There are areas of human knowledge that are recognized as scientific, and there are areas that are considered unscientific. Alchemy also belongs to the latter type. But was it really that unscientific? And was it the only search for the philosopher's stone that the alchemists were doing? In order to understand this issue, it is necessary to trace the history of the emergence of alchemy as a science.
The word "alchemy" goes back through the Arabic word "cheo" to the Greek "chemeia", which means "pour, pour". Etymology directly indicates the connection between alchemy and the art of smelting and casting metals. There is another interpretation - from the Egyptian hieroglyph "hmi", meaning fertile land as opposed to barren sands. This hieroglyph designated Egypt, the place where alchemy is said to have originated.
For the first time the term "alchemy" is found in the manuscript of Julius Firmik, an astrologer of the 4th century. The most important task of alchemists was the transmutation (transformation) of base metals into noble ones. This task up to the 16th century. was the main one not only in alchemy, but also in chemistry. The idea of the possibility of transmutation of metals did not arise from scratch, it was based on the ideas of Greek philosophy that the material world consists of one or several "primary elements", which under certain conditions can pass into each other.
The period when alchemy was born and flourished (IV-XVI centuries) was a period of development not only of "speculative" alchemy, but also of practical chemistry. And these two sciences directly influenced each other. The famous German chemist Liebig wrote about alchemy that it "was never anything other than chemistry." We can draw a parallel and conclude that alchemy is related to modern chemistry in the same way that astrology is to astronomy. Yes, academic science does not accept astrology, but there is a huge amount of evidence that astrological laws work, and astrologers actually predict the future.
Medieval alchemists tried to find two mysterious substances with the help of which the desired transmutation of metals could be achieved. The first, which had the property of turning not only silver into gold, but also lead, mercury, etc., was called the philosopher's stone, the red lion, the great elixir (the word "elixir" comes from the Arabic "al-ixir" - "philosopher's stone"). It was assumed that the Philosopher's Stone not only refines metals, but also serves as a universal medicine. Its solution, the so-called golden drink, could heal all diseases, rejuvenate the old body and lengthen life.
Another mysterious substance, a minor one, called white lion, white tincture, had the ability to convert all base metals into silver.
If we discard all prejudices, then alchemy is not so much a science as the highest stage of symbolic thinking, a teaching that comprehends the path of "reaching the center of all things." Alchemy is defined as modeling the cosmic process and creating a "chemical model of the cosmic process." The alchemist created in his retort a model of the world and world-creating processes and then in his works he described in detail all the objects that helped him in this, and the techniques. For alchemists, in general, a thorough attitude to the description of the experiment was characteristic (in this case, incredibly symbolic terminology was used). After all, the alchemist sets as his task the reproduction and spiritualization of the cosmos, participation in the cosmological process, proceeds from the idea of the substantial unity of the world and the universality of changes. The idea of the unity of all things was symbolically depicted in the form of the gnostic serpent Ouroboros, the serpent devouring its own tail - the symbol of Eternity and all alchemical Work.
It is curious that both in Europe and in the East, alchemy was a complex of two more sciences - astrology and medicine - and was perceived as a path to spiritual perfection, as a lifestyle and a type of human behavior. At the same time, internal and external alchemy were distinguished. Internal - a form of internal doing, it is aimed at achieving an enlightened state by the adept through the spiritualization of the microcosm. External - works with the purification of cosmological entities hidden under the form of matter. It is based on the ancient concept of materia prima, which is the substance of the micro- and macrocosm, capable of transforming and forming new forms.
Promotional video:
Alchemy worked in a system of four modes of primal matter - the primary elements of Greek natural philosophy: air, earth, fire and water (plus the fifth in Greek alchemy - all-pervading ether or metal in Chinese) in combination with three philosophical elements: salt, sulfur and mercury. Mercury (Mercury) - a passive feminine principle (yin) - represents the first purification and represents a feeling, imagination. Sulfur acts as an active masculine principle (analogy of yang in Chinese alchemy) - a more subtle purification: mind, intuition. A great doing or transformation (cinnabar) is an alchemical androgyne, a harmonious combination of masculine and feminine (yin and yang): “He who fails to 'become two in one body' will become two in one spirit” (de Olivier).
