Alchemy was never about turning lead into gold the true alchemist themselves I myself can say with all certainty that the art of alchemy was never about turning lead into gold The alchemist used heavy symbolism to keep the true goal of alchemy from fools who couldn't take there mind outside this world. The true knowledge of alchemy isn't something a person can obtain by themselves man can't reach this goal no matter how hard he tries or wills it. Some of those very alchemist spent there WHOLE life and still didn't partake of the fruit of this knowledge. But the few that did partake enjoyed it in complete and utter silence The knowledge is giving through mercy of the Father
Same for the story about the Wizard of Oz. There is a gold brick road, and silver shoes, and the name 'Oz' is the abbreviation for Ounce (of metal), but if you think the story is about precious metals, you've missed the boat entirely. It is about achieving one's full human potential in heart (lion), mind (tin man) and body (scarecrow). In a human being's normal state, these aspects are out of balance. However if we work these aspects in proper combination in the crucible of our efforts, then we can attain a transformation, akin to how a caterpillar can transform into a butterfly. How locked in every acorn is the potential to become a mighty oak, yet the vast majority of acorns meet their end simply as acorns, never getting anywhere close to their full potential. The goal of Alchemy is attaining the balance of Moon & Sun. Silver & Gold. Female & Male. The Tin Man & the Lion. And the Scarecrow. It is the Trinity of Earth-Moon-Sun that needs to be brought into balance. We are all born out of balance, some entering this life as primarily male. Others as primarily female. And we are given the opportunity for refinement in this crucible known as life. Most squander this opportunity away, totally oblivious that there is this entire realm that is accessible to a human being who can attain it with everything coming into alignment. The planet Uranus makes one complete lap in exactly 84 years. And this is roughly the amount of time we are given. We can live purposely as spiritual alchemists, or we can use our time doing things that do nothing toward a transformation. This is the lesson of the Labyrinth. We will surely be devoured by the Minotaur unless we are purposeful in escaping from the Matrix. The monster that eats us is Father Time. The name of the Grim Reaper is the "Minute-Hour". We have 525,600 minutes X 84 years, and then the MinuteHour will consume our Soul. Unless we have used that time wisely to release ourselves from the Maze. You say that knowledge is given through mercy. But escape from the Labyrinth also requires grace. A Mazing Grace. With wisdom we leave a trail of thread, so as to not forget that our origin was a realm that was outside of the Matrix. If our pursuit of alchemy is successful, then time will have no power over us. And neither will gravity. We will transform like the winged butterfly. Like Daedalus. We will have achieved our full potential. Alchemy is veiled in secrecy because it is not for everybody. It is the rare acorn that grows into the mighty oak. Each of us is Dorothy. We are all Theseus. If we follow their example, then we can attain theosis. With three clicks of our heels, and the intent meditative wish to return home, we will awaken to the aha surprise that we have returned to Om'aha. The symbol for Gold is Au, which has the same root as the word Aura. It is the human spirit that the alchemist strives to transmute. And when our aura has attained the transformation into purified gold, then we will have completed our earthly journey. Iron, silver, mercury ...are stages along the way.
We are all like burnt slices of toast. It is impossible to get through life unscathed. We all experience trauma and abuse, to one degree or another. As with the toast, it is not a reversible process. Iron, when exposed to the life-giving oxygen of the atmosphere, will rust. It is what gives it the distinctive color. Our experiences of life are what helps to shape our character. Many will become encrusted and bitter. But the burnt parts do not need to be retained. Scraping those crumbs off with a knife is like surgery for our soul. We find that a state of purity is attainable, even with the oxidation processes continuing. We become like silver, which still oxidizes. And in a state like Mercury, we have become nimble and fluid, no longer dramatically affected by tarnishing. And in the transition to gold, our spirit has become immune to oxidation. We can live in the world, yet not be corrupted by it. You can put a blow torch to the toast, and it will no longer burn. We have become an entirely different kind of bread. From man/wo'man into manna. We become reconnected to the infinite supply. The source of our being.
Alchemy was basically smart creative people with philosophical minds throwing random stuff together, having no idea how anything worked, but kept getting results so fascinating and strange that they couldn't help but keep doing it while they tried to figure out the secrets of the universe and themselves in the process. Then were so mindblown by it all that they had trouble taking good notes. How lovely.
The key to understand how important Alchemy is to modern day science is to understand that it was science in its infancy state. Just as we don’t expect a new born to walk immediately after birth' we should understand that early scientists had many pseudoscience ideologies until scientific principles were established. Intellectual evolution is constantly enhancing and growing!
"The wind blows over the marriage of the moon and saturn" - 10:45 Well based from your video it probably has something to do with combining Silver and Lead. Moon being Silver and Saturn being Lead, the marriage obviously refers to joining the two metals and the wind blowing over, either has something to do with cooling it afterwards to get the desired result, or something to do with the process of joining the two metals.
Real talk though, this video just made me appreciate how much research Arakawa put into FMA. Like, one of the big alchemy guy's names having "von Hohenheim" in it. That same guy coining "Alkahest." Chinese alchemy being based on "Earth magic." God bless Hiromu Arakawa.
She really is a relentless researcher. It's also clear if you read silver spoon, her series after fma that's about animal farming. It's still (kinda) ongoing and really worth your time.
Fun fact: the name the Dwarf in the Flask proposes to Hohenheim (who dismissed it as too long) is Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim
Don't forget that Alchemy was also a very spiritual practice, as it's mainly derived (in the European tradition) from ancient Hermetic texts and writings.
