Post by egodiabolus on Feb 12, 2010 11:00:11 GMT -6
www.blogtalkradio.com/theooze/2010/02/06/the-black-art
On the Ooze last Saturday, High Priest Venger Satanis and Priest of R'lyeh Beast Xeno provide an introduction to and discuss the value of alchemy.
Thankfully, I don't have a one-hour time slot limit to discuss this deep and difficult topic.
Beast Xeno begins by differentiating between the pop-culture understanding of Alchemy and the "reality". Alchemy does include the process of trying to turn base metals into more valuable metals (like lead into gold), but it is more truly about transforming ourselves from base human beings into our higher selves. As base beings, we are asleep, lulled into a state of unconsciousness by the existence on the material plane. We potentially can exist on multiple planes, and alchemy teaches us how to transform ourselves into greater beings.
Alchemy originated in the Near-East; it's name is derived from the land of "Khem", the antiquated name for Egypt, and was considered the primary science of that land. During the Middle-Ages, the study of alchemy was in vogue and almost everyone with the means to study it at least dabbled in it once or twice, from princes to paupers to priests. This was due to a shift in Europe's economics; the rise of the Merchant-Class was siphoning off power and wealth from the aristocracy, resulting in a economically poor Noble-Class. Sons of Noble lords who's elder siblings stood to inherit the lands of their fathers would dabble in the occult as a means of achieving their own wealth and well-being, and alchemy was among the socially accepted avenues of exploration. People who would later become famous for their work, such as Isaac Newton, studied alchemy in earnest, and their efforts established the foundation of modern chemistry.
Alchemy is considered a spiritual-science; as its processes and results are more spiritual than physical in nature. Much of alchemy is symbolic; the experiments and observations are less about achieving a physical result and more about the alchemist undergoing their own transformation in mind and spirit through the effort of the experiment. For example, a step in the process might involve melting a particular metal. For a scientist, this is simply a matter of heating the metal in a crucible to a certain temperature, but for an alchemist it requires a mental understanding of the melting process, applying a spiritual aspect to both the metal, the fire, and the crucible itself. By seeing the metal transform when induced by heat, the alchemist comes closer to understanding how their own transformation can be induced.
Key to this transformative process is the "Philosopher's Stone", an allegorical device represented sometimes as a solid and sometimes as a liquid. The Philosopher's Stone was the catalyst of transformation, and is reputed to not only allow the transformation of base metals into gold, but also to bestow immortality. The Philosopher's Stone could be considered a "transcendental source of inspiration".
Beast Xeno describes a four-step process engaged in by the alchemist to achieve transformation:
The first step is Blackening. This is when the raw material is induced by fire and purged of all contamination by earth and water. It is an allegory of ridding the self of one's connection with material identification and the emotional links to material items and pursuits.
Achieving the Blackening then allows the alchemist to engage in the Lightening (or Whitening). This is also referred to as "the stage of the Moon". The blackened material is purified further, becoming a perfected version of itself. It is an allegory for the individual discovering, understanding, and reflecting their own true natures. They have rid themselves of all artifice and behave in a manner that is truly their own.
This state leads to the Yellowing. The material is induced by a "divine" substance (often gold) and given a divine spark. This is allegory for the individual becoming creative and expanding themselves consciously. They seek to become more than who they are, and reach a new expression of self (whereas before the Blackening phase, the self was buried and contaminated by outside influences).
The final state is the Reddening, where the transformed material is now applied to its original state to see what happens. It is allegory for the transformed self now reaching back to his peers and compatriots to "lead the way" for them to achieve this state themselves. The reason for this reaching back to others is not altruistic. The individual can easily fool themselves into believing they have achieved their ends, but it is only in testing the results that we know we have accomplished our goals. Until we see transformation by the same means in others, we are fooling ourselves believing in our own transformation.
Beast Xeno posits that this process may take several life-times, with the alchemist possibly re-incarnating after each success four-stage cycle, or even with each stage taking one or more life-times. Historically, others tried to pursue these goals in a single life-time, often in just a few years. According to legend, some may have even achieved it.
Nicholas Flamel (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Flamel) was an alchemist mentioned during the show who's name may sound familiar. He is also mentioned in "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone" as a wizard who accomplished the creation of the Philosopher's Stone and achieved immortality. The real Flamel was an alchemist who purportedly did manage to turn base metals into silver and gold, and is rumored to have faked his death. He and his wife have been seen many times, still enjoying life in France and abroad.
My personal favorite alchemist is Cagliostro, though he was more properly considered in polite circles and "adventurer" and in not-so-polite circles as a thief and a liar. Like his peers, Cagliostro was a student of alchemy, but unlike his peers he gained fame for his success. He offered lessons in alchemy to the wealthy, who often payed more in gold for the lessons than the gold they received through the process. Cagliostro could produce gold from base metals, but doing so required a particular spiritual temperament that most (all) of his students failed to achieve.