Alchemy is also known as the interaction of the Kundalini energy - the symbol of the feminine aspect - with the higher energy, or masculine principle. Through understanding the workings of masculine and feminine principles, she is associated with the Tarot system.
Yes, obtaining the Philosopher's Stone or the Elixir of Life was an end in itself for alchemists. However, the Philosopher's Stone denotes, first of all, a deep inner striving to find your true spiritual nature, known to alchemists as an active principle.
Such a well-developed system of analogies allowed alchemy with its universal language to occupy one of the leading places up to the present day, not only within itself, but also in modern literature, theater, and mystical teachings. In this regard, the allegory of many alchemical treatises can be explained by the fact that they organically merged natural science and artistic ideas about the world. That is why in some countries alchemy is legalized by Christian ideology, where it is considered white magic. In the same countries where alchemy appears in its pagan capacity (black magic), it is recognized as an unofficial and therefore forbidden business. This largely explains the tragic fate of some European alchemists (for example, Roger Bacon, the alchemist Alexander Seton Cosmopolitan, etc.).
There were several schools of alchemy: Greek-Egyptian, Arab and Western European. In the days of Hellenism, there was such a direction of alchemy as hermeticism. It was a religious and philosophical movement that combined elements of popular Greek philosophy, Chaldean astrology, Persian magic and Egyptian alchemy. This period is represented by a significant number of writings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus. The tradition of hermeticism was continued in the European Renaissance, the works of Paracelsus were saturated with it, he even influenced Giordano Bruno and Isaac Newton.
Ancient Egypt is considered the birthplace of alchemy. Alchemists began their science from Hermes Trismegistus, who was considered the founder of this science (he was identified with the Egyptian god Thoth, and in Ancient Rome - with Mercury), and therefore the art of making gold was called hermetic. The alchemists sealed their vessels with a seal with the image of Hermes - hence the expression “hermetically sealed”. There was a legend that the art of turning "simple" metals into gold was taught by angels to earthly women with whom they married, as described in the Book of Genesis and the Book of the Prophet Enoch in the Bible.
The Alexandria Academy is considered to be the cradle of chemistry. Founded by Alexander the Great in 332 BC the new capital of Egypt, Alexandria, very quickly became the largest commercial and cultural center of the ancient Mediterranean. The Alexandrian Academy was founded by Ptolemy Soter, a companion of Alexander, who after the death of the latter (323 BC) became king of Egypt. This academy, together with the largest repository of ancient manuscripts created with it - the Alexandrian Library (about 700,000 manuscripts) - existed for about a thousand years (until the 7th century AD). The names of such outstanding thinkers of antiquity as Euclid, Archimedes, Ptolemy are associated with it.
Throughout its existence, alchemy remained a hermetic science - i.e. closed to the uninitiated. The main objects of study of Alexandrian alchemy were metals; It was in Alexandrian alchemy that the traditional metal-planetary symbolism of alchemy was formed, in which each of the seven metals then known was associated with a corresponding planet and a day of the week. However, in the European alchemical tradition, mercury was not considered a metal, since it is not mentioned in the Bible.
Despite mystical philosophies, now recognized as unscientific, alchemists, nevertheless, in the process of their searches, have achieved a lot for the development of academic chemistry. For example, even the Greek-Egyptian alchemists discovered such a phenomenon as the amalgamation of metals. The Alexandrian alchemists improved the method of extracting gold and silver from ores, for which mercury obtained from cinnabar or calomel was widely used. They also began to use gold amalgam for gilding, they developed a method for refining gold by cupelling - heating ore with lead and nitrate.
At the same time, in addition to its practical value, the unique ability of mercury to form an amalgam led to the emergence of the concept of mercury as a special, "primary" metal. The same was facilitated by the unusual properties of the combination of mercury with sulfur - cinnabar, - which, depending on the production conditions, has a different color - from red to blue.
