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I prefer the Eastern take on Alchemy, it acknowledges outright that both the Internal & External versions exist so there's no debate on whether it's literal compounds or metaphorical. I got a C in chemistry, so I want to focus this thread on Internal Alchemy
It's implied in Western Alchemy too that what takes place underneath all the symbolism is psychic in nature (Jung was hot for this too), that the philosipher stone is a level of permanent, self-sustaining consciousness made by conscious use of the body & mind as a furnace for energy-work. It could be argued that a literal stone is created from the great work, but it's ethereal. The Eastern equivalent is the Golden Flower, something cultivated by "turning the light within", which is essentially sustained, intentional self awareness.
The metaphor of the body being a furnace is a big one. Your body produces the flames naturally (ATP FTW) and the environment tosses ingredients in there, with the end result being those emotional fumes you're huffing all day. With conscious control, you can manipulate the energy through will, transmuting the ingredients that produce anger to the center of all emotion's pole, peace, and from that base change it into any emotion you desire, if you desire, peace is itself a very powerful position. If you store and maintain peace, you will have a supply of energy to draw from and can create a needed emotion on the fly when its needed - or wanted. You can simply create happiness and ecstacy with the right facial tensions and focus. This obviously has massive implications for workings too.
I have heard that there is a level of Alchemy that pertains to communion with the energies of the universe as well, the sea of diverse consciousness that control and live in all things. This is akin to the phrase "if a person has faith as small as a mustard seed, they can command a mountain to move", so this would be literally reaching out psychically and asking say, a rock to do a little jig. I haven't had any luck in this field, have any of you managed a communion like this?
I have been getting a hang of this the more I work on this and the metaphors are clicking. All of what I've written here is the result of reading many different books from across cultures, eras, and occult genres, then melting it into something this monkey-brain can comprehend, just to assure yinz that I'm not just pulling this out of my ass. I want to see if anyone has anything else to add or their own takes on this, feel free to cook your own take below (pun
).
It's implied in Western Alchemy too that what takes place underneath all the symbolism is psychic in nature (Jung was hot for this too), that the philosipher stone is a level of permanent, self-sustaining consciousness made by conscious use of the body & mind as a furnace for energy-work. It could be argued that a literal stone is created from the great work, but it's ethereal. The Eastern equivalent is the Golden Flower, something cultivated by "turning the light within", which is essentially sustained, intentional self awareness.
The metaphor of the body being a furnace is a big one. Your body produces the flames naturally (ATP FTW) and the environment tosses ingredients in there, with the end result being those emotional fumes you're huffing all day. With conscious control, you can manipulate the energy through will, transmuting the ingredients that produce anger to the center of all emotion's pole, peace, and from that base change it into any emotion you desire, if you desire, peace is itself a very powerful position. If you store and maintain peace, you will have a supply of energy to draw from and can create a needed emotion on the fly when its needed - or wanted. You can simply create happiness and ecstacy with the right facial tensions and focus. This obviously has massive implications for workings too.
I have heard that there is a level of Alchemy that pertains to communion with the energies of the universe as well, the sea of diverse consciousness that control and live in all things. This is akin to the phrase "if a person has faith as small as a mustard seed, they can command a mountain to move", so this would be literally reaching out psychically and asking say, a rock to do a little jig. I haven't had any luck in this field, have any of you managed a communion like this?
I have been getting a hang of this the more I work on this and the metaphors are clicking. All of what I've written here is the result of reading many different books from across cultures, eras, and occult genres, then melting it into something this monkey-brain can comprehend, just to assure yinz that I'm not just pulling this out of my ass. I want to see if anyone has anything else to add or their own takes on this, feel free to cook your own take below (pun
).