// DISSOLUTIO // The second stage of Alchemy, after the initial Calcinatio – which is fiery and destructive and reduces the Prima Materia (actually the Alchemist, really) to ash – is Dissolutio: the submersion of the materia (the Alchemist, let’s keep up now) into Alchemical ‘Water’ (which is Mind, spirit, receptivity, intuition, art, aesthetics, context, ‘femininity’, introspection, meditation, philosophy, reflection,…
// THE WHITE QUEEN // Crowley and Harris’ rendering of Atu III – ‘The Empress’ – is awash with detail, and encapsulates, with very broad-strokes, the understanding he sought to eternalize in his rendition of these eclectic Mysteries of the past. He seemed to see these as of great import in the occult understanding of the modernity and Cultural Modernism…
// THE RED KING // Crowley and Harris’ rendering of Atu IV – ‘The Emperor’ – is an absolute tour-de-force of occult spiritual symbols, ideologies and themes, offering us enormous clues about the history of esoteric thought which he deemed to be of relevance and significance to the card named after the Latin imperator – commander, the one who is…
// RUBEDO // The final stage of the perfection of an Alchemical Operation (of which Tarot is but one abstract example, if you take it seriously enough, and each human life the same) is known as RUBEDO, or “the Reddening Stage”. This is symbolically tied to some very ancient and sacred motifs – blood, red roses, a crowned king dressed…
// ALBEDO // No matter how bleak, how dark, how putrified the Nigredo may get, eventually – if the aspirant is sincere and serious about change, and about their own responsibility in being its agent in their own life – a Light appears. Dawn. A flame, illumination in the infinite void, a beacon in that all-enveloping darkness. From the mulch…
// NIGREDO // Do not misunderstand an Alchemist if, upon listening to you describe the Great Conundrum of your life, the insoluble problem from which you cannot possibly escape and which is the cause of all your suffering, they look you straight in the eye, and with no hint of a smile nor even the lightest of humour, sincerely advise…
The BODY of Alchemy A Treatise on Alchemy in Four Parts Part #4 We’ve seen that in Alchemy, the terms Sulfur, Mercury and Salt are codes for the more abstract concepts of Soul, Spirit and Body. Wait, is ‘body’ really an abstract concept?! Well…that depends. We all have one, right? Here’s mine, typing this out, advanced mechanical digits capable of…
The SPIRIT of Alchemy A Treatise on Alchemy in Four Parts Part #3 Alchemists were wise to secrete their teachings behind veils of “Jibberish” and carefully coded manuscripts – the religious sanctimony of the times meant that experimenting and discussing the Nature of Consciousness could cost you your life if it were determined to be apostasy, or sacreligious – a…
The SOUL of Alchemy A Treatise on Alchemy in Four Parts Part #2 In the 8th Century, a Persian alchemist by the name of Jabir ibn Hayyan (a.k.a Geber) wrote a mysterious treatise on 2 alchemical principles: Sulfur and Mercury. This would revolutionize alchemical studies and become synonymous with the language of alchemy thereafter. He – and most alchemists –…
What is ALCHEMY? A Treatise on Alchemy in Four Parts Part #1 In the simplest possible terms, Alchemy is a praxis which seeks to understand the relationship between Consciousness (“I AM”) and Matter. Easy to dismiss as either pre-scientific chemistry, concerned only with bubbling potions in vain attempts to ‘transmute metals’ from lead to gold via the famed ‘Philosopher’s Stone’,…
