Alchemy!

Alchemy- science, magic, art- or all three?

The initial goal of the alchemist was an attempt to literally transform lead into gold or silver, to find a panacea or to attain the ‘Sorcerer’s Stone’. Then there was an emergence of a more philosophical or metaphysical aspect of alchemy where the process of transmutation was viewed as a metaphor for spiritual change or spiritual alchemy. As metals and substances were identified and categorized, the grand intentions of turning lead to gold were left to those with a more magical sense and there grew a more focused view which we now know of as chemistry. It is easy to divest chemistry of its alchemical background when we use a western linear viewpoint but I don’t think these disciplines are so easily disentangled.

For instance, when we practice meditation we are practicing an inner alchemy quite literally, magically and artfully. We are sitting down with the intention of changing our mind-state but we also change our physiology along the way. We change our bodies’ chemistry when we enter calmness, we relax our nervous system as we drop into a parasympathetic state where we are able to think more clearly and know ourselves in a more intimate, honest way. This is quite a literal change that can be measured in a literal way as well as a way to transform the spirit or mind which we feel on a more intangible level (magic). I think we are also practicing the art and science of alchemy when we make an herbal prescription for someone. We are matching that person’s inner alchemy with a substance that can enhance or improve the balance inherent to that person. There are physiological changes that occur and can be measured along with the art of diagnosis which matches the person with the right formula. You could say the process of differential diagnosis is a form of alchemy in its initial stages.

There are many ways to view alchemy, and as I have read more about the history of alchemy I understand that it cannot be confined to an easy definition. I used to think it was about some kind of crazy attempts at wizardry that existed only in the minds of ancient thinkers. I see now that they were onto something much more, a language and theoretical system that was seeking to tap into all the various ways of transmuting a present state, whether that be the state of lead or the state of one’s mind or spirit.