| Revision as of 22:15, 24 April 2023 edit.Raven (talk | contribs)Extended confirmed users4,459 edits →Mundane elements and later metals: One symbol, okay. But the *alchemical* referent was to the 'calx' (oxide), not the metal – which was considered to be a combination of the calx with phlogiston. See ref under 'Manganese'.Tag: 2017 wikitext editor← Previous edit | Latest revision as of 02:46, 29 August 2024 edit undoAnomieBOT (talk | contribs)Bots6,574,330 editsm Dating maintenance tags: {{Citation needed}} | ||
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| | image = Sulphur symbol (fixed width).svg | | image = Sulphur symbol (fixed width).svg | ||
| }} | }} | ||
| ]'s |
]'s ''The Last Will and Testament'', 1670|alt=A table of alchemical symbols from Basil Valentine's ''The Last Will and Testament'', 1670]] | ||
| {| class="wikitable floatright" | {| class="wikitable floatright" | ||
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| '''Alchemical symbols''' |
'''Alchemical symbols''' were used to denote chemical elements and compounds, as well as ] apparatus and processes, until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy-Tenger<ref>Fritz Lüdy-Tenger (1928) ''Alchemistische und chemische Zeichen''. Wolfgang Schneider (1962) ''Lexicon alchemistisch-pharmazeutischer Symbole'' covers many of the same symbols with a cross-index and indicates synonyms.</ref> published an inventory of 3,695 symbols and variants, and that was not exhaustive, omitting for example many of the symbols used by ]. This page therefore lists only the most common symbols. | ||
| ==Three primes== | ==Three primes== | ||
| Line 34: | Line 34: | ||
| ==Seven {{vanchor|planetary metals}}== | ==Seven {{vanchor|planetary metals}}== | ||
| {{main|Classical planets in Western alchemy}} | {{main|Classical planets in Western alchemy}} | ||
| ], with the seven planetary-metal symbols]] | ], with the seven planetary-metal symbols]] | ||
| The seven ] in Europe<!--Americans also knew of platinum, but Europeans didn't discover that was a distinct metal until the 18th c.--> were associated with the seven ]s; this figured heavily in alchemical symbolism. The exact correlation varied over time, and in early centuries bronze or ] were sometimes found instead of mercury, or copper for Mars instead of iron; however, gold, silver, and lead had always been associated with the Sun, Moon, and Saturn.{{NoteTag|For example, Mercury was tin and Jupiter was |
The seven ] in Europe<!--Americans also knew of platinum, but Europeans didn't discover that was a distinct metal until the 18th c.--> were associated with the seven ]s; this figured heavily in alchemical symbolism. The exact correlation varied over time, and in early centuries bronze or ] were sometimes found instead of mercury, or copper for Mars instead of iron; however, gold, silver, and lead had always been associated with the Sun, Moon, and Saturn.{{NoteTag|For example, Mercury was tin and Jupiter was electrum in the Marcianus manuscript attributed to ].<ref name=Crosland/>{{rp|style=ama|p= 236}}}} | ||
| }} | |||
| The associations below are attested from the 7th century and had stabilized by the 15th. They started breaking down with the discovery of antimony, bismuth, and zinc in the 16th century. Alchemists would typically call the metals by their planetary names, e.g. "Saturn" for lead, "Mars" for iron; compounds of tin, iron, and silver continued to be called "jovial", "martial", and "lunar"; or "of Jupiter", "of Mars", and "of the moon", through the 17th century. The tradition remains today with the name of the element mercury, where chemists decided the planetary name was preferable to common names like "quicksilver", and in a few archaic terms such as ] (silver nitrate) and ] (]).<ref name=Crosland>{{cite book |first=Maurice |last=Crosland |year=2004 |title=Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry |publisher= |isbn=}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{harvnb|Holmyard|1957|p=149}}</ref> | The associations below are attested from the 7th century and had stabilized by the 15th. They started breaking down with the discovery of antimony, bismuth, and zinc in the 16th century. Alchemists would typically call the metals by their planetary names, e.g. "Saturn" for lead, "Mars" for iron; compounds of tin, iron, and silver continued to be called "jovial", "martial", and "lunar"; or "of Jupiter", "of Mars", and "of the moon", through the 17th century. The tradition remains today with the name of the element mercury, where chemists decided the planetary name was preferable to common names like "quicksilver", and in a few archaic terms such as ] (silver nitrate) and ] (]).<ref name=Crosland>{{cite book |first=Maurice |last=Crosland |year=2004 |title=Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry |publisher= |isbn=}}</ref><ref name="auto">{{harvnb|Holmyard|1957|p=149}}</ref> | ||
| * ], corresponding with ] <big>♄</big> (]) | * ], corresponding with ] <big>♄</big> (]) | ||
| * ], corresponding with ] <big>♃</big> (]) | * ], corresponding with ] <big>♃</big> (]) | ||
| * ], corresponding with ] <big>♂</big> (]) | * ], corresponding with ] <big>♂</big> (]) | ||
| * ], corresponding with the ] <big>☉</big> <big>🜚</big> <big>☼</big> (] ] ]) | * ], corresponding with the ] <big>☉</big> <big>🜚</big> <big>☼</big> (] ] ]) | ||
| * ], corresponding with ] <big>♀</big> (]) | * ], corresponding with ] <big>♀</big> (]) | ||
| * ], corresponding with ] <big>☿</big> (]) | * ], corresponding with ] <big>☿</big> (]) | ||
| * ], corresponding with the ] <big>☽</big> or <big>☾</big> (] or ]) | * ], corresponding with the ] <big>☽</big> or <big>☾</big> (] or ]) <ref>{{cite web |first1=William R. |last1=Newman |first2=John A. |last2=Walsh |first3=Stacy |last3=Kowalczyk |first4=Wallace E. |last4=Hooper |first5=Tamara |last5=Lopez |date=March 6, 2009 |id=Unicode: 1F71B |title=Proposal for Alchemical Symbols in Unicode |at=p. 13, 2nd from bottom |url=https://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/fonts/Alchemy%20Unicode%20Proposal---March%2031%202009.pdf |website=Indiana University}}</ref> | ||
| ==Mundane elements and later metals== | ==Mundane elements and later metals== | ||
| Line 52: | Line 51: | ||
| * ] <big>♆</big> (]) (in Newton), <big>🜘</big> (]) (in Bergman) | * ] <big>♆</big> (]) (in Newton), <big>🜘</big> (]) (in Bergman) | ||
| * ] ] (approximately 🜶) (in Bergman) | * ] ] (approximately 🜶) (in Bergman) | ||
| * ] ] (in Bergman) | |||
| * ] or its oxide ] <big>⚩</big> (])<ref>{{cite web |first1=William R. |last1=Newman |first2=John A. |last2=Walsh |first3=Stacy |last3=Kowalczyk |first4=Wallace E. |last4=Hooper |first5=Tamara |last5=Lopez |date=March 6, 2009 |id=Unicode: 26A9 |title=Proposal for Alchemical Symbols in Unicode |page=11 |url=https://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/fonts/Alchemy%20Unicode%20Proposal---March%2031%202009.pdf |website=Indiana University}}<br>Cf. item 8, "Magnesia" in ] from {{cite book |first=Louis |last=Reutter de Rosemont |date=1931 |language=fr |title=Histoire de la pharmacie a travers les ages |trans-title=History of pharmacy through the ages |location=Paris |publisher=J. Peyronnet}}</ref><ref>'' until 1808]]:<br>• {{cite journal| last = Davy | first = H. | date= 1808 | title = Electro-chemical researches on the decomposition of the earths; with observations on the metals obtained from the alkaline earths, and on the amalgam procured from ammonia | journal = Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London | volume = 98 | pages = 333–370|bibcode = 1808RSPT...98..333D | jstor=107302 | doi=10.1098/rstl.1808.0023| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=gpwEAAAAYAAJ&pg=102| doi-access = free}} (Specifically, pp. 109-116, in the Collected Works version linked there, cover the extraction of the metal he calls ''magnium'' from – and its subsequent oxidation into – the white powdery material he calls ''magnesia:'' "It sank rapidly in water, though surrounded by globules of gas, producing <u>magnesia</u>, and quickly changed in air, becoming covered with a white crust, and falling into a fine powder, which proved to be <u>magnesia</u>.") <br>The alchemists' substance was the salt "]":<br>• {{cite journal |first=Robert P. |last=Multhauf |author-link=Robert P. Multhauf|date=1975-12-09 |title=A history of magnesia alba |journal=] |volume=33 (1976) |location=] |publisher=] |pages=197–200 |url=https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/pdf/10.1080/00033797600200231 |url-access=subscription |doi=10.1080/00033797600200231 |access-date=2023-04-14 |quote=By the time of Pliny (first century A.D.) '] earth' came in several varieties. He mentions five, one of them, called 'magnet', clearly being the celebrated lodestone; the others varied in color from black to white.... As for the material to which the name 'magnesia alba' ultimately became attached, it was a neglected residue of the process conventional in Europe from the 14th century for the production of saltpetre.}}<!--RS; LdV medal-winner, previously cited multiple times on en-WP.--><br>• {{cite web |first=Anne Marie |last=Helmenstine |date=2022-03-01 |title=Saltpeter or Potassium Nitrate Facts |website=ThoughtCo |url=https://www.thoughtco.com/saltpeter-or-potassium-nitrate-608490 |access-date=2023-04-14 |quote=In 1270, Syrian chemist Hasan al-Rammah described a purification process for obtaining purified potassium nitrate from saltpeter. First, the saltpeter is boiled in a small amount of water and then reacted with potassium carbonate from wood ashes. This removes calcium and magnesium salts as precipitates, leaving a potassium nitrate solution. Evaporating the liquid yielded the chemical, which was used to make gunpowder.}}<!-- RS; this author has previously been cited over 60 times on en=WP.--><br>• {{cite web|last=Calvert|first=J. B.|url=http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/chromang.htm|title=Chromium and Manganese|access-date=10 December 2022|date=24 January 2003|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161231161307/http://mysite.du.edu/~jcalvert/phys/chromang.htm|archive-date=31 December 2016|trans-quote=See 3rd paragraph under heading "The Metals and Their Properties"}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=April 2023}}{{Citation needed|date=April 2023}} | |||
| * ] or its oxide ] ] (in Bergman)<ref>].<br>• {{cite book |first=Torbern |last=Bergman |author-link=Torbern Bergman |date=1785 |title=A Dissertation on Elective Attractions |location=London |publisher=J. Murray |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=gP4JAAAAIAAJ&pg=PA102&q=magne%C5%BFia%20nigra |at=The table of "metallic calces" at p.385 shows ♆] for manganese. On p.102 Bergman says this ] is also known as magnesia nigra |quote=The calx of manganeſe, known alſo by the name of magneſia nigra, furniſhes an admirable proof...}}<br>According to the obsolete ], the calx was the true elemental substance that was left after phlogiston was driven out of it in the process of ].