Alchemy is part science, magic, art, philosophy and part mysticism. It’s also hard to figure out when Alchemy originated – it’s appears to have multiple beginnings in Greece, Asia and Persia….. or did it come from somewhere much earlier?
Esoteric beginnings of Alchemy: the early alchemists Zosimus and Isis state that alchemical knowledge came from fallen angels. Who were these angels?
People from many ancient civilizations (Sumerians, Egyptians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Hebrews etc.), describe in their sacred writings gods that dwelt physically on earth. There is thought that knowledge was handed down to us from these “gods,” and there are those that believe (from examining ancient texts) that these gods were actually visitors from another planet. The philosophers of our current era – losing much through the mists of time - have removed the physical existence of these gods to the abstract. Now they imply that their alchemistical powers are aspects of a spiritual phenomena and forces of nature.
Esoteric beginnings of Alchemy: the early alchemists Zosimus and Isis state that alchemical knowledge came from fallen angels. Who were these angels?
People from many ancient civilizations (Sumerians, Egyptians, Akkadians, Assyrians, Babylonians, Hittites, Hebrews etc.), describe in their sacred writings gods that dwelt physically on earth. There is thought that knowledge was handed down to us from these “gods,” and there are those that believe (from examining ancient texts) that these gods were actually visitors from another planet. The philosophers of our current era – losing much through the mists of time - have removed the physical existence of these gods to the abstract. Now they imply that their alchemistical powers are aspects of a spiritual phenomena and forces of nature.
Alchemy is perhaps best thought of as a transmutation of the elements through the force of a catalyst (the Alchemist). Is it changing lead to gold or ignorance to bliss – I ask you if there is a difference between the two. Many alchemical images lead us down both paths but I think the destination was always the same – an improved state.
Human beings receive this Golden Elixir from Heaven. . . . Golden Elixir is another name for one's fundamental nature, formed out of primeval inchoateness. There is no other Golden Elixir outside one's fundamental nature. Every human being has this Golden Elixir complete in himself: it is entirely realized in everybody. It is neither more in a sage, nor less in an ordinary person. It is the seed of Immortals and Buddhas, and the root of worthies and sages.
Liu Yiming, Wuzhen zhizhi, chapter 1
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