchemical practitioners into the area of [[chemistry]], the general understanding of alchemy in the 19th and 20th centuries was influenced by several distinct and radically different interpretations.<ref>{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=385}}</ref> Those focusing on the [[exoteric]], such as historians of science [[Lawrence M. Principe]] and [[William R. Newman]], have interpreted the '''Decknamen''<nowiki/>' (or code words) of alchemy as physical substances. These scholars have reconstructed physicochemical experiments that they say are described in medieval and early modern texts.<ref>Richard Conniff. "Alchemy May Not Have Been the Pseudoscience We All Thought It Was." [http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/alchemy-may-not-been-pseudoscience-we-thought-it-was-180949430/ Smithsonian Magazine.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202131219/http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/alchemy-may-not-been-pseudoscience-we-thought-it-was-180949430/ |date=2 February 2014 }} February 2014.</ref> At the opposite end of the spectrum, focusing on the [[Western esotericism|esoteric]], scholars, such as [[Florin George Călian]]<ref>{{cite book |last=Calian |first=George |title=Alkimia Operativa and Alkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy |publisher=Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU |year=2010 |url=https://archive.org/stream/AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnThe/FlorinGeorgeCalian-AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnTheHistoriographyOfAlchemy#page/n0/mode/2up}}</ref> and [[Anna Marie Roos]],<ref>{{cite journal |doi=10.1016/j.shpsc.2013.08.001 |title=The experimental approach towards a historiography of alchemy (reviewing L. M. Principe, the Secrets of Alchemy) |journal=Studies in History and Philosophy of Science Part C: Studies in History and Philosophy of Biological and Biomedical Sciences |volume=44 |issue=4 |pages=787–789 |year=2013 |last1=Roos |first1=Anna Marie}}</ref> who question the reading of Principe and Newman, interpret these same ''Decknamen'' as spiritual, religious, or psychological concepts.

New interpretations of alchemy are still perpetuated, sometimes merging in concepts from [[New Age]] or radical environmentalism movements.<ref>{{Harvnb|Principe|Newman|2001|p=396}}</ref> Groups like the [[Rosicrucianism|Rosicrucians]] and [[Freemasonry|Freemasons]] have a continued interest in alchemy and its symbolism. Since the Victorian revival of alchemy, "[[occult]]ists reinterpreted alchemy as a spiritual practice, involving the self-transformation of the practitioner and only incidentally or not at all the transformation of laboratory substances",<ref name="Alchemy Restored" /> which has contributed to a merger of [[Magic (supernatural)|magic]] and alchemy in popular thought.

=== Esoteric interpretations of historical texts ===
In the eyes of a variety of modern [[Western esotericism|esoteric]] and [[Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn|Neo-Hermetic]] practitioners, alchemy is primarily spiritual. In this interpretation, transmutation of [[lead]] into [[gold]] is presented as an analogy for personal transmutation, purification, and perfection.<ref name="Antoine Faivre 1995. p.96">Antoine Faivre, Wouter J. Hanegraaff. ''Western esotericism and the science of religion.'' 1995. p. 96</ref>

According to this view, early alchemists such as [[Zosimos of Panopolis]] ({{circa|300 AD}}) highlighted the spiritual nature of the alchemical quest, symbolic of a religious regeneration of the human soul.<ref>[[Allen G. Debus]]. ''Alchemy and early modern chemistry.'' The Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry. p.34.</ref> This approach is held to have continued in the Middle Ages, as metaphysical aspects, substances, physical states, and material processes are supposed to have been used as metaphors for spiritual entities, spiritual states, and, ultimately, transformation. In this sense, the literal meanings of 'Alchemical Formulas' hid a [[spiritual philosophy]]. In the [[Hermeticism|Neo-Hermeticist]] interpretation, both the transmutation of common metals into gold and the universal [[panacea]] are held to symbolize evolution from an imperfect, diseased, corruptible, and ephemeral state toward a perfect, healthy, incorruptible, and everlasting state, so the [[philosopher's stone]] then represented a mystic key that would make this evolution possible. Applied to the alchemist, the twin goal symbolized their evolution from ignorance to enlightenment, and the stone represented a hidden spiritual truth or power that would lead to that goal. In texts that are believed to have been written according to this view, the cryptic [[alchemical symbol]]s, diagrams, and textual imagery of late alchemical works are supposed to contain multiple layers of meanings, allegories, and references to other equally cryptic works; which must be laboriously decoded to discover their true meaning.