So let me get this straight. It was an alchemist that invented gunpowder. It was an alchemist that invented the printing press. It was an alchemist that discovered the laws of gravity. These are arguably 3 of the most revolutionary things that have ever altered human history. Yet ironically alchemy was flushed out for being superstitious and shifty.
I was thinking the same thing. Gonna make it difficult for me to use alchemy as the basis of the magic system in a story I'm writing but make it stand out from Fullmetal.
Thanks for mentioning Isaac Newton. Ever since I read "Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer" I've been telling people about Newton's experiments in alchemy and how they affected his theories. It's rare to see anyone point out that alchemy positively influenced the development of science--even if alchemy itself was mostly nonsense.
Just another interesting alchemy story: Johann Böttger claimed to be able to make lead into gold. In 1701 he was incarcerated by the king of saxony for that claim; since the king was short on money Böttger should prove it. He tried to flee several times, but in the end managed to make porcelain (or at least aided in it; some claim Tschirnhaus, a contemporary and colleague of Böttger actually made it, and Tschirnhaus also was the one who had been researching on porcelain for a long time before). After confessing to the king that he was unable to make gold (another alchemist had been executed in Prussia for the false claim) and after Tschirnhaus' death, Böttger got a management position in the newly founded and soon to be famous porcelain manufactory in Meissen. In the end, he regained his full freedom after 13 years of incarceration.
About 35% of these comments are gonna be FMA jokes. It’s just a consequence of even mentioning alchemy. Anyway the ingredient to a philosopher’s stone is human souls there’s your reference, thank you.
Dinonid123 How about Kinoko Nasu’s Fate/Stay Night? The Einzbern family practiced Alchemy and sometimes use homunculi as foot soldiers in the Holy Grail Wars.
Alchemy really is responsible for our modern scientific method. Also it was deffnitly studying the idea of things changing and how they act in the real world. there are plenty of books and novels on the subject.
Alchemy. The home of scientific discovery. Alchemists were smart. They found that nothing is what is seems. The difficulty of it all is that it's a combination of science and art. Those two things don't play well for most.
Alchemy begins with a study of nature and a replication of natures processes within the earths crust but in the microcosm of the alchemist flask using natural products derived from nature. Alchemy is the science of kings and incorporates mathematics, astrology, science, metallurgy, medicine, etc.
So weird how across cultures, alchemy was used as a tool to find some form of immortality and now, we have scientists trying to merge humans and robots. The driving force for all of our most complicated and impressive machines all stemmed from our persistance to preserve our mortality and overcome it. Interesting.
How could you! How dare you bring up Nina and her dog! Why would you hurt us so! Also, Full Metal Alchemist really did it's homework with direct references to historical alchemy. Very impressed!
Why don't you mention modern Alchemy. Every plutonium atom is transmuted from Uranium. In my field of semiconductor materials high purity silicon is exposed to neutrons to produce transmuted phosphorous which is evenly distributed throughout the ingot. (process known as Neutron Transmutation Doping or NTD). Alchemy lives.
The alchemist goal of changing base metals to other metals is what I mean. This is happening in nuclear reactors today as I describe (although it is not base metals). This is why i described it as modern Alchemy.
Calling it alchemy doesn't make it alchemy. It's like calling Astronomers "modern astrologers". It may have grown out of it, but has no relationship to it anymore except in a very superficial sense.
+G5rry In able for a field of science to develop, certain core truths of its predecessors have to be at least close to correct. A fetus and an adult human aren't the same thing, but a human is a developed fetus.
I heared someone talking about alchemy, so I came searching for some info about it, now I'm just fascinated by how much meat there is. That's maybe why there is so much material in all its tales and mysticisms.
I’m over a year late but this is awesome. I must write that there is a side of alchemy though not called alchemy and you ever so lightly touched on it correlating another exact example of alchemy. The moon and Saturn makes perfect sense when you apply it objectively.
Minor correction, often when they referred to Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt, they were referring to the spirit, soul, and body of the substance. This is likely what they meant when they said that any element can be made by shoving mercury and sulfur together.
This vid is wrong about turning lead to gold. Alchemy in hermetic teachings refers to transmute an individual consciousness from asleep to enlightened through the process called dissolve and coagulate.
Yeah that would go wayyy over the head of this person. Alchemy is called the hermetic art for a reason. Anyone that wants to get a hint of what alchemy is really about should read the "Corpus Hermeticum". Also study Gnosticism as that is where the key lies.
Hermeticism is only one school of thought in alchemy. Many alchemists, indeed, were strictly "scientists" in search of a method to turn base metals into gold.
Every time I think of alchemy, I think of one of my favorite children’s books, Eric P. Kelly’s “The Trumpeter of Krakow.” It won the Newbery Medal in 1929. Part of the storyline involves alchemy. BTW, you don’t have to be a child to enjoy this book!
Kinda disappointed that there was practically no mention of the spiritual aspect of alchemy and all attention was on the physical "turn lead into gold" stuff. There are several layers to this stuff and this video essentially saw the surface level and went "yep, that's it!".
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth."
8:37 *HOHENHEIM* Edit: I'm studying alchemy because it's a interesting subject, and my grandmother says that it's witchcraft. Just like you said, it gets a bad rep. Just imagine the possibility of alchemy. Being able to shift, for example, atoms of co2 into oxygen, or hell, even H2o.
It is a shame. But I learned that Hohenheim was named after a real person, and that alkahestry was a real alchemical concept. I had no idea that Fullmetal Alchemist referenced real world alchemy so much!
