Before the rise of modern science, strong distinctions between fact and falsehood, or between religion and science, were not drawn. Thus there was no "natural science" as we understand it today. Though inquiry may have dealt with the properties of matter and its manipulation, these properties were presumed to have abstract and spiritual dimensions which are not observable or measurable. So alchemy was science and mysticism in one; and while its factual basis has been surpassed by modern science, its mystical and spiritual aspects remain.
The "Great Work" pursued by alchemists was the production of the Hidden Stone, and using it to convert them to gold or silver. It was believed that any metal which was not gold or silver simply contained too much "impurity."
A Summary of the Great Work
While most accounts of the Great Work break the process down into twelve stages (each associated with a sign of the zodiac, since the process ideally took one year) this summary will only describe four stages.
Purification of ordinary materials
The first general step in the Great Work is the purification of the materials.
One begins with ordinary gold, ordinary silver, and ordinary quicksilver. Each of these are purified in various ways.
Ordinary gold is commonly mixed with antimony. Resource-World.net gives this short description of the process:
"Antimony dissolves many other metals including gold. up to the 18th century, this property was used for purifying gold from copper and silver. The impure metal was melted with natural antimony sulfide (the mineral antimonite or stibnite). Copper and silver formed sulfides, but the gold went into solution with antimony. The antimony-gold alloy was then heated in a stream of air, causing antimony to volatilize as the trioxide, leaving behind the gold."
So, in effect, it enables the "impurities" to be "skimmed off" after it is melted alongside the gold, and is then "skimmed off" itself after further heating.
In some of the alchemical illustrations, such as the First Key of Basil Valentine, antimony is depicted as a "grey wolf" devouring the king.
Ordinary silver is treated by cupellation, which involves mixing the silver with lead and then heating it so that the silver itself is oxidized, and the impurities are absorbed into the walls of the vessel. The principle of cupellation is similar to that of purifying via antimony: the lead is melted together with the silver and forms oxides with impurities, which can then be skimmed off.
This essay by Assayers Canada Services describes the modern process, and we can see that this process is still basically used today to refine precious metals. In this process silver and lead are added to gold to help purify it.
The second step in this process is "preparation," using aqua fortis to separate silver from gold:
"In cupellation the lead button (containing the gold) is placed into a small porous crucible called a cupel, and heated. The lead then becomes oxidised and is absorbed into the cupel, leaving a small silver/gold bead remaining in the cupel.
"It now remains only to separate the silver from the gold. To do this, the bead is placed in a test tube and nitric acid is added, which, when the test tube is put in a hot water bath, dissolves the silver, leaving a small particle of pure gold."
Since the lead and other impurities are absorbed into the cupel, the alchemists apparently got the impression they were converting the lead into gold.
The cupel is normally made of a ceramic. Ceramics are capable of sustaining very high temperatures, much higher than metals.
Ordinary quicksilver is distilled, which means that it is heated until part of it evaporates. The evaporated portion (the purified quicksilver) collects on the alembic, the cap of the vessel which remains cooler than the heated portion. Often the alembic is separated from the lower portion by a long tube, or is characterized by bulbs or multiple bulbs.
Preparation of Sophic substances
The next step in the Great Work is the preparation of the sophic substances from the purified metals. These were the substances that would actually be combined in the alchemical Vessel to produce the Hidden Stone.
Purified Gold was usually melted in aqua regia (nitrohydrochloric acid). This produces a salt that was then calcined (heated at very high temperature) to produce Sophic Sulphur. Sophic Sulphur was said to be "fixed and red," and was sometimes called "Philosophic Gold," "Seed of Gold," or "Essence of Sulphur."
Purified Silver was melted in aqua fortis (nitric acid). This also produces a salt which was calcined to produce Sophic Mercury. Sophic Mercury was described as "volatile and white" and was sometimes called "Mercury of the Philosophers," "Vital Mercury," or "Quintessence of the Metals."
Sources are less clear on how Purified Quicksilver was converted to Sophic Salt (largely because the Salt does not occur in the accounts of many of the alchemists), but a reasonable guess is that the sublimated quicksilver (also a salty substance) collected by the alembic during its distillation would have been heated at a high temperature.
Illustrations depict wolves or lions eating the Sun and Moon; these are illustrations of the Preparation process: the wolves are acids, while the lions are usually the different grades of flame used to heat the metals.
Alchemical Wedding
Once the materials are purified and prepared, and we have our sophic Sulphur, sophic Mercury, and sophic Salt, these are combined in the Alchemical Vessel and subjected to a steady flame over a long period of time.
