Alchemy is one of the most ancient and mysterious sciences, which in the modern world is considered the lot of charlatans and swindlers. However, in older times, people did not speak so categorically about it, and great scientists did not consider it shameful to engage in such a questionable business in our enlightened view as the search for the philosopher's stone or the creation of the elixir of immortality.
In Ancient China, India, Ancient Egypt - in all these countries, a lot of attention was paid to alchemy. However, even here there were enough differences in the process of its formation.
For example, in China, alchemists worked on the secrets of the differentiation and transmutation of metals, and the Brotherhoods of Kuznetsov founded here possessed the greatest secrets that were used in the processing of metals. The alchemy of Indian sages surrounded with attention, first of all, Man, and the main work here was to develop and apply practices that could change the personality on a spiritual level, and at the same time would allow a person to achieve special forms of perception and development.
The ancient Egyptian sages knew enough about the nature of substances, otherwise how could the Egyptians have been able to build giant pyramids without the use of special cementing solutions? Or should you use copper tools when processing diorite? Radiocarbon analysis has established the presence of traces of copper on the blocks of the pyramids, but working with such tools a fairly hard stone is like cutting a tree with a paper knife. But the ancient Egyptians, nevertheless, successfully did such work that it is impossible without deep knowledge of the properties and transformations of substances.
In Western Europe, the passion for alchemy penetrated from the East, and the revival of this science began here in the 11th century. The most cherished dream of the alchemists was to find a way to turn lead into gold.
Many of the rulers, including Charles VII and Henry VI, were kept at the court of alchemists, in the hope that they would finally find the long-awaited "golden" recipe. At the same time, it was believed that alchemy can give immortality to those who find the philosopher's stone, from which the coveted elixir of eternal youth can be prepared.
It was believed that the philosopher's stone looks like an odorless yellow powder. This mysterious stone has many names: "red tincutura", "panacea of life", "red lion", "great elixir", etc. The philosopher's stone has tremendous mystical and healing power, with its help it was possible to revive the dead, cure any illness or to get immortality.
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The most famous physician and alchemist of the Middle Ages, Paracelsus, even during his lifetime, was considered a man who discovered the secret of the philosopher's stone. A talented and extravagant person, a self-taught doctor, Paracelsus was the first to use chemicals in the treatment of his patients.
His teaching was based on the fact that in the human body all chemical elements are in harmonious correspondence, and the disease arises for the reason that some element is missing. Paracelsus successfully used mercury preparations for the treatment of syphilis, and he treated epilepsy, paralysis and fainting with the help of the "golden mixture", the composition of which remained unknown.
In addition to a doctor and alchemist, Paracelsus is also known as a fortuneteller and astrologer, and the book "Oracles" written by him quite accurately reflects the events that took place many years after his prophecies.
But back to alchemy. Whether anyone managed to achieve immortality with the help of the philosopher's stone is not known for certain, but the fact that history has a lot of evidence of "immortal" people is a fact.
Nicola Flamel (owner of the Philosopher's Stone), well-known from the Harry Potter film, is not just an invention of the author, but a very real character. Nicolas Flamel was born in France in 1330, and was either a scribe or a notary who could hardly make ends meet.
According to some reports, he collected ancient books, and once on the street bought from a poor old man a rare manuscript in ancient Hebrew called "The Book of the Hebrew Abraham", which described the coveted alchemical recipes, including the production of gold from lead and the preparation of the elixir of immortality. In a rather short period of time, Flamel became very rich, and after his death, the grave in which he was buried turned out to be empty.
Moreover, he was seen with his family at the Paris Opera after 300 years. A century later (according to the testimony of the Abbot Vilaine, XVIII century) Flamel visited Desallo, the French ambassador in Turia. After the death of Nicolas Flamel, Cardinal Richelieu ordered a search of the alchemist's house, and later he was seen studying that very ancient book of Abraham.
Another mysterious person in the history of alchemy is Julien Flucanelli. This man appeared at the beginning of the twentieth century in Europe, but he "appeared", because according to official data, he had already died by that time.
Jean Julien Flucanelli was fond of alchemy during his lifetime, and he wrote several scientific books, which indicated various alchemical recipes. After the death of the alchemist, he was met more than once in various European cities.
His acquaintance, father Albert Spragius, wrote that Flucanelli knew how to turn lead into gold with the help of an "unknown substance" from pyrite. A rather interesting story is known, in which Flucanelli may have become a participant.
In 1937, in the laboratory of Professor Andre Helbronner, work was carried out to obtain atomic energy. And in the summer of the same year, a respectable person came to the assistant of professor Jean Berger with a message to Helbronner, in which he warned the scientist about the danger that threatens the world with inept handling of this energy.
The strange visitor was all too knowledgeable about the progress of the work, with which a very limited number of people were aware. The message also mentioned the element plutonium, still unknown at that time, which was discovered only four years later.
Berger himself believed that Flucanelli was the mysterious visitor.
The list of "immortal" alchemists also includes Count Saint-Germain, who died back in 1784, but his last appearance was recorded not so long ago, and just like Flucanelli's appearance, Saint-Germain did not change, he only changed his names … Some believe that both of these people are one and the same person.
If you read the history of alchemy, you might get the impression that all the fairly well-known specialists in this field lived in Europe or somewhere in the East. However, there are quite interesting personalities among domestic enthusiasts.
For example, Count Alexander Vladimirovich Tolstoy, by the way, a distant relative of the famous writer, can rightfully be considered the last alchemist of the Russian Empire. Inspired by the idea of converting lead into gold, Tolstoy realized that this requires colossal energy.
Therefore, not far from Bukhara, a solar oven was built, consisting of a parabolic mirror that collected the sun's rays at one point. At the same time, such a temperature was reached that the refractory metals evaporated almost instantly.
In the summer of 1912, work was going on in this direction, and even some gold was obtained, but it was impossible to prove that it was not contained in lead before the experiment. Therefore, Tolstoy decides to take up a more promising business - the transformation of graphite into diamond.
Here business was moving better, and already in 1915 the count received the first diamond of gem value. After that, the production of diamonds began to go on an assembly line, but 1917 was fatal for the production and for the count himself.
The Cossacks and Count Tolstoy accompanying the next consignment of diamonds were killed by a gang of deserters. According to another version, the count did get to St. Petersburg, where he worked under the leadership of Sverdlov.
Of course, the history of alchemy has many confirmations of successful experiments, not only in terms of obtaining gold or immortality, but also other rather interesting transformations. However, most of these stories are reflected in legends or myths, and therefore it is hardly possible to establish the truth of such statements.
Although it is no secret that the knowledge possessed by the ancients is much higher than that possessed by the modern generation.