Abstract
Some historians of science believe that alchemy is a part of religious practice and rituals, and as a result, its history is cited under the history of religions. Along with this belief, the psychologist Carl Gustav Jung believes that alchemy is part of the history of psychology, which aims to discovery the complex and deep structure of the human psyche. Critics of these two approaches claim that religious and psychological concepts have not been used as much as material and experimental (laboratory) actions and practices have been used in alchemy, so it cannot be considered as a part of history of religions or psychology. In these historiographical approaches, there are many indications and references to the alchemical theories of the Greco-Egyptian period, one of the most important and perhaps the most documented of them is the theoretical framework of Zosimos, which is called "spiritual alchemy". Reviewing this framework shows that Zosimos' alchemical theories can be somewhat controversial for all three approaches. In this article, while looking at the basic concepts in this alchemical framework, the relationship between nature (matter) and supernatural powers and the interactions of matter-human-divinity have been studied.
 
Keywords
Spiritual Alchemy, Zosimos, Cosmic Sympathy, Nature, Divinity, Epoptics.
 
Introduction
The centrality of the concept of soul in alchemical writings attributed to Zosimos has caused some historians to named his alchemy as spiritual alchemy. However, the issue is raised whether the meaning of spiritual here is simply referring to the duality of soul and body, which is also used to explain the structure of metals, or beyond that, this concept refers to vegetable, animal and human’ one? Therefore, the alchemy of Zosimos can be considered a spiritual practice, which through the understanding of the similarity between the soul embedded in metals and the soul of plants and humans - especially the human soul - seeks to provide an explanation of the process of changes in the material world of metals as well as changes in the human soul. In other words, Zosimos believes that at the same time as the change in the body of a metal that occurs according to the laws of nature, not only its soul also changes according to supernatural laws, but the soul and sprite of alchemist also changes. As a result, it can be said that Zosimos' alchemical theory is not only a theory based on the principles and rules of the natural sciences of his era, but it is a set of interactions between supernatural, religious, philosophical and non-physical concepts with the natural components of an alchemical practice. According to some contemporary historians of alchemy, such as Grimes, Zosimos, unlike other Greco-Egyptian alchemists, prescribes a philosophical lifestyle for his colleagues, which includes those moral values ​​that the path Reaching them is through the path of self-change, which is achieved by contemplation and self-refining it. In fact, Zosimos draws a cycle in which the alchemist goes from the material nature to the spiritual state and returns from the spirituality to the material nature. If the alchemist enters this cycle, he will answer the question of how metals reveal the presence of divine while refining his soul. The connection between the understanding of the presence of divine in the body of metals and the explanation of the interpretations resulting from it, which is subject to various natural and unnatural factors, is the core of Zosimos's claim in his alchemical doctrine plan, which dimensions and main components are examined in this article.
Materials and methods
This article is a library study, in order to organize and write it, several books and articles in the field of Greco-Egyptian alchemy in general and Zosimos alchemy in particular have been studied and criticized. Some of these articles dealt with the technical and alchemical aspects of Zosimos's works, while others focused on the philosophical and historiographical aspects of Zosimos's works.
 
 
Discussion and Results
The role of the incorporeal component, which Zosimos considers to be pneuma, is more important for him in alchemical processes. This component has a completely material and physical behavior in that part of the alchemical process, which is the material part, but it exceeds the level of material behavior in the area of ​​non-physical changes of Zosimos. Of course, his idea of ​​non-physical changes refers to the same coloring vapor, which in his explanations is directly related to the human agent or the alchemist. Zosimos considers this vapor to be the coloring pneuma in which the metal must be immersed in order to accept the new color, which corresponds to baptism. But reaching this pneuma is not only a function of material actions, but also a function of the alchemist's mind and states. On the other hand, Zosimos considers the two concepts of race and cosmic sympathy which were derived from the system of creation of the cosmos (Kosmopiia) as two basic concepts that refer to the natural methods of making tincture in Jewish religious texts. Based on this and relying on metaphorical concepts including the notion of sacrifice, he tries to explain the sympathy in the natural and unnatural areas of the world. The product of this thinking is that he considers alchemy as a theurgy that uses the divinity in alchemical operations in a hierarchical system.
 
 
 
Conclusion
There are three historical viewpoints about Zosimos' alchemy; The first view considers areas of his alchemy as a part of the history of science. The second view holds that his alchemy is under the history of psychology, and the third view considers Zosimos' alchemy to be originally a part of the history of religions. Besides examining these three points of view, we can also think of another idea. An idea that looks after his strong social concerns in a way that considers serious moral considerations as the basis of his alchemy.