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A recent article posted here rather simplistically (and pointlessly) provided some Oxford Dictionary/Wikipedia definitions that predictably stated that Alchemy was concerned with turning things into gold.
At first glance, this would seem to the casual observer to be a preposterous pursuit, not to be taken seriously at all, and fit only to be discarded with contempt. But closer examination of the matter will reveal that there is much more to it than initially meets the eye.
At the first, let it be stated that Alchemy is primarily a mental art, the physical effects being regarded by the true Alchemists as side benefits rather than the primary goal. While this may come as a complete surprise to those unfamiliar with the matter given the popular view of the subject, the more seasoned researchers along these lines will immediately see the allegory, since, at its core, Alchemy is all about allegory - for reasons that will be revealed further on.
In order to understand the foundations of this ancient art, which has it's origins in the earliest days of old Egypt, it is necessary to have a more or less basic understanding of what is now known as the Electromagnetic Spectrum. The Alchemists viewed the electromagnetic spectrum as we still do today - as a range of frequencies covering all manner of manifestations from x-rays through sound and light and upwards into the microwaves and beyond. They referred to these frequencies as vibrations.
And indeed they held that everything that is is vibrating at its allotted rate and extended their view of the electromagnetic spectrum to cover everything from the grossest matter of the physical plane of existence, up through the ethers into energy, further into the finer planes of mentality and further still into the unknowable planes of conscious spirit, being the animating force of All, the ultimate substance behind all manifestation, and finally reaching the divine at the very pinnacle where the vibrations are infinitely rapid. The Singularity. "Everything moves, everything vibrates. Nothing rests", says the axiom.
And what's more they held that there is a harmony agreement between the various planes, with the higher planes ruling the lower - "as above so below" being recognized by most laymen without realizing it originated in occult philosophy, this correspondence being easily recognized by the example of the note"G" on one octave being in harmony with the note "G" in all other octaves - that it is possessed of certain qualities that are similar to the others, the difference being that of their various different levels or planes. This arrangement also being fully exploited in their writings to the point where only those well versed in their philosophy could ever hope to decipher their various recipes and formulas in those texts of theirs which they took the trouble to record. They were not known to be particularly forthcoming and preferred to stay in the shadows and work their art in silence while the rest of the world raged around them.
And so they believed that the electromagnetic spectrum encompassed everything seen and unseen, known and unknown - electricity and magnetism being the archetypes and metaphors for the positive and negative poles that they argued everything possessed, the positive of everything being dominant over the negative, but neither being able to exist without the other, and All existing under Law, that being the Absolute.
But the Alchemists carried this further still, maintaining that it is possible to manipulate these vibrations - to raise or lower them as the situation demanded, this being the key to their art. However they also recognized that this was possible only among things of similar kind. So while it was possible to transmute hate into love, cold into warmth, and therefore lead into gold, it was not possible to transmute cold into love or wood into gold.
The Alchemists studied the laws of Nature, learning to use laws against laws in their quest to master their surroundings, reasoning from below to above and above to below, methodically unravelling the secrets of the Universe and ultimately using them to manipulate first their minds, and through that, their surroundings once Mastery was attained, the mental planes dominating the physical by reason of higher - and therefore more positive - vibrations. They held that everything in the Universe progressed through a gradual process of evolution where continuous improvements were made as things rose higher and higher along the scale of vibration, the positive ever dominating the negative, thus powering the being ever upwards and onward towards the divine over aeons of time.
And so the goal of the Alchemist on the physical plane was to strengthen and purify the mind and soul to hasten their journey along the Path of Attainment, turning the lead of their thoughts and emotions into the gold of their higher consciousness, allowing them to leave the lower planes behind them and journey into ever higher planes of existence on the great adventure of Life.
