Spiritual Alchemy and Science Podcast (main theme[s] in parentheses)
#1 historiographical problem (hard truth: not an esoteric meditation)
#2 spiritual alchemy or spiritual alchemies (good news: many ways to learn from religious aspects)
#3 do secular alchemy studies downplay religious aspects? (scope choices don't necessarily mean marginalizing)
#4 intro 16th-17th century flowering of spiritual alchemy (armchair metaphor vs. lab practice as meditation)
#5 Khunrath, Maier, and Fludd (visual treatments turning alchemy into a religion?)
#6 Alchemical Transmutations of Christian Cabala (when Alchemy met Renaissance magic...)
Remember that theology was the queen of the sciences in the medieval period!
ReplyDeleteSo alchemy was fine as long as it didn't contradict what theologians said, although some equated alchemy with magic practised by demons, since they reckoned you couldn't do transmutation otherwise.
Then there's the 14/15th century growth of the use of religious imagery for the parts of alchemy, and John of Rupescissa's idea of using it to maintain the health of the elect during the end times. So at that point you can see how spiritual concepts are tied up with physical ones.
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