ИСТИНА

Alchemy in modern consciousness ceased to be perceived as a scientific fallacy. This perception is due, among other things, to the diversity of approaches to studying alchemy and its phenomena. The purpose of the article is to present the diversity of historically developed approaches to studying alchemy. The article lists and describes the main approaches; if necessary, illustrative examples are given showing their applications in the study. Any tradition at a certain level of development, in order to take the next step, turns to the study of itself, realizing the reflection of its sources, bases, concepts and methods. This approach is denoted by the word ‘traditional’. The traditional works on the alchemy of the XX century include: Fulcanelli, Canseliet, D'Ygé. The second trend of traditional alchemy is rather connected with the search for an ‘elixir of immortality’ and focuses on the preparation of tinctures which have therapeutic and curative effects. The traditionalist approach is represented by the works of R. Guénon and J. Evola. First one needs to look for an alchemist dedicated to the Tradition of Alchemy, and then for the philosopher's stone. The scientific-historical approach represents the development of the scientific-educational approach, supplementing it with archaeological and textual research. The classical approach to alchemy is formed on the basis of educational, scientific and historical approaches, but is complemented by the philosophical idea of the objective development of religion, history, society and science. The educational-hypothetical approach is a complex synthetic inversion of the scientific-historical and educational approaches. A clear artistic illustration of the application of this approach is Dan Brown's bestsellers. The natural-scientific approach develops, first of all, in the context of scientific revolutions of the 17th and 20th centuries. Transmutation involves nuclear transformations. The psychological interpretation of C.G. Jung occupies a special chapter in the historiography of alchemy. According to Jung, a true understanding of alchemy can be achieved, first of all, if one abandons its chemical interpretation. The phenomenological approach makes it possible to single out, as an object of study, the legend of the alchemist and the philosopher’s stone. The magical-erotic and sensual aspects of the imaginative approach to alchemy are presented on the basis of work with the documents of the ‘Golden Dawn’ by Israel Regardie. The article shows that the diversity of approaches reflects the special topology of the phenomenon of alchemy, which makes it possible to obtain its various geometric sections and consider them separately, yet none of them embraces the phenomenon of alchemy as a whole.