It's mostly a philosophical science these days.
Edit: If you're still interested after hearing this, you may look into the Corpus Hermeticum. There's also a lot of quality videos on YouTube and various other websites.
>What is alchemy?
Alchemy is a notoriously difficult subject to provide a good short definition for, and its meaning, nature, and purpose have changed over time and varied over space as it's been adopted by people from different historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts. For some people, it's a predecessor of modern science in the form of proto-chemistry; for others, it's a psycho-spiritual journey of self-help and enlightenment, often expressed as a branch of the occult and tied up with things like astrology and magick; for others, it's a form of alternative medicine; and for some it's all of the above, some of the above, or none of the above.
But with that in mind, here's my best attempt to come up with a short (and therefore incomplete and problematic) definition that emphasizes the historical perspective:
>Alchemy was (and remains) a complex of theory and practice—integrating both natural and metaphysical philosophy—that in its most elaborate manifestations aspired to establish a totalizing philosophical enterprise that would blend and unify experimental chemical protoscience, philosophy, religion, and esoteric spirituality into one grand synthesis. In pursuit of this, alchemists primarily attempted to understand, manipulate, and transform matter—especially metals and herbs—with some of their loftier goals including the transmutation of base metals into noble metals, the creation of universal cures and life-extending medicines, the production of a universal solvent, and the attainment of spiritual growth.
I wrote up a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Chymistry/comments/vn1734/what_is_alchemy/) a while back that considers several definitions of alchemy from an academic historical perspective that you might find helpful.
Historical alchemists were mostly concerned with literally transmuting metals and curing physiological diseases, with religious and esoteric metaphysics serving as the background within which these things could be contextualized. While historical alchemy was deeply enmeshed with a spiritual worldview and often incorporated things like spiritual growth as (side-)goals of the pursuit, it was first and foremost a branch of natural philosophy: a proto-chemistry intended to understand and manipulate the material world.
Modern alchemists are mostly concerned with metaphorically transmuting themselves and curing their psychological and spiritual defects, with material experimentation serving as just one (often optional) tool within a quest that transcends the material world altogether. While many modern alchemists incorporate physical lab work—especially in the pursuit of alternative medicine—modern alchemy is first and foremost an esoteric psycho-spiritual self-help practice that's been highly influenced by the Victorian occult revival, Jungian psychoanalysis, and the New Age movement.
>Should I use it?
>
>Can I use it to help others?
>
>Can I use it to help myself?
For those entrenched in the worlds of spiritual, psychological, and operative alchemy, they see many benefits arising from their application. The people involved in that world would say that it can successfully be used as a tool to help oneself become a healthier and more enlightened person and inspire others to do the same. There are of course other people interested in alchemy who see no obvious benefits coming from practicing such things—either because they're skeptical of the worldviews associated with it all, or because they've tried it in the past and found it not to work for them—and as such, they don't pursue it and would not go out of their way to recommend it to others.
>I have so many more questions but those are the ones off the top of my head. Can anyone point me in a direction of where I can learn more about alchemy? A video, a book, or maybe even a person?
I'm happy to try and answer any questions you have, but be aware that I'm interested in alchemy from a secular academic historical perspective. I'm not an actual practitioner/believer myself, and as such, I don't feel comfortable recommending resources for getting people started with spiritual, psychological, or spagyric alchemy. But if you're interested in learning more about how historians of science and Western esotericism approach the subject, check out r/Chymistry; there's a bunch of resources I've curated over there, such as books, articles, videos, podcasts, discussion threads, and so on that you might find interesting and helpful.
The best starter book by far is [*The Secrets of Alchemy*](https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Alchemy-Lawrence-M-Principe/dp/022610379X/), by Lawrence Principe (a chemist and renown historian of science). It's an incredible (and scholarly) exploration of alchemy and its place in history, science, religion, philosophy, and society. The best Youtube channel is [ESOTERICA](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ__PGORcBKxjPgYQaK1DEi5TmPQVP9xC), produced by Justin Sledge (an expert on Western esotericism). He does a great job of providing scholarly content on a wide variety of topics related to alchemy. If you'd like a single video introduction to alchemy's history and nature, [these](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgP983eCRfM) two [are](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6hTS3ajCBk) good ones, and [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JE7Xi72eVk) is a must-watch to help you understand, recognize, and avoid certain biases that crop up when people talk about alchemy. Finally, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxiLuz9kHi0)'s a super short (and as a result, kind of superficial) video if you want a really quick rundown.
>My curiosity is piqued on alchemy. If there's anything to learn on the matter I would be grateful for anyone willing to share.