This is the stage often refered to as the Alchemical Wedding.
After several months, the materials in the vessel are supposed to pass through a series of color changes. Typically, the materials pass through black, to white, to red. Citrine frequently appears between white and red; other colors may occur as well.
According to John Read, the four colors black, white, citrine, red, were associated with the four elements and humors:
black: earth, black bile
white: water, phlegm
citrine: air, yellow bile
red: fire, blood
Basil Valentine and others use "rainbow" in the place of citrine, symbolizing the color sequence with four birds: raven, swan, peacock, and phoenix.
If a color failed to appear, or appeared out of sequence, this was a sign that the artist had heated the materials improperly. For example, if red appeared before black, the materials were now too hot, and the entire process had to be started over.
The alchemy web site has an excellent essay on the color changes in the Great Work as seen in light of pre-modern views of gender. The final color, red, is associated with masculinity, which is seen as more perfect than the color which commonly preceeds it, white, which is associated alchemically with femininity.
"The ancients have named many colours in connexion with this process, such as black, white, citrine, red, green, and so forth. All this is simply intended to lead you astray from the right road, and to keep you in ignorance. ... I would again and again exhort you not to believe them when they tell you that you must have or take a black substance, or that the substance turns black, white, and red in the course of the chemical process." The One True Way, of the Musaeum Hermeticum
Multiplication and Projection
Once the Red Powder has been produced by the following steps, two objectives remain: to multiply the Red Powder, and to Project it. You multiply the Powder to increase its potency, and also to increase its volume. Projection is the final stage of the Great Work; this involves melting the Powder with some other metal to transmute that metal to gold. If the Powder has been prepared properly, one ounce of it will convert a million ounces of any metal to purest gold.
The following is a description of this process:
"Mingle one weight of Red Elixir, with nine times its weight of Red Water, and dissolve it into Water in a Vessel suitable for Solution; the matter being well dissolved and united coagulate it by decoction with a gentle Fire, until it be made strong into a Ruby or Red Lamel, which afterwards incerate with its Red Oil, after the manner prescribed until it melt and flow; so shalt thou have a medicine ten times more powerful than the first. The business is easily finished in a short time. ...
"Lastly, take one Ounce of the said Elixir multiplied in virtue and project it upon an hundred of purified Mercury, and in a little time the Mercury made hot amongst burning Coals will be converted into pure Elixir; whereof if thou castest every ounce upon another hundred of the like Mercury, Sol will shine most purely to thine eyes. The multiplication of White Elixir may be made in the same way. Study the virtues of this Medicine to cure all kinds of diseases, and to preserve good health, as also other uses thereof, out of the Writings of Arnold of Villa Nova, Lullius and of other Philosophers." Hermetic Arcanum
The "White Stone" mentioned herein is a "lesser" analogue of the Hidden Stone that will transmute metals into silver instead of gold.
To summarize the above, the Powder is multiplied by dissolving it in water which is then gently heated until it coagulates. The coagulate is mixed with a "Red Oil"which is also produced in the preceeding steps (more can be red about Red Oil in the excerpted works of Arnold of Villa Nova).
What could all this mean?
Trying to draw the essence of meaning of the Great Work risks oversimplification to the point of mutilation. With that caveat, let's draw up a detailed "map" of what these four stages represent in the course of psychological or spiritual development.
Purification
The three "ordinary" materials might be compared to the human body, mind, and spirit in the state they exist when we are completely embroiled in the world of mundane human affairs. When we focus our attention on the material world, we think little about our spiritual life. Our attention span is short, as is our patience; our breath is shallow, our heart beats too fast and too hard, our bodies crave sugar and fat, we become easily addicted to stimulants like caffeine and nicotine. Forget stopping to smell the roses, there's work to be done, and never enough time to do it. This is hardly a modern affliction; the same kinds of "everyday stress" are decried in the dialogues of Plato and the parables of Jesus.
This is the lifestyle Hindu mystics call tamas and which Christian Gnostics call choic: a state of mind that is completely concerned with material matters.
When one sets out on the mystic path, the first step is to purify the body, mind, and spirit. The most common way this is done is through personal sacrifice: one might sacrifice a higher income, for example, in order that one's stress levels and work hours are reduced so that more time can be dedicated to spiritual pursuits.
