Chapter
1
Your Apprenticeship in Alchemy
In This Chapter
• Alchemy: the art of transformation
• Why alchemy is still relevant today
• Understanding the six types of alchemy
• The fundamental philosophy behind alchemy
• Learning alchemy
Just what is alchemy? This question can present a bewildering variety of answers, because alchemy is at the root of so many different traditions and disciplines. And that’s unfortunate, for the one simple thing about alchemy is its definition. So, to avoid confusion in your study of this subject, remember this basic definition right from the start: alchemy is the art of transformation. Alchemy is about how to change one thing into another, and the goal of alchemy is to perfect or evolve the substance at hand. Alchemists try to change something that is inferior, imperfect, or unacceptable into something that is better, more perfect, and closer to what they desire.
It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about metals, chemicals, or herbs or about our bodies, minds, or souls. Nor does it matter whether we’re talking about chemistry, biology, medicine, religion, sociology, politics, software, or psychology. The word “alchemy” is always about how to accomplish some sort of creative transformation.
So there you have it. You’ve already made a giant leap toward understanding alchemy, and you’ve only just begun to read! And you’ll be making many more giant leaps soon—I promise you. Alchemy may seem confusing and arcane and, at times, even deliberately misleading, but once you understand their secret, coded language, the alchemists’ words will all fall into place for you. And this book will teach you that ancient code of symbolic images, special terms, and secret ciphers in as straightforward a manner as possible.
Why Study Alchemy?
But why should you spend your time trying to penetrate the alchemists’ coded language and learn the age-old secrets of alchemy? What relevance does alchemy have today?
Surprisingly, this ancient discipline, which dates back at least 2,000 years, has much to offer the modern world. The universal principles, which the alchemists discovered, apply to all levels of the physical, mental, and spiritual realms. Whether you are working in an artist’s studio or a boardroom, in a lab developing healing tinctures or in a clinic as a therapist, or in the inner laboratory of your own soul and spirit, alchemical techniques will help you make the transformations you desire.
The art of transformation reveals the hidden chemistry of change underlying an enormous variety of subjects ranging from psychological transformation and personal relationships to the formation of stars and planetary systems. In fact, alchemy has achieved more respect today from the general public and among scholars than at any time in the last 400 years.
Swiss psychologist Dr. Carl Jung (1875–1961) is credited with returning alchemy to its rightful stature in academia with his development of depth psychology, which he based on the universal symbols of alchemy that appeared in his patients’ dreams. Jung made the ancient operations of alchemy viable tools in helping his patients achieve psychological wholeness.
Even in such unexpected areas as economics, one can find many serious works crediting the effectiveness of alchemical principles. Recently, H. C. Binswanger, director of the Institute for Economics and Ecology at the University of St. Gallen, Switzerland, wrote a breakthrough book called Money and Magic in which he urged economists to stop using the term “mainstream economics” and substitute “alchemical economics” as a more descriptive name. He contends that economics developed more as a form of alchemy than finance.
While putting the job title of “alchemist” on your resumé may not bring in a flood of offers, thinking of yourself as a practicing alchemist in the workplace can bring unexpected rewards and advancement. So let’s look at the different kinds of modern alchemy and see how they can help you get ahead in the world.
THOTH’S TIPS
An entertaining way to grasp the basic principles of alchemy is to read some of the many novels devoted to the topic. Among the best are Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, Russell House’s The Portal, Patrick Harpur’s Mercurius, Fidelis Morgan’s Unnatural Fire, Maria Szepes’s The Red Lion, J. K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, Margaret Mahy’s Alchemy, and Michael Scott’s The Alchemyst.
The Kinds of Alchemy
Because in the most basic terms, alchemy is the art of transformation, the best way to study the different aspects of alchemy is to focus on what is being transformed and then devote our attention to these types of alchemy throughout the rest of the book.
Spiritual Alchemy
The most popular reason for studying alchemy today is to reconnect with spiritual realities. In this approach to alchemy, the gold of the alchemist is not common metal gold, but an inner spiritual gold. Using meditation to penetrate the symbolic imagery of alchemy, the seeker attempts to transform the dark, heavy, karmic lead of the soul into the bright, purified, and incorruptible gold of spirit. I discuss the techniques of spiritual alchemy in Chapter 19.
Karmic is a term that comes from the Hindu word karma, which means actions, and refers to the cumulative effects our deeds have on ourselves and others. In spiritual alchemy, karma is the burden of the soul carried from past incarnations as well as the effects of our present actions. By becoming free of karma through special meditations, good deeds, and purification of thoughts, a person can overcome original sin and return to a golden state of innocence and incorruptibility.
Psychological Alchemy
Alchemy not only gave birth to chemistry but also to modern psychology. The alchemists were the first to treat psychological problems as chemical imbalances in the body. They believed the powers of the metals were expressed in humans as our basic instincts and emotions, and these could be transformed into the nobler aspects of reason and enlightenment through alchemical processes. Carl Jung did groundbreaking work in this area of alchemy, and you learn more about his work in Chapter 18.
