Chapter 21

CHAPTER XIV

✦

ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLS AND SECRET

ALPHABETS

THE symbols employed by the alchemists to represent the
various elements, metals, substances, processes, and opera¬
tions used in their art, that developed to such a great extent
in the Middle Ages, go back to an early period. Originally
designed to ensure secrecy in recording the alchemists’ formulae
and to prevent the uninitiated from acquiring their knowledge,
they also served as a kind of shorthand for working out their
recipes and notes just as the symbols used by chemists do to-day.
Secret alphabets, ciphers, and emblematic drawings represent¬
ing various processes also served as a medium of understanding
between the adepts of different nations and became universally
employed in Europe.

Joseph Scaliger, the historian, says, “The symbols and signs
are of great antiquity and are often found engraved on ancient
tombs and runic stones.” Some show evidence of having been
derived from ancient Egyptian sources, while others, like the
symbols used for the metals, had their origin in the signs
employed to represent the planets, the heavenly bodies, and the
Zodiac, and are of an even earlier period.

The disks representing the sun and the moon and the symbol
of Venus are depicted on a Babylonian boundary-stone which
dates from 2500 B.c. The association of certain deities with
the planets had its origin with the Sumer- Akkadians, probably
before 4000 B.c., and the astral-mythological cult elaborated by
the Babylonians later penetrated the Orient and thence passed
to Egypt, Greece, and Rome.

The supposed connexion between the heavenly bodies and
120

SYMBOLS AND SECRET ALPHABETS

the metals, as already shown, is attributed to early astrological
influences. To the Babylonians the seeds of the metals were
in the earth, and the influence of the Sun-god produced gold,
the Moon-god produced silver, and so with the other metals
known to them. This idea became one of the basic doctrines
of alchemy and persisted until the seventeenth century. The
signs of the Zodiac, which the early astrologers considered
almost of equal importance with those of the planets, were un¬
doubtedly the origin of some of the alchemical symbols as in¬
stanced in the sign for Libra, , which in alchemy was used

to signify sublimation, and the symbol for copper, * , is

but the Egyptian crux ansata. Other alchemical symbols de¬
rived from the Zodiacal signs are those for saltpetre, borax,
marcasite, cinnabar, and realgar. The sign for Leo became the
symbol for alum, sublimate, lead, and vinegar; Sagittarius for
antimony, iron, glass, and salt; Pisces for sal ammoniac and
amalgam; Aries for zinc, fire, and wine; Gemini for potash,
sand, vitriol, and tutty; Aquarius for water, sublimated arsenic,
and white lead; Scorpio for a human skull; and Taurus for
alum, verdigris, and copper.

The astrological nomination of the metals and the mystic
relation with the number seven existed in the Far East, and the
same idea of the seven heavens, each with its own gate of a
different metal, is evidenced in Babylonia and Persia.

Of the alchemical symbols derived from ancient Egyptian
sources we have that of the sun used to represent gold, the moon
for silver, the wavy line for water, and the symbol for mercury,
which has a resemblance to the hieroglyph for Thoth, whom
the Greeks called Hermes and the Romans Mercury.

The majority of the symbols used by alchemists afterward
were of Greek origin, and are found in manuscripts on alchemy
which date from the eighth to the eleventh century. The Greek

121

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

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18 19 20 21 22

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EARLY GREEK ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLS

i. Gold (the sun) ; 2, electrum ; 3, silver (the moon) ; 4, copper ; 5, iron ; 6, lead ; 7, tin ;
8, mercury; 9, sulphur; 10, arsenic ; n,oil; 12, salt; 13, cadmium; 14, earth; 15, vinegar;
16, magnesia ; 17, arsenic ; 18, chalk ; 19, iron ; 20, vermilion ; 21, natron ; 22, cinnabar ;
23, cadmium ; 24, green ; 25, blue ; 26, red ; 2 7, yitriol ; 28, sea-water.

From manuscripts of the eighth to tenth centuries

manuscript now preserved at St Mark’s, in Venice, contains a
large number of symbols of which the following are examples :

<? C S /S F ¥ S' )

GOLD SILVER COPPER IRON LEAD TIN SULPHUR MERCURY

The Arabian alchemists rarely used symbols, and it is not
until about the fifteenth century, when the European alchemists
were searching for the Philosopher’s Stone, that they multi¬
plied and came into general use. As time went on many of
these symbols were altered or added to by alchemists of different
nationalities, and so their number was greatly increased.

