Spiritual Alchemy uses the concepts of alchemy combined with analytical psychology to improve well-being, find one's inner Philosopher's Stone, transform base elements into spiritual gold and live a better life. With that in mind, enjoy a short history of alchemy.
Evolution of Alchemy
Around 8000 BCE, Neolithic humans use one of the first intentional alchemy processes when they ferment honey to make honey mead. Alchemy often involves breaking down one substance to create another, as in the Nigredo or putrefaction stage.
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During this stage the practitioner delves inside, embarking on a process of elemental decomposition. Keeping in mind the desired transmutation, one confronts the inner darkness and identifies unhealthy feelings or behavior patterns causing detachment.
Alchemy is a vital field of study for over two thousand years, practiced in Egypt, Greece, China, Islamic countries, Africa, India and Rome. By the final years BCE Alexandria grows into a center of alchemy, philosophy and radical thought, prevailing until c. 640 AD.
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Various philosophies interact, integrate and reform. Alexandria welcomes thinkers of different faiths. Gnostics seek to incorporate Hebrew and Christian dogma into parallel philosophies. Hermetics evolves into several branches from Christianity to paganism.
The three major aims of alchemy are
find or create an Elixir of Immortality or longevity
make a panacea to heal all sickness
transmute base metals such as lead to noble metals such as gold (chrysopoeia)
Processes of alchemy originate in nature. One can identify them simply by looking around the environment. As a recognized practice, alchemy evolves from metallurgy. During the c. early 1700s alchemy becomes chemistry, with overlap between phases.
In the 6th century BCE the ancient Greeks define four elements (air, earth, fire, water) and two primes, or components making up all matter. These are mercury (Hg) and sulfur (S).
Chemical symbols derive from Latin or Greek, with the periodic table first appearing in 1869. The chemical symbol for mercury (Hg) comes from hydrargyrum from the Greek word hydrargyros meaning 'water' and 'silver'.
Based on philosophy of Socrates (470 - 399 BCE), definitions of natural elements are treated individually at first. Earth and Water are often combined as one. In the 5th century, philosopher Empedocles presents the elements as a set, as below - clockwise from top:
Fire
Air
Earth
Water
Today these elements are widely known and accepted, intrinsic to culture, medicine and spirituality. Aether (ether), the pervasive and divine element, is first mentioned by Plato, a student of Socrates, in c. 360 BCE.
The concept is adopted by Plato's student Aristotle (384 - 322 BCE) establishing aether as the fifth element or quintessence. The unseen material beyond the terrestrial sphere, aether is the air breathed by the Gods, a deific connection to the spiritual whole.
The early Greeks also name the elements mercury (female) and sulfur (male) as the possible prima materia or Prime Matter making up all things. An early but enduring theory of chrysopoeia, it asserts all metals are created of varying amounts of sulfur and mercury.
During the Islamic Golden Age c. 800 AD, Arabic alchemists add salt to the ancient mercury/sulfur model, creating the elemental group later named by Paracelsus as the tria prima. The toxic effects of mercury, or mercury poisoning, are not well known.
Smelting, refining and other metal work, distillation, deconstruction and transmutation commonly appear in the alchemic practice. The European Renaissance is fertile ground for advances in alchemy by pioneers such as Paracelsus, Isaac Newton and others.
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The term chrysopoeia appears in literature of the Alexandrians and arises from ancient Greek χρυσοποιία (khrusopoiía) 'gold-making'. It refers to artificial production of gold by transmutation of base metals such as lead. Argyropoeia is creation of silver in this way.
Base and noble metals are first defined in the 13th century. Pope John Paul XXII bans alchemy in 1317 AD. In early Imperial China, creation of fake gold gets the death penalty. In 1404 AD, King Henry IV of England makes it illegal to turn anything into gold.
Forty years later his successor Henry VI, in need of war funds, issues special licenses to alchemists. The law against chrysopoeia itself is not repealed until 1688, toward the end of the Renaissance golden age.
The next phase of development in spiritual alchemy comes from its founder, analytical psychologist Carl Jung (1875-1961). Jung's interest in philosophy, alchemy and spiritual subjects labels him as a mystic, though he emphasizes his role as a man of science.
Philosophers and later alchemists believe altering the ratio of sulfur and mercury changes the nature of the metal. In theory this makes chrysopoeia possible. Applying the practice to the Self, it's a process for life enrichment and spiritual transcendence.
From the beginning, the pursuit of alchemy is for the betterment of humankind. The use of alchemy in healing and transformation can reflect this magnanimous quality. Alchemy recognizes the collective unconscious as ever present in all living things.