Sergio Bobillier How about Kinoko Nasu’s Fate/Stay Night? The Einzbern family practiced Alchemy and sometimes use homunculi as foot soldiers in the Holy Grail Wars.
Hello there! "Decknamen" is actually a german compound (hehe) word. Meaning "deck" as in to cover (something up) and "namen" as in... well, names. So, Decknamen are "cover names". Words covering up their true meaning. Also, I love your videos!
10:50 Moon and Saturn are Silver and lead Silver and lead don't react with each other But may be sulfur on silver can give some result But still, I want some amazing reaction
For not native english speaking individuals here is an advice: Slow down replay by .75 times as he is trying to get the world record of fastest speaking. Beside of this: Thumbs up!
Thank You for the wonderful subject and loved it. Alchemy is a spiritual subject, example the human body which consists of the Soul, Mind and Body which converts all that we eat to becomes Us and illnesses is the reaction where something has gone wrong with Us. To me and my work, Alchemy is to find a universal cure for illnesses and to rejuvenate the body.
Cool video, but in the part where you mentioned about the Chinese Alchemy you said about the waidan, or pill of immortality, it's actually the 仙丹 which was pronounced sien dan (xiān dān in Chinese pinyin). And fun fact, while trying to produce that, the Chinese created gunpowder!
Alchemy comes from al-kimia (al = is arabic that means ‘the’ in english, and kimia = is a perisan word which means changing a substance to something more valuable)
This reminded me of something my biology teacher told me as, sadly a way to mock me. When asked about a theoretical way to stop the death of a living thing she explained "That's simple. Simply stop oxidation"
This was really informative! But you missed a really important fundamental practice that coincides with alchemy AND has a lot to do with sorcery- Hermeticism.
If we take a look at the chakra system: 7 - 🌑 [Spirit]/[Conscious] 6 - Seeing/Visualizing 5 - Hearing/Speaking | 4 - 🌍 [Heart]/[SubConscious] | 3 - 🌞 [Soul]/[UnConscious] 2 - Positive 1 - Negative It shows that we are capable of two energy motions in the stomach that produces feelings when applied to thoughts. So when combining the two elements spirit and soul arises a new form in the subconscious.
If you're a lucid dreamer, you can apply alchemy much more accurately in the dream world a.k.a. the crossroads, a place that is neither here or there, betwixt and between. The subconscious I imagine is the place we go when we dream. It is symbolically represented to us in the form of an earth. The sun being our soul, and the moon our spirit.
Awesome video. A friend of mine and I are writing a novel series together that deals heavily with alchemy and, while our books are more about the spiritual/esoteric aspects of the craft (and indeed, characters reference that the whole "turning metals into gold" thing is a metaphor for such deeper inner wisdom), this breakdown of what alchemy was said to physically do was really helpful to find while researching. Thanks!
@Goddess Ishtar Thanks, and of course, I was aware of that. It's one of the reasons why I'm drawn to alchemy, the fact that it sees the amazing in the world around us rather than relying on a particular organized, hierarchical religion or set of spiritual beliefs for a sense of sacredness and how we relate to it. As an eclectic Pagan, I think there's a middle ground: Yes, science can explain many things and should be heeded, but the idea that we humans, teeny-weeny creatures on this one planet in the middle of a universe amongst possibly many, will whittle down everything to physical explanations we'd understand seems quite presumptuous and arrogant to me. Not to mention I don't think we'll ever have the whole picture of anything until the scientific and spiritual communities stop seeing each other as foes and start working together again, which they once did, long ago. That's where and what alchemy is, at the crossroads of science and spirituality. But that's just my two cents. Blessed be. )O(
Fullmetal alchemist is correct, you need something of equal value to change one thing to another thing, equivalent exchange, and deconstruction and reconstruction to be able to make something different. For example, to make wooden axe, you just need a piece of wood large enough and there you go, a wooden axe.
The problem of alchemy was that there were no means of analysing your experiments. It's like writing blind. Moreover, if you produced something and wrote down what you did, it would still be a mystery, since most compounds didn't have proper names. For instance, if someone managed to isolate platinum, he wouldn't have called it like that, but most likely something with silver in its name...
You guys know this is all metaphor right. The soul is sulfer Mercury is the spirit and salt is the body. Once you know that and it's all metaphor and symbolism. Not about metals lol it's amazing
They also called him "Gutenburg" (This mistake happens often in English, but the two words aren't a variation of the same thing, they have completely different meanings. "Burg" means castle/fortress, "Berg" means mountain/hill)
I remember reading the Wikipedia entry of alchemy years ago and finding that Chinese alchemy was focused on producing cheese. The first few paragraphs sounded sort of plausible, but then it descended into total nonsense and eventually just repeated the line "CHEESE Cheese CHEESE CHEESE cheese CHEESE CHEESE cheese CHEESE!!!"
Alchemy, or the philosophical way of thinking about what is stuff. If you ask me that's what differentiate humans from animals. BTW, if you guys do Cathedrals, how about some Art History someday ? I'm sure you could do a Crash Course on that
Notice how he skipped over that alchemy could also mean "Black science" as in science created by the Black people of ancient Kemet (Egypt), to wit, its original spelling, "al-kemy" - science from Black Kemet? He knows this point of view but refused to say it. Why, oh, why? * blank stare * Thank God for Robert Bauval and Thomas Brophy setting the historical records straight concerning the genetic blackness of ancient Kemet. Even so, good and informative video. Kudos!
since “gibberish” did pop up in this video, it’s a bummer that the etymological connection wasn’t explicitly made to the writings of Jabir/Gerber. 😢 always one of my favorite alchemical fun facts.
