Gold, facts and history

A chemical element, gold, whose symbol is Au, derived from the Latin word aurum denoting gold.
Since ancient times, people were fascinated by gold, a metal much desired by many people belonging to different cultures. In a 1986 study, experts estimated that 121,000 tons of gold had been mined throughout history. But why gold and not some other substance?

Gold – a reflection of divine power

It is well known that gold adorns holy places like churches, temples and other worship places. Is was used by the Incas, by the Egyptians and Greeks, by Thracian healers and native American people just to name a few. It was used as offering to the Gods but also as symbol of power of the royals and the wealthy. Gold was a symbol for power, both physical and spiritual.

Many ancient people considered gold worthy of a divine force representation. The Sun, worshiped by many ancient people as being the center of all has the same astrological sign as the alchemy sign for gold. Gold is a mystical and alchemical substance used by ancient people to achieve super states of consciousness and mystical experiences.

Gold in ancient medicine

The ancients believed that gold in the body worked by stimulating the chi (life force) and raising the level of vibration on all levels. In Alexandria, alchemists developed a powerful colloidal elixir known as “liquid gold,” which reportedly had the ability to restore youth.
In antiquity gold was used to improve mental attitude and treat unstable mental and emotional states such as depression, melancholy, sorrow, fear, despair, anguish, frustration, suicidal tendencies, seasonal affective disorder, poor memory, poor concentration, and many other unbalances in mind, body, and spirit.
In ancient Rome, gold slaves were used for the treatment of disfiguring skin lesions and ulcers, and today, gold leaf plays an important role in the treatment of chronic skin ulcers.
In medieval Europe, gold-coated pills and colloids (“gold waters”) were extremely popular. Alchemists mixed powdered gold into drinks to “comfort sore limbs”

Alchemical gold

Alchemy is the forerunner of modern day chemistry. While chemistry is beneficial, it is not alchemy.
Gold is one of the seven metals of alchemy (gold, silver, mercury, copper, lead, iron & tin). For the alchemist, it represented the perfection of all matter on any level, including that of the mind, spirit, and soul. The alchemists believed that its presence in the body would enliven, rejuvenate, and cure a multitude of disturbances in the life force balance of the body.

The great alchemist Paracelsus first prepared gold colloid solution in modern times. He called his purple solution of gold Aurum Potable and believed it cured all manner of physical, mental, and spiritual ailments. “Gold receives its influence from the Sun,” he wrote, “which is, as it were, the Heart of the world and by communicating these influences to the human heart it serves to fortify and cleanse it from all impurities.” His remark ties nicely with the more recent discovery that the scientists made that the highest concentrations of gold in the human body occur around the heart.

If metallic gold is divided into fine particles, the particles are permanently suspended in solution (it becomes colloidal) and exhibits new properties due to the larger amount of gold surface area available. After studying the work of Paracelsus, the English scientist Michael Faraday prepared colloidal gold in 1857, and many uses were found for his solutions of “activated gold.” In 1890, the distinguished German bacteriologist Robert Koch won the Nobel Prize for his discovery that compounds made with gold inhibited growth of bacteria.

Gold in human body

Scientists found out that the highest concentrations of gold in the human body occur around the heart.
As to the function of gold in the human physiology, it is believed to be essential for healthy joints, in fact one treatment for rheumatoid arthritis is a weekly injection of gold salts in solution.
The human waste contains enough gold for scientists to consider researching ways to how to make their extraction commercially feasible. It might reduce significantly the need for mining, with better results.

Properties

A chemical element, gold, whose symbol is Au, derived from the Latin word aurum denoting gold, and atomic number is 79. As we all are familiar, gold is a dense, soft and shiny precious metal that is extremely malleable and ductile. Unadulterated gold has a vivid yellow color and sheen that has been attractive traditionally. In effect, gold almost always retains its color and shine as it does not oxidize either in water or air. It is known that gold hardly enters into chemical reactions, barring the noble gases.
The metal gold never corrodes or even tarnishes, is completely non-toxic, and exhibits no interactions with other drugs. Gold is the only heavy metal that has a right-hand atomic spin and is therefore easily tolerated by the body.

Chemistry

Besides gold mines and rivers containing it, gold naturally occurs in small amounts of purple colored fruits and vegetables such as red and purple grapes, blueberries and eggplant. Purple is the color that just happens to correspond to the 7th or Crown chakra, which corresponds to spirituality and the Higher Self.

There is only one naturally occurring isotope of gold, gold-197. Isotopes are two or more forms of an element. Isotopes differ from each other according to their mass number. The number written to the right of the element’s name is the mass number. The mass number represents the number of protons plus neutrons in the nucleus of an atom of the element. The number of protons determines the element, but the number of neutrons in the atom of any one element can vary. Each variation is an isotope.
About two dozen radioactive isotopes of gold are known also. A radioactive isotope is one that breaks apart and gives off some form of radiation. Radioactive isotopes are produced when very small particles are fired at atoms. These particles stick in the atoms and make them radioactive.

Uses of gold in modern medicine

One radioactive isotope of gold is widely used in medicine, gold-198. This isotope has two major uses. First, it can be used to study the liver. It is made into a form known as colloidal gold. Colloidal gold consists of very fine particles of gold mixed in a liquid solution. The colloidal gold is injected into the patient’s body, where it travels to the liver. There, it can be detected because of the radiation it gives off. The radiation can be used to tell if the liver is functioning normally or not.
Colloidal gold is also used to treat medical problems. In some forms of cancer, the body develops large amounts of liquid in the space around the stomach and intestines (the peritoneum). One way to treat this collection of liquid is with colloidal gold. The colloidal gold is injected into the peritoneum.
Today, gold netting is used in surgery to patch damaged blood vessels, nerves, bones, and membranes. Modern physicians inject microscopic gold to help retard prostate cancer in men and women with ovarian cancer are treated with gold solutions. Gold vapor lasers seek out and destroy cancerous cells without harming their healthy neighbors or give new life to patients with once inoperable heart conditions and tumors. One experimental new gold compound blocks virus replication in infected cells and is being tested for the treatment of AIDS. By attaching a molecular marker to a microscopic piece of gold, scientists can follow its movement through the body. Some researchers are placing gold on DNA to study the hybrid genetic material in cells, while others are using it to determine how cells respond to toxins, heat and physical stress. Because it is biologically benign and easy to trace, biochemists use gold to form compounds with proteins to create new lifesaving drugs. Gold is truly the perfection of the metals.