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This article contains Unicode alchemical symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of alchemical symbols.
A table of alchemical symbols from Basil Valentine's The Last Will and Testament, 1670
A table of alchemical symbols from Basil Valentine's The Last Will and Testament, 1670
Part 1 Part 2
Alchemical symbols before Lavoisier

Alchemical symbols were used to denote chemical elements and compounds, as well as alchemical apparatus and processes, until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy-Tenger[1] published an inventory of 3,695 symbols and variants, and that was not exhaustive, omitting for example many of the symbols used by Isaac Newton. This page therefore lists only the most common symbols.

Three primes

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According to Paracelsus (1493–1541), the three primes or tria prima – of which material substances are immediately composed – are:[2]

Four basic elements

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Main article: Classical elements

Western alchemy makes use of the four classical elements. The symbols used for these are:[3]

Seven planetary metals

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Main article: Classical planets in Western alchemy
The shield in the coat of arms of the Royal Society of Chemistry, with the seven planetary-metal symbols

The seven metals known since Classical times in Europe were associated with the seven classical planets; this figured heavily in alchemical symbolism. The exact correlation varied over time, and in early centuries bronze or electrum were sometimes found instead of mercury, or copper for Mars instead of iron; however, gold, silver, and lead had always been associated with the Sun, Moon, and Saturn.[note 1] The associations below are attested from the 7th century and had stabilized by the 15th. They started breaking down with the discovery of antimony, bismuth, and zinc in the 16th century. Alchemists would typically call the metals by their planetary names, e.g. "Saturn" for lead, "Mars" for iron; compounds of tin, iron, and silver continued to be called "jovial", "martial", and "lunar"; or "of Jupiter", "of Mars", and "of the moon", through the 17th century. The tradition remains today with the name of the element mercury, where chemists decided the planetary name was preferable to common names like "quicksilver", and in a few archaic terms such as lunar caustic (silver nitrate) and saturnism (lead poisoning).[4][5]

Mundane elements and later metals

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The squared circle: an alchemical symbol (17th century) illustrating the interplay of the four elements of matter symbolising the philosopher's stone

Alchemical compounds

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Alchemical symbols in Torbern Bergman's 1775 Dissertation on Elective Affinities

The following symbols, among others, have been adopted into Unicode.

Alchemical processes

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An extract and symbol key from Kenelm Digby's A Choice Collection of Rare Secrets, 1682

The alchemical magnum opus was sometimes expressed as a series of chemical operations. In cases where these numbered twelve, each could be assigned one of the Zodiac signs as a form of cryptography. The following example can be found in Pernety's Dictionnaire mytho-hermétique (1758):[8]

  1. Calcination (Aries ) ♈︎
  2. Congelation (Taurus ) ♉︎
  3. Fixation (Gemini ) ♊︎ (Solidification)
  4. Solution (Cancer ) ♋︎
  5. Digestion (Leo ) ♌︎
  6. Distillation (Virgo ) ♍︎
  7. Sublimation (Libra ) ♎︎
  8. Separation (Scorpio ) ♏︎
  9. Ceration (Sagittarius ) ♐︎
  10. Fermentation (Capricorn ) ♑︎ (Putrefaction)
  11. Multiplication (Aquarius ) ♒︎
  12. Projection (Pisces ) ♓︎

Units

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Several symbols indicate units of time.

Unicode

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Main article: Alchemical Symbols (Unicode block)

The Alchemical Symbols block was added to Unicode in 2010 as part of Unicode 6.0.[9]

