The Great Art, Our Sacred Philosophy, the Divine Work, Ars Chemica — these terms surround the occult (some would say sacred) science art of alchemy. But what was, or is, alchemy?

Popular conception remembers alchemy as medieval proto-chemistry — a pseudo-science that sought to transmute base metals (e.g., lead) into gold. While many alchemists pursued that goal (if only to pay the bills), the art itself concentrates on perfection of all kinds — material, mental, scientific and finally spiritual. The transmutation of lead into gold is merely the symbol for the best alchemists’ true goal: transformation of a mortal man into an immortal god.

As it’s practiced in the West, alchemy is the epitome of the Hermetic tradition, the mystic discipline that draws gether the myths of Egypt, Greece and Rome, mingles them with Biblical traditions and adds elements of the Kabbalah and Qur’an. Like the worm Uroboros, alchemy is endless, circular and symbolic. It defies description because, by nature, the practice ideally defies limitation. Alchemy crosses the borders between art and science, between spiritual discipline and scientific practice; it crosses Asia Minor and Europe, and has been practiced for over 2,000 years.

The key to — and often the aim of — Western alchemy is the Philosopher’s Stone, sometimes called simply the Stone. Like the art itself, this rarefied material is a paradox; some alchemists claim it’s an actual stone, others deny the claim. The Stone has been described as a tincture, an elixir, a wax, a powder and, of course, a brilliant stone. In any case, it is this material (often sought but rarely gained) that transmutes lead into gold, cures disease and grants immortality.

The alchemical art brings nature to perfection. Prima Materia — the primal material — is the base substance that is turned, through a variety of processes, into the Stone. Naturally, alchemists disagree on the Prima Materia, too; some believe that it should be a truly base material - dog droppings, bones, blood, etc. — while others argue that the Prima Materia itself is a supernatural substance. Part of the alchemical process involves experimenting with a variety of substances, observing the paths that ideally lead to the Philosopher’s Stone. Once the alchemist chooses a substance for his experiments, he must determine a process toward perfection.

The first step usually involves putrefaction, which culminates in nigredo (the black stage), when the substance is dead, or has been reduced to its first matter. The substance is then reborn in The Peacock’s Tail, a stage of many colors, followed by albedo (the whitening), when a white elixir forms. Ideally, the process concludes with rubedo, when the substance becomes a red tincture, elixir or powder: the Philosopher’s Stone.

The Great Work is not learned easily. True, there are many works in print that claim to detail the secrets of alchemy, but these are often analogical reflections, not “instruction manuals.” To understand anything beyond the most basic symbols of the art, an alchemist can spend literally lifetimes in study. The best sources of alchemical knowledge are personal experimentation, apprenticeship to a senior alchemist, or “revelation,” a collection of dreams and visions that unlock the symbols and confer — one hopes — the power of understanding.

In game terms, the Alchemy Path allows you to synthesize various powders, potions and other concoctions, or to enhance some existing material to unusual potency. Alchemy doesn’t create “magic items”; rather, it brings out the item’s innate powers, strengthens them and combines them with other enhanced properties.

Alchemical workings depend on the proper tools, environment and preparation. You can’t just fire off a spell if Alchemy is your calling; while items may be prepared ahead of time and carried along, creating new enhancements take both time and workspace. Preparing a material or concoction may take days or weeks, depending on what it is and what it does. For systems’ sake, assume that it takes one or two days to prepare materials of Path Levels One and Two, and one week per Path level for higher-level concoctions.

Minor substances can be created, such as simple poisons, tranquilizers, anesthetics or even stimulants — nothing that’s obviously “magical” or “supernatural,” but simply extra-potent versions of normal materials.

• A liquid that, when imbibed, removes minor Health Level penalties (through Injured) until the individual is wounded again or heals.
• A powder that, when combined with an alcoholic beverage, allows a person to recover instantly from a drunken stupor.
• A mirror that cannot be chipped or smashed.

More powerful versions of Level One materials. At this stage, you might also open the doors to a person’s mystic insight, granting dreams or visions to whoever consumes your concoction.

• A liquid that allows the drinker to go for an entire week with only one hour’s sleep per night.
• A powder that grants a vision to whoever eats it; this vision is always clothed in symbolic language, and may either portend future events or show previously unknown aspects of a current situation.
• A blade with an ultra-keen edge, one that never needs to be resharpened.

At this level, you can create items that have some obviously supernatural effects, or enhance existing materials to unearthly levels.

• A potion that imbues the drinker with a low dot power of a psychic Numina for one scene (or one hour).
• A dust that reveals hidden, disguised or invisible things for what they truly are.
• A small weapon (a knife, a handful of bullets) may be altered so that it inflicts aggravated damage.

Stronger versions of the previous creations may be made, and concoctions that enhance a person’s Attributes (by one or two dots only) may be brewed.

• A drought of this potion raises the drinker’s Physical Attributes by one each for an hour or so.
• A salve that, when applied to the eyes, grant the user the ability to see into the Shadowlands for one night.
• A bullet that bursts into flames when fired. This projectile inflicts an extra two dice worth of fire damage and ignites flammable items whenever it lands.

You may, given time, brew substances that stimulate the supernatural abilities of other denizens of the hidden world — vampire Disciplines, werewolf Gifts, etc. — from the first through the third level, or create concoctions that duplicate those creatures’ innate powers (regeneration, stepping sideways, even frenzy.) Obviously, these elixirs require samples from the creature in question - ground vampire fang, werewolf dung, etc. — and often carry nasty side effects like blood-thirst and a hair-trigger temper. These droughts duplicate only one specific effect (Aura Perception as opposed to Auspex as a whole), and last for one day or less.

• A regenerative powder that, when consumed, allows the user to heal damage slowly (one level every other tum) for the duration of a story. As a side effect, the drinker sweats heavily and smells like a caged beast.
• An elixir (requiring at least five Blood Points of vampire vitae) that simulates three dots in Potence for three hours. Sadly, this magical fluid creates a ravening hunger; for a day and a night, the drinker eats whatever food might be nearby.
• An amulet that protects the wearer from physical vampire attacks. The Kindred might employ Dominate, Auspex or some other “long range” Discipline against the protected one, but may not touch her so long as she wears the amulet. As a side effect, the wearer feels cold whenever she’s wearing the amulet.