Editing Alchemy (section)

{{Short description|Branch of natural philosophy}}
{{Redirect|Alchemist|other uses|Alchemist (disambiguation)|and|Alchemy (disambiguation)}}
{{Use Oxford spelling|date=March 2024}}
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[[File:Aurora consurgens zurich 044 f-21v-44 dragon-pot.jpg|thumb|upright=1.3|Depiction of an [[Ouroboros]] from the alchemical treatise ''{{lang|la|[[Aurora consurgens]]}}'' (15th century), [[Zentralbibliothek Zürich]], Switzerland]]
{{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" (τέχνη) or "Knowledge" (ἐπιστήμη), and it was often characterised as mystic (μυστική), sacred (ἱɛρά), or divine (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 |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.