Chapter
13

The Red Phase

In This Chapter

• The peacock spreads its tail

• The union of the White Queen and the Red King

• The operation of fermentation

• The operation of distillation

• The operation of coagulation

• Personal operations of the Red Phase

The third and final phase of alchemy, known as the Red Phase, or Rubedo, is a natural continuation of the White Phase. The alchemists believed the deep purification of essences begun during the White Phase was what released the powerful energies experienced during the Red Phase.

That these phases complement one another is reflected in the symbols alchemists chose to represent them. The symbol of Albedo is the White Queen; the symbol of Rubedo is the Red King. Often the White Queen and Red King are shown holding hands together or holding onto a small vessel or container. This was the alchemists’ way of saying they work together. In the laboratory, the white becomes united with red through increasing the heat in the furnace.

Early European alchemists originally separated the Rubedo into two short stages or moments that indicated they were on the right path. The first moment was the appearance of a yellow or golden color in the matter. They called it the Yellow Stage and used the Latin word for yellow, Citrinatis, to refer to it. This short-lived phenomenon was a sign that the golden stage of transformation was coming. If they were working with a metal, it meant that transmutation into gold was a real possibility.

The second moment was signaled by the appearance of a deep purple color in the work. This Purple Stage was also known by the Latin word for purple, Iosis. Purple is actually the color of gold in solution and is an indicator of pure gold atoms in chemistry. To alchemists, it meant the minute quantity of gold revealed by the Yellow Stage was being seeded in the experiment and would eventually grow to transform the entire matter. Alchemists also referred to this stage as the “Transmutation of the Venom,” and they believed it meant that any contamination or poisons left over from the Nigredo were now completely purified and assimilated.

With the successful completion of the Red Phase, the Philosopher’s Stone was produced and the base metals transmuted into pure gold. Psychologically, this meant the integration of opposing and rejected elements in the personality and the experience of one’s true self.

The Peacock’s Tail

A curious thing happened during the transition from the Albedo phase to the Rubedo. The work entered another dark phase as the child of the conjunction neared birth. The alchemists called this short stage putrefaction, and it occurred both in the laboratory work and during the work on the psychological level.

The alchemists believed putrefaction was a final cleansing of impurities in the work and sometimes referred to it as the “Purgation of the Stone.” Putrefaction was considered a final death to any contaminants or remnants of ego in the matter, and it was a necessary prelude to the resurrection or rebirth of the matter on a more perfect or spiritual level.

At the darkest moment of putrefaction, often a sudden and glorious display of many brilliant colors occurred. The alchemists named this the Peacock’s Tail, or Cauda Pavonis in Latin. Again, it was observed in both the laboratory and on the personal level of transformation.

The rainbow of colors seen in the Peacock’s Tail gradually merged together into pure whiteness. Because black is the absence of color, the sudden appearance of colors in the Peacock’s Tail during putrefaction signaled a fundamental change in the matter. And it’s only natural that the Peacock’s Tail eventually turned white because white contains all colors together.

Symbolism of the Peacock’s Tail includes a rainbow appearing in the dark clouds of a thunderstorm, the bursting forth of the colors of spring after the darkness of winter, and the colors of the Aurora Borealis (Northern Lights) gleaming against the night sky.

In the lab, the Peacock’s Tail was observed in iridescent oil that floated on the surface of the blackened matter and gradually turned into a white fatty substance. This milky liquid was composed of digesting bacteria that accumulated on the rotting material. Psychologist Carl Jung compared this phenomenon to daybreak, a period of peace and tranquility before the next and final phase, which is the full sunrise of Rubedo.

The Reddening

After suffering through the Nigredo, undergoing the intense purifications of Albedo, and experiencing the death of putrefaction, the matter of the work was depleted of energy and life force. It was pure but sterile Earth, which the alchemists compared to the bleak face of the moon. To make the work come alive again, the alchemists felt it must have fresh blood and undergo reddening in the fire.

