Alchemy combines magic, mysticism, and pseudoscience. For our intentions,
though, and as was the case in reality, alchemy developed into chemistry.
Much of the practices involved in alchemy were carried over into chemistry
and are widely established today. Alchemy started around the time of early
Christianity in the first century, remaining popular until the 1700's. The
primary objective in alchemy was changing more abundant substances into
gold, considered the perfect material by alchemists. A secondary objective
for most was developing or finding an elixir of life. Both these
objectives failed miserably, but their work in studying and preparing
chemical substances was the key in the devlopment of chemistry.

Alchemists believed as the Greeks when it came to their theory of matter.
According to them, all matter was made up of a formless substance which
became one of the fundamental elements of earth, water, air, and fire when
combined with hot, cold, wet, or dry substances, each corresponding to one
of the four elements. By changing the balance of these elements within a
substance, alchemists felt that it would be possible to change one element
into another, a process known as transmutation. A Swiss scientist in the
1500's named Paracelsus substituted three substances: sulfur, mercury,
and salt, for earth, fire, water, and air in his experiments. Other
alchemists searched for the philosopher's stone, a magical substance that
supposedly made the transmutation process easier.

This philosophy corresponded to customs of particular cultures. For
example, the Chinese believed that eating out of golden dishes would
prolong life. In time, alchemy also became associated with other religious
beliefs. The techniques involved in attempting to make gold were
associated with the concepts of death, corruption, regneration, and
resurrection. Alchemy was also connected with astrology, people believing
that certain heavenly bodies were associated with certain elements:

Sun: Gold
Moon: Silver
Mars: Iron
Venus: Copper
Jupiter: Tin
Saturn: Lead
Mercury: Mercury

Alchemists believed that the position of these planets and other bodies
influenced failure or success in their attempts.