The materials required for the creation of the homunculus include human semen, a cow or ewe and animal blood, whilst the process includes the artificial insemination of the cow / ewe, smearing the inseminated animal’s genitals with the blood of another animal, and feeding it exclusively on the blood of another animal. The first known account of the production of the homunculus is said to be found in an undated Arabic work called the Book of the Cow, purportedly written by the Greek philosopher Plato himself. Thoth Hermes Trismegistus and his Ancient School of MysteriesĪlchemical illustration of a Homunculus in a vial ( ).Mystical Science of Alchemy Arose Independently in Ancient Egypt, China, India. The idea that miniature fully-formed people can be created has been traced to the early Middle Ages (400 to 1000 AD), and is partly based on the Aristotelian belief that the sperm is greater than the ovum in its contribution to the production of offspring. It is likely, however, that this concept is older than these writings. The homunculus is first referred to in alchemical writings of the 16 th century. One of the beings that alchemists were purportedly able to create was the homunculus, meaning ‘little man’ in Latin. In the past, however, it was in the field of alchemy that Medieval scientists sought to artificially create life. Concepts relating to the creation of artificial life such as genetic engineering and human cloning are relatively modern scientific ideas. For some, this is the logical progress of scientific knowledge for others, this is a realm that should not be intruded by human beings. One such issue is that of the creation of artificial life. Although science has made much progress in the last century, there are still numerous ethical issues that need to be addressed by the scientific community.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |