Four color stages are required to reach the Magnum Opus, the Great Work or the Philosopher's Stone of the alchemist. These are nigredo...

Chrysopoeia is Greek for "goldsmithing." It's the alchemical process or action of turning a base metal such as lead into the noble metal...

Vermilion (vermillion) is a brilliant red, orange-red or scarlet pigment obtained by grinding cinnabar (HgS), a sulfur and mercury ore. A...

Alum is an ingredient in processes such as dyeing fabric, tanning hides and water purification. Alum is ubiquitous in ancient and...

Tanning hides is practiced in the ancient world since c. 7000 BCE, in the Indus Valley site of Mehgarh. By 2500 BCE, Sumerians of...

Pistacia is a shrub or tree prized for food , resin, tannins, oils and natural turpentine for thousands of years in the Mediterranean...

Yarrow is an herb of magic and medicine. A flowering plant native to the northern hemisphere yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is commonly...

Verdigris is the green rust or patina on copper, created as the metal reacts with oxygen in the environment. Copper corrodes green to...

Black is among the first pigments in the palette of early humans. By Paleolithic times, black defines lines, shadows and meaning. Black...

White pigments used in ancient art, spirituality and beauty include bone, limestone variations like chalk and other natural sources....

Red ocher is among the first colors appearing on the palette of early humans, along with white and red. Black, white and red are also...

Limonite is an iron earth mineraloid among the first colors of the Stone Age palette. Grinding limonite produces yellow ochre. Other...

Woad ( Isatis tinctoria ) is a plant yielding a blue pigment used in dyes, paint and medicine. A member of the mustard family, it's also...

Nephrite jade is the foremost commodity to travel along the Pacific Coasts of the East. The seaway route is the original Jade Road named...

Turquoise is beloved for thousands of years by people from royals to the richly challenged. The world's first known turquoise mine is...

One of the crystals known since ancient times, amethyst holds it own characteristics, magic and myth. Purple is hard to get ancient...

Spiritual alchemy uses the principles of alchemy to achieve harmony and fulfillment in life. Alchemy incorporates shapes, symbols,...

The Yamnaya or Yamna people occupy the Ponti-Caspian Steppe about 3300 BCE, with a tribal origin going back to Neolithic times. In the...

The ancient town of Kültepe (Kultepe, Kanesh, Kaneš), where the earliest writing originates, rises to a prosperous trade city and kārum ...

Asteria or Star Stones create a star-like inner glow. Star sapphires belong to this group. In the ancient world they're valued by Greeks...