alchemy symbols

As well as the obvious symbols of Water, Fire, Earth and Air, known as the elemental symbols of alchemy, there are many others which I am going to cover in this essay.

The metal antimony symbolizes the animal nature or wild spirit of man and nature, and it was often symbolized by the wolf. The symbol for this metal is broken into three parts and put together into one full symbol which is widely recognised:



Arsenic was widely used by early alchemists and was also sometimes represented by the image of a swan. It has been known by six different symbols which have come into one:



Copper is one of the seven metals of alchemy (gold, silver, mercury, copper, lead, iron & tin).



Gold is another one of the seven metals of alchemy. For the alchemist, it represented the perfection of all matter on any level, including that of the mind, spirit, and soul. The symbol for gold could also be used to represent the sun in astrology.



Another one of the seven metals of alchemy is iron. The symbol for iron could also be used to represent the planet Mars in astrology.



Lead is the first and oldest of the seven metals of alchemy The symbol for lead was also used to represent the planet Saturn in astrology.



The symbol for silver, another one of the seven, is also associated with the moon in astrology.



Tin is symbolised and can be used to represent the planet Jupiter in astrology.



Zinc is the Philosophers' wool, or nix alba (white snow). zinc oxide made by burning zinc in air. It has 5 different symbols but the main known one is below:



The Visual Elements Periodic Table uses alchemical symbols to represent several of the elements. There is often more than one symbol for each of the elements, though I have covered the main symbol known for each of the elements

source:
http://chemistry.about.com/od/alchemicalsymbols/a/alchemyindex.htm