Key
Principles
1
Unus est Omnia, Omnia est Unus.
(Greek: Hen
to Pan, Pan to Hen.) One
is All, All is One. Represents the interdependent, reciprocal unity
of the Macrocosm and Microcosm that emerges out of an origin of a
monadic singularity or Absolute. Entails various corollaries such as
the doctrines of Signatures and Sympathy.
2
The
Hermetic Axiom.
As
Above So Below
As
Within So Without
As
Before So Again
Represents
the three dimensions of reflexive interdependence, an important
corollary of the first principle. “The
lesser Sanctuary below is constructed on the pattern of the greater
Sanctuary above.”
(Thomas Vaughan)
3
Solve
et Coagula.
Analyze and Sythesize. Represents the basic alchemical process of
working with a base matter as given, then first separating the pure
ore from the impure matrix in which it is embedded, then
reconsolidating it after various purificatory steps into in a higher,
subtle, more conscious form.
“Following
the adage 'solve
et coagula,'
the alchemist dissolves imperfect coagulations of the soul, reduces
it to its materia, and crystallizes it anew in nobler form. This is
accomplished in conjunction with Nature by means of natural
vibrations of the soul, which awakens during the course of the Work
and links the human and cosmic domains. Then Nature comes to the aid
of Art, according to the alchemical adage: operis processio multum
naturae placet.”
(from Titus
Burckhart Alchemy
(1972.)
4
Coincidenta Oppositorum, Contraria sunt Complementa.
The coincidence (interdependence) of opposites; opposites are
complementary. Known more broadly in esoterism as The Law of
Polarity, Duality, or Opposites.
In Esoteric Psychology, one manifestation of this law is the
separation
of the personal from the impersonal, the differentiation of ego from
nonego, or of False Personality
from Essence, as a prerequisite for further psychoalchemical
operations.
A corollary, the Binary Law, allows for the construction of complex,
subtle substances from the mere interaction of countless binary
nanocosmic interactions. In the process of the interaction of
opposites, the alchemical “fire,” i.e. useful inner heat or
friction, is generated.
5
Fix
that which is volatile and volatilize that which is fixed.
A corollarly and further entailment of the law of opposites in
alchemical operations involving the treatment of specific substances.
Here “fix” means to make something stable or solid that is
originally found in a volatile form or in flux.
In
terms of Esoteric Psychology, this principle is reflected in the work
of integration
of the practitioner's consciousness, beginning with it as it is found
in a relatively fixed, imperfectly crystallized state which requires
first a step of volatilization (decrystallization), followed by
the addition of conscious recognition of its intrinsic dynamic
opposites in the unconsciousness.
This
intentionally volatized conflict between internal pairs of opposites
is intensified as alchemical work progresses, until deeper awareness
of their nature allows them to become reconciled by a higher, third
perspective, manifesting as an emergent property out of the
complexity of interactions, in accordance with the Law of Three
(below.)
6
Enantiodromia
and Ekstrophe.
These two terms are psychological analogues and further entailments
of the law of opposites. The first term represents a reversal of a
force or substance into its chiral reflection, allowing for
subsequent reunion or resynthesis of conflicting oppositions. The
second term
literally
means “out-turning,”
the operation of turning outward that which is found within, or
making conscious what is normally unconscious in order to engage
esoteric work with it.
7
Law
of Three.
Stipulates the existence of three primal forces, Active (Positive),
Passive (Negative), Reconciling (Neutralizing), which are relevant
and operative in many mundane and esoteric phenomena. Expressed
abstractly in the philosophical dialectic of thesis, antithesis, and
synthesis, and instantiated concretely in the three Alchemical
principles (see below) and in the elements of Fire, Earth, and Water.
Also represented in the three evolutionary-developmental processes
of Separation, Purification, and Recombination, representing a
physical process in which constituents of the base material are
analyzed, purified, and recombined into a purer substance which must
then be assimilated into a new whole. Also represents the
union of the individual practitioner with the Universal Force, a
synthesis effectuated via the
mediation of a third principle, a link between mind and matter,
provided by Esoteric Magickal Work.
8
Three
Alchemical Principles.
Sulphur (principle of volatility and will, represented in the
Emotional Center), Salt (principle of inertia, earthy vehicle-vessel
containing the other two principles; represented in the Physical or
Moving-Instinctive Center), and Mercury (principle of reconciliation
represented in the Intellectual Center.) The
quality of Mercury reconciles the opposites of Sulphur and Salt and
serves as mediator between the firey volatility of Sulphur and the
earthy fixity of Salt, initiating the potential for further conscious
development.
