The esoteric science of alchemy is probably one of the most misunderstood of occult disciplines. Mainstream occultism is focused mainly on the arte of high magick, and we find that even amongst the most learned practitioners of high magick, both past and present, very little is understood, or accepted, about the true nature of the Western Alchemical Tradition. Therefore, we ask, if the elder brethren of that most esoteric discipline, 'high magick', who steep themselves in the knowledge of the ancient mysteries daily, have believed, developed and perpetuated a gross misconception concerning alchemy - what hope has the average seeker, or common man, of understanding the real nature of our spagyric art?

Let us then, with care, take a look at alchemy through the eyes of an alchemist - not mage, not new age boffin, but one who has been initiated into the western tradition of this science, who has read and understood great portion of its classic and ancient literature, who lives the life of an alchemist, in his daily affairs, in his mind and in his laboratory.

When considering just what alchemy is, in the way of a definition; what it is not and the primary arguments for and against both here, we must first begin by stating the nature of our question. We may start by asserting in a general fashion that every thing and every system, both conceptual and literal, in nature, is governed by the laws of alchemy. Everything evolves. Alchemy is evolution. The process in nature that takes a raw base matter and exalts it onto a higher plane. In this way we can say that certain types of music are alchemical, certain poems, art forms, some aspects of science, industry, etc., etc. As a general description of the term alchemy we feel most people will agree with this analysis. If we stop here, though, we might then correctly insist, in the grips of a debate on the matter, that anything whatsoever we care to label as alchemy rightly deserves that name.

In the classic ages, if we were to ask almost any person in the western world what alchemy was - we would have little doubt, no matter what the details, or lack of them, they offered in the way of explanation, that they would have in mind the intention of conveying a description of the occult art which involves the manipulation of chemicals with the intention of producing gold or the elixir of life. Even today, if you ask the average non-occultist what alchemy is they would very likely, if they had any idea at all, describe the same concept. An occultist, on the other hand, will almost certainly come up with any number of simple or complex descriptions, from sex magick, through various healing techniques, or simple herbalism, to Jungian psychology - almost none of which is likely to shine any significant truth on the matter.

The word alchemy itself is very likely of Arabic origin. There are a few theories on exactly what root words the Arabs derived the term from, and what they meant, linguistically, by the invention of this word. But there is little doubt at all that the standard accepted meaning of the term alchemy was its use as a generic label for those practices which were of both a chemical and spiritual nature at one and the same time. An alchemist was, simply, someone who practiced occult chemistry.

As the art of alchemy was adopted by Europeans during the dark ages, they also adopted the term alchemy as a label for the discipline. They also adopted, without any significant major changes, the methods, philosophy and aims of the Arab and Sufi alchemists from whom they inherited their knowledge. The Arab and Sufi alchemists themselves had also inherited the art from the Greeks and the Egyptians without any great modification. From these facts we can see that the actual tradition of alchemy has survived almost 3500 years, or more, of human history intact in its methods and philosophy. A traditional western alchemist of the 20th century has a very similar approach, and almost the exact same concerns and goals, as his Brothers that bent over clay retorts in the harsh conditions of the Eastern desert two and a half centuries ago.

In this way, when one initiated alchemist uses the term alchemy in a conversation with another initiated alchemist, apart from a few small details, dictated by personal inclination, both understand what the other means by this generic term. They see it as describing an art devoted to unravelling the secrets of Nature and of the universe by the dissection of matter, according to certain definite well-established and ancient methods, and the contemplation of both the process of dissection, the nature of the products obtained, and their analogical relationship with the divine side of life. They would also agree, very likely, that although the proper goal of the alchemist is spiritual illumination, the traditional path to this outcome for an alchemist was the confection of a chemical substance referred to as the philosopher’s stone. There is no general argument about the nature of this legendary substance. It is not a sexual fluid, or a combination of them. It is not a psychological condition, although it is not incorrect to use such a metaphor. It is not a rock found in the field or in a mine. It is not simply a metaphor or intellectual concept. It is not anything other than an actual mineral substance which is manufactured by the alchemist and which both represents his spiritual maturity and contains the germ of its actualisation.

It was not until the onset of the dawn of modern chemistry, during the 1700's, that occultists decided, wrongly, that in order to save the integrity of the concept of alchemy they must begin to describe it as being something that in fact for 3000 years it has not been. The most prominent of these deliberate corruptions of meaning, and the one which seems to gather the most support today amongst occultists, is probably that which would have us believe that alchemy is tantra. The alchemists of classic and ancient times made great use of metaphor, as all occultists are want to do, in describing the details of their practices. Many of the more well known metaphorical themes in alchemy describe the copulation of a male and a female. Although it is valid to nowadays see such symbolism as being an accurate description of the practices of sexual magick, it is so unlikely that the alchemists of the western tradition focused primarily, if at all generally, on sex magick that it is not even worth considering.

Besides the sex magick theory we have, since the time of the psychologist Karl Jung, that group of individuals, usually non or pseudo-occultists, who insist that alchemy was never anything other than a secret psychology. The laws of chemical spagyrics are directly analogous to those of psychology, it is true, but the traditional alchemist was no psychologist, even if he did gain a deep understanding of the nature of the mind through contemplation of the analogical relationship between chemistry and mental dynamics.