Alchemical Symbols[1]
Official Unicode Consortium code chart (PDF)
  0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
U+1F70x 🜀 🜁 🜂 🜃 🜄 🜅 🜆 🜇 🜈 🜉 🜊 🜋 🜌 🜍 🜎 🜏
U+1F71x 🜐 🜑 🜒 🜓 🜔 🜕 🜖 🜗 🜘 🜙 🜚 🜛 🜜 🜝 🜞 🜟
U+1F72x 🜠 🜡 🜢 🜣 🜤 🜥 🜦 🜧 🜨 🜩 🜪 🜫 🜬 🜭 🜮 🜯
U+1F73x 🜰 🜱 🜲 🜳 🜴 🜵 🜶 🜷 🜸 🜹 🜺 🜻 🜼 🜽 🜾 🜿
U+1F74x 🝀 🝁 🝂 🝃 🝄 🝅 🝆 🝇 🝈 🝉 🝊 🝋 🝌 🝍 🝎 🝏
U+1F75x 🝐 🝑 🝒 🝓 🝔 🝕 🝖 🝗 🝘 🝙 🝚 🝛 🝜 🝝 🝞 🝟
U+1F76x 🝠 🝡 🝢 🝣 🝤 🝥 🝦 🝧 🝨 🝩 🝪 🝫 🝬 🝭 🝮 🝯
U+1F77x 🝰 🝱 🝲 🝳 🝴 🝵 🝶 🝷 🝸 🝹 🝺 🝻 🝼 🝽 🝾 🝿
Notes
1.^ As of Unicode version 17.0
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A list of symbols published in 1931:

  • (all 6 plates, large file)
    (all 6 plates, large file)

An 1888 reproduction of a Venetian list of medieval Greek alchemical symbols from about the year 1100 but circulating since about 300 and attributed to Zosimos of Panopolis. The list starts with 🜚 for gold and has early conventions that would later change: here ☿ is tin and ♃ electrum; ☾ is silver but ☽ is mercury. Many of the 'symbols' are simply abbreviations of the Greek word or phrase. View the files on Commons for the list of symbols.[citation needed]

See also

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Other symbols commonly used in alchemy and related esoteric traditions:

Footnotes

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References

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[edit]
Revisions and contributorsEdit on WikipediaRead on Wikipedia

Alchemical symbol

View on Grokipedia
from Grokipedia
Alchemical symbols are a standardized system of cryptic icons, signs, and pictograms used by alchemists from antiquity through the 18th century to denote chemical elements, compounds, apparatus, processes, and philosophical concepts, often drawing on planetary associations for metals and esoteric imagery for transformations. These symbols emerged in ancient Egyptian and Greek traditions, where substances like mercury were represented as quicksilver, and evolved in medieval Europe to include notations for acids such as aqua fortis (nitric acid, 🜅) and metals like gold (☉, linked to the sun). Their primary purposes were to maintain secrecy among practitioners, facilitate universal communication across cultures, and encode spiritual or transformative ideas, as seen in works by figures like Isaac Newton, who adapted them creatively for substances like sal ammoniac (🜹) and ores. In historical contexts, such as 17th-century England, alchemists like John Ward employed these alongside astrological signs in medical diaries, blending practical chemistry with occult traditions. Common examples include the triangle for fire (🜂), the circle with a cross for earth (🜃), and animal motifs like the toad for prime matter or the dragon for metallic transmutation, reflecting alchemy's dual goals of material wealth and spiritual enlightenment. By the late 17th and early 18th centuries, as chemistry formalized under figures like Robert Boyle, these symbols gradually gave way to modern notation, though they persist in historical studies and iconography.

Historical Development

Origins in Ancient and Classical Traditions

The roots of alchemical symbols trace back to ancient Egyptian practices, where hieroglyphs served as proto-symbolic notations for materials and transformations in metallurgical and ritual contexts within temple cultures. These pictorial signs, often representing natural substances and cosmic principles, influenced early Greco-Egyptian by providing a for esoteric knowledge. For instance, Egyptian depictions of red minerals like foreshadowed later symbolic associations with vital essences. In the , Greek philosophy integrated these traditions, with (c. 270 CE) marking a pivotal development in symbolic notation. Zosimos, drawing from Egyptian metallurgical techniques and Jewish influences, described visionary experiences involving "white and yellow sulfurous waters" as transformative agents, establishing proto-symbols for key substances like (theion, linked to divine fire) and mercury (fluid, changeable essence). These dream-based icons, such as phial-shaped altars and boiling vessels, symbolized alchemical stages of purification and conjunction, blending chemical processes with religious . The Hermetic corpus further advanced archetypal symbols for transformation, particularly through the , attributed to the legendary and likely originating in a 7th-9th century . This cryptic text introduced emblems of unity between macrocosm and microcosm, such as the "one thing" descending from above to below, representing the and universal transmutation. Its influence permeated alchemical thought, inspiring symbolic diagrams of ascent and descent that encoded processes of dissolution and rebirth. Parallel developments occurred in , where early from the 2nd century BCE employed yin-yang derivatives to symbolize production. During the , practitioners like Li Shaojun advocated transmuting —iconically represented as the trigram Li (☲), embodying mature Yang with hidden Yin (mercury)—into , the emblem of and pure Yang (Qian, ☰). These trigrams, rooted in Taoist cosmology from texts like the Cantong qi, visually denoted the harmonious interplay of opposites in (external ) for elixirs. In ancient , alchemical traditions under Rasasiddhi ("knowledge of mercury") similarly used symbolic icons for and , viewing mercury as a divine fluid capable of transmuting base metals into immortal through processes like heating and . These motifs, evident in early Ayurvedic and tantric texts, emphasized purification rituals paralleling Taoist aims. By the 8th century, (Geber) advanced Arabic alchemical literature, building on Greco-Egyptian foundations and employing metaphorical notations and planetary associations (e.g., solar icons for ) in works such as Kitab al-sab‘in to denote processes like (taqtir) and , along with esoteric codes to conceal techniques from the uninitiated.

