Chapter
18

Mental Alchemy

In This Chapter

• Turning to Salt

• The First Matter within us

• The Four Elements in people

• Planetary forces in the personality

• The father of modern alchemy

• The three phases of mental alchemy

Mental alchemy is the use of alchemical techniques and operations on the psychological level in an attempt to perfect one’s character and personality. This is different from spiritual alchemy in that mental alchemy focuses on the existing aspects of the personality and deals with psychological forces in personal transformation. Spiritual alchemy, on the other hand, deals with the universal forces of soul and spirit as they are expressed in individuals (see Chapter 19).

To alchemists, the mental or psychological work took place primarily in the material realm in the Salt of the personality. In the work of personal transformation, the psychological operations are usually completed during the conjunction while the spiritual operations don’t culminate until the final coagulation, which is the fixation of spirit in a new body or incarnation.

Interest in mental alchemy began in the eighteenth century as people realized that the operations and matter of alchemy could be interpreted in psychological terms. At the time, there was great interest in curing mental illness and alleviating the day-to-day phobias and neuroses that dominated people’s lives.

The Salted Personality

The basic problem in personal alchemy is that on the spiritual and mental levels, many individuals become more rigid and less alive as they grow older. For example, many people stubbornly cling to set judgments and outmoded beliefs that limit their range of experience in the world. In the alchemist’s view, we all gradually turn to Salt as we mature. In alchemy, Salt is the principle of the crystallization of energy into set structures. To retrieve that energy, the original Salt (our personality) must be dissolved and purified so that it better reflects the essence of who we really are.

In other words, as we pass through the trials and tribulations of existence, we form judgments and beliefs that limit or structure our experience. We compromise ourselves and our integrity to conform to the dictates of society, and we end up carrying psychological baggage composed of rejected and suppressed feelings, emotions, thoughts, and desires.

Of course, this natural process of adulteration is no fault of our own. It is just how we learn to survive in the world and fit into human society. However, it is also where the work of mental transformation must begin.

TREAD CAREFULLY

In alchemy and psychology, suppressed or rejected material is called the “shadow” (in Latin, umbra). This material often retains some of its life force and can become a threat to successful transformation. It’s like a hidden contaminating energy that develops in the work. On the personal level, we develop a shadow personality in which the rejected material still lives on in the darkness of our subconscious minds. That subconscious material has a mind of its own and is the source of many psychological problems when it conflicts with our conscious goals and preferred behavior.

The First Matter in People

Psychologically, the First Matter is identical with the dark, irrational forces of the subconscious mind. Like the First Matter of the universe, the First Matter within us contains all the potential energy and dynamic oppositions necessary to fuel our transformation and achieve the goal of the Great Work.

In the mental work, the First Matter to be transformed is the shadowy and chaotic subconscious mind. It is located in the vessel of the human mind, and that is where the work begins. However, the awakened subconscious is a surprisingly powerful force that can generate all kinds of negative energies in the personality. That’s why the work of mental alchemy must take place in the hermetically sealed vessel of the mind in the inner laboratory. The energies must be contained and worked on without contaminating the personality or interfering with its functioning in the world. In analytical psychology, the sealed vessel symbolizes the cooperative efforts and confidentiality between the patient and therapist.

Sealing the vessel confines all the potentially dangerous psychic matter inside, but as heat from the fires of intense introspection increases, the pressure inside the psychic vessel builds. Jungian therapist Louise von Franz described this process: “It is the torture of fire, intensifying the psychological process. One is roasted, roasted in what one is—for you roast in what you are yourself and not in anything else; one could say that one is cooked in one’s own juice.”

Just as in the laboratory work, with too much liquid at this stage, the matter tends to putrefy. In mental alchemy, liquid is symbolic of emotions and feelings, so the idea here is to divorce oneself from the intense emotions associated with the contents of the psyche and work more with fire, which is symbolic of the light of objective consciousness. This internal heating results in an evaporative process, in which the emotional energy is slowly driven off. This also removes the original impurities, leaving behind a purer solution of self with which to work.

