(by 13 people)
As above, so below...
Alchemy is the study of transformation, and this discipline overlaps the worlds of art, science, philosophy, medicine and spirituality. Practitioners of the alchemical arts were located in ancient India, Arabia, China, Egypt, with later adepts based in Europe.
It is experiencing a revival as of late, with a variety of people exploring it as a multi-denominational spiritual vehicle.
Explore Alchemy
table of contents
The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismigestus
It is said that all the secrets of alchemy are contained below, hidden in full sight within the text of the Emerald Tablet, as composed by Hermes Trismigestus, author of many mystical tracts.True, without falsehood, certain and most true, that which is above is as that which is below, and that which is below is as that which is above, for the performance of the miracles of the One Thing.
And as all things are from One, by the mediation of One, so all things have their birth from this One Thing by adaptation. The Sun is its father, the Moon its mother, and the Wind carries it in its belly, its nurse is the Earth. This is the father of all perfection, or consummation of the whole world. Its power is integrating, if it be turned into earth.
Thou shalt separate the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross, suavely, and with great ingenuity. It ascends from earth to heaven and descends again to earth, and receives the power of the superiors and of the inferiors. So thou hast the glory of the whole world; therefore let all obscurity flee before thee.
This is the strong force of all forces, overcoming every subtle and penetrating every solid thing. So the world was created. Hence were all wonderful adaptations, of which this is the manner. Therefore am I called Hermes Trismigestus, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world. What I have to tell is completed, concerning the Operation of the Sun.
My Alchemical Library
books I've read and collected on alchemy
Little Wisdoms: Alchemy (Medieval Wisdom)
This tiny book was something I picked up years ago, when alchemy wasn't something I really understood but I just wanted to get the basic ideas down.
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Alchemy (The Weiser Concise Guide Series)
This recent publication is much more of a good, overall introduction to alchemy and from reading this book I finally started to grasp the interconnections of all the theories and also better understood how alchemy is a sort of world tradition, having had input from many major cultures over the centuries.
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Alchemy Art of Transformation
With this book, I found the concepts of alchemy starting to "coagula" and not just "solve" within my mind. The ideas and psychology that underlie and intertwine with alchemical thought really started to be more clear. I think it was after reading this book that I decided to purposely put more energy and time into the study of alchemy.
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Alchemical Healing: A Guide to Spiritual, Physical, and Transformational Medicine
I love this book for the meditative exercises and stories of how the author has applied alchemical concepts to the process of healing. I'm not sure I'd ready to do the type of energy work she describes, but I appreciate the practices and exercises that are found in this book as I move along my alchemical path.
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The Practical Handbook of Plant Alchemy: An Herbalist's Guide to Preparing Medicinal Essences, Tinctures, and Elixirs
So as to avail myself of a wonderful backyard garden full of plants and make it relate to alchemy, I've started to study up on making spagyric tinctures. This book touches on European alchemical thought as well as Eastern alchemical philosophies, revealing more facets and ways of interpreting the ideas.
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The Emerald Tablet Explored
- Emerald Tablet of Hermes
- The Tablet probably first appeared in the West in editions of the psuedo-Aristotlean Secretum Secretorum which was actually a translation of the Kitab Sirr al-Asar, a book of advice to kings which was translated into latin by Johannes Hispalensis c. 1140 and by Philip of Tripoli c.1243. Other translations of the Tablet may have been made during the same period by Plato of Tivoli and Hugh of Santalla, perhaps from different sources.
- The Emerald Tablet
- Tabula Smaragdina, The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistos
- Emerald Tablet of Hermes
- Many years ago, a group of people decided to publish different translations of the Emerald Tablet and various commentaries upon it. The group broke up, the work was never finished.... Here is some of what remained.
- The Emerald Tablet: Time Capsule of Wisdom from Mankind's Unknown Benefactors.
- The Emerald Tablet is an ancient artifact that reveals a profound spiritual technology, which has survived to this day despite centuries of effort to suppress it. Encoded within the tablet's mysterious wording is a powerful formula that works in very specific and comprehensible steps on all levels of reality at once -- the physical, the mental, and the spiritual -- and shows us how to achieve personal transformation and even accelerate the evolution of our species.
- Emerald Tablet, The
- The Emerald Tablet, or the Emerald Table as it is frequently called is part of the Hermetica and is one of most revered magical documents in Western occultism. Hermes Trismegistus is portrayed in art as holding an emerald upon which he inscribed the entire Egyptian philosophy.
Images of Transmutation
Alchemy still heads
Elements: Alchemy Notebook
Alchemy Set
alchemy
alchemy versus doctrinus
the symbology of alchemy/turning into gold
The Great Work
Ora et Labora
- Alchemy Lab
- A mega-website devoted to transforming your reality using the mental and spiritual operations of ancient alchemy.
- Alchemy Index
- Although the alchemists' fundamental goal of elemental transmutation was flawed, on a deeper level the work of alchemy (cloaked in allegorical images) also represented the transformation of the soul.
- Newton's Alchemy, recreated
- "Alchemy is the science by which the principles, causes, properties, and passions of all the metals are known radically, so that those of them which are imperfect, incomplete, mixed, and corrupt may be transmuted into genuine gold." Petrus Bonus, 14th century.
