Metal
an undecomposable elementary substance having certain recognizable qualities (opacity, conductivity, plasticity, high specific gravity, etc.), mid-13c., from Old French metal "metal; material, substance, stuff" (12c.), from Latin metallum "metal, mineral; mine, quarry," from Greek metallon "metal, ore" (senses found only in post-classical texts, via the notion of "what is got by mining"); originally "mine, quarry-pit," probably a back-formation from metalleuein "to mine, to quarry," a word of unknown origin. Perhaps related somehow to metallan "to seek after"...
an undecomposable elementary substance having certain recognizable qualities (opacity, conductivity, plasticity, high specific gravity, etc.), mid-13c., from Old French metal "metal; material, substance, stuff" (12c.), from Latin metallum "metal, mineral; mine, quarry," from Greek metallon "metal, ore" (senses found only in post-classical texts, via the notion of "what is got by mining"); originally "mine, quarry-pit," probably a back-formation from metalleuein "to mine, to quarry," a word of unknown origin. Perhaps related somehow to metallan "to seek after"...
SPIRITUAL ALCHEMY
"Truly it has been said that there is nothing new under the sun, for knowledge is revealed and is submerged again, even as a nation rises and falls. Here is a system, tested throughout the ages, but lost again and again by ignorance or prejudice, in the same way that great nations have risen and fallen and been lost to history beneath the desert sands and in the ocean depths." --Paracelsus, The Doctrine of Alchemy
For the practicing psychologist, however, alchemy has one inestimable advantage over Indian yoga its ideas are expressed almost entirely in an extraordinarily rich symbolism, the very symbolism we still find in our patients today. ~Carl Jung, CW 16, Para 219.
The help which alchemy affords us in understanding the symbols of the individuation process is, in my opinion, of the utmost importance. ~Carl Jung, CW 16, Para 219.
"The Secret of Alchemy is this: There is a Way of Manipulating Matter and Energy So as to Produce what Modern Scientists Call 'a Field of Force'. This Field Acts On the Observer and Puts Him in a Privileged Position Vis-a-Vis the Universe. From this Position, He has an Access to the Realities which are Ordinarily Hidden from Us by Time and Space, Matter and Energy. This is what We Call "The Great Work". ~ Fulcanelli
***
Alchemical Essays by Dr. Ross Mack – Review for Alchemy Journal
Review of
ALCHEMICAL ESSAYS:
The Living Process of Alchemy
Iona Miller, 1-1-09
“The changing of bodies into light and light into bodies, is very comfortable to the course of nature, which seems delighted with transmutations.” ~ Opticks, Sir Isaac Newton
“Ultimately, the Stone should be considered a catalyst to instruct the body code to overcome its inherited weakness and rebuild a better, stronger vital metabolism that is not just self-repairing, but building to an optimal state of health. . .The Stone has the seed of all DNA in an archetypal form and gives the correct, original instructions to the potential new cells. This enables generations of mutation/adaptation of the organism to self-correct.” ~ Dr. Ross Mack
In ALCHEMICAL ESSAYS (Salamander & Sons, 2008), Dr. Ross Mack distills the quintessence of the alchemical art creating a Meta-Syn of philosophers for our time. It can be difficult in such an esoteric subject to transcend language barriers and satisfy both the novice and the accomplished practitioner. But he has done just that in this tastefully-illustrated, well-crafted volume, weaving a tapestry of depth and richness with subject matter elements and process-oriented guidelines. The qualitative Mercury, Sulphur and Salt presented herein make a luminous mixture.
Dr. Mack will cut 20 years off your learning process, raise your aspirations, sooth your troubled soul, and ground your practice in an expanded notion of our ancient art, which is a secret therapy, as well. One reading may lead you to ponder, while another brings a “Eureka” moment, and still another sparks an obsessive quest. Alchemical Essays inspires one to truly seize the noble fruit. He will expand your synergetic consciousness of the heart of the Art and the secret Heart of Nature.
Dr. Mack’s passionate work is a balm for both the experimental and spiritual practitioner. This nonlinear book can be reread in fractal reiterations in its entirety or section by section over a period of years for inspiration on higher octaves. Its symbolism stimulates us at an unconscious level. We all know that revelations have their own mysterious way of emerging once the aspirant and the time are ripe. If you have the drive, Dr. Mack’s directions will give you traction.
