In many ways, Shamanism is the same as Alchemy.
They both approach spiritual development through a psychic involvement with matter. But while European alchemy became entrapped in an obsession with metals and purified elements, shamanism fixated its attention in the living energies of plants, animals and spirits.
It is perhaps because of this reason that alchemy became synonymous with gaining wealth and immortality. For those who confused the metaphors of the original alchemy with reality, the practice became a pseudo-science of transforming lead into gold. For others, however, alchemy remained the secret science of illumination and inner liberation.
The Science of Transformation
Aurum Nostrum Non Est Aurum Vulgi: Our gold is not common gold. ~ Alchemist saying
Whether you understand Alchemy as a science or as a psycho-spiritual 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 psychologist 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 road map 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.
“Materia Prima,” Gold and the Philosopher’s Stone
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 into 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.
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.
Suddenly, our inability to take responsibility for our many faults, 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. 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 honestly 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.
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 by which we begin to look at the world in a new light. With the right guidance and with enough inner work, Spiritization involves letting go of all the aspects of ourselves and our lives that don’t serve or contribute to our involution. 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 “enlightenment.”
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.
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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 become self-aware. This is the moment when our lives are without duality; when matter becomes spirit, or the 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.
Thank you for sharing. This helps so much. I knew I was going through an awakening but did not know all the steps, what they were called, or what to expect. I have studied different religions and shamanism. Something brought me here today. This gave me more than I had expected!
I’m glad I could provide some light onto the path for you Jazzmen :)
” Solves ” is the answer It is an anagram, of loves, there you will find the answer in it’s entirety……….. thank you
Is anyone experiencing synchronicity?
I have experienced this without knowing that i was doing it. It was for survival and I always told myself i woupd figure it out once i realized that I was at a point where I could pick what i wanted and enjoyed the flow of recieving it. I woupd always invision the response to the things that i wanted and left it at that because I loved the different ways it would manifest itself instead of me getting hung up on the how and why. This to me is exactly what life is about and I know for a fact because I did it without understanding what i was doing.
Thank you. I’ve been researching and practising this path for some time. Your work is clear and easy to understand. I’ve just stumbled onto your page and am quite happy to have found you. You are doing the Great Work. 93 and Blessed be …
I’m almost done with the whole process and I’m hesitant to complete coagulation. There are mental places that one cannot return from and having experience none duality has to be one of those…. the jump will not be painful but the landing can be deadly for my ego.
I suppose that the battle continues .
Did I not complete the first step totally?
Thank you for this article, I have found my answers! I have been aware of a spiritual process of sort happening in me for months now and very fortunate to have the gift of seeing my spiritual/ethereal body. It was for about 2 weeks I couldn’t see myself and when I suddenly did, my spiritual body was covered/made of gold with a thin layer of crystal blue energy protecting it. That very night, in my dreams, I was going through multiple life and death scenarios where I knew I would die and transform (not too sure into what). And I kept anticipating and avoid from dying in that dream because I was afraid I would die a painful death. Long story short, I did not die in my dream.
This left me confused and needing for answers. First thing that came to me is to transmute the fear because obviously it was hindering an on-going spiritual process. Next, was the knowledge of Spiritual Alchemy that came to me in a form of pages in a book explaining the building of a spiritual body and how it’s made of transmuted gold! Then this article!
I have yet to find anything close to what I am experiencing on the web yet. So, once again, thank you for this article and I hope this story can help inspire some of you who are experiencing this amazing process.
Beautiful!! I discovered Spritual Alchemy around 8 years ago. I was born extra sensory and then became very self aware. I discovered Alchemy after months of describing my beliefs/self as allsorts to justify to mainstream and religion etc. I was never guided by my Angels to read the Bible howeber people I spoke with and guided would relate my knowledge to parts of the bible. One day I sat in silence and asked my higher self, what do I call my spirituality? Then I clearly got the message of Alchemy and sure enough when I found a few articles it resonated very strong. I am now ready to guide others face to face as I have only been guiding and lightworking through our amazing World Wide Web :) love to all xoxo
I Started Realizing What The Freemasons Were Speaking of in Reference to The Term; “Alchemy.” Thank You for The Many Expressions in Regards to This Topic.Realization and Enlightenment Has Come by The Many in Numerous Posts. A Wonderful Web Site!
