Alchemical symbol
Alchemical symbols, originally devised as part of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Although notation like this was mostly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists, so this page lists the most common.
Three primes
According to Paracelsus (1493โ1541), the three primes or tria prima โ of which material substances are immediately composed โ are:[1][2]
Four basic elements
Western alchemy makes use of the Hellenic elements. The symbols used for these are:[1]
Seven planetary metals
Seven metals are associated with the seven classical planets, and seven deities, all figuring heavily in alchemical symbolism. Although the metals occasionally have a glyph of their own, the planet's symbol is used most often, and the symbolic and mythological septenary is consistent with Western astrology. The planetary symbolism is limited to the seven wandering stars visible to the naked eye, and the extra-Saturnian planets Uranus and Neptune are not used.
Mundane elements
Alchemical compounds
- Sal ammoniac (Ammonium chloride) ๐น *
- Aqua fortis (Nitric acid) ๐ A.F.
- Aqua regia (Nitro-hydrochloric acid) ๐ A.R.
- Spirit of wine (also called aqua vitae)(Concentrated ethanol) ๐ S.V.
- Amalgam (Alloys of a metal and mercury) ๐
- Cinnabar (Mercury sulfide) ๐
- Vitriol (Sulfates) ๐
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 1758 Mytho-Hermetic Dictionary:[3]
- Calcination (Aries
) โ - Congelation (Taurus
) โ - Fixation (Gemini
) โ - Dissolution (Cancer
) โ - Digestion (Leo
) โ - Distillation (Virgo
) โ - Sublimation (Libra
) โ - Separation (Scorpio
) โ - Incineration (Sagittarius
) โ - Fermentation (Capricorn
) โ (Putrefaction) - Multiplication (Aquarius
) โ - Projection (Pisces
) โ
Units
Several symbols indicate units of volume, weight, or time.
- Hour ๐ฎ
- Dram ๐ฒ
- Ounce โฅ
- Half-Ounce ๐ณ
Unicode
Unicode 6.1 adds support for an Alchemical Symbols block.
Alchemical Symbols[1][2] Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF) | ||||||||||||||||
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | A | B | C | D | E | F | |
U+1F70x | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ |
U+1F71x | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ |
U+1F72x | ๐ | ๐ก | ๐ข | ๐ฃ | ๐ค | ๐ฅ | ๐ฆ | ๐ง | ๐จ | ๐ฉ | ๐ช | ๐ซ | ๐ฌ | ๐ญ | ๐ฎ | ๐ฏ |
U+1F73x | ๐ฐ | ๐ฑ | ๐ฒ | ๐ณ | ๐ด | ๐ต | ๐ถ | ๐ท | ๐ธ | ๐น | ๐บ | ๐ป | ๐ผ | ๐ฝ | ๐พ | ๐ฟ |
U+1F74x | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ |
U+1F75x | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ | ๐ |
U+1F76x | ๐ | ๐ก | ๐ข | ๐ฃ | ๐ค | ๐ฅ | ๐ฆ | ๐ง | ๐จ | ๐ฉ | ๐ช | ๐ซ | ๐ฌ | ๐ญ | ๐ฎ | ๐ฏ |
U+1F77x | ๐ฐ | ๐ฑ | ๐ฒ | ๐ณ | ||||||||||||
Notes |
References
- 1 2 3 Eric John Holmyard. Alchemy. 1995. p.153
- โ Walter J. Friedlander. The golden wand of medicine: a history of the caduceus symbol in medicine. 1992. p.76-77
- โ Antoine-Joseph Pernety. Dictionnaire mytho-hermรฉtique, dans lequel on trouve les allรฉgories fabuleuses des poรจtes, les mรฉtaphores, les รฉnigmes et les termes barbares des philosophes hermรฉtiques expliquรฉs. 1758. p.99
External links
- Alchemical symbols in Unicode 6.0