The aesthetic approach of art is as inseparable from alchemy as its experimental nature. Alchemy is the soulful language of transformation and transmutation, a way of life rooted in eternal cycles. It is a personal experience of the Laws of Nature that invites the materialization of Wisdom. Energy is matter in volatile form and the natural mechanism of creation. Matter and mankind pass through archetypal transitional states. Alchemy amplifies this process, changing our fundamental psychophysical makeup. Even our failures have value.
Alchemy itself is a prescription for the Nigredo depression, the modern malaise of dark futures and consumer conformity. It defines a perennial frontier where eccentricity elbows out enough room to thrive in unconventional ways of thinking, acting and being, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Alchemy leads us to experiment, break boundaries and transcend categories, including those of science, art and belief. Intuitively knowing more than we know we know, some navigational part of ourselves functions as Mercurial guide.
This magical art connects private consciousness with the unified global field of awareness. The world is animated and all things are interconnected. The spiritual technology of today’s alchemy offsets the alienating effects of modern technology and helps create a totally new environment in the same sense that great art does – a development in the pattern of human experience. Alchemical media widens our experiential field. It offers the perennial promise of rebirth at an enhanced level of functional adaptability.
If you are looking for “Trade Secrets,” you will find many here whose brilliant articulation only come through a lifetime of effort. Mack shares his qualitative perspective on the alchemical memes of our day, including Ormus, life extension, resonance, frequency, fields, dark matter and energy, the ether, energy, DNA, cyclic transformation and the true nature of the Stone. You will also find a deep respect for the living powers of alchemy and an indispensable love of Anima Mundi as the ultimate Soror Mystica.
Imagine, instead of buying a cure at the store that we actually collect all the raw materials required from the ground up, create and assemble our own equipment, make our own chemical ingredients according to the old ways, and draw our own experimental conclusions. The authentic practice of alchemical art requires all that of us, and more. It requires we consciously open ourselves to the Universe and its expansive manifestation mirrored within ourselves. It makes psyche matter.
Mack describes the Minor and Major work in all the alchemical traditions, including Hermetic, Chinese, Indian, Arabic and Islamic. He gives a thorough treatment of Spagyrics and Ayurvedic craft. But this is no dry history, nor list of symbols, nor retelling of parables or outworn myths. His philosophical flights range from the subtleties of New Physics, (such as light, time, superconductors, and Bose-Einstein Condensate), to the practicalities of creating and perfecting one’s lab apparatus. He distinguishes internal, spiritual and plant alchemy, describing various methodology and applications.
It’s not easy to write such hyperdimensional text, even though this form of deep coding was the forte of the alchemists of history. Precisely what separates the modern alchemist from science is a deep and abiding desire for Nature’s enigmatic truths, including emotional, philosophical and spiritual meaning. Unique aspects are part of our personal journey toward individuation, but the operations of alchemy describe the transpersonal milestones we share in the progress of our Great Work. Ultimately, we make the grand experiment on ourselves.
Both artists and alchemists claim a variety of ways of proceeding with their work. The product of each endeavor is an expression of one’s intentional creative effort. Ultimately, there is no recipe for the creative process, which requires the cooperation of the universe to achieve that flow state, but there are means available to foster certain outcomes. Your next correct choice emerges from strengthening your experiential connection to creative source.
Dr. Mack has chosen a stunning menu of alchemical fare that invites the reader not simply to read the recipe but to heartily relish the dish – your own deliciously “cooked” self. These essays cover a select array of notions that enfold the essential aspects of alchemical theory and practice.
Happily, this is a fluid articulation, without the obfuscation of dated language in a presentation that is perhaps one of the best contemporary works of its type. In short, Dr. Mack’s fluent style makes enjoyable reading that speaks to us on the level we are ready to receive, helping us see the invisible world. As base metals are turned into gold, our soul is regenerated. Anyone can attempt to recount the history of alchemy, but it takes a mature practitioner to shed new light on the the subject.
