Volatilization

## Volatilization Volatilization

**Volatilization** is the operation of making fixed substances volatile, transforming the solid into vapor, the corporeal into the spiritual. In alchemical practice, volatilization was used to prepare metals and minerals for distillation or sublimation, to separate volatile from fixed components, and to spiritualize matter by transforming it into vapor. The operation was often paired with fixation: volatilization made the fixed volatile, while fixation made the volatile fixed. The goal was to volatilize fixed matter in such a way that it could be purified and then fixed again in perfected form.

Volatilization could be achieved through various methods: heating fixed substances with volatile materials that would carry them over in distillation (such as using sal ammoniac to volatilize metals), subjecting fixed substances to intense heat until they vaporized, or combining fixed substances with agents that would make them volatile. Alchemists sought particularly to volatilize gold and other fixed metals, transforming them into volatile forms that could be worked upon and eventually fixed again in perfected form. The volatilization of gold was often described as a key operation in preparing the Philosopher's Stone, as it allowed the fixed perfection of gold to be combined with the volatile spirit of mercury.

In alchemical symbolism, volatilization represented the spiritualization of matter, the transformation of the corporeal into the spiritual, the ascent from earth to heaven. The fixed body, through volatilization, was transformed into volatile spirit, able to ascend and be purified. This represented the separation of soul from body, the liberation of spirit from matter, the ascent of the divine spark. Volatilization was associated with the element of air, with upward movement, with the transformation of the gross into the subtle. The operation represented the principle that matter must be spiritualized before it can be perfected, that the fixed must become volatile to be purified and then fixed again in higher form. Volatilization thus represents both the practical operation of making substances volatile and the symbolic operation of spiritualizing and elevating matter.

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