"Alchemy of the word"--language and "the knife" a commentary on Richard Selzer's work.
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Enchantment and alchemy. The story of rumpelstiltskin.
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Aphorisms and Proverbs as Topic↗
Immunological adjuvants: Less alchemy and more science.
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Adjuvants, Immunologic↗
[Meta-analyses--the alchemy of statistics?].
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The language of alchemy may be divided into five layers. - Within the first layer the alchemists explicitly and undisguisedly conveyed chemical informations. But they described chemical substances and chemical operations in a way which reminds us of sociological or psychological descriptions and the treatment of complex personalities. - Within the second layer the alchemists also gave chemical informations albeit encoded in much the same way as craftmen's guilds encoded their knowledge to fend off competition from outsiders. - Within the third layer the alchemists refer to verbal associations and to myths from their cultural environment so that their texts can only be properly understood within a certain cultural context. As the language of this layer was often handed down to later generations of alchemists who were not acquainted with the specific cultural context it tended to cause confusions and misunderstandings. - Within the fourth layer the alchemists deliberately used an arcane language for within this layer they tried to convey the paradoxa of alchemy. - Within the fifth ayer alchemy is treated as a literary tradition in which all classical texts contain the truth but no text does it in a fully comprehensible way. - These last two layers show that au fond alchemy is not a process of riddle solving but a quest for cosmic secrets. This gives us a demarcation criterion to distinguish alchemy from genuine natural sciences.
Alchemy↗
"Decknamen or pseudochemical language"? Eirenaeus Philalethes and Carl Jung.
It is impossible to investigate the historiography of alchemy without encountering the ideas of the "father of analytical psychology", Carl Jung. Jung argued that alchemy, viewed as a diachronic, trans-cultural entity, was concerned more with psychological states occurring in the mind of the practitioner than with real chemical processes. In the course of elucidating this idea, Jung draws on a number of alchemical authors from the early modern period. One of these is Eirenaeus Philalethes, the pen name of George Starkey (1628-1665), a native of Bermuda who was educated at Harvard College, and who later immigrated to London. A careful analysis of Starkey's work shows, however, that Jung was entirely wrong in his assessment of this important representative of seventeenth-century alchemy. This finding casts serious doubt on the Jungian interpretation of alchemy as a whole.
Alchemy↗
Cinnabar-gold as the best alchemical drug of longevity, called Makaradhwaja in India.
A drug of longevity, prior to alchemy, was peach, from which the god of longevity has emerged. Alchemy began by synthesizing red colloidal gold with gold to make the body ever-lasting and redness, as soul, to make life eternal. Its climax was reached with cinnabar-gold, which is blood-red, while red-gold is only brick-red. It was called Makaradhwaja in India. There have been fertility gods. Hermes was one and Alchemy has been named a hermetic art. Makara was crocodile-cum-fish, god of fertility. Makaradhwaja means Emblem of god of fertility, signifying a drug conferring vigour of youth.
Alchemy↗
[Carl Gustav Jung's alchemical thinking].
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961), Swiss psychologist and philosopher of culture used in his concepts many constructs having their source in philosophy of alchemy. These ideas can be found not only in his books on alchemy but also in his psychological works. Among them we should enumerate: the theory of psychological process, the concepts of opposites coexisting in the psyche, the polar structure of notions in his psychological system and the idea of synchronicity. The author of this article examines these main points of Jungian program within the context of its parallelism with paracelsian alchemical philosophy of nature: the process of nature, alchemical dialectics and the universal analogy of micro- and macrocosmos. At the beginning of his work, creating his psychology Jung assumed similar ideas. Later, when he noticed this similarity, alchemy became very helpful in his research of psyche, because thanks to them he conceptualised the successive aspects of polar structure of dynamical psychical reality, which--like his alchemical predecessors--he used to explain basics of the micro- and macro-world.
Alchemy↗
APFIM investigations on site occupancies of the ternary alloying elements Cr, Fe, and Re in NiAl.
