Intersexuality - Introduction

Historical Footnotes - Alchemy

Alchemy, widely practiced in the Middle Ages, was a prescientific enterprise combining chemistry, physics, metallurgy, medicine, astrology, mysticism, and religion. Alchemists experimented in their often secret laboratories trying to find “the philosopher’s stone”, i.e. a stone or material that could turn any metal into silver or gold and could also produce an “elixir of life”, i.e. a drink of immortality. 

Many alchemist writings also have a metaphorical character, i.e. behind the literal meaning of the texts (transforming metals, brewing elixirs) there is often a hidden spiritual meaning, a “spiritual alchemy”. The old illustration on the left is a typical example. It shows the figure of an androgyne (from gr. andros: male and gyne: female). Without going into every mysterious detail depicted here, one clearly recognizes a double-sexed person with the sun (lat. sol), the symbol of gold, on one side and the moon (lat. luna), the symbol of silver, on the other. This person represents the perfect balance between heart and mind. The figure stands astride a winged dragon, representing the human passions having become spiritualized. The dragon, in turn, sits on a winged globe – the soul which has become enlightened, etc. The whole picture thus uses alchemist symbols to illustrate a spiritual journey to perfection. Part of this perfection is the blending of male and female elements.