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Andreas Libavius: Science & Controversy of Alchemy
Andreas Libavius (c. 1550-1616) is one of the most influential figures of Renaissance alchemy, active in the Elizabethan era. His book...
Sylvia Rose
Dec 5, 20246 min read
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Cupriavidus metallidurans: Metal Eating Gold Making Bacterium
Cupriavidus metallidurans has an extraordinary ability to prosper in toxic environments. Not only does it survive, it turns toxic metals...
Sylvia Rose
Nov 1, 20245 min read
41 views


Mosaic Gold: Alchemy of a Forgotten Art
Mosaic gold is also known to alchemists as aurum musivum or aurum mosaicum due to its mottled formation. Forgotten in the data fields...
Sylvia Rose
Oct 31, 20243 min read
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Chloroauric Acid: Gold Salts & Extraction
Chloroauric acid H[AuCl4] is a yellow solution created in the 18th century. A gold(III) salt, chloroauric acid is an innovative compound,...
Sylvia Rose
Oct 31, 20243 min read
12 views


Process of Projection in Renaissance Alchemy
Projection, according to experts of the Renaissance, is the final act of alchemical work once the Philosophers' Stone has been made. The...
Sylvia Rose
Oct 6, 20243 min read
15 views


Book of Comarius: Making Gold with Cleopatra
The Book of Comarius is a mysterious tome dedicated to Cleopatra the Divine, or Cleopatra the Alchemist of Alexandria. In it, Comarius, a...
Sylvia Rose
Oct 3, 20245 min read
6 views


Diplosis: Gold Doubling & Multiplication in Alchemy
Displosis is the ancient practice of doubling gold. It's considered to be a skill of alchemists and early metal workers as well. If done...
Sylvia Rose
Sep 14, 20244 min read
25 views


Gold-Making of Maria: Tetrasomia Four Metals
Known as the first true alchemist, Mary or Maria the Jewess is active in Alexandria c. 100 AD. Her work survives through commentaries...
Sylvia Rose
Sep 12, 20244 min read
38 views


Ancient Traders & Buyers: Art of Testing Metals
Testing metals is a precise and varied process in the ancient world. It's a crucial skill in ensuring fair trade and preventing fraud....
Sylvia Rose
Sep 6, 20243 min read
30 views


Bernard Trevisan: Legends of Alchemy
Bernard Trevisan is a prototypical figure in alchemy, constructed by various alchemical writers of the medieval and Renaissance eras in...
Sylvia Rose
Aug 23, 20244 min read
21 views


Magic Metals, Gold, Smiths & Alchemists
In Eastern and Western alchemy, the transformation of metals into gold (Au) symbolizes a process of maturation for metal and alchemist....
Sylvia Rose
Aug 20, 20244 min read
23 views


Lapis Lazuli & Gold: Jungian Alchemy Symbolism
Alchemy symbolism is an ancient and fluctuating system of intertwined elements compounded over more than 2000 years. A cornerstone of...
Sylvia Rose
Aug 16, 20245 min read
14 views


How to Make Asem: Essential Alchemy
Asem is a stock metal mix in alchemy , usually prepared in quantity ahead of time and added to alchemical recipes as needed. Asem is...
Sylvia Rose
Aug 10, 20247 min read
40 views


Writing in Letters of Gold: Ancient Alchemy
Want to write in letters of gold? These ten alchemy recipes are from the Leyden Papyrus c. 250 AD. None are recommended unless there's a...
Sylvia Rose
Aug 5, 20245 min read
20 views


Nāgārjuna: Buddhist Mystic & Alchemist
Nāgārjuna (c. 150-250 AD) is considered one of the most important Buddhist philosophers in Indian history. Nāgārjuna's works have...
Sylvia Rose
Aug 4, 20244 min read
13 views


Cupellation: Alchemy Process of Metals
Cupellation is an ancient alchemy process used in metal separation. Alchemy comes from metallurgy and early medicine. The processes of...
Sylvia Rose
Jul 22, 20244 min read
13 views


Alchemy and the Art of Gold-Making
"Lead is the ancestor of all metals. For gold is not a metal, gold is light. Lead requires only four periods of two hundred years each,...
Sylvia Rose
Jul 18, 20247 min read
49 views


Chrysopoeia - Turning Lead into Gold
Chrysopoeia is Greek for "goldsmithing." It's the alchemical process or action of turning a base metal such as lead into the noble metal...
Sylvia Rose
Jun 21, 20245 min read
60 views


Gold - Precious Metal of the Sun
Early prehistoric use of gold is for religious purposes, ornament or decor. In 1500 BCE, Thutmose of Egypt decrees gold to be used for...
Sylvia Rose
Oct 28, 20234 min read
147 views
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