- Athanor
In
alchemy , an athanor is afurnace used to provide heat for alchemical digestion. An athanor is a self-feeding furnace, designed to maintain a uniformtemperature .The athanor was also called Piger Henricus ("Slow Harry"), because it was chiefly used in slower operations, and because when once filled with coals, it keeps burning a long time. For this reason the
Greeks referred to it as "giving no trouble", as it did not need to be continually attended. It was also called the Philosophical furnace, Furnace of Arcana, or popularly, the Tower furnace. [1728 [http://digicoll.library.wisc.edu/cgi-bin/HistSciTech/HistSciTech-idx?type=turn&entity=HistSciTech000900240206&isize=L] ]Other references
In the work "Life of Apollonius" by
Philostratus the Athenian, an allegorical description is given of an occult hill. The author gives this hill the name "Athanor".Athanor is also the name of a work by
Anselm Kiefer , which is currently displayed in theToledo Museum of Art .Athanor is also the name of a musical work for orchestra by French composer
Joël-François Durand , written in 2001 and premiered by theBBC Symphony Orchestra (cond. Pierre-André Valade), in 2003.The review
"Athanor" is now a review of language philosophy, history, and international politics. It is published once or twice a year. Its latest issue has been No. 11 (new series), May, 2008.
References
External links
* [http://www.themystica.com/mystica/articles/a/athanor.html Athanor as an occult hill]
* [http://www.mountainman.com.au/a_tyana0.html The Life of Apollonius of Tyana] - by Philostratus; selection of extracts from the translation ofF. C. Conybeare , including translator's introduction (1912)
* [http://www.alchymie.net/english_version/welcome.htm Site with a picture of an athanor]
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