As a Mason the philosopher stone refers to our inner stone being Calcificaron (calcium build up) in our pineal gland When a mason reaches his transmutation as a alchemist to turn his stone perfect them he can attain the joyfulness of utilizing his pineal glad (third eye) and thus become enlightened reaching a cristification
Seriously, what is the relationship between Complexly and PBS Digital Studios? Did PBSDS pick up a few Complexly Channels as a part of a network? I need to know!
Gravijta my guess is that PBS Digital Studios has the ability to provide grants to digital creators and a team focused on distributing those grants. Why? Well thats what PBS does, right? Provide grants.
Hi! PBSDS Funds two series a year of Crash Course right now while the other 2 (give or take) are funded by Complexly or through some other partnership. This year, PBSDS is funding Theater and Engineering. There's a lot baked into working with PBSDS and they're wonderful people who share our love of education. - Nick J.
![I.N "HALLUCINATION" | [Stray Kids : SKZ-PLAYER]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/n5B5q1Hwt_U/mqdefault.jpg)
When I was 4, I tried to unburn a slice of toast by putting it in the fridge. I ended up with cold burned toast. Alchemy!
you were a curious kid haha
I just liked to see all the different thing i could burn lol
Alchemy was never about turning lead into gold the true alchemist themselves I myself can say with all certainty that the art of alchemy was never about turning lead into gold
The alchemist used heavy symbolism to keep the true goal of alchemy from fools who couldn't take there mind outside this world.
The true knowledge of alchemy isn't something a person can obtain by themselves man can't reach this goal no matter how hard he tries or wills it. Some of those very alchemist spent there WHOLE life and still didn't partake of the fruit of this knowledge. But the few that did partake enjoyed it in complete and utter silence
The knowledge is giving through mercy of the Father
Same for the story about the Wizard of Oz. There is a gold brick road, and silver shoes, and the name 'Oz' is the abbreviation for Ounce (of metal), but if you think the story is about precious metals, you've missed the boat entirely. It is about achieving one's full human potential in heart (lion), mind (tin man) and body (scarecrow). In a human being's normal state, these aspects are out of balance. However if we work these aspects in proper combination in the crucible of our efforts, then we can attain a transformation, akin to how a caterpillar can transform into a butterfly. How locked in every acorn is the potential to become a mighty oak, yet the vast majority of acorns meet their end simply as acorns, never getting anywhere close to their full potential.
The goal of Alchemy is attaining the balance of Moon & Sun. Silver & Gold. Female & Male. The Tin Man & the Lion. And the Scarecrow. It is the Trinity of Earth-Moon-Sun that needs to be brought into balance. We are all born out of balance, some entering this life as primarily male. Others as primarily female. And we are given the opportunity for refinement in this crucible known as life. Most squander this opportunity away, totally oblivious that there is this entire realm that is accessible to a human being who can attain it with everything coming into alignment.
The planet Uranus makes one complete lap in exactly 84 years. And this is roughly the amount of time we are given. We can live purposely as spiritual alchemists, or we can use our time doing things that do nothing toward a transformation. This is the lesson of the Labyrinth. We will surely be devoured by the Minotaur unless we are purposeful in escaping from the Matrix. The monster that eats us is Father Time. The name of the Grim Reaper is the "Minute-Hour". We have 525,600 minutes X 84 years, and then the MinuteHour will consume our Soul. Unless we have used that time wisely to release ourselves from the Maze.
You say that knowledge is given through mercy. But escape from the Labyrinth also requires grace. A Mazing Grace. With wisdom we leave a trail of thread, so as to not forget that our origin was a realm that was outside of the Matrix. If our pursuit of alchemy is successful, then time will have no power over us. And neither will gravity. We will transform like the winged butterfly. Like Daedalus. We will have achieved our full potential.
Alchemy is veiled in secrecy because it is not for everybody. It is the rare acorn that grows into the mighty oak. Each of us is Dorothy. We are all Theseus. If we follow their example, then we can attain theosis. With three clicks of our heels, and the intent meditative wish to return home, we will awaken to the aha surprise that we have returned to Om'aha.
The symbol for Gold is Au, which has the same root as the word Aura. It is the human spirit that the alchemist strives to transmute. And when our aura has attained the transformation into purified gold, then we will have completed our earthly journey. Iron, silver, mercury ...are stages along the way.
We are all like burnt slices of toast. It is impossible to get through life unscathed. We all experience trauma and abuse, to one degree or another. As with the toast, it is not a reversible process. Iron, when exposed to the life-giving oxygen of the atmosphere, will rust. It is what gives it the distinctive color. Our experiences of life are what helps to shape our character. Many will become encrusted and bitter. But the burnt parts do not need to be retained. Scraping those crumbs off with a knife is like surgery for our soul. We find that a state of purity is attainable, even with the oxidation processes continuing. We become like silver, which still oxidizes. And in a state like Mercury, we have become nimble and fluid, no longer dramatically affected by tarnishing. And in the transition to gold, our spirit has become immune to oxidation. We can live in the world, yet not be corrupted by it. You can put a blow torch to the toast, and it will no longer burn. We have become an entirely different kind of bread. From man/wo'man into manna. We become reconnected to the infinite supply. The source of our being.
I just got a knife and scrap the burnt part off
Alchemy was basically smart creative people with philosophical minds throwing random stuff together, having no idea how anything worked, but kept getting results so fascinating and strange that they couldn't help but keep doing it while they tried to figure out the secrets of the universe and themselves in the process. Then were so mindblown by it all that they had trouble taking good notes. How lovely.