In his 1766 ''Alchemical Catechism'', [[Théodore Henri de Tschudi]] suggested that the usage of the metals was symbolic:

{{blockquote|<poem>Q. When the Philosophers speak of gold and silver, from which they extract their matter, are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgar gold and silver?
A. By no means; vulgar silver and gold are dead, while those of the Philosophers are full of life.<ref>Théodore Henri de Tschudi. Hermetic Catechism in his ''L'Etoile Flamboyant ou la Société des Franc-Maçons considerée sous tous les aspects.'' 1766. (A.E. Waite translation as found in ''The Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus.'')</ref></poem>}}

=== Psychology ===
[[Alchemical symbol]]ism has been important in [[analytical psychology]] and was revived and popularized from near extinction by the Swiss psychologist [[Carl Jung|Carl Gustav Jung]]. Jung was initially confounded and at odds with alchemy and its images but after being given a copy of ''[[The Secret of the Golden Flower]]'', a Chinese alchemical text translated by his friend [[Richard Wilhelm (sinologist)|Richard Wilhelm]], he discovered a direct correlation or parallel between the symbolic images in the alchemical drawings and the inner, symbolic images coming up in his patients' dreams, visions, or fantasies. He observed these alchemical images occurring during the psychic process of transformation, a process that Jung called "[[individuation]]". Specifically, he regarded the conjuring up of images of [[philosopher's stone|gold or Lapis]] as symbolic expressions of the origin and goal of this "process of individuation".<ref name="Jung, C. G. 1944">Jung, C. G. (1944). Psychology and Alchemy (2nd ed. 1968 Collected Works Vol. 12 {{ISBN|0-691-01831-6}}). London: Routledge. E.g. §&nbsp;41, §&nbsp;116, §&nbsp;427, §&nbsp;431, §&nbsp;448.</ref><ref name="Eisendrath-Dawson" /> Together with his alchemical ''mystica soror'' (mystical sister) Jungian Swiss analyst [[Marie-Louise von Franz]], Jung began collecting old alchemical texts, compiled a [[lexicon]] of key phrases with cross-references,<ref>Anthony Stevens: ''On Jung.'' (A new and authoritiative introduction to Jung's life and thought), Penguin Books, London 1990, {{ISBN|0-14-012494-2}}, p. 193.</ref> and pored over them. The volumes of work he wrote shed new light onto understanding the art of [[transubstantiation]] and renewed alchemy's popularity as a symbolic process of coming into wholeness as a human being where opposites are brought into contact and inner and outer, spirit and matter are reunited in the ''[[hieros gamos]]'', or divine marriage. His writings are influential in general [[psychology]], but especially to those who have an interest in understanding the importance of dreams, symbols, and the unconscious archetypal forces ([[Jungian archetypes|archetypes]]) that comprise all psychic life.<ref name="Eisendrath-Dawson">[[Polly Young-Eisendrath]], Terence Dawson. ''The Cambridge companion to Jung.'' Cambridge University Press. 1997. p.33</ref><ref>C.G. Jung Preface to [[Richard Wilhelm (sinologist)|Richard Wilhelm]]'s translation of the [[I Ching]].</ref><ref>C.-G. Jung Preface to the translation of [[Secret of the Golden Flower|The Secret of The Golden Flower]].</ref>

Both [[Marie-Louise von Franz|von Franz]] and [[Carl Jung|Jung]] have contributed significantly to the subject and work of alchemy and its continued presence in psychology as well as contemporary culture. Among the volumes Jung wrote on alchemy, his magnum opus is Volume 14 of his Collected Works, ''[[Mysterium Coniunctionis]]''.

=== Literature ===
{{Main|Alchemy in art and entertainment}}
Alchemy has had a long-standing relationship with art, seen both in alchemical texts and in mainstream entertainment. ''Literary alchemy'' appears throughout the history of English literature from [[William Shakespeare|Shakespeare]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Szönyi |first=György E. |date=1 December 2012 |title="Contending with the Fretful Element": Shakespeare and the (Gendered) Great Chain of Being |journal=Gender Studies |language=de |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=1–22 |doi=10.2478/v10320-012-0025-6 |s2cid=143130101|doi-access=free}}</ref> to [[J. K. Rowling]], and also the popular Japanese manga ''[[Fullmetal Alchemist]]''. Here, characters or plot structure follow an alchemical magnum opus. In the 14th century, Chaucer began a trend of alchemical satire that can still be seen in recent fantasy works like those of the late Sir [[Terry Pratchett]]. Another literary work taking inspiration from the alchemical tradition is the 1988 novel ''[[The Alchemist (novel)|The Alchemist]]'' by Brazilian writer [[Paulo Coelho]].

