What Is Alchemy?

Alchemy is often associated in the popular imagination with the medieval quest for turning metals into gold. However, the practice of alchemy has flourished all over the world for thousands of years. Furthermore, alchemy was not, as a whole, concerned with the material world. It is true that many alchemists throughout the ages made discoveries that led to the creation of the science of chemistry. For this reason, historians have seen alchemy as a kind of protochemistry. But the ancient alchemists were never concerned with the scientific study of nature. Theirs was a spiritual rather than a physical quest.


Alchemy can be found in many major cultures around the world. Most people are probably aware of the well-known medieval alchemical tradition, which carried on into the Renaissance and was practiced by Isaac Newton. But alchemy has also been practiced by Daoists in China, Yogis in India, mystical groups of Christians, Jews, and Muslims, and of course by the mystery schools of Egypt. The beginning of alchemy, like the practice itself, is shrouded in mystery. Both in the East and in the West alchemy has an ancient and rich history. There is no knowing where exactly it originated or how different cultures impacted one another’s alchemical ideas and practices.

There is much to glean from the writings of the alchemists in all of these different cultures. To be sure, one of the purported goals of their practice was the transmutation of metal into gold. They also sought health, longevity, and, in almost all instances, immortality. Despite the fact that these goals seem very much tied to the material and physical world, alchemy has always been associated with mysticism and esotericism. Practitioners throughout the ages have insisted that their quest is an inner, spiritual quest. The “Rosarium Philosophorum,” a 16th century alchemical text, proclaims that, “our gold is not the common gold.”

Many writers and scholars have therefore concluded that the alchemical quest was a quest for enlightenment. It is thought that the alchemists were after higher states of consciousness and higher forms of knowledge.

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The ultimate goal then was to find one’s true, immortal self. Not much can concretely be said about the details of the quest, however, because alchemical teachings all around the world were deliberately shrouded in secrecy. In every single culture, from China to Europe, alchemical teachings were transmitted esoterically. This means that the texts are incomprehensible to any reader who has not been initiated into the secret language used by the alchemists.

Alchemists used mundane language to carry deep spiritual truths. In both the Eastern and Western alchemical traditions, references to different minerals, plants, and mixtures may actually have stood for different parts of the whole physical and spiritual human being. The alchemist then, was after the specific combination of these substances which would lead to spiritual awakening.

Alchemy is alluring for its promises of gold and long life, which certainly attracted many seekers. However, hiding behind these material promises were the real spiritual wonders that alchemy held in store for the initiate.

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