Top 12 Ball Lightning Folklore from Around the World: #7 Will Send Chills Down Your Spine

12. The Elemental Beings of Alchemical Tradition

Ball lightning appears as a manifestation of elemental creatures or spirits in the complex tapestry of alchemical knowledge. Middle Ages and Renaissance alchemists sometimes referred to these brilliant orbs as visible forms of the salamanders—the elemental spirits of fire. Alchemical tradition holds that each of the four main elements—earth, air, fire, and water—which each have their own class of elemental beings shapes the world. Associated with fire, salamanders were thought to show as dancing flames or, in rarer occasions, as flawless spheres of live fire - a description quite similar to those of ball lightning. Alchemists saw these events as great emblems of the secret powers operating in the universe, not only as normal oddities. Understanding and maybe controlling these elemental manifestations, they thought, would open the secrets of nature and help one to reach the ultimate alchemical goals, including the synthesis of the philosopher's stone or the elixir of life. Often involving sophisticated tools and esoteric substances, some alchemical books detail detailed ceremonies and experiments meant to call or interact with these fiery spirits. A sign of success in these activities, the sight of a ball of fire marked a moment when the curtain separating the ordinary from the magical was momentarily lifted. This alchemical depiction of ball lightning captures the combination of mysticism, proto-science, and philosophy defining the alchemical perspective. It addresses the human yearning for action and significance in natural events as well as for bridging the visible world with the domain of the spiritual or supernatural. The alchemical viewpoint still fascinates even if contemporary science has given other explanations for ball lightning; it provides an insight into a time when the lines between science, magic, and spirituality were far less clear.