Page 4
Besides those intellectual and religious groups, there was also a class of practical artisans, who worked with ( chemical) materials, in Hellenistic society. The idea of applying those philosophical theories to their technical works was, for the first time, perceived.
This union of technology and theories concerning materials brought about new concepts of alchemy.
The original alchemists were practical philosophers and scientists, studying Aristotelian philosophy and performing the Egyptian artisan techniques.
Aristotle's Doctrines
All things are made of the same basic qualities or properties : hot, cold, dry, and moist ; and basic elements or principles: air, fire, earth, and water.
Different substances are composed of different proportions of the qualities and therefore of different combinations of the elements.
All substances are made of prime matter. Different forms can be impressed by evolving from within, can be removed and replaced by new ones.
All things have souls (pneuma), an essential constituent that acts upon the body to produce change. When the body of a living being dies, the seed that left will develop through a series of changes, driven by the soul, to the final perfection of its species.
All things have a tendency to reach the perfection.
Influence upon Conceptions of Esoteric Alchemy
Material substances could be purified by the processes of distillation and sublimation, by which their souls were also purified.
Human souls could thus be purified by extension of these processes.
In distillation, the residue left in the flask was named caput mortuum - the dead body, and the condensed vapor was presumed to be the soul or spirit of the material.
Some chemicals still carry the term spirit, even today, in their pharmaceutical names, e.g. The 'white spirit' for ethanol.
The solid material purified by evaporation and re-condensation is called the sublime.