<br>• {{cite book |editor-first=John |editor-last=Daintith |date=2008 |chapter=Phlogiston theory |title=A Dictionary of Chemistry |edition=6th |publisher=] |via=Oxford Reference |isbn=9780191726569 |doi=10.1093/acref/9780199204632.001.0001 |chapter-url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/oi/authority.20110803100323514;jsessionid=F3EE9D03E3314E78021F1D253B297995 |quote=In the early 18th century Georg Stahl renamed the substance phlogiston (from the Greek for 'burned') and extended the theory to include the calcination (and corrosion) of metals. Thus, metals were thought to be composed of calx (a powdery residue) and phlogiston; when a metal was heated, phlogiston was set free and the calx remained. The process could be reversed by heating the metal over charcoal (a substance believed to be rich in phlogiston, because combustion almost totally consumed it). The calx would absorb the phlogiston released by the burning charcoal and become metallic again.}}</ref> | |||
| * ] ] (in Bergman; previously used for ] of sulfur) | * ] ] (in Bergman; previously used for ] of sulfur) | ||
| * ] ] (in Lavoisier) | * ] ] (in Lavoisier) | ||
| Line 63: | Line 61: | ||
| ==Alchemical compounds== | ==Alchemical compounds== | ||
| ]'s '' |
]'s 1775 ''Dissertation on Elective Affinities'']] | ||
| The following symbols, among others, have been adopted into Unicode. | The following symbols, among others, have been adopted into Unicode. | ||
| * ] (incl. ]) 🜊 (]) | * ] (incl. ]) 🜊 (]) | ||
| Line 70: | Line 68: | ||
| * ] (nitro-hydrochloric acid) 🜆 (]), 🜇 (]), A.R.<ref name="auto"/> | * ] (nitro-hydrochloric acid) 🜆 (]), 🜇 (]), A.R.<ref name="auto"/> | ||
| * ] (concentrated ethanol; called ''aqua vitae'' or ''spiritus vini'') 🜈 (]), S.V. or 🜉 (]) | * ] (concentrated ethanol; called ''aqua vitae'' or ''spiritus vini'') 🜈 (]), S.V. or 🜉 (]) | ||
| * ] (alloys of a metal and mercury) 🝛 (]) = a͞a͞a |
* ] (alloys of a metal and mercury) 🝛 (]) = a͞a͞a, ȧȧȧ (among other abbreviations). | ||
| * ] (]) 🜓 (]) | * ] (]) 🜓 (]) | ||
| * ] (distilled) 🜋 (]) (in Newton) | * ] (distilled) 🜋 (]) (in Newton) | ||
| * ] (sulfates) 🜖 (])<ref name="auto"/> | * ] (sulfates) 🜖 (])<ref name="auto"/> | ||
| * Black sulphur (residue from sublimation of sulfur) 🜏 (])<ref>Explanation of the Chimical Characters from Nicaise Le Febvre, A compleat body of chymistry, London, 1670.</ref> | * Black sulphur (residue from sublimation of ]) 🜏 (])<ref>Explanation of the Chimical Characters from Nicaise Le Febvre, A compleat body of chymistry, London, 1670.</ref> | ||
| ==Alchemical processes== | ==Alchemical processes== | ||
| Line 98: | Line 96: | ||
| * ] 🝰 (]) | * ] 🝰 (]) | ||
| * ] <big>🝮</big> (]) | * ] <big>🝮</big> (]) | ||
| ⚫ | ==Unicode== | ||
| ⚫ | {{main article|Alchemical Symbols (Unicode block)}} | ||
| ⚫ | The Alchemical Symbols block was added to ] in 2010 as part of Unicode 6.0.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0/ |title=Unicode 6.0.0 |publisher=] |date=11 October 2010 |access-date=21 October 2019}}</ref> | ||
| ⚫ | {{Unicode chart Alchemical Symbols}} | ||
| ==Gallery== | ==Gallery== | ||
| Line 112: | Line 115: | ||
| </gallery> | </gallery> | ||
| An 1888 reproduction of a Venetian list of medieval Greek alchemical symbols from about the year 1100 but circulating since about 300 and attributed to ]. The list starts with 🜚 for gold and has early conventions that would later change: here ☿ is tin and ♃ electrum; ☾ is silver but ☽ is mercury. Many of the 'symbols' are simply abbreviations of the Greek word or phrase. View the files on Commons for the list of symbols.{{citation needed|date=August 2024}} | |||
| ⚫ | ==Unicode== | ||
| <gallery> | |||
| ⚫ | {{main article|Alchemical Symbols (Unicode block)}} | ||
| Marcianus gr. 299 fol 6.jpg | |||
| ⚫ | The Alchemical Symbols block was added to ] in 2010 as part of Unicode 6.0.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.unicode.org/versions/Unicode6.0.0/ |title=Unicode 6.0.0 |publisher=] |date=11 October 2010 |access-date=21 October 2019}}</ref> | ||
| Marcianus gr. 299 fol 7.jpg | |||
| ⚫ | {{Unicode chart Alchemical Symbols}} | ||