Cagliostro's greatest scientific achievement was a stove used for the smelting of metals that had an internal chamber which rotated half way around each time the door was opened. Each side was a mirror image of the other. A small amount of lead could be placed on a shelf inside the device, and when the door was closed and opened again, the other side would be exposed with an equal amount of gold waiting to be taken out, having been deposited there earlier. The illusion fooled many dupes.
Despite this, Cagliostro did earnestly pursue alchemy, himself going broke many times trying to learn its secrets. He did manage a few miracles, but eventually died penniless and imprisoned after leading an adventurous and heroic (by some standards) life.
The allegorical aspect of alchemy is explored in some depth in a series of YouTube videos mentioned by Beast Xeno called "Platonism & Alchemy" (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odK4hnGIRMM). In it, the point is made that Platonism is a spiritual philosophy, something largely missed by modern students of Plato.
High Priest Venger Satanism discusses how alchemy compares and contrasts to the Work. Both have the same apparent ends; to achieve the transformation of the self from that which is defined by the world (base self) to that which is self-defined (higher self). Both involve a process of self-discovery and purification, and both encourage the individual to reach out to others as a part of the process. For Lord Satanis, however, alchemy is too allegorical whereas the Work is more straightforward, stating that the Work is like a road-map, and alchemy is like an oil-painting of that road-map. It may be beautiful to look at and artistic in its expression, but both of these aspects are unnecessary and may be distracting from the actual intent of the map itself.
I would have to agree with this assessment, although I understand why alchemy works allegorically, at least when applied to the transformation of the individual. In both systems, the individual must undergo a process. Alchemy is a science that was trying to unify all aspects of life; if something worked chemically then that process was indicative of a spiritual process that should work in the same manner. Alchemist truly expect to be able to transform lead into gold (although this would be a secondary benefit to their transformation), just as they transform themselves from their base expression to their higher expression. There is no distinction. What works in one realm should work in all realms.
The Work is focused entirely on the transformation of the self, being a result of scientific thinking that recognized the distinction between material process and mental/spiritual processes. Thus, the Whitening Stage of Alchemy is akin to the management of "I"s into a positive grouping, but in alchemy you not only have to be able to discover the positive aspects of the self and reflect those aspects outwardly, you must be able to do the same thing with lead. Lead, the metal, is lead. Once smelted and cleansed it remains lead, not some higher or truer aspect of lead, except in the mind of the alchemist.
If alchemy were divested of its allegory, then it would be a simple matter of heating material A until boiling, then add powder B and stir until thickened... serve with toast. The lesson and intent would be lost on the individual. The Work is direct, but asks the individual to do things that are difficult; observe the self, recognize your identifications, understand your magnetic centers. Being more direct, the Work would be, in my opinion, more successful in its ends than alchemy. An alchemist may never get the lesson that is supposed to be imparted by successfully combining two elements, even after combining those elements 100 times. An individual in the Work will either have success or not, but at least will be able to observe it directly.
This brings up another difference between the two. In both, there is a "reaching back" to others. The point is not altruistic, it is to test the success of what has been accomplished. In alchemy, the individual goes through the stages, achieves their results, then like any good scientist shares the process and results with his peers to validate that what they observed is observed by others. Of course, if it is observed by others then they too have been transformed. The problem is that this is inefficient. The alchemist may toil for years for the results they wish, then have to wait for years to only find out that their process is flawed; not only can it not be duplicated by others, they themselves cannot duplicate it successfully.
In the Work, we reach out almost immediately. It starts with the sense that something is wrong, that there is more to this than what we are seeing or being told. I discover this or am told this, test it for myself and reach the same conclusion (often in a very short span of time), and then the group starts trying to understand what is going on. We reach out to others, and others reach out to us. As I am being pulled up by someone more advanced than myself, I am supporting them as well. This proves highly efficient; the advancements of individuals are validated through the replication of those efforts by those below them who can see the success of their mentors immediately and their peers advancing around them via the same routes.
Alchemy may be another tool to be used in the Work, but to me it would only be as another means of describing the process in the Work, which might muddle the already different language being used. For alchemy to truly be of value to me, I would need to see the successful results of its physical experiments; a la Nicholas Flamel's mythological successes. I am interested even in minimal processes; show me how to create a device that can be used to my immediate advantage, and I will try it out, but for my personal transformation I prefer the Work.
By His Loathsome Tentacles!
Ego Diabolus
Priest of R'lyeh
Cult of Cthulhu