Vocabulary

One of the things that makes understanding alchemical texts so difficult is the lack of a standardized vocabulary. This post contains descriptions and definitions of alchemical vocabulary as I use them in my posts. My plan is to be consistent across my posts, which means sometimes the vocabulary I use in an essay might disagree with the vocabulary used in the text that is the subject of the essay. (This page gets edited as my understanding of alchemical concepts changes.)

My understanding of many alchemical concepts has been greatly influenced by the Cosmic Doctrine (by Dion Fortune) book club and the Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic (by Eliphas Levi) book club, both led by John Michael Greer. The Cosmic Doctrine is a great introduction to occult cosmology. The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic is a great introduction to the Tarot (and a sideways introduction to the Cabala). (A good primer for Cabala is John Michael Greer’s Paths of Wisdom.)

And now for some vocabulary!

The Elements

The classical terrestrial Elements are Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Aristotle described these Elements based on principles of heat and moisture.

• Fire is hot and dry.
• Water is wet and cold.
• Earth is cold and dry.
• Air is hot and wet.

The classical terrestrial Elements are mutable (changeable). A terrestrial Element can change into another terrestrial Element that it shares one property with. Looking at the diagram below, you can see that Air shares a property (hot) with Fire and also shares a property (wet) with Water. Therefore, Air can change into either Fire or Water. Fire and Water, though, do not share a property with each other, so Fire cannot change into Water and Water cannot change into Fire.

The fifth classical Element, Aether, is celestial. It is immutable (unchanging).

Elemental Correspondences

• The Soul (the Sun) is associated with Fire.
• The Spirit (the Moon) is associated with Water.
• The Mind is associated with Air.
• The Body is associated with Earth.

Spirit, Soul, and Body

My understanding of spiritual alchemy relies on two metaphors, which are not entirely compatible. 

One metaphor considers the Soul to be the Divine Spark that exists in the Ether, a vast ocean of Spirit that coalesces and condenses around the Divine Spark, forming the Body (or layers of Bodies).

The other metaphor considers the Spirit as One, a Unity that becomes a duality, a polarity:  Life and Form, Soul and Body.  During involution, the Spirit progresses by developing Bodies:

• The least dense body (associated with Kether) is the Divine Body.
• The next emanation (associated with Chokmah and Binah) is the Causal Body.
• The next emanation (associated with Chesed and Geburah) is the Spiritual Body.
• The next emanation (associated with Tiphareth) is the Mental Body.
• The next emanation (associated with Netzach and Hod) is the Astral Body. (This is sometimes referred to as the Aura.)
• The next emanation (associated with Yesod) is the Etheric Body.
• The most dense body (associated with Malkuth) is the Material Body. This is your physical body.

For either metaphor, human adults have three Bodies:  the Material, the Etheric, and the Astral.  Humans as a whole are in the process of developing their Mental Bodies.  We don’t have them yet; instead, we have Mental Sheaths.  Some humans have more-developed Mental Sheaths than others.

During evolution, Souls and Bodies are purified and transmuted to Spirit. 

Correspondences associated with the Soul and Spirit:

• Spirit, Spiritus (Latin), Pneuma (Greek), Life Force, Moon
• Soul, Anima (Latin), Psyche (Greek), Divine Spark, Sun

Solve et Coagula

Solve et Coagula (dissolved and coagulate) is the process of Alchemy. There are many types of Alchemy. I am interested in Spiritual Alchemy and my interpretations of texts are based on that interest.

The Lunar Path and the Solar Path

Someone asked me to provide more detail about the Lunar Path and the Solar Path.  For the Alchemical Elements (Earth, Air, Fire, and Water), there seems to be consensus about what they are and what their properties are.  For the Alchemical Principles (Sulphur, Mercury, and Salt), there seems to be consensus that they exist, but there is less consensus on what their properties are.

For the two Paths, there is even less consensus.  Some authors do not mention that Paths at all.  Some authors provide absolutely no information about the Solar Path, other than to say it should only be undertaken under the guidance of an experienced teacher.  And then others are under the impression that following the Lunar Path isn’t really a choice:  if that is your soul’s destiny, it will happen whether you actively pursue it or not.

The most complete description of the Paths I have found is in The Tarot of the Magicians (Oswald Wirth).  He divides the 22 Tarot trumps into two sets of 11.  The first 11 (1-11) align to the Solar Path; the second set (0, then 21-12) align to the Lunar Path.  (Yes, except for 0, the Lunar Path, according to Wirth, follows the trumps “backwards”.)  When the trumps are matched up (1 to 0, 2 to 21, etc.), there is an interesting correlation between the cards.  For example, 4-The Emperor of the Solar Path represents the Inner Light, the Word made flesh.  On the Lunar Path, 19-The Sun represents Universal Light, the Eternal Word.  Each pair represents a polarity.

Wirth describes the Solar Path as Doric and Dry, whereas the Lunar Path is Ionic and Wet.  He associates Sulphur with the Solar and Mercury with the Lunar.  I differ with his vocabulary, though, as he describes the “inner active fire” associated with the Solar Path as the Spirit and the “sensitive surrounding vapor” associated with the Lunar Path as the Soul.  (I think of the Soul as the fire and the Spirit as the vapor.)  (But that may change as I learn more!)

The two Paths have different results.  The Solar Path results in the Seeker becoming a Mage.  The Lunar Path results in the Seeker becoming a Mystic.

Eliphas Levi, in The Doctrine and Ritual of High Magic, stated there are two signs of human divinity:  prophecies and miracles.  “To be a prophet is to see ahead of time the effects that exist in the causes, it is to read the astral light; to make miracles is to act upon the universal agent and submit it to our will.”  I see the Adept of the Solar Path, the Mage, as one who can act upon the astral light.  And I see the Adept of the Lunar Path, the Mystic, as one who can read the astral light.

For me, an allegory of the Solar Path is the myth of Herakles.  Even though the gods assist Herakles by providing tools, Herakles himself must figure out how to do the work.  In the myths of Psyche, which I see as an allegory of the Lunar Path, Psyche doesn’t have to figure out how to do her tasks.  Either she is told what to do or the task is done for her.  Herakles submits the astral to his will; Psyche listens (“reads”) the astral.  Herakles develops his strength; Psyche develops her intuition.

Strength and Intuition are a polarity within the Alchemist and I think wisdom is found by finding the equilibrium between them.  My posts on this site represent my Solar Path, my search for understanding the theory of alchemy.  The Oracle I am developing represents my Lunar Path, a divination method to interpret the astral light based on alchemy.