ALCHEMY ... An advanced spiritual Discipline

Closely related to modern Wicca.  The true alchemist was not trying to turn lead into gold.. He was trying to transform the lead of an un evolved consciousness into an enlightened soul.

What you put in you get out - this is the journey to find the gold.  Prepare to embark on a great and exciting journey as you have chosen to be self initiated into the sacred mysteries.   The powers of the universe have been delicately rearranged to garner the synchronization which brought you to this film. Explore an age-old science and unravel the truth behind an art which has been shrouded in secrecy until now.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZJZFeIPoswY&t=28s

The following is a transcript of the Video Alchemy - An advanced Spiritual Discipline.

Alchemy is a sacred science that's been practiced for thousands of years.   Many would argue it's as old as civilization itself.   The word alchemy translates 'Al Kemet' or "from Egypt" as Egypt was well known as Kemet in ancient times.   Kemet means the black land, and Egypt was well known for this due to their highly fertile soils along the Nile.

The term alchemy comes from the Arabic 'Al Khem' which in turn is said to come from the Egyptian Khem meaning black and referring to the Egyptians own name for their country, 'Kemet the black land'.  Thus the term alchemy is the origin of the term black art, though the meaning is very different than that later is ascribed to this phrase.   However others decide that the word comes from the Greek "pini".

Considering that the Egyptians and the Greeks were in close contact for hundreds of years and that the Greeks in fact ruled Egypt through the Ptolemaic dynasty for 300 years.  That each seriously influenced the culture of the other, the term could very well be a play on both words.

The Hellenistic era in Hellenistic Egypt in particular was a very fertile time in the history of magic.  Ancient forms of magic met and merged creating new disciplines and the magical forms still very

much in use today such as Hermeticism and Alchemy have their origins in Hellenistic Egypt.

Much of alchemy is highly misunderstood and has been kept secret in a variety of magical and fraternal organizations the list of alchemists is known to originate with Thoth who is widely credited for being the author of science, religion, mathematics, geometry, philosophy, medicine and magic.

Thoth is said to bring to civilization the calculations for the establishment of the heavens, stars, earth and everything in them.  In other words matter. Compare this to how his feminine counterpart Maatt was the force which maintained the universe otherwise spirit.   The unification of matter and spirit became a centerpiece and our chemical thought.   As the teaching spread both became known in other cultures as the Greek god Hermes the both formally became the same as Hermes Trismegistus of which he is currently known

This was the birth of the hermetic tradition and remains the same in many aspects today one of the

foundational manuscripts of alchemy is known as the Emerald Tablet which is said to contain the secrets of the art.   Many translations are available perhaps one of the most well-known was done by

Isaac Newton

A translation by Isaac Newton is found among his alchemical papers that are currently housed in King's College Library, Cambridge University.

EMERALD TABLET

1. Tis true without lying, certain and most true.
2. That which is below is like that which is above & that which is above is like that which is below to do the miracles of one only thing
3. And as all things have been & arose from one by the mediation of one: so all things have their birth from this one thing by adaptation.
4. The Sun is its father, the moon its mother, the wind hath carried it in its belly, the earth is its nourse.
5. The father of all perfection in the whole world is here.
6. Its force or power is entire if it be converted into earth.
7. Separate thou the earth from the fire, the subtile from the gross sweetly with great industry.
8. It ascends from the earth to the heaven & again it descends to the earth & receives the force of things superior & inferior.
9. By this means you shall have the glory of the whole world
10. & thereby all obscurity shall fly from you.
11. Its force is above all force. For it vanquishes every subtle thing & penetrates every solid thing.
12. So was the world created.
13. From this are & do come admirable adaptations whereof the means (or process) is here in this. Hence I am called Hermes Trismegist, having the three parts of the philosophy of the whole world
14. That which I have said of the operation of the Sun is accomplished & ended.

