"The alchemical operations were real, only this reality was not physical but psychological. Alchemy represents the projection of a drama both cosmic and spiritual in laboratory terms. The opus magnum had two aims: the rescue of the human soul and the salvation ofthe cosmos."'

Figure 1 (page 14) is one example of the way the alchemists imagined the confusion at the beginning of the work. Everything is in disorder, with no obvious connection between the disparate elements, which seem hardly formed or differentiated. Figure 2 (page 16) illustrates the order created when the alchemist has accomplished the great work. The di