@sun @HarryNuggets @Nudhul

There are a lot of different traditions surrounding that depending which branch of alchemy specifically involved. Though it's definitely not traditional, I consider the "philosopher's stone" to be a collection of perennial truths and wisdom about the operations of nature which survive the ages and all attempts to debunk them. But truthfully in the original alchemy (literally al Kemet, from black earth, ie. "from Egypt") it was meant as a physical object tmk.

This is a somewhat related video from Dr. Justin Sledge about his attempt at recreating an alchemical potion for depression, albeit minus the dangerously toxic ingredients. It will give you an idea just how bonkers some of this stuff was. They literally often came up with a theory (frequently based on some superstitious nonsense from the BuyBull) and then backwards rationalised how a recipe and how it should work, mostly a priori knowledge.

https://youtu.be/lrrbGRIOhCw

My personal favourite herbal lore is the "Doctrine of Signatures", because people get it completely backwards. They think if the flower is yellow it's therefore good for the urinary tract. Or if it's heart shaped it's good for the heart. But in reality they knew what the plant was good for FIRST based on experience, and then decided on a feature of the plant that would make it easy to memorise for purpose of identification and associate with it's usage, and to be able to teach it to others (a posteriori). It's the different between the science of mnemonics, and the superstition of some crystal cruncher who learned it off a tiktok video (or modern doctor with their arrogant conceit).