Week 6: Electrochemistry & Alchemy

Halogen of the Week: Iodine

I chose Iodine as my Halogen of the Week because of the recent buzz over the supplement Iodine Potassium which is said to protect the thyroid against radiation.  This is because Iodine is required to synthesize thyroid hormones which contain Iodine. As a by-product of nuclear fission, the radioactive isotope iodine-131 concentrates in the thyroid alongside the healthy form of Iodine. If a person is somewhat deficient in Iodine, these radioactive isotopes will collect even more in the thyroid and can easily cause cancer. Iodine deficiency is a cause of intellectual disability in about 2 billion of the world’s population. Television is second (j/k). Iodine has a chemical symbol of I, an atomic number of 53 and an atomic weight of 126.90447. Its high atomic number makes it relatively rare on Earth. Elemental iodine vapor is purple in color. Iodine compounds are primarily used in nutrition but have also been used industrially and in making contrast materials for x-rays. Iodine can be found in the ocean and is highly water soluble. It is the heaviest element used for biological functions by lifeforms.

Alchemy- science, magic, art, or all three?

Although alchemy produces what appears to be magical results, alchemy is primarily a science that was later adopted by esoteric and metaphysical traditions including Hermeticism to describe turning internal yet metaphoric lead into spiritual and emotional gold. Part of the main practice of alchemical science is turning base metals like lead and mercury into gold and silver, This appears to be magic, but is based on scientific principles having to do with these elements having similar atomic numbers that can be tweaked through chemical processes to become other elements with similar atomic numbers. The origin of how the word “magic” got ascribed to alchemy was through early Ayurvedic alchemists  called “Maghas,” who would heal diseases through the use of herbs and metals. Occultists and metaphysicians who explored internal alchemy formulated various diagrams that both bore a resemblance to art and magic. In what could be deemed as “high” forms of any practice involving the alchemy of science, art, or magic, the ultimate goal is to take the practitioner, patient, or audience into some higher, lighter, more rarefied state than when they started.