Alhemija

Prikaz Urobora iz 15. vijeka iz alhemijskog traktata Aurora consurgens (Cürich, Rheinau 172).

Alhemija (arapski: الكیمیاء) je drevna grana prirodne filozofije, filozofske i protonaučne tradicije koja se historijski praktikovala u Kini, Indiji, muslimanskom svijetu i Evropi. U svom zapadnom obliku, alhemija je prvi put potvrđena u brojnim pseudoepigrafskim tekstovima napisanim u grčko-rimskom Egiptu tokom prvih nekoliko vijekova nove ere. Alhemičari koji su govorili grčki često su svoj zanat nazivali "Umjetnost" (starogrčki: τέχνη ) ili "Znanje" (starogrčki: ἐπιστήμη ), a često je karakterizirana kao mistična (starogrčki: μυστική ), sveta (starogrčki: ἱɛρά ) ili božanska (starogrčki: θɛíα ).

Alhemičari su pokušavali pročistiti, sazrijeti i usavršiti određene materijale. Uobičajeni ciljevi bili su hrizopeja, transmutacija "osnovnih metala" (npr. olova) u "plemenite metale" (posebno zlato); stvaranje eliksira besmrtnosti; i stvaranje panaceja sposobnih za liječenje bilo koje bolesti. Smatralo se da savršenstvo ljudskog tijela i duše proizlazi iz alhemijskog magnum opusa ("Veliko djelo"). Koncept stvaranja kamena mudraca bio je na različite načine povezan sa svim ovim projektima.

U historiji nauke, alhemija podrazumijeva ranu formu istraživanja prirode kao i drevnu filozofsku i spiritualnu nauku. Obje ove varijante alhemije kombinuju elemente hemije, metalurgije, fizike, medicine, astrologije, misticizma i spiritualizma, kao i umjetnosti. Alhemiju su praktikovali mudraci u Mesopotamiji, Egiptu, Perziji, Indiji, Japanu, Koreji i Kini. Slični vidovi alhemije se pojavljuju i u antičkoj Grčkoj i u Rimu, kao i kod islamskih naučnika. Najzad dolazi u Evropu, gdje se u raznim vidovima održava sve do 19. vijeka i pojave današnjih nauka. Osoba koja praktikuje alhemiju zove se alhemičar.

Slika "Renel alhemist", William Douglas, 1853

Islamski i evropski alhemičari razvili su osnovni skup laboratorijskih tehnika, teorija i termina, od kojih se neki i danas koriste. Nisu napustili starogrčku filozofsku ideju da je sve sastavljeno od četiri elementa i skloni su čuvati svoj rad u tajnosti, često koristeći šifre i kriptičnu simboliku. U Evropi, prijevodi srednjovjekovnih islamskih djela o nauci iz 12. vijeka i ponovno otkrivanje Aristotelove filozofije doveli su do procvata tradicije latinske alhemije. Ova kasnosrednjovjekovna tradicija alhemije će nastaviti igrati značajnu ulogu u razvoju rane moderne nauke (posebno hemije i medicine).

Savremene diskusije o alhemiji su uglavnom podijeljene na ispitivanje njenih egzoteričnih praktičnih primjena i njenih ezoteričnih duhovnih aspekata, uprkos kritikama naučnika poput Erica J. Holmyarda i Marie-Louise von Franz da ih treba shvatiti kao komplementarne. Prvim se bave historičari fizičkih nauka, koji ispituju temu u smislu rane hemije, medicine i šarlatanizma, te filozofskih i religijskih konteksta u kojima su se ovi događaji dogodili. Drugo zanima historičare ezoterizma, psihologe i neke filozofe i spiritualiste. Ova tema je također imala kontinuirani utjecaj na književnost i umjetnost.