It is interesting to compare some of the symbols used at
various periods, and the following selection covers examples
found in manuscripts from the eleventh to the seventeenth
century.

The symbols usually employed to represent the elements
were:

A" A £=££

EARTH AIR FIRE WATER

The earliest-known symbol for gold, the circle, appears to have
been used from an unknown period to signify perfection and
122

STILL FOR MAKING OIL OF VITRIOL
From a Spanish manuscript on distillation, 1588

122

MULTIPLE STILL FOR MAKING THE ELIXIR DI
MARA VIGLEOSA VIRTU
From a Spanish manuscript on distillation, 1588 1

123

SYMBOLS AND SECRET ALPHABETS

simplicity, and is represented on runic and stone monuments of
great antiquity.

Besides the simple circle, there are at least sixty-three other
known symbols for gold that were used between the twelfth and
the eighteenth centuries, of which the following examples are
arranged chronologically :

O 0 <X Qs- ch-

The earliest symbol used for silver, which was governed by
the moon, was a simple crescent ; this later went through twenty-
six variations :

) (L J O JXX

The symbol for mercury was that employed to represent the
planet, and it went through fifty-seven variations :

2 ¥ ¥ 3=i AP

The symbol for copper, which was adapted from the sign for
Venus, consisted of a cross beneath a circle, denoting that the
body of the metal was like gold but joined with some corrosive
substance the symbol for which was a cross or part of a cross.
There were forty-six variations of the symbol :

? % V <3$ -£ c#

The symbol for iron was derived from the sign for the planet
Mars, and is said to have originated from the idea of a shield
and a spear symbolizing the God of War. There were thirty-
two variations of this symbol:

cf hr*- I -ir 5 °f-

The symbol for tin is said to have originated in the sign of

123

LURE fif ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

invocation to the planet Jupiter, which was associated with the
metal. This symbol had thirty-four variations :

4 4 ¥ §- &

Lead, which was associated with the planet Saturn, was repre¬
sented by the sign for that planet, and had forty-one variations.
Its corrosive quality was believed to be very powerful; there¬
fore the cross on the figure was placed in a superior position.

f7 ^ fi a T

The symbols for antimony are also numerous, and are at least
fifty-six in number:

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The symbols for some of the principal substances used by the
alchemists were as follows:

Arsenic

White arsenic

Yellow arsenic
(orpiment)

¥ IT

Potash.

Borax

Spirit of Wine

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o-'i

® X

Vinegar

Glass

Verdigris

a #

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Urine

124

QuicMime Charcoal

Copperas

SYMBOLS

AND SECRET

ALPHABETS

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Magnesia

Marcasite

Sal ammoniac

^ #

Red lead(imimim)

Saltpetre

Comnionsalt

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Aqua Fortis

Sulphur

Carbonate of Soda

l¥

Corrosive sublimate

Zinc

Water

Operations were represented by the following symbols :

(Zi

Tb calcine To coagulate

Tb distil

1 — 1>

Putrefaction

Fofire

To fitter

To liquefy

To dissolve

"fornix

O — -i

C±D

To precipitate.

To powder

_ To boil

To sublime To infuse

125

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY
The following symbols represent apparatus and appliances :

~V3

Vapour balk

A cucurbit

Water bath
( Balneum Marias)

It"

A matrass

Afurnace

A recipient

A crucible

(f c

A retort

A reverberatory
furnace

A balance or scales

The symbols for time were :

X c5° M, E ES3

An hour Aday Anight A week Amonth

Some alchemists invested the symbols with a special or
hidden meaning. Thus, Glauber represented them in squares,
and explained that the extent to which the symbol touched the
four sides indicated how near it approached to perfection, as
instanced in the following examples :

Gold Silver

Copper

From the Middle Ages to the eighteenth century the litera¬
ture on alchemy that arose was immense, and hundreds of
126

A MONASTIC LABORATORY
Both of these subjects are from engravings of the seventeenth century

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SYMBOLS AND SECRET ALPHABETS

manuscripts were written on the subject. The symbols and
secret characters to guard the precious secrets and hide them
from the vulgar were constantly being altered. They multiplied
in every country, and thus
render their processes and
formulae very difficult to
decipher.

