Page 27 - September 2022 Magazine - Bumper Edition

Legends of the golem began in the Jewish Talmud as Adam, the first man, was created from the clay of the earth, and was then, in essence, an unfinished human, or golem, until God breathed life into him. Golems were created from mud, seemingly by significant individuals who were close to God, and it was said that whoever created and controlled a golem could enslave it do his bidding.
Eleazor of worms, born in 1176, who was a leading Talmudist and Kabbalist, is thought to have used extracts from The Book of Formation, a book some now consider to be too dangerous to read, in an attempt to create a golem. He speaks of using virgin (unploughed earth) mixed with water to create the golem and explains that the creator needs to be purified, wear white, and must not be alone but in the company of two or three other people. A complex system using the Hebrew alphabet was said to be used, assigning a different symbol to each limb of the golem and that if this was carried out correctly, the golem would then come to life.
A 16th century rabbi from Helm is said to have created a golem that was activated by the word ‘truth’ which was written on its forehead. But as it grew, the rabbi feared it and decided to destroy it by removing the word from its forehead. Golem’s we’re believe to have no free will but as the creature grew, so its mind developed. The golem was said to attack the rabbi leaving him scarred, but the rabbi succeeded in destroying his creation. The implication here being that the golem began to achieve the power of understanding and free will, ultimately showing that the manipulation of free will is usually doomed to end badly.
In the works of alchemy, the homunculus, like the golem, was a little man but this time made from organic matter.
The idea of the Alchemists is still fascinating in the modern world. The word alchemy carries images of strange looking apparatus, steaming liquid and ageing bearded scholars poking at coloured liquid in a vial. A mixture of Chemistry and the Occult, popular during the 16th through to the 18th centuries, alchemy can be viewed in the modern world as somewhat of a waste of time, that it could have even held up scientific development to a certain degree. However, in the 16th century, alchemy was, seen as an actual science, which crossed ideas of mysticism and philosophy with actual research.
Most of chemicals used by alchemists were an unknown to them. They did not know what reactions they could have, explosive, poisonous or innocuous. There were no safety guidelines, no risk assessments, all they had were magical texts to help them on their quest. Despite this, they attempted to transform base metal into gold and also achieve immortality! They did this via an ‘elixir of life’ known as the Philosopher’s stone, which is a mythical substance believed to be able to achieve both goals.
Some followers of alchemy did manage to make some genuine discoveries. For example, the 17th Century German Alchemist Henning Brandt heated residues from boiled-down urine on his furnace until the retort (a device used for distillation) was red hot, ‘where all of a sudden glowing fumes filled it and liquid dripped out, bursting into flames. He caught the liquid in a jar and covered it, where it solidified and continued to give off a pale green glow. What he had collected was phosphorus, which he named from the Greek word for ‘light-bear- ing’ or ‘light-bearer’ and to Brandt, this must have seemed magical.
Alchemists lived in a time before microscopes and scientific apparatus, so ‘the alchemists were not misguided so much as misinformed, doing their best to make sense of a world they could not see.’ The fact that they managed to achieve as much as they did is actually incredible: In participating in what may seem like little more than a form of witchcraft, the Alchemists were, to some degree, laying the foundation for modern experimental science
The creator of a homunculus was something specific to alchemy as before the 16th century there are no uses of the word homunculus. The notion of this grotesque creature and the word to describe it began and ended with the alchemists.
In attempting to create a Homunculus, one would be attempting the creation of an organic being, or little man,
as opposed to one made from mud. In the medieval text known as the Liber Vaccae, or ‘Book of the Cow’ there
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