Alchemical symbol Information & Alchemical symbol Links at HealthHaven.com

Alchemic symbols in Torbern Bergman's 1775 Dissertation on Elective Affinities.

Alchemic symbols, originally devised as part of the protoscience of alchemy, were used to denote some elements and some compounds until the 18th century. Note that while notation like this was mostly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists, so this page lists the most common.

[edit] Three primes

According to Paracelsus, the Three Primes or Tria Prima are:

Sulfur (omnipresent spirit of life)
Mercury (fluid connection between the High and the Low)
Salt (base matter)

[edit] Four basic elements

[edit] Seven planetary metals

Main articles: Classical planets in Western alchemy and Planets in astrology

Astrological symbols/glyphs representing the Sun, Moon, Pluto and planets, including the Earth, in Western astrology.

Planetary metals were "dominated" or "ruled" by one of the seven planets known by the ancients. Although they occasionally have a symbol of their own (denoted by also:), they were usually symbolized by the planet's symbol.

Gold dominated by Sol ☉ ☼ ( )
Silver dominated by Luna ☽ ( )
Copper dominated by Venus ♀ (also: )
Iron dominated by Mars ♂ ( )
Tin dominated by Jupiter ♃ ( )
Mercury (quicksilver) dominated by Mercury ☿ ( )
Lead dominated by Saturn ♄ ( )

The planets Uranus and Neptune and the dwarf planet Pluto were discovered after the time alchemy had been largely replaced by chemistry, and are not part of traditional Alchemical symbols. Some modern alchemists consider the symbols for these planets to represent the radioactive metals uranium, neptunium and plutonium, respectively. Also, the Monas Hieroglyphica is an alchemical symbol devised by John Dee as a combination of the plantery metal glyphs.

[edit] Mundane elements

"Squaring the Circle": an alchemical glyph (17th c.) of the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.

[edit] Alchemical compounds

A table of alchemical symbols from Basil Valentine’s The Last Will and Testament, 1670 ce.

[edit] 12 core alchemical processes

The 12 alchemical processes are considered to be the basis of modern chemical processes. Each of these processes is "dominated" or "ruled" by one of the 12 Zodiac signs.