Xcuse me for bargin in (so late) gentlemen, but how can you discuss alchemy if you apparently know so little about it?

Allow me to enlighten you. The following is a very brief description.

Alchemy, first of all, was about transmutation of a human and all that metal talk was a code for initiated. The uninitiated evolved into chemists. The initiated alchemist sought personal evolution. The stuff the legends are made of.

Much of the European tradition has been lost. The best preserved and now revived with scientific exploration etc. is Chinese alchemy, which nowadays is called qigong. There are literarly thousands of schools, most of which deal with simple health matters or martial arts. But the knowledge is there for those who seek it.