The site occupancies of the transition metals Cr, Fe, and Re dissolved in NiAl of stoichiometric composition have been determined by atomic layer resolved atom probe field-ion microscopy (APFIM). The investigations were supported by X-ray diffraction studies to evaluate the lattice parameters. These are influenced by atomic size effects and constitutional lattice defects like Ni antistructure atoms in the Al sublattice and vacancies in the Ni sublattice. The APFIM results were compared with ALCHEMI data and calculated site preference energies published in the literature. Chromium additions to stoichiometric NiAl with 0.8 at% in solid solution exhibit a strong preference for Al sites. The lattice parameter of NiAl(Cr) solid solution is decreased. Iron atoms dissolved in higher concentrations of 5 at % in NiAl are almost equally distributed within both sublattices. They are possessing a weak preference for Al sites, which causes a lattice expansion of NiAl(Fe) solid solution. ALCHEMI results and site preference energy data show a strong site preference of Cr atoms for the Al sublattice. In contrast, iron atoms exhibit a weak site preference for Ni sites depending upon the stoichiometry of the NiAl host lattice. Re solutes in low concentrations of about 0.2 at % in NiAl possess a strong site preference for the Ni sublattice. The increase of the lattice parameter of NiAl(Re) is due to the pronounced size effect of Re atoms. For these species no ALCHEMI and site preference energy data are available in the literature.
Alloys↗
Electron channeling, structure factor phases, polarity and atom site determination in crystals.
We relate element characteristic electron energy losses and the accompanying X-ray emission under electron channeling conditions to the phases of structure factors. We discuss examples illustrating that structure factor phase information can be extracted from two-beam channeling experiments. This information has been used by several investigators to determine the absolute orientation of non-centrosymmetric crystals. We further discuss how the success of electron channeling in locating atoms in the crystal unit cell, ALCHEMI, is tied to phase information beyond the conventional one. From the perspective of diffraction-based crystallography, ALCHEMI provides information about the phase with which a particular element scatters into a reflection. Therein lies the strength of the ALCHEMI technique as compared to relying on diffraction intensities for the location of small concentrations of elements and neighbors in the periodic system.
Journal Article↗
The I Ching and the psyche-body connection.
Carl G. Jung's fateful meeting with Richard Wilhelm in 1929 has helped to build a bridge of depth psychological understanding between the East and the West. When Jung emerged from his 'confrontation with the unconscious', he felt validated by Wilhelm in his discovery of the healing power of medieval alchemical symbolism for the European psyche. Analytical psychology however offers a scientific, psychological understanding of Chinese wisdom as contained in the I Ching and Taoist alchemy. The Taoist alchemical tradition (also known as the Inner Elixir tradition of which 'The Secret of the Golden Flower' is a sample text) is based on the premise that psychological experience of the Tao can be achieved through mental and physiological means such as breathing and meditative techniques, gymnastics, dietary regimens such as fasting, consumption of medicinal herbs and minerals, and special sexual practices. This tradition incorporates the I Ching and traditional Chinese medicine in the alchemical opus. Taoist alchemy assumes the primacy of the physical body in the process of self-realization. The psychological and cosmic forces of the trigrams of the I Ching are stored in the internal organs of the body and are the basic material for the experience of Tao. The internal organs are the foundation of the material and subtle bodies and through cultivation, the body becomes spiritualized as the spirits are embodied. The body as a reflection of the entire cosmos becomes the residence of the gods. The realization of a new consciousness is symbolized by the hexagram Fu, meaning rebirth. The Chinese notion of Tao coincides with Jung's postulation of the unus mundus, the unity of existence which underlies the duality of psyche and matter, the psycho-physical background of existence. In this light, in the world of inner experience, East and West follow similar paths symbolically.
Alchemy↗
[The medicines intended for internal use in the Formulary of Mons of 1755].
The Formulary of Mons of 1755 was in use but for 14 years. As a matter of fact, it was adopted in flagrant violation of the centralising measures promulgated by the Empress Maria Theresa who had endeavoured to impose on the entire territory of the southern Low Countries the Vienese Dispensarium, a version of which was published in Brussels in 1747. The medicines intended for internal use appearing in the Formulary of Mons are divided into two categories, namely operationes chimicae and compositiones galenicae. The former comprise of formulae alluding, on the one hand, to substances proper to alchemy (such as mercury and antimony), and, on the other, to substances derived form the techniques in current use of alchemy, namely sales, flores, distilled waters, tinctura and spiriti. Among the latter, several categories of mediciens appear prominently: the category of electuaria, loochs and conservae, that of mellitae, syrops, robs and extracts and that of tablets, trochisci, pills and powders. All these are treated therein.
