Chôra

Volume 13, Issue Supplement, 2015

Dualismes: Doctrines religieuses et traditions philosophiques

Une substance, deux natures
les alchimistes grecs et le principe de la transmutation

In Greek alchemical texts, the dualism plays different roles. This paper’s purpose is to apply the category of “dualism” to the fundamental principle of transmutation, designated by most alchemists as “divine water” or “sulphur water” (theion hudôr). The analysis of this notion highlights the necessary shift from colouration to transmutation, a capital question in alchemy. In fact, it is both one of the most important ambiguities in alchemy and the focus of the relationship between theory and practice.