One of the Principles of Alchemy

Hey dear community, first of all I would like to welcome you all to my new post and hope you had a great start into the new weekend! In this article I would like to write something about alchemy and hope you are able to expand your knowledge.

According to the philosophy of the old alchemists, nothing that is found in nature is complete and it is the own task to ensure that the work of nature is brought into a better state and so it was about collecting things from nature and giving them to the sick or making an even more powerful medicine out of it. A large part of the alchemical work was thus dependent on the growth of nature and the result was considered as matter that must first be purified in order to achieve perfection and this is the work of people and important in the ideology was that this knowledge is used for the benefit of people and the reproduction of nature was tolerated in this context as long as it served for the good of others. Nature is almost perfect as it is, but much more potential can be found in it, which can be awakened through practical work and the roman god of fire and the blacksmithing Vulcan was also considered the patron of alchemy and he comes in the last steps of the work to complete it and without him, a completion would not be possible. The basis here also includes the understanding of nature and the processes that took place there and before an alchemist could begin a job he first had to understand exactly what was going on there in order to be able to do his work in the laboratory and the practical work was only a part and also the spiritual side of alchemy was important for the entire understanding and if someone did not understand this, the practical work brings you nothing. An old work which is also known as the philosophical garden describes this well and in this garden people can found the secret knowledge but to get into this garden, the right key is needed and if an unauthorised should still enter the garden, he would not find his way around which in this context a metaphor for the spiritual side. Of course, this ideology was not popular with everyone and the alchemists were strongly persecuted or even attacked at certain times because according to some ideology it was not in everyone's interest to intervene in the work of nature and here it was also ignored that it served a positive sense and in the Middle Ages, this persecution was particularly strong.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about alchemy! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens.