Zosimos of Panopolis or Zosimus Alchemista (Zosimus the Alchemist) is a Greek alchemist and Gnostic mystic. Born near today's Akhmim in Upper Egypt he's active c. 300 AD. Much information from the early Golden Age of alchemy comes from Zosimos.
By c. 800 BCE, alchemy concepts are already in use among ancient Greeks. Zosimos stands out as the earliest writer on the subject of alchemy, naming his works Cheirokmeta, meaning "things made by hand" in Greek.
A prolific writer, Zosimos meticulously documents alchemists like Mary the Jewess, naming her as the first genuine alchemist. He details alchemical techniques such as moxibustion, essential equipment like the alembic, as well as philosophical approaches.
Fragments of the Cheirokmeta survive in original Greek as well as in translations to Arabic or Syriac. Zosimos of Panopolis is among forty authors included in a compendium of writings on alchemy, dating to Constantinople in the 7th or 8th century AD.
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Stephen of Alexandria (c. 580 – c. 640) is another. Stephen is considered the last of the Alexandrian academics before the Islamic conquest of Egypt (639 and 642 AD).
Zosimos writes about the Alexandrian school. At some point he lives in or visits Alexandria, an alchemical hub during his time. He's generally supportive of women alchemists but speaks against those he considers fraudulent such as Paphnutia the Virgin.
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In one of the first descriptions of the practice of alchemy, Zosimos calls it the study of
"the composition of waters, movement, growth, embodying and disembodying, drawing the spirits from bodies and bonding the spirits within bodies."
The Stone (of the philosophers) is mentioned by Zosimos based a c. 5th century Greek reference by Democritus. The Stone is a basis for realization of goals such as transmutation or healing. Democritus calls it the stone "lauded by the philosophers" among other things.
According to Zosimos' descriptions of tinctures and potions, the use of cannabis infused wines, beers or hallucinogens is common for spiritual, medical or recreational purposes. Fermentation is a method in alchemy to separate, mix, or change the nature of the material.
He says,
“…wines can be made in a multitude of ways, [as shown] through many accounts that authors have left to us, and nature, and art such things, that is, grown wines from the vineyard and medicinal, or by adding various spices like palm, cannabis seed etc …”
“Certainly brewers of Egyptian beer [‘zythi’], which is more powerful [then our beers] are not lacking in the false and wicked arts, and might be better used for intoxication. This [concoction]includes: borage, cannabis seeds and leaves, helenium, ivy leaves, strychnine, and darnel.”
Borage is thought to treat adrenal fatigue. Cannabis is often employed for recreational and medicinal reasons. Helenium, also called sneezeweed, was used to make snuff. Ivy and strychnine have toxic properties. Darnel is a known psychoactive at the time.
Zosimos writes from the perspective of Hermetic and Gnostic spiritualities. Gnosticism incorporates Hebrew and Christian ascetic thought. According to Zosimos, fallen angels teach arts of nature to women they marry. This fits the theological interpretations of science.
The idea is documented in the Book of Enoch and later in the Gnostic Apocryphon of John. In a text fragment, Zosimos writes:
" ... The ancient and divine writings say that the angels became enamored of women; and, descending, taught them all the works of nature. From them, therefore, is the first tradition, chema, concerning these arts; for they called this book chema and hence the science of chemistry takes its name."
Metallurgy is a forerunner of alchemy, and alchemy evolves into chemistry and modern medicine. The method of metal transmutation is considered to continuously mirror an internal process of purification and redemption.
Based on the works of the legendary Hermes Trismegistus, Hermeticism involves Greco-Egyptian beliefs dating as far back as c. 1200 BCE. Hermeticism attunes to the concept of primeval, divine wisdom known only by the most ancient of sages.
In his work Concerning the true Book of Sophe, the Egyptian, and of the Divine Master of the Hebrews and the Sabaoth Powers, Zosimos writes:
There are two sciences and two wisdoms, that of the Egyptians and that of the Hebrews, which latter is confirmed by divine justice. The science and wisdom of the most excellent dominate the one and the other. Both originate in olden times.
Their origin is without a king, autonomous and immaterial; it is not concerned with material and corruptible bodies, it operates, without submitting to strange influences, supported by prayer and divine grace.
The symbol of chemistry is drawn from the creation by its adepts, who cleanse and save the divine soul bound in the elements, and who free the divine spirit from its mixture with the flesh.
As the sun is, so to speak, a flower of the fire and (simultaneously) the heavenly sun, the right eye of the world, so copper when it blooms - that is when it takes the color of gold, through purification - becomes a terrestrial sun, which is king of the earth, as the sun is king of heaven
Zosimos considers the alchemical vessel as a baptismal font, with tincturing vapors of mercury and sulfur compared to purifying waters of baptism, which perfects and redeems the Gnostic initiate.
Zosimos uses the Hermetic image of the krater or mixing bowl, symbolizing the divine mind through which the initiate undergoes a transformative "baptism" and purification. The initiate takes a visionary journey, rising through celestial spheres into transcendent realms.
Similar ideas of a spiritual baptism in the "waters" of the transcendent pleroma are characteristic of the Sethian Gnostic texts unearthed at Nag Hammadi. This image of the alchemical vessel as baptismal font is central to Zosimos' work, Visions.
His Book of Pictures draws inspiration from Ancient Egyptian philosophy. The iconography reflects connections to pharaonic symbolism.
The book explores intricate dynamics between man and woman, as well as psychological aspects of male and female energies. It serves as a cultural conduit linking pharaonic ideologies with European medieval alchemy, another strong period for the alchemical arts.
Zosimos is also drawn to the Arabian alchemical methods. He believes the Arabic tradition to be extremely rich and promising, and speaks of the difficulty in fully understanding the materials until translated versions are available.