ART AND IMAGES IN PSYCHIATRY SECTION EDITOR: JAMES C. HARRIS, MD Alchemist Sendivogius and Sigismund III Vasa Man was created of the Earth, and lives by virtue of the Aire; for there is in the Aire a secret food oflife...whose invisible congealed spirit is better than the whole earth. Michael Sendivogius, 16501(p20) LCHEMY WAS INTRODUCED ally involved in alchemical transforma- Following medieval Arabic writers, to a new generation in 1997 tion experiments. Michael Sendivogius alchemists concluded that 2 ingredi- with the publication in the (1566-1636), a Polish nobleman and one ents they named mercury (fluid prin- United Kingdom of the first of that century’s best-known alchemi- ciple) and sulfur (dry inflammable prin- Abook of J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter se- cal adepts and physicians, resided in ciple) naturally combined underground ries, Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Prague for some years. He conducted al- to make various metals. Too much of the Stone.2 The connection to alchemy was re- chemical experiments there while con- fluid mercury was present in tin and lead, moved from the title of the US edition currently serving as courier for the em- metals that easily melted. Too much sul- where, with the author’s reluctant per- peror and liaison to the Polish Court. fur was present in hard metals like iron mission, Sorcerer’s Stone was used in- Sendivogius is memorialized by Polish and copper. Gold was the perfect ad- stead. The publisher feared that Ameri- artist Jan Matejko in his alchemical mixture. Thus, turning one metal into can parents would not buy a book for their painting that shows Sendivogius with another required adjusting the propor- children with “philosopher” in the title. Sigismund III Vasa (cover), King of Po- tions of mercury and sulfur. This might Despite the revised naming, the book does land, on the first floor of the palace in take thousands of years underground. To indeed deal with alchemy and refers to a the royal chamber near a fireplace. An speed the process in their laboratories, historical figure, Nicolas Flamel (early alchemical experiment has just been alchemists proposed a material agent of 1330s-1418), now age 665 years in the completed. Sendivogius, kneeling on his transmutation they called the philoso- book. Flamel was believed to have ac- right knee, reaches back from the fire to pher’s stone or elixir. Thrown on mol- complished the 2 major goals of al- offer the king a coin that has been trans- ten metal, the elixir would effect the chemy: creating the philosopher’s stone, muted into gold. The king’s retinue ea- transformation into gold. The method allowing him to turn lead into gold, and gerly watches the finale of this experi- of preparation of the philosopher’s stone making the elixir of life, thus achieving ment. On the left, Mikolaj Wolski, the was a closely guarded secret to prevent immortality for himself and his wife. In Grand Marshal of the Crown and a long- the unscrupulous from misusing it. Rowling’s book, archvillain Lord Volde- standing financial supporter of Sendi- Thus, alchemists wrote their books in mort seeks the philosopher’s stone to vogius, holds a magnifying glass in his riddles and metaphor. They believed that achieve eternal life and rule the world but hand. Jerzy Mniszek, Governor of San- to perfect this process of transmuta- is thwarted by Potter, who has no such domierz (in the fur coat), leans in from tion, they must perfect themselves as desire for immortality and, in his inno- behind the king for a closer look. Seated well, for the ultimate goal was to under- cence, acquires the stone. Flamel, bored on the right, Peter Skarga, Jesuit priest stand the divine in nature. The philo- with such a long life, agrees to the de- and preacher to the king, holds a rosary. sophical alchemist believed in a kind of struction of the philosopher’s stone to pre- As illustrated in the painting, gold panvitalism, in the underlying connect- vent it from falling into the wrong hands. making, or chrysopoeia, is most com- edness of all life. Thus, the ultimate goals The Potter books present popular monly associated with alchemy.8 One al- of the alchemist were far more ambi- views about alchemy. However, the his- chemical goal was transmutation, the tious than the transmutation of metals. tory of science reveals that alchemy has conversion of inexpensive base metals Today alchemy is often condemned a richer history. It is a precursor to mod- such as lead into precious metals such and dismissed as pseudo science; how- ern chemistry and to Jung’s psychology as gold or silver. (We now know it is im- ever, historically it was considered se- of individuation. Carl Jung believed al- possible to transform elements by chemi- riously by renowned scientists like Isaac chemy to be the historical