Around the same time, the production of brass, a yellow alloy of copper and zinc, was also discovered. True, the then famous alchemist Bolos believed that brass was gold.
Unfortunately, very little is known about the Alexandrian stage of alchemy. The Library of Alexandria was almost completely destroyed. In addition, the Roman emperor Diocletian, in order to exclude the possibility of obtaining cheap gold, ordered the destruction of all works on alchemy.
The establishment of Christianity as the state religion of the Roman Empire under the emperor Constantine (285-337) led to an even greater persecution of alchemy, which Christians considered heresy. In 529, Pope Gregory I prohibited reading ancient books and engaging not only in alchemy, but also in mathematics and philosophy. As a result, Christian Europe plunged into the darkness of the early Middle Ages. However, the scientific and cultural traditions of the Greek school in the East persisted for some time in the Byzantine Empire, which became the disseminator of alchemical ideas in Europe in the 4th century. (the largest collection of alchemical manuscripts is kept in the Library of St. Mark in Venice), and then they were accepted by the Arab world.
After the Arabs in the VII century. conquered Egypt, they brought the legacy of the Alexandrian school to the conquered Spain, which became the second after Byzantium source for the spread of alchemical ideas in Europe.
In the VII century. a victorious march of a new world religion - Islam - began, which led to the creation of a huge Caliphate, which included Asia Minor and Central, North Africa (including Egypt) and the south of the Iberian Peninsula in Europe. The Arab caliphs, imitating Alexander the Great, patronized the sciences. In the Middle East - in Damascus, Baghdad, Cordoba, Cairo - universities were created, which for several centuries became the main scientific centers and gave mankind a whole galaxy of outstanding scientists. The influence of Islam in Arab universities was comparatively weak. In addition, the study of the works of ancient authors did not contradict three obligatory Islamic dogmas - faith in Allah, in his prophets and the afterlife. Thanks to this, scientific ideas, based on the scientific heritage of antiquity, could freely develop in the Arab East,including the Alexandrian alchemy.
The famous Bukharian physician Abu Ali al Hussein ibn Abdallah ibn Sina, or Avicenna (980-1037), stands out among the Arab scholars who studied alchemy. However, he approached the issue in an extremely non-standard way: he was the first in history to criticize the idea of transmutation of metals, which he considered impossible. The main task of alchemy Avicenna considered the preparation of medicines.
However, the Arabian period of alchemy enriched humanity with such fundamental aspects as the creation of the basic theories of alchemy and chemistry, laboratory technology and experimental methodology. The Arab alchemists also developed a conceptual apparatus. They have achieved undoubted practical success - they isolated antimony, arsenic and, apparently, phosphorus, obtained acetic acid and solutions of strong mineral acids. Arab alchemy, unlike Alexandrian alchemy, was quite rational; the mystical elements in it were rather a tribute to tradition. The most important merit of Arab alchemists was the creation of pharmaceuticals, which developed the traditions of ancient medicine.
After the XII century. for a variety of internal and external reasons, Arab alchemy began to decline. The last major Arab alchemist was Al Jildaki (XIV century), who wrote a number of works that very fully summarize the works of his predecessors. The center of scientific thought moves to Europe.
Alchemy also developed in China. The beginning of Chinese alchemy dates back to the 4th-3rd centuries. BC. The earliest written sources known to us - the alchemical treatise "Tsan Tong Qi" ("On the Unification of the Triad"), dates back to the II century. Chinese alchemy, through Hindus and Arabs, even influenced medieval European alchemy. In the III century. India is also affected by alchemical influences. Indian alchemy worked with the idea of a wheel with six spokes, dividing the field into six planetary kingdoms, six classes of beings, six human states, six metals. The dot in the middle corresponds to the king - on earth, the sun - in the sky and gold.
