In the labyrinth of alchemical symbolism, two of the most enigmatic concepts are Alkahest (the Universal Solvent) and Azoth (the Primordial Life Force). These were not merely chemical substances but metaphysical keys to unlocking nature’s deepest secrets:
Alkahest – The “solvent of all solvers,” capable of dissolving any material (even gold) back to its primordial state.
Azoth – The “quintessence of life,” a spiritual mercury representing the animating force of the universe.
Both were central to the Great Work (Magnum Opus), the alchemist’s quest for perfection. This article explores:
Origins & Meanings of Alkahest and Azoth
Key Alchemists Who Pursued Them
Symbolism in Alchemical Texts
Scientific & Esoteric Interpretations
Modern Legacy in Science and Spirituality
1. Alkahest: The Universal Solvent
Origins & Definition
First named by Paracelsus (1493–1541), though the concept existed earlier.
From Dutch “al-kahest” (“all-dissolver”).
Believed to reduce all matter to its primal essence (Prima Materia).
The Quest for Alkahest
Alchemists theorized it could: ✔ Dissolve any substance (even diamonds). ✔ Purify metals for transmutation. ✔ Extract the “essence” of plants and minerals for medicines.
“Alkahest is the key to all secrets; it opens the locked doors of nature.” — Johann Rudolf Glauber
Was It Real?
Some believed it was a supercharged alcohol or acid.
Van Helmont (1580–1644) claimed to possess it (possibly a potassium carbonate solution).
Modern equivalents: Aqua regia (dissolves gold) or superacids.
Conclusion: The Eternal Solvent and the Infinite Life-Force
Alkahest and Azoth represent alchemy’s highest ideals—mastery over matter and spirit. Though their physical forms remain elusive, their symbolic power endures:
“Seek the Alkahest within, and you shall find the Azoth of your soul.”
The Celestial Powers infused me! It was both sublime and awesome…
I was <complete>.
I could taste Victory over Death, nay, over Life Itself!!!
However, in that very instant of my great triumph, from Everywhere and from Nowhere, a Voice not my own finished the end of Azoth’s Chant, “This is the end of The Work; you are all the miracles that have ever been. You hold Life… and Death… in the palm of your hand. As the Keeper of the Secret, you have the power even to see God’s Holy Seat.”
There was a pause, one that seemed to span the whole of eternity.
Finally the Voice asked, “Do you wish to use this power or shall you keep it closed within the cabinet of your heart? Speak, else it will remain beneath the Seal of Silence — for you shall not pass this way again.”
I remember taking almost no time to answer, screaming with all the power of my Soul, “I want to be free!””
I am about to finally do it — my terrible life is about to end!
“Let Fire and Azoc suffice.” <Power> was all around me as I spoke the words of the Greek master Aristeus while at last I neared the completion of the Magnus Opum. “The Golden Key rules all, it alone shall open what has been shut — the great Gift of the Divine.”
Alone in my workshop, I was not longer just John of Salome; instead I was Azoth – Penultimate Master of Alchemy!
I am Azoth
Standing before a small altar in front of the furnace near the rear of my garage, I felt the heat biting at my back. With the oven door open, flames were licking forth, tasting the air – tongues of yellow and red continuously snaked out and more than a few flares came into contact with my body — yet to no effect.
After working for nearly two weeks without rest, I had (again) completed the first three steps of The Great Work – during the Negrido I had purified myself by using fire to burn my iniquity away from the inside out; later I had attained further enlightenment via the Albedo, and after that I’d quickly worked through the Citrinitas stage (opening my soul to the solar dawn of creation). Therefore as it stood now, at this stage of the rite, my physical body was beyond harm from anything in the natural world – for, as Azoth, I had again reached the beginning of Rubedo — wherein I endeavored to achieve….
The unification of the limited with the unlimited – in the hopes of breaking the bonds of Death and achieving a <oneness> with God himself!
This was not the first time, I had reached this stage of The Great Work.
Yet always before my experiments had ended in failure.
This time, however I vowed things would turn out differently.