This is lovely
When you're genuinely interested in ancient forgotten knowledge such as alchemy but all the comments are about full metal alchemist
Yes!! I'm here for hermeticism
The key to understand how important Alchemy is to modern day science is to understand that it was science in its infancy state. Just as we don’t expect a new born to walk immediately after birth' we should understand that early scientists had many pseudoscience ideologies until scientific principles were established. Intellectual evolution is constantly enhancing and growing!
Fullmetal Alchemist was in the back of my head the whole entire video. and when Hohenheim was mentioned i had a literal epiphany moment
"The wind blows over the marriage of the moon and saturn" - 10:45
Well based from your video it probably has something to do with combining Silver and Lead. Moon being Silver and Saturn being Lead, the marriage obviously refers to joining the two metals and the wind blowing over, either has something to do with cooling it afterwards to get the desired result, or something to do with the process of joining the two metals.
Real talk though, this video just made me appreciate how much research Arakawa put into FMA. Like, one of the big alchemy guy's names having "von Hohenheim" in it. That same guy coining "Alkahest." Chinese alchemy being based on "Earth magic." God bless Hiromu Arakawa.
Graser1112 Yes! I was hoping someone would mention this! I just love how much effort she's put, even into the minutest details.
She really is a relentless researcher. It's also clear if you read silver spoon, her series after fma that's about animal farming. It's still (kinda) ongoing and really worth your time.
Melon Lord Ohh I've not heard of it. Btw I love your username! Avatar, another amazing show🖤
Thank you. Just give the manga a few chapters. It's pretty much slice of life with a strong character development
Fun fact: the name the Dwarf in the Flask proposes to Hohenheim (who dismissed it as too long) is Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim
Me at 0:00: I'll be disappointed if there's no FMA references...
Me at 5:06: First of all, how dare you.
Oh no... little girl and her dog :'(
ArcNyX uhhh, do you know their names?
Nina and Alexander :(
Well also, Von Hoenheim’s name origin 8:38
I just noticed this...
Don't forget that Alchemy was also a very spiritual practice, as it's mainly derived (in the European tradition) from ancient Hermetic texts and writings.
So let me get this straight.
It was an alchemist that invented gunpowder.
It was an alchemist that invented the printing press.
It was an alchemist that discovered the laws of gravity.
These are arguably 3 of the most revolutionary things that have ever altered human history. Yet ironically alchemy was flushed out for being superstitious and shifty.
Damn, Full metal alchemist was well researched
I was thinking the same thing. Gonna make it difficult for me to use alchemy as the basis of the magic system in a story I'm writing but make it stand out from Fullmetal.
5:07 Stop
Ed... ward... Let's... Play...
Jefferson Cafino big brother ed...
😭😭😭😭
TOO SOON
Grey1
NOT SOON ENOUGH.
Nina was an alchemist's daughter,
But Nina is no more;
When Scar saw what Tucker did,
He made her run into the floor.
2:30 aristotle
7:59 Jabbir Ibn Hayyan 721 born
Minerology
Medicine
7:40 medicine in india
8:30 Paracelstus 1493
9:55 Gutenberg
*edward elric is shook*
lol
FullMetal alchemist 😍
Actually this does help with some of the details as well as the connection to some of the characters.
go home
von hohenheim was a real person.
i'll be damned.
thanks for the FMA reference and not for the nina reference
5:06
I cannot be the only one thinking of Fullmetal Alchemist right now.
yeah
They hit the nail on the head with that graphic of little girl and dog standing on a magic circle.
oh your not .Im right there with ya lol
HARRY POTTER!
Hoenheim!
Poor Nina and Alexander
' - ' why?
Dude not cool
Tucker
@@jader4935 5:06
I shed a tear when I saw Nina & Alexander
Thanks for mentioning Isaac Newton. Ever since I read "Isaac Newton: The Last Sorcerer" I've been telling people about Newton's experiments in alchemy and how they affected his theories. It's rare to see anyone point out that alchemy positively influenced the development of science--even if alchemy itself was mostly nonsense.
Just another interesting alchemy story: Johann Böttger claimed to be able to make lead into gold. In 1701 he was incarcerated by the king of saxony for that claim; since the king was short on money Böttger should prove it. He tried to flee several times, but in the end managed to make porcelain (or at least aided in it; some claim Tschirnhaus, a contemporary and colleague of Böttger actually made it, and Tschirnhaus also was the one who had been researching on porcelain for a long time before). After confessing to the king that he was unable to make gold (another alchemist had been executed in Prussia for the false claim) and after Tschirnhaus' death, Böttger got a management position in the newly founded and soon to be famous porcelain manufactory in Meissen. In the end, he regained his full freedom after 13 years of incarceration.
So that's the story of Meissen procelain? Interesting
Edward Elric is still my favorite Alchemist in history
SophieHatterLeFay Mustang > Ed
And obviously my opinion is relevant because I’m commenting on a RUclips video
SophieHatterLeFay my fav is hohenheim, that mans history is unparalleled to any other
The Heavy Hitter Teacher didn’t get nearly enough screen time. Neither did HER teacher, come to think of it.
dude, after watching this, it is so cool how many real world historical elements were implemented in fmab. I gotta watch that anime again
Eli Estephan fmab is better than the original right? I got into alchemy so much because of that anime
About 35% of these comments are gonna be FMA jokes. It’s just a consequence of even mentioning alchemy. Anyway the ingredient to a philosopher’s stone is human souls there’s your reference, thank you.
