Would Alchemy be considered a sin or not? As in the mainstream alchemy that is used to induct it which requires astrology and knowledge of what intertwines the spiritual to physical. Chinese Herbal Medicine still uses some of alchemy, and it itself has books that are dedicated to it apparently.
For example there are some alchemical herbal mixtures which have actually cured disease when modern medicine from the 'chemistry' branch-off that only focused on the physical aspects did not work. A big part of classical alchemy focused on the intertwining aspects of our realm and others.
Would this too be considered the same as 'science' but using the aspects of creation available to us?
I have not yet seen any Chinese med. books that has
real occultic stuff in it - of course, it's not like I've really read many at all... Can you give me any names of these books?
Using atrology in and of itself is not sinful in so far as you don't actually believe you can read the future and all that nonsense. I remember reading an excerpt of St. Thomas Aquinas saying you can use it to catagorize what characteristics a person is inclined to, but not real fortune telling.
I can see astrology being used in medicine because the sun, moon, and stars all do have an affect on our material world. Have you ever tried digging a hole in the ground one day and the exact amount of dirt fills it back up, but a week later it does not? That is due to the expansion of moisture in the soil being manipulated by the moon.
You can find another example in the history of the Conquistadore Orellana. He and his men stopped in an Indian village to build new rafts/boats. The Indians warned them not to harvest wood qnd wait a week or so because the wood would rot and not cure properly if collected at that moon phase. Needless to say, the Spaniards did not listen and all their work went to waste...