The Renaissance (c. 1350 - 1750) fosters the growth of alchemy through patronage and practice. A convergence of science, philosophy, and mysticism, the Renaissance creates an intellectual scene like never before, drawn to the enigma and allure of the alchemical arts.
The Alchemist's Quest
Alchemy explores transformation of matter and seeks truths about mysteries of universal life. At some point in history, the quest of the alchemist is funneled into three (or four) clear objectives. These are to transmute base metals into precious; to create an elixir of life; to find a panacea for all disease and/or unlock the secret powers of the universe.
The Philosophers' Stone
Central to archaic Western alchemical practices is the concept of the Philosophers' Stone. The Stone or lapis philosophorum is a legendary substance believed to have the power to transform base substances into gold or silver, and grant healing or immortality.
Alchemists dedicate years to its pursuit, conducting dubious experiments in dimly lit labs filled with weird concoctions and esoteric symbols. And let's not forget the smell. The alchemist's ingredients may include urine, dung, blood, bones simmering in the hearth.
Magnum Opus: The Great Work
In one approach to alchemy, the process towards the Magnum Opus or the Great Work involves a series of stages, which are interpreted by modern practitioners of "spiritual alchemy". Spiritual alchemy is a metaphor for yet another float in the self-realization parade.
From the nigredo (blackening) phase of putrefaction and decay to the albedo (whitening) of cleansing and renewal, to citrinitas and rubedo, each step is given profound symbolism and hidden meanings. In practical alchemy these phases may also be idealized.
The Alchemical Conditions of the Renaissance
The material goals of alchemy are a driving force in the Renaissance. Controversy rings out about the practice of falsifying gold and alchemists "promising that which they do not deliver" according to Pope John XXII. He issues a decree against falsification in 1317 AD.
English King Henry IV passes his famous law against multiplication, or making more gold from existing gold. Alchemists are caught in a rising cultural movement and alchemy is risky business, unless one has a patron or other form of security.
To be sure, alchemy has never been about making real gold out of real lead. It emerges as a way to color metals and precious stones. Writings of renowned Alexandrian Zosimos of Panopolis (c. 300 AD), note alchemists have succeeded in producing yellow colored alloys.
The alloys are of silver and gold (electrum). White alloys are created of copper and silver. Avicenna (Ibn Sina, 980 - 1037 AD) correctly warns contemporaries it's not possible to produce real gold chemically. He says,
"Only imitations of gold can be formed, because the essential nature of a pure metal can never be altered"
Renaissance alchemists are under increasing pressure to produce that which they cannot logically deliver. Some go down fighting.
Irish scam artist Edward Kelley, for instance, has his ears cut off for fraud. Later he's thrown into prison on the continent after failing to create gold, twice, and dies there. The infamous Anna Maria Zieglerin is burned alive.
Patrons blinded by self-deception believe the fantastic stories of scammers who need money, then are outraged to find artifice where gold should be. This, and the pressure of Inquisitions, nurture the growth of alchemy in Italian convents, especially in Naples and Florence.
Studying plants and medicines, practitioners like Dominican Tommaso d'Eremita tactfully avoid gold-making controversy. Tommaso welcomes travelers, who sometimes bring him plants, and dedicates himself to cataloguing the flora and their medicinal properties.
Many alchemists are friars wanting to make the world a better place. Roger Bacon, Albertus Magnus and George Ripley are among them. Alchemy also attracts women during this time, including Caterina Sforza, Anna Maria Zieglerin and Isabella Cortese.
Gold-making is certainly attempted in the Renaissance, whether in convents or palaces or grim obscure laboratories. Legendary figure Bernard Trevisan comes to signify the standard alchemist and the search for truth. It's telling that Bernard ends up sick and penniless.
The Renaissance Rosicrucian movement picks up speed from two mysterious papers on the occult in Germany. This sociological phenomenon gains recognition, inspires commentaries, essays and art despite having no real members and no meetings.
“... Many have said of Alchemy, that it is for the making of gold and silver. For me such is not the aim, but to consider only what virtue and power may lie in medicines.”
- Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim (Paracelsus) 1493-1531 AD
For a section of the population, the pursuit of the hope of gold becomes an obsession. After all, lead has only to shed three little protons to become gold. The transmutation of lead to gold becomes possible in medieval Islamic alchemy.
Islamic alchemists posit all metals are made of the same elements (typically mercury and sulfur), and changing the ratio will transform the metal. Thus lead can become gold just by finding the right ratio.
While the material goals of alchemy cannot be defined as exact, the legacy of this intriguing artistry endures through centuries. Alchemy influences science, psychology and literature. Later figures like Isaac Newton and Carl Jung are avid students of alchemy.
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