9
Four
Archetypal Substance-Energies.
Components or phases of energy manifestation found in infinite
various combinations in all material substances, represented
symbolically as Earth (pure solidity or fixity), Water (pure
liquidity), Air (pure vaporousness), Fire (pure volatility.) In
Esoteric Psychology, these symbols are correlated with various strata
of the practitioner's inner Centers: Earth with the Instinctive
Center, Water with the Emotional Center, Air with the Intellectual
Center, and Fire with the Moving Center. When the Instinctive-Moving
Centers are considered as a single Center (sometimes called simply
the Physical Center), Fire is correlated to the Will. Three of these
factors (Fire, Air, and Water) also function as media conveying
influence of the practitioner's Essence from Higher Centers to the
interior depths of being (Earth.)
10
Quintessence.
The Fifth Essence, occultly inherent in the four elements and the
prima
materia
but separable from them when properly purified by subjection to the
various alchemical operations. A constituent of the Philosopher's
Stone, instantiating a verific unity synthesizing the Four Elements
and the Three Principles in an ultimate conscious reconciliation.
11
Vitriol.
Ancient alchemical formula, a Latin anagram for Visita
Interiora Terrae, Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem:
Visit the interior of the Earth, purify the Hidden Stone found
therein. This formula is a crucial key to the Great Work of Esoteric
Alchemy, encapsulating the essential aim of the Work: Learn how to
contact one's Higher Centers and engage the precise, lengthy work of
purifying them in order to discover the Real “I” therein.
12
Aurum
habere ut aurum fiat.
Literally, “one must have gold to make gold.” Implies that the
alchemical practioner must first discover and consciously comprehend
that interior seed, the quantum of initial primal substance-force
inherent in one's own nature, in order to develop it to higher
stages. A related alchemical aphorism states that “our gold is
produced through our Art by eliminating superfluities and
impurities.”
13
“IAO”
(Ignis, Aurum, et Ora.)
Represents three fundamental psychological concepts required for
active and successful alchemical operations: Fire (inner friction,
will, intellection), Gold (a modicum of pure personal essence) and
Prayer (contemplation, meditation, invocation.)
Octave
of Alchemical Transmutation
I.
Nigredo: Black Phase
Initial
dark, impure, alloyed condition; symbolized by the Raven. At the
onset of operations, the Phial (Vial or personal Vessel) must be
hermetically sealed against unwanted external influences so that the
interior process may begin, analogously to the practitioner limiting
external distractions to prevent loss of personal energy.
1
Calcination (Incineration): Saturn, Aries, lead
2
Dissolution (Solution): Jupiter, Cancer, tin
II.
Albedo: White Phase
Subsequent
transformative phase; begins at darkest point of the black phase, at
the most intense point of “conscious labor and intentional
suffering” (in Fourth Way terminology); symbolized by the Swan.
3
Separation: Mars, Scorpio, iron
4
Conjunction (Congelation): Venus, Taurus, copper
III.
Rubedo: Red Phase
Continuation
of the purification process of White phase, resulting in
progressively finer distillation of the contents of consciousness to
progressively higher gradations. Symbolized by the Pelican; also
represented by the Red King and White Queen.
5
Fermentation (Digestion): Mercury, Capricorn
6
Distillation (Sublimation): Moon, Virgo, silver
7
Coagulation (Recombination): Sun, Libra, gold
Effects
of Each Stage
1
Contraction, discipline, potential
2
Expansion, initial development
3
Assertiveness, active force
4
Receptiveness, passive force
5
Transformation, light, mind, androgyny
6
Purification, subconscious, body-soul
7
End Result, higher consciousness
Further
details of each stage of the Octave
1
Contraction is the initial operation of the entire process, entailing
a focus of attention and force to enable the potential for
transmutation and transformation, and entailing a constraining
discipline of study and practice before any further, more advanced
work can be undertaken.
2
Expansion is the second, opposing phase, where established personal
discipline awakens recognition of the freedom and capacity to
continue.
3
Separation is the first operation of the White phase, involving
isolation and removal of remnants of the Black phase from the impure
(alloyed) environment or matrix.
4
Conjunction is the second operation of the White phase to recombine
purified essences of the Black phase into a new compound and a higher
manifestation.
5
Fermentation is the first operation of the Red phase to revive
static, fixed, unconscious material remnants of putrefaction. At its
completion occurs the phenomenon of the “Peacock's Tail”
representing the threshold of transition from this stage.
