Alchemy History

Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor’s stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is real. When she tracks down a local legend named the Watch Man, who can supposedly tell you when you’ll die, the world finally makes sense. Except that the Watch Man tells her she will die at midnight tomorrow unless she finds an ancient object called the Alchemical Heart.

In this illuminating guide, Barbara Hand Clow shows how the nine dimensions of consciousness are now being verified by contemporary science.

When Elodie Peach joins our school's History department, her clear green eyes, joyous ways and swan-like neck enchant me as much as Anne Boleyn’s charms captivated Henry VIII five hundred years ago. Monday to Friday, I’m grumpy Mr Vaughan, Head of History. Zero personality, except when I’m teaching. So passionate about my field that my pupils bought me a highly inappropriate t-shirt last year.

Paulo Coelho's enchanting novel has inspired a devoted following around the world. This story, dazzling in its simplicity and wisdom, is about an Andalusian shepherd boy named Santiago who travels from his homeland in Spain to the Egyptian desert in search of treasure buried in the Pyramids. Along the way he meets a Gypsy woman, a man who calls himself king, and an Alchemist, all of whom point Santiago in the direction of his quest.

Nicholas Flamel is the greatest Alchemyst to ever live. The records show that he died in 1418, but what if he's actually been making the elixir of life for centuries? The secrets to eternal life are hidden within the book he protects - the Book of Abraham the Mage. It's the most powerful book that has ever existed, and in the wrong hands, it will destroy the world. And that's exactly what Dr. John Dee plans to do when he steals it. There is one hope. If the prophecy is true, Sophie and Josh Newman have the power to save everyone. Now they just have to learn to use it.

Drawing on decades of research around the world - touching on the first known horoscope, a statue ordered into exile, and the mystical power of tattoos - Gosden shows what magic can offer us today and how we might use it to rethink our relationship with the world. Magic is an original, singular, and sweeping work of scholarship, and its revelations will leave a spell on the listener.

In The Secrets of Alchemy, Lawrence M. Principe, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, brings alchemy out of the shadows and restores it to its important place in human history and culture. By surveying what alchemy was and how it began, developed, and overlapped with a range of ideas and pursuits, Principe illuminates the practice. He vividly depicts the place of alchemy during its heyday in early modern Europe, and then explores how alchemy has fit into wider views of the cosmos and humanity.

Herbs have been used for medicine, magic, and ritual for centuries. The ancient arts of herbal alchemy and herbal magick combine the healing and energizing effects of herbs (roots, leaves, flowers, resins, and essential oils) with the cycles of the natural world - the astrological movement of the stars and planets, and the cycles of the earth's seasons. In this easy-to-use compendium of herbs and their energy associations, master herbalist and magick practitioner Karen Harrison offers formulas anyone can use to obtain courage, creativity, lasting health, prosperity, and more.

Twenty-four-year-old Saeris Fane is good at keeping secrets. No one knows about the strange powers she possesses or the fact that she has been picking pockets and stealing from the Undying Queen's reservoirs for as long as she can remember. But a secret is like a knot. Sooner or later, it is bound to come undone. When Saeris comes face-to-face with Death himself, she inadvertently reopens a gateway between realms and is transported to a land of ice and snow. The Fae have always been the stuff of myth, of legend, of nightmares… but it turns out they're real.

At the dawn of the 20th century, humanity was facing global disaster. Mass starvation, long predicted for the fast-growing population, was about to become a reality. A call went out to the worlds scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two enormously gifted, fatally flawed men who found it: the brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and the reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, controlled world markets, and saved millions of lives.

Why is Red Bull so popular, though everyone—everyone!—hates the taste? Humans are, in a word, irrational, basing decisions as much on subtle external signals (that little blue can) as on objective qualities (flavor, price, quality). The surrounding world, meanwhile, is irreducibly complex and random. This means future success can’t be projected on any accounting spreadsheet. To strike gold, you must master the dark art and curious science of conjuring irresistible ideas: alchemy.

From the time she was young, Suleika Jaouad has kept a journal. She’s used it to mark life's biggest occasions and to weather its most ferocious storms. Journaling has buoyed her through illness, heartbreak, and the deepest uncertainty. And she is not alone: for so many people, keeping a journal is an essential tool for navigating both the personal peaks and valleys and the collective challenges of modern life. More than ever, we need a space for puzzling through.

What exactly is an element? Where did these fragments of matter come from? How did the ancient alchemists give rise to modern day chemistry? How did the Periodic Table of elements come about? Why is it called ‘The Periodic Table’? This essay addresses these questions in a jargon free, light-hearted fashion. Here, I discuss a number of interesting elements and how they have influenced mankind both culturally and superstition-wise. The essay, which also contains a number of ‘interesting’ element-related stories, serves as an introduction to the chemistry of the elements. As such it ...

In Essence and Alchemy, which has been published in fourteen foreign editions, Aftel teaches the art of making natural perfumes, complete with recipes. She resurrects the social and metaphysical legacy that is entwined with the evolution of perfumery, from the dramas of the spice trade to the quests of the alchemists. Tracking scent through the boudoir and bath and into the sanctums of worship, she offers insights on the relationship of scent to sex, solitude, and the soul, unearthing a forgotten world of natural essences and their profound resonance with body, mind, and spirit.

Rendered Faithfully for the Modern Seeker Summa Perfectionis, or “The Sum of Perfection,” is widely regarded as the most influential alchemical treatise of the Latin Middle Ages. Attributed to the legendary Geber (Jābir ibn Ḥayyān)—an 8th-century polymath whose name became synonymous with practical alchemy—this work became the foundational blueprint for countless philosophers, mystics, and early scientists across Europe and the Islamic world. In this edition, drawn from a carefully corrected Vatican manuscript, the reader is invited into a world of fire and transformation, ...

Explore the occult from ancient times to the modern day with one of its most respected scholars and practitioners. Take an enlightening journey through occult history, exploring 100 dramatic incidents, arcane knowledge, and key historical figures from around the world. John Michael Greer delves into two millennia of tradition, from the earliest alchemists to pagan rituals; from the philosopher's stone to cabala, the first tarot, and the Knights Templar; and from the first horoscopes to fortune-telling trials and the birth of modern witchcraft, or Wicca.

Unlock the Ancient Secrets of Transformation with Unlocking the Secrets of Alchemy: The Complete Guide to the Science, Symbols, and Spiritual Teachings of the Alchemists Journey through the mystical and historical world of alchemy—an ancient practice that blends science, philosophy, and spirituality. From its mysterious beginnings in ancient Egypt and Greece to its influence on modern chemistry, this comprehensive guide uncovers the fascinating evolution of alchemical thought and practice. Explore the lives of legendary alchemists, decode powerful symbols, and understand the deeper ...

I've endured fifteen years of underwhelming marital sex with Lord John Russell. One front-page tell-all from his secretary puts an end to that misery pretty efficiently. As the media furor rages around our divorce, two things become abundantly clear. One: it's time for some decent orgasms, which is why I've joined the Unfurl program at London's top sex club, Alchemy. Two: it's time to take control of the narrative, for myself and for other women. That's why I plan to document my sexual revolution on camera.

George Soros, called "a superstar among money managers" by The New York Times, shares the investment strategies he uses to read the mind of the market.

Something is wrong with our banking system. We all sense that, but Mervyn King knows it firsthand; his 10 years at the helm of the Bank of England, including at the height of the financial crisis, revealed profound truths about the mechanisms of our capitalist society. In The End of Alchemy, he offers us an essential work about the history and future of money and banking, the keys to modern finance.