Evolution in Medieval and Renaissance Europe

During the medieval period, European alchemists began systematically adopting and adapting symbolic notations from Arabic traditions, building upon ancient foundations to develop a more structured visual language for alchemical concepts. In the 13th century, played a pivotal role in this integration through his work De Mineralibus (c. 1250–1252), where he described the as the foundational substance composed of sulphur and quicksilver, drawing directly from Arabic authorities like and Geber to explain mineral and metal formation via analogous alchemical processes. While not featuring explicit glyph illustrations, Albertus employed geometrical figures—such as circles representing vessels and cycles of —to visualize transmutation stages, thereby bridging textual descriptions with symbolic representation and influencing subsequent European alchemical literature. By the late medieval and early modern eras, alchemical symbols achieved greater standardization through printed incunabula and early emblematic works, which preserved and disseminated these notations across scholarly circles. A landmark in this evolution was the Rosarium Philosophorum (1550), an anonymous German treatise printed in as part of a larger alchemical , featuring twenty intricate engravings that symbolically depicted the sequential stages of creating the , from the conjunction of opposites to final perfection. These engravings, including motifs of hermaphroditic figures and lunar trees, encoded the alchemical opus in a visual , making the text a cornerstone for the emblematic tradition that emphasized symbolic depth over literal instruction. The marked a shift toward innovative applications of alchemical symbolism, particularly in medical contexts, as exemplified by (1493–1541), who reframed as iatrochemistry to produce therapeutic agents. introduced symbolic concepts for the quintessence—the pure, fifth essence extracted from natural substances—as a beyond the four elements, often represented in his writings through metaphors of and separation to denote its spiritual and material purity. He coined the term "spagyric" for preparations involving the alchemical separation of a substance into its components (body, soul, and spirit) followed by recombination, using symbolic language to describe these as essential for medicinal elixirs, thereby expanding alchemical notation into practical . This period's emblematic sophistication culminated in works like Michael Maier's Atalanta Fugiens (1617), a alchemical comprising fifty emblems, each integrating visual rebuses, epigrams, and fugues to obscure and reveal process symbols. Published in , the book's engravings—such as a devouring its tail to symbolize cyclical purification or wind carrying an embryo for volatilization—employed mythological rebuses to encode operational stages like dissolution and conjunction, appealing to both intellect and senses while concealing secrets from the uninitiated. Maier's approach not only standardized symbolic encoding but also influenced the artistic dimension of , blending visual allegory with musical elements to represent the harmonious pursuit of the great work.

