Alchemy

A combination of chemical and physical science with magical practices, typically at a time when science had not yet been established as a separate system (with its own codes, or rules, about "true" and "false").

Alchemists strove to find the philosopher's stone, which was thought to convert base metals into gold, the highest form of inanimate matter (cp. "Great Chain of Being"). Many monarchs employed alchemists with an eye to the wealth and power that their endeavours might earn. However, alchemy was also a spiritual quest since only the wise and pure of heart were said to succeed in finding the philosopher's stone (Hopkins 25). The paradox is explored in Ben Jonson's play, The Alchemist, where some charlatans claim that their poor lifestyle is deliberate and that they can make their "customers" very rich.

Source

• Hopkins, Lisa and Matthew Steggle. Renaissance Literature and Culture. London: Continuum, 2006.