Alchemists distinguished between ordinary ("vulgar" or "common/dead") materials and their "philosophical" or "living" counterparts. This distinction applied to metals, including lead, and reflected the belief that substances possessed both physical and spiritual (or vital) aspects. The alchemist's task was to elevate the base or "dead" form through purification and transformation toward perfection (often symbolized by gold).
- Vulgar (or Dead) Lead: This refers to ordinary, unrefined lead as encountered in nature or commerce (e.g., mined or commercial lead). It was considered "dead" or inert in its raw state—impure, closed off from higher transformative potential, and unsuitable for the Great Work without preparation. Historical texts explicitly contrast "vulgar lead" with the true philosophical matter.
- Living Lead: This denotes a prepared or philosophically animated form of lead (sometimes starting from sources like galena/lead sulfide). It was seen as retaining or acquiring vitality, spiritual openness, or "seed" potential, making it receptive to alchemical operations. References appear in practical alchemy instructions, where "living lead" is processed (e.g., roasted to oxide, then turned into acetate) to yield philosophical mercury or other active principles.
A representative quote from an 18th-century alchemical catechism illustrates the broader principle. In his 1766 Alchemical Catechism, Théodore Henri de Tschudi suggested that the usage of the metals was symbolic:
"When the Philosophers speak of gold and silver... are we to suppose that they refer to the vulgar gold and silver? By no means; vulgar silver and gold are dead, while those of the Philosophers are full of life."
Broader Context
This framework fits alchemy's view of metals as living, growing entities evolving toward perfection under planetary influences (lead associated with Saturn). The terms emphasize spiritual refinement over mere chemical processing, though practical lab work often accompanied the symbolism.
"Avicenna speaks in the chapter on moisture, saying that the body of moisture first settles upon the mountains. The ancient philosophers also taught that moisture spreads through the earth and flows into the depths of the sea and the rivers. From this arise vapors and winds which ascend into the air. These vapors gather and return again to the earth, nourishing all things. Thus the King of the Earth receives power and life from the heavens and from the influence of the stars. By day the Sun shines through the clouds with many colors, and by night the Moon and the stars illuminate the darkness. From these heavenly influences the metals grow within the earth. The royal power of nature works secretly within them, perfecting and transforming them until they reach their highest state. For this reason the philosophers speak in images and symbols: of a king crowned with gold, holding a shining orb, and of a white dove that descends from heaven. These signify the purification and transformation of matter, through which the perfect essence and life are obtained." - Aureum Vellus, oder Güldin Schatz und Kunstkammer, c. 1599 (Splendor Solis)
“Let me tell the gentle reader that the metals, that is to say, gold and silver in their metallic form, are not the Matter of our Stone—being in the middle between them and the base metals, as our Matter is in the middle between the former and our Great Stone.” - Anonymous. The Golden Tract Concerning The Stone of the Philosophers
Description of all the world's mountains, types of mining, metallic ore and mineral mines, divine noble creatures, c. 1597 by Sturtz vom Geyer, Martin
"When one begins to work with the metals, one must first understand their true nature and essence. Every metal has its own body, spirit, and soul, and these must be separated and reunited in the correct order, if the true tincture is to be obtained. Mercury is the foundation of all metals, for in it lies the seed of all metallic generation. From Mercury come silver and gold, as from one mother. The other metals are impure or unripe forms of the same essence, which, through the work of nature and the art of the wise, may be brought to perfection. Therefore, whoever understands the operation of the elements in the metals, and knows how to purify the impure, will see the transformation of the lower into the higher, of the earthly into the heavenly. All metals are born from the same root, yet they differ by the abundance or lack of the inner sulphur and salt, which bind the spirit to the body. When the balance of these is restored, then the metal attains its perfection and becomes gold. Thus the sages teach that in every metal there lies hidden a divine spark, which must be awakened by fire and by the philosopher’s work, so that the imprisoned light may be freed and the whole substance made glorious. And know: all that is below corresponds to that which is above, and the wise man who observes the heavenly signs will also know how to work rightly upon the earth."
