Alchemy - Origin, Alchemy In China, Arabic Alchemy, Alchemy In The Western World
perfection development
Alchemy was a system of thinking about nature that preceded and contributed to the development of the modern science of chemistry. It was popular in ancient China, Persia, and western Europe throughout antiquity and the Middle Ages. A combination of philosophy, metallurgical arts, and magic, alchemy was based on a world view postulating an integral correspondence between the microcosm and the macrocosm—the smallest and largest parts of the universe. Its objectives were to find ways of accelerating the rates at which metals were thought to "grow" within the earth in their development toward perfection (gold) and of accomplishing a similar perfection in humans by achieving eternal life.
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In accordance with older traditions, Zosimos that a magical ingredient was needed for the creation of gold. Greek alchemists called this ingredient xerion, which is Greek for powder. Through Arabic, this word came into Latin and modern European languages as elixir, and later became known as the elusive "philosopher's stone." After the fall of the Western Roman Empire in the fi…
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