nauka: Alchemy

Evidence: 100 • authority: 72

Alchemy (from the Arabic word al-kīmīā, الكیمیاء) is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was once practised in China, India, the Muslim world, and Europe. In its Western form, alchemy is first attested in pseudepigraphical texts written in Greco-Roman Egypt during the first few centuries AD. Greek-speaking alchemists often named their craft "the Art" (τέχνη) or "Knowledge" (ἐπιστήμη), and it was often characterised as mystic (μυστική), sacred (ἱɛρά), or divine (θɛíα). Alchemists attempted to purify, mature, and perfect certain materials. Common aims were chrysopoeia, the transmutation of "base metals" (e.g., lead) into "noble metals" (…

Evidence: 54 • authority: 72

Hermeticism, or Hermetism, is a philosophical and religious tradition rooted in the teachings attributed to Hermes Trismegistus, a syncretic figure combining elements of the Greek god Hermes and the Egyptian god Thoth. These teachings are contained in the various writings attributed to Hermes (the Hermetica), which were produced over a period spanning many centuries (c. 300 BCE – 1200 CE) and may be very different in content and scope. One particular form of Hermetic teaching is the religio-philosophical system found in a specific subgroup of Hermetic writings known as the 'religio-philosophical' Hermetica, which were written in Egypt between approximately 100 and 300 CE. The most famous of…

Evidence: 47 • authority: 72

Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society or simply the West, is the externally cohesive yet internally diverse culture and cultural heritage of the Western world. The term "Western" encompasses the social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, belief systems, political systems, artifacts and technologies primarily rooted in European and Mediterranean histories. A broad concept, "Western culture" does not relate to a region with fixed members or geographical confines. It generally refers to the classical era cultures of ancient Greece, ancient Rome, and their Christian successors that expanded across the Mediterranea…

Evidence: 47 • authority: 88

Evidence: 47 • authority: 72

Evidence: 39 • authority: 88

Transmutations of Quality: Alchemy and Magic. This chapter examines alchemy. Alchemy is one of the best-known, yet most misunderstood, forms of arcane magical lore. Alchemy in the ancient Greco-Roman world may be defined as the art or craft of the transmutation of the qualities of matter. Such a definition hinges on the theoretical aspect, stressing the importance of considering qualities as transferrable in the abstract, but it encompasses a range of practices, from procedures to change the color of metals to rituals to purify and perfect the soul. Although the accounts that trace the origins of Greek alchemy back to the alien wisdom of the Persian magi and the Egyptian sages are essential…

Evidence: 39 • authority: 80

The Greek and Latin Literary Texts from Greco-Roman Egypt

Evidence: 39 • authority: 72