Modern Alchemy

July 26th, 2023

Each name immediately lights up my mind and curiosity — John Dee, Isaac Newton, Robert Fludd, Edward Kelley, Nicolas Flamel, Heinrich Agrippa — and so many others to go along with. I think I know more about the famous (and infamous) alchemists of the XV to XVII centuries than about the historical figures who at the same time shaped the beginning of the modern era from political and social and philosophical and religious standpoints. The secrecy of the occult mysteries of alchemy has a strong hold on my interests and it is very useful for my imagination. The stories of the struggle to unlock the secrets of nature and successes (albeit in different fields) and abject failures are fascinating. It is too bad that it is only a niche and hermetic interest nowadays…

But still, I find the magic of alchemy in current times. For me, the creation of music is nothing short of magic done by skilled practitioners who unlock deep secrets from their psyche and transmuted them into something tangible that speaks to our deepest inner soul. What kind of magic is the ability to transliterate notes into sounds? Or what kind of magic is translating the notes which were arranged in the silence of the mind into sounds and harmonies and rhythm? Or how to explain the ability to take a shaped piece of wood, a piece of brass, or a piece of plastic and use it to make sounds by blowing at it or by plucking the strings, or hitting the keys (or drums)? This is true alchemy — the creation of gold (or philosophers' stone) from rudimentary elements and tools that, without magic (and skill), are just dumb utensils. Creating and achieving harmonious sounds from the silence is beyond my comprehension, but I am not even jealous — I just enjoy the fruits of the magical creation of music.