Iona Miller, a writer, clinical hypnotherapist and artist, is co-author of THE MODERN ALCHEMIST (Phanes, 1994), and moderates “Alchemy: the Royal Art”
For the practicing psychologist, however, alchemy has one inestimable advantage over Indian yoga its ideas are expressed almost entirely in an extraordinarily rich symbolism, the very symbolism we still find in our patients today. ~Carl Jung, CW 16, Para 219.
The help which alchemy affords us in understanding the symbols of the individuation process is, in my opinion, of the utmost importance. ~Carl Jung, CW 16, Para 219.
"The Secret of Alchemy is this: There is a Way of Manipulating Matter and Energy So as to Produce what Modern Scientists Call 'a Field of Force'. This Field Acts On the Observer and Puts Him in a Privileged Position Vis-a-Vis the Universe. From this Position, He has an Access to the Realities which are Ordinarily Hidden from Us by Time and Space, Matter and Energy. This is what We Call "The Great Work". ~ Fulcanelli
***
Alchemical Essays by Dr. Ross Mack – Review for Alchemy Journal
Review of
ALCHEMICAL ESSAYS:
The Living Process of Alchemy
Iona Miller, 1-1-09
“The changing of bodies into light and light into bodies, is very comfortable to the course of nature, which seems delighted with transmutations.” ~ Opticks, Sir Isaac Newton
“Ultimately, the Stone should be considered a catalyst to instruct the body code to overcome its inherited weakness and rebuild a better, stronger vital metabolism that is not just self-repairing, but building to an optimal state of health. . .The Stone has the seed of all DNA in an archetypal form and gives the correct, original instructions to the potential new cells. This enables generations of mutation/adaptation of the organism to self-correct.” ~ Dr. Ross Mack
In ALCHEMICAL ESSAYS (Salamander & Sons, 2008), Dr. Ross Mack distills the quintessence of the alchemical art creating a Meta-Syn of philosophers for our time. It can be difficult in such an esoteric subject to transcend language barriers and satisfy both the novice and the accomplished practitioner. But he has done just that in this tastefully-illustrated, well-crafted volume, weaving a tapestry of depth and richness with subject matter elements and process-oriented guidelines. The qualitative Mercury, Sulphur and Salt presented herein make a luminous mixture.
Dr. Mack will cut 20 years off your learning process, raise your aspirations, sooth your troubled soul, and ground your practice in an expanded notion of our ancient art, which is a secret therapy, as well. One reading may lead you to ponder, while another brings a “Eureka” moment, and still another sparks an obsessive quest. Alchemical Essays inspires one to truly seize the noble fruit. He will expand your synergetic consciousness of the heart of the Art and the secret Heart of Nature.
Dr. Mack’s passionate work is a balm for both the experimental and spiritual practitioner. This nonlinear book can be reread in fractal reiterations in its entirety or section by section over a period of years for inspiration on higher octaves. Its symbolism stimulates us at an unconscious level. We all know that revelations have their own mysterious way of emerging once the aspirant and the time are ripe. If you have the drive, Dr. Mack’s directions will give you traction.
The aesthetic approach of art is as inseparable from alchemy as its experimental nature. Alchemy is the soulful language of transformation and transmutation, a way of life rooted in eternal cycles. It is a personal experience of the Laws of Nature that invites the materialization of Wisdom. Energy is matter in volatile form and the natural mechanism of creation. Matter and mankind pass through archetypal transitional states. Alchemy amplifies this process, changing our fundamental psychophysical makeup. Even our failures have value.
Alchemy itself is a prescription for the Nigredo depression, the modern malaise of dark futures and consumer conformity. It defines a perennial frontier where eccentricity elbows out enough room to thrive in unconventional ways of thinking, acting and being, from the sublime to the ridiculous. Alchemy leads us to experiment, break boundaries and transcend categories, including those of science, art and belief. Intuitively knowing more than we know we know, some navigational part of ourselves functions as Mercurial guide.
This magical art connects private consciousness with the unified global field of awareness. The world is animated and all things are interconnected. The spiritual technology of today’s alchemy offsets the alienating effects of modern technology and helps create a totally new environment in the same sense that great art does – a development in the pattern of human experience. Alchemical media widens our experiential field. It offers the perennial promise of rebirth at an enhanced level of functional adaptability.
If you are looking for “Trade Secrets,” you will find many here whose brilliant articulation only come through a lifetime of effort. Mack shares his qualitative perspective on the alchemical memes of our day, including Ormus, life extension, resonance, frequency, fields, dark matter and energy, the ether, energy, DNA, cyclic transformation and the true nature of the Stone. You will also find a deep respect for the living powers of alchemy and an indispensable love of Anima Mundi as the ultimate Soror Mystica.
Imagine, instead of buying a cure at the store that we actually collect all the raw materials required from the ground up, create and assemble our own equipment, make our own chemical ingredients according to the old ways, and draw our own experimental conclusions. The authentic practice of alchemical art requires all that of us, and more. It requires we consciously open ourselves to the Universe and its expansive manifestation mirrored within ourselves. It makes psyche matter.
Mack describes the Minor and Major work in all the alchemical traditions, including Hermetic, Chinese, Indian, Arabic and Islamic. He gives a thorough treatment of Spagyrics and Ayurvedic craft. But this is no dry history, nor list of symbols, nor retelling of parables or outworn myths. His philosophical flights range from the subtleties of New Physics, (such as light, time, superconductors, and Bose-Einstein Condensate), to the practicalities of creating and perfecting one’s lab apparatus. He distinguishes internal, spiritual and plant alchemy, describing various methodology and applications.
It’s not easy to write such hyperdimensional text, even though this form of deep coding was the forte of the alchemists of history. Precisely what separates the modern alchemist from science is a deep and abiding desire for Nature’s enigmatic truths, including emotional, philosophical and spiritual meaning. Unique aspects are part of our personal journey toward individuation, but the operations of alchemy describe the transpersonal milestones we share in the progress of our Great Work. Ultimately, we make the grand experiment on ourselves.
Both artists and alchemists claim a variety of ways of proceeding with their work. The product of each endeavor is an expression of one’s intentional creative effort. Ultimately, there is no recipe for the creative process, which requires the cooperation of the universe to achieve that flow state, but there are means available to foster certain outcomes. Your next correct choice emerges from strengthening your experiential connection to creative source.
Dr. Mack has chosen a stunning menu of alchemical fare that invites the reader not simply to read the recipe but to heartily relish the dish – your own deliciously “cooked” self. These essays cover a select array of notions that enfold the essential aspects of alchemical theory and practice.
Happily, this is a fluid articulation, without the obfuscation of dated language in a presentation that is perhaps one of the best contemporary works of its type. In short, Dr. Mack’s fluent style makes enjoyable reading that speaks to us on the level we are ready to receive, helping us see the invisible world. As base metals are turned into gold, our soul is regenerated. Anyone can attempt to recount the history of alchemy, but it takes a mature practitioner to shed new light on the the subject.
Iona Miller, a writer, clinical hypnotherapist and artist, is co-author of THE MODERN ALCHEMIST (Phanes, 1994), and moderates “Alchemy: the Royal Art”
Casimir Altar, Io, 2008
SPIRITUAL ALCHEMY
Alchemists speak of retorts, furnaces, and chemicals, but are really talking about transformations taking place in their own bodies, minds, and souls.
http://spiritualalchemy.iwarp.com/
Spiritual alchemy is a grand experiment you perform on yourself with critical introspection and objective investigation. You can discover your deeper nature as a multidimensional synthesis of subjective/objective, qualitative/quantitative, mind/matter, wave/particle.
It is the responsibility of each individual to bring about their own transformation and be free to reincarnate now, to embody that transformation fully. The outer is the inner, and the inner is the outer. Lived reality is only experienced reality and is always transformed before it is experienced.
Alchemy increases your capacity to relate to inward-flowing content. You can regenerate yourself. You are the world and the world is you. You can deny or affirm the sacred. By changing yourself, you change everything. You can be a light unto yourself, lit by yourself. You are the cosmos and the cosmos is you.
"Just as the alchemists knew that the production of their stone was a miracle that could only happen "Deo concedente," so the modern psychologist is aware that he can produce no more than a description, couched in scientific symbols, of a psychic process whose real nature transcends consciousness just as much as does the mystery of life or of matter."
~Carl Jung, CW 11, Page 296.
Alchemists speak of retorts, furnaces, and chemicals, but are really talking about transformations taking place in their own bodies, minds, and souls.
http://spiritualalchemy.iwarp.com/
Spiritual alchemy is a grand experiment you perform on yourself with critical introspection and objective investigation. You can discover your deeper nature as a multidimensional synthesis of subjective/objective, qualitative/quantitative, mind/matter, wave/particle.
It is the responsibility of each individual to bring about their own transformation and be free to reincarnate now, to embody that transformation fully. The outer is the inner, and the inner is the outer. Lived reality is only experienced reality and is always transformed before it is experienced.
Alchemy increases your capacity to relate to inward-flowing content. You can regenerate yourself. You are the world and the world is you. You can deny or affirm the sacred. By changing yourself, you change everything. You can be a light unto yourself, lit by yourself. You are the cosmos and the cosmos is you.
"Just as the alchemists knew that the production of their stone was a miracle that could only happen "Deo concedente," so the modern psychologist is aware that he can produce no more than a description, couched in scientific symbols, of a psychic process whose real nature transcends consciousness just as much as does the mystery of life or of matter."
~Carl Jung, CW 11, Page 296.
“This is the emancipation of the nigredo from literalism. Like cures like; we cure the nigredo by becoming, as the texts say, blacker than black – archetypally black, and thereby no longer colored by all-too-human prejudices of color.” --James Hillman, Alchemical Psychology
Alchemical Gold
"Gold elixir is another name for the unfragmented original essence; there is no gold elixir besides the original essence . This elixir is inherent in everyone, not more in sages or less in ordinary people. It is the seed of immortals and enlightened ones, the root of saints and sages. It is only that as long as it has not been put through fire and refined, when the
positive culminates it must turn to negative, when waxing culminates it must wane, and it falls into the temporal: intellectual knowledge develops and private desires get mixed in; temperament emerges and the natural good dims, innate knowledge and innate capacity
both lose their innocence, and there is no more body of pristine purity. Therefore ancient sages set up the method of reversion and restoration of gold elixir, just to have people return home and recognize their ancestor, to revert to what is fundamentally inherent. Why is it called reversion and restoration? Reversion means the self comes back after it has gone; restoration means the self is regained after it has been lost." --Cleary-Thomas, Understanding Reality
Alchemical Gold
"Gold elixir is another name for the unfragmented original essence; there is no gold elixir besides the original essence . This elixir is inherent in everyone, not more in sages or less in ordinary people. It is the seed of immortals and enlightened ones, the root of saints and sages. It is only that as long as it has not been put through fire and refined, when the
positive culminates it must turn to negative, when waxing culminates it must wane, and it falls into the temporal: intellectual knowledge develops and private desires get mixed in; temperament emerges and the natural good dims, innate knowledge and innate capacity
both lose their innocence, and there is no more body of pristine purity. Therefore ancient sages set up the method of reversion and restoration of gold elixir, just to have people return home and recognize their ancestor, to revert to what is fundamentally inherent. Why is it called reversion and restoration? Reversion means the self comes back after it has gone; restoration means the self is regained after it has been lost." --Cleary-Thomas, Understanding Reality
"An old alchemist gave the following consolation to one of his disciples: “No matter how isolated you are and how lonely you feel, if you do your work truly and conscientiously, unknown friends will come and seek you.”" ~ Carl Jung
"Alchemy begins before we enter the mine, the forge, or laboratory. It begins in the blue vault, the seas, in the mind’s thinking in images, imaging ideationally, speculatively, silveredly, in words that are both images and ideas, in words that turn things into flashing ideas and ideas of little things that crawl, the blue power of the word itself, which locates this consciousness in the throat of the visuddha cakra whose dominant color is a smoky-purple-blue."
--James Hillman, “Alchemical Blue and the Unio Mentalis
"Alchemy begins before we enter the mine, the forge, or laboratory. It begins in the blue vault, the seas, in the mind’s thinking in images, imaging ideationally, speculatively, silveredly, in words that are both images and ideas, in words that turn things into flashing ideas and ideas of little things that crawl, the blue power of the word itself, which locates this consciousness in the throat of the visuddha cakra whose dominant color is a smoky-purple-blue."
