Materiarius
The human inclination to spread memory on the surface of objects reached unrivaled heights in the Baroque age, when cabinets of curiosities were a mixture of museums of the absurd and reservoirs of knowledge. There, libraries with manuscripts hidden for centuries were opened to those who had something to reveal, and the craze for esoteric erudition began, perhaps comparable only to the Alexandrian period. Having replaced the architectural elegance of the Renaissance with the compulsive accumulation of ornaments and details, the Baroque mentality could only add object to object in the hope of obtaining the essential. For them, building a machine was drawing a thought, or rather, a memory.
Of the true alchemical machines created at the dawn of time—those that could be nimbly shaken by whispers from the earthly depths and then, with a returning breath, move the cosmos—only memories remained. As long as they were reduced to the form of a toy, as was prescribed for all that was sacred.
1. Physics at the Neolithic Gate
All the science of the ancients was necessarily within the reach of the Neolithic, that’s to say, without modern equipment and devices. Today we would say that they could only count on themselves and nature. One of the main processes employed was to induce, or exploit, changes in the state of raw matter. In fact, if we look carefully, alchemical processes all involve changes in the state of matter, either subtle and continuous or sudden and violent.
Something arcane happens in the state changes of matter
2. Light in Alchemy soon became the Arcane of Arcana
It was during the Baroque age, and with the support of new discoveries in optical science, that light in Alchemy began to be openly discussed and treated. Light became the arcane of arcana, the secret of the ancients, the reason for Alchemy existence, the hidden message, the private channel, the communication between the world of the living and the world of the dead, the meeting point between spirit and matter, the knowledge of oneʼs archetype, the origin, the beginning of the immortalsʼ chain, the legacy as well as memory. In short, everything.
Don’t take the concept of light in Alchemy for granted
3. Rays and Optics according to the Ancient Authors
The concept of alchemical light expands in unexpected rivulets. Not only stellar rays striking everywhere, creating ripple effects, but also sounds, objects, voices, and writing. The cosmic emissions penetrating the Earth’s crust go far beyond not only our current understanding of energy, but also the alchemists’ definitions of spirits and entities. For optics scholars from the Middle Ages to the Baroque era, the primary imperative was to construct lenses, mirrors, and devices capable of collecting and enclosing everything that unknowingly streamed into or penetrated us.
Rays Everywhere. Light as Spark, Image, Sound, Object.
- Al-Kindi, Everything Emits Rays
- Grosseteste, Light as the First Corporeal Form
- Roger Bacon, Forms as Alchemical Seeds
- J.Dee, Optical Instruments as Short Paths
- Paracelsus, the Soul is Life in Itself
- Cornelius Agrippa von Nettesheim, Light as Elixir
- Plato, Spindles of Light
- Iamblichus, Eaters of Light
4. Alchemy is Physics, not Chemistry. But we can’t figure out what it is.
It was Fulcanell who wrote (or rather Canseliet for him): “Alchemy is physics, not chemistry, which should become very evident in the final stages of the Great Work”. Many know what he meant, but no one has understood why. Starting from the assumption that alchemical texts were often written by laypersons through suggestions-conjectures-assignments, and imagining them as climbers on a cold, windy night of solitude-resilience-resourcefulness desperately seeking any certainty that would save their task, we can easily understand how, in any given era, the hold they cling to is the science of the times in which they/we live. The astonishing thing is that, whatever the state of the art of science, the “inspired” are almost always right: Alchemy adapts to everything, and everything adapts to Alchemy.
Particles, quasi-particles, wave functions, spintronics, and fields. Apparently, everything goes.
- A Neolithic-Proof Private Channel
- Physics in Alchemy, Particles and Wave Functions
- Physics in Alchemy, the Theory of Fields and Baits
- Physics in Alchemy, the Relevance of Sound
- Physics in Alchemy, Time and Memory
- Physics in Alchemy through its Symbolism
- A few notes on the importance of gravity in Alchemy
- Hands emerging from the Clouds
5. Destruction and Immortality in Alchemy
In Alchemy, it seems like one cannot avoid the subject of death. To avoid this horror modern scholars have transfigured it into a more acceptable “spiritual renewal”.