Acts of Improvement: On the Use of Tonics and Elixirs in Sanskrit Medical and Alchemical Literature

By Dagmar Wujastyk

"In Sanskrit medical literature, rasāyana is defined as one of eight subject areas of medicine. The proclaimed aim of rasāyana therapies is to preserve or promote health and well-being, but also to prolong life, to halt degeneration caused by aging, to rejuvenate and to improve cognitive function. The term “rasāyana” describes the therapies that together constitute this branch of medicine; the methodology and regimen of treatment; and the medicinal substances and formulations used in these therapies. In Indian alchemical literature, the Sanskrit term “rasāyana” is predominantly used to describe the final stages of alchemical operations, i.e. all that is involved in the taking of elixirs for attaining a state of spiritual liberation in a living body. Rasāyana in this sense describes a series of related processes, including the preparation of the elixir; the preparation of the practitioner; the intake of the elixir and finally, the process of transformation the practitioner undergoes after intake of the elixir. In my paper, I present examples of rasāyana sections from a selection of medical and alchemical treatises to explore their connections and divergences. I also discuss how the connections between medical and alchemical rasāyana sections reflect the development of iatrochemistry in alchemical literature."

https://www.academia.edu/36321661/Acts_o...Literature

By Matteo Soranzo

This article breaks down my research for the general public, and especially younger readers.

https://www.academia.edu/145189834/The_h...of_alchemy

Importance of Ananda kanda in the history of Indian alchemy

By Sreekumar Parampathu

https://www.academia.edu/1863621/Importa...an_alchemy

Ivana Horacek

2015


"This dissertation examines the material potentialities embodied in Kunstkammer works of art that were exchanged as gifts with the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf II (1552-1612) and his contemporaries at the end of the sixteenth and early seventeenth century. Within this context, extraordinary, expertly crafted, and inventive gifts of things—such as paintings on semi-precious stone, commesso di pietre dure landscapes, magical natural objects (such as rhinoceros horns and bezoar stones), and books of instruments—were key players in political and social affairs, between courts and individuals separated by distance, religion, and political divides."

https://www.academia.edu/76372002/Alchem..._Rudolf_II

By Lisa Fagin Davis

From the journal Manuscripts 

Volume 72 – Number 2

Spring 2020

https://www.academia.edu/43359095/What_W...Manuscript

Alchemy, in A. Kaldellis and N. Siniossoglou (eds.), The Cambridge Intellectual History of Byzantium, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2017, 234-251.

By Gerasimos Merianos

https://www.academia.edu/36127314/Alchem...17_234_251

Alchemy, chemistry and metallurgy in Renaissance Europe: a wider context for fire-assay remains

By Marcos Martinon-Torres and Thilo Rehren

"During the Renaissance, what we nowadays call 'alchemy' and 'chemistry' constituted a single, all-inclusive, sphere of activity, that involved the routine conduct of fire assays. The quest for the philosophers' stone was just one endeavour within a wider spectrum, and it did not convey the religious or speculative connotations attached to this practice in later interpretations. This al/chemical world overlapped with metallurgy substantially: both fields were strongly intertwined and there was a bi-directional flow of theories and practices."

https://www.academia.edu/1977272/Alchemy...ay_remains

A brief history of Indian alchemy covering the pre-vedic, vedic and Ayurvedic periods (Circa 4000 B.C. to 800 A.D.) was given in one of the previous issues of this Bulletin, i.e. Volume 23, NO.2, July, 1993, pp. 151-166. In continuation of the same, this article is presented here, giving an account of the development of the chemical knowledge in India during transitional and tantric periods (circa 800 A.D. to 1300 A.D.).

https://www.academia.edu/102430774/A_bri..._1300_A_D_

The Duke, the Soldier of Fortune, and a Rosicrucian Legacy: Exploring the Roles of Manuscripts in Early-Modern Alchemy

By Mike A Zuber

"By the time it was published in 1705, the "Speculum Sapientiae" claimed to have had a long history going back to 1672. However, the fact that exaggerated stories were commonplace in alchemical literature leads us to question its credibility. This paper explores the secret lives of this alchemical text prior to its print publication to clarify the roles of manuscripts in early-modern alchemy. Specifically, I argue that there were three aspects that could distinguish manuscript from print: provenance, materiality, and exclusivity."

https://www.academia.edu/36673720/The_Du...rn_Alchemy

East of Italy: Women and Alchemy at the 'Peripheries' of Early Modern Europe

By Meredith K . Ray

"Amid renewed interest in early modern alchemy, scholars have begun to examine the participation of women in alchemical culture more closely. While many studies focus on Western Europe – for example, England, France, Germany, Italy – much remains to be understood about women’s involvement with alchemy, medicine, and science in other, often less thoroughly studied, early modern sites. This essay traces an interconnected lineage of alchemical women that extends from sixteenth-century Italy into Central and Eastern Europe, connecting the house of Sforza to the royal Jagellion and Vasa dynasties."

https://www.academia.edu/46571578/East_o...ern_Europe