alchemy
[ al-kuh-mee ] / (ˈæl kə mɪ) /
Noun plural -mies

A form of chemistry and philosophy practiced in the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and concerned principally with discovering methods for transmuting base metals into gold and with finding a universal solvent and an elixir of life.

Any magical power or process of transmuting a common substance, usually of little value, into a substance of great value.