Alkhemy

Originally posted by Enyalius
practical alchemy is used in psychology

Really? I've never seen any crucibles or retorts in a psychologist's office. Or maybe you've changed the meaning of that term, too; so that "practical" can mean anything we want!

Originally posted by Enyalius
everything else, like the philosopher's stone is spiritual aspect of alchemy

Well, the point of my post was to prove the exact opposite. And I quoted and/or referrenced genuine alchemical texts. you have not. So I think my viewpoint is hardly refuted by a single sentence that falls from your golden keyboard.

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i'm not here to convince anyone. don't feel the need to be a part of a yes/no "debate" as there have been so many off. I just say things how they are and what people do with it is up to themselves.

Practicle means that something can be used in daily life. And just because people don't use the teachings of alchemy under that name doesn't mean it isn't used at all seeing that the same teachings occur in other aspects of life under different names. In the end it is all the same.

[edit on 27-2-2006 by Enyalius]

Originally posted by Enyalius

Practicle means that something can be used in daily life. . . .seeing that the same teachings occur in other aspects of life under different names. In the end it is all the same.

[edit on 27-2-2006 by Enyalius]

And I'm saying that words actually mean things; I'm saying that alchemy isn't simply anything we want it to be.

"Practical alchemy," since the concept began to be differentiated from philosophical alchemy, at least 1700 years ago, has meant working with physical apparatus. Your willful "re-definition" of that phrase doesn't change the fact that the ancient practitioners meant something concrete by their use of the term.

Please don't think that I am denigrating philosophical alchemy as a discipline; the two branches have been seen practically every school of alchemy, and is probably best exemplified by the Taoist differentiation between the waidan (external alchemy) and the niedan (internal alchemy) described in the Daozang [Source: A short Introduction to Chinese Alchemy. auth: Fabrizio Pregadio. unedited manuscript to appear in Encyclopedia of the History of Science, Technology and Medicine in Non-Western Countries

The point I continue to make (and others to denigrate) is that the historical alchemical tradition consisted of specific discipline and real-world experiments. To pretend that alchemy is something else is to kid oneself.


For instance,

If I decide that the essence of being an olympic athlete means the triumph over my inner obstacles, then it is legitimate for me to say so. However, if I claim that, merely by sitting in a comfy chair and imagining myself overcoming my interior barriers to my higher self, that if I imagine that I am now an "olympic athlete," then I am kidding myself, and keeping myself in purposeful ignorance of what real athletes do--namely, they practice until perfect.

So, in a very real sense, while I hear you and others say authoritatively that "It's all the same," and that alchemy is whatever we want it to be, I beg to differ.

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Originally posted by dr_strangecraft
So, in a very real sense, while I hear you and others say authoritatively that "It's all the same," and that alchemy is whatever we want it to be, I beg to differ.

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that's not what i'm saying at all. i'm saying that the same teachings can be learned else where as well. there isn't 1 thing that is Alchemy specific nor is anything else in life only accesible/applicable by that path in life. everything is the same it only uses different phrases.

you can look at alchemy as chemistry. by watching the components and the workings you can create something by and with scientific means. as a human being you can see that it makes you understand nature and yourself more due to the processes needed and how the components work. thus you can make connections with other fields of life such as applying it to the human psyche or spiritual development. and from there you can move into various other parts of life. just like you can with many other paths someone chooses to follow whether it be a religious one or a more mundane it doesn't matter.

In some of my studies this is what I came across.

In this circle of study the person in question is sometimes called an alchemest(sp?).

This sort of witch or practitioner,will mix different extracts from different plants,fruits and vegetables,animals and other substances to produce different powders and liquids.Many sell these substances to other practitioners.While many shops do exsist,most are only advertised through word of mouth.

There are several different kinds of these alchemist's pertaining to the kinds of study they practice.

The most common of these shown in many movies and t.v shows or cartoons even would be that of the voodoo practitioner and the mad scientist or the bubbling cauldren weilding witch.

Anyway I will post more later.
Scarecrow.

[edit on 27-2-2006 by toraylin]