Theatrum Chemicum translation

Another translation can be found in Theatrum Chemicum, Volume IV (1613), in Georg Beatus' Aureliae Occultae Philosophorum:

1. This is true and remote from all cover of falsehood
2. Whatever is below is similar to that which is above. Through this the marvels of the work of one thing are procured and perfected.
3. Also, as all things are made from one, by the [consideration] of one, so all things were made from this one, by conjunction.
4. The father of it is the sun, the mother the moon. The wind bore it in the womb. Its nurse is the earth, the mother of all perfection.
5. Its power is perfected. If it is turned into earth.
6. Separate the earth from the fire, the subtle and thin from the crude and [coarse], prudently, with modesty and wisdom.
7. This ascends from the earth into the sky and again descends from the sky to the earth, and receives the power and efficacy of things above and of things below.
8. By this means you will acquire the glory of the whole world,
9. And so you will drive away all shadows and blindness.
10. For this by its fortitude snatches the palm from all other fortitude and power. For it is able to penetrate and subdue everything subtle and everything crude and hard.
11. By this means the world was founded
12. And hence the marvelous conjunctions of it and admirable effects, since this is the way by which these marvels may be brought about.
13. And because of this they have called me Hermes Tristmegistus since I have the three parts of the wisdom and philosophy of the whole universe.
14. My speech is finished which I have spoken concerning the solar work

Latin text

Original edition of the Latin text. (Chrysogonus Polydorus, Nuremberg 1541):

1. Verum, sine mendacio, certum et verissimum:
2. Quod est inferius est sicut quod est superius, et quod est superius est sicut quod est inferius, ad perpetranda miracula rei unius.
3. Et sicut res omnes fuerunt ab uno, meditatione unius, sic omnes res natae ab hac una re, adaptatione.
4. Pater eius est Sol. Mater eius est Luna, portavit illud Ventus in ventre suo, nutrix eius terra est.
5. Pater omnis telesmi totius mundi est hic.
6. Virtus eius integra est si versa fuerit in terram.
7. Separabis terram ab igne, subtile ab spisso, suaviter, magno cum ingenio.
8. Ascendit a terra in coelum, iterumque descendit in terram, et recipit vim superiorum et inferiorum.
9. Sic habebis Gloriam totius mundi.
10. Ideo fugiet a te omnis obscuritas.
11. Haec est totius fortitudinis fortitudo fortis, quia vincet omnem rem subtilem, omnemque solidam penetrabit.
12. Sic mundus creatus est.
13. Hinc erunt adaptationes mirabiles, quarum modus est hic. Itaque vocatus sum Hermes Trismegistus, habens tres partes philosophiae totius mundi.
14. Completum est quod dixi de operatione Solis.

Famous Alchemists have included the likes of Pythagoras, Galileo, Da Vinci and Isaac Newton.

Newton was not only the father of physics he tried to be the father of chemistry as well except back then in the 1600s they called it alchemy.  So we have to realize that science as noble as it is has very humble beginnings.  In fact many researchers feel very strongly about how important the teachings were and the influence alchemy has had on many of the great minds of our time,

The secret teachers were known as esoteric or occult or symbolist teachings and were held to contain the secrets of the universe and the keys to great magic.  Those who are allowed to receive the mysteries often went on to join a who's who of historical movers and shakers. 

Pythagoras, Plato, Aristotle, Galileo,  Copernicus, DaVinci, Kepler, Isaac Newton, Napoleon, they were rewarded for their pursuit of the ancient wisdom.  It was not just knowledge but a new way of thinking that allowed them to write their names in human history.

Hermeticism and the writings from the Hermetica were held to be the western retelling of the wisdom from the mystery schools.  They contained albeit in a degenerated form, strains of the ancient wisdom said to have been passed down from the gods.   There are fragmentary Hermetic texts dating from dates indispute but dating from third, second, first centuries AD in which the language and mode of expression is ancient Greek but the subject matter is if not entirely largely derived from or actually a part of the ancient Egyptian doctrine of the transformation of the soul.  This is the basis of the hermetic belief and it then proliferates into those various disciplines arises and is  practiced in one form or another in throughout Islam percolates up into Western Europe in the Italian Renaissance and then occupies much of the minds and arts and studies of the of major Renaissance figures up to and including Isaac Newton who actually spent much more time of his life studying alchemy in number symbolism than he did studying what would now be modern science. This is a acknowledged fact but is seldom acknowledged by modern scientists but as a matter of fact Newton might be called not one of the last certainly but one of the most eminent of the Hermeticists. 

The alchemist journey is known as the great work and is broken down into several chemical, psychological, physiological, societal and planetary levels.

The alchemists work with what is known as the three primes or tria Prima.   These are : Sulfur - the omnipresent spirit of life.  Mercury - the fluid connection between the high and the low and Salt - base matter. 

The four elements are also very important to the alchemist and stand as primary principles fire, water, earth and air all play an integral part in the alchemist studies.