Yes
I mean kinda of expected thought bubble to make reference to it considering how they refrenced video games before. Guessing they haven't watched it?
Dinonid123 How about Kinoko Nasu’s Fate/Stay Night? The Einzbern family practiced Alchemy and sometimes use homunculi as foot soldiers in the Holy Grail Wars.
Makes sense actually. I can do alchemy without a transmutation circle though
Dinonid123 u
I see Nina and Alexander. Well played Crash Course.... Well played.
Alchemy really is responsible for our modern scientific method. Also it was deffnitly studying the idea of things changing and how they act in the real world. there are plenty of books and novels on the subject.
I was hoping to see an FMA reference and I was not disappointed. But what was chosen=instant regret D: Super awesome video guys!
watching this made me really appreciate the work the writer for FMA. So much subtlety in her writing. Down to the Chinese wanting immortality(ling).
Guess I'm early, time to make an FMA joke about fusing a child and her dog together to make a chimera
Twitchy Eyebrows ;-;
Scara Dikov I see I have claimed my first victim.
The video already made the joke
That episode gave me chills and was literally afraid. Started wondering if i should be watching fma. Was 12 back then
ed-ward...
Alchemy. The home of scientific discovery.
Alchemists were smart. They found that nothing is what is seems. The difficulty of it all is that it's a combination of science and art. Those two things don't play well for most.
Alchemy begins with a study of nature and a replication of natures processes within the earths crust but in the microcosm of the alchemist flask using natural products derived from nature. Alchemy is the science of kings and incorporates mathematics, astrology, science, metallurgy, medicine, etc.
So weird how across cultures, alchemy was used as a tool to find some form of immortality and now, we have scientists trying to merge humans and robots. The driving force for all of our most complicated and impressive machines all stemmed from our persistance to preserve our mortality and overcome it. Interesting.
"Good thing today we have the internet to help everyone agree on scientific questions based on evidence...Right?" .....Hehe you funny host you. lol
How could you! How dare you bring up Nina and her dog! Why would you hurt us so! Also, Full Metal Alchemist really did it's homework with direct references to historical alchemy. Very impressed!
"We eat stuff that is not at all human"
You don't know me!
So... you're on the paleo diet?
Soylent Green is da best! Yum!
MegaZeroX7 we all digest ourselves to repair us...
MegaZeroX7 if you are what you eat does that make you the most human of us all?
Why don't you mention modern Alchemy. Every plutonium atom is transmuted from Uranium. In my field of semiconductor materials high purity silicon is exposed to neutrons to produce transmuted phosphorous which is evenly distributed throughout the ingot. (process known as Neutron Transmutation Doping or NTD). Alchemy lives.
I studied a bit about semiconductors a long time ago but only learned about this other doping method the other day, crazy stuff
Modern alchemy? You mean chemisty? And the examples you mentioned are basically atomic physics.
The alchemist goal of changing base metals to other metals is what I mean. This is happening in nuclear reactors today as I describe (although it is not base metals). This is why i described it as modern Alchemy.
Calling it alchemy doesn't make it alchemy.
It's like calling Astronomers "modern astrologers". It may have grown out of it, but has no relationship to it anymore except in a very superficial sense.
+G5rry In able for a field of science to develop, certain core truths of its predecessors have to be at least close to correct. A fetus and an adult human aren't the same thing, but a human is a developed fetus.
Lol the way he says "These nice people" in the credits exactly at the moment that 2 names drop away a bit earlier than the rest.
I heared someone talking about alchemy, so I came searching for some info about it, now I'm just fascinated by how much meat there is.
That's maybe why there is so much material in all its tales and mysticisms.
I’m over a year late but this is awesome. I must write that there is a side of alchemy though not called alchemy and you ever so lightly touched on it correlating another exact example of alchemy. The moon and Saturn makes perfect sense when you apply it objectively.
“The philosopher’s stone is a Universal Solvent” ...to those who have ears let them hear.
FMA reference 😀&😢 at the same time!
Minor correction, often when they referred to Mercury, Sulfur, and Salt, they were referring to the spirit, soul, and body of the substance. This is likely what they meant when they said that any element can be made by shoving mercury and sulfur together.
This vid is wrong about turning lead to gold. Alchemy in hermetic teachings refers to transmute an individual consciousness from asleep to enlightened through the process called dissolve and coagulate.
Yeah that would go wayyy over the head of this person. Alchemy is called the hermetic art for a reason. Anyone that wants to get a hint of what alchemy is really about should read the "Corpus Hermeticum". Also study Gnosticism as that is where the key lies.
Yesssss!!! Finally a comment about hermeticism
Hermeticism is only one school of thought in alchemy. Many alchemists, indeed, were strictly "scientists" in search of a method to turn base metals into gold.
Every time I think of alchemy, I think of one of my favorite children’s books, Eric P. Kelly’s “The Trumpeter of Krakow.” It won the Newbery Medal in 1929. Part of the storyline involves alchemy. BTW, you don’t have to be a child to enjoy this book!
This video was so short and alchemy has such a rich history. I want to hear more on specific topics, but it is what it is.
Quality content!
Thank you! This video helped confirm some suspensions I had about the Gen 7 Pokémon designs. This is exciting!
Anyone read that book called “the alchemist”?
I did
Yes interesting thoughts at best
Yeah, it was interesting and had some good thoughts, but a little too touchy-feely and idealistic for my tastes.
I love that book. A modern masterpiece.
It was world changing for me.
So many new words this episode. I can't wait to use them all in everyday conversation
Kinda disappointed that there was practically no mention of the spiritual aspect of alchemy and all attention was on the physical "turn lead into gold" stuff. There are several layers to this stuff and this video essentially saw the surface level and went "yep, that's it!".
you are a very nice human being, Hank. thanks for all your (and team) work
Most others are commenting about FMA (love that show too btw), but what popped into my mind when I saw this was the book “Mystic Marriage” 😅
This is the only good video on alchemy I could find-thanks!
Oh my god was that a reference to the MOST HEARTBREAKING little girl and dog in anime???
"Humankind cannot gain anything without first giving something in return. To obtain, something of equal value must be lost. That is alchemy's first law of Equivalent Exchange. In those days, we really believed that to be the world's one, and only truth."
8:37 *HOHENHEIM*
Edit: I'm studying alchemy because it's a interesting subject, and my grandmother says that it's witchcraft. Just like you said, it gets a bad rep. Just imagine the possibility of alchemy. Being able to shift, for example, atoms of co2 into oxygen, or hell, even H2o.
Is a shame that the only reference to Fullmetal Alchemist was the tiny animation of Nina and her dog.
It is a shame. But I learned that Hohenheim was named after a real person, and that alkahestry was a real alchemical concept. I had no idea that Fullmetal Alchemist referenced real world alchemy so much!
Sergio Bobillier How about Kinoko Nasu’s Fate/Stay Night? The Einzbern family practiced Alchemy and sometimes use homunculi as foot soldiers in the Holy Grail Wars.
actually, FMA author, Hiroshi Arakawa was very learned in alchemy matters, she liked to read about it when she was younger
Of course, the real philosophers' stone turned out to be the particle accelerator.
Why do you want the philosopher’s stone. Edward Elric : to get our bodies back
Hello there! "Decknamen" is actually a german compound (hehe) word.
Meaning "deck" as in to cover (something up) and "namen" as in... well, names.
So, Decknamen are "cover names". Words covering up their true meaning.
Also, I love your videos!
10:50
Moon and Saturn are Silver and lead
Silver and lead don't react with each other
But may be sulfur on silver can give some result
But still, I want some amazing reaction
And thanks to radioactivity, lead can turn into gold.
For not native english speaking individuals here is an advice: Slow down replay by .75 times as he is trying to get the world record of fastest speaking.
Beside of this: Thumbs up!
THAT'S WHERE VON HOHENHEIM'S NAME COMES FROM !!
Where?
ran siri 8:32
@@QuasarManiac thx
If you can remember, the Dwarf in the Flask actually suggests his name be Theophratus Bombastus at first before settling for Von Hohenheim.
Thank You for the wonderful subject and loved it.
Alchemy is a spiritual subject, example the human body
which consists of the Soul, Mind and Body which converts all that we eat to becomes Us and illnesses is the reaction where something has gone wrong with Us.
To me and my work, Alchemy is to find a universal cure for illnesses and to rejuvenate the body.
Cool video, but in the part where you mentioned about the Chinese Alchemy you said about the waidan, or pill of immortality, it's actually the 仙丹 which was pronounced sien dan (xiān dān in Chinese pinyin). And fun fact, while trying to produce that, the Chinese created gunpowder!
Alchemy comes from al-kimia (al = is arabic that means ‘the’ in english, and kimia = is a perisan word which means changing a substance to something more valuable)
I was hoping to hear about homunculi and the law of equilavent exchange
This reminded me of something my biology teacher told me as, sadly a way to mock me. When asked about a theoretical way to stop the death of a living thing she explained "That's simple. Simply stop oxidation"
This was really informative! But you missed a really important fundamental practice that coincides with alchemy AND has a lot to do with sorcery- Hermeticism.
If we take a look at the chakra system:
7 - 🌑 [Spirit]/[Conscious]
6 - Seeing/Visualizing
5 - Hearing/Speaking
|
4 - 🌍 [Heart]/[SubConscious]
|
3 - 🌞 [Soul]/[UnConscious]
2 - Positive
1 - Negative
It shows that we are capable of two energy motions in the stomach that produces feelings when applied to thoughts.
So when combining the two elements spirit and soul arises a new form in the subconscious.
If you're a lucid dreamer, you can apply alchemy much more accurately in the dream world a.k.a. the crossroads, a place that is neither here or there, betwixt and between.
The subconscious I imagine is the place we go when we dream.
It is symbolically represented to us in the form of an earth.
The sun being our soul, and the moon our spirit.
all the way to the fma reference in the corner i was thinking
"wow, fma is pretty close to real alchemy"
Awesome video. A friend of mine and I are writing a novel series together that deals heavily with alchemy and, while our books are more about the spiritual/esoteric aspects of the craft (and indeed, characters reference that the whole "turning metals into gold" thing is a metaphor for such deeper inner wisdom), this breakdown of what alchemy was said to physically do was really helpful to find while researching. Thanks!
@Goddess Ishtar Thanks!
@Goddess Ishtar Thanks, and of course, I was aware of that. It's one of the reasons why I'm drawn to alchemy, the fact that it sees the amazing in the world around us rather than relying on a particular organized, hierarchical religion or set of spiritual beliefs for a sense of sacredness and how we relate to it. As an eclectic Pagan, I think there's a middle ground: Yes, science can explain many things and should be heeded, but the idea that we humans, teeny-weeny creatures on this one planet in the middle of a universe amongst possibly many, will whittle down everything to physical explanations we'd understand seems quite presumptuous and arrogant to me. Not to mention I don't think we'll ever have the whole picture of anything until the scientific and spiritual communities stop seeing each other as foes and start working together again, which they once did, long ago. That's where and what alchemy is, at the crossroads of science and spirituality. But that's just my two cents. Blessed be. )O(
@Goddess Ishtar Thanks, and don't worry, I didn't take your comment that way at all. Take care yourself. :)
We cannot forget the most esteemed alchemist of all time: Edward Elric, the FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST 😤😤😤
And his father Paracelsus, i mean, Von Hoenheim
U crossed the gate to that world too ?
