Nigredo
The blackening named in some alchemical descriptions of a work's changing colors. It is not a universal first step in every historical recipe.
Reference · Glossary
Glossary
A guide to the words used across this site and in the texts behind it. Definitions describe historical usage, not proven supernatural effects. A term may mean different things in different traditions; the tradition label tells you which sense is meant here.
Looking for a sign rather than a word? Symbols draws the signs of astrology, alchemy and geomancy and links each to what this study says about it.
30 terms · page 2 of 2
Ouroboros
A serpent shown biting its own tail, used among other things as a sign for the alchemical work's circularity and transformation.
Philosopher's stone
Also: Philosophers' stone
A sought-after material said to enable metallic transmutation and, in some accounts, other transformations. Its identity and preparation were deliberately obscured in many texts.
Prima materia
Also: First matter
The starting material or first matter of an alchemical work. Authors often described it indirectly, so it should not be treated as one agreed chemical substance.
Retort
A vessel with a bent neck used for heating and distilling materials.
Rubedo
The reddening that crowns the four-color sequence in some alchemical texts; it should not be imposed on every alchemical tradition.
Salt in alchemy
A material and, in later alchemical systems, a term used for a principle of fixed or bodily substance; the intended sense depends on the text.
Sublimation
A laboratory operation in which heated material rises as vapor and is collected after cooling. Alchemists also used the word metaphorically for refinement.
Sulfur in alchemy
A combustible material and, in some alchemical theories, a name for a principle involved in how metals behave. It is not always literal sulfur.
Tincture
A preparation that colors or alters another substance; in alchemical prose the word can also name the supposed agent of transmutation.