New Mind - Pt. 2

Generally, we are inclined to think materialistically. So we are tempted to think of
alchemy, Philosophical matters, in physical terms. But the Philosophers have warned us
against this repeatedly. Our gold is not the vulgar. Our Principles are not the vulgar.
Even the four elements are not the ones we grasp with our senses, or at least not only that.

Here Basil Valentine - "Neither be anxious to ask whether I actually possess this precious treasure. Ask rather whether I have seen how the world was created; whether I am acquainted with the nature of the Egyptian darkness; what is the cause of the rainbow; what will be the appearance of the glorified bodies at the general resurrection; what is the most indelible colour. Of you that rightly understand this little book, I will enquire whether you have seen that great salt sea, without any corrosion, raise a sufficiency of the moisture of all nature to the summits of the highest mountains..."

In "Catechism of Alchemy", Paracelsus asks, "What road should the Philosopher follow?

That exactly which was followed by the Great Architect of the Universe in the creation of the world."

So how do you imagine the Great Architect thought?

And with what substance did it create the universe?


Suppose that the most important aspect of alchemy is not the material, but the way one works it.
The essence of alchemy is solve-coagula, volatile-fixed, subtle-dense... Circulation.
And this is concealed by many names, hermetic pairs...
moon                               sun
mercury                          sulphur
female                              male
water                               fire
serpent                           eagle...

Whether two, or three or four, these are always in rotation/circulation.

A simple experiment:
Take anything, and put it to work/rotation.
If it is an earth, dissolve it and then congeal it...
If it is a salt, deliquesce it and then evaporate it...
If it is a metal, melt it and then let it cool...
If it is an air, cool it and then warm it...

Is this not how we observe all things to evolve, even ourselves...
through repetition, circulation, swinging to opposites...

"They told me this was bad. I avoided it for a while.
Then I tried it and it was good. But too much of a good thing can be bad.
Now it's neither good or bad. It is what it is. It's wisdom."


Add to this "theory" another essential of alchemy, that of death/putrefaction,
and that's alchemy in a nutshell.