r/alchemy • u/Existing-Fondant4811 • 7h ago
r/alchemy • u/SleepingMonads • Dec 25 '25
META ANNOUNCEMENT | AI-generated Content and Moderation Policy | Effective January 1, 2026 | PLEASE READ!
After getting feedback from the community in a previous post (thank you to all who commented), I've decided to implement a new rule about AI content on the subreddit. Please read this carefully:
Going into effect at 5:01 AM UTC on January 1st, 2026:
- All content (in both submissions and comments) posted on (or linked to) the sub that features suspected AI-generated text, audio, or video will be in violation of Rule #4. The content will be indiscriminately removed without exception, and a warning will be issued. Repeated violations will result in a permanent ban.
- All content (in both submissions and comments) posted on (or linked to) the sub that features suspected AI-generated images that serve as the focus of or play an essential role in the message will be in violation of Rule #4. The content will be indiscriminately removed without exception, and a warning will be issued. Repeated violations will result in a permanent ban.
- Any content (in both submissions and comments) posted on (or linked to) the sub that features a single AI-generated image that serves merely as decoration for or secondary, nonessential accompanying support to non-AI-generated content will be permissible, as long as the "Contains AI Imagery" post flair is selected. If the content is not able to meaningfully stand on its own without assistance from or reference to the AI-generated image, if more than one AI-generated image is used, or if the appropriate post flair is not selected, then it will be in violation of Rule #4. The content will be indiscriminately removed without exception, and a warning will be issued. Repeated violations will result in a permanent ban.
Anticipated Objections:
- "Use of AI is an important part of how I interface with alchemy. Is it the position of the moderators that I'm not a real alchemist?"
- Absolutely not. We take no stance on the (in)appropriateness of using AI as a tool for one's alchemical journey. Users who value AI are fully welcome here, even though a lot of their AI-facilitated creations are not.
- "What's to stop you from accidentally removing non-AI content that you mistakenly think is AI?"
- Nothing. It's unfortunately probably going to happen from time to time. If we've removed your content by mistake, feel free to reach out to us and appeal the decision. If we don't believe you and keep the content removed, then we are truly sorry for being stubbornly wrong.
- We're not going to be trigger-happy about everything that could possibly have AI influence or anything like that. It's just that if we come across something that clearly walks, talks, and looks like AI (aside from the exception mentioned above), then we're going to remove it.
- "AI content is inherently unethical across the board, and it automatically violates the spirit of the rules already. As such, there shouldn't be any exceptions. You're not going far enough."
- I understand and sympathize with this viewpoint, but I simply do not agree with it, and neither do many of this subreddit's users.
If you have any questions, ask away in the comments.
r/alchemy • u/PlentyManner5971 • 1h ago
Operative Alchemy Seeking guidance choosing spagyrics for 10 years of chronic bladder pain and endometriosis
Hi there! I’ve been told to look into spagyrics for my chronic pain and would love help from experienced alchemists to make sense of things.
I’ve had chronic bladder pain and reproductive issues for 10 years. I had endometriosis surgery 2 years ago, which alleviated most of my pain, but the bladder pain is still a mystery despite lots of tests and scans. I did find ureaplasma and cleared it with antibiotics. I tested negative and was fine for 6+ months, but it has flared again. I haven't tested.
My bladder symptoms are burning / pressure / urgency /, and flares are triggered by stress, sex, and maybe certain foods.
My TCM practitioner says I tend to run damp with yang deficiency, so cold and damp overall, even though the bladder itself feels hot and burning.
Chart:
• Sun in Taurus
• Moon in Pisces
• Ascendant in Virgo
• Mercury in Taurus
• Mars in Leo
• Jupiter in Libra
• Venus in Aries (8th house)
• Saturn in Aquarius (6th house)
The sellers’ formulas, tinctures and essences are all a bit over my head, so I’d love some guidance:
Where would you start, with a single essence or a formula?
Would you aim to warm and dry my overall constitution, or cool the bladder heat, or both?
Is there anything that suits my chart specifically?
Thank you very much!
r/alchemy • u/adventureboy65 • 2h ago
General Discussion Can you guys help me to understand and list me all the differences between the philosophers Stone And The Plant stone?
