I mean alchemy is an occult practice. It’s just history only pays attention to the physical aspects (turning things into gold, etc). Often times the medium to turn a substance into gold is called the philosophers stone

But this is only a portion of it. The philosophers stone in alchemy is actually spiritual enlightenment or becoming one with everything. Hence the concept of turning anything into gold, gold being enlightenment and the universe and the plain material before the transformation is preenlightened individuals. They all become the same (one, gold) after attaining it.

Most alchemical philosophy is occult/spiritual and the chemistry aspects are a metaphor for the evolution of the soul.

I think because modernity is mostly materialist in its philosophy that we ignore the underlying spirituality associated with alchemy