The creation of life was the goal of many Islamic alchemists. Known as Takwin, it included the creation of human beings. Paracelsus was the first alleged creator of the homunculus. It was created by mixing a bag of bones, sperm, skin fragments, and hair from any animal you wished to make it a hybrid of. This was all to be buried in the ground surrounded by horse manure for forty days, and an embryo would form. It stood 12 inches tall and acted as a sort of golem. It was less useful, however, as it would run away after a short time. The word "homunculus" is Latin for "little man", from homo, "man", and culus, "little".
There were several other methods. One was to pick a mandrake root on a Friday morning by a black dog, wash and "feed" it with milk and honey (and maybe blood), and it would become a complete miniature human being. Another method was to poke a tiny hole through the shell of an egg laid by a black hen, replace a bean-sized portion with human semen, seal the opening with virgin parchment, and bury the egg in dung on the first day of the March lunar cycle. After 30 days, a homonculus would emerge and help its creator in exchange for lavender seeds and earthworms.
There were other creatures created by the alchemical arts. The fearsome Basilisk was a giant serpent. Its name was derived from the Greek "king serpent", from basiliskos, "little king, serpent". It was so called because of the markings on its head, which resembled a crown. To create a basilisk, you would merely have to hatch a chicken's egg under a toad, a relatively simple task. It would be highly intelligent and have the power to turn people into stone with but a glance, a power shared by the Gorgon Medusa from Greek mythology.
A Golem was an animated being made of inanimate matter. The name derives from the Hebrew gelem, "raw material". The first recorded Golem is Adam, the first man in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic folklore. He was created from clay and imbued with life. However, as he was created by the hand of God himself, he was intelligent, could speak, and could reproduce. Golems could only be created by a priest. To activate a golem, a magic word had to be inscribed on its body. One of the names of God or the Hebrew word Emet ("truth") on its forehead, on a slip of paper in its mouth, or on its body are the most notable examples of these words.