The infusion of life into the dead matter was accomplished by the loving union of the White Queen with the Red King, who work together during Rubedo in a cosmic process sometimes referred to as the “Marriage of the sun and the moon.” Obviously, these are profound symbols with universal meanings.

If you have been a good apprentice and have paid attention to the symbolism presented thus far, you should know what spiritual forces are represented by the White Queen and Red King. According to Hermetic philosophy, these spiritual forces are the basic essences of every created thing in the universe. Do you know what they are?

The White Queen represents the universal feminine essence of soul; the Red King represents the universal masculine essence of spirit. If you missed the answer to this question, go back to the last chapter and make sure you understand the meaning of the symbolism described under the conjunction process before you proceed further in your apprenticeship.

Among the operations alchemists used to complete the Red Phase of transformation are two dynamic processes known as fermentation and distillation, which combine opposing energies in the work. The third and final operation during Rubedo is known as coagulation, which is the final crystallization of energy and matter that becomes the Philosopher’s Stone.

The Fermentation Process

To the ancients, fermentation was a miracle of nature. As early as 7000 B.C.E., the Egyptians used their knowledge of fermentation to make mead, wine, and beer. By 4500 B.C.E., the Egyptians and Chinese had learned to ferment milk to make yogurt and cheese. Fermentation requires living cells, such as bacteria or yeast, and is considered a kind of cellular respiration that usually takes place in the absence of oxygen.

In chemical terms, fermentation is the conversion of organic substances into new compounds in the presence of fermenting bacteria. The most common fermentation is the conversion of sugars into alcohol, which held special meaning for alchemists. They felt alcohol was the actual spiritual essence of a substance, and thus we refer to liquors and other alcoholic beverages as “spirits.”

Some examples of fermentation will make this process clear. Beer is made by germinating grain and then drying and crushing it into pulp. This mash, as it is called, is mixed with warm water. Wine is made by crushing grapes and separating out the juice. In both cases, fermentation begins naturally if the material is allowed to decay, though yeast is usually added to get the process started. After proper aging to allow the alcohol to accumulate, the beer or wine is filtered and bottled.

The putrefaction, whose end was signaled by the appearance of the Peacock’s Tail, is actually a natural part of the fermentation process. Putrefaction is the first step in fermentation, when the matter is allowed to rot and decompose. Medieval alchemists sometimes added manure to help get the process going. Unlike the hopeless blackness of Nigredo, the alchemists considered the blackness of putrefaction to be a pregnant darkness that would lead to the birth of the Philosopher’s Child.

The cipher alchemists used to designate putrefaction was the astrological Fire sign of Leo, which the Egyptians associated with the lion-headed sun god Sekhmet. Images of putrefaction include corpses, graves, coffins, massacres, mutilation, worms, dung beetles, and rotting flesh. Alchemical drawings at this stage depict birds descending from a pitch black sky, skeletons standing over coffins or black boxes, or a snake crucified on a cross.

When true fermentation begins, the dead material seems to come to life again as movement and bubbling gases emerge from the influx of digesting bacteria. Drawings of fermentation sometimes show a bird descending into water where a black toad waits, two birds nesting in a tree, an alchemist waiting patiently for changes to take place in a darkened vessel, or a farmer sowing gold coins in a field.

Other scenes of fermentation feature grapevines, sowing, germination, greenness, and rebirth. The color green is often associated with successful fermentation, and other green symbols include the Emerald Tablet, green gemstones, lush gardens, and the Green Lion stretching up toward the sky. Images capturing the energies of the fermentation process include dark clouds and thunderstorms, lightning, sexual activity in caves or darkened vessels, and angels coming down from heaven.

Alchemists assigned the astrological cipher for Capricorn to stand for the process of fermentation. Capricorn is an Earth sign whose symbols are both the goat and the unicorn, representing the most basic and the highest natural instincts. Alchemists believed that Capricorn encompassed the entire work from beginning to end. Capricorn is the first sign of the year, and movement from Capricorn to Capricorn encompassed the one symbolic alchemical year in which the Great Work could be accomplished.

The primary symbol of successful fermentation is a curious two-headed human figure known as the Rebis, which is from the Latin phrase res bina, meaning “a double thing.” The Rebis is usually depicted as a winged hermaphrodite with a male head on its right and a female head on its left and represents the Philosopher’s Child resulting from the union of the King and Queen that took place during the conjunction phase.

The naked and purified Rebis is shown being heated by the fires of fermentation in the following figure. This fire is not the direct consuming flames of calcination, but a controlled heat that has been likened to birds sitting on eggs to hatch them. The Rebis is like an embryonic being or intermediate stage in transformation that requires more toil in the final stages of the work.

This new being emerges from the dark womb of putrefaction and takes its first breath during fermentation. The Rebis is a hermaphroditic melding of the masculine and feminine characteristics of its parents, the King and Queen. In mythological terms, the hermaphrodite results from the sacred marriage of our Hermes with the Greek goddess of love, Aphrodite.

Fermentation of the Rebis.

Personal Fermentation

Just as chemical fermentation is the introduction of new life into the matter, so is psychological fermentation the introduction of new life into the inner presence created during personal conjunction. Any problems starting the fermentation process giving birth to the child of the conjunction stem from impurities carried over from the White Phase. These hidden impurities in our character are finally destroyed during the psychological death of putrefaction.

Fermentation on the personal level starts with the inspiration of spiritual power that reanimates, energizes, and enlightens the blackened ego. Personal fermentation can be achieved using a wide variety of tools that include intense prayer, desire for mystical union, transpersonal therapy, visualization, and deep meditation. In simplest terms, fermentation is a living, loving inspiration from something totally beyond and outside us in the spiritual realm. “Separate the Earth from Fire, the Subtle from the Gross,” the Emerald Tablet instructs us at this stage.

Like the colorful Peacock’s Tail of its chemical counterpart, psychological fermentation is often initiated by colorful visions that involve a higher form of imagination the alchemists called the “True Imagination.” They felt the mental images experienced during fermentation were true representations of a higher spiritual reality and not mere fantasy.

The Distillation Process

Distillation is the boiling and condensation of a solution to increase its concentration and purity. The alchemists believed that distillation released the pure essence or spirit of a substance in the evaporating vapors. For example, one can obtain the pure alcohol spirit of wine by distilling a solution of fermented grapes. The essence could be concentrated using a process known as rectification.

Rectification is the process of refining or purifying a substance by repeated distillation. The evaporated distillate is returned to the boiling vessel to be distilled again. Continued cycles of distillation eventually produce a thick and extremely concentrated solution the alchemists called the “Mother of the Stone.”

The typical distillation apparatus consists of a lower boiling vessel (the cucurbit) and an upper stillhead (the alembic), which is a hooded vessel that collects the rising vapors. The hot vapors are cooled in a long condenser, and the purified condensed liquid (the distillate) is directed by a tube or funnel into a receiving vessel.

A popular medieval distillation device was nicknamed the Pelican. It was a glass retort (a type of container) with two tubes connecting the neck of the vessel with the lower body (see Chapter 14). The result was a reflux or rectification still, in which the mixture was boiled and vapors condensed in the neck and then flowed back into the boiling liquid through the tubes. This inner circulatory process produced a very pure essence from the original mixture. In alchemical drawings of this operation, the pelican is shown pecking herself in her chest in order to feed her young, which are usually gathered at her feet lapping up her fresh blood or life essence.

Another kind of distillation is cohobation, in which solid matter is repeatedly soaked in liquid and distilled to capture its purified essences. In a kind of distillation known as sublimation, no liquid is used at all. The solid material gives off vapors that condense directly into an extremely pure powder at the top of the distilling apparatus. The solidified material remains stuck to the sides of the alembic until collected by the alchemist. The alchemists considered sublimation a superior form of distillation that led directly to their treasured Philosopher’s Stone. “He who knows how to sublime the Stone,” said the Greek alchemist Eudoxus (400–350 B.C.E.), “justly deserves the name of a philosopher, since he knows the Fire of the Wise, which is the only instrument which can work this sublimation.”

Distillation is the most important operation in practical alchemy, and some alchemists spent months distilling the same solution over and over. Distillation is described in the Emerald Tablet in these words: “It rises from Earth to Heaven and descends again to Earth, thereby combining within Itself the powers of both the Above and the Below.”

The alchemists chose the astrological Earth sign of Virgo as the cipher to signify distillation. The Egyptians associated the alchemical goddess Isis with this sign. The cipher for the operation of sublimation was Libra, an astrological Air sign the Egyptians associated with the divine child, as well as Maat, the goddess of truth.

Two-headed creatures are shown rising into the air on wings and then returning to Earth in drawings depicting the distillation process. This repeated circulation between the spiritual forces Above and the material forces Below eventually lead to a concentration and purification of the essences of the substance at hand.

In the following figure, we see the distillation of the Rebis as it nears the final stages. The Rebis stands on a winged stone or globe that is the new Salt or permanent body that forms after distillation is complete. Above we see the seven planetary operations that the Rebis will go through before the transformation is complete. The square and compass and octagon figure indicate that distillation is an objective process of rectification and gradual enlightenment.

Distillation of the Rebis.

Other images of distillation include flowers in bloom, such as the rose, the lotus, jasmine, and the Edelweiss, as well as scenes of fountains, waterwheels, dew, rain, and snow. Animal images include the unicorn, white doves, soaring birds, owls, pelicans, winged serpents, the Green Lion eating the sun, and a dragon in flames eating its own tail.

Personal Distillation

In psychological terms, distillation is a process of spiritization that involves repeated separation and recombination of the subtle or spiritual aspects of the personality with the unrefined thoughts and emotions or gross aspects of the personality. This is actually a very natural process that we can observe simply by paying attention to our everyday thoughts. We are always recycling thoughts and regurgitating emotions in a never-ending struggle to organize our lives and find direction and meaning. This chaotic process goes on unchecked and unnoticed until a distilled idea breaks through in the form of a new insight or revised judgment.

Personal distillation, however, requires being conscious of this process and deliberately pursuing it to its conclusion. The deliberate agitation and sublimation of psychic forces is necessary to ensure that no impurities from the inflated ego or submerged shadow are incorporated into the new self manifesting in the final stages of transformation.

Tools used in personal distillation include introspective meditations that raise the content of the psyche to the highest or most objective level possible, free from the emotional energy that often controls our behavior. Almost all types of psychological therapy are methods of personal distillation that seek a reconciliation of subjective and objective realities.

Many meditations used by Taoist alchemists are also methods of personal distillation. For instance, in the meditation called “Circulation of the Light,” one is taught to focus the light of consciousness on the lower cauldron of energy in the abdomen below the navel. Following the natural rhythm of the breath, this base energy is heated by the powers of intention and attention and rises up the back to the upper cauldron in the head. There the purified light is condensed and accumulated, and any unconverted energy returns to the navel area along the front of the chest. The distillation of the light is repeated daily for months or even years, until enough of the liquid light collects to crystallize in the brain. According to Taoist alchemists, the subtle matter distilled through this process congeals into a Golden Pill, which is the adept’s passage to perfect health and even immortality.

The Coagulation Process

The final rung on the ladder of transformation is the operation of coagulation, in which the body is made spiritual and the spirit is made corporeal. Coagulation produces a new incarnation that can survive in all realms.

Chemical coagulation is the physical manifestation of the essence created during conjunction, born during fermentation, and purified in distillation. It is accomplished by the congealing, precipitating, or sublimating of the solidified essence or child of the conjunction. This fixation of spiritual forces is what creates the Philosopher’s Stone, which embodies the principle of transmutation itself.

