University of Washington Tacoma UW Tacoma Digital Commons History Undergraduate Theses History Spring 5-13-2014 The Memetic Evolution of Alchemy From Zosimos to Timothy Leary Ryan J. Hutchinson [email protected] Follow this and additional works at:https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/history_theses Part of theAncient Philosophy Commons,Cultural History Commons,Medieval History Commons,Metaphysics Commons, and theNew Religious Movements Commons Recommended Citation Hutchinson, Ryan J., "The Memetic Evolution of Alchemy From Zosimos to Timothy Leary" (2014).History Undergraduate Theses. 11. https://digitalcommons.tacoma.uw.edu/history_theses/11 This Undergraduate Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the History at UW Tacoma Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in History Undergraduate Theses by an authorized administrator of UW Tacoma Digital Commons. The Memetic Evolution of Alchemy from Zosimos to Timothy Leary Ryan Hutchinson 4/23/2014 TIAS497 Senior Thesis Advisor:Dr. Kucher Introduction 1 The impact of alchemy in history is known to most as footnotes whenever chemistry is introduced to a reader. These references often describe early attempts to discover secrets of nature aimed at producing gold or immortality. Investigating a little deeper, reveals odd manuscripts where processes are explained through complex and mythical images. Taking this investigation further reveals a worldview that has intermingled with global cultures since the ancient world. For the purpose of this paper, the focus will be on Europe and North America. We'll examine individuals, their ideas rooted in alchemy, and how they transmitted them. Originating in antiquity, alchemy survived through adaptation of religious and philosophical symbol sets. Its adherents used it to explore issues of their generation and its appeal has resided in its assertion of the divinity of the individual. With these traits it has survived as an obscure but durable meme within Western culture. The individuals reviewed in this paper had one foot in their generation and one foot in the past as they look towards alchemy for answers to their generations issues. When examining the goals, worldviews, and cultural context of its prominent adherents, a central doctrine within alchemy can be observed. It would be apt at this point to give a definition of alchemy. Yet since the focus of this paper is on cultural and religious history surrounding the concept of alchemy, establishing a definition right here is problematic because the word alchemy itself is tenuous. The meaning has changed multiple times over generations. Unraveling some of this confusion is in the spirit of this paper. Approaching the subject of alchemy requires the researcher to exercise caution and discrimination, or find themselves in a myriad of dead ends and side shows, far removed from their original purpose. It is no wonder that some scholars enjoy the neat and tidy version of calling it the pseudoscience that gave birth to chemistry after it allegedly failed to produce transmutation of gold, the philosophers' stone, or the elixir of life. In a field of study that straddles the worlds of science, philosophy, theology, and the occult, keeping a straight line in an argument can be a challenge. But what impact has alchemy had on culture? Which prominent figures did it influence and what impact did they make? What about this history remains with us today? Throughout history 2 several writers mention alchemy yet many seem to mean different things. Is there a core principle that unites them all? Uniting them all can be problematic because even complete consensus has not been met among modern scholars. Within the field there is still a debate amongst scholars as to what alchemy even is. For example, Lawrence Principe's approach in, The Secrets of Alchemy is from the position of scientific history. In his book, he argues that the real alchemists since ancient Alexandria have always just been chemists and their recipes were kept in a secret pictorial code called Decknamen.1 Supposedly, this secret code has been the source of much confusion over the objectives of the alchemist. He is in agreement with his opponents that the four classical elements fall within the subject of philosophy and religion, yet he draws a line, defining alchemy as strictly metallic transmutation.2 This is not to be misunderstood as a literal change but processes that changes the color of metal through exposure to vapor made from various sources.3 So to him, alchemists have always been craftsmen and nothing more. A large source of controversy in interpreting this history centers on Zosimos of Panopolis (300 CE), an Egyptian citizen who provides us with some of the earliest primary sources for alchemy. A scholar's interpretation of Zosimos determines where they stand in the argument of craftsman alchemy, versus spiritual alchemy. According to Principe, the writings of Zosimos all fall within his definition of Decknamen, and it is faulty to attempt to pull philosophical or spiritual meaning from them.4 Several scholars disagree with Principe on this point and assert Zosimos as a mystic and astrologer. John Scarborough insists the Gnosticism, astrology, and magic that Zosimos mentions are inseparable from his alchemical writings and brings in his own unique perspective, that many of the secrets involved psychoactive drugs.5 1. Lawrence M. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy (Chicago: University of Chicago, 2013), 18. 2. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, 12. 3. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, 11. 4. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, 19. 5. John Scarborough, “Gnosticism, Drugs, and Alchemy in Late Roman Egypt,” Pharmacy in History, 3 Kyle Fraser's interpretation of Zosimos focuses on his religious dedication to Hermes Trismegistus in his writings.6 Hermes Trismegistus is a figure that appears in Greek religious writing, around the 400 BCE. During that time an interpretation of the gods as human beings who attained their divinity in life began to proliferate.7 This version of the Greek god Hermes was a syncretic combination of Hermes, Thoth, and various philosophers who had made an impact on history and this meant writings with similar teachings began to become attributed to him.8 In these writings, was an assertion of the divinity of regular people which resonated with Gnostics like Zosimos in his time. To Fraser this is enough for him to assert that in the writings of Zosimos we see the beginnings of spiritual alchemy.9 Aaron Cheak takes the strongest stance on the side of spiritual alchemy in his book, Alchemical Traditions: From Antiquity to the Avant-Garde, where he states: Alchemy may be described, the words of Baudelaire, as a process of 'distilling the eternal from the transient'. As the art of transmutation par excellence, the classical applications of alchemy have always been twofold: chrysopoeia and apotheosis (gold-making and god-making) – the perfection of metals and mortals. In seeking to turn 'poison into wine', alchemy, like tantra, engages material existence-often at its most dissolute or corruptible-in order to turn it into a vehicle of liberation.10 This concept of apotheosis is at the core of the idea of the “divinity of the individual” when mentioned in the writings of Hermes, Zosimos, and the historical figures that will be discussed in the following sections. From perspectives like Cheak's, to ask “what is alchemy?” is to ask “what is apotheosis?” and from there we have a problem of too much subjectivity. At this point we can sympathize with Principe in his desire to organize the field by dealing with the subjectivity, by just sweeping it under the Vol. 13, No. 4 (1971): 153. http://www.jstor.org/stable/41108719 6. Kyle Fraser,“Baptised in Gnosis:The Spiritual Alchemy of Zosimos of Panopolis.” Dionysis, Vol. 25 (2005): 1. 7. Antoine Faivre, The Eternal Hermes:From Greek God to Alchemical Magus (Michigan: Phanes Press, 1995), 11. 8. Faivre, The Eternal Hermes, 12. 9. Fraser, “Baptised in Gnosis: The Spiritual Alchemy of Zosimos of Panoopolis.” : 2. 10. Aaron Cheak, Alchemical Traditions: From Antiquity to the Avant-Garde (Melbourne, Austrailia: Numen Books, 2013), 18. 4 rug and focusing on the history of the chemistry and craftsmanship. But we can begin to further understand the hermeneutics of the adherents of alchemy when we put them up against the backdrop of the eras they lived in. What is apotheosis? Apotheosis is liberation, and liberation is understood by the obstacle to said liberation. What is the metaphorical prison that the seekers of it are trying to break out of? Following this course can give us insight to the impact of alchemy and how it survived. An effective lens for focusing this further,comes from Richard Dawkin's book, The Selfish Gene,where he introduces the concept of the meme. The meme is described as a unit of culture that evolves and proliferates depending on its psychological appeal to those it reaches.11 With this definition of alchemy as a meme, we can move forward understanding that it can change over time, yet still hold core principles that maintain its appeal. This paper is going to examine four important eras where alchemy had impacted certain individuals, and inspired them to add to the continuing interpretation of what alchemy is and how its goals are attained. We'll be looking at the Ancient Mediterranean from 500 BCE to 200 CE, Europe from 1100 CE to 1550 CE, Britain from 1800 CE to 1900 CE, and American counterculture from 1940 CE to 1980 CE. The individuals discussed form a line of succession where each takes the writings of the previous and adds the zeitgeist of their own generation to it. From here we'll see how the alchemy meme has interacted with the history of Western civilization. Origins The primary language of alchemy comes from the classical four elements that the ancient Greeks put forth as basis of the physical world. The earliest text discussing the elements comes from the pre-Socratic philosopher Empedocles (490-430 BCE) in his text, “Physics”. What he describes is a four-fold cycle of fire, air, water, and earth, moving through a process that is powered by a duality 11. Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene (USA: Oxford University Press, 1976), 299-316. 5 he calls love and strife.12 Love and strife essentially means the process of combining and separating. Aristotle would later try and replace this duality with aether but the dualistic model returned with different titles but the same function, especially with the famous Latin maxim associated with alchemy “solve et coagula” meaning to separate and combine.13 For Western Europe, Empedocles is the furthest that these ideas can be traced back to. Yet we can't necessarily call the philosophy of Empedocles alchemy. The reason for this is that alchemy is goal-orientated and these are simply thoughts based on observations of nature. The impact of these ideas were massive and became the basis of science and medicine for centuries to come. During this era, the most important development in forming the basis of alchemy was the association of the elements with astrology. Plato, Aristotle, and Hipparchus are some of the first we see in history to discuss early alchemical concepts and their relationship to human souls, stars, and planets.14 The Greeks' fixation on astrology naturally melded with this theory of the natural world and would eventually be referred to as astrology and astronomia inferior (alchemy) by John Dee (1527- 1608 CE), demonstrating this link lasted well into the fourteenth century.15 What would become the next step of alchemy began to coalesce from various sources between 200 BCE to 300 CE, in the Mediterranean and Hellenized Egypt. A Pythagorean by the name of Democritus (200 BCE) compiled recipes for purple dye, imitation gold, and discussions of the concept of pneuma which binds all things in the universe and creates “sympathy between objects”.16 This concept of sympathy posits a mystical idea of a connection between objects both living and inanimate. Some exhibit a stronger sympathy because of their likeness or analogy. With Democritus came the sympathy between types of metals and the planets, which became a mainstay of alchemy.17 Before 12. M.R. Wright, trans., Empedocles: The Extant Fragments (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 1981), 22. 13. Paul T. Keyser, “Alchemy in the Ancient World:From Science to Magic,” Illinois Classical Studies, Vol. 15, No. 2 (Fall 1990): 368. http://www.jstor.org/stable/23064297 14. Keyser “Alchemy in the Ancient World:From Science to Magic,” : 369. 15. William R. Newman, and Grafton Anthony, eds. Secrets of Nature: Astrology and Alchemy in Modern Europe (The MIT Press, 2006), 173. 16. Keyser “Alchemy in the Ancient World:From Science to Magic,” : 358. 6 Democritus the craftsmanship that Principe refers to as “real alchemy” had existed for centuries. The mixing of dyes, making imitation gems, changing the color of metal, brewing alcohol, making glass, and processes like distillation had all been guarded trade secrets with really no mystical purpose until Democritus.18 To the ancient Greeks the stars and planets were a mechanism reminding them of the inevitability of life, with events joyous or tragic, and death. If the earth was infused with the same powers of fate that would place mankind as the intermediary within this relationship of the sky above and the ground below. Since the earth could be manipulated by the hands of men, that means the power of the stars and planets were available to them as well. So in a way, the classification of spiritual alchemy is really astrological magic. This is a magic based on invisible lines of sympathy between objects. At this point in history it was within the nature of the meme to assimilate other things based on their similarities. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke articulates the culture of the period effectively in his book, The Western Esoteric Traditions as he says: With the rise of the Roman Empire, there was a notable change in peoples' religious needs. Greek rationalist philosophy had made the gods abstract and remote from human needs. While public worship of the Olympian gods and agricultural rites were maintained, the absorption of independent cities and states into the empire had created a climate of multiculturalism and religious relativism. New religions, mystery cults, sages, prophets, magicians, and healers arose in response to these new circumstances. The cosmopolitan nature of Hellenistic Alexandrian culture chiefly expressed itself in religion through syncretism.19 Antione Faivre discusses that around this time it became popular to re-imagine popular tales and myth in terms of alchemy.20 17. Keyser “Alchemy in the Ancient World:From Science to Magic,” : 358. 