Another area of interest that has crept into the avenue of western esoteric science increasingly, and often through the insistence of those who have but a smattering of constructive experience in the sacred arts, are the practices and terminologies of Eastern yoga. Ideas and concepts which were and are common place in the far Eastern mystery tradition, and which were either never, or rarely, known about during the formative and nurturing centuries of the western tradition, are now intermingled with the terminologies and practices of the western schools and passed off as traditional western magick or alchemy. While it is agreed that some of this imported knowledge is a welcome addition, much rubbish, hearsay, pollution and dilution has been successfully grafted on to what was already a very capable system.

Part of the problem with interpreting alchemical symbolism is that without an acceptance of the nature of the actual daily concerns of the traditional alchemist one is apt to want to find some other explanation for the secret activities of these misunderstood occultists.

The desire to read into any occult symbolism ideas and concepts which were never intended to be conveyed by their authors is rife today, in a world of pop occultism where ignorance and mere intellectualism are the measuring stick of truth.

Further, without an initiated knowledge of the motive, methods and goal of the alchemists it is very easy to agree with the arts detractors that there can be no constructive purpose in messing around with dangerous chemicals, especially for an ignorant medieval occultist who does not have the benefits of modern technology.

Nothing could, though, be further from the truth. Not only were the medieval alchemists daily concerned with chemistry of a sacred nature, but they had a knowledge of chemistry and physics which in many ways surpasses that of modern science. Further, once the motive for chemically orientated alchemy is understood, with an open mind, the astute inquirer can begin to accept the possibility that the modern trend of insisting that alchemy is anything, and everything, but a specific and chemical spiritual tradition, is likely to be untrue.

The alchemists motive for his or her approach to self-discovery, to enlightenment, is simple. It in no way conflicts with the standard philosophy of high magick, or, in fact, any respected ancient spiritual philosophy. The magus often can be heard quoting the Emerald Tablet of Hermes, where it is asserted that "what is above" … in the spiritual realms .. "is similar to that which is below" ... in the physical world. Nevertheless for all of the magickians Sophistications it seems to have occurred to few that a spiritual discipline that revolves around the ideology that …

"To understand the nature of matter, its beginning, functions, parts and its exaltation, is to look into a mirror within whose reflection can be witnessed, in precise detail, the nature of the Divine."

… is a rational and quite understandable approach to enlightenment.

The alchemist, therefore, in his laboratory, dissecting, purifying and combining matter according to Natures methods, is by practice and contemplation reproducing, in the microcosm of his retorts, the process of the universal, or macrocosmic, order.

Beginning with the understanding that the conditions, functions, methods and goals of the inner realms are reflected in matter, 'as above, so below', the alchemist wonders with joy at the knowledge that he witnesses daily the greatness of the divine in all things. That with his feet firmly fixed on the earth he gazes that the heavens with reliable understanding. In time as he learns to understand the chemical processes he puts into action, he sees the Divine Will carried out in Nature with a unique point of view. From this he deduces the exact formula by which the Creator, through Nature, affects the evolution of all things, both conceptual and literal. It is then, simply up to his personal ingenuity, to conceive of the methods that will allow him to improve upon the Natural expression of the Divine Will, and this is called art.

The summit of this degree of understanding is manifested in the philosophers stone, which is nothing but the concept of evolution, extracted from matter, purified, concentrated and concentred in a chemical substance.

It is our intention, then, to make clear this entire philosophy, to those who have the inclination to care, by means of a demonstration, repeatable and reliable. Each individual, who seeks the Truth we implore to look for it in traditional alchemy, not the pseudo-alchemy of popular and commercial occultism. Apply its methods practically, digest them internally, and by this method rectify your past errors, and those of the initiates of occultism from the last three centuries and come to understand, as you do, the true Nature of alchemy, called rightly by the ancients, the mother of all arts and sciences.

Lastly, what in fact is it that the alchemist does, you might ask? Apart from the obvious continual contemplation of the classic literature produced by the sages of our art the modern alchemist is concerned with two areas of activity together. The first and most obvious area of activity involves the laboratory tradition. This graduated course of study is dealt with in various ways by modern alchemists. Generally it will always involve beginning with a study of alchemical herbalism, and end, if the practitioner so desires, with a search for the Philosophers Stone. In the interim most alchemists try to gain as much of a complete understanding of the alchemical view of the animal, mineral and metallic kingdoms as possible. They will search for help in carrying out experiments of many kinds on various substances seeing an ever greater knowledge of the secret laws of nature. Many alchemists will seek and discover a number of important remedies that will ensure them good health, exalt the condition of their physical body, allowing for a greater spiritual insight, and extend their life expectancy.

On the other hand, besides the laboratory work, the alchemist must nurture and develop his psyche, the spiritual side of his nature. This involves the practice of meditation, many hours of the deep contemplation of alchemical concepts and pictorial symbolism. Today, many alchemists practice regularly techniques of mental pathworking or active imagination for the purposes of seeking in-depth understanding of themselves, their arte and for the further illumination of their Soul.

The goal of alchemy, is, as always, the Divine Illumination of the individuals Soul. The desire to find the elixir of life and the stone of the philosophers are nothing more than aides to this ultimate goal.