Course Five: Spectrum, Part 1 247
through a porous membrane (the filter).
Flask: A small, bottle-shaped container with
a narrow neck. Cone-shaped ones are
called Erlenmeyer flasks.
Homunculus: A miniature artificial man.
Liquefaction: Turning a solid substance
into a liquid.
Metallurgy: The science of metal-working and cre-
ation of alloys.
Nigredo (“black stuff”): The stage in the alchemical
process when the material has been broken down
into a black residue, called “first matter.” The
nigredo was considered to be the “corpse” of the
original material.
Noble Gases: Rare elemental gases that do not react
with other elements, such as helium, neon, and
radon.
Noble Metals: Rare metals which do not react with
others, or oxidize, such as silver, gold, and plati-
num.
Oxidation: Uniting with oxygen, as in burning or rust-
ing.
Periodic Table: A chart of all of the atomic elements,
organized in order of their atomic weights and other
properties.
Philosopher’s Egg (also called Aludel): A
spherical glass or ceramic bottle used
to create the Philosopher’s Stone.
Philosopher’s Stone: A substance that
has the catalytic power to effect trans-
mutation of other substances.
Precipitation: Allowing the solids in a sus-
pension to settle on the bottom of the container.
Reduction: Bringing a substance into the metallic state
by removing all non-metallic elements—particu-
larly oxygen.
Residue: The solid matter remaining at the
completion of a process, such as evapo-
ration, combustion, filtration, etc.
Retort: A spherical container
with a long tube, used in
distilling.
Solution: A liquid into which
other liquid, gaseous, or solid materials have been
evenly dissolved.
Still: A distilling appara-
tus with containers,
coils, and tubes for
boiling and evaporat-
ing liquid, then con-
densing the pure fluid.
Suspension: A liquid into
which fine particles of
solid materials are
mixed but not dissolved.
Transmutation: Changing one substance into another—
especially pure elements.Alchemist at his AthenorLesson 4: Your Alchemical Laboratory
Alchemy was the major occupation (and obsession!)
of most Wizards throughout the Middle Ages and Re-
naissance times, and many of the old books and writ-
ings of Wizardry came out of those studies. Alchemy
gave rise to modern chemistry, and those arcane
magickal laboratories were the ancestors of all the mod-
ern chemistry and pharmaceutical labs. You probably
don’t have room for a full-scale alchemical laboratory
in your home, but it can be worthwhile to have some
basic equipment you can set up when you feel like
doing some experiments.Chemistry set—There are several excellent chem-
istry sets available, from very simple to extremely elabo-
rate. These are sold at science and education stores
and over the Internet. Check some out and get a sense
of what you’d like, and put one on your list for your
next birthday or Christmas! Your set should contain
all the chemicals you will need for the alchemistry
magick below. Extra test tubes and glassware are readily
available from the same stores, or at chemical supply
houses. If you can’t get hold of a real chemistry set,
you can still do a lot of cool alchemical experiments in
chemistry classes at school—as well as get guidance
and instruction—and you might even be able to get
some basic equipment through the class.Microscope—Most chemistry sets include a micro-
scope, but if the one you get doesn’t have one, youRETORTFLASKPHILOSO-
PHER’S EGG- Spectrum 1.p65 247 1/15/2004, 9:15 AM