For centuries, alchemy has become synonymous with gaining wealth and immortality.
But this perception of alchemy is largely misguided: it stems from confusing the metaphors of original alchemy with reality. Alchemy, as a result, became a pseudo-science of transforming lead into gold.
These days, alchemy is thought of as something quaint, even a little occult; a relic of the dark ages.
But there is tremendous wisdom to be found within this obscure, archaic philosophy.
Contrary to popular belief, alchemy is not about transmuting base metals into gold – instead, it’s the secret science of illumination and inner liberation.
What is Spiritual Alchemy? (Definition)
Aurum Nostrum Non Est Aurum Vulgi: Our gold is not common gold.
– Alchemist saying
Whether you understand Alchemy as a science or as a spiritual psychology instrument, alchemy is ultimately concerned with transformation and change.
While physical alchemy is concerned with altering and transforming the properties within matter, spiritual alchemy is concerned with freeing your spiritual self which is trapped within you by the unrefined parts of yourself (e.g., your fears, personal beliefs, self-loathing, etc.). Spiritual alchemy is vastly more multi-faceted.
Perhaps the most fascinating aspect of spiritual alchemy is its objective: to free you from your core wounds, core beliefs, soul loss, and other self-destructive personality structures in order for you to live freely and unobstructed.
Existing in “pure being,” or soulful awareness is the ultimate state of transformation – the gold – of spiritual alchemy. It attempts to restructure your personality and the various levels of attachment, avoidance, and identification you possess.
These days, we can thank famous psychiatrist C. G. Jung for the continued interest in alchemy. Much of his theory is heavily steeped in the rich symbolism of alchemy, creating a colorful and sophisticated roadmap by which we can learn to get ourselves “out of our own way,” stop being our own enemies and allow our fullest potential to unfold.
Jung, Symbolism, and The Science of Transformation
Famous Swiss psychiatrist Carl Jung is commonly recognized as the main advocate and promoter of alchemy. He argued that he had noticed many of the symbols found in alchemy texts mysteriously showing up in the dreams of his patients – most of whom had no prior knowledge of Alchemy.
He concluded that alchemy was a superb expression of the universal symbols of life, and was, therefore, a highly effective tool for psychological insight. Materia Prima, The Philosophers Stone, and Gold are the most commonly known symbols relating to Alchemy.
Materia Prima (or “first matter”), is an Alchemic symbol that reflects the notion that all the universe originated from a primitive, formless base. The idea of a “Materia Prima” can be traced back to Aristotle who understood that there is a force that holds all other forms in existence together but is itself invisible – these days, we call it “Spirit.” This invisible womb or unseen force is a field of pure potential that can only come into existence when it is embodied within a “form.”
In Alchemy, the “Materia Prima” or primal material is that which is left over after we have reduced matter into its purest essence. This is a powerful psychological symbol because it describes the internal process of arriving at a “core realization,” or in other words becoming aware of the root cause of a belief or trauma within us.
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The 7 Stages of Spiritual Alchemy
Solve et coagula: Dissolve and coagulate.
– Alchemist saying
The Latin expression “solve et coagula” is derived from “solve,” meaning to break down and separate, while “coagula” describes the process of bringing elements back together (coagulating) into a new, higher form.
Interestingly, “solve et coagula“ is a wonderful psychological metaphor: by pursuing Gold (or listening to our intuitive “higher calling”) we “break down” limiting parts within us that are in the way of our transformation (Philosopher’s Stone) into a free and whole being (coagulation).
While there are no universal stages of alchemy due to the sheer number of different schools out there, these are some of the most widely accepted stages:
1. Calcination
Calcination is the process of heating and decomposing raw matter – or in other words, breaking down parts of ourselves that are in the way of our own happiness. Often we’d rather be right or fulfill an idea of “perfection” than be truly happy, so we continue neglecting the exploration of ourselves.
The stage of Calcination represents the stage in our lives where we begin breaking down our egos, self-doubt, stubbornness, self-sabotaging behavior, pride, and arrogance, and put it aside so we can find out what is underneath.
2. Dissolution
Once we have broken down all of our personality characteristics that were in the way, we are left with the process of dissolution which is the beginning of feeling less identification with our false sense of self. Once we are free from our pride or self-doubt, we can take one step back and truly observe our positive and negative qualities.
In this stage, our inability to take responsibility for our many faults, our avoidance of traumatizing memories, and other inner tensions rise to the surface, causing us to become aware of how our behavior might be affecting others. This is the beginning of spiritual maturity and the spiritual awakening process. Sometimes this stage of transformation is brought about accidentally by illnesses and misfortunes in our lives that cause us to really pay attention to what we’re doing, shocking us out of our avoidance patterns (such as workaholism, drugs and TV watching).
