Category Archives: Alchemy

Human Alchemy

The Hero’s Guide to Saving Your Kingdom, by Christopher Healy – This is an amusing take on well-known fairy tales focuses on what happens after the stories, and that it isn’t always just living happily ever after. The princes from Cinderella, … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Authors, Book Reviews, Fairy Tales, History, Humor, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Maps, Mathematics, Middle Ages, Monsters, Mythology, Nursery Rhymes, Oz, Oz Authors, Philosophy, Relationships, Religion, Russian, seanan mcguire, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Not Dying Today

Someone proposed on a Facebook post that you don’t actually kill the monsters in the Dragon Quest series. I don’t think I can link to it, since it’s on a private group. It generally seems like you are killing them, … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Animals, Authors, Cartoons, Comics, Dragon Quest, Greek Mythology, Magic, Mario, Monsters, Mythology, Percy Jackson, Pokémon, Rick Riordan, Super Mario Bros. Super Show, Television, Video Games, Zelda | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Sorting Out Sorcery

One running theme in Glinda of Oz is that there are several different types of magic in Oz, all of which have their specialties, but none of them can do everything. L. Frank Baum contrasts the fairy magic of Ozma … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Characters, Etymology, Games, Jack Snow, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Language, Magic, Magic Items, Oz, Oz Authors, Politics, Religion, Ruth Plumly Thompson, Technology, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

War Between the States of Being

Erica Olivera’s presentation on Theosophy and its influence on L. Frank Baum at the latest OzCon included some information on the four kingdoms, those of mineral, vegetable, animal, and human. The animal-vegetable-mineral division is part of general knowledge, as well … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Animals, Biology, Characters, Christianity, Evolution, Greek Philosophy, History, John R. Neill, L. Frank Baum, Magic, Oz, Oz Authors, Philosophy, Prejudice, Religion, Science, Snobbery, Theosophy | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Who Wants to Be a Demon Slayer?

Game of Stars, by Sayantani DasGupta – The sequel to The Serpent’s Secret takes place in the same bizarre world of Bengali folklore. Due to the influence of the Rakkhosh Queen, Kiran finds herself participating in a wildly popular game … Continue reading

Posted in Advertising, Alchemy, Book Reviews, Fairy Tales, Humor, Magic, Monsters, Mythology, Prejudice | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Planting Sheep

Seeing a mention of the Vegetable Lamb of Tartary in this Wired article made me realize I’d never addressed this myth on my blog, and while I probably won’t be adding anything new to the existing information, it’s something that’s … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Animals, British, Mythology | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Homunculus Is By Your Side

One term I’ve come across in several places but haven’t been entirely sure what it means is “homunculus.” So I looked it up on Wikipedia, everyone’s favorite source for information that is probably at least partially true, and the indication … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Evolution, Genetics, Greek Philosophy, Philosophy, Science | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Every Philosopher Must Get Stoned

While doing research on human immortality, it’s not too surprising that I came across the Wikipedia article on the Philosopher’s Stone. Granting immortality was actually not the primary function of the Stone. Rather, it was said to be able to … Continue reading

Posted in Alchemy, Harry Potter, Hinduism, Islam, Mythology, Religion | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 10 Comments