Tomb at back of Geghard Monastery complex in Armenia.
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BrĂŒnnhilde the cat, dressed as a wing helmeted goddess by photographer Adolph E. Weidhass, 1936.
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Oswald Kroll - Hermetischer Probier Stein, 1649.Â
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Athanasius Kircher - Sigils of False Alchemists, âMundus Subterraneusâ, 1665.
With the potential for wealth in the creation of gold, alchemy attracted many charlatans and frauds. Itâs relatively easy to identify alchemic swindlers from genuine alchemists by their eagerness to share their finds and nomadic lifestyles. True alchemists encoded their secrets with mysterious symbols and concealed their discoveries; they also spent months, years, or even a lifetime in their laboratories performing lengthy experiments. Fake alchemists readily expounded their knowledge of the âPhilosopherâs Stoneâ or a rapid method of producing gold. These charlatans commended themselves to a wealthy gentleman, like a prince or priest, using their employerâs avarice to satisfy their own. Typically, the âalchemistâ would perform a demonstration that rigged beforehand. Common practices included placing a piece of silver or gold inside of a hollow stirring rod or inside of a piece of charcoal concealed with black wax. The fraud would mix mercury and some magical ingredient in a crucible and gradually heat up the mixture. At a high temperature the mercury evaporated and the wax melted away, leaving the placed bit of silver or gold inside the crucible. After demonstrations like these, many fraudulent alchemists received payment for their ârecipeâ or sold large amounts of components necessary to âcreateâ the precious metal. As soon as they were paid, the swindlers conveniently disappeared. Another common deception was to take a nail that was half iron and half gold and paint over the gold side with black paint. The âalchemistâ would then dip the nail into a solution that removed the paint. Any tests on the nail would prove that the gold was genuine.
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Joannes Regiomontanus - Laudem Operis Calendarij, 1485.
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1 : "Never ending Cosmos" / F.W.Stumpfi 1979
2 : "Split" / F.W.Stumpfi 1979
3 : "Infected by Chaos" / F.W.Stumpfi 1988
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