More sense than he realised perhaps. Althea nodded encouragingly and even smiled as he continued. Yes.

"The Midas touch is also an example of chrysopoeia." Althea answered. "And many believe that in fact Midas was an Alchemist and the story of his golden touch is a metaphor for the Alchemical pursuit of chrysopoeia and that the moral lesson in his story was directed at those who were consumed with the lure of Gold, and with the desire to create it."

She responded to the rest of what the young Slytherin had said, deviating a little from the lesson plan in order to do so.

"Actually Astrology and Alchemy are interrelated in many ways. Each of the planets has an Alchemical sign, and is associated with a different metal. The Sun rules Gold, The Moon rules Silver, Mercury rules Mercury Venus rules Copper, Mars rules Iron, Jupiter rules Tin and Saturn rules Lead. Additionally, the zodiac signs are divided into something called Quadruplicities, which are Fixed, Mutable and Cardinal: which in turn reflects the Cardinal principles by nature, as I hope you'll see as we go on. Likewise the four elements which the zodiac signs fall under, are very relevant to Alchemy and symbols exist for those too, and each is related to an Alchemical process, which we'll talk about shortly."

She should probably add this to the board. Hmm. Or come back to it and address it for the whole class to consider. Yes, she'd do that.

"And as for the wine-making, that's good. Hopefully you'll see some more similarities and concepts which you can associate with more mundane pursuits." Though Althea would hardly call a good glass of wine mundane.

Althea addressed the class as a whole again, though she hoped they'd been paying some attention to what their classmates had been saying, and what she'd said in response too.

"In alchemical terms, all things are composed of three parts- Sulphur , Mercury, and Salt. The alchemist separates and recombines these three cardinal principles as often as necessary until they are in perfect proportion and harmony, and the raw material has been reduced to its purest essence."

The words appeared on the board as she spoke.

"Mercury is the principle of fusibility and volatility. It represents water element and the life force of the raw material." This went up on the board too.

Salt is the principle of fixity and incombustibility, it represents earth element and the physical body. Sulphur is the principle of flammability, it represents fire element and represents the soul or individualized essence of being."

She waited some to give a chance to copy the notes.

"Working with plants, or Spagyrics, is known as the Lesser Circulation, while pursuing Alchemical mastery of metals and minerals is called the Greater Circulation. The word 'Spagyrics' itself, comes from the Greek spao 'to tear open', and ageiro 'to collect'. It basically means 'separate and recombine'. Paracelsus first coined the term." Well and they were used to hearing about words that came from Greek, from incantations. Greek and...

"Another term is 'Solve et Coagula', which is Latin for 'dissolve and coagulate'. The meanings are clearly related." And they weren't stupid. No. They weren't.

It went up on the board.

"Mr. Montmorency brought up some good points and we'll touch on that now. There is a relationship between Alchemy and Astrology.The classical planets, those visible to the naked eye, provide a link between Alchemy and Astrology. These seven planets are linked to particular metals used in Alchemy. The Sun rules Gold, The Moon rules Silver, Mercury rules Mercury Venus rules Copper, Mars rules Iron, Jupiter rules Tin and Saturn rules Lead."

She'd add that to the board soon.

"The symbols for each of those planets appear in Alchemy too. I need a volunteer to hand out some worksheets please." Althea requested.

"Given what we've already discussed, and what you personally know, what other connections can you think of between Astrology and Alchemy? And, if anyone has any questions on the information presented so far, now is the time to ask."

--find the panacea
--find the alkahest
--turning things into gold (chrysopoeia) and other noble metals

"I think you can all see already that there is much within the pursuit of Alchemy, that even simplified it is complex field. Aside from the detailed symbolic meanings, which must be studied in order to gain an understanding of the processes involved in Alchemy, there are a lot of new words and terms that you'll come across too which have meanings specific to Alchemy. For instance we've already mentioned The Panacea, The Alkahest, and chrysopoeia, the Philosophers Stone and the Elixir of Life, and that is just in response to the simple question of the purpose of Alchemy."
-- Professor Althea Schirmer

Alkahest - Believed by Paracelsus to be the Philosophers Stone, or an element of its creation. This is a hypothetical universal solvent, having the power to dissolve every other substance, including gold.

Azoth - This serves as the essential agent of alchemical transformation, and embodies the concept of the main goals in Alchemy it is a possible universal medicine, universal solvent, or Elixir of Life. It is a name for Mercury as cardinal principle of Alchemy.

Chrysopoeia - A symbolic representation of the Philosophers Stone, chrysopoeia means transmutation into gold, from the Greek khrusōn, 'gold', and poiēin, 'to make'.

Panacea - also called the pancrest, or Panakeia in Greek, is named for the Greek Goddess of universal remedy, she supposedly had a magical medicinal substance which could cure all ills. It is a remedy that is supposed to cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely.

Spagyrics -the production of herbal medicines using alchemical techniques such as fermentation, distillation and the extraction of mineral components from the ash of a plant.

"In alchemical terms, all things are composed of three parts- Sulphur , Mercury, and Salt. The alchemist separates and recombines these three cardinal principles as often as necessary until they are in perfect proportion and harmony, and the raw material has been reduced to its purest essence."
-- Professor Althea Schirmer

Mercury
- principle of fusibility and volatility
- represents water element
- represents the life force

Salt
- principle of fixity and in-combustibility
- represents earth element
- represents the physical body

Sulphur
- principle of flammability
- represents fire element
- represents the soul or individualized essence of being

Sun - Gold
Moon - Silver
Mercury - Mercury
Venus - Copper
Mars - Iron
Jupiter - Tin
Saturn - Lead