Fundamental Principles

The Three Primes

The three primes, or tria prima, represent the foundational principles of matter in Paracelsian alchemy, introduced by the Swiss physician and alchemist (Theophrastus von Hohenheim, 1493–1541) as , mercury, and salt. These principles superseded earlier elemental theories by emphasizing the essential constituents of all substances, where embodies the soul or vital principle, mercury the spirit or mediating force, and salt the body or fixed structure. Paracelsus derived this triad from observations of natural processes like , likening to the , mercury to the smoke, and salt to the ash residue, thereby integrating philosophical, medical, and chemical dimensions into a unified system. Each prime is denoted by a distinct alchemical , standardized in 16th- and 17th-century texts to facilitate esoteric notation. The for consists of an upward-pointing triangle surmounted by a (🜍), evoking fire's ascending and grounded materiality. Mercury's features a circle intersected by a below (☿), symbolizing fluidity and celestial influence, originally adapted from the planetary for Mercury. Salt is represented by a square with an intersecting (🜔), signifying stability and earthly solidity, akin to a foundational base. These appear consistently in Paracelsus-influenced manuscripts, such as those compiled in the Aurora and related treatises, underscoring their role in diagramming alchemical operations. Symbolically, sulfur denotes combustibility and the masculine, active principle, embodying the soul's fiery, transformative energy that drives change and vitality in substances and the human microcosm. Mercury signifies volatility and fluidity, associated with the feminine, receptive spirit that enables dissolution, mediation, and intellectual agility, often linked to the and discernment. Salt represents fixity and corporeality, the noncombustible body that provides structure and permanence, corresponding to physical form and against dissolution. These interpretations reflect Paracelsus's holistic view, where the primes interbalance to form all , mirroring the tripartite nature of the human being—, spirit, and body—in alchemical transmutation. Historical variations in these symbols emerged in 16th-century European manuscripts, particularly those influenced by Paracelsus's followers, where elongated crosses or inverted forms distinguished active from passive aspects of each prime—for instance, upright triangles for dynamic versus subdued variants for its inert qualities. Such adaptations, seen in illuminated texts like those of the school, allowed alchemists to encode dualities (e.g., volatile versus fixed mercury) without altering core shapes, reflecting evolving notational practices amid and empirical experimentation. These variations highlight the symbols' flexibility in denoting philosophical principles beyond mere substances.

The Four Classical Elements

In alchemy, the four classical elements—earth, air, fire, and water—form the foundational framework for understanding matter and its transformations, adapted from Aristotle's as outlined in his work . Alchemists integrated these elements into their theories of transmutation, viewing them as the primary constituents of all substances, with each possessing distinct qualities that interact to produce change. This adaptation emphasized practical experimentation alongside philosophical inquiry, distinguishing alchemical usage from pure Aristotelian theory. The symbols for these elements emerged in medieval European alchemy, drawing from earlier Greek and Arabic traditions, and were standardized by the 15th century for use in manuscripts and diagrams. Earth is represented by the downward-pointing triangle with a horizontal bar (🜃), symbolizing descent and stability. Water uses the plain downward-pointing triangle (🜄), denoting flow and cohesion. Air is depicted as an upward-pointing triangle with a horizontal bar (🜁), indicating expansion and mobility. Fire employs the plain upward-pointing triangle (🜂), signifying ascent and energy. These geometric forms reflect the elements' tendencies: the upward orientation for fire and air to rise, and the downward for earth and water to settle, as explained in historical alchemical treatises. (Holmyard, E.J. Alchemy. Dover Publications, 1990, p. 99) Symbolically, each element embodies specific qualities derived from Aristotelian categories, adapted to alchemical processes of dissolution and recombination. Earth corresponds to solidity, characterized by cold and dry properties, representing the fixed and corporeal aspect of matter. Water embodies liquidity, with cold and wet qualities, facilitating dissolution and fluidity in transmutations. Air signifies gaseousness, hot and wet, enabling volatility and intellectual principles in alchemical thought. Fire represents combustion and heat, hot and dry, driving calcination and purification. These qualities underpin the elemental interactions central to alchemical operations, such as balancing opposites to achieve harmony. In alchemical diagrams from 15th-century texts, such as those illustrating cycles, the four symbols often form a tetrasymbol—a quartered square or cross configuration—depicting their interplay in transmutation processes, where elements combine and separate to form new substances. This visual integration highlights the dynamic equilibrium among the elements, essential for the . Variations in emblematic use include colored attributions, with rendered in black to evoke its grounding and shadowy nature, and in blue to symbolize its reflective and adaptive essence, as seen in illuminated manuscripts. These elemental symbols connect briefly to the three primes—sulphur, mercury, and salt—as overarching principles that govern the elements' manifestations in matter.