Visual artists have had a similar relationship with alchemy. While some used it as a source of satire, others worked with the alchemists themselves or integrated alchemical thought or symbols in their work. Music was also present in the works of alchemists<ref>{{Cite journal |date=1 June 1935 |title=Alchemy and Music |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/135967a0 |journal=Nature |language=en |volume=135 |issue=3423 |pages=967–968 |doi=10.1038/135967a0 |bibcode=1935Natur.135..967. |issn=1476-4687 |access-date=11 January 2024 |archive-date=11 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240111200919/https://www.nature.com/articles/135967a0 |url-status=live}}</ref> and continues to influence popular performers. In the last hundred years, alchemists have been portrayed in a magical and [[Paracelsianism|spagyric]] role in fantasy fiction, film, television, novels, comics and video games.

=== Science ===
{{further|Nuclear transmutation}}
One goal of alchemy, the transmutation of base substances into gold, is now known to be impossible by means of traditional chemistry, but possible by other physical means. Although not financially worthwhile, [[Synthesis of precious metals#Gold|gold was synthesized]] in [[particle accelerator]]s as early as 1941.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Aleklett |first1=K. |last2=Morrissey |first2=D. J. |last3=Loveland |first3=W. |last4=McGaughey |first4=P. L. |last5=Seaborg |first5=G. T. |date=1 March 1981 |title=Energy dependence of <sup>209</sup>Bi fragmentation in relativistic nuclear collisions |url=https://link.aps.org/doi/10.1103/PhysRevC.23.1044 |journal=Physical Review C |volume=23 |issue=3 |pages=1044–1046 |doi=10.1103/PhysRevC.23.1044 |bibcode=1981PhRvC..23.1044A|url-access=subscription }}</ref>

== See also ==
{{div col|colwidth=15em}}
* [[Alchemical symbol]]
* [[Chemistry]]
* [[Corentin Louis Kervran#Biological transmutation|Corentin Louis Kervran § Biological transmutation]]
* [[Cupellation]]
* [[Historicism]]
* [[History of chemistry]]
* [[List of alchemical substances]]
* [[List of alchemists]]
* [[List of obsolete occupations]]
* [[Nuclear transmutation]]
* [[Outline of alchemy]]
* [[Porta Alchemica]]
* [[Renaissance magic]]
* [[Spagyric]]
* [[Superseded theories in science]]
* [[Synthesis of precious metals]]
* [[Thaumaturgy]]
* [[Western esotericism]]
{{div col end}}