The European states, primarily the countries of southern Europe, were in close contact with Byzantium and the Arab world, especially after the beginning of the Crusades (from 1096). Europeans got the opportunity to get acquainted with the brilliant achievements of the Arab civilization, and with the heritage of antiquity, preserved thanks to the Arabs.
In the XII century. Attempts were made to translate Arabic treatises and works of ancient authors into Latin. At the same time, the first secular educational institutions - universities were created in Europe: in Bologna (1119), Montpellier (1189), Paris (1200). Since the 13th century, one can speak of European alchemy as a special stage in the alchemical period. In the period from the XII to the XVII centuries. famous scientists who have left their mark on European science were engaged in alchemy.
At the same time, there were very significant differences between Arab and European alchemy. European alchemy developed in a society where the Catholic Church actively intervened in all secular affairs; the presentation of ideas that were contrary to Christian dogma was very unsafe. Therefore, alchemy in Europe was in a semi-underground position. In 1317, Pope John XXII anathematized alchemy, after which any alchemist could at any moment be declared a heretic with all the ensuing consequences. However, it is curious that the European rulers (both secular and ecclesiastical), having outlawed alchemy, at the same time patronized it, counting on the benefits that promised to find a way to obtain gold. Consequently, European alchemy, like Alexandrian alchemy, was originally a hermetic science accessible only to initiates. This explains the extremely vague presentation of the results achieved, characteristic of European alchemy. However, for quite a long time, European writings on alchemy were only translations or compilations of Arabic treatises.
The first famous European alchemist was the Dominican monk Albert von Bolstedt (1193-1280), better known as Albertus Magnus (Albertus Magnus). He was the first European alchemist to describe in detail the properties of arsenic, so he is sometimes credited with his discovery.
His contemporary, the English Franciscan monk Roger Bacon (1214-1292), in his treatises, gives a detailed description of the nature of metals from the point of view of the mercury-sulfur theory. Bacon gave the classic definition of alchemy: "Alchemy is a science that indicates how to prepare and receive some means, an elixir, which, thrown on a metal or imperfect substance, makes them perfect at the moment of touch."
As in the writings of the Arab alchemists, in the writings of Albertus Magnus and Roger Bacon, the proportion of mysticism was relatively small. At the same time, for European alchemy as a whole, mystical elements are much more characteristic than for Arab alchemy.
As a result, the mysticism and closeness of European alchemy gave rise to a significant number of fraudsters from alchemy. And yet, in the XIV-XV centuries. European alchemy has made significant progress, having managed to surpass the Arabs in comprehending the properties of matter. In 1270, the Italian alchemist Cardinal Giovanni Fidanza (1121-1274), known as Bonaventura, in one of his attempts to obtain a universal solvent, obtained a solution of ammonia in nitric acid, which turned out to be able to dissolve gold, the king of metals (hence the name - aqua Regis, i.e. E. e. royal vodka). The name of the most significant of the medieval European alchemists, who worked in Spain in the XIV century, remained unknown - he signed his works with the name of Geber (under this name in Europe the outstanding Arab scientist and alchemist Abu Musa Jabir ibn Hayyan (721-815) was known). Pseudo-Geber was the first to describe in detail strong mineral acids - sulfuric and nitric. The use of concentrated mineral acids in alchemical practice led to a significant increase in the knowledge of chemists and alchemists about the substance.
These and other scientists discovered the separation of gold from silver using nitric acid, obtaining arsenic in its pure form, sulfuric ether, hydrochloric acid, many compounds of arsenic and antimony, the ability of nitrate to explode due to burning coal, methods of obtaining antimony and its medical use (antimony was the favorite medicine of the alchemists who dreamed of getting from it a cure for all diseases). Jan Baptist van Helmont coined the term "gas", Johann Rudolf Glauber discovered sodium sulfate (Glauber's salt). He, however, considered her to be that very philosophical stone. Giambattista della Porta made tin oxide, Blaise Vigenère discovered benzoic acid. These examples, the list of which is far from complete, clearly indicate that the "unscientific" research of alchemists has benefited mankind.