18. Arthur John.Hopkins, “Earliest Alchemy,” The Scientific Monthly, Vol. 6, No. 6 (Jun. 1918) : 530. http://www.jstor.org/stable/22599 19. Nicholas Goodrick-Clarke. The Western Esoteric Traditions:A Historical Introduction (USA: Oxford University Press, 2008), 16. 20. Antoine Faivre. The Golden Fleece and Alchemy (NewYork: State University of New York Press, 1993), 7-8. 7 What began from this is what we call today the “Western occult tradition,” which aims at apotheosis via comparative religion and philosophy, emphasizing contemplation and practice. The standard scholarly definition of this comes from Faivre. This definition requires Faivre to express it in around five pages, so paraphrasing it is necessary. These parameters are correspondence, living nature, imagination as mediation, and transmutation.21 Correspondence is similar to the concept of sympathy, discussed earlier, as a belief that objects and symbols share categories where one can effect the other. Living nature is the belief that consciousness exists within nature and ideas. These can be interacted with as if they were human or animal. Imagination as mediation is a belief that thought and visualization is a tool that human beings can use to effect the metaphysical toward impacting the physical. Transmutation is the belief that through use of the other three categories human beings can evolve beyond humanity into a supernatural state. This region and period of time is marked with significant cultural exchange that gave birth to other concepts that alchemy would merge with. Out of 200 CE came, Sefer Yetzirah: The Book of Formation one of the fundamental texts of the Jewish esoteric tradition, Kabbalah. Prior to this text, Kabbalah was a meditative practice based on the vision of Ezekiel with the goal of reproducing a similar experience of his vision of God.22 The leading scholar on Kabbala, Gershom Scholem, theorizes that this text was heavily influenced by or even written by Nichomachus (60 BCE-120 CE) who was a Pythagorean.23 Sefer Yetzirah adds the Hebrew alphabet to the cosmology of sympathies already set in alchemy. It establishes three mother letters corresponding to water, air, and fire (earth is left out), seven letters correspond to the planets, and twelve for the zodiac.24 The Kabbalah is well beyond the scope this paper, yet its important to mention its history where it interacted with the 21. Roelef Brock and Wouter J, Hanegraff eds. Gnosis and Hermeticism from antiquity to modern times (State University of New York Press, 1998), 112. 22. Gershom Scholem. Origins of the Kabbalah (Princeton University Press, 1991), 15. 23. Scholem. Origins of the Kabbalah, 15. 24. Rabbi Akiba Ben Joseph, The Book of Formation or Sepher Yetzirah, translated by Knut Stenring (Maine: Ibis Press, 2004), 23. 8 symbolism of alchemy. The drive that the Greeks possessed to understand and control their world elevated the appeal of the metaphysical ideas in astrology and alchemy. It appealed to reason because it reconciled the various cultures interacting in the Mediterranean. It soothed anxieties dealing with the helplessness of fate by providing a concept of power one could wield within the material world. While its difficult to discern who exactly viewed themselves as a craftsman, chemist, or magician, its important to establish the origin and motivation behind these ideas. By the time of the collapse of the Roman Empire most of this knowledge had left Western Europe and had been moved to Byzantium to become a part of the Arab world.25 Translations and further development of alchemy occurred there, until it was reintegrated into the West through the Muslim occupation of Spain. It is interesting to note that several scholars believe that a prophet that appears in the Koran, by the name of Idris is Hermes Trismegistus, mainly because Idris holds similar titles such as“thrice great” and is considered the father of alchemy and astrology much like Hermes is.26 The world view that emerged from this collection of metaphysics, linking celestial phenomenon and the natural world, became a religious and pseudo-scientific point of reference for scholars until the scientific method was finally refined to separate the empirical from the religious. Yet a key concept grew on the religious side that said the invisible world of metaphysics reflected nature in a way that could be investigated. This regard towards the spiritual world for investigation is key for what makes alchemy a memetic concept. When we examine the thinkers of each era that picked it up and asked, “what does this mean” we see alchemy's corpus continuously added to by each generation. 25. Principe, The Secrets of Alchemy, 11. 26. Faivre, The Eternal Hermes:From Greek God to Alchemical Magus, 18. 9