The alchemist is familiar with seven primary metals which are ruled influenced or dominated by seven planetary influences used in alchemical work. These are .....

Gold, dominated by the Sun which provides energy and life to everything in the solar system. The Sun is our sense of self, our willpower, organized ability, self integration, energy levels, vitality and success.  The Sun corresponds to the heart, spinal column, vision and distribution of heat in the body.

Silver dominated by the moon which influences water, growth, fertility, conception, emotions, instinct, subconscious psychic phenomenon, collective consciousness, rhythms and cycles, genetics and cultural heritage. The moon corresponds to the brain, female organs, stomach and all fluids in the

body.

Copper dominated by Venus which influences herbalism,  magic, spagyrics, arts, music, poetry, design, theater, harmony, proportion, integration, meditation of opposites into a whole, odors, perfumes and love. Venus corresponds to the skin kidneys, perspiration, transformation and enrichment of substances within the body, sexual organs and smell.

Iron dominated by Mars which influences intense and often violent energy that brings dynamic power to all it encounters.  It increases psychic ability as well as motion and power in the physical realm.  Mars corresponds to the muscular system,  male sexual organs, marrow, blood formation, adrenaline and the purging of the body to maintain health.

Tin dominated by Jupiter which influences good health, will, philosophical and religious matters, ceremony and the enjoyment of life. Jupiter corresponds to the liver, arteries of the stomach and abdomen, digestion and assimilation of oxygen and nutrition, antibiotic functions, cell growth and general energy levels.

Mercury dominated by Mercury which influences communication, commerce, initiation into

the mysteries, alchemy, Kabbalah, astrology, magic, writing, transmission of information, nerves, dexterity, mental skills and speedy distribution of energy.   Mercury corresponds to the nerves, speech, hearing, coordination between thoughts and speech or actions, throat, thyroid, nervous system and spinal fluid.

Lead dominated by Saturn which influences old age, chronic disease, karma and learning.  Saturn corresponds to the bones, teeth, spleen, hair, minerals in the body, joints and flexibility.

MAJOR OPERATIONS

Calcination is the first of the following seven major operations in the alchemy of transformation. Chemically, the calcination process involves heating a substance in a crucible or over an open flame until it is reduced to ashes.  In the Arcanum experiment, calcination is represented by sulfuric acid which the alchemists made from a naturally occurring substance called vitriol. Sulfuric acid is a powerful corrosive that eats away flesh and reacts with all metals except gold.  Psychologically this is the destruction of ego and our attachments to material possessions.  Calcination is usually a natural humbling process as we are gradually assaulted and overcome by the trials and tribulations of life.  Though it can be a deliberate surrender of our inherent hubris gained through a variety of spiritual disciplines that ignite the fire of introspection and self-evaluation.   Physiologically the fire of calcination can be experienced as the metabolic discipline or aerobic activity that tunes the body, burning off excesses from overindulgence and producing a lean mean fighting machine.   Calcination begins in the base or lead chakra at the sacral cup of the base of the spine.   In society the calcination is expressed in the lives of revolutionaries conquerors and other warriors who try to overthrow the status quo. On the planetary level it is the fire of creation, the formation of a livable environment from molten matter and volcanic ashes.

Dissolution is the second major operation in the alchemy of transformation.  Chemically it is the dissolving of the ashes from the calcination in water.  In the Arcanum experiment dissolution is represented by iron oxide or rust which illustrates the potentially corrosive powers of water on even the hardest of metals.  When processed, vitriol breaks down into sulfuric acid and iron oxide which are the first two arcana or secret ingredients.   The Egyptians smelted iron as far back as 1500 BCE and used iron compounds and tonics and disinfectants.  Psychologically this represents the further breaking down of the artificial structures of the psyche by total immersion in the unconscious

non-rational feminine or rejected parts of our minds.  It is for the most part an unconscious process in which our conscious minds let go of control and allow the surfacing of buried material. It is the opening of the floodgates and generating new energies from the waters held back. 
Dissolution can be experienced as flow, the bliss of well-being and actively engaged in creative acts without traditional prejudices, personal hang-ups or established hierarchy getting in the way.  Physiologically dissolution is the continuance of the Kundalini experience, the opening up of energy channels in the body to recharge and elevate every single cell. Dissolution takes place in the genital or tin chakra and involves the lungs and spleen.  In society the process of steady growth through gradual dissolution is examined by agrarian monastic or agricultural-based lifestyles.  On the planetary level dissolution is the Great Flood, the cleansing of the earth of all that is inferior.