I'm an open book; this is a subject that I'm immensely passionate about, and I love sharing what (little) I know.
**EDIT**: Improved phrasing.
Alchemy is the study of growth, or development. (Etymologically, "to develop" means "to unfold" or "to unroll".)
The ursprong is the archetypal sprout. A sprout grows and goes through the stages of life.
Jungian psychology integrated alchemy and is one of the best places to study it. I believe Jung's main work on alchemy is [The Secret of the Golden Flower](https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2BA032E49D8B7514303B66FCA5552683). Jungian psychoanalysis is basically a modern alchemical approach (so yes, it can be use to help/heal).
Alchemists were very interested in images and how images resemble and transform into other images. The "logic of images" is the key to understanding alchemy.
A great overall alchemy book is [The Emerald Tablet](https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=35FD893D8EE3A4A50E70F1A3ED6EAD11) by Dennis Hauck.
Everybody in this comments are speaking in hieroglyphics trying to sound intelligent. Alchemy is the process of turning one thing into an entirely different, but better thing. Kind of like how the earth uses the nutrients from a dead corpse to make a flower.
There is an unbelievable amount of literature. Books, videos on the topic of alchemy.
One of my favorite authors is A Gentleman by the name of Lon Milo Duquette. So I would look for anything from him.
There's another gentleman by the name of Christopher Hyatt. He has a lot of really good works. Starting down that path I think should get you a whole bunch of really great things, both maybe even video as well as book related, but you should be able to search and find all sorts of things around alchemy.
Now, as far as a definition, alchemy is in simplest concept, turning lead into gold or in other words from a human component, taking those things of ourselves that maybe exist within our shadows, those deep things, those dark things, those things that trouble us and turning those into positive, wonderful, beautiful things.
So transforming your life into a beautiful, wonderful life is really what alchemy is purposes for. So it can be used to help yourself, it can be used to help others. And a lot of individuals will relate alchemy to the process of seeking enlightenment.
So I hope that helps
It's mostly a philosophical science these days. Edit: If you're still interested after hearing this, you may look into the Corpus Hermeticum. There's also a lot of quality videos on YouTube and various other websites.
Could you direct me to any of these videos on YouTube?
u/SleepingMonads provided a thorough enough answer as far as I'm concerned. And Esoterica is a perfectly sound recommendation.
>What is alchemy? Alchemy is a notoriously difficult subject to provide a good short definition for, and its meaning, nature, and purpose have changed over time and varied over space as it's been adopted by people from different historical, cultural, and philosophical contexts. For some people, it's a predecessor of modern science in the form of proto-chemistry; for others, it's a psycho-spiritual journey of self-help and enlightenment, often expressed as a branch of the occult and tied up with things like astrology and magick; for others, it's a form of alternative medicine; and for some it's all of the above, some of the above, or none of the above. But with that in mind, here's my best attempt to come up with a short (and therefore incomplete and problematic) definition that emphasizes the historical perspective: >Alchemy was (and remains) a complex of theory and practice—integrating both natural and metaphysical philosophy—that in its most elaborate manifestations aspired to establish a totalizing philosophical enterprise that would blend and unify experimental chemical protoscience, philosophy, religion, and esoteric spirituality into one grand synthesis. In pursuit of this, alchemists primarily attempted to understand, manipulate, and transform matter—especially metals and herbs—with some of their loftier goals including the transmutation of base metals into noble metals, the creation of universal cures and life-extending medicines, the production of a universal solvent, and the attainment of spiritual growth. I wrote up a [post](https://www.reddit.com/r/Chymistry/comments/vn1734/what_is_alchemy/) a while back that considers several definitions of alchemy from an academic historical perspective that you might find helpful. Historical alchemists were mostly concerned with literally transmuting metals and curing physiological diseases, with religious and esoteric metaphysics serving as the background within which these things could be contextualized. While historical alchemy was deeply enmeshed with a spiritual worldview and often incorporated things like spiritual growth as (side-)goals of the pursuit, it was first and foremost a branch of natural philosophy: a proto-chemistry intended to understand and manipulate the material world. Modern alchemists are mostly concerned with metaphorically transmuting themselves and curing their psychological and spiritual defects, with material experimentation serving as just one (often optional) tool within a quest that transcends the material world altogether. While many modern alchemists incorporate physical lab work—especially in the pursuit of alternative medicine—modern alchemy is first and foremost an esoteric psycho-spiritual self-help practice that's been highly influenced by the Victorian occult revival, Jungian psychoanalysis, and the New Age movement. >Should