This article explains the Alchemist Summary. The Alchemist is a popular novel written by Paulo Coelho. He is a famous Brazilian author and wrote Alchemist in Portuguese. It is an allegorical or narrative novel first published in the year 1988 and became one of the most translated and bestseller novels.
The Alchemist summary plot is set in Andalusia, in Spain. It is about the journey of Santiago, an Andalusian shepherd boy. He sees the same dream every night in which a child says that he will find treasure at the Egyptian pyramids. He starts his journey in the search of treasure. In the end, he meets an alchemist who makes him realize his true self. The Alchemist summary inspires us to follow our dreams.
This article is about the Alchemist summary by Paulo Coelho. It explains the summary of Alchemist in short. This is a story of Santiago, a shepherd boy from Andalusia. Whenever he sleeps near a sycamore tree in an abandoned church, he sees a dream. He gets this dream repeatedly where a child tells him that he will find a treasure in the Pyramids of Egypt.
Santiago believes that this is a message of the divine. He thus consults a Gypsy women fortune teller in order to interpret the dream. She tells him that he shall go to the Egyptian Pyramids as this dream is prophetic.
Santiago thus sells his flock and travels to Tangier by boat. On his arrival to Tangier, a man tells him that he can take him to the Pyramids but instead robs all his money. Now, he is left with no other option but to work there. He thus finds a job with a crystal merchant. The merchant taught him several lessons and in turn, he stimulated the merchant to take risks. This paid off and he became rich within a year.
Now, after earning money he decides to continue his Personal legend i.e. finding the treasure. He thus joins a caravan that was traveling to Egypt. In his journey, he meets an Englishman. The man was studying alchemy and was going to meet a famous 200 years old alchemist, who resides in the Saharan oasis of Al-Fayoum.
The Englishman tells him that Emerald Tablet, a stone, has the secret of alchemy on it. He also tells him that Master Work is the greatest creation of alchemy. It consists of a solid, the Philosophers Stone, and a liquid, Elixir of Life. The Philosophers stone has the power to turn lead into gold whereas Elixir of Life has the power to cure all ills.
The caravan had to stay at Al-Fayoum for quite some time. The leader of the caravan informs the people that they cannot continue the journey in order to avoid the tribal wars. During this time, Santiago met Fatima and fell in love with her. She was an Arabian girl.
One day while taking a walk in the desert, Santiago sees two hawks fighting in the sky. He considers it to be a bad omen as it depicts that an army is entering the oasis. He informs about this to the tribal chieftain. Thus, he defends Al- Fayoum from the attacks.
The alchemist hears about this vision also. He thus comes to meet him and offers to continue the journey with him. He tells him to leave Fatima and travel to pursue his Personal Legend. Fatima also tells him to complete his journey, after which she shall marry him.
During the journey, the Alchemist tells him to follow his heart. On their way to the Pyramids, Arab soldiers captivate them. The alchemist gives them all the money that Santiago has in order to save both their lives.
The Alchemist is a story of transformation. But rather than transforming lead into gold, Paulo Coelho teaches us, through the story of a shepherd boy who has the courage to follow his dreams, the power of transformation for our lives.
In The Seat of the Soul, Gary Zukav explores the idea that we are all interconnected in a web of collective consciousness. He says that all human souls are a part of the one divine consciousness and that by tapping into that, we can harness the spiritual power of the divine.
Through this encounter, Coelho shows us that the concept of alchemy is not just about transforming metals. He shows us that learning to communicate with the divine spirit of the universe, and letting it guide you, is a kind of life-transforming alchemy.
Through this portion of the story, Coelho creates the contrast between desert and oasis to highlight the choices we may encounter along our paths to our calling. The desert represents the trials and tribulations one must face and the endless possibilities that lie ahead, while the oasis represents the comfort that people choose over those risks inherent in journeying through the desert.
Along their journey into the desert, toward the Pyramids, the alchemist and the boy are kidnapped by a group of tribal warriors. This is the last trial the boy will have to face in the final leg of his journey to the treasure. Through this story, Coelho shows us the importance of taking big risks and believing in the power of transformation.