Separation is the third operation of transformation in alchemy.  Chemically it is the isolation of the components of dissolution by filtration and then discarding any non genuine or unworthy material in the Arcanum experiment Separation is represented by the compound sodium carbonate which separates out of water and appears as white soda ash on dry lake beds.  The oldest known deposits are in Egypt.  The alchemists sometimes refer to this compound is Natron, which means the common tendency in all salts to form solid bodies or precipitates.   Psychologically this is the process of rediscovery of our essence and the reclaiming of dream and visionary gold previously rejected by the masculine rational part of our minds.   It is for the most part a conscious process in which we review formally hidden material and decide what to discard and what to reintegrate into our refined personality.

Much of this shadow material is things we are ashamed of or were taught to hide away by our parents churches and schooling.  Separation is the letting go of the self-inflicted restraints to our

true nature so we can shine through. Physiologically separation is the following and controlling the breath in the body as it works with the forces of spirit and soul to give birth to new

energy and physical renewal.   Separation begins in the navel or iron chakra located at the level of the solar plexus. In society separation is expressed as the establishment of clans cities and nationalities separation on the planetary level is represented by the formation landmasses and islands from the powerful forces of air water earth and Fire

Conjunction is the fourth of the seven operations of alchemy. Chemically it is the recombination of saved elements from separation into a new substance.  In the Arcanum experiment conjunction is symbolized by a nitrate compound known as cubic saltpeter or potassium nitrate which the alchemists called Natron or simply salt.   Blue colored Natron acid or aqua Fortis was made by mixing potassium nitrate with sulfuric acid and was used to separate silver from gold, the inert

residue precipitated from the acid during the reaction like a child being born.   Psychologically it is the empowerment of our true selves the union of both masculine and feminine sides of our personalities into a new belief system or intuitive state of consciousness.   The alchemists referred to

this as the lesser stone and after it has been achieved the adapt is able to clearly discern what needs to be done to achieve lasting enlightenment which is the union over the self and often synchronicity begins to occur and confirm that the alchemist is on the right track.  Physiologically conjunction is using the bodies sexual energies to perform transformation.   Conjunction takes place at the level of the heart or copper Chakra.  In society it is the growth of crafts and technologies to master the environment.   On the planetary level conjunction occurs when primordial life forms are created from the energies of the Sun or lighting.

Fermentation is the fifth operation in the alchemy of transformation. Fermentation is the two-step process that begins with the putrefaction of the hermaphroditic child from the conjunction resulting in its death and resurrection to a new level of being.   The fermentation phase then begins with the introduction of new life into the product of conjunction to strengthen it and ensure its survival.
Chemically the Fermentation is the growth of a ferment bacteria and organic solutions such as occurs in the fermenting of milk to produce curds and cheese or in fermenting of grapes to make wine.  In the Arcanum experiment the process of fermentation is represented by a compound called liquor hepatis which is an oily reddish-brown mixture of ammonia and the rotten egg smelling

compound hydrogen sulfide. 

Egyptian Alchemists made ammonia by heating camel dung in sealed containers and thought of it as kind of a refined mercury that embodied the life force. 

Liquor hepatis means liquor of the liver which they believed was the seat of the soul and the color they associated with the compound was green the color of bile. Surprisingly liquor hepatis exudes a wonderful fragrance and the alchemist made a perfume of it called Balsam of the soul.   Psychologically the fermentation process starts with the inspiration of spiritual power from above that reanimates, energizes and enlightens the alchemist. Out of the blackness of his putrefaction comes the yellow ferment which appears like a golden wax flowing out of the foul matter of the soul.   It's arrival is announced by a brilliant display of colors and meaningful visions called the Peacocks tail. 

Fermentation can be achieved through various activities that include intense prayer, desire for mystical union, breakdown of the personality, trans-personal therapy, psychedelic drugs and deep meditation. Fermentation is the living inspiration

from something that is total beyond us physiologically,  fermentation is the arousing of living energy, chi or Kundalini in the body to heal and vivify.  It is expressed as the vibratory tones and spoken truce that emerged from the throat or mercury chakra.   In society the fermentation experience is the basis of religion and on the planetary level it is the evolution of life to produce higher states of consciousness.