== Notes ==
{{Reflist|group=n}}

== References ==
{{citation style|date=August 2024}}

=== Citations ===
{{Reflist|30em}}

=== Sources used ===
{{Refbegin|30em}}
* {{Cite book |last=Bull |first=Christian H. |url=https://brill.com/view/title/32034 |title=The Tradition of Hermes Trismegistus: The Egyptian Priestly Figure as a Teacher of Hellenized Wisdom |date=2018 |publisher=[[Brill Publishers|Brill]] |isbn=978-90-04-37084-5 |series=Religions in the Graeco-Roman World: 186 |doi=10.1163/9789004370845 |s2cid=165266222}}
* {{cite book | last1 = Caiazzo| first1 = Irene| date = 2004| chapter = La Tabula smaragdina nel Medioevo latino, II. Note sulla fortuna della Tabula smaragdina nel Medioevo latino| trans-chapter = The Tabula Smaragdina in the Latin Middle Ages, II. Notes on the Fortunes of the *Tabula Smaragdina* in the Latin Middle Ages| url = https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/book/10.1484/M.IPM-EB.5.11215| chapter-url = https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00122 
 | title = La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001| trans-title = The Hermetic tradition from the Late Antique world to Humanism. Proceedings of the International Conference of Studies, Naples, 20–24 November 2001| publisher = Brepols| isbn = 978-2-503-51616-5| editor-last = Lucentini| editor-first = P.| editor2-last = Parri| editor2-first = I.| editor3-last = Perrone Compagni| editor3-first = V.| series = Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia| volume = 40| pages = 697–711| language = it| doi = 10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00122}}
* {{cite book |last=Calian |first=George |title=Alkimia Operativa and Alkimia Speculativa. Some Modern Controversies on the Historiography of Alchemy |publisher=Annual of Medieval Studies at CEU |year=2010 |url=https://archive.org/stream/AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnThe/FlorinGeorgeCalian-AlkimiaOperativaAndAlkimiaSpeculativa.SomeModernControversiesOnTheHistoriographyOfAlchemy#page/n0/mode/2up}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Colinet |first1=Andrée |date=1995 |title=Le livre d'Hermès intitulé Liber dabessi ou Liber rebis |trans-title=The book of Hermes titled Liber dabessi or Liber rebis |journal=Studi medievali |language=fr |volume=36 |issue=2 |pages=1011–1052}}
* {{Cite book |last=Copenhaver |first=Brian P. |author-link=Brian Copenhaver |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OVZP6b9cqLkC |title=Hermetica: The Greek ''Corpus Hermeticum'' and the Latin ''Asclepius'' in a New English Translation, with Notes and Introduction|publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1992 |isbn=0-521-42543-3}}
* {{cite book|last1=Debus|first1=Allen G.|author1-link=Allen G. Debus|date=2004|title=Alchemy and Early Modern Chemistry: Papers from Ambix |publisher=Jeremy Mills Publishing|isbn=9780954648411}}
* {{cite book |last=Eliade |first=Mircea |author-link= Mircea Eliade |title=The Forge and the Crucible |publisher=[[State University of New York Press]] |year=1994 |title-link= The Forge and the Crucible}}
* {{cite web |last=Forshaw |first=Peter J |title=Chemistry, That Starry Science – Early Modern Conjunctions of Astrology and Alchemy |work=Sky and Symbol, edited by Nicholas Campion and Liz Greene, Sophia Centre Press |date=January 2013 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5317837 |access-date= 7 September 2014 |archive-date= 14 January 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220114055927/https://www.academia.edu/5317837 |url-status= live}}
* {{Cite journal |last=Forshaw |first=Peter J |title=Cabala Chymica or Chemica Cabalistica – Early Modern Alchemists and Cabala |volume=60 |journal=Ambix |year=2013 |issue=4 |pages=361–389 |doi=10.1179/0002698013Z.00000000039 |s2cid=170459930 |url=https://www.academia.edu/5237828 |access-date= 7 September 2014 |archive-date= 14 April 2022 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20220414135333/https://www.academia.edu/5237828 |url-status= live}}
* {{cite web |last=Forshaw |first=Peter J |title=Death and Rebirth in Alchemy |work=On Death: Perspectives on Endings and Eternities, edited by Elias Linden |publisher=[[Stockholm - Bokvörlaget Stolpe]] |date=2025 |url=https://www.academia.edu/144768394 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Fowden |first=Garth |author-link=Garth Fowden |title=The Egyptian Hermes: a Historical Approach to the Late Pagan Mind |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=1986 |isbn=0-521-32583-8 |oclc=13333446}}
* {{cite book |last1=von Franz |first1=Marie Louise |author-link= Marie-Louise von Franz |title=Alchemical Active Imagination |publisher=[[Shambhala Publications]] |location=Boston |year=1997 |isbn=978-0-87773-589-2 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=wOVUUMirSnEC&q=alchemy&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Holmyard |first1=Eric John |author-link1= Eric John Holmyard |title=Makers of Chemistry |publisher=[[Clarendon Press]] |year=1931 |url=https://archive.org/details/makersofchemistr029725mbp}}
* {{cite book |last1=Holmyard |first1=Eric John |title=Alchemy |publisher=[[Courier Dover Publications]] |year=1957 |isbn=978-0-486-26298-7 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=7Bt-kwKRUzUC&q=alchemy&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite book|last1=Kahn|first1=Didier|date=1994|title=La table d'émeraude et sa tradition alchimique|trans-title=The Emerald Tablet and Its Alchemical Tradition|location=Paris|publisher=Les Belles Lettres|isbn=9782251470054|language=French}}
