Magnum opus (alchemy) Colors of the magnum opus seen on the breastplate of a figure from Splendor Solis The Great Work (Latin: Magnum opus) is an alchemical term for the process of creating the philosopher's stone.
It has been used to describe personal and spiritual transmutation in the Hermetic tradition, attached to laboratory processes and chemical color changes, used as a model for the individuation process, and as a device in art and literature. The magnum opus has been carried forward in new age and neo-hermetic movements which sometimes attached new symbolism and significance to the processes. The Metal-Planet Affinities.
The Alchemy web site on Levity.com The Metal-Planet Affinities - The Sevenfold PatternBy Nick KollerstromBack to Metal-Planet Affinities index page Wisdom has set up her temple, She has hewn her seven pillars (1) From antiquity up until the mid-eighteenth century, the number of metals known and recognised as such was seven.
They were: lead, tin, iron, gold, copper, mercury and silver.