This is the general principle behind working with the chaotic and often threatening energies of the First Matter of the subconscious in mental alchemy. This process of recognizing and isolating the First Matter is the first step in alchemy, and the work proceeds through the three phases of alchemy with which you are already familiar (see Chapters 11 through 13).

The Four Elements in People

In mental alchemy, the structure of one’s personality is based on the Four Elements and originates from the creation of ego out of the chaos of the subconscious, just as the fourfold structure of the universe was created by the action of the Four Elements emerging from the First Matter.

As you know from Chapter 7, the Four Elements were believed to be present in the form of humors that made up a person’s temperament or personality. The Fire Element was expressed in the Choleric humor, the Water Element in the Melancholic humor, the Air Element in the Sanguine humor, and the Earth Element in the Phlegmatic humor.

The Four Elements in people are also expressed as positive characteristics or virtues, and negative characteristics or vices. For example:

• The virtues of Fire are courage, daring, and enthusiasm, while the vices of Fire are anger, jealousy, and vindictiveness.

• The virtues of Water are compassion, love, and creativity, and the vices of Water are instability and spinelessness.

• The virtues of Air are diligence, dexterity, and optimism; the vices of Air are frivolity, boasting, and squandering.

• The virtues of Earth are endurance, strength, and patience, but the vices of Earth are laziness, dullness, and boredom.

Psychologist Carl Jung saw the Four Elements as archetypes existing in the collective subconscious and thus present in everyone. He called them functions. The Fire Element is expressed in the function of intuition; the Water Element is expressed in the function of feeling; the Air Element is expressed in the function of thinking; and the Earth Element is expressed in the function of sensation.

Jung considered Fire and Air the active, masculine Elements and Water and Earth the passive, feminine Elements. In Jungian psychology, the degree of development of each of the Four Elements in our conscious mind balanced with the subconscious retention of the remaining elements determines our personality and attitude.

In both psychology and alchemy, the goal is to develop a balance of the elements within the individual. As far back as Empedocles (490–430 B.C.E.), philosophers noted that those who have near equal proportions of the Four Elements are more intelligent and have truer perceptions of reality.

Success in mental alchemy requires balancing the elements within one’s psyche. And the relationships of the elements within us—whether they oppose or complement one another—determine whether we feel basically happy and balanced or develop neuroses, phobias, and other psychological disturbances.

According to Jung, when two opposing elements encounter each other in the personality, there are three possibilities:

1. They may generate psychic energy.

2. They may neutralize each other.

3. They may combine.

THOTH’S TIPS

Sometimes it’s easier to relate to the Four Elements on a personal level. Two books that help you do that are The Four Elements of Change by Heather Ash and Vicki Noble, and The Four Temperaments by Dr. Randy Rolfe. See Appendix A for details.

In alchemy and psychology, the third case is the most important, for it represents the conjunction of opposites that results in a transcendence of conflicting polarities.

The Planets in People

According to the principles of mental alchemy, the planetary forces are present in our individual personalities. We reach enlightenment by conquering—understanding and controlling—the archetypal energies each planet represents.

In the cauldron of our personality, the sun is what gives us the desire to transform in the first place. In a sense, the sun wants pure spiritual energy and a new more perfect identity. The moon, on the other hand, wants physicality and experience. Mercury wants to find inspiration and higher love. If we were to personify these planetary powers, we might portray the sun as the Creator, the moon as the Nurturer, and Mercury as the Thinker.

These first three planets represent primordial desires that carry the signatures of the noble metals gold, silver, and quicksilver. They also represent the Three Essentials of Sulfur (sun), Mercury (Mercury), and Salt (moon) within us.

The outer planets and base metals are unbalanced and unperfected. Venus suffers from too much Water and needs focus and intention. Mars suffers from too much Fire and needs compassion and understanding. Jupiter suffers from too much spirit and needs grounding and restraint. And Saturn is too materialistic and structured; it needs growth and expansion. If we were to personify these planetary powers, we might characterize Venus as the Lover, Mars as the Warrior, Jupiter as the Philosopher, and Saturn as the Teacher.

