

The transmutation circles in _Fullmetal Alchemist_ always looked familiar to
me, but I could never place my finger on why. What, if anything, are they
based on?

[![Human Transmutation
Circle](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dmAaDm.jpg)](https://i.stack.imgur.com/dmAaD.jpg)


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fullmetal-alchemist-series
What are the transmutation circles in Fullmetal Alchemist based on, if anything?


Circles are a relatively major thing in alchemy. Ouroboros symbols were sigils
in alchemy dating back to Cleopatra, and they depict a serpent or dragon
eating its own tail.

![Ouroboros](https://i.stack.imgur.com/jD0w7.png)

The symbols in the circle are mostly alchemic symbols. The one on the the
bottom left on the outside looks like the symbol for iron ore or the symbol
for male. Going clockwise from that is what looks like either copper ore or
female, a symbol I can't identify, one of the symbols for regulus, another
symbol I can't identify, and sal-ammoniac.
([Source](http://www.unicode.org/charts/PDF/U1F700.pdf))

Some Renaissance alchemic images have circles with words in them.

![Raimundus Lullus](https://i.stack.imgur.com/DY3pc.jpg)

Squaring the circle was another major part of Renaissance alchemic ideas. It
was believed that this symbol plus a man and a woman in the circle was all
that was needed to create a [philosopher's
stone](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philosopher%27s_stone). A full explanation
can be seen [here](http://alchemicalpsychology.com/new/5.htm).

![Squaring the Circle](https://i.stack.imgur.com/9Sx81.png)

The Seal of Solomon is another similar image.

According to [here](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seal_of_solomon):

> In alchemy, the combination of the fire and water symbols (up and down
> triangles) is known as the Seal of Solomon. The symbol is representative of
> the combination of opposites and transmutation. By combining the alchemical
> symbols for fire (upwards triangle) and water (downwards triangle), the
> alchemical symbols for earth and air are also created. The downwards facing
> triangle is divided along the center by the base line of the opposite
> triangle. This is the alchemical symbol for earth. Conversely, the upwards
> triangle divided by the base line of the downwards triangle is the
> alchemical symbol for air. The Seal of Solomon is all that is unified in
> perfect balance; the Spirit Wheel.

![Seal of Solomon](https://i.stack.imgur.com/cZ8Pa.png)

It's seems to be pretty much a compilation of different alchemic elements.


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This site has a note about ["Squaring the
circle"](http://alchemicalpsychology.com/new/5.htm), describing a utilization
of circles:

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/nhsxr.jpg)

Attributed to [Michael Maier](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Maier), a
German alchemist from the 17th century. That gives you the generalized
"simple" transmutation circle:

![enter image description here](https://i.stack.imgur.com/HAFzX.jpg)

The symbols used in some of the more complex circles are old alchemic symbols
or variations of them. I don't know of a complete list of them but some of
them can be seen in [Annibal Barlet's
works](http://www.alchemywebsite.com/symbols_barlet.html) or other symbols
from the [17th century](http://www.alchemywebsite.com/val_symb.html). The
inscriptions themselves seem to mostly come from [George Ripley's 12
Gates](http://www.levity.com/alchemy/ripgates.html).


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Yes, those are the symbols for the four base elements. But there are also two
more very important parts to the circle. The center point which represents
origin, time and growth, as well as an outer circle that represents the womb,
the ether and protection. There are many more aspects and details to Solomon's
circle than that. In fact, for such a simple symbol it is quite complex.


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I always thought it looked like the Seal of the Seven Archangels which is a
protection symbol. [Seal Image](https://i.stack.imgur.com/x7KPF.jpg)


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Based on information I read at another source, some of the circles utilize the
elemental symbols. Take colonel mustangs, for example. Two triangles
intersect, one representing air and one representing earth, two things
necessary for a successful fire. Within these triangles is the triangle
representing fire. The bigger triangles push past the boundaries of the circle
that’s attempting to contain it, symbolizing fires expansive nature. To
accompany this are images of a fire and a salamander. There’s a reason for the
salamander but I didn’t understand that as well as the other things I
mentioned.


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The seals in fma are based on the King Solomon seals of Kabbalah as we see the
Sephirotic tree of life in the show. The Soloman seals are said to have
magical properties such bringing wealth or repelling demons (there are like 50
different seals). These seals can only be activated by people who know how to
use them (at least in the show). My theory is the people of Amestres mix
alchemist symbols with magic (prayer) to produce energy using holy power.

Assuming the fma world acts mostly as ours we know something cannot be made
from nothing i.e the conservation of mass. The way to go against this worldly
law is by using a stone. The philosophers stone grants godlike ability but at
a cost of a soul, bringing up the whole idea of how much is a soul really
worth?

Father and the seven deadly sins are powered by souls like batteries but
humans have only 1 such battery. This is where the series gets paranormal. It
is through the literal power of God that alchemist can manipulate objects but
the objects can never change their chemical properties or add mass to them
"for creating something from nothing is God's work" and impossible. The 2nd
laws of thermodynamics basically states that energy needs to be consumed for
anything to happen, it could never be an endless stream of energy, it needs a
source. There is an irreversibility towards natural processes. No human could
go against God and cheat death.

We can further deduce this by looking at the people who opened the portal of
truth. Once opened you are granted the ability to do alchemy with no seal and
by simply clapping your hands together which kind of looks like praying (Ed
even mentions it in the last episode). They cant ignore the conservation of
mass but they can manipulate it without having to use any seals. Even this
needs energy to do. They claim in the show it is the tectonic energy that is
harvested through the earth which produces the energy needed. But they also
claim one is all and all is one. This is a prerequisite to alchemy training.
In theory if you are one with all, you are one with God because God is
everything (we see this is most religions especially Hinduism) you are using
the power of the world to force energy into mass.

The whole Dragon or Snake eating itself is a great analogy for the search for
immorality, the holy grail, the power of God, the fountain of youth, etc. The
whole FMA series is based off the idea that nothing last forever and death can
be a beautiful thing. it is something we have to fight and accept at the same
time.

  * The Gamer Psyche


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