  DMT & DIMC Antipodean Opaleye
Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Geekdom of Nerdtopia
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Hogwarts RPG Name: Tenacius "Ace" Salander Graduated
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| Ability is nothing without Opportunity | | Creativity is Intelligence having FUN SPOILER!!: Schirmer Quote:
Originally Posted by Tegz Yes she could see the looks of confusion some of them sported. What did they expect? There was a reason this was usually a subject only offered to NEWT level students, and only the very best of them at that. Good thing she was keeping it simple then, hmmm? SPOILER!!: responses to those of you that answered/spoke/needed some kind of acknowledgement
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.
Nod.
"Yes, they are Miss Wheatborn. With Salt as Sodium. Its useful to know their chemical properties." The professor listened to Kurumi and nodded. "That's right, Miss Hollingberry." "Mr Jones, do not trial my patience. 5 points from Hufflepuff for talking in class and distracting others. You will not talk in this lesson unless it is to discuss the topic at hand or to ask me questions about the topic of Alchemy." Althea said sternly. Really. It was bad enough when people had done so in her Charms lesson. She was busier now and hadn't just come along for fun.
Much. "That's right, it does. Its the connection to the fire element." Professor Schirmer answered. "Yes, very." The professor nodded at the Ravenclaw boy. "Right, Mr.Vickers. Perhaps you can see the connection between Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt, and the Cardinal, Fixed, and Mutable Quadruplicities found in Astrology? Those and the elemental representations of course. And yes, they are broken down and recombined as required, that is the essence of the Alchemical process." Just to confirm. Clearly this was a Ravenclaw who had done a bit of reading. "Simplified but correct. Everything can be reduced to those three alchemical principles, all else is considered waste. The salt, the mercury, and the sulphur of any one substance is what the Alchemists use." Althea said.
Teaching at Hogwarts wouldn't be complete without Dash Scabior invading her lesson at least once a term. And since this was the only lesson she was to teach this year, it wasn't such a surprise. And too she'd made sure he'd known about it, since after all much of what would be discussed was a particular portion of magical history. So that made sense and all. And she'd expected him to come.
But still... he should have come on time. At least he had the sense to be quiet when he came in. He wasn't going to sit down? Well he could suit himself, as long as he kept his mouth shut and didn't interrupt student learning.
Possibly, she returned his smile and continued on with addressing the student responses, without missing a beat. "Yes that's right." Althea assured the girl. Althea nodded. "You're right and that is some good thinking. It sounds as if you have a strong understanding of this aspect of Alchemy already. Maybe you can help some of your classmates review afterward, if they are still having trouble grasping it." That was good thinking, turning to a textbook. Althea nodded. "Yes thank you Miss Potter." "A good start." Althea answered. Knowing those things helped understand the more difficult concepts after all. "You know a bit about chemistry I see." Althea nodded encouragingly.
"In a way yes. Actually if you took.... say some sprigs of rosemary, you'd separate out the three components that represent the mercury, the sulfur and the salt, and then, having acquired the pure form of each of these, they are recombined as needed so that you have the the essential value of the rosemary sprigs, the most magical and medicinal part of the whole." So she wasn't wrong, and hopefully she'd leave with a more thorough understanding.
Althea listened and nodding. "Yes they are, but the expansion to seven and then eight is related to Abu Mūsā Jābir ibn Hayyān, a Persian Alchemist often referred to as Geber. We'll touch on some famous historical Alchemists soon."
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." OOC: Eeek that took longer than I intended to post 'cos you guys are awesome and all that. I'll take the FIRST person to volunteer to hand out the worksheets - not something that will earn points by the way, so don't fret if it isn't you.
If you can think of some other connections between Astrology and Alchemy, do share them with professor Schirmer. I'll continue the lesson properly as soon as I've judged enough people have responded, but I will be posting again to reply to the volunteer in the meantime.
The Astrology/Alchemy relationship stuff will be added to the notes after this round of answers! Have fun and can't wait to see more O_O faces and hear some interesting answers. As usual if I missed you while writing this, I'll edit you in  edit in done 
Vickers continued scribbling on his parchment diligently, adding the notes that went up on the board. He listened to what the other students mentioned about additional connections between Astrology and Alchemy. He really didnt have much to add, other than Alchemy looked to make things more tangible on a local scale versus Astrology.
Did he have a question? Well only one "Are you coming back to teach Alchemy next year?" Because he'd love a part deux.
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