Spiritual and Material Conversion in the Alchemical Work of Zosimus of Panopolis

Athanasios Rinotas

doi:10.3390/rel12111008

Abstract

Zosimus of Panopolis was a Graeco-Egyptian alchemist of the 3rd century whose alchemy was imbued with both technical and Gnostic elements. In this way, the notion of conversion is met in the corpus of Zosimus in both its material and spiritual aspects. The aim of this paper is to present these two kinds of conversion by having a special focus on the role of the spirit (pneuma) in their procedures. Hence, in the first part of the study I present how pneuma is involved in the conversion of metals, while in the second I deal with the spiritual–Gnostic aspects of his alchemy, which pertain to the notion of the “divine spark.” In the last part of the study, I examine the relation between pneuma and divine water in the work of Zosimus, which serves in turn as an exegetical tool for the Coptic-Gnostic source which is found in the Gospel According to Philip (61, 12b–20a).

Highlights

Spiritual and Material Conversion inIt was in the Hellenistic era that Greek thought made a turn to the ‘irrational’ with new forms of knowledge emerging purporting to attain the notion of the transcendent (Dodds1984)
This paper examined the notions of material and spiritual conversion in the work of Zosimus of Panopolis and how they relate and interact with his notion of pneuma
The material aspect of Zosimus’ conversion is concerned with his alchemy, where pneuma seems to play an integral role as a bearer of qualities of colours and pneuma acts as an active principle on the metallic bodies

Summary

Introduction

It was in the Hellenistic era that Greek thought made a turn to the ‘irrational’ with new forms of knowledge emerging purporting to attain the notion of the transcendent In the last part of this paper, I make an attempt to create a liaison between the two types of Zosimean conversion by showing how his notion of divine water as well as the one of pneuma involved in it can act as a bonding factor between the practical and spiritual alchemy of Zosimus. To this end, I will employ the Zosimean alchemy as an exegetical tool in order to interpret the Coptic-Gnostic source of Painchaud and Viano, since I rely heavily on their work and provide further evidence that strengthens their initial claims concerning the relation between Graeco-Egyptian alchemy and Gnosticism.

Material Conversion in Zosimus of Panopolis’ Alchemy

Spiritual Conversion in Zosimus of Panopolis’ Work

Conclusions