TE
Thea Euryphaessa
@theaeuryphaessa.bsky.social
Writer 📚 | Depth Psychology | Body | Sacred Feminine | Hero's Journey | Author of 'Running into Myself' and its follow-up, 'Growing into MySelf'
45 followers4 following566 posts
![Alchemy is quite simple. You begin with the massa confusa—the base substance, the crude ingredients, the lead. They are placed in a Vas Hermeticus, a sealed container. Heat is applied to that container and a series of operations are conducted upon the substance to change its nature and transform it into 'gold'. The operations can include condensation, distillation, 'repetitio', 'mortificatio' and 'the marriage of the king and queen'. It is a very metaphorical process that is not considered esoteric by [Carl] Jung and [James] Hillman—rather, it is a process that reveals the true nature of the original substance. The massa confusa is equated with the rejected cornerstone of biblical tradition. The god, or golden child, created in the end is equated with the birth of the soul.
— Jerry Fjerkenstad, from Meeting the Shadow: The Hidden Nature of the Dark Side of Human Nature](https://cdn.bsky.app/img/feed_fullsize/plain/did:plc:iaym5uhlvpvgjsvgotrvdlkm/bafkreihuskfjm4scmfspdu6e2ugkmtqn6pu45dbm2zjwlirqn2epuvbre4@jpeg)
For anyone interested in learning more about alchemy from a psychospiritual perspective [especially as its symbolism so often appears in dreams], I found this book super helpful.
TE
Thea Euryphaessa
@theaeuryphaessa.bsky.social
Writer 📚 | Depth Psychology | Body | Sacred Feminine | Hero's Journey | Author of 'Running into Myself' and its follow-up, 'Growing into MySelf'
45 followers4 following566 posts