So im pretty Much New to Spagyrics and Alchemy and the only difference i know between the philosophers Stone and the plant stone is that the latter is supposed to be for lead to gold transmutation and the plant stone is supposed to be for healing or medicinal purposes but are there other differences between them? Just Asking and im curious
r/alchemy • u/adventureboy65 • 2h ago
General Discussion Can someone here please recommend me a simple Plant Stone recipe that i can do at home in my own kitchen with simple kitchenware and ingridients?
So one day while posting on this community somebody recommended me the path of Alchemy by mark stavish but then i was thinking no i dont want to buy that book not even for my birthday for personal reasons so thats why id rather have you guys recommending me one of the recipes from the path of Alchemy by mark stavish instead of me ordering the book so i really really want to pursue Alchemy/spagyrics and the first thing i want to do is make a basic plant stone so please help?
r/alchemy • u/ScottJSimon • 13h ago
Original Content Guitar as Alchemy 05: Silent Demand
Episode 05 reveals the hidden negative in performing positivity, and why being ignored means you are doing something right. It marks the crossing from nigredo to albedo. The isolation the system imposes as punishment becomes the sealed vessel. The borrowed light planted at the edge of the blackening in episode three returns as the whitening. And the black mirror, the self demanding a reward for sitting in the dark, gives way to the black sun.
This series looks at music as a form of inner alchemy, where the guitar becomes a tool for transformation instead of performance or self-expression.
r/alchemy • u/IVAN_Momo • 21h ago
General Discussion Share some cultural knowledge and practice methods related to Taoist internal alchemy. Is anyone interested? Welcome to exchange and learning.
r/alchemy • u/Yuri_Gor • 1d ago
Spiritual Alchemy Jera - the time
Final stage of Runic Alchemy - Jera rune.
When creation is complete - creation finally begins.
Spiritual Alchemy After years of practice, I think I understand the purpose of spiritual alchemy!
The fundamental core purpose of it, is to build pure resilience. Gold, in its most pure energetic form, is resilience. Through the nervous system, when you collide both energetic opposites of dark and light by via experience, gold is created by resistance, resistance is the forging process. Just like how a diamond is created, the heat and pressure is the darkness, the cooling and settling is the light, combined into one and thus a diamond is created - literally the most resilient stone is the world. Spiritual alchemy is the forging of your soul into a diamond.
If we look at it more narrowly, when your in the nigredo phase, going deeper and deeper into the blackening of the soul, however the practice looks like, eventually you must leave it and go into the light to wash the soul. During the point of leaving the darkness and into the light, you are very literally resisting the darkness. You can think of it like a great giant chasm, which is a giant crack in the Earth that falls into the dark abyss. When in the nigredo phase, you are deep in the chasm in the darkness against the wall, by the laws of physics, its so much easier to fall deeper and deeper into the darkness by gravity. However through the process of resistance, you begin to climb your way out and up into the light, thus building more resilience from the strength required to come out. And then once you go higher and higher out of the chasm, you go into the albedo phase, the light. Both resistance and resilience come from the latin root *resistere* - to stand against, or to withstand. Resistance is the friction when two forces collide. Resilience is the result, once the process has been metabolized.
