Practical Alchemy
by Lejla Catovic
Most of our actions are socially or economically determined. In our world, the grip these outer narratives—our environments—have on us is tremendous. We’re constantly doing something “required” of us, often to the point that people come to feel lost, unclear about who they truly are or what they’re even doing here. Is this free will? No. This is operating from conditioning.
But there is a way to bring forth who you truly are—or who you might become—so you can live in harmony with life. That way is knowing thyself. This true self can be unearthed by applying the laws and logic of alchemy. However, alchemy is a veiled, mysterious, and often challenging art, revealing its depth only to those who seek with true intent. The limits of your transformation depend on your own capacity: the more you put in, the more you receive in return. For now, we’ll explore a practical application of its principles.
Alchemy is the process of transmutation—the art of transforming one state into another. Its purpose is not only to help us become self-realized and spiritually awake but also to bring this awareness into the world, to become like the coffee bean. In my lecture, I shared the story of an egg, a carrot, and a coffee bean and how each responds to boiling water. The egg hardens, the carrot softens, but the coffee bean transforms its environment. This is alchemy in action: to become your true self and consciously shape your environment, rather than merely being shaped by it. Imagine someone who, instead of crumbling under stress or hardening with bitterness, learns to bring forth qualities that transform the situation—kindness in the face of anger, creativity amid routine, a sense of the divine in the quotidien.
Alchemy engages its practitioner in knowledge concerned with the underlying laws that hold the world together. These ancient axioms are laid bare in the Emerald Tablets, which describe the mechanisms by which we may align ourselves in perfect order to govern and shape our reality.
The Principle of Mentalism
“The All is Mind; the Universe is Mental.”
2. The Principle of Correspondence
“As above, so below; as below, so above.”
3. The Principle of Vibration
“Nothing rests; everything moves; everything vibrates.”
4. The Principle of Polarity
“Everything is dual; everything has poles; everything has its pair of opposites; like and unlike are the same.”
5. The Principle of Rhythm
“Everything flows, out and in; everything has its tides; all things rise and fall.”
6. The Principle of Cause and Effect
“Every cause has its effect; every effect has its cause.”
7. The Principle of Gender
“Gender is in everything; everything has its masculine and feminine principles.”
In practical terms, working with these laws might look something like this:
Master your thoughts. They shape your world. Wellness in mind creates wellness in life.
Recognize entanglement. All is energy. All is vibration. Honor the interconnectedness of all things.
Integrity in action. As you do one thing you do all things, stand true in every moment.
Balance rhythm and stillness. Flow with life’s currents and find peace in the eye of the storm (which is you).
Transcend duality. Embrace unity consciousness. There is no separation. Only oneness.
Be the cause not the effect. Create your reality. You are the author of your life, not its victim.
Harmonize feminine and masculine in thought, in deed, and in being. In perfect balance.
The path to reaching divine illumination, or The Philosopher’s Stone, is known as the Magnum Opus, or Great Work. The journey toward attaining this gnosis is cyclical, requiring seekers to purify the seven planes within themselves, bringing refinement to each energy center and plane. These epicenters each correspond to a celestial body and are symbolized by metals — Gold (sun), Moon (silver), Mercury (mercury), Venus (copper), Mars (iron), Jupiter (tin), and Saturn (lead).
The language of alchemy is symbolic because symbols hold greater potency than words. They serve as vessels that convey concepts from beyond the physical realm, piercing the veil and safeguarding against the unqualified from accessing subtle power. In this sense, learning to interpret symbols is itself a preparation for the path.
Over centuries, alchemists have enriched the foundational chart of symbols, elements, and processes with shorthand and unique symbols of their own.
Here are a few representatives from this vast forest of symbols:
The Tria Prima: the three primes, Mercury (the feminine), Sulphur (the masculine), and Salt (matter) symbolize the basic building blocks of our physical reality.
The Rebis: symbolizes the “sacred marriage” and perfect balance of the masculine and feminine principles.
Vitriol: “Visita Interiora Terrae, Rectificando Invenies Occultum Lapidem”— Visit the interior of the earth, and by purifying you will find the hidden stone. Oft symbolized by a green lion eating the sun.
Serpents:
Ouroboros: the snake eating its own tail symbolizes the eternal cycle of destruction and recreation. Sometimes shown coiled around the World Egg or Cosmic Egg, a symbol of primordial chaos.
Staff of Caduceus: two serpents ascending a staff in a double-helix form, representing duality and unity, Ida and pingala.
The Dragon: per Joseph Campbell: the dragon symbolizes one’s attachment to the ego, a self-created prison guarding treasures one cannot actually put to use. (slay or tame the dragon to get the gold)
Many have detailed the process of alchemical transmutation. Carl Jung, who saw alchemy as a metaphor for the process of individuation, paralleled the psychological process of integrating the conscious and unconscious mind with four alchemical stages: Nigredo (confession), Albedo (illumination), Citrinitas (education), and Rubedo (transformation). Others map the process in three, four, seven, or even twelve steps.
The core 7 steps of Alchemical Transmutation:
1. Calcination (Burning Away): The first stage involves intense heat, burning away impurities. This could mean life testing us, pushing us to let go of false identities or beliefs that no longer serve.
2. Dissolution (Breaking Down): Substances are dissolved to reduce them to their essence. In life, this might be breaking down preconceived notions or roles.
3. Separation (Discernment): Elements are separated by their properties. Here, we learn to distinguish between what is true and untrue in ourselves.
4. Conjunction (Integration of Opposites): Purified elements are united to create something new. This is where we integrate our shadow, embracing the whole self.
5. Fermentation (Internal Transformation): A substance changes from within. Spiritually, this is when inner growth begins to bear fruit.
6. Distillation (Refinement): Purification through repeated cycles, making the essence more potent. Think of refining character through resilience.
7. Coagulation (Integration into a New Whole): The purified substance solidifies in its new form. Here, we emerge as a transformed being.
Regardless of the number of steps, the goal remains the same: Solve et Coagula, to purify and integrate.
By applying this process practically, we can transform ourselves and become conscious agents in our environment. Alchemy teaches us that every opportunity life offers us, from joy to pain, is part of the crucible of growth. Pain and trauma especially act as alchemical fires that break down our crystallized selves. Just as a muscle must tear to grow, so too must the fibers of the emotional, psychic, and spiritual body. I liken this process to Campbell’s Hero’s Journey. Like Odysseus— encumbered by trials, broken, delayed, but ultimately refined by his tribulations—our trials are the alchemical fires that shape us.
Alchemy, like the hero’s journey, reminds us that some paths aren’t mapped; they are discovered, one step at a time. Choose to join the dance, and in doing so, become the alchemist of your life.