Alchemy is an ancient tradition, the primary objective of which was the creation of a fabled elixir, known as the
Philosopher's Stone, capable of turning any base metal into gold or silver, the same also acting as a universal medicine said to indefinitely prolong youth and keep one from death. The alchemists themselves stressed that the operation was natural, being a microcosm of the world itself, and following the same principles of development that apply to plants, animals and minerals. Today it is widely believed that the alchemical processes were allegorical as metaphors for a spiritual discipline, akin to a technique for the obtainment of enlightenment. Others, even today, still believe the existence of the
Philosopher's Stone is a physical reality. Alchemy can be viewed as a protoscience, a precursor to modern day chemistry, having provided many procedures, equipment and names of substances that are still in use.
These words circulate throughout occult and magical circles, and they come from Hermetic texts. The concept was first laid out in The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus, in the words "That which is Below corresponds to that which is Above, and that which is Above, corresponds to that which is Below, to accomplish the miracles of the One Thing"
In accordance with the various levels of reality: physical, mental, and spiritual, this relates that what happens on any level happens on every other. This is however more often used in the sense ...
