From: Leigh@alexandria.com (Leigh Daniels)
Subject: Re: a question about alchemy...
Date: Thu, 14 Oct 1993 21:54:11 -0400

oispeggy@ubvms.cc.buffalo.edu (Peggy Brown) writes:
> When doing chemistry my understanding is that people just follow a
> recipe and add X, Y, and Z then STIR, HEAT, SHAKE for 2 minutes and
> SERVE on a CHILLED plate - exactly according to directions.

> Now is alchemy the same way or must the mage also make a wish that
> chemicals will mix and/or behave in a way different than ordinary?

Alchemy seems to be governed by a macrocosmic uncertainty
principle. You can follow the recipe (assuming you have decoded it
correctly in the first place) and still not get the result. It depends
a lot on your inner state. Also, some substances can be affected by
the presence of people other than the alchemist in the laboratory.

It also seems that proportions are different for different people, so
you can only use someone else's recipe as a starting point.

Wishing (or visualisation and invocation) can sometimes be effective,
but again it is hit-or-miss. The slow pace seems to be an essential
part of how it develops you spiritually.

> One could ask how much is art and how much is science, but that
> leaves too much room for obfuscating under the bed as alchemists are
> prone to do, so please answer according to the intent of how I asked
> it.

I think it needs both art and science. The science provides the
technical foundations that let you work efficiently and safely. The
art provides the spiritual dimension, the macrocosmic uncertainty
effect of the alchemist on what is being created.

**Leigh