Distillation is the sixth major operation in the alchemy of transformation.   Chemically it is the boiling and condensation of the fermented solution to increase its purity.   Such as takes place in the distilling of wine to make brandy.   In the Arcanum experiment distillation is represented by a compound known as black pulvis Solaris which is made by mixing black antimony with purified sulfur.   The two immediately clump together to make what the alchemists called a bizirre, a kind of sublimated solid that forms in the intestines in the brain. 
Psychologically distillation is the agitation and sublimation of psychic forces and is necessary to ensure that no impurities from the inflated ego or deeply emerged ID are incorporated into the next and final stage. 
Personal distillation consists of a variety of introspective techniques that raise the content of the psyche to its highest level possible, free from the sentimentality and emotions, cut off from even one's personal identity.   
Distillation is the purification of the unborn self, all that we truly are and can be. Physiologically, distillation is the raising of the life force repeatedly from the lower

regions of the cauldron of the body to the brain.   What oriental alchemists called the circulation of the light where it eventually becomes a wondrous, solidifying light of power 'distillation'.   It is said to culminate in the third eye area of the forehead at the level of the pituitary or pineal gland in the

brow or silver chakra. 
In society distillation is experienced as a science or objective experimentation.  On the planetary level distillation is the realization of the power of higher love as the life force from the entire planet gradually seeks to become one force in nature based on a shared vision of truth.

Coagulation is the seventh and final operation of transformation and alchemy.  Chemically coagulation is the precipitation or sublimation of the purified ferment from distillation.   In the Arcanum experiment coagulation is represented by a compound called Red pulvis Solaris which is a reddish orange powder of pure sulphur mixed with a therapeutic mercury compound, red mercuric oxide.   The name pulvis Solaris means 'powder of the Sun' and the

alchemists believed it could instantly perfect any substance to which it was added. 
Psychologically coagulation is first sensed as a new confidence that is beyond all things though it may be experienced as a second body of golden coalesced light, a permanent vehicle of consciousness that embodies the highest aspirations and evolution of the mind.
Coagulation incarnates and releases the ultimate materia of the soul.   The astral body which the alchemists also referred to as the greater or philosopher's stone.  Using this magical stone the alchemists believed that they could exist on all levels of reality.   Physiologically this stage is marked by the release of the elixir in the blood that rejuvenates the body into a perfect vessel of health.   A brain ambrosia is said to be released through the interaction of light from the phallic shaped pineal gland and matter from the vulva of the pituitary.  This heavenly food  both nourishes and energizes the cells without any waste products being produced .  This physiological and psychological process create the second body,  a body of solid light that emerges to the crown or gold chakra. 
In society it is the living wisdom in which everybody exists on the same light of evolved consciousness and knowledge of truth.   On a planetary level coagulation is the return to the Garden of Eden, this time on a higher level in tune with the divine mind.  

Most people have a very mistaken view of what alchemy is.  Based largely upon the curvatures of its enemies and the misunderstandings of the uninformed.   The image of the alchemist as the knighted proto-chemist vainly bent on turning lead into gold totally misses the point of Alchemical thought.

It is true the Western alchemists like their Chinese counterparts did work with a variety of substances to try and create various elixirs of arcane effects including the idea of transmutation of base metals however this was a small aspect of alchemy.   To define alchemy by this is like defining Taoism as the search for the elixir of immortality, it misses the real point altogether.   In reality, alchemy was and is an advanced spiritual discipline closely related to modern Wicca in its concepts and images.   These concepts and images were presented in largely coded form so that they could be read by the unenlightened as relating to chemistry and physical operations and by the enlightened as a system of

spiritual wisdom.

Thus the true alchemist was not trying to turn ordinary lead into gold though the casual observer might reasonably think so from how things were presented.  Rather they were striving to turn the lead of an ordinary and undeveloped consciousness into the gold of a fully

realized and enlightened soul. 

The successful result of the Alchemical process was the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.   Like a true symbol,  the steps can be applied to many things.   It is the process, the machine, what you put into it metaphorically will undergo the archetypal steps if carefully attended by the alchemist culminate in a higher state.  They are chemical gold, charcoal and the Diamond.

When we use charcoal as the focus of an Alchemical operation we begin by recognizing that it's essential ingredient carbon is the Materia Prima that will emerge perfected as the diamond. When the charcoal undergoes the cleansing fire and a stress of geological proportions it is hardened

into a perfect impenetrable diamond.  It becomes itself a geometric map of perfect universal order from the highest spiritual registers to the lowest physical realms the universal order can

be seen as the lattice which guides the growth of the vine as an archetype it guides and supports life on the Material Plane.