6
Distillation or Sublimation is the second operation of the Red phase,
which purifies and concentrates the essences of fermentation (the
Eagle) into progressively higher gradations of consciousness and
awareness.
7
Coagulation or Recombination is the final operation, which produces
the Philosopher's Stone (Real I, Objective Consciousness);
represented by the Phoenix, the bird which periodically immolates its
old self (features of which have degenerated into fixed
mechanicalness and automaticity) in a self-generated fire or inner
heat of transformation, to be reborn in progressively higher form at
a higher gradation of consciousness.
Alternate
Sequences
Throughout
its history, Alchemy has ever been a complex and manifold phenomenon
practiced by diverse adepts in many different historical and cultural
contexts, and thus there is no one single orthodox or universally
accepted sequence of operations beyond the broadest outlines given
herein.
In
an alternate version of the alchemical tradition a fourth phase,
Citrinitas (Yellow phase) occurs at the end of the White phase as
that phase nears its culmination, manifesting a transitory phenomenon
of light or “Golden Dawn” energy, a form of “influence from
Above,” from one's own dormant Higher Centers, heralding the onset
of the ultimate Red phase.
An
expanded sequence of phases used by some alchemists expresses a
quintuple division of major categories, adding a Green phase (Virido
or Viriditas) to represent an early, still immature development in
the transition between the White and the Red phases, and a final Gold
phase (Aurumitas or Chrysos) which sets the final result (the
Philosopher's Stone) apart from the Red phase for special
concentrated focus.
If
the Citrinitas (Yellow) phase is added to augment this fivefold
sequence of phases, it should be inserted after the Green phase, as
it heralds the onset of the ripe Red phase.
Thus,
the expanded sixfold sequence is schematized as follows:
1
Nigredo (Decomposition of First Matter)
2
Albedo (Partially refined state of First Matter)
3
Virido (Early manifestations of development)
4
Citrinitas (Transitory light manifestation)
5
Rubedo (Maturity and ripeness of material)
6
Aurumitas (Final result, Philosopher's Stone.)
In
this expanded sixfold sequence, the phases divide symmetrically into
two groups of three (1-2-3 and 4-5-6), instantiating another
representation of the Threefold Law interwoven with the Law of
Opposition. In this schematization, the final three phases are
interpreted as a higher reflection of the first three phases, and are
a second operation of the Law of Three.
Key
Tools and Terms
All
alchemical tools are employed on both a literal, mundane level as
actual physical implements for purposes of mundane “chymistry”
and also as analogues and symbols of the practitioner's internal
transformation and esoteric working process. Although it is feasible
for a purely Esoteric practitioner to work with these tools on an
exclusively interior or symbolic level, more substantive results are
to be expected when actual tools are used in tandem with correct
processes. Such embodied use anchors the practitioner's interior
Work to exterior realities and takes full advantage of the Hermetic
axiom asserting the interdependence of interior and exterior
phenomena.
Fuel.
A key component of all Alchemical working, often wrongly overlooked;
without access to and proper use of the correct sort of fuel for a
given process no consistent or reliable results can be expected.
Esoterically,
fuel for interior work relates to the three “foods” used by what
has been called the practitioner's “three-story factory”: literal
and correct foods for sustenance and energization of the physical
body (Moving-Instinctive Center), correctly managed and oriented
emotions for the Emotional Center, and sensory impressions (including
sound such as mantras and invocations, and proper imagery such as
symbols and glyphs) for the Intellectual Center.
Exoterically,
on the mundane physical level, alchemists traditionally used wood or
charcoal for their furnaces, though various types of flammable oils
were also used, with varying symbolic associations depending on the
ingredients involved (type of wood or oil.)
Athanor.
A specially designed alchemical furnace designed to provide uniform
heating within a hermetically sealed environment. Esoterically, the
practitioner's holistically conceived body-mind apparatus or “common
planetary presence” (in Esoteric terminology), within which the
entire alchemical endeavor and ultimately the Magnum Opus are
instantiated. Like the exoteric furnace itself, it requires both
proper fuel (the “three foods” for body, emotions, and intellect)
and application of inner heat (“conscious labor and voluntary
suffering” in Gurdjieffian terminology.)
Brazier.
Open-topped bowl or other container in which to burn a solid fuel
(most commonly charcoal), generally made of metal. Unlike the
Athanor it is not hermetically sealed and may play a subsidiary role
in alchemical workings, often used for burning incense or in other
applications where allowing smoke or heat to escape into the air is
desired.
Crucible.
