transmutation circles

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Ellie Marieee :)

New member
We all know that they use transmutation circles in Full Metal Alchemist to do various things. And I hope we all know as much as we wish they can't be used like they are in FMA. But in here you can talk about the FMA transmutation circles and stuff. But I wanna start off with this question in real alchemy how is a transmutation circle used? Is it used at all or is just a syrabol of alchemy or what?
 
Most "real" alchemy circles are metaphysical diagrams describing spiritual principles, or secret codes for pre-chemistry chemistry, to keep their projects from being duplicated by other alchemists.
 
Only some of them were circles. FMA used the circle in a very Eastern way to syrabolize the circulation of energy that made the transmutation.

Presumably they either made their own codes up or learned them in a master/apprentice way. The syrabols were basically instruction manuals, not magic circles like in the anime where you put the stuff inside it and chant over it or anything. You'd have to go to Wikipedia for more details.
 
basically its a coded log of notes on how the alchemist got to the point they did, kind of like a recipe. It has no magical reference what so ever it’s just a smart way of keeping notes in plain sight that no one else can understand.
 
Most of the circles used in FMA are actually from the Lesser Keys of Solomon, a hermetic magical text, and were not really used in traditional alchemy at all. An actual alchemist would have made up their own code, as stated before, and in some cases not even written it down. Hence why you have references to the Red King and the White King in the recipe for gold. It could be anything, sulfur, mercury, saltpeter, cobwebs. Who knows?

Not to say that the use of transmutation circles in FMA isn't very interesting and visually stunning. It's just used incorrectly, as is often the case in film.
 
It doesn't. Circles are generally only used in demonology to contain or keep out spirits. Alchemy is basically chemistry with a bit of magic thrown in.

For example, once you gather the supplies to make gold you have to mix them together while not thinking about a pink rhinocerous.
 
While a majority of the circles ARE taken from the Clavicle Du Solomon, some of the content of the circles themselves contain a nuraber of syrabols that actually were utilized in Old World Alchemy. Upon close examination of not only a nuraber of the transmutation circles themselves, but of various syrabols throughout the series, one can spot a nuraber of syrabols that were often utilized and widely excepted in Alchemic circles to be syrabols for the elements and purification, as well as certain actions (such as corabine, or seperate). Anyone interested in the syrabols themselves can find a nuraber of them contained within Nicaise Le Febvre's Explanation of the Chimical Characters, A Compleat Body of Chymistry (1670). Other sources from around this period can also be found containing various interpretations of such syrabols, though as stated above, many alchemists devised their own syrabol systems, and curiously even some of the more widely used and accepted syrabols are one of several others commonly used to represent the same substance or concept.
 
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