Diagrams from Testamentum Theorica, 15th C, a seminal text on medical alchemy. The book, attributed to Ramon Llull, was originally written in Catalan and is one of the first texts to present The Philosopher’s Stone as a way to turn metals into gold and create an elixir of life. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
Diagrams of alchemical furnaces in The Key of Alchemy by Samuel Norton, 1577. I love how amateur these look, it’s from a handwritten manuscript, so perhaps they’re placeholder drawings. From Manly P. Hall’s collection of Alchemical Manuscripts. Box 18, MS102, v10
Emblems from Manly P. Hall’s collection of alchemical manuscripts, 1600, Box 4, MS 19. From: archive.org
Depiction of an alchemist’s lab from Alchemy, Its Science and Romance, John Edward Mercer, 1921. Image processed and colorized by Eve Harms. Original source: archive.org
Alchemical emblem 2, Atalanta Fugiens, Michael Maier, 1618. Depicted on bottom: Romulus nursed by a wolf and Jupiter nursed by a goat. The “Child of the Philosophers”, referring to either the Philosopher’s Stone or alchemist themself, nurses from the Earth Mother. Colorized by Eve Harms, CC0. Source: archive.org
Alchemical art from Alchemy: Ancient and Modern by H. Stanley Redgrove, 1911. The sea represents the body, and the two fish represent the Soul and Spirit. Colorized by Eve Harms. Licensed under CC0
Alchemical Diagrams from De Roode Leeuw, of het Sout der Philosophen (The Red Lion, or the Sout of the Philosophers) by Goossen van Vreeswyk, 1672. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
Charts representing the relationship between masculine and feminine qualities within individuals, and as essential principles. From “Le serpent de la Genèse” (The Serpent of Genesis) Volume 2, by Stanislas de Guaita, 1920. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
Drawing representing balance between masculine and feminine in a chapter about equilibrium from “Le serpent de la Genèse” (The Serpent of Genesis) Volume 2, by Stanislas de Guaita, 1920. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
Figure 12 from Hermaphrodite Child of the Sun and Moon by Johann Augustin Brunnhofer (1752). From Mike Brenner’s translation on levity.com: “The snake eating its own tail represents the solid White and Red Stones. These first harden and solidify the virgin Milk, and then transform into a Salamander who lives in the Fire. The Fire furnishes the Salamander with the energy for its continued evolution.
The flying dragon, now fallen to Earth, breathes fire, which devours all metals, transmuting them into Silver or Gold.
The cross designates the Attraction Field of the Astral Fire whose vibrations color the Salamander Venusian yellow, Martian Citrine-Red, and blood-red. This is the Fire of eternal Youth through multiplication, experienced by many.”
Image source: Embassy of the Free Mind
In this image, from Hermaphrodite Child of the Sun and Moon by Johann Augustin Brunnhofer (1752), the green lion represents the “blossoming of life”. The lion grows by devouring Mercury, which it excretes “as thick as tar”. Above the circle is the symbolic hermaphrodite. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
Translation of Hermaphrodite Child of the Sun and Moon from levity.com
Image with alchemical symbolism from the chapter on Alchemy in “Le serpent de la Genèse” (The Serpent of Genesis) Volume 2, by Stanislas de Guaita, 1920. Source: Embassy of the Free Mind
