thumb|A table of alchemical symbols from [[Basil Valentine's The Last Will and Testament, 1670|alt=A table of alchemical symbols from Basil Valentine's The Last Will and Testament, 1670]]

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Alchemical symbols were used to denote chemical elements and compounds, as well as alchemical apparatus and processes, until the 18th century. Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Lüdy-Tenger published an inventory of 3,695 symbols and variants, and that was not exhaustive, omitting for example many of the symbols used by Isaac Newton. This page therefore lists only the most common symbols.

Three primes

According to Paracelsus (1493–1541), the three primes or tria prima – of which material substances are immediately composed – are:

  • Sulfur or soul, the principle of combustibility: <big>🜍</big> (24px|class=skin-invert-image)
  • Mercury or spirit, the principle of fusibility and volatility: <big>☿</big> (24px|class=skin-invert-image)
  • Salt or body, the principle of non-combustibility and non-volatility: <big>🜔</big> (24px|class=skin-invert-image)

Four basic elements

Western alchemy makes use of the four classical elements. The symbols used for these are:

  • Air <big>🜁</big> (24px|class=skin-invert-image)
  • Earth <big>🜃</big> (24px|class=skin-invert-image)
  • Fire <big>🜂</big> (24px|class=skin-invert-image)
  • Water <big>🜄</big> (24px|class=skin-invert-image)

Seven

thumb|The shield in the coat of arms of the [[Royal Society of Chemistry, with the seven planetary-metal symbols]]

The seven metals known since Classical times in Europe<!--Americans also knew of platinum, but Europeans didn't discover that was a distinct metal until the 18th c.--> were associated with the seven classical planets; this figured heavily in alchemical symbolism. The exact correlation varied over time, and in early centuries bronze or electrum were sometimes found instead of mercury, or copper for Mars instead of iron; however, gold, silver, and lead had always been associated with the Sun, Moon, and Saturn.