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Often, arcana. a secret; mystery.
a supposed great secret of nature that the alchemists sought to discover.
a secret and powerful remedy.
secret of secrets.
Historical Examples

I inquired, “Why do you say one arcanum; when I came here to learn several?”
The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love Emanuel Swedenborg

But they too were to be cured, people need only buy his arcanum.
The Burgomaster’s Wife, Complete Georg Ebers

I thought it best that the building at arcanum should be suspended till your return.
The Letters of Cicero, Volume 1 Marcus Tullius Cicero

It is accounted a noble Remedy, known to few, and held as a great arcanum.
A New Voyage to Carolina John Lawson

I shall prove that Hermippus protracted his life by the use of such an arcanum.
Curiosities of Olden Times S. Baring-Gould

arcanum relative to conception, which takes place though the souls of two married partners be disjoined, 245.
The Delights of Wisdom Pertaining to Conjugial Love Emanuel Swedenborg

The mysteries of religion must be kept in the hands of priests—the secret and arcanum of church government.
Amenities of Literature Isaac Disraeli

The decoration of both of our houses is still in hand: but your rural works at arcanum and Laterium are now completed.
The Letters of Cicero, Volume 1 Marcus Tullius Cicero

The foreigner has no mystic fabric in his government, and no arcanum imperii.
A Lecture on the Study of History Lord Acton

But this is an arcanum which enters into the understanding of only a few.
Earths In Our Solar System Which Are Called Planets, and Earths In The Starry Heaven Their Inhabitants, And The Spirits And Angels There Emanuel Swedenborg

noun (pl) -na (-nə)
(sometimes pl) a profound secret or mystery known only to initiates
a secret of nature sought by alchemists
n.

proper singular form of arcana.