Alchemy was the genetic modification of the past. Alchemists were respected scientists before the term existed, with its roots going back more than 2,000 years ago in Egypt, India, Asia and the Islamic world, and finally being introduced to Europe during the 12th century. Since many of the early alchemical texts have been lost to centuries of war and burning, what remains are many of the European texts from the 15th to 18th centuries. In them, alchemists created diagrams of their philosophies and practices that are so strange and surreal that it’s hard to remember that this was a serious scientific practice. Check out some of the weird imagery they used to demonstrate alchemy’s mystic purposes below…