Many discoveries were, without exaggeration, sensational. In 1602, the shoemaker and alchemist Vincenzo Casciarolo found a stone in the mountains of Bologna, which was so heavy that Casciarolo suspected the presence of gold in it. As a result, a new element was discovered - barium. In the middle of the 17th century. the alchemist from Hamburg Hennig Brand, distilling human urine, discovered that when the sediment was calcined, the latter glows in the dark. Thus, phosphorus was re-obtained. A little later, thanks to the search for alchemists, Saxon and Meissen porcelain was created.
Printing played an important role in the dissemination of alchemical works (the first printing house was opened in Mainz in 1450). Since printing was then quite expensive, many anonymous alchemists, in order to give authority to their works, published them under the names of famous scientists of the ancient world - Plato, Pythagoras, Demosthenes, etc. Also appeared in many translations allegedly from the Arabic language, although subsequently these manuscripts were not found anywhere.
By the middle of the XVI century. in European alchemy, a rapidly progressing division became apparent. On the one hand, there are degenerate mystics, still trying to carry out the transmutation of metals with the help of magic, on the other, representatives of rational currents gaining strength. The most significant of the latter were iatrochemistry (the search for longevity and immortality) and technical chemistry, which became a kind of transitional stage from classical alchemy to new scientific chemistry.
If we generalize the achievements of that period, then its main result, in addition to the accumulation of a significant stock of knowledge about a substance, was the formation of an empirical (experimental) approach to the study of the properties of a substance. On the whole, the alchemical period was an absolutely necessary transitional stage between natural philosophy and experimental natural science.
However, it must be admitted that alchemy was originally characterized by very serious negative features, which made it a dead-end branch of the development of natural science and chemistry. Firstly, this is a limitation of research by the transmutation of metals, because all alchemical operations were subordinated only to this main goal. Secondly, mysticism. Thirdly, the dogmatism of the theory underlying the idea of transmutation, which was taken as the ultimate truth without any justification. Finally, the closeness originally characteristic of alchemy was a significant obstacle to the development of this science.
The founder of iatrochemistry (from the Greek "yatro" - "doctor") is considered to be the German physician and alchemist Philip Theophrastus von Hohenheim, known as Paracelsus (1493-1541). Alchemy of Paracelsus focused on the microcosm, solving problems of universal medicine in search of Mercury (the elixir of life). Like Avicenna, Paracelsus had a negative attitude to the idea of transmutation of metals (not denying, however, the fundamental possibility of transmutation). Paracelsus argued that the task of alchemy is to make medicines: “Chemistry is one of the pillars on which medical science should rely. The task of chemistry is not at all to make gold and silver, but to prepare medicines."
Second half of the 17th century left the most bizarre memories of people who pretended not only to be alchemists, doctors, magicians, but also as experts in all the problems that concern a person. This galaxy of adventurers, charlatans achieved titles, honor, fame, although sometimes they ended their life very sadly. Who has not heard such names as Count Saint-Germain, Cagliostro, John Long? At the same time, true alchemists did not seek to obtain gold, it was only a tool, not a goal. (Nevertheless, Dante in his "Divine Comedy" defined the place of alchemists, like counterfeiters, in hell, or rather, in the eighth circle, the tenth moat.) The goal for them was precisely the philosopher's stone itself (although the stone is a conditional concept, more often it is represented either as a powder or a solution of powder - the very elixir of life) and spiritual liberation,absolute freedom.
After the spread of chemistry itself, alchemy aroused interest among many, in particular, among I. V. Goethe, who spent several years studying the works of alchemists.
If we summarize all the data about alchemy and alchemists, then we can say that the European alchemist is both an experimental theorist and a practitioner-craftsman, a poet and an artist, a scholastic and a mystic, theologian and philosopher, a magician-warlock and a true Christian. This view of alchemy allows us to understand it as a phenomenon that concentrated many of the features of the way of the ancient, dark and middle ages.