Alchemy: The Secret Art

Much more than the art of turning base metals into gold, alchemy is a system of cosmic symbolism which can best be understood as a means of achieving oneness with the world. The alchemist learns how to create within a sealed vessel a model of the universe or of human consciousness, in which the opposing complementary forces symbolized by male and female, sulphur and mercury, Earth and air fire and water, attain the perfect synthesis of which gold is the emblem.