Thankfully, for the past two weeks God had not forced any visions upon me, allowing me the freedom to continue my work. I was now more convinced than ever that my only hope in breaking the bonds that held me captive in this forsaken life was via the completion of the Magnus Opum. And so, I had once more transformed myself into Azoth and I had been busy working through the Rites of The Great Work ever since.
“By Life, the Beginnings of things are known. Air is the Life of things, therefore the Beginning of things.” I continued my chant, my voice growing deeper, richer, more alive. “To catch Air is to use the Golden Key of Nature, a window to Heaven’s Aeythr!” And here I raised my arms on high, drawing Air and Aethyr into myself – even as the flames nearly engulfed me!
A sudden stillness settled upon the room as I lowered my arms. After the incantation, I turned my attention back to the altar below and specifically to three large tomes open before me. Two were sacred texts of Alchemy – one from Aristeus, written centuries before Christ’s birth, while the other contained the scientific works of Apollonius of Tyana, a contemporary of mine (during what would have been my original lifetime). Although far from the only references that I used to conduct my experiments, these two authors held the most esteem in my eyes.
As for the third book, it was written in my own hand and nearly twice the size of the other two books combined – for it contained the sum of MY knowledge on the subject of Alchemy – every thought, every experiment, every inkling or idea which I ever had for the past millennia or more during which I had worked The Rites, all of it was written within this book.
My book on Alchemy was a living thing
I made cursory checks of Aristaeus and Apollonius – scanning through their instructions on the Rite; yet in truth, I cast but a hasty glance at each, for I had read their texts so many times I knew them by heart and I knew there was nothing more they could teach me.
Therefore, it was to the larger volume – to my own work — that I now turned; flipping through its pages, I searched for that one piece of knowledge that had always eluded me, seeking the <key> by which I could finally complete The Great Work.
For I now knew that the secret lay within MY own words – of this I was absolutely certain – and yet, I just didn’t know WHERE within the journal’s thousands of pages that key piece of knowledge might be.
Riffling through my notes, I muttered as I read…
Spirit of the Air comes out of the rays of the Sun and the Moon without which none can live…
“No. Not it.” And I turned ahead a couple hundred pages…
Consider that you must have a permanent Water, that which congeals in the Fire and is joined with the perfect bodies… After this, give in to the Spirit made from the Air…
“I’ve done this before too!” I was frustrated.
But then, as a new thought emerged, I quickly flipped back halfway through my book, turning over so many pages that I had to use both hands to move such a weight of paper.
After finding the place I sought, I pondered, “Is there more to Air than I have ever imagined?”
Suddenly I moved to the very end of the text, to a blank page, and scrawled…
Air. It is breathed by all living things, yet it is not the life of all – why? Unless… unless… you would go back to the First Chaos from which God formed all things!
“Ah, it is ONLY from the First Chaos that one can draw the Truth.” I spoke aloud. Then back to my book, I continued writing…
Aristeus was wrong! Verily, I do agree with him that every species of beings has its own species of Air, its own Lifeforce. Yet, he makes no mention as to the Principle of each being and I now say this is the real key! For regardless of the species, is not the <Essence> of each altogether ‘Aerial?’
Again, I began to flit backwards through my manual, searching… seeking… at last going back to very first few pages – to a time when I wrote well over a thousand years past!
…Air is truly Divine, it is the subject of the search of all philosophers — for therein resides Life!
“And so it goes – there IS a difference between the Air which we breathe, and the Aerial substance which is within the Soul.” I was flabbergasted. “Oh, the time I have wasted – to discover that which I had known all along!”
That’s when I realized that for centuries I had been making The Great Work so much harder than it had to be.
Now, as I stood there, I finally understood that it was the very essence of Simplicity.
Working hard to contain my enthusiasm, I looked down upon my altar, wherein sat a silver bowl filled with mercury — within the interior of the dish, the color of the elixir mixed so well with the metal of the bowl that it was impossible to tell where the viscous mineral ended and the vessel began. Yet hanging over the lip of the dish were twelve golden keys of various shapes and sizes, all of them piercing into the mercurial soup. Reaching down, now picked up the Second Key, now brimming with confidence.