--James Hillman, “Alchemical Blue and the Unio Mentalis
Spiritual Physics
http://spiritualphysics.50megs.com/
An anthology of Iona Miller's writing on spiritual physics and biophysics and what they mean for our worldview of self, others, nature and cosmos. Alchemists sought the experience of Unus Mundus, the one world united through material, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects. Science illuminates the spiritual quest, and spiritual tech illuminates the deep nature of matter and our nature.
Paradoxically, when we look into the depths of matter, we look into the depths of ourselves. Scientists and mystics report similar phenomena in their models and phenomenology. Spiritual technologies, the software of sacred penetration and amplification, virtually predicted the fine nature of matter as nothing but a complex illusion - what we have come to understand as a hologram. Mystics have also always emphasized the primal nature of Light, and claimed that we are in fact made of light itself. Science has confirmed this in numerous ways.
Empty Awareness * Microphysics * Helix to Hologram * My Zero Point * Nonlocal Mind * Whole Sum Infinity *Good Vibrations * Glisten Up * Photonic Body * Photonic Brain * Invisible Ground * Illumination * Consciousness * Soma Sophia * Biophysics * Field Body * Virtual Physics * Sacred Geometry * Neurotheology * Psi Research *Multiverse * Pineal DMT * Deep Field I Deep Field II * Emergent Healing * Holographic Paradigm *Chaos Consciousness * Chaosophy * Multiverse * Tensegrity * Energy Medicine * Resonance * Demiurgic Field *
http://spiritualphysics.50megs.com/
An anthology of Iona Miller's writing on spiritual physics and biophysics and what they mean for our worldview of self, others, nature and cosmos. Alchemists sought the experience of Unus Mundus, the one world united through material, emotional, mental and spiritual aspects. Science illuminates the spiritual quest, and spiritual tech illuminates the deep nature of matter and our nature.
Paradoxically, when we look into the depths of matter, we look into the depths of ourselves. Scientists and mystics report similar phenomena in their models and phenomenology. Spiritual technologies, the software of sacred penetration and amplification, virtually predicted the fine nature of matter as nothing but a complex illusion - what we have come to understand as a hologram. Mystics have also always emphasized the primal nature of Light, and claimed that we are in fact made of light itself. Science has confirmed this in numerous ways.
Empty Awareness * Microphysics * Helix to Hologram * My Zero Point * Nonlocal Mind * Whole Sum Infinity *Good Vibrations * Glisten Up * Photonic Body * Photonic Brain * Invisible Ground * Illumination * Consciousness * Soma Sophia * Biophysics * Field Body * Virtual Physics * Sacred Geometry * Neurotheology * Psi Research *Multiverse * Pineal DMT * Deep Field I Deep Field II * Emergent Healing * Holographic Paradigm *Chaos Consciousness * Chaosophy * Multiverse * Tensegrity * Energy Medicine * Resonance * Demiurgic Field *
The Modern Alchemist
http://the-modern-alchemist.iwarp.com/
"Not since Carl Jung wrote on inner transformation and alchemy has there been such a revealing, illuminating discussion of this art and its hidden message."
~ Dr. Stanley Krippner, Saybrook Institute
Traditional religions, with their emphasis upon ritual and belief, often fail to meet the spiritual needs of contemporary individuals. Nonetheless, the direct experience of life's sacred dimension yields many positive results for the human personality and inner spirit. A dynamic inner process weaves through our lives whether we notice it or not. We find meaning and healing when we intentionally become conscious of its dynamic.
The Modern Alchemist has a great deal to say to those who are seeking spiritual nourishment in the modern age. It is a first-hand, experiential guide to the process which medieval alchemists represented as the transformation of "lead into gold" or lower substances into higher ones. To Richard and Iona Miller, the transformation goes much further than that--it is an inner change which leads to wholeness, integration, and flowering of the total personality.
Using the language of depth psychology as well as alchemy, they show how we can actualize our birthright and become consciously involved in the natural transformative process. In this way, we can find a more intimate connection with the guiding, nurturing powers of the universe and the "lost" parts of ourselves.
