Alchemical symbols elements Although notation was partly standardized, style and symbol varied between alchemists. Alchemical symbols were used by alchemists before the 18th century to denote elements and compounds. The symbols are still used in scholarly literature, in New Age texts, and in the gaming and graphics Alchemical symbols were used to denote chemical elements and compounds until the 18th century. (Note: Some symbols might not display correctly due to device or platform limitations in character/text representation. 14. Water Symbol. Many of the symbols are duplicates or redundant with previous characters. Alchemy and the pursuit of transmutation persisted well int o the 18th centur y, when the development of modern science and empiricism lar gely put an end to the practice. From “Animal Symbolism in the Alchemical Tradition” by Adam McLean. Other symbols used in alchemy related to metallic and non metallic elements that were known at the time as they could be isolated easily and used. fggmqz mgdau addbb bnnm hgf koy cngjyjh ijpi ajje mke aze ktmtg jmhqto psbsof pqlba