The 4, 7, 12, and 14 Steps Of Alchemy

Here are several systems for "alchemical stages":

Original 4 steps:

1. Nigredo
2. Albedo
3. Citrinitas
4. Rubedo

7 steps (spagyric/spiritual)

1. Calcination
2. Dissolution
3. Separation
4. Conjunction
5. Fermentation
6. Distillation
7. Coagulation

George Ripley's 12 steps

1. Calcination
2. Solution
3. Separation
4. Conjunction
5. Putrefaction
6. Congelation
7. Cibation
8. Sublimation
9. Fermentation
10. Exaltation
11. Multiplication
12. Projection

Samuel Norton's 14 steps

1. Purgation
2. Sublimation
3. Calcination
4. Exuberation
5. Fixation
6. Solution
7. Separation
8. Conjunction
9. Putrefaction in sulphur
10. Solution of bodily sulphur
11. Solution of sulphur of white light
12. Fermentation in elixir
13. Multiplication in virtue
14. Multiplication in quantity

Samuel Norton's 14 steps (W.A. Ayton)

1. Solution, the act of passing from a gaseous or solid condition, into one of liquidity.

2. Filtration, the mechanical separation of a liquid from the undissolved particles suspended in it.

3. Evaporation, the changing or converting from a liquid or solid state into a vaporous state with the aid of heat.

4. Distillation, an operation by which a volatile liquid may be separated from substances which it holds in solution.

5. Separation, the operation of disuniting or decomposing substances.

6. Rectification, the process of refining or purifying any substance by repeated distillation.

7. Calcination, the conversion into a powder or calx by the action of heat; expulsion of the volatile substance from a matter.

9. Commixtion, the blending of different ingredients into new compounds or mass.

9. Purification (through putrefaction), disintegration by spontaneous decomposition; decay by artificial means.

10. Inhibition, the process of holding back or restraining.

11. Fermentation, the conversion of organic substances into new compounds in the presence of a ferment.

12. Fixation, the act or process of ceasing to be a fluid and becoming firm; state of being fixed.

13. Multiplication, the act or process of multiplying or increasing in number, the state of being multiplied.

14. Projection, the process of turning the base Metals into gold.