Metals and Substances

The Seven Planetary Metals

In classical , the seven planetary metals formed a foundational system, associating each of the known metals with one of the seven classical celestial bodies—Sun, , and the five visible planets—based on perceived affinities in color, properties, and astrological influences. This framework originated in the around the 3rd century BCE and was reintroduced to through Arabic translations in the , influencing medieval and alchemical practices. The correspondences were: to the Sun (☉), silver to the (☽), mercury (quicksilver) to Mercury (☿), to (♀), iron to Mars (♂), tin to (♃), and lead to Saturn (♄). These symbols derived directly from ancient planetary glyphs, adapted to reflect the metals' qualities and alchemical significance. The Sun's symbol, a circle with a central dot (☉), represented solar perfection and incorruptibility, mirroring gold's enduring luster and status as the noblest metal. Similarly, Mars' glyph, a circle surmounted by an arrow (♂), evoked the planet's martial aggression and iron's , symbolizing strength and weaponry in alchemical operations. The other symbols followed suit: the Moon's (☽) for silver's reflective coolness, Mercury's caduceus-like staff (☿) for quicksilver's fluidity, ' mirror (♀) for copper's beauty, Jupiter's semicircle on a (♃) for tin's expansiveness, and Saturn's scythe (♄) for lead's heaviness and melancholy.
PlanetMetalSymbolKey Association
Sun☉Perfection, incorruptibility
MoonSilver☽Reflection, coolness
MercuryQuicksilver☿Fluidity, volatility
Venus♀Beauty, malleability
MarsIron♂Strength, hardness
Jupiter♃Expansion, benevolence
SaturnLead♄Heaviness, limitation
In historical alchemical texts, these metals served as primary targets for transmutation processes, denoting base materials to be refined into nobler forms. The 12th-century Turba Philosophorum, a key Latin compilation of earlier and Greek traditions, frequently references the seven metals—, lead, tin, , quicksilver, silver, and iron—in discussions of whitening, reddening, and production, such as transforming into -like substances through and . This usage underscored the practical and philosophical pursuit of metallic perfection, integrating planetary influences to guide laboratory work. Esoterically, the seven metals embodied stages of the Magnum Opus or Great Work, paralleling from base impurity (lead/Saturn) to divine enlightenment (/Sun). Alchemists viewed transmuting these metals as an for purifying the , aligning microcosmic human development with macrocosmic planetary order to achieve unity with the divine.

Mundane Elements and Additional Metals

In alchemical notation, symbols for mundane elements and additional metals extended beyond the traditional seven planetary associations, serving practical purposes in laboratory work and reflecting the discovery of new substances during the and early modern periods. Unlike the esoteric, astrologically linked planetary metals, these symbols emphasized utilitarian aspects, such as identification in recipes and processes. Antimony, a semi-metal used in alloys and medicines, was commonly represented by a circle surmounted by a cross (♁), a glyph that also evoked the earth element but was adapted for the ore stibnite and its regulus form. This symbol appears in 17th-century texts attributed to Basil Valentine, whose Triumphal Chariot of Antimony (circa 1604, published 1671) detailed its extraction and properties, highlighting antimony's role in purification without planetary mysticism. Arsenic, valued for its toxicity in pest control and sublimation experiments, was denoted by an inverted triangle with a horizontal line beneath (🜺) or variants featuring dots to indicate its volatile powders, as seen in early modern European manuscripts. Additional metals like , isolated in the by Paracelsian , were symbolized by a sickle-like or crescent-shaped mark (often a curved line with a crossbar), representing its ore and production; this notation evolved in 17th-century German texts to distinguish it from older metals. , recognized as distinct around the same era, employed crude triangle variants (🜘 or ♆ in some notations), resembling simplified or water symbols, as documented in 18th-century chemical tables by , underscoring its use in low-melting alloys rather than transmutative ideals. Mundane substances integral to alchemical operations included , depicted as a flask or vessel with a (🜅), symbolizing its corrosive strength in dissolving metals; this appears consistently in 17th-century manuals for its role in parting and silver. , referring to or its salts, was iconically represented by the green lion devouring the sun, a pictorial denoting its purifying dissolution of base matter, as illustrated in emblematic works like those of Michael Maier (1617) and practical 18th-century receipts. Practical notations in laboratory manuscripts further adapted these for alloys, such as —a - hybrid—often shown as a composite glyph merging the (copper) circle-with-cross and the zinc sickle, facilitating quick reference in 18th-century English and French logs for metallurgical experiments. These symbols, preserved in synoptic tables like those of Nicaise Le Fèvre (1670), prioritized efficiency in empirical over symbolic profundity.

