Ivor W. Hartmann: How Alchemy changed the World #1

Part One: The Ancients

Back in the millennia between 5000BCE - 400BCE there arose in Ancient Egypt spearheaded by their living gods and presided over by the priestly orders, a new way of looking at and understanding the world. It was the first known catalogued studies focusing not only on the composition of the world around us, but also how that knowledge could be both, utilised and preserved. Shrouded in mystery, allegoric encryption, and ritual, held forth as decrees from the gods, Alchemy was born.

If one person could be said to be the Father of Alchemy it would have to be Hermes Trismegistus aka: Thoth, Hermanubis, or Hermes amongst many other names. Although his/her true name and identity was lost to the deification common for significant persons in Ancient Egypt. It is estimated that he lived around 1900BCE, and what he left behind or what was attributed to him, were the collective writings known as the Corpus Hermeticum and legendary Emerald Tablet, also called The Secret of Hermes. Together these scripts would form Hermeticism, the base for the Ancient Greek alchemists.

“The god Hermes Trismegistus received this book from the angels as god's greatest gift and passed it on to all individuals fit to receive secrets.” -Book one: Kuranides from the Corpus Hermeticum.

The world of alchemy as laid out by Hermes Trismegistus, contained many disciplines and sub-disciplines covering everything from metallurgy to medicine and philosophy. However, the main driving force seemed to be the external transmutation of base metals, with gold as the ultimate goal. In contrast, Eastern Alchemy originating in China first formalised in the, Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic, during the Xia Dynasty (2070BCE - 1600BCE), concentrated primarily on internal medicine, health and specifically longevity. The two main branches for achieving longevity with immortality as the ultimate goal were Waidan, the external elixir method and Neidan, the internal elixir method. Both were based around the idea of five major elements Earth, Air, Water, Metal, and Wood, which it was believed composed all matter, and their subsequent measurement and manipulation. Therefore, while Ancient Egypt mainly pursued external riches or gold the Ancient Chinese mainly pursued internal riches or immortality.

“Observe. Whether the five depots have a surplus or an insufficiency, whether the six palaces are strong or weak, and whether the physical appearance is marked by abundance or decays. All this is brought together to reach a conclusion to differentiate
between death and survival.” - Huangdi Neijing (Yellow Emperor's Inner Classic) Paul Unschuld.

Now in between Egypt and China lay India, where you find the rise of alchemy in Rasayana or The Path of Elixir first entered into the Vedic scriptures (1500-500BCE) from Ancient India. Then sometime later Rasavātam, or The Way of Mercury mentioned in the Arthashastr (350-283BCE) around the same time it came to prominence as Alchemy in Ancient Greece. This makes sense given the Greek connection to India established by Alexander the Great and sustained long after his reign. In addition, between 322-185BCE Indian metallurgy made great advances including the creation of high quality steel and true Wootz Steel which later became known as Damascus Steel (the still lost true Wootz steel technique is now credited with the being first though perhaps unwitting use of nanotechnology).

"They have a science similar to alchemy which is quite peculiar to them, which in Sanskrit is called Rasayāna and in Persian Rasavātam. It means the art of obtaining/manipulating Rasa, nectar, mercury, juice. This art was restricted to certain operations, metals, drugs, compounds, and medicines, many of which have mercury as their core element. Its principles restored the health of those who were ill beyond hope and gave back youth to fading old age.” - Abū Rayhān Bīrūnī (11th century Persian chemist and physician).

Which brings us back to Egypt but a new Egypt that had wholly been devoured by Alexander the Great, and a small town called Rhakotis, became Alexandria, Capital City of Hellenic Egypt in 331BCE. Where the scripts of Hermes Trismegistus were added to Greek philosophies and existing knowledge and then transmuted into a new Hermeticism. If Hermes was the father of Alchemy then this new Hermeticism was his lasting legacy, and it was his ideas that very well may have been the impetus, which led to the construction of the famed Ancient Library of Alexandria. Ironically, because of the shroud of mysticism and secrecy that still veiled Alchemy, most of the knowledge retained by the various schools of mystery in Alexandria, was verbal. Alexandria soon became the prime western center for Alchemy and remained so throughout 332BCE - 642CE. During this time it would seem that the philosophic or thinking side of Alchemy became more developed, beefed up by the likes of Agathodaimon, Pythagoras, and Socrates, Empedocles, Aristotle and Plato.

“There are four senses in which one thing can be said to be 'prior' to another…In the third place, the term 'prior' is used with reference to any order, as in the case of science and of oratory. For in sciences which use demonstration there is that which is prior and that which is posterior in order; in geometry, the elements are prior to the propositions; in reading and writing, the letters of the alphabet are prior to the syllables. Similarly, in the case of speeches, the exordium is prior in order to the narrative… Such, then, are the different senses in which the term 'prior' is used.” -Aristotle, The Categories.

Together they initiated the clarification categorisation of four major elements Earth, Air, Water, and Fire as the basis for all matter. However, these elements were still seen as some greater aspect of matter not as definitive chemical elements. Another major Greek change to Alchemy was the input of Aristotle towards using a systematic thought process and a resulting documented explanation. With the fall of the Roman Empire and subsequent 641BCE Muslim conquest of Egypt, Alexandria was swept into Islamic control and the practices of Alchemy with it. This led to perhaps the most profound advances in alchemy since Hermes Trismegistus initiated it.