Outline of alchemy

The following outline is provided as an overview of and topical guide to alchemy:

Alchemy – A philosophical tradition recognized as protoscience, that includes the application of Hermetic principles, and practices related to mythology, religion, and spirituality.

Branches

Alchemy and chemistry in medieval Islam
Chinese Alchemy
- Neidan
- Processing (Chinese materia medica)
Iatrochemistry
- Spagyric
New Age
Psychoanalysis
- Analytical psychology
  - Individuation
- Metacognition
Rasayana

Influences

Influences upon alchemy – alchemy developed dependent on a number of influences and experienced regional and period-specific variations:

Related fields

Concepts

Alchemical elements – Primarily the four Classical elements of:
- Fire (classical element)
- Water (classical element)
- Earth (classical element)
- Air (classical element)
- For variations see: Wu Xing • Mahābhūta • Five elements (Japanese philosophy)
Alchemy in art and entertainment
Alkahest
Anima mundi
Chrysopoeia
Filius philosophorum
Takwin
- Homunculus
Philosopher's stone
Prima materia
- Yliaster
Septenary of the seven metals and Classical planets in Western alchemy
- Lead • tin • copper • iron • mercury • silver • gold
- Saturn • Jupiter • Venus • Mars • Mercury • Moon • Sun
Tria Prima (three primes)
- Salt • mercury • sulfur
- Body • soul • spirit
Unity of opposites or coincidentia oppositorum
- Hieros Gamos
- Rebis

Processes

Magnum opus – great work of alchemy consisting of:

Nigredo
Albedo
Citrinitas (sometimes excluded)
Rubedo

Alchemists also engaged in practical and symbolic processes including:

Symbolism

Alchemical symbol –

1. Glyphs

2. Imagery

3. Visual Symbolism

Scientific connections

Substances of the alchemists

phosphorus • sulfur (sulphur) • arsenic • antimony
vitriol • quartz • cinnabar • pyrites • orpiment • galena
magnesia • lime • potash • natron • saltpetre • kohl
ammonia • ammonium chloride • alcohol • camphor
sulfuric acid (sulphuric acid) • hydrochloric acid • nitric acid • acetic acid • formic acid • citric acid • tartaric acid
aqua regia • gunpowder
blue vitriol • green vitriol • vinegar • salt

more...

Apparatus

Stills

Vessels

Heating devices

Alchemy organizations

Alchemical texts

Axiom of Maria
Alchemical Studies (Carl Jung)
Aurora consurgens
Buch der heiligen Dreifaltigkeit
Cantong qi
Chymical Wedding of Christian Rosenkreutz
Hermetica
- Emerald Tablet
- Sirr al-khalīqa ("The Secret of Creation")
The Hermetical Triumph
Fasciculus Chemicus
Musaeum Hermeticum
Mutus Liber
Rosary of the Philosophers
Splendor Solis
Theatrum Chemicum
Theatrum Chemicum Britannicum
The Mirror of Alchimy
Turba Philosophorum

Journals

Alchemists

The most influential names in the history of alchemy include:

Hermes Trismegistus – by tradition, the founder of Western alchemy; many alchemical works were attributed to him.
Wei Boyang – authored the earliest known book on theoretical alchemy in China.
Pseudo-Democritus – anonymous author of the oldest extant works of Greco-Egyptian alchemy.
Zosimos of Panopolis – influential Greco-Egyptian alchemist.
Khālid ibn Yazīd – credited with introducing alchemy to the Islamic world.
Pseudo-Apollonius of Tyana – earliest known source of the sulfur-mercury theory of metals and the Emerald Tablet.
Jābir ibn Hayyān – notable for the theory of the balance (ʿilm al-mīzān), the theory of artificial generation (ʿilm al-takwīn), and a general emphasis on experimental science.
- Pseudo-Geber – later Latin alchemist who wrote the influential Summa perfectionis.
Roger Bacon – staunch proponent of the use of alchemy.
Paracelsus – developer of iatrochemistry.
Robert Boyle – alchemist critical of Paracelsus, credited as the father of modern chemistry.
Mary Anne Atwood – key figure in the occult revival of alchemy.
Carl Jung – merged alchemy and psychoanalytic thought.