- alchemy
- over 400 skeptical definitions and essays on occult, paranormal,supernatural and pseudoscientific ideas and practices with references to the best skeptical literature
- Alchemy - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- Alchemy refers to both an early protoscientific and an early philosophical discipline, both combining elements of chemistry, metallurgy, physics, medicine, astrology, semiotics, mysticism, spiritualism, and art. Alchemy has been practiced in Ancient Egypt, Persia, India, and China, in Classical Greece and Rome, in the Islamic empire, and then in Europe up to the nineteenth century - in a complex network of schools and philosophical systems spanning at least 2500 years.
- Alchemy - Philosopher's Stone
- Alchemy is an ancient path of spiritual purification and transformation; the expansion of consciousness and the development of insight and intuition through images. Alchemy is steeped in mysticism and mystery.
- CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA: Alchemy
- The art of transmuting baser metals into gold and silver. It was the predecessor of the modern science of chemistry, for the first steps in the development of the modern science were based on the work of the old alchemists.
- From Alchemy to Chemistry: Five Hundred Years of Rare and Interesting Books
- In the exhibit, the curators tried to convey some of the major shifts in the study of chemistry - not just the movement from alchemy to modern science - but also the way chemists changed the way they talked about their field.
- The Alchemy Web Site
- Alchemy is a complex subject with many different interconnected aspects. Many people still only think of the quest of the philosophers' stone to change base metals into gold.
- Terence McKenna-- Lectures on Alchemy
- In the spirit of that last sentence, I decided to post here the transcriptions, given to me by a friend, of a lecture series that Terence presented on alchemy. I do not know where or when the lectures were given. Note: I have not edited the transcriptions at all-- they are exactly as I received them.
- The Spell Binder: Alchemy
- Contrary to popular opinion, alchemy was not merely a quest for the recipe to make gold and neither was it a purely mediaeval venture. Alchemy has its origins in ancient Egypt and in ancient Babylonia, well before the birth of Christ.
- Inner Alchemy--Gurdjieff, Taoism, Self-Transformation
- Inner Alchemy is a quarterly newsletter-journal dedicated to the art & science of self-transformation.
- Islamic Culture and the Medical Arts: Pharmaceutics and Alchemy
- The Arabic word al-kimiya, from which we derive the word alchemy, was used for both chemistry and alchemy, and no clear distinction was made between the two activities.
The Expanding Alchemy Library
books I'd like to add to my knowledge and library on the topic
Sorcerer's Stone: A Beginner's Guide to Alchemy
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The Emerald Tablet: Alchemy of Personal Transformation
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The Philosopher's Stone: A Quest for the Secrets of Alchemy
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Alchemy & Mysticism (Klotz)
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Hermetic and Alchemical Writings of Paracelsus, Part 1
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Famous Alchemists
- Famous Alchemists
- from the University of Bristol School of Chemistry
- Alchemists
- An alchemist was a person versed in the art of alchemy, an ancient branch of natural philosophy that eventually evolved into chemistry and pharmacology. Alchemy flourished in the Islamic world during the Middle Ages, and then in Europe from the 13th to the 18th centuries.
- Timeline of alchemists
- This chart depicts the lifes of key alchemists and related writers, from the 13th to the end of the 18th century. By placing each writer in a historical context, this will help us understand the influences and borrowing of ideas.
- Famous Alchemists
- "Alchemy: The Struggle for Immortality" Copyright Gerald del Campo 1995
- Alchemy: Turning Rocks to Gold Since the Middle Ages!
- Alchemy. Such a misunderstood science. I hope this article can help set things straight for whomever reads it.
- The Alchemists
- The alchemists are a sub-group somewhere between Order of Hermes and the Sons of Ether. While they use the terminology and symbols of the Order, they share the solitary attitude and the interest in the sphere of matter with the Sons.
Alchemy Around The Fire
some modern alchemists are using the fire circle as the crucible
Alchemical Fire Circle
An introduction to alchemical/magickal fire circle events like Vegas Vortex and Four Quarters' Fires Rising. Coordinated by Jeff 'Magnus' McBride, Abbi Spinner McBride, Michael Wall, and Joshua Levin. For More info see http://www.4qf.org/_FiresRising/ and http://www.vegasvortex.com/ Music by Abbi Spinner McBride. Video used with permission- ©2006 Reel Time Images; Prod. VisionTV CA
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Lesser Alchemy
- Black Phoenix Alchemy Lab: Potions, Perfumes, and Esoteric Brews
- Purveyors of gothic, Renaissance, and Medieval themed potions, aromatherapy blends, bath and body products, and herbal household accoutrements.
- Alchemy Works Seeds & Herbs - The Raw Materials of Magick
- Whether you practice witchcraft, ritual magick, or simply enjoy unusual seeds and botanicals, you will find something here of interest. All these seeds, herbs, and resins have traditionally played a role in ancient or modern Earth-based spirituality (Paganism) and magick.
- Alchemy - Play at Shockwave.com
- Turn lead into gold with Alchemy. The goal is to convert an entire lead playing board into gold pieces by placing runes into matching configurations. But be wary of snap judgments. Alchemy requires a forward-thinking mind.
- Chemistry Instruction at Merlin's Academy of Alchemy
- The best Chemistry courses on the Internet. Self-learning, self-paced, hypertextbook and exams. Low cost, high quality chemistry education for home school or institutions.
- Al-Qemi Homepage
- Spagyric & Alchemical Products.
