Anatomy of an Alchemical Machine

Iulia Millesima

Opus Imperfectum, unfinished work. This website, if not closed, will undergo profound transformations.The first reason is the depressing realization that AI LLMs have turned the human informational web into a marginalized land of conquest and oblivion. The other reason is the respect I owe to readers, in the sense that I didn’t feel like repeating the same articles over and over again after having already explained the operational and symbolic basics in previous articles. No wonder, Alchemy doesn’t have all the nuances and variations that symbolism seems to give it. It is called “Fulcanelli’s anti-theft device”, which basically consists of multiplying the terms and problems, so as to give Alchemy a much more complex image than it actually is: the same problem is treated in part countless times, completely varying the terms of the exposition, so that one gets the impression that different things are being treated. Of course, the result is mesmerizing, as are puzzles and conundrums.

1. Physics at the Neolithic Gate

All the science of the ancients was necessarily within the reach of the Neolithic, that’s to say, without modern equipment and devices. Today we would say that they could only count on themselves and nature. One of the main processes employed was to induce, or exploit, changes in the state of raw matter. In fact, if we look carefully, alchemical processes all involve changes in the state of matter, either subtle and continuous or sudden and violent.

Something arcane happens in the state changes of matter

2. Light in Alchemy soon became the Arcane of Arcana

It was during the Baroque age, and with the support of new discoveries in optical science, that light in Alchemy began to be openly discussed and treated. Light became the arcane of arcana, the secret of the ancients, the reason for Alchemy existence, the hidden message, the private channel, the communication between the world of the living and the world of the dead, the meeting point between spirit and matter, the knowledge of oneʼs archetype, the origin, the beginning of the immortalsʼ chain, the legacy as well as memory. In short, everything.

Don’t take the concept of light in Alchemy for granted

3. Rays and Optics according to the Ancient Authors

The concept of alchemical light is neither simple nor univocal, but expands in rivulets that are, alas, all too expected. Not only stellar rays striking everywhere, creating ripple effects, but also sounds, objects, voices, and writing. The cosmic emissions penetrating the Earth’s crust go far beyond not only our current understanding of energy, but also the alchemists’ definitions of spirits and entities. For optics scholars from the Middle Ages to the Baroque era, the primary imperative was to construct lenses, mirrors, and devices capable of collecting and enclosing everything that unknowingly streamed into or penetrated us.

Rays Everywhere. Light as Spark, Image, Sound, Object.

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