Processes and Compounds

Symbols for Alchemical Processes

Alchemical processes were central to the transformative work of , with symbols serving as both practical notations for laboratory operations and esoteric representations of spiritual purification. These icons, often derived from apparatus or natural phenomena, denoted stages such as separation, , and rebirth, allowing practitioners to encode across manuscripts and traditions. Key among them is the symbol for , depicted as an flask with a curved , illustrating the and essential for purifying substances. Similarly, is represented by a with a horizontal line through the top, symbolizing the heating of a substance to remove impurities and yield its fundamental form, as seen in early operational diagrams. employs symbols such as birds nesting over an egg, evoking the life-generating activity akin to decay and renewal in enclosed vessels. Sequential diagrams frequently illustrated the progression of these processes, particularly in the 12-stage framework of the (blackening), (whitening), and (reddening) phases, as detailed in the Splendor Solis (1582). This text features unique icons for , portrayed as a to signify and the death of base matter, marking the initial breakdown in . Projection, the culminating act of transmutation in , is symbolized by the phoenix rising from flames, representing the rebirth and multiplication of the . These stages formed a cyclical , with each icon layering physical operations onto metaphorical journeys of enlightenment. Beyond literal depictions, alchemical process symbols carried profound spiritual allegories, intertwining material labor with inner transformation. Dissolution, for instance, is often shown as or a drop, embodying the emotional flooding that dissolves ego structures and reveals hidden essences, much like solvents breaking down solids in the . Such imagery underscored the parallel between chemical dissolution and the adept's confrontation with subconscious depths, promoting a holistic view of purification. Variations in process symbols emerged across cultural traditions, reflecting localized apparatus and philosophies. In Islamic alchemy, as articulated in the works attributed to Geber (Jābir ibn Hayyān, circa 8th century), the —a bulbous vessel with a long neck for —served as a foundational , emphasizing empirical refinement over speculative mysticism and influencing later European notations.

Symbols for Alchemical Compounds

In alchemical practice, symbols for compounds represented the mystical unions and transformations of substances into elixirs and essences, often denoting the results of processes such as dissolution and coagulation. These notations encoded the creation of synthetic mixtures believed to hold transformative powers, distinguishing them from raw materials by emphasizing harmony of opposites. The philosopher's stone, or lapis philosophorum, was depicted as a squared circle, a 17th-century glyph illustrating the interplay of the four classical elements—earth, air, fire, and water—culminating in perfection. This symbol, sometimes enclosed within an ouroboros to signify eternal cycles, embodied the stone's dual role in transmuting base metals into gold and serving as the basis for immortality elixirs. In 17th-century grimoires, such as those influenced by Paracelsian traditions, the lapis was further encoded through combinations of the tria prima symbols: sulfur (a triangle atop a cross, representing the soul's combustibility) united with mercury (a circle with horns and cross, denoting volatility), forming a "mystical marriage" of fiery and fluid principles to yield the stone. The elixir vitae, closely tied to the as its dissolved form, symbolized eternal life and , often invoked in texts as the ultimate compound granting health and . While specific icons varied, it was allegorically linked to vessels of divine essence, reflecting the stone's alchemical projection into potable form. , the "royal water" mixture capable of dissolving gold, was symbolized by a green lion devouring the sun, a motif from medieval texts like the (1593), where the lion's corrosive bite represented the acid's power to consume solar perfection (gold). This emblem highlighted the compound's volatile, kingly potency in breaking down noble metals. Prima materia, the chaotic starting substance from which all compounds arose, was denoted by the egg as a symbol of primordial disorder and potential, containing the world's captive soul in alchemical cosmogonies. Alternatively, it appeared as a hermaphroditic figure, embodying bisexual unity and formless origin before differentiation. Allegorical compounds like the rebis illustrated balanced opposites in the great work's completion, portrayed as a dual-natured hermaphrodite with male and female heads, holding a compass and square to signify spirit-matter reconciliation. Derived from 17th-century illustrations in works like Theoria Philosophiae Hermeticae, the rebis represented the lapis's perfected state, uniting solar (male) and lunar (female) essences under Mercurial mediation.

