The alchemical journey to enlightenment
"The Alchemist". Book by Paulo Coelho, 1993.
"This is why alchemy exists," the boy said. "So that everyone will search for his treasure, find it, and then want to be better than he was in his former life. Lead will play its role until the world has no further need for lead; and then lead will have to turn itself into gold. That's what alchemists do. They show that, when we strive to become better than we are, everything around us becomes better, too."
What is the alchemical path?
The alchemical path is your spiritual journey towards enlightenment; the path to find oneness; the return to the source (you may wish to call this God). Transfiguration is the driving force of this alchemical voyage, to turn lead into gold, not in a literal sense but a philosophical, internal sense. Our souls, within our limited human experience, yearn for this transformation, the refinement of our being, leading us intuitively along our path towards our destiny, to seek the philosopher’s stone, to return to ourselves as we truly are. We must discard our heavy bags that no longer serve us; we must burn away our dead cells, like the phoenix, to be born anew - a refined, whole, divine being.
The role of science in alchemy’s dismissal
The scientific method of hypothesising and proving discredited alchemy, overlooking the true meaning of this practice. Alchemy is not a literal change of materials (lead to gold) but that of the internal realms of consciousness. Attempts to transfigure actual material only created a distrust in the alchemical journey by those who took it to be more than a metaphorical process, to provide a map to your higher self.
Despite this, one of the most adept scientific minds ever to roam this planet, Isaac Newton, studied alchemy and the occult, to further understand the bountiful and vast planes on which our consciousness exists. The purchaser of Newton’s alchemical papers, John Maynard Keynes, stated that “Newton was not the first of the age of reason. He was the last of the magicians, the last of the Babylonians and Sumerians, the last great mind which looked out on the visible and intellectual world with the same eyes”.
The seven stages of alchemy
The path of the alchemist consists of seven stages of change:
Calcination
To burn away the dead weight hanging from your soul, in this incarnation, you must yourself be set ablaze. By no means is this an easy process - yet, nothing worthwhile is, is it? Moments of calcination often present themselves without prompt, like waking up after a night of heavy drinking with regret, being filled with the knowledge of your wrongdoings to yourself or others. You identify what truly causes your pain, suffering, grief or sadness. These habits, ways of being, that are brought to light are the blockages along your path to enlightenment and to continue on your journey, you must purge these actions of soul-suppression to create space for your self to come forwards.
Dissolution
After calcination, the ashes of what was, the former habits of your human experience, must be combined with water, the emotions of the thinking, feeling mind, to create something entirely new. Dissolution creates turbulence within the mind, with grief, sadness, pain and suffering fluttering through you as your ego begins know its wounds. This stage is not one of comfort, but one of acceptance and expression. Many take to artistic outlets in this part of the alchemical process, translating their emotions into beautiful portrayals of their life’s teachings thus far.
Separation
Detaching oneself from those fleeting emotions of the rationalising mind is the stage of separation. Finding your “zero point”, the point at which you are pure consciousness, nothing more, nothing less; neither internal, nor external, but right in the middle; finding your true state of being; returning to “I am”, is the purpose of your separation from the ego. Taking a step back, to this birds eye view of your life story this time around, can give way to your soul’s purpose in this incarnation and further awareness into who you truly are. This is the separation of the new substance created by the ashes in the water - choosing which aspects must be kept for refinement and which can be discarded.
Conjunction
After the separation of the wheat from the chaff; the good from the bad; the useful from the painful, we must integrate that which we have chosen to keep with us. Conjunction with ones qualities and traits that are desirable for refinement creates a deep sense of purpose for this incarnation, revealing that which you can offer to the world, be it minor or major, your impact matters in this life. This is your soul urging you to become the gold, transformed from the heavy, poisonous lead you once carried within. Conjoin with that which draws your being forwards, and keep polishing the mirror, to divest beauty to the universe around you.
Fermentation
This step in your alchemical journey is the beginning of new life - the dawning of your truest form presented before you. Whilst there may be minor impurities that have remained under the surface, this stage of the alchemical path is intended to allow the refined aspects you have conjoined with to flourish and expand. Like a loaf of bread rising, your heart expands with these greater aspects of your being, allowing you truly grow as an authentic individual.
Distillation
Following the liberation of your higher self from the clutches of egoic behaviours and the impurities of your past, the alchemist (you) filters out the final residual aspects of self that no longer belong within. The process of distillation is a repetition of this cleansing of the soul, until there is only purity left behind. All specs and blemishes are withdrawn, discarded and the lessons drawn from this detritus are transformed into finer materials to reinforce your purpose. To go far, you must travel light, without cloying egoic statements bringing trepidation to your journey beyond this shift in consciousness. Until these impurities are ironed out, you must remain on the alchemical path, cyclically working from within to strive towards your philosopher’s stone.
Congelation
Holding only purity at heart, you have achieved the manufacture of you philosopher’s stone - the elixir of life courses through your being. You become an invulnerable vehicle for higher consciousness driven boldly to your soul’s calling. Achieving this wholeness is a perpetual process, mind you, and will need to be polished over time, drawing back to the path of the alchemist, to purge the impurities imbued within by experience. The alchemical path is cyclical - refine, refine, refine, and repeat as life’s events mould you.