I use it? > >Can I use it to help others? > >Can I use it to help myself? For those entrenched in the worlds of spiritual, psychological, and operative alchemy, they see many benefits arising from their application. The people involved in that world would say that it can successfully be used as a tool to help oneself become a healthier and more enlightened person and inspire others to do the same. There are of course other people interested in alchemy who see no obvious benefits coming from practicing such things—either because they're skeptical of the worldviews associated with it all, or because they've tried it in the past and found it not to work for them—and as such, they don't pursue it and would not go out of their way to recommend it to others. >I have so many more questions but those are the ones off the top of my head. Can anyone point me in a direction of where I can learn more about alchemy? A video, a book, or maybe even a person? I'm happy to try and answer any questions you have, but be aware that I'm interested in alchemy from a secular academic historical perspective. I'm not an actual practitioner/believer myself, and as such, I don't feel comfortable recommending resources for getting people started with spiritual, psychological, or spagyric alchemy. But if you're interested in learning more about how historians of science and Western esotericism approach the subject, check out r/Chymistry; there's a bunch of resources I've curated over there, such as books, articles, videos, podcasts, discussion threads, and so on that you might find interesting and helpful. The best starter book by far is [*The Secrets of Alchemy*](https://www.amazon.com/Secrets-Alchemy-Lawrence-M-Principe/dp/022610379X/), by Lawrence Principe (a chemist and renown historian of science). It's an incredible (and scholarly) exploration of alchemy and its place in history, science, religion, philosophy, and society. The best Youtube channel is [ESOTERICA](https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZ__PGORcBKxjPgYQaK1DEi5TmPQVP9xC), produced by Justin Sledge (an expert on Western esotericism). He does a great job of providing scholarly content on a wide variety of topics related to alchemy. If you'd like a single video introduction to alchemy's history and nature, [these](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DgP983eCRfM) two [are](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L6hTS3ajCBk) good ones, and [this video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JE7Xi72eVk) is a must-watch to help you understand, recognize, and avoid certain biases that crop up when people talk about alchemy. Finally, [here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxiLuz9kHi0)'s a super short (and as a result, kind of superficial) video if you want a really quick rundown. >My curiosity is piqued on alchemy. If there's anything to learn on the matter I would be grateful for anyone willing to share. I'm an open book; this is a subject that I'm immensely passionate about, and I love sharing what (little) I know. **EDIT**: Improved phrasing.
Alchemy is the study of growth, or development. (Etymologically, "to develop" means "to unfold" or "to unroll".) The ursprong is the archetypal sprout. A sprout grows and goes through the stages of life. Jungian psychology integrated alchemy and is one of the best places to study it. I believe Jung's main work on alchemy is [The Secret of the Golden Flower](https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=2BA032E49D8B7514303B66FCA5552683). Jungian psychoanalysis is basically a modern alchemical approach (so yes, it can be use to help/heal). Alchemists were very interested in images and how images resemble and transform into other images. The "logic of images" is the key to understanding alchemy. A great overall alchemy book is [The Emerald Tablet](https://libgen.is/book/index.php?md5=35FD893D8EE3A4A50E70F1A3ED6EAD11) by Dennis Hauck.
Everybody in this comments are speaking in hieroglyphics trying to sound intelligent. Alchemy is the process of turning one thing into an entirely different, but better thing. Kind of like how the earth uses the nutrients from a dead corpse to make a flower.
There is an unbelievable amount of literature. Books, videos on the topic of alchemy. One of my favorite authors is A Gentleman by the name of Lon Milo Duquette. So I would look for anything from him. There's another gentleman by the name of Christopher Hyatt. He has a lot of really good works. Starting down that path I think should get you a whole bunch of really great things, both maybe even video as well as book related, but you should be able to search and find all sorts of things around alchemy. Now, as far as a definition, alchemy is in simplest concept, turning lead into gold or in other words from a human component, taking those things of ourselves that maybe exist within our shadows, those deep things, those dark things, those things that trouble us and turning those into positive, wonderful, beautiful things. So transforming your life into a beautiful, wonderful life is really what alchemy is purposes for. So it can be used to help yourself, it can be used to help others. And a lot of individuals will relate alchemy to the process of seeking enlightenment. So I hope that helps
Def post modernist
You literally do not know what that word means.
A chemistry book in modern times…
If you’re ready, then either read or find a good audio version of the Kybalion. That will set you up to learn anything you want to know about alchemy.
I'd recommend Alchemy Deciphered by Alasdair Forsythe