* {{cite book |last=Kraus |first=Paul |author-link=Paul Kraus (Arabist) |date=1943 |url=https://archive.org/details/MIE_45/page/n1/mode/2up |title=Jâbir ibn Hayyân: Contribution à l'histoire des idées scientifiques dans l'Islam: Jābir and Greek Science Jâbir et la science grecque |publisher=Institut Français d'Archéologie Orientale |series=Mémoires de l'Institut d'Égypte |volume=45/II |language=fr |trans-title=Jābir ibn Ḥayyān: Contribution to the History of Scientific Thought in Islam}}
* {{cite book |last1=Kripal |first1=Jeffrey John |author-link1= Jeffrey John Kripal |last2=Shuck |first2=Glenn W. |author-link2= Glenn Shuck |title=On the Edge of the Future |publisher=[[Indiana University Press]] |date=July 2005 |isbn=978-0-253-34556-1 |url=https://archive.org/details/onedgeoffuture00indi |url-access= registration |access-date= 17 December 2011}}
* {{cite book |last1=Linden |first1=Stanton J. |title=Darke Hierogliphicks: Alchemy in English literature from Chaucer to the Restoration |publisher=[[University Press of Kentucky]] |year=1996 |isbn=978-0-8131-5017-8 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3JUfBgAAQBAJ&pg=PP1}}
* {{cite book |last1=Linden |first1=Stanton J. |title=The Alchemy Reader: from Hermes Trismegistus to Isaac Newton |publisher=[[Cambridge University Press]] |year=2003}}
* {{cite book |last1=Mandosio |first1=Jean-Marc |date=2004 |chapter=La Tabula smaragdina nel Medioevo latino, I. La Tabula smaragdina e i suoi commentari medievali |trans-chapter=The Tabula Smaragdina in the Latin Middle Ages, I. The Tabula Smaragdina and Its Medieval Commentaries |url=https://www.brepolsonline.net/doi/book/10.1484/M.IPM-EB.5.112150 |chapter-url=https://doi.org/10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00121 |title=La tradizione ermetica dal mondo tardo-antico all'umanesimo. Atti del Convegno internazionale di studi, Napoli, 20–24 novembre 2001 |publisher=Brepols |isbn=978-2-503-51616-5 |editor-last=Lucentini |editor-first=P. |series=Instrumenta Patristica et Mediaevalia |volume=40 |pages=681–696 |language=it |trans-title=Hermetism from Late Antiquity to Humanism |doi=10.1484/M.IPM-EB.4.00121 |editor2-last=Parri |editor2-first=I. |editor3-last=Perrone Compagni |editor3-first=V.}}
* {{cite book |last1=Newman |first1=William R. |author-link1=William R. Newman |last2=Principe |first2=Lawrence M. |author-link2= Lawrence M. Principe |title=Alchemy Tried in the Fire |publisher=[[University of Chicago Press]] |year=2002 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=eQERmMdykZEC&q=alchemy&pg=PP1 |isbn=978-0-226-57702-9}}
* {{cite book |last=Principe |first=Lawrence M. |title=The Secrets of Alchemy |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-226-68295-2|author-link1= Lawrence M. Principe}}
* {{cite book |last1=Principe |first1=Lawrence M. |author-link1=Lawrence M. Principe |last2=Newman |first2=William R. |author-link2=William R. Newman |editor1-last= Newman |editor1-first= William R. |editor2-last= Grafton |editor2-first= Anthony |editor2-link= Anthony Grafton |title=Secrets of Nature, Astrology and Alchemy in Modern Europe |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-262-14075-1 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CMuJGpztRFMC |chapter=Some Problems with the Historiography of Alchemy |pages=385–432}}
* {{cite book |last=Ruska |first=Julius |author-link=Julius Ruska |date=1926 |title=Tabula Smaragdina. Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der hermetischen Literatur |location=Heidelberg |language=de |trans-title=Tabula Smaragdina: A Contribution to the History of Hermetic Literature |publisher=Winter |oclc=6751465}}
* {{cite book |last1=Rutkin |first1=H. Darrel |editor1-last= Newman |editor1-first= William R. |editor1-link=William R. Newman |editor2-last= Grafton |editor2-first= Anthony |editor2-link= Anthony Grafton |title=Secrets of Nature, Astrology and Alchemy in Modern Europe |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |year=2001 |isbn=978-0-262-14075-1 |chapter-url= https://books.google.com/books?id=CMuJGpztRFMC |chapter=Celestial Offerings: Astrological Motifs in the Dedicatory Letters of Kepler's ''Astronomia Nova'' and Galileo's ''Sidereus Nuncius'' |pages=133–172}}
* {{cite journal |last1=Speziale |first1=Fabrizio |date=2019 |title=Rasāyana and Rasaśāstra in the Persian Medical Culture of South Asia |journal=History of Science in South Asia |volume=7 |pages=1–41 |doi=10.18732/hssa.v7i0.40 |s2cid=166469086 |doi-access=free}}
* {{Cite book|last=Van Bladel |first=Kevin|url=https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376135.001.0001/acprof-9780195376135 |title=The Arabic Hermes: From Pagan Sage to Prophet of Science |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]]|year=2009 |isbn=978-0-19-537613-5 |doi=10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195376135.001.0001}}
* {{cite book |last=Weisser |first=Ursula |editor-first1=Otto |editor-last1=Spies |date=1980 |title=Das "Buch über das Geheimnis der Schöpfung" von Pseudo-Apollonios von Tyana |publisher=De Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-086693-3 |location=Berlin |trans-title="The Book on the Secret of Creation" by Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana |doi=10.1515/9783110866933 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=DZFZzxgiUqAC}}
{{Refend}}

