Alchemy

Pondered over by the occasional interested person but more often fanatically followed to the point of death - alchemy has a profound effect upon many intelligent people. There are many levels to this incredible art and most of which are impossible for the ordinary person to decipher. The name is also elusive and is often said to derive from Al or El, which is God or Shining. Khem or Chem is from the root Greek kimia and means to fuse. Therefore Alchemy means to fuse with God or the Shining – to be enlightened.
Basically it was a cover for Eastern traditions, which ran diametrically against the Church of Rome and was therefore heretical. This is the reason for the obvious crossover of meaning hidden behind the subtle language of the alchemists. It was brought into Europe via the teachings of Geber (Jabir ibn Hayyan (721 - 815 A.D.)) among others and from where we get the term gibberish, meaning confused language, as the alchemical terms were nonsense to those without the eyes to see. In later years the psychoanalyst Carl Jung concluded that alchemical images he was finding emanating from his subjects dreams and thoughts explained the archetypal roots of the modern mind and underscored the process of transformation.
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Sub paragraph 1 The Levels

The levels of alchemy are many in number, but here we shall discuss two. On the first hand it is an absolute truth that alchemy has given us many chemical substances via the constant striving of various individuals across time to discover the ultimate physical goal of alchemy - gold. Many have taken literally the concept of the possibility of turning lead or base substance in to gold and have gone to their grave for their belief. There is however an esoteric system hidden within alchemy, which answers all the issues and enigmas that the physical level throws up. Alchemy is on this level the search for union with the divine - often called enlightenment or illumination. This union was only possible via the union of the opposites within us and hence the term kimia or fusion, makes more sense.

Sub Paragraph 2 Today

Is there an relevance to us in the modern age? Well of course there is, because the wisdom literature which gave rise to alchemy is just that - wise and is based upon knowledge and observation of the human mind and spirit. With the union of opposites - often seen as a hermaphrodite - we have the statement one a simple level, that we need to be balanced. Try walking up the stairs with just one foot - it is not possible.