Alchemy 101: Above, Below, and the One Thing

August 04, 2017 Ash 0 Comments

To learn alchemy, the practitioner must first understand its principles. To do so, we must look at the content of the ancient texts that served as the foundation for alchemy. One such text being the Emerald Tablet, which was said to hold the entirety of the philosophy and practice of alchemy. With this we can understand the foundation of the system of reasoning that the alchemists had.

In the Theatrum Chemicum translation of the Emerald Tablet, the second line states, “Whatever is below is similar to that which is above. Through this the marvels of the work of one thing are procured and perfected.” Although it’s short, within this excerpt is the entirety of alchemical philosophy:

To start, the heavens, as referred to by numerous religions, is the above: it was the sky and the swath of stars overhead; it contained the sun, the moon, and the planets. The above is the realm of God / the gods, and it is also the internal expression of the soul, residing in each of us.

On the other hand, the below is the earth—the mortal world.

The above and the below correspond; they are in union with each other. However, while the two are perceived as two separate aspects, they are, in fact, one.

Together, the above and the below accomplish the “one thing”. Alchemists believed that all things were created from one thing by one thing. This “one thing” is what was known by alchemists as the Prima Materia, the first matter, in which there was one, unchangeable reality behind the ever-changing material world. It is regarded as the source of everything, and alchemists, in their studies, were constantly searching for this Prima Materia.

In addition, the “one thing” was believed to simultaneously express itself as three things (a trinity). Similar to other practices, alchemy has its own trinity, its own set of three principles: