Alchemy (Esotericism)

Whilst many alchemical works may be considered solely as a prelude to chemistry, there are a number of works in which alchemy is looked upon as both an operational and spiritual technique. The language of chemistry employed by the genuine alchemists is understood to be a metaphor for the work, the opus, of psychic transmutation. The transmutation of base metals into gold is the transmutation of psychophysical elements within man from an impure, obstructed state to a fine state of responsiveness to high-frequency energy.

The acknowledged pursuit of the alchemists was the elixir vitae and the philosopher's stone; that is, the conquest of immortality and achievement of absolute freedom. The process of individuation must be regarded as prefiguration of the [opus alchymicum]

or, more accurately, an unconscious imitation (for the use of all beings) of the extremely difficult initiation process. This process undertaken by the unconscious without the permission of the conscious, and mostly against its will, leads man towards his own centre, the Self.

The unconscious undergoes processes which express themselves in alchemical symbolism, tending towards psychic results which correspond to the results of hermetic operations. Dreams or waking dreams containing alchemical symbols constitute a series, the development of which accompanies a process of individuation. Such products of the unconscious are therefore neither anarchic nor gratuitous. They pursue a precise goal, individuation, which may be considered to represent the supreme ideal of every human being, namely the discovery of the possession of one's own Self.

The alchemist's endeavour to conjure out of matter the "philosophical gold", or the "panacea", or the "wonderful stone", may then be considered as only an illusion in part. For the rest it corresponded to certain psychic concerns that are of great importance in the psychology of the unconscious. In this sense the alchemist projected an understanding of the process of individuation into the phenomena of chemical change. The principal, or underlying, intent of alchemy is then understood as one of making of the body a spirit and of the spirit a body through transmuting the bodily consciousness into spirit and through fixing the spirit in the body. This assumes the possibility of changing the "state of aggregation" of a body in conformity with the metallurgical symbolism that is used to describe the process.

Alchemy is a sacramental science in which material phenomena are not considered autonomous, but represent only the "condensation" of psychic and spiritual realities. Through its processes, when the spontaneity and mystery of nature are penetrated, nature becomes transparent. It is transfigured under the lightning flashes of divine energies, whilst incorporating and symbolizing those angelic states of awareness which ordinarily can only be briefly experienced, such as when listening to music or when contemplating a human face. This transfiguration of nature takes effect in the heart of man. It is the eye of the heart that transforms lead into gold as the metal whose luminous density is thought best to express the divine presence in the mineral realm. As such alchemy is an immense effort to awaken man to the divine omnipresence.

The mode of operation of nature in the universe of form is perceived as a continuous rhythm of coagulations and dissolutions. Form is impressed on matter and matter dissolves it in order to offer itself to another form, in a continuing pattern of alternation and transformation. In this interplay of perpetually interacting tensions, these neutralize each other at one moment by their very opposition and then destroy each other only to arise again in a new guise. The logic of alchemy is two-fold, involving a reintegration of manifestation with its principle and appearance with reality, as well as a dialectic of the living tension of all complementarities.

As in other traditions, two paths are recognized in alchemy:< (a) Through the first path, or "humid way", natural energy is drawn into itself in order to transform it into fervour. This path involves the phases of "blackening" (nigredo, melanosis), "whitening" (albedo, leucosis), and "reddening". In other, more detailed, explanations this path is understood to be made of a progressive alternation between critical periods ("putrefactions") and stages of further maturation or integration ("coniunctio"). Each maturational stage is thus preceded by a critical period involving a process of profound psychobiological transformation during which the individual has to make fundamental psychic as well as physiological adjustments. It is during these periods that unconscious symbols, such as those emerging in dreams, will conform to the alchemical patterns of mortification and putrefaction, subsequently to change into symbols of death and rebirth. Following the progressive individuation, through which a child matures to adulthood, this cycle of regressive individuation parallels the potential processes of maturation through to death. The first crisis of adulthood, symbolized by the "prima materia", is transcended through the first (Earth) "coniunctio", leading to a second crisis in middle age, symbolized by the "black putrefaction" (nigredo). This is transcended through the second (Moon) "coniunctio", leading to a third crisis in late middle age, symbolized by the "yellow putrefaction". This is transcended through the third (Sun) "coniunctio", leading to a third crisis in old age, symbolized by the "red putrefaction" (rubedo). This in turn is transcended through the fourth (Heaven) "coniunctio", symbolized by death.

(b) Through the second path, or "dry way", considered more rapid and more dangerous, there is a direct and unmediated path from the ego to the inner man, which slowly takes into itself the Soul of the World. It is initiated by a still more radical "descent into hell". This path bears some similarity to the yoga of knowledge and to the direct path of tantrism.

As with tantrism, identification with the world in its positive aspect is seen as the necessary first step in the process of liberation. Its methods are more concerned with processes of detachment than of renunciation, and with purified participation in the world rather than escape from it. The major practice of alchemy is based on the use of imagination (as distinct from fantasy) to cultivate the golden instants which occasionally illuminate ordinary life. Through such imagination the continuing creation of the world is reproduced within the individual. Alchemy enobles the soul's need to dream, expanding the dream beyond the limitations of individuality to encompass the cosmos - finally to raise the question "Who dreams". Alchemists thus come to see with the eyes of the spirit, as God dreams the phenomena of nature in sustaining its processes. The alchemist reverses cosmogony, dissolving material appearances in pure life. He makes in himself, by meditating on natural beauty and on the "sympathy" which holds all things together, the unity of the Soul of the World, until through his own heart he causes the solar fire of the Spirit to rise. Through this process the Spirit is experienced as embracing and transforming both matter and the body of man.

Jung saw the symbolic aspects of alchemy as a precursor of modern study of the unconscious and the transformation of personality; and its goals as metaphors for psychological growth and development. The combination of two opposite elements resulting in a new entity - seen symbolically as the conjunction of male and female producing an infant - are particularly clear symbols of the intrapsychic processes and the development of the individual personality.

In most traditions, alchemy is none other than the science through which the sacred nature of rhythm was expressed and the link to eternity established. It acquired a special significance in the monotheistic traditions, especially Christianity. Through its more general expression in the form of hermeticism, it was the only cosmological doctrine to survive in the Christian world, complementing Christianity up to the appearance of Gothic art. Despite the insistence of historians of science, alchemy was never, except in its degenerate aspects, a primitive form of chemistry. The importance of alchemy lies in its emphasis on the divine omnipresence in the depths of material heaviness, where it appears least likely to become apparent. The most detailed overview of alchemical processes and traditional imagery is that by a modern author writing under the traditional pseudonym of Johannes Fabricius.