Azoth was considered to be a universal medication or universal solvent, and was sought for in
alchemy
Alchemy (from Arabic: ''al-kīmiyā''; from Ancient Greek: χυμεία, ''khumeía'') is an ancient branch of natural philosophy, a philosophical and protoscientific tradition that was historically practiced in China, India, the Muslim world, ...
.
Similar to another alchemical idealized substance,
alkahest
In Renaissance alchemy, alkahest was the theorized "universal solvent". It was supposed to be capable of dissolving any other substance, including gold, without altering or destroying its fundamental components.
Among its philosophical and sp ...
, azoth was the aim, goal and vision of many alchemical works. Its symbol was the
Caduceus. The term, while originally a term for an occult formula sought by alchemists much like the
philosopher's stone
The philosopher's stone or more properly philosophers' stone (Arabic: حجر الفلاسفة, , la, lapis philosophorum), is a mythic alchemical substance capable of turning base metals such as mercury into gold (, from the Greek , "gold", ...
, became a poetic word for the element
mercury. The name is
Medieval Latin
Medieval Latin was the form of Literary Latin used in Roman Catholic Western Europe during the Middle Ages. In this region it served as the primary written language, though local languages were also written to varying degrees. Latin functione ...
, an alteration of ''azoc'', being originally derived from the Arabic ''al-zā'būq'' "the mercury,"
even if it is a common misconception of the era to link azoth as mercury alone rather than the addition of mercury, salt and sulfur when it comes to the senses and symbols.
Basis
Azoth was believed to be the essential agent of transformation in alchemy. It is the name given by ancient alchemists to mercury, the animating spirit hidden in all matter that makes transmutation possible. The word occurs in the writings of many early alchemists, such as
Zosimos,
Mary the Jewess
Mary or Maria the Jewess ( la, Maria Hebraea), also known as Mary the Prophetess ( la, Maria Prophetissa) or Maria the Copt ( ar, مارية القبطية, Māriyya al-Qibṭiyya), was an early alchemist known from the works of Zosimos of Panop ...
,
Olympiodorus, and
Jābir ibn Hayyān
Abū Mūsā Jābir ibn Ḥayyān (Arabic: , variously called al-Ṣūfī, al-Azdī, al-Kūfī, or al-Ṭūsī), died 806−816, is the purported author of an enormous number and variety of works in Arabic, often called the Jabirian corpus. The ...
(Geber).
In texts
The Azoth is related to the
Ain Soph (ultimate substance) of the
Kabbalah
Kabbalah ( he, קַבָּלָה ''Qabbālā'', literally "reception, tradition") is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ( ''Məqūbbāl'' "receiver"). The defin ...
. In his book ''The Secret Teachings of All Ages''
Manly P. Hall
Manly Palmer Hall (18 March 1901 – 29 August 1990) was a Canadian author, lecturer, astrologer and mystic. Over his 70-year career he gave thousands of lectures and published over 150 volumes, of which the best known is ''The Secret T ...
explained this connection:
The universe is surrounded by the sphere of light or stars. Beyond that sphere is Schamayim (שמים), the Hebrew word for 'heaven', who is the Divine Fiery Water, the first outflow of the Word of God, the flaming river pouring from the presence of the eternal mind. Schamayim, who is this fiery Androgyne
Androgyny is the possession of both masculine and feminine characteristics. Androgyny may be expressed with regard to biological sex, gender identity, or gender expression.
When ''androgyny'' refers to mixed biological sex characteristics in h ...
, divides. His Fire becomes Solar fire and his Water becomes Lunar water in our universe. Schamayim is the Universal Mercury or Azoth—the measureless spirit of life. That original spiritual fiery water comes through Edem ("vapor" in Hebrew) and pours itself into the four main rivers of the four Elements. This comprises the River of Living Water—the Azoth—or fiery mercurial essence, that flows out from the throne of God and Lamb. In this Edem (vaporous essence or mist) is the first or spiritual Earth, the incomprehensible and intangible dust out of which God formed Adam Kadmon, the spiritual body of man, which must become fully revealed through time.
In his book ''Transcendental Magic'',
Eliphas Levi Eliphaz is one of Esau's sons in the Bible.
Eliphaz or Eliphas is also the given name of:
* Eliphaz (Job), another person in the Bible
* Eliphaz Dow (1705-1755), the first male executed in New Hampshire, for murder
* Eliphaz Fay (1797–1854), fo ...
wrote:
The Azoth or Universal Medicine is, for the soul, supreme reason and absolute justice; for the mind, it is mathematical and practical truth; for the body it is the quintessence, which is a combination of gold and light. In the superior or spiritual world, it is the First Matter of the Great Work, the source of the enthusiasm and activity of the alchemist. In the intermediate or mental world, it is intelligence and industry. In the inferior or material world, it is physical labor. Sulfur, Mercury, and Salt, which, volatilized and fixed alternately, compose the Azoth of the sages. Sulfur corresponds to the elementary form of Fire, Mercury to Air and Water, Salt to Earth.
