Vitriol in Alchemy

Hey dear Hive friends, first of all I would like to wish you all a pleasant day and hope you also had a weekend that was full of positive experiences! In this post I would like to write something about alchemy and hope you can learn something new.

You can see a copper solid mineral here and in this post I would like to specifically discuss vitriol, which was of great importance for the alchemists and the term also refers to the sulfur-containing acid of metals. The term originally comes from the Latin of the word vitrum for glass there are different types of vitriol and the best known are probably copper, iron or zinc vitriol and in alchemy it was one of the most important substances for their experiments. There are also some mixtures of different kinds of vitriol and the color can vary greatly and depends on the mineral that was used for the production and vitriol was first mentioned in the Middle Ages in Europe and at that time Spain was one of the most important countries for the mining of vitriol minerals and even before that, some scholars in the Arab world were aware of the production of sulfuric acid. Vitriol was also important to produce the main work of the ancient alchemists which is also known as the philosopher's stone and according to occult teachings one would have to visit the interior of the earth to find the philosopher's stone and this ideology is also associated with the old motto Visita interiora terrae, rectificando invenies occultum lapidem and this sentence is specifically related to the production of copper vitriol.

The use of vitriol was also discussed in the well-known cryptic hermetic emerald tablets of Hermes and according to the ideas of the alchemists, it was also possible to transform ignoble metals into silver and gold with the help of vitriol and in the symbolism of alchemy vitriol is often associated with the green lion. In old alchemical works of art, the green lion is often depicted while swallowing the sun and as the final result, the refined metal gold came to light and it was also associated with transformation. The formation of vitriol can be attributed to the weathering of minerals in mineral deposits and in addition to alchemy, it is also of industrial use and is also used for dyeing substances such as leather or ink and it is also of great importance as a disinfectant. Until a few hundred years ago, vitriol was also used in medicine and especially tinctures, plasters or emetics were made from it and it was also often praised by the well-known alchemist and doctor Paracelsus. Paracelsus also saw in Vitriol a kind of mystical substance and it was also used for rare ailments such as eye problems eye problems and could lead from a spiritual point of view to get more knowledge.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you could learn something new about alchemy! I captured these pictures with my Camera Sony Alpha 6000 plus 55-210 mm lens!