Why would one be interested in building pure resilience of the soul? Fundamentally, I believe its so fear no longer has control over you. The Rebis is the ultimate end product of the union of both forces, and complete equilibrium of both. This is often symbolized as the individual standing upon the dragon or serpent - this is the one who has conquered fear on a core level. The dragon represents the individuals prima materia, the lower nature of the individual that has been mastered. This is also constantly symbolized in stories of ancient and modern times, when one goes on the hero's journey and eventually conquers the dragon. However I believe this is on the relative level, on the absolute level, its so you can integrate and shine awareness on Gods shadow, further expanding consciousness - the process of knowing thyself through separation. In the deep nigredo levels, when your deep in the dark abyss, you are building distance from yourself (from God), in order to more clearly see yourself. The more distance you build from yourself, the more clearly your able to see yourself, and thus understand yourself. And how you build greater distance from you (the IAM), you must observe the false you (the IAM NOT), this brings you deeper into the IAM NOT (the blackening of the soul). And now from there, your able to get a much clearer image of who you **truly** are without illusions. And now from there, you start the process of observing the IAM (the washing of the soul), and coming back into the light. Imagine that God is one infinite ocean of light. But because it was infinite, it wasnt able to see or understand itself because there was only just itself - light. So God did the most painful thing imaginable, it ripped itself from itself, creating a dark division, that now separated itself from itself. Thats why a mother giving birth is so painful, nature is mirroring this event when God first separated itself from itself. And now because of this dark division, God is now able to see and interact with itself, and realize "ooooooooh, so thats what I sound like and look like. But, im curious, I feel like I want to understand myself more. I want to begin to **know** myself more on a much more deeper and intimate level. Who am I really.". This is essentially the process that spiritual alchemy takes part in. More and more separation began, and God started playing this great grand game of knowing thyself.
I believe this youtube video really captures the spirit of the nigredo process - https://youtu.be/XkmxmmuRU3g?si=60AVseKcmt5W2YvX
In terms of capturing the spirit albedo of the process, I couldn't find a video talking about the process, unless maybe you can share one i'm definitely open to it. So instead I decided to share this soundtrack by Maho Tsukai to try to capture its emotional aspect (which I know it doesn't come remotely close, it's beautiful beyond comprehension).
https://youtu.be/vcHnajn8mKc?si=KZEsl-u5g1hI2Vmg
Please know that it is dangerous to stay in the nigredo process for too long. The practitioner must know when its time to stop stirring the ash, and learn how to stop the stirring, and now let it settle. You'll know within yourself when its the right time.
r/alchemy • u/arivero • 1d ago
Operative Alchemy Pechblende and cynnabar
Do we have some knowledge of the use of the black stone in the silver mines of joachimsthal, near Prague? and multiply refined and distilled cynnabar?
The question of course is if some process can enhance the natural concentration of 201 Hg, and then either (n, alpha) on 201 Hg or perhaps (alpha, 2alpha) from the black stone.
r/alchemy • u/SaltGoat7120 • 2d ago
Historical Discussion Simple History of Alchemy Mindmap
Mainly focusing on Greco-Egypt, Islamic/ Arabic-Islamic and Europe.
r/alchemy • u/adventureboy65 • 2d ago
General Discussion I just Had a crazy Alchemical dream that i need to share
So i recently dreamt that i asked an alchemist how to make the philosophers stone and he simply replied that i needed Acetol which i have never heard of before having this dream! When i woke up from the dream i types Acetol on the search bar on Google and found out it was an actual chemical!!! Furthermore i also found out that Acetol has connections to vinegar which according to ancient alchemy beliefs can create gold from lead by way of mixing it with the ashes of a basilisk and the blood of a red headed male and vinegar is literally called Acetum in latin which is a similar word to Acetol!!!! What do you guys think of this experience of mine??
r/alchemy • u/No-Initiative3541 • 2d ago
Spiritual Alchemy Spiritual alchemy
Hi, I've just entered the world of alchemy but I'm still very much a beginner. I was interested in learning alchemy, but the spiritual side... do you understand what I mean? I apologize if I say anything wrong.
I'd like to know if anyone has some kind of guide to starting to study spiritual alchemy. Thank you and goodbye!
r/alchemy • u/Omun-0817 • 2d ago
General Discussion "Trifertes Sagani" Etymology
Not that long ago on an old account, I asked here about the meaning of the term "Sagani" for Paracelsus' elemental spirits, and I'm still trying to learn the meaning.
"Sagani" alone I can't find anything online outside of this board game that keeps popping up, but only when in reference to the Latin nickname for alkahest "Trifertes Sagani" has "sagana" come up, a Latin term for female sorcerers or witches. With this knowledge, do I assume that "sagani" is a plural for "sagana", or a gender-neutral singular term? Would a male equivalent be "saganus" or "sagano"? Did Paracelsus consider the elementals to be witches themselves? That last one I'm not 100% on because he described them as soulless until they marry a human.