Holding the key aloft, I admired it. Silver droplets cascaded down – yet not a single one reached the floor, for flames from the furnace flashed out and consumed them as they fell – surrounding me in a wreath of Fire.
“The Golden Key shall open the Door.” I chanted, <power> once more filling my words. “Air catches Aire. Matter from the Earth is the same as that which is in Heaven. This is the infallible Truth!”
<Rroom-boom-bOOM-BOOM-BOOM!!>
Thunder rolled suddenly outside – yet rather than startle me, it only caused me to cackle in delight, for I was at last certain that I had discovered the <key> to completing the Rubedo.
In my very soul I could feel that <Oneness> was close.
Lightening continued to crack, yet I roared above the din, “I seek the Simple, an <essence> universal to all! I have been purified by The Fires of Corruption, I have been quenched by The Waters of Life, my body is of the detestable Earth, yet my Soul is from the Aire, and above all, I am The Quintessence!!!”
In an effort to stop Miriam’s complaints, I finally agreed to help our friend Alan.
In order to do that I had to bring him to my private workshop — which was actually a just detached garage, a short walk away from the house.
From the outside it probably looked like any other barn one might find in upstate Pennsylvania.
Yet the inside was quite unlike anything you’ve seen – for I am an Alchemist — not just any amateur experimenter trying to turn metal into gold, mind you, but a full-fledged Alchemy Maestro, perhaps the greatest of them all!
(I know, I know, I probably should have told you this sooner, but remember, I tend to forget quite a bit in my old age. What’s that — what else have I forgotten to tell you about? Ha, now that’s a good question!)
“Once inside these walls you shall call me Azoth.” I instructed Miriam, as I fiddled with the multitude of locks that barred the door. “Additionally we’re going to take that stupid mask off Alan and you’re going to remove that silly outfit your wearing.”
“Wha-?” Miriam stammered, backing away. “I…I can’t…er…what about the vi-vi-virus?”
“Miriam, you fool, you’re immortal!” I raged at her. “You can’t die from any virus – much less a made-up one that’s never even existed! How stupid are you, girl? You know as well as I that Covid was just a PLANdemic carried about by globalists to get everybody vaxxed, chipped, and monitored as part of the United Nations Agenda 2030 creation of a world-wide police state. Do I really need to explain all this to you?”
Miriam began to bawl, physically shaking as her mind was clearly resisting what she knew to be true even as the #FakeNews propaganda she’d allowed herself to be force-fed these past few years surely told her I was lying.
I merely waited for events to play out.
In the end, Miriam caved. Yet even as she removed her pandemic garb she gave in to a new fear. “Ah, John, er, excuse me, Azoth… we’ll not be doing anything sacrilegious in there, right?”
“Do you want my help or not?” I screamed at her, doing nothing to hide my disgust.
Miriam cried again, but looking down at Alan, she struggled to regain control as she said, “I’m sorry, Azoth. Please, let’s hurry inside.”
“How does it feel to be the one who is manipulated, eh, Mary?” I chuckled.
I smiled to myself as I opened the final lock, before pulling the door ajar the door to let Miriam pass inside first – even though she was woman of the world who had seen quite a bit during her long life, as she entered my workshop I could sense her surprise at the sights before her.
To say the oversized garage was over-stuffed was an understatement – for although the 30 x 20 foot interior was a healthy area, I had nearly every available spot crammed with something. A giant furnace dominated the far wall – pipes leading out from it in all directions – some carrying exhaust to the outside, others hooked up to trailing pipes that led off to smaller furnaces or connecting to heating beakers both large and small, and still others going down into the floor. (What’s their purpose? Sorry, that would take too long to explain. Just sit back and listen please).
I watched as Miriam noticed the multitude of glass bottles – how could she miss them? – for more than anything else, jars of all shapes and sizes filled my laboratory. In fact, one of the 30-foot walls was lined completely with a massive, custom-made shelving unit and every space was filled — giant bottles containing preserved animal parts, smaller decanters bubbling with strange liquids, and tiny phials glowing with mysterious crystals. These and more were stored on the shelves – and everywhere else about the room too.