Austria↗
[Clinical application of several Taoist magical pellets in the Tang Dynasty.]
Alchemy is one the arts of Taoist practice. Clinical application of arsenics, mercury, lead, and alloys brought out by alchemy is the primal effect on TCM clinic in the Tang Dynasty. Their chemical compounds such as arsenides, realgar, silver mercuric alloys, mercuric chlorides, all played an important role in TCM clinical practice in the Tang Dynasty, exerting effects on later ages until today.
Journal Article↗
[The antimony conflict].
Antimony, which was already well known to the ancients, in the Middle Ages was known as Lupus metallorurn--the grey wolf--a key material in alchemists' attempts at purifying gold. Over subsequent centuries antimony returned within the bounds of conventional scientific and experimental knowledge, but inspired numerous studies, works of literature and investigations in important fields of medicine. Antimony has always aroused more interest than one might expect from a simple metal. The fact that it has been used since ancient times in cosmetics and then in alchemy gave it both positive and negative connotations, reflecting its possible uses and the benefits for health but also the potential harm. For a certain period antimony was virtually the symbol for a range of uses in alchemy or empirical medicine, in the face of modern scientific knowledge, and aroused debate that went well beyond its actual physical and chemical properties. Bernardino Ramazzini's work in the 17th-18th centuries signalled the recognition that the use of antimony was linked to health risks. Today it is put to many uses in many fields of industry and medicine, so our interest in this metal is no longer exclusively a question of history, but is highly topical.
Antimony↗
Symbols designed by European alchemists incorporating elements of Chinese origin.
Alchemy arose in China as cult of longevity generating life-force by imitating creation. Heaven and Earth, as opposites, were conceived as responsible for creation. They were believed to be round and square-shaped when their emblems became Compass and Carpenter's square. These have been retained in the symbols designed by alchemists of the Medieval Age without, however, revealing their origin or significance.
Alchemy↗
History of medicine and nephrology in Asia.
The beginning of Chinese medicine has been attributed to 3 mythical emperors who gathered herbs for medicines. During the 2nd century BC, Han dynasty physicians developed cranial trephining and sedation with wine and herbs for anesthesia. Chiang Chung-Ching (142-212 AD) used the appearance of rashes in diagnosis, treated infections with anthelmintics and asthma with ephedra, described the symptoms of diabetes mellitus and expanded medical ethics. The specialties of obstetrics, pediatrics, ophthalmology and dentistry were described in the records of the Han and Tang dynasties, and methods of setting fractures and treating trauma were comparable with those of Roman military doctors. Shen Tua (1031-1095 AD) compiled a pharmacopeia and studied acupuncture and the pulses. Forensic medicine was developed during the 10th century by Sung Tse, who also advocated hand washing with sulfur and vinegar to avoid infection during autopsies. The Daoist physicians used androgens and estrogens to treat hypogonadism with therapeutic preparations of placentas. They also had an advanced knowledge of alchemy, claiming to achieve 'immortality' by their preservation techniques. Qualifying examinations for physicians were conducted by the Chinese state as early as the 1st century AD, and later incorporated philosophy and art to conform with the Confucian ideal. Throughout these eras, Chinese medicine profited from contact with western Asia. In ancient Chinese medicine, the excretory function of the kidney was attributed to the bladder. 'Kidney weakness', which refers to somatized depression, was treated by acupuncture along the 'kidney channel'. Pulse examination was also used to give a measure of the imbalance of renal Yin and Yang.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Alchemy↗
Medicine and the Renaissance world of learning.
This article considers aspects of the relation of medicine with other learned disciplines during the sixteenth century and presents some examples of the contribution of medical authors of that period to such diverse fields as natural philosophy, physiognomy, alchemy, travel writing, the art of memory, and the study of antiquities.
Alchemy↗