Great article. However, much before Carl Jung and many others, Al Ghazali ( born 1058 AD) from the Sufi tradition wrote a book called the Alchemy of Wisdom ( also translated as happiness). Worth a read. Among mystic circles it has been a common understanding that Alchemy referred to the spiritual sciences. Particularly in the eastern traditions. Jung was also heavily influenced by these so its no coincidence that he made the same connection. Part of the collective unconscious manifesting itself!:)
I have a deep respect of Sufi’s and much of their work, I will see if I can find a copy of the volume. We must thank Jung for reviving this lost wisdom and bringing it back into main stream awareness, a prolific psychological alchemist. :)
I feel like I have different pieces of myself going through these stages at different rates. The last few days I have noticed that I’m concerned with worldly things during the daytime; and then I live for the time during the night when I am relaxed and my mind becomes clear and all the spiritual wonders miraculously come to inspire me once again to fill me with the wonder of a child – as you say there is not separation between the physical universe is not separate from spiritual reality – the answers are all clear. I do my writing then and it is all very beautiful and true in the very most basic form, and then I sleep and when I wake up, I feel like I am only writing for myself, that people would think I was a know it all, or too far out there to respect my words. So once again during the day, my mind is quite constructive, and I’m sure that I either bore or offend many with my daily stances on politics. LOL!. I’m not afraid to express my opinion there! LOL!. I’m still actively reconciling those different sides of myself. Part of me feels like I have something to say, and the other part just says that each person learns the lessons that are specific for them, in the timeframe that is specific for them, including me.. I’m clearly an old in some ways, but still working my way through in other ways. When I was really struggling, I was very much in my spiritual mind. Since things have gotten a bit better, it seems like I’ve taken a couple steps back, but finally left what was harming me. This was an exceptional writing Sol. I admire your wisdom for being rather young still.
Hello Mateo Sol,
I really enjoyed your interpretation of Spiritual Alchemy and have personally had many profound experiences of this throughout my life.
Today specifically, i’m rising above a mundane experience and am repeatedly responding in an authentic way, which has been challenging.
I consciously sought out your email for today and you have brought me back to peace with your beautiful teaching. Thank you.
Blessings Gaia
Thank you for this amazing website. I’ve read alot of your articles and I feel I can resonate with almost all of them. You speak of topics that is not much heard of in society and it makes me feel a little less crazy to be thinking about these things all the time. Like there are other people that think about and go through these things to. It’s nice to get a reminder of that sometimes so thanks again! ¨
I have a question for you:
A few months ago in end of december to march I went through a very heavy experience which I’ve never seen anything like before. I think it was the dark night of the soul. Because it felt like my world was falling deeper and deeper into this dark well of uncomfortable and scary feelings and back then I couldn’t see the end of it. I could never imagine how too get out of these heavy feelings, like if there was a mountain on the my chest just not allowing me to breathe. I went through the day, dragging the feet behind me and if there was an ounce of energetic uplift, it went away like an allready freezing body trying to withhold heat. I cried often, not really knowing why and during the whole time I didn’t want to meet any people at all. Not even close friends or family. And I haven’t had a depression, in that sense before. And nothing really happend to trigger it.
I also did your dark night of the soul test and got 80 %.
Then a month later when all things had started to light up for a bit I went for spiritual guidance and met with a medium. Then she told me I would go through the dark night of the soul in a while and that the spiritual guides wanted me to go through this thing soon as possible. Like I had been to distracted before to focus on the spiritual development.
But..if I feels like I’ve allready been through the dark night of the soul and the medium says I will go through it soon. Is it possible to go through it in bits and pieces? Not everything at once but in divided periods?
I am really confused about these things but your articles is certainly helpful to figure out whats going on. Hope to hear from you