antecedent of cal means, but transmutation has been Newton (1642-1727) and Robert Boyle his analytic psychology as revealed in his accomplished by bombardment of lead (1627-1691). Newton mastered chem- Red Book.3,4 Jung’s last years were spent by neutrons in a nuclear reactor to pro- istry at Cambridge University but turned examining alchemical texts for analo- duce microscopic amounts of gold.) The to alchemy for reasons altogether dif- gies to his archetypal studies in his pur- alchemists were aware that miners and ferent from learning about chemistry.9 suit of psychological transformation.5 refiners recognized that lead ore com- He knew alchemy was not intended to Edinger6 summarizes the pertinence of monly contains some silver ore and sil- be the study of matter for its own sake alchemy to analytical psychology. ver ore usually contains some gold. This nor was it a natural philosophy. There The 17th century is considered the suggested to them that metals gradu- was a spiritual dimension to alchemy, as golden age of alchemy. Support for al- ally changed into one another over time. emphasized by alchemists in Rudolf’s chemy reached its apogee in that cen- Thus, through natural processes, lead court. It was the spiritual dimension of tury in Prague at the court of the Holy gradually became silver and silver gradu- alchemy that attracted Newton as he Roman Emperor Rudolf II.7 Rudolf had ally became gold.8 Because gold was re- sought the organizing force underlying an alchemical laboratory built in Prague sistant to tarnish and corrosion, it his physical experiments. Castle and invited alchemists from all seemed to them the end point in the de- Alchemists embraced both medi- over Europe to use it; he was person- velopment of metals. cine and philosophy. Alchemical phy- ARCH GEN PSYCHIATRY/ VOL 68 (NO. 8), AUG 2011 WWW.ARCHGENPSYCHIATRY.COM 771 ©2011 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. Downloaded From: https://jamanetwork.com/ on 09/27/2021 sicians rejected the traditional teaching sought. In seeking the aerial food of life, and decomposed by fire and “so changed of Hippocrates and Galen, aimed at bal- Sendivogius focused on the colorless, in the nature of the air,” suggesting he ancing the 4 humors, and the use of tra- crystalline solid saltpeter (nitre or po- knew that heating saltpeter causes it to ditional plant and herbal concoctions. tassium nitrate). The major source of give off a gas. Could it have been oxy- They sought to increase the strength of saltpeter was known to be farmyard soils. gen? Drebbel belonged to the scientific plant materials by extracting essences Sendivogius assumed that the food of life elite of the time and may or may not have from plants and minerals and using met- was condensed from the air into saltpe- known Sendivogius personally but was als for treatment. The strongest early pro- ter, and when present in fertilizers, it surely familiar with his work. Modern ponent of this approach was the Swiss stimulated plant growth. Moreover, it scientists are skeptical about these claims Paracelsus10 (Theophrastus von Hohen- was the key ingredient in gunpowder and about oxygen. Alchemists kept their ex- heim, 1493-1541), physician, botanist, was used in medicines, in freezing mix- periments secret not only because of and alchemist. Paracelsus pioneered the tures, and in the production of the acid worries that they might fall into the medical use of chemicals and minerals. aqua regia (the queen of the waters), wrong hands but also in Sendivogius’ His iatrochemistry focused on the pro- which could dissolve gold. Sendivo- time to avoid censure from the church; duction of pharmaceuticals, a lucrative gius’ adherents1,11 suggest that his aerial they did not draw public attention to trade2 in the 17th century, as it is in the nitre is oxygen, a gas in the air that makes their findings. To avoid the fate of Co- 21st. Many alchemists financed their ex- life possible. When condensed into solid pernicus and Galileo, Sendivogius con- periments through the sale of medi- form as saltpeter, it gives life to plants cealed his authorship of A New Light on cines. For example, Paracelsus was re- and minerals. For Sendivogius, the aerial Alchemy in an anagram and at other sponsible for introducing an early food was “Our water that wets not our times published anonymously. Al- formulation of laudanum, an opium tinc- hands, without which no mortal can live, though others advanced the study of the ture, which was widely used after the and without which nothing grows or is components of the air more thor- 1660s in a revised formulation devel- generated in the world.”1(p21) Others12 oughly than he did, Sendivogius de- oped by English physician Thomas point out that Sendivogius’ theory about serves to be remembered for his alchemi- Sydenham (1624-1689).