Alchemical symbols, originally devised as part of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Note that while notation like this was mostly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists, so this page lists the most common.
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Three primes
According to Paracelsus (1493-1541), the three primes or tria prima - of which material substances are immediately composed - are:
- Mercury (Soul)
- Salt (base matter or body)
- Sulfur (Spirit)
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Four basic elements
Western alchemy makes use of the Hellenic elements. The symbols used for these are:
- Air
- Earth
- Fire
- Water
Seven planetary metals
Seven metals are associated with the seven classical planets, and seven deities, all figuring heavily in alchemical symbolism. Although the metals occasionally have a glyph of their own, the planet's symbol is used most often, and the symbolic and mythological septenary is consistent with Western astrology. The planetary symbolism is limited to the seven wandering stars visible to the naked eye, and the extra-Saturnian planets Uranus and Neptune are not used.
- Lead dominated by Saturn ? ( )
- Tin dominated by Jupiter ? ( )
- Iron dominated by Mars ? ( )
- Gold dominated by Sol ? ? ( )
- Copper dominated by Venus ? (also: )
- Mercury (quicksilver) dominated by Mercury ? ( )
- Silver dominated by Luna ? ( )
The Monas Hieroglyphica is an alchemical symbol devised by John Dee as a combination of the planetary metal glyphs.
Mundane elements
- Antimony ?
- Arsenic
- Bismuth
- Boron =
- Magnesium ?
- Phosphorus
- Platinum ??
- Potassium
- Stone
- Sulfur
- Zinc
Alchemical compounds
- Sal ammoniac (Ammonium chloride) *
- Aqua fortis (Nitric acid) A.F.
- Aqua regia (Nitro-hydrochloric acid) A.R.
- Spirit of wine (also called aqua vitae)(Concentrated ethanol) S.V.
- Amalgam (Alloys of a metal and mercury)
- Cinnabar (Mercury sulfide) ?
- Vitriol (Sulfates) ?
Alchemical processes
The alchemical magnum opus was sometimes expressed as a series of chemical operations. In cases where these numbered twelve, each could be assigned one of the Zodiac signs as a form of cryptography. The following example can be found in Pernety's 1758 Mytho-Hermetic Dictionary:
- Calcination (Aries )
- Congelation (Taurus )
- Fixation (Gemini )
- Dissolution (Cancer )
- Digestion (Leo )
- Distillation (Virgo )
- Sublimation (Libra )
- Separation (Scorpio )
- Incineration (Sagittarius )
- Fermentation (Capricorn)
- Multiplication (Aquarius )
- Projection (Pisces )
Unicode
Unicode 6.1 adds support for an Alchemical Symbols block.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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