Measurement and Notation

Symbols for Units of Measure

In alchemical practice, symbols for units of measure facilitated precise quantification of ingredients in laboratory operations and medicinal formulations, drawing from ancient Roman and Greek systems while incorporating esoteric notations. These symbols appeared in manuscripts from the medieval period onward, enabling concise recording of weights and volumes essential for reproducibility in distillation, compounding, and transmutation processes. Primary weight units included the libra (pound), symbolized by ℔, representing approximately 373 grams in the apothecary system and derived from the Latin term for scales, emphasizing equilibrium in measurement. The uncia (ounce), one-twelfth of the libra, was denoted by ℥, weighing about 31 grams and commonly used for bulk substances like salts or metals in recipes. Smaller denominations featured the drachma (dram), symbolized by ʒ, equivalent to roughly 3.9 grams and subdivided into three scruples for fine powders. Volume measures paralleled these, with the congius (gallon) holding about 3.3 liters for liquids like aqua vitae, and the sextarius (pint) measuring approximately 0.55 liters for elixirs or solvents. Paracelsian texts from the , such as those detailing spagyric preparations, emphasized apothecary-specific notations for therapeutic accuracy, including the scruple (℈), a unit of 1.3 grams or 20 grains for dosing minerals, and the minim, depicted as a drop glyph (m), the tiniest measure for essences. Standardization advanced in 16th- and 17th-century pharmacopeias, like the London , which adopted symbols for grains (gr) and scruples to document yields in distillations, ensuring consistency across European alchemical and medical communities.
UnitSymbolApproximate ValueCommon Use
Libra (Pound)℔373 gBulk weights for metals and salts
℥31 gGeneral ingredients in compounds
Drachma (Dram)ʒ3.9 gPowders and small portions
Scruple℈1.3 g (20 grains)Medicinal doses in Paracelsian recipes
-3.3 LLarge liquid volumes
-0.55 LElixirs and solutions
Minimm0.06 mLEssential oils and drops
These historical notations have been preserved in modern digital formats through Unicode encoding, allowing accurate transcription of alchemical texts.

Digital Representation in Unicode

The Alchemical Symbols Unicode block, designated as U+1F700–U+1F77F, was introduced in Unicode version 6.0 in October 2010 to encode 116 assigned glyphs representing substances, processes, and apparatus from historical European alchemical texts. This block facilitates the digital preservation and reproduction of medieval and early modern manuscripts, where such symbols were prevalent. For instance, U+1F714 (🜔) denotes salt, while U+1F708 (🜈) represents aqua vitae. Several planetary metal symbols predate the dedicated block and appear in earlier Unicode areas, such as U+263F (☿) for mercury in the block, which has been repurposed for alchemical contexts due to its historical overlap with astrological notation. Font support for the Alchemical Symbols block is widespread in modern typefaces designed for comprehensive coverage, including Google's Sans Symbols, which renders these glyphs consistently across platforms for use in digital typesetting. In contemporary applications, these symbols are integrated into software for editing and displaying historical texts, such as digital libraries and scholarly tools for alchemical research, enabling accurate transcription of original sources without reliance on images. They also appear in niche applications like educational simulations of alchemical processes and digital occult resources, though adoption remains limited outside academic and heritage contexts. Discussions in the 2020s have explored extensions; Unicode 17.0 (September 2025) added four historical asteroid symbols to the block. Ongoing proposals as of November 2025 suggest additions like seven historic symbols and revisions to existing glyphs for better attestation, including updates to apparatus icons such as the retort (U+1F76D). The block primarily covers Western European alchemical traditions, derived from sources like those of and earlier Latin texts, leaving gaps for non-Western variants such as those in Chinese or Indian alchemical systems, which lack dedicated encoding. As of 2025, ongoing Unicode Technical proposals address these limitations by suggesting additions like seven historic symbols and revisions to existing glyphs for better attestation, including updates to apparatus icons such as the (U+1F76D).

