Technikatörténeti szemle 22. (1996)
Papers from the Second International Conference on the History of Chemistry and Chemical Industry (Eger, Hungary, 16–19 August, 1995) - Pérez-Bustamente, A. Juan: The Holistic Concept of Alchemy
tor, odd, teluric (ctonic), darkness, etc. The alchemical reaction considered is often described in pictorial terms using as symbols quite a huge number of astrological signs and correspondences (planets and stars for the metals), animals, birds, and plants (for metals, alchemical operations, qualities of the matter and the final result of the alchemical process), cosmological associations for the elements, mythological allegories symbolizing the different stages involved in the general "alchemical reaction" considered, etc. Alchemy is very often considered trivially as the "Art of making gold" thereby emphasizing exclusively the transmutatory aspect of materialistic alchemy related to the "aurifictive" and "aurifactive" aspects of alchemy ignoring the macrobiotic fundamental aspect as dealt with in detail by Needham 28106113 and Mahdihassan 747981 . 95 . 110112116 . jhe exclusive hylic approach to Alchemy is but quite a poor and insuficient aspect of the holistic concept of Alchemy which nowadays is no more tenable. The whole picture of Alchemy has to be grasped from the analysis and comparison of both the oriental and occidental alchemical system which have much in common as well as present striking differences and build up a complementary picture of great complexity. Even the concept of inmortality is quite different in both systems referring to Afterlife in occidental thought as a rather univocal term while different aceptions and concepts of inmortality can be distinguished in oriental philosophy (soul transmigration as reencarnation of the soul into plants, herbs or animals; corporal resurrection by animation of the corpse; soul rebirth or resuscitation of the soul in the form of a child). Alchemical elixirs, saturated with vital essence are supposed in oriental Alchemy to bring about corporal rejuvenation leading to inmortality in the actual world in the form of an animated ethereal-like subtle body. On the other hand, magic and vital forces associated to mineral and vegetal kingdoms differ sharply in oriental philosophies from hylozoistic, pneumatic and panvitalistic conceptions found in hellenistic and european alchemical thought. Finally, a typical conception of oriental inmortality lacking in western philosophies considers the possibility of the human body to become inmortal in the actual world by resorting to exoteric, external macrobiotic elixir alchemy ("nel-tan") or, alternatively to esoteric, internal ascetic alchemy ("wai-tan"). Coming now back to the general "alchemical transmutatory reaction" considered above the important conclusion can be drawn from its formulation that it can be considered to apply, in metaphysical terms, both to -the philosophy of matter - the concept of affinity of substances based all in the philosophy of the complementarity of contraries.