| Marcianus gr. 299 fol 7v.jpg | |||
| </gallery> | |||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| Line 146: | Line 151: | ||
| {{Commonscat-inline|Alchemical symbols}} | {{Commonscat-inline|Alchemical symbols}} | ||
| * ] | * ] | ||
| * in Unicode |
* in Unicode | ||
| {{Alchemy|state=expanded}} | {{Alchemy|state=expanded}} | ||
Latest revision as of 02:46, 29 August 2024
Symbols used in pre-19th-century chemistry
This article contains Unicode alchemical symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of alchemical symbols.
.png)
|
|
| Alchemical symbols before Lavoisier | |
Alchemical symbols were used to denote chemical elements and compounds, as well as alchemical apparatus and processes, until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy-Tenger published an inventory of 3,695 symbols and variants, and that was not exhaustive, omitting for example many of the symbols used by Isaac Newton. This page therefore lists only the most common symbols.
Three primes
According to Paracelsus (1493–1541), the three primes or tria prima – of which material substances are immediately composed – are:
- Sulfur or soul, the principle of combustibility: 🜍 (
) - Mercury or spirit, the principle of fusibility and volatility: ☿ (
) - Salt or body, the principle of non-combustibility and non-volatility: 🜔 (
)
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Four basic elements
Main article: Classical elementsWestern alchemy makes use of the four classical elements. The symbols used for these are:
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Seven planetary metals
Main article: Classical planets in Western alchemy
The seven metals known since Classical times in Europe were associated with the seven classical planets; this figured heavily in alchemical symbolism. The exact correlation varied over time, and in early centuries bronze or electrum were sometimes found instead of mercury, or copper for Mars instead of iron; however, gold, silver, and lead had always been associated with the Sun, Moon, and Saturn. The associations below are attested from the 7th century and had stabilized by the 15th. They started breaking down with the discovery of antimony, bismuth, and zinc in the 16th century. Alchemists would typically call the metals by their planetary names, e.g. "Saturn" for lead, "Mars" for iron; compounds of tin, iron, and silver continued to be called "jovial", "martial", and "lunar"; or "of Jupiter", "of Mars", and "of the moon", through the 17th century. The tradition remains today with the name of the element mercury, where chemists decided the planetary name was preferable to common names like "quicksilver", and in a few archaic terms such as lunar caustic (silver nitrate) and saturnism (lead poisoning).
- Lead, corresponding with Saturn ♄ (
) - Tin, corresponding with Jupiter ♃ (
) - Iron, corresponding with Mars ♂ (
) - Gold, corresponding with the Sun ☉ 🜚 ☼ (
) - Copper, corresponding with Venus ♀ (
) - Quicksilver, corresponding with Mercury ☿ ()
- Silver, corresponding with the Moon ☽ or ☾ (
or 
)
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
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.svg){kind=small}
Mundane elements and later metals
- Antimony ♁ (
) (in Newton), also 
- Arsenic 🜺 (
) - Bismuth ♆ (
) (in Newton), 🜘 (
) (in Bergman) - Cobalt
(approximately 🜶) (in Bergman) - Manganese
(in Bergman) - Nickel
(in Bergman; previously used for regulus of sulfur) - Oxygen
(in Lavoisier) - Phlogiston
(in Bergman) - Phosphorus
or 
- Platinum
or 
(in Bergman et al.) - Sulfur 🜍 () (in Newton)
- Zinc
(in Bergman)
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
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.svg){kind=small}
Alchemical compounds
The following symbols, among others, have been adopted into Unicode.