Također pogledajte

• Alhemijski simbol

Dodatna literatura

Uvodi i udžbenici

• Beretta, Marco, ured. (2022). A Cultural History Of Chemistry in Antiquity. London: Bloomsbury. doi:10.5040/9781474203746. ISBN 978-1-4742-9453-9. (focus on technical aspects)
• Burnett, Charles; Moureau, Sébastien, ured. (2022). A Cultural History Of Chemistry in the Middle Ages. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4742-9454-6. (focus on technical aspects)
• Halleux, Robert (1979). Les textes alchimiques. Turnhout: Brepols. ISBN 978-2-503-36032-4.
• Joly, Bernard (2013). Histoire de l'alchimie. Paris: Vuibert-Adapt. ISBN 978-2-311-01248-4. (general overview)
• Martelli, Matteo (2019). L'alchimista antico: Dall'Egitto greco-romano a Bisanzio. Milano: Editrice Bibliografica. ISBN 978-88-7075-979-2. (Greek and Byzantine alchemy)
• Moran, Bruce, ured. (2022). A Cultural History Of Chemistry in the Early Modern Age. London: Bloomsbury. ISBN 978-1-4742-9459-1. (focus on technical aspects)
• Multhauf, Robert P. (1966). The Origins of Chemistry. London: Oldbourne. OCLC 977570829.
• Nicolaïdis, Efthymios, ured. (2018). Greek Alchemy from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity. De Diversis Artibus. 104. Turnhout: Brepols. doi:10.1484/M.DDA-EB.5.116173. ISBN 978-2-503-58191-0. (Greek and Byzantine alchemy)
• Partington, James R. (1970) [1961]. A History of Chemistry. Volume 1, Part I. London: Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-333-03490-3. (the second part of volume 1 was never published; the other volumes deal with the modern period and are not relevant for alchemy)
• Pereira, Michela (2001). Arcana Sapienza: Storia dell'alchimia occidentale dalle origini a Jung. Rome: Carocci. ISBN 978-88-430-9647-3. (general overview, focus on esoteric aspects)
• Principe, Lawrence M. (2013). The Secrets of Alchemy. University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-68295-2. (general overview, written in a highly accessible style)
• Rampling, Jennifer M. (2020). The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300–1700. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ISBN 978-0-226-82654-7.
• Viano, Cristina, ured. (2005). L'alchimie et ses racines philosophiques. La tradition grecque et la tradition arabe. Paris: Vrin. ISBN 978-2-7116-1754-8.

Grčko-egipatska alhemija

Tekstovi

• Marcellin Berthelot and Charles-Émile Ruelle (eds.), Collection des anciens alchimistes grecs (CAAG), 3 vols., 1887–1888, Vol 1: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k96492923, Vol 2: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9680734p, Vol. 3: https://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/bpt6k9634942s.
• André-Jean Festugière, La Révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2014 (ISBN 978-2-251-32674-0, OCLC 897235256).
• Šablon:Interlanguage link and Šablon:Interlanguage link (eds.), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 1 : Papyrus de Leyde – Papyrus de Stockholm – Recettes, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1981.
• Otto Lagercrantz (ed), Papyrus Graecus Holmiensis, Uppsala, A.B. Akademiska Bokhandeln, 1913, Papyrus graecus holmiensis (P. holm.); Recepte für Silber, Steine und Purpur, bearb. von Otto Lagercrantz. Hrsg. mit Unterstützung des Vilh. Ekman'schen Universitätsfonds.
• Michèle Mertens and Šablon:Interlanguage link (ed.), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 4.1 : Zosime de Panopolis. Mémoires authentiques, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 1995.
• Andrée Collinet and Šablon:Interlanguage link (ed.), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 10 : L'Anonyme de Zuretti ou l'Art sacré and divin de la chrysopée par un anonyme, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2000.
• Andrée Collinet (ed), Les alchimistes grecs, t. 11 : Recettes alchimiques (Par. Gr. 2419; Holkhamicus 109) – Cosmas le Hiéromoine – Chrysopée, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2000.
• Matteo Martelli (ed), The Four Books of Pseudo-Democritus, Maney Publishing, 2014.

