An Exploration of Alchemy and the Prima Materia

by

Mark Foster










Instructor: Rosella Stern

English 102

24 February 1997


In spite of what many people may believe, Alchemy is not dead. The practice of Alchemy has continued for more than two millennia, some say it is nearly as old as human civilization itself. For a time in the Dark Ages, it was also thought to have been dead, but it re-emerged in Western Europe in the twelfth century. Alchemy and it's underlying principles have evolved over time, much like the transformation of metals with which it is concerned, it too has transformed into something else.

In Alchemy, the primary aspiration was to change ordinary metals into gold. The secondary aim was to achieve spiritual perfection. "Success in one meant success in the other." (Powell 8). The alchemists viewed their work as a melding of spirituality and science. Their belief was that, as Read explains, "matter has a common soul which alone is permanent, the body, or outward form, being merely a mode of manifestation of the soul and therefore transitory and transmutable into other forms" (15).

The beginnings of Alchemy can be traced to the ancient Egyptian city of Alexandria, which was the acknowledged center of the intellectual world about 300 BC (Stillman 137). But to better understand Alchemy requires a step backward to the times of Aristotle and Plato, who lived about a century earlier. At that time, there were two opposing views concerning the nature of matter. "Aristotle believed that matter is continuous and therefore capable of infinite subdivision, but Epicurus, elaborating the pre-Aristotelian views of Democritus. . . held it to have a grained or discontinuous structure, consisting of atoms of the same primordial material which differed in their size, shape and form." (Read 4). Aristotle held that the basis of the material world was something called 'prime' or 'first matter.' The embodiment and realization of the prime matter came through the "first stage of form, found in the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire and Water." The elements are related by qualities of dry, moist, hot and dry (See Figure 1) (Powell 26).


Figure 1. A depiction of the four elements blending in universal creation.
Each basic elements was characterized by an imbalance in proportion of the basic qualities, so fire was characterized by hot and dry, as water was by cold and wet. Thus, each element could be transformed in another by changing the quality which they share (Powell 29).

Plato, who was slightly younger than Aristotle, also ascribed to the theory of the four elements constituting all other substances (Stillman 17). He had an idea that the constituting units (particles) of the four elements were based on the geometry of triangles. He considered gold as consisting of homogeneous particles (which today we know is true). Here is an explanation by Plato regarding these four elements:

. . . out of the elements of this kind, the body of the universe is created, being brought into concord through proportion; and from these it derived friendship, so that coming to unity with itself, it became dissoluble by any force, save the will of him who joined it. Now the making of the earth took up the whole bulk of each of these four elements. Of all fire and all water, and air and earth, it's framer fashioned it leaving over no part nor power without. (Stillman 146-7)

The alchemists adopted Aristotle's theories into their art. "Their [early alchemical] theories of the origin and changes of matter were based on their interpretation of the four elements as constituents of matter, principally as formulated by Plato and Aristotle," says Stillman (135). Their reasoning, in attempting to accomplish the feat (of transmutation to gold), was based on their belief in the unity of matter, and in the existence of a potent transmuting agent known as the Philosopher's Stone (Read 15). The 'Philosopher's Stone,' which had many other names, was that mystic substance that, when combined with base metals would remove the impurities of those metals result in the transmutation to (the pure metal of) gold or silver.

Closely connected to the symbolism of the Philosopher's Stone, was the concept of the Prima Materia, or primary material, which was thought to be a "prime, chaotic matter, which might come into actual existence if impressed by 'form' " (Fabricius 8). In time, the Alchemists came to modify the theory of the four elements, apparently to better suit the model of their pursuit . . . "the sulphur-mercury theory presented the two opposed, or contrary elements, fire and water, in a new guise. Fire became 'sulphur' and water 'mercury,' the former composed of the primary qualities of hot and dry, the latter of the primary qualities of cold and moist." (Fabricius 8).

