This is another one of my slide shows. I have a deep interest in everything symbolic, and this is no exception... not all the symbols are alchemy as there are a few otehrs too. :) Alchimia or Alquimie; Al Khem (Khem/Keme/KHMI) or Black earth (Ancient Egyptian)+ ЈΩŞĦǗǺ (Thanks to Archaic Symbolism for the slide show inspiration) NOTES; (NOT MINE!) Alchemy Origins, transmutation, study, practice and science It is rather amusing that chemistry, which is such an important part of modern science, has grown out of the much ridiculed researches and practices, as well as superstitions, of the ancient alchemists. What is still more amusing is the fact that the alchemists used strange terms in order to hide their secrets, which, together with the many ridiculous names they gave to the various ingredients they needed in their work, successfully pulled the innocent legs of their successors (the chemists), who, taking these terms at their face value, now laugh heartily at these foolish alchemists. How these seemingly foolish, but really very wise, old men must be chuckling in their beards as they look down from above and see their detractors struggling with the hidden meanings of the weird phrases with which their diaries and manuscripts are filled. It reminds us of the veiled teachings of the other occult and mystical sciences, consisting of subtle words and phrases with hidden meanings, very mysterious to the vulgar mind, such as the famous "Holy Grail" which now enjoys great notoriety in the public imagination through the novels of Dan Brown and others. Such fantasies continue to give rise to the most absurd ideas and fanciful speculations, causing a multitude of short-lived "occult orders" of all kinds to spring up, in order to spread their wonderful "secret" knowledge, only to fall down with a mighty bang, or fade out like a movie when the power fails; each according to its inherent proclivities and predestined fate...and the wise ones silently stride past! The origins of Alchemy What is the meaning of the word Alchemy? Opinions differ. One theory is that the word is derived from the Arabic Kimya, or chemistry, and al. Kimya in its turn being derived from the late Greek word Chemeia, which also means chemistry, or from Chemeia, mingling, or Cheein, to pour out or mix. But one Egyptologist of the last century, E. A. Wallis Budge, thought that its root might lie in the ancient Egyptian word Khemeia, which refers to the preparation of the black ore, or powder, which is the active principle used by alchemists in the transmutation of metals. Thus it is quite likely that this ancient Egyptian word, to which the Arabs prefixed the article al, is the real root of the word "Alchemy" The Egyptians had the reputation of being skilled workers in metal from the very earliest times onward, and the Greek writers state that they knew the secret of transmuting base metals into gold and silver. Some writers have said that alchemical science first took form in Byzantium in the fourth century A.D., but we think it much more likely that this was due to part of the secret science of the ancient Egyptians leaking out through the indiscretions of some disciples which, trickling through via Alexandrian and Hellenic sources, founded the structure of the early and medieval schools of alchemy. Transmutation For many years scientists and other unenlightened people sneered and scoffed at the idea of transmutation, but with the discovery of nuclear fission in the last century, science was finally able to transmute a minute quantity of mercury into gold by subjecting it to nuclear bombardment. More recently, some scientists claim to have succeeded in not only making gold, but transmuting many other elements too, such as calcium, copper, zinc and iron, using various nuclear technologies, including "cold fusion", but these continuing experiments, interesting though they are, would take us too far away from the thesis of this investigation, which is to discover the sacred keys of alchemy that unlock the doors of Divine Wisdom, as opposed to material knowledge. The old alchemists had a theory that all matter is of one and the same basic origin and that all forms of matter contain the same spiritual principle which is permanent, although the body or outer form is transitory, and one outer form may be substituted for another. As you will have noted, this is very similar to the prevailing scientific view, only science still denies the spiritual, preferring instead to rake over the mud of materialism in their search for ever more elusive and tenuous elementary particles such as the mysterious "Higgs Boson" or so-called "God particle". Truly, there are none so blind as those who will not see!

• published: 11 Aug 2013
• views: 11502