Spirit of wine, or spirits of wine, is a common alchemical ingredient in medical remedies and recipes of chemical transformation. This...

Hydrogen Peroxide (H₂O₂) is one of the most versatile chemicals today due to powerful oxidizing properties and a wide range of...

Litharge (PbO) is a lead oxide mineral with an alpha and beta structure. It's among the most prominent of the lead oxides known due to...

In the Renaissance new healing treatments come to light, many based on ancient medicine. In the 17th and 18th century these include...

Fulminating silver is a term applicable to a number of silver base d explosives which "fulminate" or detonate easily and violently,...

Arcanum Duplicatum is known by many names: sulphate of potash, arcanite, potash of sulfur, potassium sulfate. An inorganic compound, it...

Fulminating Gold ( aurum fulminans ) is the first high explosive known, recorded in Western alchemy c. 1585. Sebald Schwaerzer is the...

Arcanum Joviale is an alchemy medicine made of metal salts, taken to induce sweating. While the term sudorific is introduced in 1626,...

Antimony (Sb) from the ore stibnite, is one of the elements known by the ancients, a primary source of black powder kajal or kohl. With...

Lunar caustic ( lapis infernalis ), Höllenstein (hellstone) or silver nitrate ( argentinium nitrium ) is esteemed by alchemists of the...

The Waters of Alchemy are ravenous acids, miraculous solvents and corrosive fluids vital to alchemical process. Not for children ....

Ten metals are used in alchemy since its ancient emergence. They are antimony, bismuth, copper, gold, iron, lead, quicksilver (mercury),...

Renegade physician Paracelsus is one of the most dramatic figures of the European Renaissance. Doctor, alchemist, astrologer,...

Divine Water, oil of vitriol or sulfuric acid, scientifically denoted H₂SO₄, is commonly used in alchemy experiments. A mineral acid, it...

The Almadén Mines in central Spain have an infamous past driven by profit and greed. The deadly history of ancient Almadén revolves...

Lucrezia Borgia is an enigmatic figure of the Italian Renaissance (c. 1350 - 1550 AD). This period sees revival of art, culture and...

Sulfuric acid (H₂SO₄) is one of the most important chemicals in the world, with many uses from car battery production to fertilizer...

The ancient Greeks are celebrated for their contributions to various fields such as philosophy, mathematics, and medicine. Among their...

Aqua regia, Latin for “royal water,” is a powerful acidic solution known to dissolve noble metals like gold and platinum. It's used in...

Alchemy, a fusion of science, philosophy and mysticism, emerges in practice from the 1st century AD. Among the power civilizations of...