A Jungian & Archetypal Perspective on Alchemy
Many interpreters of alchemical texts say that the processes they describe are metaphors for psycho-spiritual transformation not physical transformation. This was Carl Jung’s view.
Steve March • The Four Styles of Transformation Part 2: On Transmutation — Aletheia
Taken symbolically, alchemy is about turning the lower, primitive aspects of the self into a purified state; to illuminate the darkness with a sense of value or meaning, making conscious what is unconscious. This becoming whole is the process Jung called individuation, which is what we’re doing with dreamwork and belonging.
Toko-pa Turner • Belonging: Remembering Ourselves home
Between 1916 and 1928, Jung published a number of works in which he attempted to translate some of the themes of Liber Novus into contemporary psychological language. In 1928, the sinologist Richard Wilhelm sent him a copy of the Taoist alchemical treatise The Secret of the Golden Flower, inviting him to write a commentary. Struck by the
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