References

  1. https://webapp1.dlib.indiana.edu/newton/reference/symbols.do
  2. https://www.chemistry.utoronto.ca/our-history/alchemy-symbols-lash-miller-building
  3. https://folgerpedia.folger.edu/Alchemical_and_astrological_symbols_used_by_John_Ward_in_V.a.287_and_V.a.291
  4. https://popgoesthepage.princeton.edu/scrolls-secrets-and-symbols-unlocking-the-mysteries-of-alchemy/
  5. https://rubedo.press/propaganda/2019/8/25/egyptian-temple-culture-and-the-origins-of-alchemy
  6. https://escholarship.org/content/qt9j83j7mv/qt9j83j7mv.pdf
  7. https://www.academia.edu/22599267/Zosimus_of_Panopolis_Alchemy_nature_and_religion_in_late_antiquity
  8. https://www.cabinet.ox.ac.uk/emerald-tablet-hermes-trismegistus
  9. https://www.goldenelixir.com/files/The_Way_of_the_Golden_Elixir.pdf
  10. https://sites.dartmouth.edu/toxmetal/mercury/mercury-element-of-the-ancients/
  11. https://www.sciencehistory.org/stories/magazine/al-kimiya-notes-on-arabic-alchemy/
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  13. https://www.hyle.org/journal/issues/9-2/obrist.htm
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  20. http://www.aaroncheak.com/hermetic-problem-of-salt
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  23. https://www.oxfordbibliographies.com/abstract/document/obo-9780195399301/obo-9780195399301-0507.xml
  24. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/00033790.2024.2336203
  25. https://sciencenotes.org/earth-air-fire-water-element-symbols/
  26. https://www.getty.edu/research/exhibitions_events/exhibitions/alchemy/AoA_symbols.pdf
  27. https://solar-center.stanford.edu/folklore/symbolism.html
  28. https://www.thoughtco.com/alchemy-symbols-and-meanings-4065063
  29. https://archive.org/download/alchemyturbaphil00waitrich/alchemyturbaphil00waitrich.pdf
  30. https://bmcr.brynmawr.edu/2019/2019.12.09/
  31. https://www.utupub.fi/bitstream/10024/151694/1/AnnalesB538Norja.pdf
  32. https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2009/09037r2-alchemy.pdf
  33. https://periodic-table.rsc.org/alchemy/30/zinc
  34. https://sciencephotogallery.com/featured/1-alchemical-symbols-18th-century-science-photo-library.html
  35. https://www.alchymiae.be/en/blog/alchemical-symbols-our-labels
  36. https://www.alchemyguildohio.org/seven-operations-of-alchemy
  37. https://ninthwavedesigns.com/2010/01/07/putrefactio-the-crow-and-skull/
  38. https://robertmplacetarot.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/10/Alchemical-Tarot-6th-Ed.pdf
  39. https://muslimheritage.com/advent-scientific-chemistry/
  40. https://hekint.org/2020/08/04/the-philosophers-stone-history-and-myth/
  41. https://www.learnreligions.com/alchemical-sulfur-mercury-and-salt-96036
  42. https://www.thoughtco.com/philosopher-stone-history-602137
  43. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Alchemical-depiction-of-aqua-regia-e-the-lion-eating-the-sun-gold_fig11_303099140
  44. https://www.learnreligions.com/rebis-from-theoria-philosophiae-hermeticae-95751
  45. https://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1F700.pdf
  46. https://ia801903.us.archive.org/28/items/DictionaryOfOccultHermeticAlchemicalSigilsSymbolsFredGettings1981/Dictionary-of-Occult-Hermetic-Alchemical-Sigils-Symbols-Fred-Gettings-1981_text.pdf
  47. https://theses.gla.ac.uk/82178/13/2020jocksphdvol1.pdf
  48. https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/c47b/f6deba93d7d53b94049d5a8d0b70e8df2f4f.pdf
  49. https://unicode.org/charts/nameslist/n_1F700.html
  50. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/343814593_Proposal_for_Alchemical_Symbols_in_Unicode
  51. https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2025/25132-alchemical-symbols.pdf
  52. https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2025/25238-revised-alchemical-symbols.pdf
  53. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Unicode/List_of_useful_symbols
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