Alchemical symbol for fixation

A sign for making a volatile substance stable against heat.

Also known as: Fixation sign

In Latin:: Fixatio

AlchemyHistorical & archaeologicalScientificStandard profile

Meanings

Rendering something volatile fixed — able to survive fire without escaping as vapour. Fixity and volatility were the fundamental axis along which alchemists classified matter.

Historically documentedVerified fact
Denotes fixation: treating a volatile substance so that it will withstand fire without subliming or evaporating away.
Historically documentedDocumented interpretation
Fixity against fire was the principal criterion by which substances were classified, and the reason gold — which survives any furnace unchanged — occupied the position it did in alchemical thought.

Visual description

A horizontal line with a short vertical stroke descending from its centre.

Symmetry: none
Orientation: upright

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

The Secrets of Alchemy
Lawrence M. Principe, University of Chicago Press (2013) · retrieved 2026-08-20
The standard modern scholarly account, and the principal corrective to the older occult reading of alchemy. Cited for what alchemical practice actually was and for the historiography of its later reinterpretation.
Alchemical symbol
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for the character's identity, its documented astronomical and alchemical use, and the fact that astrology assigns it a meaning. Never used to support the astrological claim itself, which is recorded as a tradition rather than a finding.

Last reviewed 2026-08-20

Part of

Alchemical symbols — elements, substances and operations

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Meanings

Rendering something volatile fixed — able to survive fire without escaping as vapour. Fixity and volatility were the fundamental axis along which alchemists classified matter.

Historically documentedVerified fact

Denotes fixation: treating a volatile substance so that it will withstand fire without subliming or evaporating away.

Historically documentedDocumented interpretation

Fixity against fire was the principal criterion by which substances were classified, and the reason gold — which survives any furnace unchanged — occupied the position it did in alchemical thought.

Confidence

IdentityHigh confidence: High confidence because the identity is documented in encyclopedic references.
Historical originModerate confidence: Moderate confidence because the historical origin is documented in encyclopedic references, but the regional or cultural match to this specific claim is not precise.
Current useHigh confidence: High confidence because the current use is documented in encyclopedic references.
Visual matchHigh confidence: High confidence because the visual match is documented in encyclopedic references.

Sources

The Secrets of Alchemy
Lawrence M. Principe, University of Chicago Press (2013) · retrieved 2026-08-20
The standard modern scholarly account, and the principal corrective to the older occult reading of alchemy. Cited for what alchemical practice actually was and for the historiography of its later reinterpretation.
Alchemical symbol
Wikipedia · retrieved 2026-07-31
Tertiary reference. Used for the character's identity, its documented astronomical and alchemical use, and the fact that astrology assigns it a meaning. Never used to support the astrological claim itself, which is recorded as a tradition rather than a finding.

Last reviewed 2026-08-20