The Journey of Life through the Lens of Alchemy

IMAGINING LIFE PERIODS AS ALCHEMICAL STAGES

“…upon this simple system of many colours is based the manifold and infinitely varied investigation of all things.” 

—Zosimos of Panopolis 

Alchemy, as a symbolic language, offers a lens through which we can explore and deeply understand many -if not all- aspects of life. Carl Jung recognised in Alchemy a map and metaphor for the process of analysis/psychotherapy and the journey of Individuation; the alchemical tradition became the historical basis for his depth psychology.1

Alchemical language and imagery shift our perception of so many experiences, infusing them with depth and meaning; from the phases of a relationship, to the seasons of the menstrual cycle, to the layers and stages of the creative process, to the simple and profound act of cooking...our life is inherently alchemical. 

As I became more interested in the underlying, symbolic meaning of our different life periods, and their function as rites of passage, I began wondering: what if we apply the alchemical system to our human journey and lifespan, psychospiritual development? 

What if we look at Life itself through the lens of Alchemy? 

The Four Stages of Alchemy

The Alchemical Work (Opus) consists of four distinct, progressive stages of transformation, culminating in the creation of the Philosopher’s Stone or Lapis Philosophorum that was thought to possess “the power to prefect imperfection in all things, able to transmute base metals into pure gold and transform the earthly man into an illumined philosopher”2 -a state of completion and wholeness, also portrayed as the hermaphrodite, to signify the total union of inner polarities. 

The alchemical stages are named after the dominant colour that the prima materia(the original substance that sustains the transformation) assumes in each of them;

the Nigredo (blackening)
the Albedo (whitening)
the Citrinitas (yellowing), and
the Rubedo (reddening)