Studije

• Dylan M. Burns, " μίξεώς τινι τέχνῃ κρείττονι : Alchemical Metaphor in the Paraphrase of Shem (NHC VII,1) ", Aries 15 (2015), p. 79–106.
• Alberto Camplani, " Procedimenti magico-alchemici e discorso filosofico ermetico " in Giuliana Lanata (ed.), Il Tardoantico alle soglie del Duemila, ETS, 2000, p. 73–98.
• Alberto Camplani and Marco Zambon, " Il sacrificio come problema in alcune correnti filosofice di età imperiale ", Annali di storia dell'esegesi 19 (2002), p. 59–99.
• Régine Charron and Louis Painchaud, " 'God is a Dyer,' The Background and Significance of a Puzzling Motif in the Coptic Gospel According to Philip (CG II, 3), Le Muséon 114 (2001), p. 41-50.
• Régine Charron, " The Apocryphon of John (NHC II,1) and the Greco-Egyptian Alchemical Literature ", Vigiliae Christinae 59 (2005), p. 438-456.
• Philippe Derchain, "L'Atelier des Orfèvres à Dendara et les origines de l'alchimie," Chronique d'Égypte, vol. 65, n^o 130, 1990, p. 219–242.
• Korshi Dosoo, " A History of the Theban Magical Library ", Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists 53 (2016), p. 251–274.
• Olivier Dufault, Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity, California Classical Studies, 2019, Early Greek Alchemy, Patronage and Innovation in Late Antiquity.
• Sergio Knipe, " Sacrifice and self-transformation in the alchemical writings of Zosimus of Panopolis ", in Christopher Kelly, Richard Flower, Michael Stuart Williams (eds.), Unclassical Traditions. Volume II: Perspectives from East and West in Late Antiquity, Cambridge University Press, 2011, p. 59–69.
• André-Jean Festugière, La Révélation d'Hermès Trismégiste, Paris, Les Belles Lettres, 2014 ISBN 978-2-251-32674-0, OCLC 897235256.
• Kyle A. Fraser, " Zosimos of Panopolis and the Book of Enoch: Alchemy as Forbidden Knowledge ", Aries 4.2 (2004), p. 125–147.
• Kyle A. Fraser, " Baptized in Gnosis: The Spiritual Alchemy of Zosimos of Panopolis ", Dionysius 25 (2007), p. 33–54.
• Kyle A. Fraser, " Distilling Nature's Secrets: The Sacred Art of Alchemy ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 721–742. 2018. .
• Shannon Grimes, Becoming Gold: Zosimos of Panopolis and the Alchemical Arts in Roman Egypt, Auckland, Rubedo Press, 2018, ISBN 978-0-473-40775-9
• Paul T. Keyser, " Greco-Roman Alchemy and Coins of Imitation Silver ", American Journal of Numismatics 7–8 (1995–1996), p. 209–234.
• Paul Keyser, " The Longue Durée of Alchemy ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 409–430.
• Jean Letrouit, "Chronologie des alchimistes grecs," in Didier Kahn and Sylvain Matton, Alchimie: art, histoire et mythes, SEHA-Archè, 1995, p. 11–93.
• Lindsay, Jack. The Origins of Alchemy in Greco-Roman Egypt. Barnes & Noble, 1970.
• Paul Magdalino and Maria Mavroudi (eds.), The Occult Sciences in Byzantium, La Pomme d'or, 2006.
• Martelli, Matteo (2014). "The Alchemical Art of Dyeing: The Fourfold Division of Alchemy and the Enochian Tradition". Laboratories of Art. Archimedes. 37. Cham: Springer International Publishing. str. 1–22. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-05065-2_1. ISBN 978-3-319-05064-5.
• Matteo Martelli, " Alchemy, Medicine and Religion: Zosimus of Panopolis and the Egyptian Priests ", Religion in the Roman Empire 3.2 (2017), p. 202–220.
• Merianos, Gerasimos (2017). "Alchemy". The Cambridge Intellectual History of Byzantium. Cambridge University Press. str. 234–251. doi:10.1017/9781107300859.015. ISBN 978-1-107-30085-9.
• Greek Alchemy from Late Antiquity to Early Modernity. De Diversis Artibus. 104. Turnhout: Brepols Publishers. 2018. doi:10.1484/m.dda-eb.5.116173. ISBN 978-2-503-58191-0.
• Daniel Stolzenberg, " Unpropitious Tinctures: Alchemy, Astrology & Gnosis According to Zosimos of Panopolis ", Archives internationales d'histoire des sciences 49 (1999), p. 3–31.
• Cristina Viano, " Byzantine Alchemy, or the Era of Systematization ", in John Scarborough and Paul Keyser (eds.), Oxford Handbook of Science and Medicine in the Classical World, Oxford University Press, 2018, p. 943–964.
• Vlachou, C.; McDonnell, J.G.; Janaway, R.C. (2002). "Experimental investigation of silvering in late Roman coinage". MRS Proceedings. 712. doi:10.1557/PROC-712-II9.2. ISSN 0272-9172.

Rani moderni

• Principe, Lawrence and William Newman. Alchemy Tried in the Fire: Starkey, Boyle, and the Fate of Helmontian Chymistry. University of Chicago Press, 2002.

Vanjski linkovi

• Alhemija na Wikimedia Commonsu
• SHAC: Društvo za historiju alhemije i hemije
• ESSWE: Evropsko društvo za proučavanje zapadnog ezoterizma
• Udruženje za proučavanje ezoterizma

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