Barbara Curtis made a very interesting comment on the blog. She presents a connection between alchemy and Christian allegory. Johannes de Rupescissa (Jean de Roquetaillade) is a notable figure here who made this connection.
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You derive quintessence, the Fifth Element, pure alcohol, from distilling wine into pure alcohol. And pure alcohol is the closest thing to be found on earth to aether, which is what all the immortals and the celestial spheres are made of. It comes to be interchangeable with it for some alchemists.
Roquitaillade compared it to Christ’s blood and uses metaphors of Christ’s blood and the Eucharist to bring home his alchemical points about this fifth element, quintessence, aether, spirit.
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