Alchemical Symbols

Acetic Acid (Vinegar)

An archaic symbols of chemical elements for vinegar.

Antimony

Alchemical symbol for antimony.

Geber made this 'strong water', Nitric acid, by distilling green vitriol, with saltpetre and alum. When pure it is a colourless liquid, but it is often tinged brown by dissolved nitrogen oxides, which also give it a peculiar smell.

Arsenic

Alchemical symbol for Arsenic.

Bismuth

Alchemical symbol for bismuth.

Calcination

Calcination (also referred to as calcining) is a thermal treatment process in absence of air applied to ores and other solid materials to bring about a thermal decomposition, phase transition, or removal of a volatile fraction. The calcination process normally takes place at temperatures below the melting point of the product materials. Calcination is not the same process as roasting. In roasting, more complex gas–solid reactions take place between the furnace atmosphere and the solids.

Ceration

Ceration is a chemical process, a common practice in alchemy.

Congelation

Congelation is the process by which something congeals, or thickens.

Copper

Alchemy symbol for copper. This was also the symbol for the goddess and the planet Venus.

Digestion (alchemy)

In alchemy, digestion is a process in which gentle heat is applied to a substance over a period of several weeks.

Dissolution

Dissolution is the process by which a solute forms a solution in a solvent.

Distillation

Distillation is a method of separating mixtures based on differences in volatility of components in a boiling liquid mixture. Distillation is a unit operation, or a physical separation process, and not a chemical reaction.

Distilled vinegar

An old alchemy symbol for distilled vinegar.

Earth

Alchemical symbol for earth

Fermentation

Fermentation typically refers to the conversion of sugar to acids, gases and/or alcohol using yeast or bacteria.

Fire

Alchemical symbol for fire.

Fixation (alchemy)

Fixation in alchemy refers to a process by which a previously volatile substance is "transformed" into a form (often solid) that is not affected by fire.

Goddess

Alchemy symbol for goddess. It was also the symbol for copper and the planet Venus.

Gold

Gold is a dense, soft, shiny, malleable, and ductile metal. It is a chemical element with the symbol Au and atomic number 79.

Honey Sign

Alchemic symbol for honey, one of many others that were in use.

Iron

Alchemical symbol for iron and the planet Mars.

Lead

Lead is a chemical element in the carbon group with symbol Pb (from Latin: plumbum) and atomic number 82. Lead is a soft and malleable metal, which is regarded as a heavy metal and poor metal.

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second smallest planet in the Solar System. Named after the Roman god of war, it is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance.

Mercury (metal)

Mercury is a chemical element with the symbol Hg and atomic number 80. It is commonly known as quicksilver and was formerly named hydrargyrum (from Greek "hydr-" water and "argyros" silver).

Multiplication (alchemy)

Multiplication is the process in Western alchemy used to increase the potency of the philosopher's stone, elixir or projection powder.

Oil

An old archaic alchemy symbol for oil.

Platinum

The alchemical symbol for platinum was made by joining the symbols of silver and gold.

Projection (alchemy)

Projection was the ultimate goal of Western alchemy. Once the Philosopher's stone or powder of projection had been created, the process of projection would be used to transmute a lesser substance into a higher form, often lead into gold.

Salt

An old alchemy symbol that symbolizes Salt.

Separation process

In chemistry and chemical engineering, a separation process, or simply a separation, is any mass transfer process that converts a mixture of substances into two or more distinct product mixtures, at least one of which is enriched in one or more of the mixture's constituents.