# Word of the Day - Alchemist



## Jace (Oct 1, 2022)

Alchemist...n.

Def.: A practitioner of alchemy...(a medieval chemical philosophy of having it's asserted aims 
the transmutation of base metal into gold.

In the past, there were practicing alchemists.


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## Lawrence (Oct 1, 2022)

Alchemy was a subject that enchanted me as a child. I would meander to the library to read and check out books about it as well as all the magical potions and spells in the books. -----I read how in the past when there were practicing alchemists turning base metals into gold. The process of how they created gold was hard to figure out because the ingredients, names of the elements, and processes that were called for to use are called by different names today. -----Later on, I would read the history of the Alchemists and how they would in effect gold plate jewelry from a metal like copper. The stories would tell about how the Alchemists would travel to distant villages and sell his gold for the highest price he could. As well it was told that after he had finished with his trickery he would jump on his donkey or ramble as fast as he could on foot, to get away from the village and get home as fast as he can, before he was chased and caught by the village people who wanted to get their money back. Or looted a highway robber.


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## Kaila (Oct 1, 2022)

When I first heard the words, _alchemy, and alchemists,
when I was much younger,
the words themselves, seemed as mysterious as did their meaning and the actual practise itself!

_


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## Paco Dennis (Oct 1, 2022)

Isaac Newton, *one of the founders of the Scientific Revolution*. He wrote more than a million words on alchemy over his lifetime, conducting decades' worth of alchemical experiments. But he did it all in secret. For centuries after his death in 1727, few people knew the extent of Newton's alchemical work.

Hal 2000 (google)


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## Alligatorob (Oct 1, 2022)

Paco Dennis said:


> few people knew the extent of Newton's alchemical work.


Yep, it was once a science, and why not?  Without that research we would not have known it to be impossible to make gold from iron or other things.  Alchemy laid the groundwork for modern chemistry.  Nothing wacky about it back in the day.

Same can be said about astrology, without a lot of good research how were we to know the alignment of mars didn't effect our daily lives.  Not wacky in the day.


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## Pappy (Oct 2, 2022)

King Midas comes to mind.


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## Aunt Mavis (Oct 2, 2022)

I’ll follow this thread closely. I need a few “big words” for my book. Lol.


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## Mizmo (Oct 2, 2022)

An alchemist is akin to a magician.


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