Athanor
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In alchemy, an athanor is a furnace used to provide heat for alchemical digestion. An athanor is a self-feeding furnace, designed to maintain a uniform temperature.
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. [1]
[edit] 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 the Toledo 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 the BBC Symphony Orchestra (cond. Pierre-André Valade), in 2003.
[edit] References
- ^ This article incorporates content from the 1728 Cyclopaedia, a publication in the public domain. [1]
[edit] External links
- Athanor as an occult hill
- The Life of Apollonius of Tyana - by Philostratus; selection of extracts from the translation of F. C. Conybeare, including translator's introduction (1912)
- Site with a picture of an athanor
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