Operations and proces¬
ses were sometimes re¬
presented by emblematic
pictures and drawings,
but even the symbolism
in these frequently varied.

In these pictorial repre¬
sentations the figure of a
king clad in red was em¬
ployed to signify gold,
and that of a queen in
white symbolized silver.

A yellow lion was some¬
times used to represent
the yellow sulphides, a red
lion for cinnabar, a green
lion for salts of copper or
iron, an eagle or a crow for
black sulphides, a sala¬
mander for fire, a lion with
wings and one without re¬
presented mercury and sulphur, and a man and a lion the
earth. The green lion represented the mercury of the philo¬
sophers, and a wolf antimony. The figure of a dragon being
killed by the sun and moon symbolized mercury being combined
with gold and silver, while a green lion devouring the sun
signified mercury dissolving gold.

The preparation of the Philosopher’s Stone was sometimes

127

SYMBOLIC FIGURE REPRESENTING A
PROCESS IN ALCHEMY

From a manuscript of the fifteenth century

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

represented by the figure of an infant, and a tree bearing the sun,
moon, and five stars was used to symbolize ‘universal matter.’
Putrefaction was sometimes represented by a decomposing body,
a skeleton or a crow; sublimation by birds flying upward;

precipitation by birds descending;
conjunction by a marriage scene;
and perfection by the picture of a
baby.

In describing their operations and
processes in symbolical language
such allegories as death, burial, and
putrefaction were frequently used,
and for the perfection of substances
the wedding of male and female.
Putrefaction was essential, as “no
metallic seed can develop or mul¬
tiply unless the said seed by itself
alone and without the introduction
of any foreign substance be reduced
to a perfect putrefaction.”

In the works of Basil Valentine
the processes wherein the agent
effects the perfecting of the less
perfect things are divided into
stages which he calls the gates.
The first is calcination, or drying
up; the second dissolution, likened to death and burial; the
third conjunction, when the separated substances are com¬
bined; the fourth putrefaction, necessary for the germination
of the seed; the fifth congelation, gathering together, or
cohesion of the substances ; the sixth sublimation, in which
the body flies upward; the seventh fermentation, when the
substance becomes soft and fluid; and the eighth exaltation,
which is the perfection or essence. To these may be added
cohobation, which meant repeated distilling. The distillate was
128

SYMBOLIC ALCHEMICAL FIGURE
REPRESENTING A PROCESS ; THE
DRAGON HAS BEEN RESUSCI¬
TATED AFTER DEATH
Nazari, 1572

DRAWINGS OF APPARATUS FOR SEPARATION AND

RECTIFICATION

From an alchemical manuscript of the fifteenth century

128

SYMBOLIC REPRESENTATIONS OF OPERATIONS

i, Sublimation; 2, Solution; 3, Putrefaction; 4, Fermentation;
5, Separation ; 6, Fixation

From drawings in a manuscript of the sixteenth century

129

SYMBOLS AND SECRET ALPHABETS

put back into the retort and redistilled in order to concentrate
or increase the amount of virtue in it.

The alchemists firmly believed that the most effectual method
of separating a complex substance into more simple ones was to
subject it to the action of heat; therefore the majority of their
processes consisted of distilling and redistilling, incinerating or
subliming, in order to obtain what they called the essence or true
spirit. Certain important operations were sometimes depicted
emblematically in the form of flasks, and described as follows :

(1) Division. In this art is the separation of the parts of the
compound; represented by the sun and moon over flames.

(2) Coitus. This is the natural act of two, suppose of body and
spirit; represented by a lion partly disappearing into a sphere.

(3) Calcination. This is pulverization of a dry matter by fire.

(4) Sublimation. This is the elevation of dry matter by fire,
when the extract is driven to the highest part of the vessel ; repre¬
sented by the moon in the earth and a bird above ascending into
the sky.

(5) Solution. This is the reduction of dry matter in a liquid;
represented by the sun and moon in darkness and a bird descend¬
ing from the sky.

(6) Generation. In matter and form is only contained the genera¬
tion of nature ; represented by a bird descending into a coloured
sea.

