Alchemy History

This anthology brings together Hermes’s most profound writings, translated and adapted for today’s listeners, exploring the universe, mind, and soul. Perfect for students of philosophy, spiritual seekers, or anyone curious about ancient wisdom.

Penguin presents the audiobook edition of Alchemy: The Surprising Power of Ideas That Don't Make Sense, written and read by Rory Sutherland. To be brilliant, you have to be irrational Why is Red Bull so popular – even though everyone hates the taste? Why do countdown boards on platforms take...

Prague, 1588 The Holy Roman Emperor, Rudolf II, wants to expand the boundaries of human knowledge and his court is a haven for scientists, astrologers and alchemists. His abiding passion is the elusive hunt for the philosopher’s stone and thus immortality. The Catholic Church fears he has pushed too far – into the forbidden realm of heresy – while the greatest powers in Christendom are concerned about the imperial line of succession. 

In The Secrets of Alchemy, Lawrence M. Principe, one of the world's leading authorities on the subject, brings alchemy out of the shadows and restores it to its important place in human history and culture. By surveying what alchemy was and how it began, developed, and overlapped with a range of ideas and pursuits, Principe illuminates the practice. He vividly depicts the place of alchemy during its heyday in early modern Europe, and then explores how alchemy has fit into wider views of the cosmos and humanity.

When Elodie Peach joins our school's History department, her clear green eyes, joyous ways and swan-like neck enchant me as much as Anne Boleyn’s charms captivated Henry VIII five hundred years ago. Monday to Friday, I’m grumpy Mr Vaughan, Head of History. Zero personality, except when I’m teaching. So passionate about my field that my pupils bought me a highly inappropriate t-shirt last year.

YOU'RE HERE BECAUSE OF A STORY . . . It starts with a class in an old movie theatre. Folklore 517: Local Legends and Urban Myths, taught by a woman called the Professor. Most students believe the Professor's stories are just fiction, but Holland St. James has always been convinced that magic is...

Alchemy offers tremendous insight into alternative therapies, new medicines, and the depths of the human mind. Illuminating a truly esoteric practice, Mark Stavish reveals how to create and apply "medicines for the soul" in this remarkable guide to plant and mineral alchemy. The Path of Alchemy...

At the dawn of the 20th century, humanity was facing global disaster. Mass starvation, long predicted for the fast-growing population, was about to become a reality. A call went out to the worlds scientists to find a solution. This is the story of the two enormously gifted, fatally flawed men who found it: the brilliant, self-important Fritz Haber and the reclusive, alcoholic Carl Bosch. Together they discovered a way to make bread out of air, built city-sized factories, controlled world markets, and saved millions of lives.

Brought to you by Penguin. A guide to the healing power of journalling and a meditation on the central questions of life, featuring creative contributions from Salman Rushdie, Esther Perel, Alain de Botton, Hanif Kureishi, Jia Tolentino, Elizabeth Gilbert, Gloria Steinem, George Saunders, Lena...

The first chemists were Sri Lankan steel forgers in the first century BCE, alchemists who emerged in Roman Egypt; herbalists in Tang Dynasty China and engineers in eighth-century South America. The Enlightenment is usually credited with the origins of chemistry. But in truth, the science...

James Hillman was a past master of alchemical psychology. This field uses metaphors derived from ancient alchemy to elucidate deep structures in the creative imagination. Creative processes are not random. By studying alchemical psychology we come to understand ourselves and other humans in surprising ways that frequently diverge sharply from the habitual understandings we have unconsciously absorbed from the cultures in which we were raised.

Describes the forgotten history of the lost civilizations of Atlantis and Lemuria and how, after their destruction due to pole shifts, the Ascended Masters seeded the great civilizations of ancient Egypt, Incan Peru, and the Himalayas Explores our impending planetary ascent into higher...

George Soros, called "a superstar among money managers" by The New York Times, shares the investment strategies he uses to read the mind of the market.

From the esoteric account of the evolution of the species to the occult roots of science, here is a narrative history that shows the basic facts of human existence on this planet can be viewed from a very different angle. Everything in this history is upside down, inside out and the other way...

In Essence and Alchemy, which has been published in fourteen foreign editions, Aftel teaches the art of making natural perfumes, complete with recipes. She resurrects the social and metaphysical legacy that is entwined with the evolution of perfumery, from the dramas of the spice trade to the quests of the alchemists. Tracking scent through the boudoir and bath and into the sanctums of worship, she offers insights on the relationship of scent to sex, solitude, and the soul, unearthing a forgotten world of natural essences and their profound resonance with body, mind, and spirit.

In his most sweeping historical work, occult scholar and widely known voice of esoteric ideas Mitch Horowitz presents a lively, intellectually serious historical exploration of modern occultism, from astrology and alchemy to the dawn of Theosophy and modern witchcraft—and the spiritual revolutions that followed.

This program is narrated by Paul Selig Renowned channeler Paul Selig shares the wisdom of The Guides "The gift of the times you sit in, humanity at a crossroads, is the gift of the unknown, the unseen, the unprepared for. “How can I prepare for a future, when all I have trusted and believed in...

The past 20 years saw unprecedented growth and stability followed by the worst financial crisis the industrialised world has ever witnessed. In the space of little more than a year, what had been seen as the age of wisdom was viewed as the age of foolishness. Almost overnight, belief turned into incredulity. Most accounts of the recent crisis focus on the symptoms and not the underlying causes of what went wrong.

Know, oh beloved, that man was not created in jest or at random but marvelously made and for some great end. Although he is not from everlasting, yet he lives forever; and though his body is mean and earthly, yet his spirit is lofty and divine.

Brought to you by Penguin. Three great strands of practice and belief run through human history - science, religion and magic. Over the last few centuries, magic - the idea that we have a connection with the universe, and that the universe responds to us - has developed a bad reputation. But it...