3. Separation
Separation is the stage where we make our thoughts and emotions more defined by isolating them from other thoughts and emotions. A simple example is our attempt to free our heart from resentment while trying to forgive someone.
The process of separation involves truly becoming aware of our authentic feelings for a person, or for ourselves. In this stage, we choose to experience our anger, frustration, or disappointment towards another or ourselves, rather than reverting back to the old habit of dutifully trying to “forgive” or “forget” because it is the “right” or comfortable thing to do.
Separation is closely entwined with shadow work in that we must allow all feelings and thoughts within us to surface side by side. This helps us to isolate particular elements of our character in order to honestly see and assess them.
4. Conjunction
After the purification and clarification of the first three stages, we must properly combine the remaining elements within us through the process of “Conjunction.”
While in the previous step we separated and learned to distinguish all the separate feelings and thoughts within us, Conjunction provides the inner space – the simmering – that is required for us to truly and honestly accept all the parts of our authentic self. When we experience this stage of spiritual alchemy, all of our unconscious thoughts and feelings bubble up to the surface and into the light of conscious awareness.
In this stage, journaling, introspection, solitude, and meditation are particularly useful. Learn more about how to journal.
5. Fermentation
Fermentation is the beginning of our process of rebirth. This stage can be compared to the death of a grape, which then becomes the birth of wine. While the first four stages involved working with aspects of our old personality, in the stage of Fermentation we begin to experience moments of our more “refined” self.
Fermentation occurs in two parts: Putrefaction and Spiritization. Putrefaction is the decomposition of our former selves; the process of inner death by which the old elements of our conscious and unconscious minds are allowed to rot and decompose. (Some call this stage the dark night of the soul, as it can be followed by troublesome mental states such as depression.)
On the other hand, Spiritization is the stage in which we begin to look at the world in a new light. With the right guidance and with solid inner work, Spiritization involves letting go of all the aspects of ourselves and our lives that don’t serve or contribute to our spiritual transformation. This is when we taste moments of great inner peace and stillness.
6. Distillation
Once we begin our Spiritization we must find a way to continue to integrate all of these spiritual realizations into our lives in order to allow them to become permanent. Distillation is the level of further purification.
One example of Distillation is finding ways to live from a daily place of inner peace – even in the most mundane circumstances. With enough repeated practice of constantly dying and being reborn in the present moment without entering again into the habits, identifications, and cycles of the mind, we experience a strong and profound inner transformation. In the East, this is what is mostly defined as self-realization or “spiritual enlightenment.”
Certain practices such as mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and self-inquiry are useful in this stage.
7. Coagulation
Similar to the blood’s ability to form clots and stop bleeding, Coagulation is the moment when we’ve “broken open the head,” or in other words, we have become free from the mind and have allowed our consciousness or Soul to connect with the Materia Prima: the Spirit.
The meeting point between two opposites such as the spiritual self and raw matter, heaven and hell, and life and death, is the point where existence becomes self-aware. This is the moment when our lives are without duality; when matter becomes Spirit – or Spirit is manifested in material form.
In the stage of Coagulation, the physical universe is not separate from the mind or spiritual reality; it is a reflection of it.
***
Alchemy’s greatest achievement is to create an interrelationship between mind and matter, between self and world. It embodies and points to the union of opposites, the transcendence of division, and the Oneness of all beings.
I hope this article has helped to explain this mysterious topic more in-depth and illuminate your understanding.
What are your thoughts about spiritual alchemy? I’d love to hear below!
I want to join
Am so serious I want to join
Thank you for this very interesting article!
These letters around the circle in distillation, do they have a meaning?
Each has its own meaning, though not necessarily related to the stage of alchemy.
Awesome article! Thank you for your simple explanation of a complex occurrence. Very helpful and much appreciated.
Are the art pieces the actual representation of the stages?
Hey Michael, to answer your question, no they don’t. Alchemy has its own varied symbology (for e.g: Calcination is represented as a ‘V’ similar to the Aries horoscope symbol), but I needed to illustrate those particulate ‘reactions’ in a spiritual alchemy setting.
Academia Omnilux
Wow…After reading your words my eyes are a bit more open, tho I do still feel some wet behind my ears
, but still
Howard Sasportas and Liz Greene’s book “Dynamics of the Unconscious” is an excellent reference for this subject…particularly the 100 page section on “Alchemical Symbolism in the Horoscope” which correlates the alchemical process with the various planetary transits to the individual’s natal horoscope.