While many agents can be introduced into this machine and undergo the archetypal steps towards perfection.  The one to which the most closely guarded alchemical allegoria occult laws addressed is

consciousness itself.
This is the essence of the great work.  The application of this special key to this mysterious universal form.   The key directs the alchemical process to the materia prima of our very consciousness, our awareness our ourselves mental selves and spiritual selves. Consciousness is a material prima.

While the value of creating Alchemical glass or Alchemical gold may seem more obvious one might ask what is the benefit of applying the Alchemical steps to consciousness? 

Like modern Wicca, Alchemy saw the world as a male/female duality.  Alchemical ideas about this duality are strikingly similar to Wiccan ideas about Goddess and God. The masculine polarity was  thought of as red and fixed.  The feminine polarity is white and volatile.  The union of these two produce the physical world.

The great work or Alchemical marriage was the quest to unite and transcend this duality.  It is the great work which is often mistakenly described as the quest to transmute base metals.   The great work began with what is termed Materia Prima.  This is the ordinary state of being, the lead in the analogy.  The great work ended in the creation of the Philosopher's Stone.  This is enlightenment or the gold of the analogy. 
Materia prima was considered to have both a masculine and a feminine aspect which were in

opposition within it until brought into alignment through the great work, hence the term Alchemical marriage.

The great work has three main parts the Nigredo, the Albedo and finally the Rubedo.  These correspond to the sacred colors of the Wiccan Goddess black white and red. These are also the colours closely associated to the s typified in our degree sigils and state robes. In addition a fourth stage called the Cauda Pavonis or peacocks tail.  The Cauda Pavonis marks the transition between the Nigredo and  the Albedo.
Symbolically the materia prima was placed into the ATHANOR or Alchemical furnace which subjected it to steady pressure and dissolved it to its constituent parts. What was left was the sticky residue called the Negredo.  This is the destruction of preconceived forms considered necessary for new growth to occur.  What this really means is before one can grow spiritually one must first eliminate old ideas and limitations, for as the Zen Buddhists say "Only an empty bowl can be filled". 

Alchemists described this principle through the maxim of "No generation without corruption",  an idea similar to the Wiccan "To rise you must fall".   New growth cannot take place until the old is cleared away. 

The Negredo then fermented until at length until the Cauda Pavonis occurred.  This was portrayed as a light spray of many coloured lights.  This means that when we have purified ourselves of

old ideas we may then experience many new ideas and indeed will at first run riot with them learning all we can from as many sources as possible.   During this period we may in fact be bedazzled or blinded by the newfound light, but through the application of self control we can learn to discern what is helpful to our growth and what is merely entertaining.

After the Cauda Pavonis, the subject must be purified resulting in the Albedo.  The Albedo is a pure and receptive spiritual stage.  This means that after initial euphoria a more controlled spiritual growth may unfold, elevating and expanding the consciousness.  Finally, after being subjected to pressure again the Albedo becomes activated as the Rubedo.  What this means is a spiritual knowledge to be valuable,  must be put into practice.   No matter how deep the ideas or how great the abilities, they mean nothing if they are as mere decorations and left on a shelf to gather dust.

Thus the Great Work of Alchemy may be described in this manner: First old ideas must be transcended,  then controlled spiritual growth can lead to spiritual enlightenment which must be put into practice to be of value.  This is of course an oversimplification in that it is the opposite of the alchemist own tendency which was to over-complication. 
Like the ceremonials, alchemists phrase their writings in intentionally obscure wording, ostensibly to shield their teachings from those they considered unworthy.  It also served to shield themselves from persecution by religious  fanatics. Alchemists used a rich symbology that included elemental, planetary and mineral symbolism as well as a good dose of ancient paganism. 
One of the principal themes of alchemical symbolism is the union of opposites which is expressed in many ways throughout alchemical art. Such familiar figures as the four elements, the twin dragons and the Ouroboros, the Great Serpent of the universe eating its own tail were of great importance in Alchemy.

The masculine principle was likened to the Sun and also to sulfur, while the feminine was considered lunar and likened to mercury. The inner fire what we today call the eternal flame or the divine spark was described as a salt.  It is this mineral symbolism above all which has led to the idea that alchemy was entirely concerned with proto chemistry operations.  True, alchemists did engage in such proto chemistry operations in the belief that it would shed light on their spiritual operations under the credo "As above So below" which is a principal pillar of Alchemical thought as of modern Wiccan thought.