== Bibliography ==
=== Introductions and textbooks ===
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Beretta|editor1-first=Marco |date=2022 |title=A Cultural History Of Chemistry in Antiquity |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |doi=10.5040/9781474203746 |isbn=978-1-4742-9453-9 |doi-access=free}} (focus on technical aspects)
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Burnett|editor1-first=Charles|editor2-last=Moureau|editor2-first=Sébastien |date=2022 |title=A Cultural History Of Chemistry in the Middle Ages |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4742-9454-6}} (focus on technical aspects)
* {{cite book |last1=Halleux |first1=Robert |date=1979 |title=Les textes alchimiques |location=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols |isbn=978-2-503-36032-4}}
* {{cite book |last1=Joly |first1=Bernard |date=2013 |title=Histoire de l'alchimie |location=Paris |publisher=Vuibert-Adapt |isbn=978-2-311-01248-4}} (general overview)
* {{cite book |last1=Martelli |first1=Matteo |date=2019 |title=L'alchimista antico: Dall'Egitto greco-romano a Bisanzio |location=Milano |publisher=Editrice Bibliografica |isbn=978-88-7075-979-2}} (Greek and Byzantine alchemy)
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Moran|editor1-first=Bruce |date=2022 |title=A Cultural History Of Chemistry in the Early Modern Age |location=London |publisher=Bloomsbury |isbn=978-1-4742-9459-1}} (focus on technical aspects)
* {{cite book |last=Multhauf |first=Robert P.|author-link=Robert P. Multhauf |year=1966 |title=The Origins of Chemistry |location=London |publisher=Oldbourne |oclc=977570829}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Nicolaïdis|editor1-first=Efthymios |date=2018 |title=Greek Alchemy from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity |series=De Diversis Artibus |volume=104 |location=Turnhout |publisher=Brepols |doi=10.1484/M.DDA-EB.5.116173 |isbn=978-2-503-58191-0}} (Greek and Byzantine alchemy)
* {{cite book |last1=Partington |first1=James R.|author1-link=J. R. Partington |date=1970|orig-date=1961 |title=A History of Chemistry. Volume 1, Part I |location=London |publisher=Macmillan |isbn=978-0-333-03490-3}} (the second part of volume 1 was never published; the other volumes deal with the modern period and are not relevant for alchemy)
* {{cite book |last1=Pereira |first1=Michela |date=2001 |title=Arcana Sapienza: Storia dell'alchimia occidentale dalle origini a Jung |location=Rome |publisher=Carocci |isbn=978-88-430-9647-3}} (general overview, focus on esoteric aspects)
* {{cite book |last=Principe |first=Lawrence M. |title=The Secrets of Alchemy |publisher=University of Chicago Press |year=2013 |isbn=978-0-226-68295-2|author-link1= Lawrence M. Principe|ref=none}} (general overview, written in a highly accessible style)
* {{cite book |last1=Rampling |first1=Jennifer M. |date=2020 |url=https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/E/bo50462000.html |title=The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300–1700 |location=Chicago |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-82654-7}}
* {{cite book|editor1-last=Viano|editor1-first=Cristina |date=2005 |title=L'alchimie et ses racines philosophiques. La tradition grecque et la tradition arabe |location=Paris |publisher=Vrin |isbn=978-2-7116-1754-8}}