Artistic Alchemy
Throughout history, alchemy has had a tremendous influence in the creative arts. Early Egyptian alchemists were experts at capturing essences in oils and perfumes and applying colors and metals to jewelry and sculptures. Today, many artists working with metal, glass, enamels, perfumes, and other media consider themselves part of the alchemical tradition and adhere to its principles. Alchemical art tends to use materials in ways that make them appear to be something else, thus revealing their essence in unexpected ways. We can also find similar transformative staging in alchemical literature, music, and even software games.
Many filmmakers follow the principles of alchemy to add psychological depth and archetypal power to their films. Workers from Paramount studios even set up an “Alchemy in Film” panel in the late 1990s to assist writers in understanding alchemy. Films like 2001 and 2010, Like Water for Chocolate, The Fifth Element, The Matrix, Revelation, Fullmetal Alchemist, and The Da Vinci Code are just a few examples where the creators have made conscious use of alchemy in the plotline.
Social Alchemy
In the last century, the term “alchemy” became the slogan and rallying point for a variety of movements driven by the human desire to change adverse conditions. These endeavors included trying to change slavery into freedom, sin into grace, folly into wisdom, poverty into wealth, fear into courage, war into peace, sterility into fertility, bureaucracy into democracy, disease into health, and death into immortality. All these social movements borrowed alchemical terms and principles to focus their efforts at changing the status quo. Chapter 22 tells you more about social alchemy.
Practical Alchemy
Practical alchemy deals with the production of tinctures, tonics, oils, compounds, and elixirs that capture healing energy. Such laboratory work also focuses on creating mineral transformations and perfecting the metals commonly associated with changing lead into gold. Practical alchemy reached its heyday in Europe in the Middle Ages, but in the last 50 years this kind of work has staged a noticeable resurgence. In fact, according to the International Alchemy Guild (IAG), more licensed practical alchemists exist today than at any time in history. In Part 4, we delve into this intriguing topic and teach you a bit of kitchen alchemy along the way.
Therapeutic Alchemy
During the last century, we have seen the proliferation of a new breed of alchemical practitioners, who focus on ancient healing modalities. Techniques such as alchemical hypnotherapy, dream therapy, and shamanic journeying use imagery to direct or stimulate healing energy. Oriental alchemical arts like yoga, aikido, Tai Chi, Chi Kung, tantra, acupuncture, and reiki have seen a profound increase in Western culture. Alchemical bodywork like chiropractics, Rolfing, Feldenkrais, bioenergetics, and polarity therapy have their origin in the work of nineteenth-century alchemists seeking to isolate the life force. Most modern holistic disciplines like homeopathy, herbology, naturopathy, ayurveda, Chinese medicine, aromatherapy, and reflexology trace their origins in ancient alchemical teachings, and even New Age astrologers, numerologists, and Tarot readers owe their livelihoods to Egyptian and Babylonian alchemists. We study some of these fascinating traditions in more detail in Chapter 2.
TREAD CAREFULLY
Don’t be confused by the wide variety of possible alchemical transformations. For an alchemist, no real distinction exists between the different kinds of transformations, because the myriad of things in our world are all manifestations of just one thing—the universal mind at the source of creation. By focusing on this single divine spark in all things, the alchemist hopes to reveal the essence of a substance or situation and guide its growth to a natural state of perfection. We learn much more about this philosophy in Part 2.
The Perennial Philosophy
One of the reasons for the endurance of alchemy through the ages is that it’s based on a fundamental philosophy that has itself exhibited tremendous staying power in the human mind. The alchemists call it the “One True Philosophy of the Whole World” and believe it was first revealed to humanity in ancient Egypt. It is also known as the “Perennial Philosophy” because, down through history, it has always resurfaced in some form despite many successful attempts by orthodox authorities to suppress it.
The basic idea of the Perennial Philosophy is that there are certain universal truths common to all cultures and systems of knowledge. The German mathematician Gottfried Leibniz first used the term in this sense, when he defined it as the eternal philosophy that underlies all religions. The term, further refined by twentieth-century philosopher Aldous Huxley, has come to mean the most basic and everlasting universal truths sensed by all human beings.
In other words, down through history, people in many different cultures and times have experienced similar feelings about the nature of reality and the meaning of existence. Differences arise only when some authority attempts to control or adapt these basic ideas into a rigid system of behavior. In this view, the world’s nations and religions are constantly fighting each other over minor, cultural variations in the same basic belief system. Unlike dogmatic religion, which encourages these petty sectarian disputes, the Perennial Philosophy states that there are as many roads to God as there are people in the world.
The three fundamental tenets of alchemy and the Perennial Philosophy of which it is part are:
1. The material world is not the only reality. Another hidden level of reality exists that determines our existence. The physical world is a shadow or projection of a higher reality that cannot be grasped by the senses. Only the higher faculties of the human mind and spirit can perceive it.