With the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone, two more operations are now available to alchemists. The first is projection, which is the process of transmuting the base metals into gold. It is said that just a tiny piece of the Stone or a pinch of the red powder of projection made from it is enough to perfect the metals and transmute lead into gold. The second operation of the Stone is multiplication, which is the act or process of multiplying or increasing the quantity or volume of something. Just a touch of the Stone or a grain of the red powder will cause plants to grow to perfection or cells to be healed and multiply perfectly. Even the Stone itself and its powers can be magically multiplied. Multiplication provides the raw material for the elixir of life, drinkable gold, and other panaceas that the alchemists promised would cure all diseases.

The cipher for coagulation is the astrological Air sign of Gemini, the Divine Twins that to alchemists represented their Rebis. The cipher for projection is the Water sign of Pisces. From at least 2300 B.C.E., the Egyptians used two fish to denote this constellation. The cipher used for the multiplication operation is the Water sign of Aquarius, whom the Egyptians associated with Osiris, their god of grain, seeds, and semen.

Coagulation images include brilliantly shining new gold, a balanced set of scales, an egg-shaped stone, the Holy Grail, and a naked androgynous youth. Scenes of coagulation include such things as wingless creatures being carried away by winged creatures, a lone eagle soaring high in the sky, the serpent and lion united, the King and Queen breaking free of their chains, or the sun and moon beaming down proudly over a naked child.

The most common symbol of coagulation is the Phoenix, a mythical bird that built its nest in a fire and then rose from the ashes completely reborn as a new creature. Alchemists sometimes called the Phoenix the “Ortus,” the rectified one. They described it as a four-legged bird with black eyes, a white face, white forepaws, black hind paws, and a red head with streaks of pure gold reaching to its neck.

Personal Coagulation

Psychologically, the Phoenix is the resurrected personality that is fully manifested during coagulation. The alchemists viewed it as the divine child of the King and Queen who embodies a new state of awareness beyond either masculine or feminine ways of knowing. Paracelsus named this cosmic essence the Iliaster, which literally means “the star in man.” He described it as the “completely healed human being who has burned away all the dross of his lower being and is free to fly as the Phoenix.”

On the spiritual level, coagulation produces an entirely new body for the alchemist. This second body is often described as a body of light, which is the Ultima Materia (Ultimate Matter) of the soul. Many experience it as a projected golden body of coalesced light that Paracelsus named the Astral Body, literally the Star Body. As one Renaissance alchemist described it: “You break through space, fly to heaven in broad daylight, and shed the flesh-and-bone bag, which is now as useless as the alchemical workshop and vessels once the elixir has been perfected.”

In Christian alchemy, the ultimate matter of the soul is the resurrected body. In the Gospel of John, the coagulated body is described as the seamless garment that Jesus wore when he said, “I and my Father are one.” In the same gospel, Jesus warned that unless a man be born of both Fire and Water, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. In Eastern religions, the culmination of the Red Phase corresponds with the formation of the Diamond Body, the resplendent body of crystallized light that began its transformation as a lump of black coal.

“Its inherent strength is perfected if it is turned into Earth,” the Emerald Tablet says of the coagulation process. “Thus will you obtain the Glory of the Whole Universe,” it continues. “All Obscurity will be clear to you. This is the greatest Force of all powers, because it overcomes every Subtle thing and penetrates every Solid thing.”

The Least You Need to Know

• The Red Phase of transformation is a continuation of the purification of the White Phase, and the symbols of this cooperative effort are the Red King and the White Queen.

• The transition from the putrefaction stage of fermentation is marked by a beautiful display of colors known as the Peacock’s Tail.

• Fermentation is an operation of the Red Phase that seeks to revive the dead material left over from putrefaction.

• Distillation is a Red Phase operation that works to purify and concentrate the essences retrieved from fermentation.

• Coagulation is an operation in which the Philosopher’s Stone is produced.

• Personal fermentation, distillation, and coagulation are operations of the Red Phase of alchemy applied to the psychological and spiritual components of individuals.