Astrology is an intrinsic part of the alchemical opus.
Thanks for the book recommendation Mav, I’ll see if I can get my hands on a copy :)
Howard Sasportas and Liz Greene’s book “Dynamics of the Unconscious” is a terrific book which covers this subject …particularly Greene’s 100 page section on “Alchemical Symbolism in the Horoscope”. It enables one to correlate the alchemical process with planetary transits in the natal horoscope.
Jai.. don’t need to do any of that…Lord Buddha said..this..not that..I was a human being..now..I am a human doing…who needs middle men with heavy conceptualized gumph.As for MINDFULLNESS..AS ENCOURAGED BY PINK PANTED YOGA MUMS’….NO..I PREFER MIND..LESS!!NESS..EMPTY..NOT FULL THANKS!!
Thanks Jai. There’s more than one path up the same mountain, while Buddha offers timeless wisdom that is very pragmatic, it’s very much suited to certain temperament and ego-mind structure of the Eastern cultures. Alchemy, being developed in the West as an esoteric path toward liberation, uses a very different approach. This is where we can easily become ‘dogmatic’ and enter the ‘mind-full’ problem of philosophy and whose Truth is the right one.
Thank you for the article! It was very insightful. The Buddhist process of meditation in my practice feels akin to the “solve” aspect as I’m (what feels like) transforming the bodily matter into wavelets (or the prima materia). The concept of dying & rebirth in every moment is quite powerful.
“Do not be the judge of people; do not make assumptions about others”. Buddha
Perhaps I’m not absorbing the literature properly. It seems very regimented in that one must accept the given doctrine. Thus making it more of a regimented religious faith then a open free spiritual journey of growth and enlightenment
Hi. We are all enoch. I remember now and know why most others don’t.
Electricity
Nitrogen
Oxygen
Carbon
Hydrogen
easy enough ay.
Mo.ther Eatr.h has a there.mo h.eart and just like the sun, us and any other EMF, needs constant revolution or she will loose motion, but she’s pulling excess amperage due to faulty cells and electrolysis pitting. So here’s it is, it’s electro magnetic trickery using ferrous and luminous elements. As so for spirit also, breaking atomic bonds just to do it again and again.
On time, take a deep breath, ditch some carbon if you get too cold, hold some nitrogen if you get too hot, don’t swap notes e with anyone, stay ahead and body surf the waves, stay hydrated and ride the thermals. Water dosen’t flow downhill in a vacuum, and our sol, soul, helios, was not meant to live underground alone, and dosen’t exist by itself above earth.
Sure she’s exiting but who wants an infinite fatal attraction.
Her is Helios, Helium, Him is Hydra, Hydrogen.
Basically a free electron ends up as a flat m8 because diamonds are a girl’s best friend.
There is definitely much more to us than just those fundamental basics, but im taking baby steps for now.
Thanks for everything and the opportunity to vent, hope it fills in some light reading time.
Oh, as for time…
Dark is pressure is gravity is reduction of frequency is no time is periodic decay is only re chorded is irreversible is live but not life and is but dosen’t have to be.
Light is space is flow is harmony is velocity is free is more is less is resonance is past is present is future is anything is anywhere is anyway is anyhow is life and is all.
If it knows you may do too.
Thank you so much for your explanations, as this year’s Tarot card for me is ‘Temperance’. I use the Crowly deck and Temperance is called Art there, its motto being ‘Solve et coagula’.
I take this very seriously and though I don’t think, ‘oh I got this card this year so I must do something’, it’s more like I feel the need to do so. I feel unable to work (I do though, because I have to) but really feel I need to take my time, dissolve from old patterns that don’t work anymore and, to be honest, never did. And then coagulate, put the pieces together. I never knew how to get there but now, with the ‘solve et coagula’ broken down to 7 steps, I can really work on that. Helps me lots, as almost everything here. So again, thanks a lot, I’m very very grateful!
Thank you for sharing your interesting combination of tarot along with the solve et coagula process Sabine :)
The inscription on this card reads VITRIOL. Visita Interiora Terrae Rectificando Invenio Occultem Lapidem.
Visit the inside of the earth, ameliorate and find the hidden stone.
To me, this is: Dive deeply into your inner world (soul), get better at whatever you are doing no matter whether internally or externally, and you will the very core of it all, your soul, true being, redeemed liberated self, whatever you choose to call it.
Apart from that, I don’ t think Tarot has very much to do with Alchemy. Alchemy is lots older, I guess.