Jung and Alchemy

Swiss psychiatrist Carl Gustav Jung has been called the father of modern alchemy for his efforts to revitalize the ancient art and apply it to mental alchemy. Jung began a lifelong study of the subject after he discovered the images and principles of alchemy surfacing in the dreams and compulsions of his patients.

Jung eventually accumulated the largest library of original alchemy texts in Europe and spent many years trying to decipher the writings of the alchemists. He came to appreciate alchemy as a dynamic system of inquiry into the nature of the subconscious. “Alchemy, as a nature philosophy of great consideration in the Middle Ages,” he said, “throws a bridge to the past and their gnosis, and also to the future, the modern psychology of the unconscious.”

Jung’s interest in alchemy was kindled not only by the thoughts and dreams of his patients, but also by his own personal experiences. Long before he discovered alchemy, Jung had the same repeating dream that held a clue to the structure of the human mind. He dreamt that right next to his house was a huge addition or wing that he had not known about. He was amazed that the strange structure was there all the time and he had not realized it. In his dreams, Jung explored the mysterious addition to his house and finally realized the rooms contained things from his subconscious that he had rejected or locked away there.

Then, in 1926, Jung had a dream that opened the door to understanding the strange addition in his inner house and shaped the focus of his studies for the rest of his life. He had been intensely searching for a framework for his work with the subconscious but could find no modern discipline—including the psychology of the time—that was powerful enough to encompass the subject. In this unusually powerful dream, he was being held captive in time in the seventeenth century. “Later I understood that this dream was referring to alchemy,” he wrote, “for in the 17th century alchemy reached its climax.” Jung felt the dream was telling him that the subconscious would reveal itself by an in-depth study of medieval alchemy.

Jung’s exhaustive studies revealed that the operations of alchemy were at work in the human mind. It was an astonishing discovery that confirmed the alchemists’ teaching that the principles of alchemy were universal and took place on all levels of reality.

As depicted in the following figure, the operations of alchemy are like a stairway leading to the perfection of the inner person. The blindfolded person in the lower right corner has not yet discovered the path of alchemy, while the person to his left is trying to tell him that there is life in the dark caves of the mountain. This hidden life is the subconscious mind, and its contents are symbolized by rabbits who live underground.

The psychological operations of alchemy.

Jung saw that the First Matter in people is the subconscious mind, and that it is the subject of transformation in mental alchemy. According to Jung, the Philosopher’s Stone in mental alchemy is the perfection of the personality. This natural alchemical process is the gradual transformation from a false, fragmented, and distorted personality into a whole or integrated personality in which psychic elements and energies are balanced.

The Black Phase of Mental Alchemy

As in other kinds of alchemy, the blackening is the first sign that the processes of mental alchemy are beginning. The Saturn signatures of depression and melancholia arouse suspicions that all is not right and cause us to slow down and examine our inner life.

The blackening is always seen as the death of the First Matter or the removal of life and energy from it. In psychology, it is the death of old habits, attitudes, relationships, unhealthy attachments and dependencies, and the withdrawal of psychological projections in which we blame others for our own predicament.

Primary among these factions taking shape within the First Matter is the shadow, which is the inferior part of the personality that lives in the darkness. Think of the shadow as those mental elements that are incompatible with the chosen conscious attitude. In mental alchemy, these rejected elements coalesce into a “splinter personality,” which is a concentration of subconscious energy that the alchemists likened to a threatening dragon. To defeat that dragon and keep it from taking control of your life, the shadow and dark aspects of yourself must be brought to light, confronted, and assimilated into consciousness.

All the unpleasant feelings of guilt and worthlessness must be suffered through in this alchemical process of mortification. Both in the lab and in the mental work, this is a dangerous period during which poisonous vapors are released and vessels explode due to overheating. On the psychological level, the operations of calcination and dissolution are necessary to differentiate one’s ego from the shadow and to reinvent oneself on a higher level that psychologists call “the Self.”

Carl Jung clarified how the mental work proceeded for medieval alchemists: “The profound darkness that shrouds the alchemical procedure comes from the fact that although the alchemist was interested in the chemical part of the work, he also used it to devise a nomenclature for the psychic transformation that really fascinated him.” Although the alchemists lacked the modern psychiatric system of classification to describe this inner transformation, they invented their own unique terminology that applied to all levels of their work.