=== Greco-Egyptian alchemy ===
==== Texts ====
* [[Marcellin Berthelot]] and Charles-Émile Ruelle (eds.), ''Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs'' (CAAG), 3 vols., 1887–1888, Vol 1: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96492923, Vol 2: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9680734p, Vol. 3: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9634942s.
* [[André-Jean Festugière]], ''La Révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2014 <small>({{ISBN|978-2-251-32674-0}}, OCLC 897235256)</small>.
* {{interlanguage link|Robert Halleux|de||fr}} and {{interlanguage link|Henri-Dominique Saffrey|fr}} (<abbr>eds.</abbr>), ''Les alchimistes grecs, <abbr>t.</abbr> 1 : Papyrus de Leyde – Papyrus de Stockholm – Recettes,'' Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1981.
* [[Otto Lagercrantz]] (ed), ''Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis'', Uppsala, A.B. [[The Academic Bookstore|Akademiska Bokhandeln]], 1913, [https://archive.org/details/papyrusgraecusho00lage/page/n8 Papyrus graecus holmiensis (P. holm.); Recepte für Silber, Steine und Purpur, bearb. von Otto Lagercrantz. Hrsg. mit Unterstützung des Vilh. Ekman'schen Universitätsfonds].
* Michèle Mertens and {{interlanguage link|Henri-Dominique Saffrey|fr}} (<abbr>ed.</abbr>), ''Les alchimistes grecs, <abbr>t.</abbr> 4.1 : Zosime de Panopolis. Mémoires authentiques,'' Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1995.
* Andrée Collinet and {{interlanguage link|Henri-Dominique Saffrey|fr}} (<abbr>ed.</abbr>), ''Les alchimistes grecs, <abbr>t.</abbr> 10 : L'Anonyme de Zuretti ou l'Art sacré and divin de la chrysopée par un anonyme'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2000.
* Andrée Collinet (ed), ''Les alchimistes grecs'', ''<abbr>t.</abbr> 11 : Recettes alchimiques (Par. Gr. 2419; Holkhamicus 109) – Cosmas le Hiéromoine – Chrysopée'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2000.
* Matteo Martelli (ed), ''The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus'', Maney Publishing, 2014.