(7) Putrefaction. This is the corruption of the proper and natural
heat in every moist thing ; represented by a bird descending into
darkness.

(8) Fermentation. This is the incorporation of the inanimate or
that which giveth life, the restoration of taste, the inspiration of
smell ; represented by a bird descending into water in which is a
black toad.

(9) Conjunction. This is the joining of two or more bodies ; re¬
presented by a white bird descending into flames with air, water,
and earth below.

(10) Separation. This is the division or separation of bodies;
represented by a bird ascending into the air with fire and earth
below.

129

LURE & ROMANCE OF ALCHEMY

(n) Imbibition. This is a soaking or maceration of a body in a
liquid ; represented by flames ascending into the sky or a dragon
in flames with his tail in his mouth.

(12) Fixation. “ In this art the body receives the tingent spirit
and takes away its volatilnesse. Out of perfection of the Fixing
the fire is gold by ye help of whom only is the stone.”

“Secrecy,” says Michael Maier, the alchemist and mystic,
referring to alchemical symbols and emblems,

is sometimes secured by using entirely dissimilar characters for
one article or one operation. The arbitrary nature of these symbols
has necessitated keys explaining them. One of these was dis¬
covered on 6th May, 1403, in the walls of the cloister connected
with the church at Schwartzbach, by an adept in alchemy who hid
them again in the cloister at Marienzell, Thuringia, but they were
rediscovered on 10th December, 1489.

Novices were bound by a sacred oath to keep all operations
secret, and every precaution was taken, by means of symbols,
ciphers, and secret alphabets, to prevent experiments and pro¬
cesses from becoming common possessions.

Secret alphabets and ciphers were employed for recording
processes which were regarded as of special importance. Three
of these alphabets, taken from manuscripts of the fifteenth and
sixteenth centuries, are here reproduced.

The symbols employed by the alchemists for the metals and
their salts were passed on to the chemists in the eighteenth
century, and some of them are still to be seen represented on
the carboys in the windows of the old chemists’ shops in
various parts of the country.

At this period, when chemistry was beginning to develop
into a science, new substances and compounds were discovered
and additional characters had to be devised. Therefore many
of the original symbols were modified.

Bergmann, who was professor of chemistry at Upsala, in¬
vented a system by which, using some of the old symbols and
modifying others, he claimed to be able to represent almost
every substance then known to chemists.

130

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SECRET ALPHABETS USED BY ALCHEMISTS IN THE FIFTEENTH AND

SIXTEENTH CENTURIES

131

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SOME ALCHEMICAL SYMBOLS USED DURING THE MEDIEVAL PERIOD

*32

Key to the List of Alchemical Symbols

1. Air

2. Earth

3. Fire

4. Water

5. Antimony

6. Yellow sulphuret of arsenic

7. Red sulphuret of arsenic

8. Potash

9. Oil

10. Lead

11. Borax

12. Spirit of wine

13. Iron

14. Vinegar

15. Calamine

16. Spirit

17. Glass

18. Gold

19. Verdigris

20. Wine

21. Quicklime

22. Copper

23. Copperas

24. Aqua vitae

25. Magnesia

26. Marcasite

27. Red lead

28. Powder

29. Mercury

30. Sal ammoniac

31. Saltpetre

32. Common salt

33. Aqua fortis

34. Sulphur

35. Silver

36. Stones

37. To sublime

38. Human skull

39. Tutty

40. Oil of vitriol

41. White vitriol

42. Tartar

43. Bismuth

44. Bismuth

45. Zinc

46. Tin

47. Cinnabar

48. To decoct

49. Balneum Mariae

50. Cucurbit

51. To calcine

52. To coagulate

53. To distil

54. Alembic

55. To digest

56. To filter

57. Putrefaction

58. Matrass

59. Precipitate

60. To prepare

61. Quintessence

62. Reduction

63. Retort

64. Reverberatory furnace

65. To liquefy

66. To boil

67. An hour

68. To sublime

69. To infuse

70. A week

71. Soap

72. Sulphur of the philosopher

73. Crucible

74. Crystal

75. To amalgamate

76. A balance

77. Borax

78. Day

79. Night

80. Litharge

81. Copper ore

82. Charcoal

83. Wax

84. Alum