“There is a transcendent God, or Absolute, in which we and the entire universe participate” and that man can learn how to purify nature (and thereby himself) such that he can become one with “The All.”

The below link is FULL of information on Alchemy.
Enjoy.

Tis true without lying, certain & most true.
That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing
And as all things have been & arose from one by the meditation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
The Sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth is its nurse.
The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtle from the gross sweetly with great industry.
It ascends from the earth to the heaven & again it descends to the earth & receives the force of things superior & inferior.
By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world
& thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
Its force is above all force. For it vanquishes every subtle thing & penetrates every solid thing.
So was the world created.
From this are & do come admirable adaptations whereof the means (or process) is here in this. Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world
That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished & ended.

A hermetic practitioner seeks to learn how to perfect 3 “crafts.”

These are:

1. The Craft of Alchemy (the operation of the Sun).
2. The Craft of Astrology (the operation of the Stars).
3. The Craft of Theurgy (the operation of the gods AKA ‘magic’).