Holmyard, when writing on exoteric aspects, states that they cannot be properly appreciated if the esoteric is not always kept in mind. Despite the modern split, numerous sources stress an integration of esoteric and exoteric approaches to alchemy. The subject has also made an ongoing impact on literature and the arts. The latter interests psychologists, spiritual and new age communities, hermetic philosophers, and historians of esotericism. The former is pursued by historians of the physical sciences who have examined the subject in terms of protochemistry, medicine, and charlatanism. Modern discussions of alchemy are generally split into an examination of its exoteric practical applications and its esoteric aspects. Material perfection was sought through the action of a preparation (Philosopher's Stone for metals Elixir of Life for humans), while spiritual ennoblement resulted from some form of inner revelation or other enlightenment (Gnosis, for example, in Hellenistic and western practices Sheppard gives the following as a comprehensive summary:Īlchemy is the art of liberating parts of the Cosmos from temporal existence and achieving perfection which, for metals is gold, and for man, longevity, then immortality and, finally, redemption. Alchemists have historically rewritten and evolved their explanation of alchemy, so it is difficult to define it simply. However, these only highlight certain aspects of alchemy. The ostensible goals of alchemy are often given as the transmutation of common metals into gold (known as chrysopoeia), the creation of a panacea, and the discovery of a universal solvent. Alchemists developed a structure of basic laboratory techniques, theory, terminology, and experimental method, some of which are still in use today =Overview= It is recognized as a protoscience that contributed to the development of modern chemistry and medicine. The defining objectives of alchemy are varied but historically have typically included one or more of the following goals: the creation of the fabled philosopher's stone the ability to transmute base metals into the noble metals (gold or silver) and development of an elixir of life, which would confer youth and longevity. Though alchemy played a significant role in the development of early modern science, it differs significantly from modern science in its inclusion of Hermetic principles and practices related to mythology, magic, religion, and spirituality. The Emerald Tablet, a key text of Western Alchemy, in a 17th-century edition Alchemy is an influential philosophical tradition whose practitioners have, from antiquity, claimed it to be the

Chemist and alchemist sandvox