This widely acknowledged self-help text on Jungian archetypes is structured using the art prints and text of the 17th century alchemical classic Book of Lambspring. The sixteen chapters compare and contrast archetypes and alchemical operations, which lead to greater self-awareness and psychological transformation from the pits of depression to mystical illumination. The first half deals with the personal unconscious, while the second covers the stages of spiritual enlightenment. Chapter themes include persona, shadow, anima, animus, adversary, great mother, wise old man, marriage of opposites; hero, mana personality, magical child, self or God-image, conception, incubation, rebirth, illumination.
https://books.google.com/books?id=b3bV-pbLLzUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false
TRANSMODERN ALCHEMIST
http://transmodernalchemy.iwarp.com/
The great enigmas of our existence remain the riddle of matter, the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the human mind or consciousness. Since matter remains a paradox, our Work means learning more than the Standard Theory of physics. New research and heterodox theories stimulate our imaginative and spiritual thinking. Each theory adds another piece to the puzzle of existence and meaning and might potentially lead to breakthrough on the bench or in consciousness. They describe novel transformations and transmutations, how we might find longevity, rejuvenation, regeneration and even "immortality."
http://transmodernalchemy.iwarp.com/
The great enigmas of our existence remain the riddle of matter, the origin of the universe, the origin of life, and the human mind or consciousness. Since matter remains a paradox, our Work means learning more than the Standard Theory of physics. New research and heterodox theories stimulate our imaginative and spiritual thinking. Each theory adds another piece to the puzzle of existence and meaning and might potentially lead to breakthrough on the bench or in consciousness. They describe novel transformations and transmutations, how we might find longevity, rejuvenation, regeneration and even "immortality."
The Axiom of Maria may be interpreted as an alchemical analogy of the process of individuation from the many to the one, from undifferentiated unconsciousness to individual consciousness.
Axiom of Maria is a precept in alchemy:
"One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth." It is attributed to 3rd century alchemist Maria Prophetissa, also called the Jewess, sister of Moses, or the Copt. Marie-Louise von Franz gives an alternative version thus: "Out of the One comes Two, out of Two comes Three, and from the Third comes the One as the Fourth."
Metaphor of Individuation
One is unconscious wholeness; two is the conflict of opposites; three points to a potential resolution; the third is the transcendent function, described as a "psychic function that arises from the tension between consciousness and the unconscious and supports their union"; and the one as the fourth is a transformed state of consciousness, relatively whole and at peace.
Jung speaks of the axiom of Maria as running in various forms through the whole of alchemy like a leitmotiv. In "The Psychology of the Transference" he alaborates the fourfold nature of the transforming process with the language of Greek alchemy:
"It begins with the four separate elements, the state of chaos, and ascends by degrees to the three manifestations of Mercurius in the inorganic, organic, and spiritual worlds; and, after attaining the form of Sol and Luna (i.e., the precious metal gold and silver, but also the radiance of the gods who can overcome the strife of the elements by love), it culminates in the one and indivisible (incorruptible, ethereal, eternal) nature of the anima, the quinta essentia, aqua permanens, tincture, or lapis philosophorum. This progression from the number 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 is the 'axiom of Maria'..."
Axiom of Maria is a precept in alchemy:
"One becomes two, two becomes three, and out of the third comes the one as the fourth." It is attributed to 3rd century alchemist Maria Prophetissa, also called the Jewess, sister of Moses, or the Copt. Marie-Louise von Franz gives an alternative version thus: "Out of the One comes Two, out of Two comes Three, and from the Third comes the One as the Fourth."
Metaphor of Individuation
One is unconscious wholeness; two is the conflict of opposites; three points to a potential resolution; the third is the transcendent function, described as a "psychic function that arises from the tension between consciousness and the unconscious and supports their union"; and the one as the fourth is a transformed state of consciousness, relatively whole and at peace.
Jung speaks of the axiom of Maria as running in various forms through the whole of alchemy like a leitmotiv. In "The Psychology of the Transference" he alaborates the fourfold nature of the transforming process with the language of Greek alchemy:
"It begins with the four separate elements, the state of chaos, and ascends by degrees to the three manifestations of Mercurius in the inorganic, organic, and spiritual worlds; and, after attaining the form of Sol and Luna (i.e., the precious metal gold and silver, but also the radiance of the gods who can overcome the strife of the elements by love), it culminates in the one and indivisible (incorruptible, ethereal, eternal) nature of the anima, the quinta essentia, aqua permanens, tincture, or lapis philosophorum. This progression from the number 4 to 3 to 2 to 1 is the 'axiom of Maria'..."