![]() ![]() In the Middle Ages, a certain Edward Kelly claimed to have the Philosopher’s Stone. According to him, it was a red powder, and heating the metal in a crucible could give gold. Kelly disappeared after people asked him to make gold for them.Įventually, people realized that using alchemy was nonsense.īut public opinion did not affect the aspirations of the 16th-century military surgeon (we know him as Paracelsus) to practice alchemy. The first ingredient the alchemists needed was the prima materia. This was what all the other elements came from. To turn lead into gold, you need to use the Philosopher’s Stone. In Harry Potter, he looks like a regular cobblestone. But in fact, alchemists believed that it was a powder or even a liquid. ![]() Therefore, if the alchemist wanted to combine silver and copper, the planets corresponding to these metals must be in the correct constellation. The theory of alchemy assumes that chemical processes do not happen by themselves, but only at the astrologically correct moment. The spiritual dimension of alchemy prompted early scientists to try to balance the proportions of lead in order to obtain gold. But they also needed to use astrology to correctly determine the time when it should be done. If you change the proportions, everything will change. Thus, alchemists did not try to turn lead into gold. It was, rather, a matter of helping lead turn into gold itself.Īlchemists believed that everything in nature consists of four elements: earth, air, fire, and water. Modern scientists recognize metals as separate elements. But the alchemists did not have a periodic table. They viewed metals like gold as more “spiritually evolved” versions of metals like lead. ![]()
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