However, it was a dilettante alchemist who misunderstood the spiritual nature of the teachings and turned instead to chemical operations not realizing that they were a code for higher knowledge.

Now we can see the big picture coming into focus.  Could that spark of consciousness in us all, be connected to spiritual enlightenment and by intense focus on the development of consciousness that alchemists truly reach these levels.   Even modern science is beginning to tell us a great deal about our consciousness and its connection to the rest of the infinite universe.  Our knowledge of the power of the human brain has seen great strides in recent years and possible interactions with certain glands such as the pineal are continually being investigated with many successes.  In his groundbreaking book detailing his research Dr. Rick Strassman outlines his discoveries with the Pineal gland and a substance known as dimethyltryptamine or DMT while administering the substance to a controlled group of volunteer patients.

DMT is the most potent psychedelic known thus far. It  is highly illegal and nearly everywhere in the world yet it appears to be produced naturally by our pineal gland during REM stages of sleep deep meditation and possibly during fetal development and near death and death experiences.  The patients also reported extremely intense spiritual experiences many of which were frightened to a fear of death due to its intensity. Could this be the sacred and mysterious divine nectar like substance produced in the brain during the latter levels of spiritual enlightenment as described by the alchemist.  These questions have profound implications as much of this knowledge has been occult or secret found only in magical and hermetic societies. 
 Millions of Hindus bathe in the sacred Ganges and Yamuna rivers meet.   The Scriptures tell how the divine nectar which is set to confer immortality and everlasting bliss was once spilled into the rivers during an epic fight between the demons and the gods. They believed that from their scripture legends they might be able to thereby speed their way to Nirvana and be spared the pain of countless rebirths in man's universe.  Amazingly this appears to be a universal aspiration of the alchemist as well.  Many say the substance occurs as the activation of the Ajna chakra or third eye takes place. This is where the Sun and the moon the masculine and feminine right and left-brained become balanced and synergistic.  This makes sense scientifically where the brainwave patterns of each hemisphere could create a magnetic field by this balance in the exact location of the Pineal located within the Hypothalamus in the center of the brain. 

With in nearly every culture that has existed there is a reference to the activation of the third eye or Ajna chakra.  This is no coincidence but rather something that even science should be inclined to research due to its statistical probability alone.  In actuality there is quite a bit of substantiated evidence of the sacred science being all that it's described as and more. When one has the keys to its meaning and applies it diligently to their life.   |
Should alchemy continue to be unknown and hidden within the areas such as the Vatican and secret societies who wish to withhold it from mankind or should the knowledge and light be given to those that seek as Prometheus did when he stole the fire from Zeus and gave it to mankind.  This is the story of Eden which tells us of a God that wants mankind to continue just tending to the garden not to have a consciousness, not to have spirituality, not to be like him.  It is our destiny to re-enter Eden and freely eat from the tree and drink from the waters of life.  As it is written, "Surely we will not die but know that which God knows.  By this we realize our true nature and divinity.  You must understand that we are truly spiritual beings having a human experience not humans trying to have a spiritual experience.

It is a diligent alchemist who comes to understand the true nature of reality and become the master, the Guru, the teacher and their physical emotional and spiritual growth, a master of their own destiny. So what happened to the spiritual aspects of alchemy when modern chemistry and physics became common knowledge of that which concerns matter following the works of Isaac Newton? 
Much of the interest in psychological and spiritual aspects of alchemy were nearly forgotten in modern science until the work of Carl Jung who revolutionized psychology by exposing the relationships between Alchemy, Platonism and modern psychology techniques.  In fact, he believed much according to the Credo "As above so below" that one could be understood by understanding the other. 

"I was always looking for something between, you know something that links the remote past to the present moment and I found to my amazement it is alchemy.  It is the just the basis of our modern way of perceiving things and therefore it is as if it were right under our noses.  It is a wonderful picture of how the development of archetypes the mood of archetypes looks when you look at random as a form of all maybe from today you look back into the past you see how the present moment has evolved out out of the past and we can construct".