(Shortform note: The self-help classic The Power of Positive Thinking also emphasizes faith as an important tool for success. In this book, Norman Vincent Peale encourages the reader to develop a belief mindset by meditating on faith affirmations drawn from the Bible. He suggests that repeating these Biblical verses about faith daily will strengthen your belief in yourself and give you the power to overcome obstacles.)
At this point, Santiago knows without doubt that he has learned the true meaning of alchemy, which is uniting the spiritual with the material to create magical transformation. And he realizes this is something that applies to all of life, not just to metals. The alchemist then leaves him alone to discover his treasure.
In this final portion of the story, Coelho teaches us that we must be open to finding our destiny in unexpected places, and that it must be found before we can truly live the life we were meant to live.
He sets off back through the desert, on the long trek back to Andalusia, to the same spot where he had the dream, at the church ruins, and he begins to dig. And there he finds a chest full of gold and precious gems. His treasure was there all along. But now he knows where his heart lies, and he takes the treasure and sets off again to return to Fatima, his true love who waits for him in the oasis.
In this final scene, Coelho reveals to us that in the search for our destiny, we must always remain open to finding it in the most unexpected places, even if it means crossing the world and back again.
The many dimensions of post-Jabirean Islamic alchemy cannot be entered into here. It must suffice to note that alchemy "occupied a considerable place in the attentions of the Muslim savants" (Lewis SSI:500), though a fair number of scientists and intellectuals including al-Masudi (Muruj VIII. 175-7 ) and [the mature?] Avicenna disputed or rejected the possibility of the transmutation of metals by alchemical treatment. There follows a brief suvey of the names and contributions of a few major Islamic alchemists who prepared the way for Bābī- Bahā'ī expressions of alchemical gnosis.
Once just the weapon of the world's military forces, guns are now considered a right of the average citizen by some people, especially in the United States, where it's written into the Constitution. So, when were guns invented?
It all started in China around 850 C.E., when Chinese alchemists accidentally created gunpowder while trying to develop a "fountain of youth" potion. The resulting black powder, called "huo yao," was a blend of charcoal, saltpeter and sulfur.
Gunpowder made its way to Europe in the 13th century, likely over the Silk Road trade route through Central Asia. Rival nations refined gunpowder recipes in the ensuing centuries before arriving at the optimal mixture: approximately 75 percent saltpeter, 15 percent charcoal and 10 percent sulfur.
By 1350, rudimentary gunpowder cannons were commonplace in the English and French militaries, who used the explosive technology against each other during the Hundred Years' War. As the centuries continued, new and improved cannons were designed, many of which were small and portable.
Eventually, the hand cannon was developed in the early 15th century; it was the first real personal firearm. The Ottoman Turks used these and other cannons during the successful siege of Constantinople in 1453.
Enter the invention of the lock, an internal firing mechanism that made shooting a hand-held firearm more efficient, easier and safer. The first was a matchlock, followed by a series of enhancements until we get something more akin to the guns we know today.
The first known gun to use a matchlock was the 15th-century French arquebus, a short-barreled long gun (rifle) held at the shoulder yet small enough to be handled by one person. A gunpowder-soaked cord in an S-shaped arm burned at both ends until it touched a flash powder pan, sending a small ball soaring toward its enemy.
Guns slowly replaced old-guard weapons because they were more economical rather than more lethal. Becoming a highly skilled (and highly paid) swordsman or archer required lifelong devotion, but a few weeks or months of training could turn a lower-class soldier into a capable gunner.
Revolvers are pistols that can fire multiple bullets without reloading. Although the basic design dates back to the 17th century, revolvers only took off when Samuel Colt produced his version in 1835.
Communication with the angels through the Enochian Alphabet is spiritual. The recitation (or writing) of character sequences called keys is believed to open doors to the angelic realms and facilitate communication with celestial entities. However, there is no evidence that it works or that any contact has ever been established.
The earliest Enochian writings date from the 16th century, by the britannic alchemists John Dee and Edward Kelley. They claimed to have established an invocation contact with angels through the use of this alphabet.