- Acid (incl. vinegar) 🜊 (
) - Sal ammoniac (ammonium chloride) 🜹 (
) - Aqua fortis (nitric acid) 🜅 (
), A.F. - Aqua regia (nitro-hydrochloric acid) 🜆 (
), 🜇 (
), A.R. - Spirit of wine (concentrated ethanol; called aqua vitae or spiritus vini) 🜈 (
), S.V. or 🜉 (
) - Amalgam (alloys of a metal and mercury) 🝛 (
) = a͞a͞a, ȧȧȧ (among other abbreviations). - Cinnabar (mercury sulfide) 🜓 (
) - Vinegar (distilled) 🜋 (
) (in Newton) - Vitriol (sulfates) 🜖 (
) - Black sulphur (residue from sublimation of sulfur) 🜏 (
)
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
Alchemical processes
The alchemical magnum opus was sometimes expressed as a series of chemical operations. In cases where these numbered twelve, each could be assigned one of the Zodiac signs as a form of cryptography. The following example can be found in Pernety's Dictionnaire mytho-hermétique (1758):
- Calcination (Aries
) ♈︎ - Congelation (Taurus
) ♉︎ - Fixation (Gemini
) ♊︎ - Solution (Cancer
) ♋︎ - Digestion (Leo
) ♌︎ - Distillation (Virgo
) ♍︎ - Sublimation (Libra
) ♎︎ - Separation (Scorpio
) ♏︎ - Ceration (Sagittarius
) ♐︎ - Fermentation (Capricorn
) ♑︎ (Putrefaction) - Multiplication (Aquarius
) ♒︎ - Projection (Pisces
) ♓︎
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
.svg){kind=small}
Units
Several symbols indicate units of time.
Unicode
Main article: Alchemical Symbols (Unicode block)The Alchemical Symbols block was added to Unicode in 2010 as part of Unicode 6.0.
| Alchemical Symbols Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
| 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
| U+1F70x | 🜀 | 🜁 | 🜂 | 🜃 | 🜄 | 🜅 | 🜆 | 🜇 | 🜈 | 🜉 | 🜊 | 🜋 | 🜌 | 🜍 | 🜎 | 🜏 |
| U+1F71x | 🜐 | 🜑 | 🜒 | 🜓 | 🜔 | 🜕 | 🜖 | 🜗 | 🜘 | 🜙 | 🜚 | 🜛 | 🜜 | 🜝 | 🜞 | 🜟 |
| U+1F72x | 🜠 | 🜡 | 🜢 | 🜣 | 🜤 | 🜥 | 🜦 | 🜧 | 🜨 | 🜩 | 🜪 | 🜫 | 🜬 | 🜭 | 🜮 | 🜯 |
| U+1F73x | 🜰 | 🜱 | 🜲 | 🜳 | 🜴 | 🜵 | 🜶 | 🜷 | 🜸 | 🜹 | 🜺 | 🜻 | 🜼 | 🜽 | 🜾 | 🜿 |
| U+1F74x | 🝀 | 🝁 | 🝂 | 🝃 | 🝄 | 🝅 | 🝆 | 🝇 | 🝈 | 🝉 | 🝊 | 🝋 | 🝌 | 🝍 | 🝎 | 🝏 |
| U+1F75x | 🝐 | 🝑 | 🝒 | 🝓 | 🝔 | 🝕 | 🝖 | 🝗 | 🝘 | 🝙 | 🝚 | 🝛 | 🝜 | 🝝 | 🝞 | 🝟 |
| U+1F76x | 🝠 | 🝡 | 🝢 | 🝣 | 🝤 | 🝥 | 🝦 | 🝧 | 🝨 | 🝩 | 🝪 | 🝫 | 🝬 | 🝭 | 🝮 | 🝯 |
| U+1F77x | 🝰 | 🝱 | 🝲 | 🝳 | 🝴 | 🝵 | 🝶 | 🝻 | 🝼 | 🝽 | 🝾 | 🝿 | ||||
Notes
| ||||||||||||||||
Gallery
A list of symbols published in 1931:
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
(all 6 plates, large file)
_plate_1.jpg)
_plate_2.jpg)
_plate_3.jpg)
_plate_4.jpg)
_plate_5.jpg)
_plate_6.jpg)
.JPG)
An 1888 reproduction of a Venetian list of medieval Greek alchemical symbols from about the year 1100 but circulating since about 300 and attributed to Zosimos of Panopolis. The list starts with 🜚 for gold and has early conventions that would later change: here ☿ is tin and ♃ electrum; ☾ is silver but ☽ is mercury. Many of the 'symbols' are simply abbreviations of the Greek word or phrase. View the files on Commons for the list of symbols.