==== Studies ====
* Dylan M. Burns, " μίξεώς τινι τέχνῃ κρείττονι : Alchemical Metaphor in the ''Paraphrase of Shem'' (NHC VII,1) ", ''Aries'' 15 (2015), p.&nbsp;79–106.
* Alberto Camplani, " Procedimenti magico-alchemici e discorso filosofico ermetico " in Giuliana Lanata (ed.), ''Il Tardoantico alle soglie del Duemila'', ETS, 2000, p.&nbsp;73–98.
* Alberto Camplani and Marco Zambon, " Il sacrificio come problema in alcune correnti filosofice di età imperiale ", ''Annali di storia dell'esegesi'' 19 (2002), p.&nbsp;59–99.
* Régine Charron and Louis Painchaud, " 'God is a Dyer,' The Background and Significance of a Puzzling Motif in the Coptic ''Gospel According to Philip (CG II, 3)'', ''Le Muséon'' 114 (2001), p. 41-50.
* Régine Charron, " The Apocryphon of John (NHC II,1) and the Greco-Egyptian Alchemical Literature ", ''Vigiliae Christinae'' 59 (2005), p. 438-456.
* Philippe Derchain, "L'Atelier des Orfèvres à Dendara et les origines de l'alchimie," ''Chronique d'Égypte'', <abbr>vol.</abbr> 65, <abbr>n<sup>o</sup></abbr> 130, 1990, <abbr>p.</abbr> 219–242.
* Korshi Dosoo, " A History of the Theban Magical Library ", ''Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists'' 53 (2016), p.&nbsp;251–274.
* Olivier Dufault, ''Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity'', California Classical Studies, 2019, [https://escholarship.org/uc/item/2ks0g83x Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity].
* Sergio Knipe, " Sacrifice and self-transformation in the alchemical writings of Zosimus of Panopolis ", in Christopher Kelly, Richard Flower, Michael Stuart Williams (eds.), ''Unclassical Traditions. Volume II: Perspectives from East and West in Late Antiquity,'' Cambridge University Press, 2011, p.&nbsp;59–69.
* [[André-Jean Festugière]], ''La Révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste'', Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2014 {{ISBN|978-2-251-32674-0}}, {{OCLC|897235256}}.
* Kyle A. Fraser, " Zosimos of Panopolis and the Book of Enoch: Alchemy as Forbidden Knowledge ", ''Aries'' 4.2 (2004), p.&nbsp;125–147.
* Kyle A. Fraser, " Baptized in Gnosis: The Spiritual Alchemy of Zosimos of Panopolis ", ''Dionysius'' 25 (2007), p.&nbsp;33–54.
* Kyle A. Fraser, " Distilling Nature's Secrets: The Sacred Art of Alchemy ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), ''Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World,'' Oxford University Press, 2018, p.&nbsp;721–742. 2018. [https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199734146.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199734146-e-76].
* Shannon Grimes, ''Becoming Gold: Zosimos of Panopolis and the Alchemical Arts in Roman Egypt'', Auckland, Rubedo Press, 2018, {{ISBN|978-0-473-40775-9}}
* Paul T. Keyser, " Greco-Roman Alchemy and Coins of Imitation Silver ", ''American Journal of Numismatics'' 7–8 (1995–1996), p.&nbsp;209–234.
* Paul Keyser, " The Longue Durée of Alchemy ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), ''Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World,'' Oxford University Press, 2018, p.&nbsp;409–430.
* Jean Letrouit, "Chronologie des alchimistes grecs," in Didier Kahn and Sylvain Matton, ''Alchimie: art, histoire et mythes'', SEHA-Archè, 1995, <abbr>p.</abbr> 11–93.
* Lindsay, Jack. ''The Origins of Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt''. Barnes & Noble, 1970.
* [[Paul Magdalino]] and Maria Mavroudi (eds.), ''The Occult Sciences in Byzantium'', La Pomme d'or, 2006.
* {{cite book |last=Martelli |first=Matteo |title=Laboratories of Art |chapter=The Alchemical Art of Dyeing: The Fourfold Division of Alchemy and the Enochian Tradition |series=Archimedes |publisher=Springer International Publishing | publication-place=Cham |volume=37 |date=2014 |isbn=978-3-319-05064-5 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-05065-2_1 |pages=1–22}}
* Matteo Martelli, " Alchemy, Medicine and Religion: Zosimus of Panopolis and the Egyptian Priests ", ''Religion in the Roman Empire'' 3.2 (2017), p.&nbsp;202–220.
* {{cite book |last=Merianos |first=Gerasimos |title=The Cambridge Intellectual History of Byzantium |chapter=Alchemy |publisher=Cambridge University Press |date=2017 |isbn=978-1-107-30085-9 |doi=10.1017/9781107300859.015 |pages=234–251}}
* {{cite book |title=Greek Alchemy from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity |series=De Diversis Artibus |publisher=Brepols Publishers | publication-place=Turnhout |volume=104 |date=2018 |isbn=978-2-503-58191-0 |doi=10.1484/m.dda-eb.5.116173 |page=}}
* Daniel Stolzenberg, " Unpropitious Tinctures: Alchemy, Astrology & Gnosis According to Zosimos of Panopolis ", ''Archives internationales d'histoire des sciences'' 49 (1999), p.&nbsp;3–31.
* Cristina Viano, " Byzantine Alchemy, or the Era of Systematization ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), ''Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World,'' Oxford University Press, 2018, p.&nbsp;943–964.
* {{cite journal |last1=Vlachou |first1=C. |last2=McDonnell |first2=J.G. |last3=Janaway |first3=R.C. |title=Experimental investigation of silvering in late Roman coinage |journal=MRS Proceedings |volume=712 |date=2002 |issn=0272-9172 |doi=10.1557/PROC-712-II9.2 |article-number=II9.2 }}

=== Early modern ===
* Principe, Lawrence and [[William R. Newman|William Newman]]. ''Alchemy Tried in the Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry''. University of Chicago Press, 2002.

== External links ==
{{Wiktionary}}
{{Wikiquote}}
{{Wikisource|Portal:Alchemy|Alchemy}}
{{Wikibooks}}
* {{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://www.ambix.org/ SHAC: Society for the History of Alchemy and Chemistry]
* [http://www.esswe.org/ ESSWE: European Society for the Study of Western Esotericism]
* [http://www.aseweb.org/ Association for the Study of Esotericism]

{{Alchemy|state=expanded}}
{{Fantasy fiction}}
{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Alchemy| ]]
[[Category:Eastern esotericism]]
[[Category:Western esotericism]]
[[Category:Natural philosophy]]
[[Category:History of science]]