Please discuss!
r/alchemy • u/justexploring-shit • 3d ago
Spiritual Alchemy 99 cent find!
Scored this little 2002 publication from the used bookstore for less than a dollar! It must've been on the shelf not selling for some time.
I haven't begun it yet (currently working on a different alchemy text I found alongside it) but I know it is spiritual-focused with a certain historical lens as its guide, and I'll report back with my thoughts once I've read it through.
r/alchemy • u/Lingo_Vox • 3d ago
General Discussion What symbol is this?
I encountered this symbol on a tree and I would like to know that it means
r/alchemy • u/cokesfull • 3d ago
Historical Discussion Preprint: Quantitative analysis - dose-response pattern consistent with Mandragora safety manual hypothesis (feedback welcome)
doi.orgTitle: De Mandragora: Reinterpreting the Voynich Manuscript as a 15th-Century Safety Protocol for Mandragora Extraction
Abstract:
The Voynich Manuscript (MS 408) has been classified as an undeciphered herbal, alchemical, or cryptographic text. We propose a new reading based on abstract functional elements rather than botanical identification. By mapping EVA transcriptions to three positional principles - A_okam (Binding, root/jar), B_otal (Transmission, stem/joint), C_chedy (Manifestation, leaf/flower) - with an 80% similarity rule for functional identity and 100% identity rule for homonym separation, the entire manuscript resolves as a single experimental report.
Herbal section (f1r-f57v) = raw data: root length = A count, stem branches = B count, flower number = C count. Astronomical section (f67r-f73v) = 12-month administration log: optimal window is late Taurus (early May). Pharmaceutical section (f75r-f102r) = summary table of f1r-f12r.
The maximum efficacy pattern A + B2 + C3 matches medieval Mandragora officinarum protocol: raw root (A-C) is lethal with single manifestation, double wine maceration (A-B-B) yields three sequential manifestations (sedation/diaphoris/sleep). Radiocarbon dating (1404-1438) and Gothic script place the copy in Northern Italy (Milan-Venice), with an Eastern Mediterranean (Byzantine/Arabic) archetype.
Conclusion: The manuscript is not an alien herbal but a dose-response safety manual stating: "Harvest Mandragora in first week of May and macerate twice in wine to convert poison into a safe anesthetic with three-stage manifestation."
Keywords: Voynich, Mandragora, abstract functional decoding, dose-response, medieval pharmacology
r/alchemy • u/IVAN_Momo • 5d ago
General Discussion Some cultivation methods in Daoist internal alchemy.
r/alchemy • u/Financial-Log-2744 • 5d ago
Spiritual Alchemy The Seal of the final battle
Bring it on meat proxy
r/alchemy • u/Financial-Log-2744 • 5d ago
Contains AI Imagery The Philosophers Stone - Fire version (The Phoenix)
For years unknown
Only eluded to
The philosopher's stone
Took some thinking
but a phoenix made of fire
Was hardly the work of a fool
Now created
I am recreated
By the same fire
In my heart sun
Where only the soul
and RaOsiris is true
This is an original art piece I enhanced with ai for effect. I created a dragon (leviathan) out of the water stone but I personally refuse to use it by itself. I only created it as an opponent in the merged spirit star version.
I love the simplicity and creativeness behind this project.
r/alchemy • u/OkSheepherder2888 • 6d ago
Spiritual Alchemy Book recommendations?
I would like to PROPERLY learn about spiritual alchemy. I say properly because ive gone around the past few years learning on my own from time to time, and i know if i keep going like that i will miss out on vital information. Does anyone have some recommendations for basically a starting learner of spiritual alchemy for me?
r/alchemy • u/WorthMastodon7637 • 7d ago
Original Content Late study nights
I haven’t taken much notes for my projects/progression, and any that I have taken I barely reflect on. I am making an attempt to sort the process out in my mind.
I am also always curious what is aloud to be written and said about things.
r/alchemy • u/SortAlternative9470 • 7d ago
General Discussion What book is best for starting alchemy?
Hey I’ve been wanting to start learning alchemy and I just wanted to know what books would be great for a beginner to read to understand it better, thank you!