Open container for melting materials at high temperatures, usually
made of clay or other heat-resistant ceramics. Often used for
melting of metals and separating ore from a matrix. Requires
application of heat from another source beneath it. In the operation
of “cementation,” a closed crucible is used to contain the
escaping vapors so that they may react with the other material in the
vessel.
Mortar
and Pestle.
Bowl and rod for grinding dry materials into powder form for further
operations.
Alembic.
Two-part distilling apparatus or beaker, with a heating vessel placed
underneath the still.
Retort.
Combined heating and condensation still.
Ergasterion.
Literally “work place,” the practitioner's personal temple of
operations. May be used for non-alchemical, general Esoteric work as
well as specifically alchemical operations.
Oratory.
Literally “prayer space,” a dedicated space for Esoteric work,
ritual, and contemplation.
Laboratory.
Dedicated space for mundane, physico-chemical operations.
Alchemeion.
Dedicated space for alchemical work which may include within it the
Ergasterion, Oratory, and/or the Laboratory. Usage of these terms
varies among different historical authorities, and sometimes various
terms seem to be used interchangeably.
Israel
Regardie on Alchemy
From
Regardie's The
Philosopher's Stone
(Llewellyn 2013.) Parenthetical clarifications added.
The
alchemist is a type of Esoteric Magician who acts as the subject of
his own experiments, separating and analyzing various parts of the
holistic self (Persona, Essence, Centers) in order to understand
their nature and origin so that after lengthy and elaborate work they
may be properly purified and recombined in renewed, higher form.
The
basis is a process of solve et coagula, Separation and Reassembly,
whereby the three alchemical Principles (Salt, Sulphur, Mercury) are
separated from the First Matter, refined, and recombined in a more
perfected state within the Alchemist. Through dissolution,
crystallization of consciousness is broken into its component parts,
and from this resultant its fundamental elements are reassembled on a
new basis.
After
separation, subjected to heat and light (inner friction and
intentional directed suffering), the material is stimulated into
further growth whereby it may exert its own essential nature and
power by reformulating the vehicles through which it acts. The
formulation of the Philosopher's Stone allegorically means
consciously reorganizing the material of life in order to manifest
Essence.
The
process of psychic integration is continuous and recurring; the three
stages of theurgic integration (purification, consecration, union)
recur repeatedly on a variety of levels throughout one's lifetime.
Alchemists
assert that benefit may come to those who merely study their
writings; by assimilating the word of their wisdom, one awakens a
reflection of the Magnum Opus, the Great Work.
Role
of Heat and Fire
“In
the sealed Alembic of your Heart, through the action of the firey
Athanor of affliction, may you come to behold the Stone of the Wise.”
(from
the Golden Dawn Adeptus Minor ceremony.)
The
application of consistent, controlled, and directed heat by means of
the action of fire is a fundamentally critical operation in Alchemy.
The effect of heat generated within the alchemical Athanor (furnace)
and applied to the Alembic (hermetically sealed vessel) is
allegorized on the level of Esoteric psychology with the positive
effects of physical and emotional “friction,” referring to
conscious effort, arduous work, and intentional beneficial suffering
as explicated in Fourth Way teachings (see chapter on Esoteric
Magickal Work elsewhere in this book.)
This
interior fire must first be properly ignited and regularly stoked,
then consciously applied to the practitioner's holistic self. This
emergent, compound self is constituted of the various inner Centers
(Physical, Emotional, and Intellectual Centers, along with minor
subsidiary centers) and it functions allegorically as the alchemical
“hermetically sealed vessel” of the work in progress. At length,
the key effect of this operation is to dissolve the mechanically
accumulated crystallization of the practitioner's False Persona,
reducing its detritus to “black ash” in the phase of calcination
or carbonization (symbolized by the glyph of Saturn) so that the
further successive operations of purification and distillation may
take place unimpeded. In terms of Esoteric Magickal Work, the
success of each successive operation acts in the fashion of the
application of a correctly applied Interval Shock or external
influence upon the given material involved.
In
the psychic realm, the interior heat and fire represents both the
pure force expressed by the Emotional Center and the analytically
reductive activity expressed by the Intellectual Center. These two
key Centers must operate in tandem, in different degrees in different
contexts, for successful results in the transmutation of the First
Matter into the Philosopher's Stone.
The
heating effect of this conscious fire entails an intensifying of the
alchemical practitioner's consciousness which serves to awaken and
separate out higher, interior factors and qualities from an alloyed
ore of mixed, chaotic, fragmentary and conflicting components. By
this means, a higher being-body is constructed by the force of
influences from the Higher Emotional and Higher Intellectual Centers
which is at length precipitated and condensed within the
practitioner. The Philosopher's Stone is thus gradually crystallized
through repeated application of the operation.