Various tables piled up with unusual tools, hulking chests locked tight, and storage containers overflowing with materials took up much of the rest of the space.
Each with a purpose only I knew.
A bit further inside, I saw that Miriam noticed The Three Pillars. An important alchemy construct, the two outermost posts had a shelf jutting out towards the inside pillar — upon the shelves, each of the pillars held a bulbous carafe which in turn had a long nodule connected to a tube. The tubes of the carafes connected to pipes that were attached to additional tubes that intersected the middle pillar, and then eventually emerged to connect to a similar pair of carafes at the base – yet rather than being supported on shelves attached to the outside posts, these glass jars were situated upon smaller furnaces that were continuously heating the liquids inside the flagons. I knew that Miriam had no idea as to the purpose of this apparatus, and I wasn’t about to tell her (or you!)
As you might expect, my workshop was not without its share of books too. From heavy tomes to delicate scrolls, my fetish with books played out here even more than it did in the living room of my house. I followed Miriam’s eyes with pride as I saw her espy the volume that was my most prized possession – a large stone tablet, shaded emerald green, sat reverently upon a podium in the very center of the room.
Although the engraved text was large enough read even from afar, it was written in a language that I knew that even Miriam did not understand. (If YOU want to know more, do some research — look for references on any of the following: The Emerald Tablet, or The Tabula Smaragdina, or The Secret of Hermes. See, I do give up some secrets).
Next, I could see Miriam captivated by the fact that nearly every wall surface was covered with Symbols; even the floor was covered in a giant glyph – a circle inside a square, inside a triangle, inside a humongous circle, the outer edges of each shape touching the inner edges of the ones they were housed within. As for the symbols on the walls, in one area, I saw Miriam note a collection of four triangles, representing the four basic elements: upright triangle for “fire,” pointing down for “water,” pointing down with horizontal line dissecting for “earth,” and pointing up with horizontal line dissecting for “air.”
“Ah… Azoth,” Miriam found her voice again, “what does the circle with the dissecting lines represent?”
“Hardly!” I snorted. “Quintessence is much more than a folk tale. Unlike the other elements, it has no physical qualities – it’s neither hot nor cold, wet or dry. It is incapable of change and yet always changing. It controls light and matter. It is the space between – but in a LIVING way.”
“Interesting.” Miriam was clearly impressed by my knowledge (and rightly so). Yet I noticed that she changed her tune a bit, when she asked meekly, “But, Azoth, I thought that Einstein’s Relativity dismissed aethyr?”
Aethyr – The Space Between?
“Wrong! Einstein attempted to dispute the existence of aethyr in his Special Theory of Relativity, yet even then his negative proof relied mainly upon an Occam’s razor – postulating that the existence of aethyr was not necessary to explain the gaps in the universe. However, later in life he corrected himself in the commentary to his General Theory of Relativity– wherein he admitted the logical need for aethyr.”
“Ah, John, did YOU have anything to do with his changing viewpoint?”
“No comment.” I smiled. (What, you think Einstein got all his grand ideas on his own?)
“What about all the other symbols you have painted here?”
“And those different colored roses? Is this place also a greenhouse?”
“Don’t be a fool – my lab is hardly a garden! The roses have their place in my work and the colors have meaning. Red means ‘passion.’ White – ‘purity.’ Yellow – ‘compassion.’ Orange – ‘optimism’ (and before YOU comment, it’s true, I don’t have many orange roses on purpose!). Blue – ‘promise.’ And the ones gilded with Gold mean ‘Perfection.’”
“And…” Miriam hesitated, “The Black ones?”
I paused a moment, wondering if I should speak the truth. In the end, I didn’t care enough to fight…
“The Withered Roses offer Death.”
“And you said you use these roses in your work?”
“I extract their essence as the backbone of certain experiments.”
“But why would you ever need the Black ones? Unless…”
And Miriam looked at me in horror, suddenly realizing that my most important secret of all…
The Last Temptation of John 