See also
Other symbols commonly used in alchemy and related esoteric traditions:
- Astronomical symbols – Symbols in astronomy
- Astrological symbols – Symbols denoting astrological concepts
- Planet symbols – Graphical symbols used in astrology and astronomyPages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
- Suns in alchemy – Sun symbols have a variety of uses
- Monas Hieroglyphica – 1564 book by John Dee about an esoteric symbol
- Rub el Hizb – Islamic symbol in the shape of an octagram
- Seal of Solomon – Signet ring attributed to the Israelite king Solomon
- Rosy Cross – Western esoteric symbol
- Eye of Providence – SymbolPages displaying short descriptions with no spaces
- Sigil – Magical symbol, as used by Hermetic theurgists
- Sigillum Dei – Seal of God, or Seal of Truth, according to John Dee
Footnotes
- For example, Mercury was tin and Jupiter was electrum in the Marcianus manuscript attributed to Zosimos of Panopolis.
References
- Fritz Lüdy-Tenger (1928) Alchemistische und chemische Zeichen. Wolfgang Schneider (1962) Lexicon alchemistisch-pharmazeutischer Symbole covers many of the same symbols with a cross-index and indicates synonyms.
- Holmyard 1957, p. 170; cf. Friedlander 1992, pp. 75–76. For the symbols, see Holmyard 1957, p. 149 and Bergman's table as shown above.
- Holmyard 1957, p. 149.
- ^ Crosland, Maurice (2004). Historical Studies in the Language of Chemistry.
- ^ Holmyard 1957, p. 149
- Newman, William R.; Walsh, John A.; Kowalczyk, Stacy; Hooper, Wallace E.; Lopez, Tamara (March 6, 2009). "Proposal for Alchemical Symbols in Unicode" (PDF). Indiana University. p. 13, 2nd from bottom. Unicode: 1F71B.
- Explanation of the Chimical Characters from Nicaise Le Febvre, A compleat body of chymistry, London, 1670.
- See Holmyard 1957, p. 150.
- "Unicode 6.0.0". Unicode Consortium. 11 October 2010. Retrieved 21 October 2019.
Works cited
- Friedlander, Walter J. (1992). The Golden Wand of Medicine: A History of the Caduceus Symbol in Medicine. Contributions in Medical Studies, 35. New York: Greenwood Press. ISBN 0-313-28023-1.
- Holmyard, Eric J. (1957). Alchemy. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. OCLC 2080637.
- Reutter de Rosemont, Louis (1931). Histoire de la pharmacie a travers les ages. Vol. II. Paris: J. Peyronnet. 4 plates after p. 260 and 2 plates after p. 268 – via Internet Archive.
External links
Media related to Alchemical symbols at Wikimedia Commons
