A
medieval student of that form of
magick or
science known as
alchemy. The
alchemists believed in a
connection between the
refinement of
metals and the
refinement of the
mind or
soul. Hence, it is
difficult, when reading their
works, to determine whether they are actually talking about
chemical processes being carried out in a
laboratory, or in
magickal
rituals.
Alchemy may be fairly considered the ancestor to chemistry, just as ancient astrology was to astronomy. Alchemy, however, is also an ancestor of a good deal of Enlightenment-era and modern mysticism, including Hermeticism and Rosicrucianism.