Carl Jung studied many spiritual traditions to assist with his understanding of the human psyche. The following is a very interesting quote from Ruth Snowden’s ‘Jung – The Key Ideas’ ‘Alchemy was very popular during medieval times, and was practised until the end of the seventeenth century and beyond, but its roots stretch back much further into history, at least as far back as ancient Eygpt. The best known aspect of alchemy is the idea of trying to turn base metal into gold, but in fact there was a lot more to it than that. The ultimate goal was an inner transformation of the alchemist’s psyche, and it was this aspect that interested Jung the most. He saw alchemy as bridging the frustrating gap between ancient Gnosticism and modern sciences such as chemistry and the psychology of the unconscious. Alchemical thought coincided in surprising ways with his own ideas about the unconscious – it looked at the problem of matter, as well as the union of opposites such as male and female, God and man…. Jung was intrigued to find alchemical imagery cropping up in the dreams of patients who were going through the individuation process. He studied the alchemical process and found that it went through a series of stages, each one of which could also represent a stage in the development of the maturing psyche: - Nigredo or ‘blackness’. This is the first stage, where the alchemist heats material up and it goes black. This represents the first stage of individuation, where the person begins to break down the barriers between conscious and unconscious. This stage is often accompanied by depression – the ‘dark night of the soul’… as the person begins to face the inner darkness of the shadow. -Albedo or ‘whiteness’. This is the next stage, when white flecks appear in the mixture, which eventually crystallizes as a white stone. This represents the gradual cleansing of the psyche as the inner darkness is faced. People often confront and converse with archetypes at this stage… -Rubedo or ‘redness’.This is the final stage, when mercury is added to the white stone, which goes green then red. This process represents the union of opposites and the result – called ELIXIR VITAE( the ELIXIR OF LIFE) – can bring long life or even IMMORTALITY. It is represented symbolically by a winged hermaphrodite figure or a rose. This stage represents the final stage of analysis – the resolution of psychic conflicts and the balancing of opposites. Jung remarked that much of his work was concerned with this type of balancing process.’ physicalimmortalitythemasspossibility.wordpress/2012/10/21/submission-to-the-immortality-project-at-university-of-california-uc-riverside-dr-janni-lloyd/
Posted on: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 02:32:59 +0000
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