 | Alchemy |  |
ALCHEMY IN ANTIQUITY
The difficulty in dating alchemical texts has resulted in a long-standing controversy over its origins. Yet, if the priority of Near Eastern, Indian, and Chinese alchemists remains in dispute, there is general agreement among scholars that the student in search of the roots of alchemy must be concerned not only with early concepts of nature, but also with the practical craft traditions of antiquity. The oldest surviving works of metal craftsmen combine an emphasis on the change in the appearance of metals with the acceptance of a vitalistic view of nature-a view that included the belief that metals live and grow within the earth in a fashion analogous to the growth of a human fetus. It was to become fundamental to alchemical thought that the operator might hasten the natural process of metallic growth in his laboratory and thus bring about perfection in a period of time far less than that required by nature.
Several texts point to the existence of a practical proto-alchemical literature in the ancient Near East. The recent study of two Babylonian tablets (Oppenheim, 1966) dating from the thirteenth century B.C. 27 but copied from still earlier originals describes the production of "silver" from a copper/bronze mixture. These early recipes already contain elements of ritual and the processes themselves call for secrecy. Both were to become common themes in later alchemical literature. The Leiden and Stockholm papyri (ca. third century A.D.) would appear to be part of the same practical tradition. Here, among some three hundred recipes, will be found directions for the imitation of the noble metals. A method for the doubling of asem (the gold-silver alloy, electrum) indicates the future direction of alchemical literature. The similarity between the directions given in these papyri and passages in the Physica et Mystica of Bolos Democritos of Mendes (perhaps as early as 200 B.C.) indicates that the latter work also profited from an acquaintance with the metal craft tradition. However, mystical passages in his work were to become the subject of exegesis for Hellenistic alchemists of late antiquity. The pseudo-Democritos was revered by them as a sage of great authority and his work thus forms a connecting link between the practical metal craft tradition and the true Alexandrian alchemy of late antiquity.
Alexandrian alchemy was based on Greek philosophy as well as on the practical tradition of the craftsmen. The early comparisons of man and nature found in the pre-Socratics and in Plato's Timaeus fostered an interest in the relationship of the macrocosm and the microcosm, a doctrine which played a major role in alchemical thought well into the seventeenth century. Systems of intermediary beings and the pneuma were employed by the Stoics, the Neo-Platonists, and other philosophical sects in antiquity to provide connecting links between the two worlds.
Also important for the development of alchemical thought was the long tradition of speculation on the Creation. The philosopher interested in both the Creation and Nature was inevitably drawn to the question of the origin of the elements and the possibility of a prima materia. The views of the pre-Socratics on the prime matter formed a springboard from which later authors launched their own concepts. Thus Aristotle conveniently summarized the views of his predecessors prior to refuting them in his Metaphysics. However, the subject was one of no less importance to him than it had been to them. Aristotle accepted the four Empedoclean elements (earth, air, water, and fire) with their attendant qualities and he believed that they were mutually transmutable.
The genesis of the elements also forms an important section of Plato's Timaeus where the subject is developed mathematically, but to alchemical authors of late antiquity who were influenced by Neo-Platonic, Gnostic, and Christian sources, the accounts found in Genesis and the Pymander attributed to Hermes Trismegistus were no less significant. Surely the alchemical literature was stamped with a Creation-element theme throughout its existence. In the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries chemical authors still focused on the elements in their defense or attack of any given system. An important example may be found in Gerhard Dorn's defense of the Paracelsians which he based on an analysis of the "Physics of Genesis" and the "Physics of Hermes." Similarly Robert Boyle placed special emphasis on the problem of the elements in his criticism of the Aristotelians and the Paracelsian chemists in the Sceptical Chymist (1661).
The earliest true alchemical texts in Greek date from the end of the third century A.D. These are clearly connected with the earlier practical tradition as well as with current philosophical and religious thought. Two of the more important authors are Zosimos, author of the encyclopedic Cheirokmeta, whose work links these alchemical texts with the book of Bolos Democritos, and Maria the Jewess, whose text is significant for its detailed description of the laboratory equipment of the Alexandrian alchemist. The latter work indicates that the emphasis on distillation and sublimation processes-still so pronounced in the Renaissance-was already characteristic of alchemical recipes in late antiquity. These Alexandrian texts are openly concerned with transmutation. The processes given stress color change as a guide to progress-from black to white to yellow to violet. The sequence was clearly associated with the change from a chaotic and undefined primal matter to metallic perfection. And although the final stage was eventually to be changed from violet to red, the emphasis on color was to remain a basic theme in descriptions of the Great Work.
Although practical recipes form part of these third-and fourth-century texts there is also present in them a pronounced interest in secrecy and mysticism. Allegorical dream sequences form part of this literature, and the role of spirits is considered important in the transformation of matter. And while one may extract some scientific information from the Greek alchemical codices, he will find it difficult to separate this material from the ever-present religious aura that pervades these works. An example may be seen in the analogous treatment of metals and mankind. Because of the truth of this it was felt that the operator might follow the death and resurrection theme as he pursued his work. It was this aspect of alchemical thought that dominates the later Greek texts. The work of Stephanos (ca. 610-41) is replete with prayers, invocations, and allegorical descriptions. There is little indication here that the alchemist still had close personal contact with the laboratory. The text of Stephanos was highly influential and it was used by later alchemists both as a model and as a subject for commentaries. Alexandrian alchemy did not continue much longer as a living tradition. Before the tenth century the basic texts had been codified and few new texts were composed in Greek after that time.
Although Pliny and Dioscorides refer to mineral substances of medical value, Hellenistic alchemical texts do not indicate any real concern with pharmaceutical chemistry. This is in marked contrast with the development of alchemy in China and India. As early as the eighth century B.C. there was a belief in physical immortality in China, and this was later to become closely associated with Taoist thought. A text from the second century B.C. refers to the transmutation of cinnabar to gold and within a few hundred years the concept of longevity was to be clearly connected with chemically prepared drugs and elixirs. This is evident in the Nei P'ien of Ko Hung (ca. A.D. 320) which was to become a standard Chinese text on this subject. In it will be found sections on the transmutation of metals and on elixirs of life-and all this mixed with rules for the attainment of long life and immortality. Chinese alchemy paralleled Alexandrian alchemy in its frequent reference to the macrocosm-microcosm analogy as well as in the development of both esoteric and exoteric approaches to this subject. Thus, while the Chinese alchemist sought a potable gold and various chemically prepared drugs in his quest for longevity and immortality, the texts also indicate a real interest in alchemy as the search for the inner perfection of the soul.
From India the Sanskrit Atharva Veda (perhaps as early as the eighth century B.C.) refers to the use of gold as a means of preserving life, and there are other early texts relating gold to immortality. Buddhist texts of the second to the fifth centuries A.D. discuss the transmutation of base metals to gold by means of a juice concocted from vegetable and mineral sources. The still later tantric-Hatha yoga texts (post-eighth century) show the same trend toward increased mysticism already noted in the Greek and the Chinese sources. Here the operator undergoes the experience of an initiatory death and this is followed by a resurrection. In metals the result may be seen in the perfection of gold-in man, the alchemist induces in his own person a similar separation of spirit from gross matter. In this case the result is a perfected person with an infinitely prolonged youth.
| Alchemy | |