5:05 just has Nina and Alexander just ready to become a curse dog human
"Decknamen" is German for pseudonym.
"Pseudonym" is Latin for fake name.
Anthony Khodanian Deckname translates to cover name.
Greek, actually. Cover name is a bit literal (never heard anyone use it in English) but not wrong per se.
I'm German and that's not true. Deckname is a name for usually someone whose true identity needs to be hidden.
@@Julika7 u mean pseudoname?
Fullmetal alchemist is correct, you need something of equal value to change one thing to another thing, equivalent exchange, and deconstruction and reconstruction to be able to make something different. For example, to make wooden axe, you just need a piece of wood large enough and there you go, a wooden axe.
The problem of alchemy was that there were no means of analysing your experiments. It's like writing blind. Moreover, if you produced something and wrote down what you did, it would still be a mystery, since most compounds didn't have proper names. For instance, if someone managed to isolate platinum, he wouldn't have called it like that, but most likely something with silver in its name...
You guys know this is all metaphor right. The soul is sulfer Mercury is the spirit and salt is the body. Once you know that and it's all metaphor and symbolism. Not about metals lol it's amazing
LOL at the little elon with hank at the end! i wonder if crash course could ever get elon on a video
Theophrastus bombastus... “that’s too long” “oh right you aren’t very smart, how about von Hohenheim”
You need pure souls for a philosopher's stone
I like how Hank apparently left the set halfway through the video to get a haircut, then grew it all back by the end of the video.
You're missing the psychological aspect of alchemy outlined in Mysterium Coniunctionis by Jung.
And the basis philosophy behind alchemy, hermeticism
I only studied alchemy because of Fullmetal Alchemist:Brotherhood and I do not regret it.
The video states that Gutenberg was born in 1468. This is the year of his death. He developed his method of printing was developed in the 1450s.
+
They also called him "Gutenburg" (This mistake happens often in English, but the two words aren't a variation of the same thing, they have completely different meanings. "Burg" means castle/fortress, "Berg" means mountain/hill)
pretty embarassing, yeah
One must never forget Henning Brand, who tried to get gold out of distilled urine and accidentally discovered elemental phosphorus.
I remember reading the Wikipedia entry of alchemy years ago and finding that Chinese alchemy was focused on producing cheese. The first few paragraphs sounded sort of plausible, but then it descended into total nonsense and eventually just repeated the line "CHEESE Cheese CHEESE CHEESE cheese CHEESE CHEESE cheese CHEESE!!!"
Sheogorath approves.
Sheogorath approves.
Alchemy, or the philosophical way of thinking about what is stuff. If you ask me that's what differentiate humans from animals.
BTW, if you guys do Cathedrals, how about some Art History someday ? I'm sure you could do a Crash Course on that
you don't realize how accurate FMA is until you watch this xD
10:50
it means we have to blow wind while mixing lead and silver
I see that subtle reference to Nina, thought bubble.
So dense in knowledge. Bravo
I'm just here for all the anime related comments
To get comments, you must also share them. That is equivalent exchange.
@@BeeMusic2024 but what if the hard work you give doesnt pay off?
I’m loving the backdrop right now
Notice how he skipped over that alchemy could also mean "Black science" as in science created by the Black people of ancient Kemet (Egypt), to wit, its original spelling, "al-kemy" - science from Black Kemet?
He knows this point of view but refused to say it.
Why, oh, why? * blank stare *
Thank God for Robert Bauval and Thomas Brophy setting the historical records straight concerning the genetic blackness of ancient Kemet.
Even so, good and informative video.
Kudos!
since “gibberish” did pop up in this video, it’s a bummer that the etymological connection wasn’t explicitly made to the writings of Jabir/Gerber. 😢 always one of my favorite alchemical fun facts.
Wow. Turns out edward elric's father was the most succesful alchemist in histort.
KL2 KLAMPGODS But still a sh** father.
And the father of Allopathic medicine.
As a Mason the philosopher stone refers to our inner stone being
Calcificaron (calcium build up) in our pineal gland
When a mason reaches his transmutation as a alchemist to turn his stone perfect them he can attain the joyfulness of utilizing his pineal glad (third eye) and thus become enlightened reaching a cristification
Karlo Luebbert Third Eye Blind!
Seriously, what is the relationship between Complexly and PBS Digital Studios? Did PBSDS pick up a few Complexly Channels as a part of a network? I need to know!
Gravijta my guess is that PBS Digital Studios has the ability to provide grants to digital creators and a team focused on distributing those grants.
Why? Well thats what PBS does, right? Provide grants.
Hi! PBSDS Funds two series a year of Crash Course right now while the other 2 (give or take) are funded by Complexly or through some other partnership. This year, PBSDS is funding Theater and Engineering. There's a lot baked into working with PBSDS and they're wonderful people who share our love of education.
- Nick J.
Thanks Nick! I can finally stop scratching my head. :)
Sulfur =sulfur /soul/oil and salt is body while mercury =alcohol/spirit/mercury