stations on the path of transformation

The alchemists did us all a service. Not only did they help give birth to present-day chemistry, they gave us something of equal, if not more, importance: an outlining of a path of transformation. Just as some Christians make use of the symbology of the stations of the cross, and as the Sufi Al 'Arabi writes of distinct stations on the spiritual journey, so the alchemists give us descriptions of the stages in the process of "turning lead into gold." We are the lead looking for transformation into untarnished wholeness. This is the path of a warrior of spirit.

Here, very briefly, is an outline of phases of the process of alchemical transformation.

• Calcinatio -- Going through the fire. All dross burned away. Desires consumed. No possess-ions.
  
• Solutio -- Becoming like water. Dissolving and being reborn. Wu wei. A continuous process.
  
• Coagulatio - Coagulate. Come to earth. Embody.
• Sublimatio -- Becoming like air. Rising above. Wider view. Eagle of spirit. Invisible and unpredictable as wind.
  
• Mortificatio -- Death. Putrefication and rotting of all that is worthless. Going to ashes (necessary condition for re-birth of fire, Phoenix rising from the ashes)
  
• Separatio -- Dismemberment; adjourning the ego meeting, setting all its members free. Letting go of all clinging.
  
• Coniunctio -- Union.
  

For more detailed information, see Edward Edinger's Anatomy of the Psyche: Alchemical Symbolism in Psychotherapy.

The process of transformation is painful and often difficult (we make it that way), but even more so is the process of non-transformation. Leap into the fire. Dissolve in the water. Coagulate into a strong center. Become like the wind of spirit. Let all that is putrid die. No clinging. Move as one.

Note: Thanks to my warrior friend, Brad Olson, for directing me to Edinger's book. I have been studying all works I could find on alchemy for decades. This one is a powerful one indeed.