The
interior, esoteric Furnace (Athanor) is initially heated by the
alchemist's repeated practice of withdrawing attention from exterior
distractions and focusing attention inwardly. Here, the Fire itself
represents the act of redirecting attention to interior phenomena and
processes, upon the contents of the practitioner's consciousness and
unconsciousness by rigorous, disciplined contemplation, meditation,
and invocation of Magickal formulae. The psychic contents of
consciousness serve as the fuel to be calcinated (carbonized) by the
heat of the attention within the hermetically sealed Alembic vessel
of the adept such that the further progressive operations of
purification and distillation may properly take place, as noted
earlier.
Success
in the Great Work entails true transmutation of the self and
development of one's Essence toward higher gradations of Objective
Conscience and Consciousness, and requires both interior and exterior
friction to gradually transmute the practitioner. In terms of
Esoteric Magickal Work, as previously described, this external heat
is analogous to an Interval Shock or Influence from Above, an
unpredictable cosmic force that can catalyze further growth if it is
recognized as such and if the practitioner possesses the knowledge,
capacity, and will to properly make use of it. Practices such as
Alchemy and other forms of Esoteric Magickal Work provide one with
the necessary qualities to open oneself to Higher Influences and to
make productive use of them when they appear.
Solve
and Coagula Formula
The
first half of this formula, represented in the Black phase (Nigredo)
of the Octave of Alchemy, refers to an analytical process, a
dissolution and decoction of the First Matter and discharging of its
impurities as the alchemist's mechanical crystallization is gradually
broken down and separated from the inner Essence. The elements in
their naturally found state must be analyzed (divided) because they
are chaotically adulterated and alloyed with each other;
esoterically, this represents the practitioner's initial lack of
true will or integrated Being. The dissolution can be experienced
as a painful process, but is a necessary prerequisite for further
progress in the Great Work.
The
second half of this formula, represented in later phases of the
Octave of Alchemy, is the opposite of the first half and pertains to
the reconstruction, coagulation, and final fixation of the volatile
results of the first process. Esoterically, this means that after
successful completion of the dissolution process, the practitioner
must reassemble the elements of his Being on a renewed, integrated
pattern for further development.
The
analytical method is employed to induce dissolution of crystallized
conceptual automaticities in the practitioner's consciousness in the
energy of that consciousness itself, by immersing such impure
crystallizations in the energetic matrix from which they originally
emerged. This extended process
of dissolution decrystallizes mechanicalities and makes their useful,
purified constituents available for further work. Freed and purified
at length, the Essence gradually reforms itself by means of what
modern scientists call (in a more mundane physical context)
a process of complex adaptive autocatalysis, or what the ancient
alchemists would have known as autopoesis
(self-creation.)
This
deliberate breaking-down of crystallized constituents of the personal
sphere also has the property of spontaneously releasing the force
latently entrapped in them. This is a process akin to psychological
sublimation, which effectuates the transfer of force from a grosser,
superficial, or dysfunctional level to a more subtle, profound, and
constructively creative interior level.
The
Philosopher's Stone
In
strictly alchemical terms, the Philosopher's Stone represents the
union of Mercury (consciousness) and Sulphur (will) with Salt (the
planetary or earthly physical form) as their basis or vessel-vehicle.
In
terms of Esoteric Magickal Work, the purified Stone represents
several different concepts such as Objective Consciousness or “Real
I,” and is produced after the successful accomplishment of the
various operations of the Alchemical Octave as outlined above. The
Stone is a core constituent of the Higher Emotional and Intellectual
Centers, as it already contains these principles in latent but
alloyed form.
Production
of the Stone is a process analogous on the Microcosmic scale to the
formation of the Cosmos out of an eternally preexistent chaos (prima
materia, protohyle)
on the Macrocosmic scale. This process is grounded in the Hermetic
axiom of multidimensional fractality, by which the Macrocosmos is
duplicated in the Microcosmos by the effective operations of the
Alchemist or Magician. In this fashion, Alchemy recreates within the
practitioner the phenomena of creation and evolution manifesting on
the cosmic scale.
In
additional to actual material operations, alchemical work also
requires intensive regular study and contemplation of its Esoteric
principles based on a rational framework. Alchemy, like other
Esoteric Magickal Work, is distinguished from exoteric spiritual
systems in that it necessitates a combination of systematic rational
inquiry as well as nonrational methods of inquiry to fully develop
the practitioner's knowledge and understanding of the teachings in a
harmonious, holistic manner.
(END)