Modern-day philosopher and author Terence Mckenna also did a great deal to revive spiritual alchemy and its connection to consciousness and our divine nature which he consistently

reiterated in his many lectures. 
"Everything occurs in the presence of its offices and out of that there is generated the friction the heat and the light that all comes together the insoluble package as part of life.   So what I want to talk to you about tonight and how it relates to unfolding the stone is the notion of alchemy of all things.
Alchemy as I'm sure many of you know is really the secret tradition of the redemption of spirit from matter.  But many of you may imagine that alchemy is simply a discredited pre-scientific obsession of unbalanced minds interested in changing base metals into gold, lead into the stuff of Commerce.  This is the benighted reputation that alchemy has acquired in a century so given over to the literal and the material and the non-spiritual that it's lost all touch with the adumbration of meaning that vibrate behind the perceptions of the alchemists.

The central conception of alchemy is the conception of the Philosopher's Stone. What is it?  It's the universal panacea at the end of time, it's the chocolate cake that your mother made once a week when you were a child, the panache super substantial, it's all things to all men and all women.  If you are hungry you eat it.  If you're dirty you shower under it. If you need to go somewhere you sit on it and you fly there.  If you have a question it answers it.  It's something that the human mind senses in itself and related to in both worshiped over centuries before the slow rise of the patriarchy and rationalism and materialism turned it into a myth, a fairy tale.   It is not a myth or a fairy-tale! It is the burning primary reality that lies behind the dross of appearances. 

Alchemy is based on a philosophy called Hermeticism developed in the 1st and 2nd centuries by Gnostic thinkers, Greeks, Jews, people inside the Roman Empire as it was beginning to show the first signs of degradation and decay who felt a profound disaffection with their world.  A disaffection that on the scale of those times was as profound as our own existential disaffection and the Hermetic philosophers drew back from the rise of Christianity with its doctrine of the fall of man and original sin and the stain of Adam and Eve and that whole thing and took a different tack and made two points which I think we need to recover and live out for ourselves. The first point was that "man, men and women human beings are divine beings not lower than the Angels, higher than the Angels".  The message of the Alchemical and Hermetic thinkers and the corpus Hermetica actually uses the phrase man is God's brother.   We have no idea what it would mean in our own lives if we could throw off the notion of ourselves as fallen beings,  We are not fallen beings. When you take into your life the Gnosis of the light-filled vegetables the psychedelic plants that have stabilized the same Society of this world for millennia the first message that comes to you is you are a divine being you magic you count you come from realms of unimaginable power and life and you will return to those realms.

The second point that these philosophers wanted to make was that fate can be overcome fate can be overcome now for the Greco Hellenic world what that meant was the starry engines of the machinery of faith that they saw stream across the night sky because they were intensely aware of the power of the zodiac the stellar shells inhabited by demons that extended out to the unimaginable Imperium of the all father that was beyond faith and into that world of astrological fated 'no switch' is such a strong idea for the Greek mind, the Hermiticists announced fate can be overcome and they had a novel answer for how this could be done.  It can be done through magic. A word not often heard in the prescent world.  The overcoming of faith is achieved through magic and then the stellar machinery becomes not an invasive force into one's life but an empowering force.  Now some of us may believe in astrology and some of us may not we are all strongly influenced by the notion of faith of our powerlessness in an existential world.   Jean-Paul Sartre said nature is mute and we embedded in the media dense message dense programming dense matrix of these hyper societies that we have created often feel I think like hapless atoms running endlessly according to the blueprints

and programs of unseen masters whether it's the banking industry, Madison Avenue whoever we tend to disempower ourselves we tend to believe that we don't matter and in the act of taking that idea to ourselves we give everything away to somebody else to something else. So the rebirth of a sense of the stone and its possibility within each of us entails these two ideas our divinity and our power to overcome fate.  There is no inevitability in our lives unless we submit to the idea of inevitability and then give ourselves over to it.   The practice of transcending time and consciousness was also very prevalent in South America with the Maya in particular where clocks of stone were designed created and heavily used for the purposes of conquering time and consciousness.   This also seems to be closely associated with the detailed understanding of astrology and how the earthly realm in spirit realm are connected,   Needless to say, the universal truths found in the path of alchemy are deeply embedded in some way into almost every culture. 

Many say that this information presented to you here should not be told to those who aren't chosen so to speak or initiated into a Fraternal Order which guards it and holds it over the heads of its members feeding them a diluted version a little here and a little there.  However this is a crumbling ideology and it is our belief that we are all chose and many of us simply have yet to realize our Universal calling. 

In later films we will discuss this in a variety of other subjects in more detail as to the history and practical application in these areas. We hope that you have enjoyed this film and that it has cleared up some of the misconceptions about this very sacred science.  The great work and alchemy Sacred Secrets Revealed!