Life and the universe
![Fotothek df tg 0008248 Theosophie ^ Alchemie ^ Hermetik](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f6/Fotothek_df_tg_0008248_Theosophie_%5E_Alchemie_%5E_Hermetik.jpg)
Believed to be the Universal Solvent, Universal Cure, and Elixir of Life (elixir vitae), the Azoth is said to embody all medicines, as well as the first principles of all other substances. In late-16th-century
Paracelsianism
Paracelsianism (also Paracelsism; German: ') was an early modern medical movement based on the theories and therapies of Paracelsus.
It developed in the second half of the 16th century, during the decades following Paracelsus' death in 1541, an ...
,
Paracelsus (d. 1541) was said to have achieved the Azoth, and in the "Rosicrucian" portrait of 1567 the pommel of his sword bears the inscription ''Azoth''.
The first part of the pseudo-Paracelsian ''
Archidoxis magica'' (first printed in 1591) bears the title ''Liber Azoth'', containing various magic
sigils
A sigil () is a type of symbol used in magic. The term has usually referred to a pictorial signature of a deity or spirit. In modern usage, especially in the context of chaos magic, sigil refers to a symbolic representation of the practitione ...
and recipes intended to protect against illnesses and injuries.
The Azoth is believed to be the animating energy (spiritus animatus) of the body, and the inspiration and enthusiasm that moves the mind. The Azoth is believed to be the mysterious evolutionary force responsible for the drive towards physical and spiritual perfection. Thus, the concept of the Azoth is analogous to the light of nature or mind of God.
Because the Azoth is believed to contain the complete information of the whole universe, it is also used as another word for the Philosopher's Stone. One of the hints for the theoretical preparation of the Stone is ''Ignis et Azoth tibi sufficiunt'' ("Fire and Azoth are sufficient"). There are scores of esoteric drawings depicting the Azoth and how it is used in the Great Work of alchemy. Examples include the ''Azoth of the Philosophers'' by
Basil Valentine
Basil Valentine is the Anglicised version of the name Basilius Valentinus, ostensibly a 15th-century alchemist, possibly Canon of the Benedictine Priory of Saint Peter in Erfurt, Germany but more likely a pseudonym used by one or several 16th-c ...
and the ''
Hieroglyphic Monad'' of
Dr. John Dee
John Dee (13 July 1527 – 1608 or 1609) was an English mathematician, astronomer, astrologer, teacher, occultist, and alchemist. He was the court astronomer for, and advisor to, Elizabeth I, and spent much of his time on alchemy, divination, a ...
.
The term was considered by occultist
Aleister Crowley
Aleister Crowley (; born Edward Alexander Crowley; 12 October 1875 – 1 December 1947) was an English occultist, ceremonial magician, poet, painter, novelist, and mountaineer. He founded the religion of Thelema, identifying himself as the pr ...
to represent a unity of beginning and ending by tying together the first and last letters of the alphabets of antiquity;
A/
𐤀 (Aleph, the first character in the Phoenician alphabet),
Z (Zeta, the final character in Latin), O/
Ω (Omega, the final character in Greek) and Th/
ת (Tav, pronounced "Tau", the final character in Hebrew). In this way permeation and totality of beginning and end symbolized the supreme wholeness and the universal
synthesis of opposites as a 'cancellation' (i.e. solvent) or 'cohesion' (i.e. medicine), and in such a way is believed to be similar to the philosophical "
absolute" of
Hegel's
dialectic. Crowley further made reference in his works referring to Azoth as "''the'' fluid", calling it the universal solvent or universal medicine of the medieval alchemical philosophers, as a unifier or unification of a certain extreme instance beholden to a contradict, unreconcilable nature if otherwise sought apart of the philosophical ideal of Azoth.
See also
*
Anima mundi
*
Panacea (medicine)
A panacea , named after the Greek goddess of universal remedy Panacea, is any supposed remedy that is claimed (for example) to cure all diseases and prolong life indefinitely. It was in the past sought by alchemists in connection with the elixi ...
*
Prima materia
*
Viriditas Viriditas (Latin, literally "greenness," formerly translated as "viridity") is a word meaning vitality, fecundity, lushness, verdure, or growth. It is particularly associated with abbess Hildegard von Bingen, who used it to refer to or symbolize s ...
References
*
External links
Interpretation of Azoth of the Philosophers(by Dennis William Hauck)
an
a
azothalchemy.org
{{Alchemy
Alchemical substances
Mythological medicines and drugs