Is Alchemy Real? You Probably Practice It Already
Mention alchemy and most people picture old men in dark rooms, trying to turn lead into gold.
The truth is much closer to home. Most of us practice a little alchemy every week..
Alchemy is transformation
At its heart, alchemy is the art of transformation. A substance is taken through heat, time and purification until it becomes something finer than it was.
Nature does this slowly. The alchemist works with nature, and helps it along.
The humble potato
Cook a potato, let it go completely cold, then heat it again. It is not the same potato.
As it cools, some of its starch turns into resistant starch, which behaves more like fiber. Reheating doesn’t undo the change.
Heat, cold and heat again have transformed the potato, and improved it. That is a basic form of alchemy, and people practice it without even knowing.
An egg in boiling water
Heat is the alchemist’s oldest tool. Put an egg in boiling water and, a few minutes later, the liquid inside has become solid.
No amount of cooling will turn it back. Heat has transformed it for good.
The alchemist’s furnace, the athanor, works on the same principle, only with far more patience. Some processes are held at a gentle heat for weeks.
What is spagyric medicine?
The old alchemists summed up their work in three words: solve et coagula. Dissolve, and bring together again.
A plant is separated into its parts, each part is purified, and then they are reunited. What comes back together is purer and stronger than what went in.
This is spagyric medicine, from the Greek words for “to separate” and “to gather”. A spagyric tincture is a plant remedy made in just this way.
Real enough for Newton
Chemistry grew out of alchemy. Isaac Newton, one of the greatest scientists who ever lived, wrote about a million words on it.
But alchemy was never only about matter. The alchemist works on the emotional and spiritual bodies as well as the physical one.. and that is where it goes far beyond the potato.
If you would like to go deeper, read How Does Alchemy Work? Or see our alchemical elixirs.