2. The basic duality of material versus nonmaterial realities is mirrored in human beings. Our material body is subject to the physical laws of birth and death; our nonmaterial body (called soul or spirit) is not subject to decay or loss and carries the essence of who we are. This divine energy at the heart of everything is known as the Quintessence, the Fifth Element, in alchemy, or the life force in most other traditions.
3. All human beings possess the capacity to perceive these separate levels of reality, both in themselves and in nature, but we are taught to ignore the subtle clues to this greater reality. The perception and application of this ultimate truth is the goal of human beings and the purpose of our existence.
What makes alchemy different from other mystical systems that are part of the Perennial Philosophy is that alchemy attempts to apply this wisdom in practical ways in the everyday world. No other discipline has taken such a down-to-earth and in-your-face approach to working with these mystical principles.
That approach, unfortunately, got a lot of alchemists burnt at the stake, but it also makes alchemy a unique and powerful discipline—a combination of religion and science that makes a lot of sense to people trying to remain true to themselves in the modern world. You find more about being alchemists in today’s world in Part 6.
Becoming an Alchemist
In the past, becoming an alchemist began with a long apprenticeship or training period that traditionally involved a very specific path of initiation. In the ancient mystery schools, the teachings were arranged into three levels of mastery:
• The Philosophicum (knowing what is really there)
• The Theoreticum (knowing how it works)
• The Practicum (knowing how to do it)
Adept is from the Latin word adeptus, meaning having attained mastery of a subject. Alchemists coined the term in the 1660s to refer specifically to someone who had learned the secret of transforming base metals into gold; today it is used to mean anyone who is skilled in the secrets of anything.
Obviously, initiatory alchemy was a very personal process that usually involved a one-on-one relationship with an adept that lasted many years.
Modern teaching of alchemy takes place at a faster pace on all three levels of initiation at once. On the philosophical level, the objective is to achieve an awareness of the lower and the higher worlds in which the alchemist works. The goal of the theoretical work is to understand how to interact and control the unseen energies of those realms. The practical work is concerned with learning the personal and laboratory techniques of transformation and is, in turn, presented in three phases: the plant work, the mineral work, and the animal work.
This kind of total immersion program takes commitment on the part of both teacher and student, and the biggest danger is that the student will not be fully initiated. Unfortunately, there is no Hogwarts School of Alchemy prepared to give students the kind of personal attention they need for true initiation.
Nonetheless, we do have a number of workable alternatives for persons seeking formal instruction in alchemy. The International Alchemy Guild (IAG) is a good place to inquire about practicing alchemists who take on students in your area. (Find contact information for the Guild and other groups mentioned here in Appendix A.)
Some graduates of the Paracelsus Research Society still take on students. The institute, originally based in Colorado, was formed by alchemist Albert Reidel (known as Frater Albertus and author of The Alchemist’s Handbook). Unfortunately, the premier school for practical alchemy in the United States closed its doors in 1984 when Reidel died. Dr. Joseph Lisiewski, who founded Paracelsus College in 1982, carried on his work in Australia. The school has a seven-year curriculum of plant, mineral, and animal alchemy.
Before it closed in 2000, the Philosophers of Nature (PON) offered a two-year course in plant work and a seven-year course in mineral work. The course manuals are still available from Triad Publishing. French alchemist Jean Dubuis wrote the material which was taught by American alchemists Russ and Sue House.
The Institute for Hermetic Studies (IHS) of Pennsylvania, under the direction of author Mark Stavish, offers seminars on mineral and plant alchemy, as do practicing alchemists Paul Bartscher and Micah Nilsson of Al-Kemi in Oregon. John Reid offers a free online course on plant alchemy, and Scottish archivist Adam McLean offers several online courses in deciphering alchemical symbols. The Rosicrucian Order (Ancient Mystical Order Rosae Crucis, or AMORC) in San Jose, California, sometimes offers summer classes in plant and mineral alchemy, though they are open to members only and membership is very expensive.
The largest school of alchemy in the world, with over 500 students in 12 countries, is Flamel College of California, whose Director of Practical Alchemy is Robert Allen Bartlett, a student of Frater Albertus and his Chief Chemist. Flamel College offers certification in Practical and Spiritual Alchemy, a diploma in Alchemy, and is the only organization actually hiring alchemists. Although it occasionally holds on-site classes, most of the instruction is done by correspondence study. The seven modules in its Alchemy Home Study Program include all necessary labware, herbs, and chemicals.
The Least You Need to Know
• The simplest and most accepted definition of alchemy is that it is the art of transformation.
• Today the principles of alchemy can be found at work in psychology, business management, art, literature, filmmaking, software development, and many other creative endeavors.
• Modern alchemy consists of six branches: spiritual, psychological, artistic, social, practical, and therapeutic.
• Alchemy is part of the Perennial Philosophy, the basic tenet of which holds that certain universal truths are common to all cultures and belief systems.
• One can receive formal training in alchemy, though the apprenticeship tradition has largely given way to correspondence and online training.