The books and manuscripts explaining the chemicals and processes were obscure and subject to various interpretations. The symbolic language used was incomprehensible except to an initiated few [other alchemists] (Powell 14). It is clear that a majority of these manuscripts are nothing more than cryptic recipes and processes conveyed through intricate drawings and diagrams which are awe-inspiring. Most of the earlier records contain recipes which would be used by the goldsmiths to make gold alloys harder, heavier or more brilliant (in color) (Secrets 18). Some of the ingredients used by the alchemists include copper, lead, sulfur, arsenic, urine and bile. (Powell 19). They would mix these ingredients together in the proper proportions, then try to remove the "impurities," to be left with gold or silver. "Heat was the fundamental requirement of nearly every alchemical process, from distilling dew to smelting lead" (Secrets 36). Indeed it seems that they tried just about everything. Powell explains that "substances were combined and separated, heated and cooled, vaporized and solidified, and sometimes just left to rot." (19).

However, without the technical knowledge and understanding, the alchemists were in effect just "spinning their wheels." They possessed neither the knowledge of atomic structure nor a refined technical apparatus (Fabricius 8). Many rumours remain about how this alchemist or that one succeeded in creating or capturing some of this elusive substance, but they all seem to lack any credibility. All of these things and more contributed to its demise.

Parcelsus, a sixteenth century physician and alchemist, changed the course of history by insisting that the true goal of Alchemy was finding medical cures. Some of his followers "abandoned their search for the Philosopher's Stone" and focused on more constructive experiments, resulting in many important discoveries (Powell 101). Then in 1645 the Royal Society of London, a national academy of science, was formed and began to hold weekly meetings. King Charles II inaugurated the group, and it was Robert Boyle, one of the groups' first members, whose published work "Skeptical Chemist" (1661) challenged the long accepted principles of Aristotle's four elements, and the alchemists three (Powell 102). It was the final blow to Alchemy, which came to be replaced by more rigid (and productive) sciences -- namely chemistry and physics.

Not everyone agrees as to the practical benefits which resulted from the alchemists attempts. In their search for the Philosopher's Stone they inadvertently laid much of the groundwork for the later discipline of applied chemistry. Alchemists were the first to isolate a number of chemicals, from phosphorous to hydrochloric acid, and they also developed new equipment and methods for distilling (see glossary) fluids, assaying metals and controlling chemical reactions." (Secrets 35). In "The Forge and the Crucible" however, Eliade expresses a much different attitude -- "That the alchemists did contribute also to the process of the natural sciences is certainly true, but they did this indirectly and only as a consequence of their concern with mineral substances and living matter." (183).

The atomistic theory, after a long digression during the 2000 years since Aristotle, finally gave way to the development of a modified theory of the elements (Farber 28). Most people know this today through the Periodical Table of the Elements, which lists (currently) 110 types of elements, not all of which are naturally occurring.

At Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, the "creation" of one of these elements, tritiumusing particle accelerators is pumping millions of dollars into the local economy. "To produce tritium using an accelerator, a stream of protons is accelerated to nearly the speed of light. The protons slam into a heavy-metal target made of tungsten and lead, knocking neutrons loose from the target. The neutrons bombard helium-3, a stable isotope, and transform it into tritium. The tritium then is extracted for use in nuclear weapons." (Economy). Other elements have similarly be "created" through the bombardment of subatomic particles in the bubble chambers of high-speed particle accelerators (See Figure 2).

Figure 2. Tracks of elementary particles in a bubble chamber. Two particles have been destroyed at the points from which the spirals emanate, and four others are created in the collision.
The knowledge of the structure of the atomic nucleus is having a profound effect on humanity (Hewitt 582). The atom bomb made quick work of World War II, fueled the Cold War and the arms race, and left in question the ideas of world peace and the future of mankind. But there are other implications which are not so obvious, that are at the cutting edge of science and physics, and are forcing us to reexamine our understanding of reality and the universe.

"Matter exists in fours states: solid, liquid, gaseous and plasma . . . All substances can be transformed from any state into another" (Hewitt 188). This is most commonly observed with water, which is ice when subjected to colder temperatures and steam when subject to hotter temperatures.

Water, which is the earth's most abundant natural resource, is a perfect source of sustainable energy, seemingly capable of solving most or all of the worlds energy problems. In 1989, two chemists from the University of Utah named Pons and Fleischman announced the scientific discovery of the century. "Nuclear fusion, producing usable amounts of heat" had been performed in a table-top apparatus using water and electrodes made of palladium and platinum, two precious metals (Goodstein). The implication was that the worlds' oceans could supply an infinite amount of clean, cheap energy. The scientific data was shown to be incorrect a few weeks later, yet Pons and Fleischman continue their research through funding provided by TECHNOVA (a subsidiary of Toyota) as well as the Japanese trade ministry (Goodstein).