One might go so far as to give up meat, sex, alcohol, and all contact with those in the "rat-race," and dedicate one's whole life to the mystic pursuit. Personally, I don't think it is necessary to become a monk or nun to purify oneself; but IMO one should be willing to develop and use a "spiritual conscience" that will speak as an inner mystical voice when one contemplates life decisions. Not every decision has to be a spiritual one; but if one consistently decides against sacrifices to spiritual development, one will find it hard to progress beyond a "superficial" level of mystical attainment. (Which is perfectly fine for those who are not suited to more elaborate spiritual pursuits. It would be a mistake to do anything but be true to one's nature in this circumstance.)
The person who is not called to the "strict" mystical path was refered to by the Christian Gnostics as one who is psychic, or "soul-natured." This is one whose spiritual "salvation" lies in adherence to doctrine and by offering devotion to God. This recognition appears in the Bhagavad-Gita, when Krishna explains to Arjuna that the path of devotion leads just as surely to God as the path of austerity and yoga. The one who offers devotion or worship to God has "purified" herself by adhering to a moral lifestyle, but does not delve into mystical matters, because it is not her nature.
Preparation
For the one who is called to the "strict" path, however, that one faces a long road -- the remainder of the Great Work. This begins with "preparation," which can be seen to represent the stages of mystical initiation which one must undergo in order to face the Conjunction.
Secret mystical societies, which have existed in the West for thousands of years, have often had at least three primary "degrees," or initiations through which one must pass. The Isis cults, very popular in the Roman empire, had three degrees. Ancient Jews had three degrees, which enabled people to enter the temple, the Holy, or the Holy of Holies, respectively. The ancient Christian Gnostics had three degrees which they called Baptism of Water, Baptism of Fire (or Chrism), and Baptism in the Holy Spirit (or Entering the Bridal Chamber). Modern Wicca has three degrees. And so on.
The "Baptisms of Water and Fire" metaphorically match the use of acids and heat in the Preparation stage of the Great Work. In these stages the body, mind, and spirit of the mystic are put to task.
The Baptism of Water marks basic entrance into a mystical tradition. Ordinarly, anyone who seeks the first level of initiation is granted it. It represents a level of dedication to the mystical path that not many are willing to grant.
The Baptism of Fire marks entrance into a more rarified circle. One only achieves this by invitation, and then one frequently faces a "test" or "ordeal" at this stage.
Alchemical Wedding
The Conjunction, or joining of Sun and Moon, would in this interpretation parallel what the Gnostics called "the mystery of the Bridal Chamber." The groom is Christ, and the bride is Sophia, or the personified wisdom of the devoted members of the church who seek to be like Christ. Within the Bridal Chamber, these two, which had been separated by darkness and illusion, are united into a single being, a syzygy, like the primordial hermaphroditic beings of Plato's Symposium.
In alchemical literature and imagery the Conjunction is represented by the lovemaking of a King and Queen. An expanded example are the illustrations of the Rosarium Philosophorum. These begin with an abstract diagram showing the "forces" of sun and moon converging on an alchemical vessel. In the second diagram a King and Queen stand on the Sun and Moon, while a dove descends from heaven with a six-rayed tree branch. The diagrams that follow depict coitus somewhat graphically, the couple subjected to a number of "interruptions" (the actions of the alchemist as the sophic Sulphur and sophic Mercury are heated together, washed with acids, and subjected to other treatments).
Parallels to this mystery abound. In Tantric art the god and goddess Shiva and Shakti are frequently depicted in flagrante delicto, sometimes so that they have merged into a single bi-gendered deity (Ardhanarisvara). The workings of the universal machine are depicted with abstract linga embedded in fountains representative of Shakti's yoni. There are also modern parallels, such as the "Great Rite" of Wicca, the mystery of the Third Degree.
But what could the Sun and Moon represent? Teachers of Buddhist Tantrism such as Lama Anagarika Govinda insist that the union of Shiva and Shakti is to occur internally, not externally. Jung insists that the merger occurs between the person and his inner "opposite," the anima or animus.
However, I believe the situation is more complex. Jung suggests the coniunctio is actually a quaternio, a meeting of four, divided into two pairs of opposites. There is a pair of equals, and a pair of unequals.
The pair of equals are the King and Queen, which might esoterically be paralleled to the ida and pingala of kundalini yoga -- frequently depicted as a column of two intertwined "strands" reaching from the base of the spine to the base of the skull. This image appears often as the caduceus, or the yin/yang. It also occurs in some alchemical diagrams. (Compare these bi-gendered beings to the image of Ardhanarisvara.)
These two are reminiscent of these words attributed to Jesus in the Gospel of Thomas:
"When you make the two one, and when you make the inside like the outside and the outside like the inside, and the above like the below, and when you make the male and the female one and the same, so that the male not be male nor the female female; ... then will you enter the kingdom." (verse 22)
The pair of "unequals" are the aspirant and God. The aspirant must go to an "upstairs chamber" (cf. Acts 1:13) and prepare for the arrival of the Grace of God, the descending dove of the Holy Spirit. Recall that Spirit is a cognate of respiration -- suggesting that the "preparation" in this case -- the low, steady flame of the Conjunction -- is a slow, steady breath, such as the slow breath of yoga.
"The Lord is on my head like a crown and I shall not be without him. The Crown of truth was woven for me, and caused your branches to blossom in me. The Crown is not dry and sterile. You live and blossomed on my head. Your fruits are full and perfect and filled with salvation." Odes of Solomon, Ode 1
The "upstairs chamber" is the highest chakra, the thousand-petalled lotus located above the crown of the head.
Color Sequence, Projection, Multiplication
Now, as to the "color changes" of the Great Work:
First, black, white, and red can be related to the three gunas, or tamas, rajas, and sattva. A comparable trio of natures exists in Gnostic Christianity: choic, psychic, and pneumatic. These "sets" all suggest that tamas/choic/black is the "carnal" nature which is concerned very little with spiritual matters, that rajas/psychic/white is "concerned with devotion and doctrine," and that sattva/pneumatic/red is "concerned with mystical awareness."
This doesn't need to be thought of as a set of distinctions that is etched in stone, but rather as a kind of "guideline." Each of these natures surfaces in everyone from time to time, but each of us, depending on our individual personality, may reflect one or another more fully at different points in our lives. It would be wrong, for example, to presume that just because, say, a certain teenage male is preoccupied with lust and ignores the spiritual side of life, that he will always do so; or that, say, a certain young woman who is predominantly scholarly will always remain so.
Another way of viewing the colors in sequence are as analogues of the chakras of yoga. In this case we must be concerned with at least four.
The chakras, and the colors, proceed in sequence from most "material" to most "rarified." Here's one suggested set of correspondences; this is meant to be approximate.
| black | muladhara | base of spine | material nature |
| white | anahata | heart | emotional nature |
| citrine | visuddhi | throat | logical nature |
| red | ajna | third eye | spiritual nature |
Now bear in mind that there is little in the alchemical literature to directly support this interpretation. It is based on circumstantial evidence.
One of the primary Tantric teachings deals with Kundalini, a serpent goddess who supposedly sleeps coiled up at the base of our spine. If we know how, we can get her to "wake up" and rise up our spine.
This is an Eastern teaching, but it appears to have traveled west. Images of "serpents on sticks" abound in Western culture: from the rod of Moses which turns into a serpent, to the "fiery serpent" which Moses was instructed to use in order to heal Israelites who had been bitten by snakes, and which was later used as an image of Christ in John 3:14.
Images that match this abound in alchemy, from this images of a "caduceus-like" still to the many illustrations of crucified serpents.
Another bit of circumstantial evidence comes from the Kabbalah, which was born during the same time period as alchemy. The Kabbalistic Tree of Life is well-known as a diagram of the body of the universal Adam Kadmon, the "prototype" or perhaps "collective" human. This, like the caduceus and like the ida-pingala-sushumni imagery of Vajrayana Buddhism, depict two side-channels alongside or intertwined with a central "middle pillar." The middle pillar of the Tree of Life corresponds to the spine of Adam, and points the way to Kether, the Crown, which represents the purest aspect of the Divine.
Given all of the above, we would interpret Multiplication to be the enhancement of this personal connection to the divine by way of discipline and practice. As most mystics will affirm, the state of communion is an ongoing work that must be perpetually re-affirmed; it is not a one-time-fixes-all experience.
Projection would be teaching the Art to others, as well as applying any wisdom or insights you gain in your everyday life. An old principle of Mahayana Buddhism asserts that hundreds or thousands of Bodhisattvas -- Buddhistic saviors -- may be operating in secret by living quiet lives and infusing the living things around them with goodness and perfection through their example. In my life I've even met people I suspected were Bodhisattvas working in this way, and they taught me a valuable lesson: that wisdom, even of the most rarified kind, may be found anywhere, even from the most unlikely of people.
Copyright 2002 T. Roberti (AJRoberti@aol.com).