Alchemy is commonly known as a medieval process of making an elixir to prolong life or converting gold out of base metals. However those alchemic processes were originally used in a symbolic sense to describe and define "mastery of mental forces". Alchemy was forbidden by Christianity. This mental oriented use of alchemy is also called Hermetic Alchemy or Hermetic Philosophy, after the ancient philosopher Hermes Trismegistus (3000 BC) who is considered the discoverer of this occult wisdom.The basis of Hermetic alchemy rests on the Seven Hermetic Principles. These Principles form part of a compilation of Basic Hermetic Doctrines called the The Kybalion .
The Kybalion was not written down, but passed on from mouth to ear for several centuries, and forms the basis of several occult wisdoms and ancient philosophies. It was a collection of maxims, axioms, and precepts, which were non-understandable to outsiders, but which were readily understood by teachers and their students.