On the physics front, the nature of matter has delved deeper and deeper into that which we cannot see. "All matter, however solid it appears, is made up of tiny building blocks, which themselves are mostly empty space. These are atoms . . . " (Hewitt 179).

The acceptance of the atom as the fundamental building block of matter has been augmented by a frantic search for an even more universal explanation of the fundamental particles that make up our world and our universe. The results have been astounding. For instance, we now know that electrons exhibit behavior characteristic of both particles and waves (see Figure 3). In fact, the world is made entirely of particles that behave in the same manner. They act like a particle when we look at them, but otherwise they act like a wave (Herbert 66). This duality has helped shape our modern-day conception of matter and to define a new physics. In 1905 a young patent office clerk named Albert Einstein published the 'special theory of relativity,' whose famous equation E=mc2 predicted that an object's mass is equivalent to a certain amount of energy (Herbert 7).


Figure 3. The outcome of an electron diffraction experiment: each electron makes a tiny flash of light, eventually forming a pattern revealing both the wave and particle aspects.

One philosophical parallel between Alchemy and the sciences of today is that we still seek out these elusive embodiments of unity. Over the last century, the focus of physics has for the most part shifted, from matter to energy and the forces. The search for a grand unified theory has become a primary goal in physics today. Many of the theories have advanced to such an abstract level that scientific testing or experimentation is often not possible, and are enveloped in the issues of metaphysics. It is in this way that physics validates alchemy . . . physicists have become indistinguishable from the alchemists (LEVITY).

The free-form manner in which alchemy was conducted should not be overlooked. Armed with the knowledge and understanding that is available today, the fruits of alchemy would no doubt be sweeter and more plentiful. The ability of the alchemists to roam exploit the possibilities and potential of unrestricted experimentation does have its benefits. Today scientists are mostly limited by what corporations and governments find worthy of funding.

The creation of gold has not been achieved, but has essentially been replaced by the more influential goal of finding alternative and infinite sources of energy, and with the metaphysical goals of understanding the nature of matter and the universe. Success in the realization of either of these will represent a significant leap forward in the intellectual evolution of mankind.

Glossary

Assay: qualitative or quantitative determination of the components of a material.

Calcimation: metals and minerals reduced to a fine powder.

Distillation: conversion of liquid to vapor by boiling, then condensing back into a liquid by cooling.

Electron: negative particle in the shell of an atom.

Grand Unified Theory: a theory that unifies the electromagnetic, strong and weak forces. Metaphysics: mental philosophy, dealing with the nature and causes of being and knowing.

Sublimation: substance headed until vaporized, then returned to its solid state by rapid cooling.

Works Cited

Eliade, Mircea. The Forge and the Crucible - The Origins and Structures of Alchemy. Chicago: Chicago UP. 1962

Fabricius, Johannes. Alchemy - The Medieval Alchemists and their Royal Art. Great Britain: Woolnough 1976

Farber, Eduard, Ph.D. The Evolution of Chemistry - A History of the Ideas, Methods and Materials. New York: Ronald Press. 1969

Goldstein, David. Whatever happened to Cold Fusion?. Online-WWW http://www.caltech.edu/~goodstein/fusion.html Viewed 02/03/97.

Hewitt, Paul G. Conceptual Physics. Seventh Edition. NY: Harper Collins 1993

Heyneman, Martha. "Angels of Rain and Lightning." Parabola. Spring 1995: 84-90.

Read, John. Through Alchemy to Chemistry- a Procession of Ideas & Personalities. London: G. Bell and Sons LTD. 1957

Stillman, John Maxson. The Story of Alchemy and Early Chemistry. New York: Dover 1924

Time-Life Books. Secrets of the Alchemists. Virginia: Time-Life. 1990

"Accelerator-Production of Tritium work should boost Northern New Mexico's Economy." APT in the News, Online - WWW http://strider.lansce.lanl.gov/apt/new.html Viewed 2/18/97