The White Phase of Mental Alchemy

At the moment of the death of the shadow and the splintered personality during the Black Phase of mental alchemy, the White Phase begins to unfold. A person rises up from depression and reports feeling suddenly relieved, refreshed, and optimistic.

It is the daybreak of the new personality free of its gross and rejected parts. Psychic energy is no longer shared between the inner forces of light and darkness and is now becoming fully available to the resurrected self. The matter has suffered through the Black Phase and starts coming back to life. This moment is highly rewarding in both the practical laboratory work and in the work in the inner lab.

The focus of the White Phase in mental alchemy is a washing or purification of psychic contents separated out from the Black Phase. This takes place entirely in the twilight of daybreak in a mix of rational thoughts and irrational feelings in one’s own mind, or in free-flowing conversation in the office of a therapist. There is no more reason to hide your dirty linen, because you have freed it of its contaminating guilt. During this separation process, the opposing forces and essences of the psyche are clearly discerned.

If the opposing essences remain separated and generate new energy, the energy will be used up in some sort of creative endeavor, such as an artist giving his inspiration a new form. If these essences simply merge and neutralize each other, no new energy is produced, and the merging is considered an alchemical stillbirth. If, however, the opposing essences unite in a fertile marriage of opposites, then a new element is born that incorporates the essences of both. This is the alchemical conjunction, the transcendence of conflicting polarities in the creation of a higher form known as the Philosopher’s Child. This is the product of the operation of conjunction, and if it survives, it grows into the perfected Philosopher’s Stone.

THOTH’S TIPS

The overall plot of the Harry Potter books by J. K. Rowling is a three-part drama that follows the three phases of alchemy. The long Black Phase culminates in Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, in which everything Harry attempts goes wrong, ending in the death of Sirius “Black,” his beloved godfather. The White Phase takes place in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which centers on the death of Albus Dumbledore. Albus is Latin for “white.” The final Red Stage culminates in the final book, Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, in which Harry’s friend Rubeus Hagrid is forced to take part in a death march to celebrate the “slaying” of Harry. Rubeus is Latin for “red.” At the end of the series, as at the end of the Great Work, conflict is resolved and the subject of the work is perfected.

The Red Phase of Mental Alchemy

If the White Phase concludes in a successful conjunction of opposites, then the Red Phase of alchemy begins. This is the true sunrise of the mental work, when all forces and elements have been assimilated into conscious awareness.

If, however, there are unassimilated subconscious elements or the ego raises its ugly head as pride, then the matter is still contaminated and cannot proceed without further purification. This often happens both in the lab and in the mental work and initiates a period of putrefaction similar to the Black Phase. The length and intensity of the putrefaction depends on the degree of contamination.

If the putrefaction of all remaining traces of impurities is successful, then the life-giving operation of fermentation begins. In mental alchemy, fermentation is the introduction of spiritual forces into the personality, which gives us a sense of purpose and new energy for life.

A process of mental distillation begins as we try to assimilate the spiritual forces from Above and unite them with the forces of the personality from Below. This is sometimes called the “Vertical Work,” and it is exemplified by the “Circulation of the Light” meditation we discussed in Chapter 13.

As the Red Phase of alchemy proceeds, the process of coagulation begins naturally. Once the level of purification in distillation reaches a certain stage, the Red Stone will form all by itself. The true key to the Stone—and the last operation over which the alchemist has any control—is distillation. The process of distillation—whether in the lab or in the mind—is really a process of gradual multiplication of powers, an amplification of energy that eventually condenses into a completely new material.

The Least You Need to Know

• Mental alchemy is the use of alchemical techniques to perfect the personality.

• The First Matter in people is the chaotic and powerful subconscious mind.

• Each of the Four Elements is expressed in mental functions common to all people.

• The planetary forces in people are archetypal energies that determine our temperament and personality.

• Carl Jung is considered the father of modern alchemy.

• The Black, White, and Red Phases take place on the psychological level of transformation as well as in the alchemist’s laboratory.