"All beings that emerge from the earth come into existence according to the order of time, as the influence of the stars and planets determines—such as the sun, the moon, and others—along with the four qualities of the elements, which mix inseparably and are brought forth by natural processes. Everything that grows and flourishes has its own nature, gender, and form. Thus, since the beginning of creation, all things have been made and ordered by God, the Creator. Likewise, all metals are not formed from a single seed but from their own matter, combined with the four properties of the elements, through the implantation of metallic force and the collective influence of the planets acting upon them. As the natural master Aristotle has well described, and as Ptolemy further confirms, the underlying matter of all metals is fundamentally the same. However, in nature, it is only through the process of purification that the true essence of matter becomes evident, as it is composed of the four elements." — Splendor solis, c. 1582
“The Matter, from which this sovereign Medicine is extracted, is Gold, very pure, Silver very fine, and our Mercury or Quicksilver, which you see daily altered and changed by artifice into Nature of a white and dry Matter.” - Bernard Trevisan. Verbum Dismissum
“Between the different metals there exists a sympathy such as that between the magnet and steel, gold and quicksilver, silver and copper; and this sympathy is the rationale of the transmutation of metals. On the other hand, there are also metallic antipathies, such as that of lead to tin, of iron to gold, of lead to mercury—antipathies which have their counterpart in the animal and vegetable worlds.” - John Frederick Helvetius. Helvetius Golden Calf, which the World Worships and Adores
“it we desire to impart to a metal greater excellence than Nature has given to it, we must take the metallic substance both in its male and its female varieties, else all our efforts will be in vain.” - Michael Sendivogius The New Chemical Light
“Let me advise you not to receive the gold and silver of the vulgar herd, for they are dead. Take our living metals. Place them in our fire, and there will result a dry liquid. First, earth will be resolved into water [for thus the Mercury of the Sages is called]. That water will solve gold and silver, and consume them until only the tenth part with one part is left. This will be the humid radical of the metals.” - Michael Sendivogius, The Golden Tract Concerning The Stone of the Philosophers
“And so that you cannot stray from the right path, apply yourself to metals; for the aforementioned sulfur is found in all” - Nicolas Flamel. Testament of Nicolas Flamel
“The body disguises everything in its own nature. What we want to give him serves as food. Our work thus makes them imperfect metals That it is equal to the equal of its more perfect kings.” - Salomon Trismosin. The Golden Fleece or Flower of the Treasures
The 7 Terrestrial Metals
The motto translated from Latin reads: 'The things that are in the realms above are also in the realms beneath; What heaven shews is often found on earth. Fire and flowing water are contrary one to other; Happy thou, if thou canst united them: let it suffice thee to know this!'
“Aim therefore at nothing but Sun, Moon and Mercury prepared by a philosophical industry, which wets not the hands, but the metal, and which has in itself a metallic sulphureous soul, namely, the ignited light of sulphur. And in order that you may not stray from the right path, apply yourself to metals; for there the aforesaid sulphur is found in all; but thou wilt easily find it, even almost similar to gold, in the caverns and depths of Mars, which is iron, and of Venus, which is copper, nearly as much in the one as in the other; and even if you pay attention to it, this sulphur has the power of tinging moist and cold Luna, which is fine silver, into pure yellow and good Sun; but this ought to be done by a spiritual medium, viz. the key which opens all metals, which I am going to make known to you. Learn therefore, that among the minerals there is one which is a thief, and eats up all except Sun and Moon, who render the thief very good; for when he has them in his belly, he is good to prepare the quicksilver, as I shall presently make known to you.” - From the Breviary or Testament of Nicholas Flamel
“This thing is extracted from thee, for thou art its ore; in thee they find it, and, to speak more plainly, from thee they take it; and when thou hast experienced this, the love and desire for it will be increased in thee. And thou shalt know that this thing subsists truly and beyond all doubt” (Art. aurif., II, p. 37). "During the increase, that is during the fullness of the blackness of the lead, which is our ore, my light is absent, and my splendour is put out."
- Consilium coniugii, Ars chemica (1566), p. 136
“This stone is something which is fixed more in thee [than elsewhere], created of God, and thou art its ore, and it is extracted from thee, and wheresoever thou art it remains inseparably with thee. … And as man is made up of four elements, so also is the stone, and so it is [dug] out of man, and thou art its ore, namely by working; and from thee it is extracted, that is by division; and in thee it remains inseparably, namely by knowledge. [To express it] otherwise, fixed in thee: namely in the Mercurius of the wise; thou art its ore: that is, it is enclosed in thee and thou holdest it secretly; and from thee it is extracted when it is reduced [to its essence] by thee and dissolved; for without thee it cannot be fulfilled, and without it canst thou not live, and so the end looks to the beginning, and contrariwise.” - Art. aurif., I, pp. 311f
"In a few words, know that whoever understands the origin of our metals, will know that our material must be metallic, and also is born of metal mined without metal. For there is no metal without a metal light, nor metal lights without metal. Thus, consequently, one relates to the other, for their natural being and their genus is one, which is called an immature mineral-miner element, or magnesia, or otherwise lunar. That is why the Philosophers always speak in the plural when they say, for example, our metals."
- Allegory from Grasshof, 'The Open Ark or Casket of the Small Peasant'.
Library of Light Edition 1.0 — Last revised: July 2026