ALCHEMY. - The name derives from the Arabic al, the article, and from the Greek χημία or χημεία = fusion. In the popular conception, a. is the science and at the same time the art of transforming metals into gold and silver. In reality this is a concept that is too partial and one-sided, one that takes no account of the vast and complex construction created by the true alchemist philosophers (e.g. Paracelsus). Indeed, the fundamental law of a. was that minerals, plants, animals, man, the astral entities of the celestial spheres, etc., are moved by the supreme Maker by means of a single permanent vital flux of various gradations and according to a single informative virtue. This law governs in identical fashion the macrocosm (the universe) and the microcosm (man) and concerns not only the matter of which these two entities are constituted, that is, their chemical state, but also the whole complex of interdependent vital phenomena, namely cosmic relations (astrology), illnesses or imbalances, mutual influences, etc.
As regards chemistry, the foundations of a., in the Middle Ages, were reduced to the following laws: 1) All species are invariable and cannot be transformed one into another. 2) Metals belong to a single species and can be transformed (reduced by purification) from the base state to gold, that is, to absolute purity.
In the chemical-pharmaceutical and iatrochemical field, a. admitted that illness was due to an imbalance of fluids created in the human realm either through the action of foods or poisons, or, more often, through cosmic influences, that is, through the repercussion of meteorological or astronomical events upon the microcosm. Every organ of the human body therefore had a relation with the stars, and every metal likewise depended on one of them. Therapeutics therefore had to make use of metals, or rather of their salts, to restore the disturbed equilibrium in the human organism.
The basis of a. was continuous experimentation, but limited only to thermal treatments of matter. By means of this experimental method, the principal chemical discoveries were made, as well as the formation of a technical a., whose exponent in Italy was Vannoccio Biringuccio. The latter, although a follower of the alchemical method of research, denied the second of the above laws. Many alchemists, from researches in natural magic, wished, for purposes of profit or through religious deviation, to pass into the field of black magic, that is, diabolical magic, incurring the gravest penalties; others resorted to the most criminal frauds, likewise falling afoul of the law.
The means of obtaining the transformation of the various metals into gold was represented by a hypothetical substance, called the philosopher's stone, from which derived the projection powder, which, thrown upon the metallic compound to be purified, effected the transformation. In the human realm, this stone corresponded to the elixir of long life, another hypothetical substance which, as a remedy, was to restore the physiological equilibrium, making it possible to reach the outermost limits of natural life by eliminating illnesses as causes of death.
From the point of view of religion, a. was not condemned, if it was practiced with honest intentions consonant with morality. On these conditions, the Council of Trent declared this art to be lawful whenever no fraud intervened. A medieval tradition made St. Dominic the possessor of a secret for transmutation. This secret was said to have been transmitted to St. Albertus Magnus through the spiritual heirs of the saintly founder, and from St. Albert it would have passed to St. Thomas Aquinas. All this (which has been shown to be devoid of any foundation) was said in order to lend value to the supposed attribution to St. Thomas of two short treatises: one on the philosopher's stone and one on the art of a. These two little books, the second of which is dedicated to a certain Brother Reginald, would seem to be the work of another Dominican, a friend of St. Thomas; who, for his part, moreover (In II Sent., d. 7, III, sol. VI), while showing himself perfectly acquainted with alchemical operations, reveals himself quite often skeptical regarding this science, doubting the possibility of being able to transform metals.
Among the officially recognized alchemists is also Raymond Lull. It is written on the flyleaf of a 14th-century codex (Italian script originating from Spain): "Raymond finished this reading in the city of Genoa in the year of the Lord 1303 on the first day of February in in honor of Jesus Christ. He commented orally on this and other works of his."
Alchemy could become a sinful art because of the means used and the fraudulent goals set. One of the most famous examples was the Marshal of France, Gilles de Laval, whom legend has transformed into the notorious Bluebeard.
As regards the transmutation of metals, today the alchemists' dream can be said to have been realized in the artificial transmutations of the elements (v. NUCLEUS), but, naturally, on entirely different foundations.