1. Alchemical Journey of the Self
Thom F. Cavalli, Ph.D.

2. While Sleeping, Watch “The Hermetic Vessel is oneself…
Introduction – Psychic images drawn from art that personify what is happening in the mind and should happen as the work proceeds.Unlike physical alchemy, these images are personified, symbolic and only capture some of the critical events of the opus.
Henrich Kundrath, Amphitheatre of Eternal Wisdom
Mandala – Symbol of the Self
Perspective leads to the Door to Infinity
Laboratory, prayer and work, psyche and soma
Music-Music of the Spheres- String theory
“The Hermetic Vessel is oneself…

3. “…In it the many pieces of psychic stuff scattered throughout one’s world must be collected and fused into one, so making a new creation.” Esther Harding
What parts of yourself, your world, do you put into the Work?
What have you chosen to begin with?
What serves as a catalyst for changing your Self?
How do you regard the Unconscious?
Do you use dreams in your Work?
How do you suffer failure and defeats?
What are the obstacles that stand between you and succeeding to the next stage?
Have you noticed changes outside the laboratory? How do you regard them? What might they mean?
What have you held back from your Work?
Why do you do this Work? Who is served by your Work?

4. Vas Hermeticum
“No generation without corruption”

5. Thoth Hermes Mercury The Stone: Its strategy – Stay Still
Symbolizes the Self
Cross on Triangle
Qualities of the Divine Self

6. The Sun and the Shadow complete the Work
Nigredo
Massa Confusa
Blackening
Black Land
Nun
Collective Unconscious
Separatio, Calcinatio
Mother Complex
Real Self
“Creation is messy business”
Separatio - Nun and Atum
Calcinatio – The Work of the Sun orConsciousness, White/Golden Shadow, Jung quote
Real Self is the Psychological achievement of the Nigredo – separation and integration
The Sun and the Shadow complete the Work

7. Visita interiora terrae rectificando occultum lapidem
V.I.T.R.I.O.L.
Visit the Interior of the Earth and Rectify what you find there and you will discover the Hidden Stone S O M A P Y C H E
Prima Materia Sulfuric Acid
vitriol
Scathing speech Nigredo/Shadow
Use of secrets and symbols – Notre Dame, the Pyramids, etc. For those who know the Symbols, the Way is Easy
Interior two meanings – Unconscious and History (Egypt!) first alchemical evidence Nubt
Prima Materia – Blacker than black, the dung heap, the stone rejected by the masons
Rectify – make pure – acid in drain!
Visita interiora terrae rectificando occultum lapidem

8. Depression Melancholia Disorientation Psychosis Despair Suicide
Poisoning
Accidents
Dangers
Breakdowns – RAJ
Newton
“Endure to die, not to persist”

9. Slaying the Dragon Separatio Mother Complex, Separation-Individuation
Dragon, Anima symbols, dog, sword of discrimination
Separatio

10. Death of the Old King Death of the Old Self Death of the Gross Body
MEDITATION
Solitude
Silence
Stillness
Womb circle, angels, 4 signs of male, female (sol and Luna) mercury plus a dark star

11. Osiris Dismemberment Solve (Dissolution) Lead Reanimation
Leaden coffin, Djed column, death and resurrection “Osiris myth is to alchemy what the Oedipus myth was for psychoanalysis”
Rite of Passage requires a dismemberment experience to shatter the ordinary status quo
Re-Anima
Qualities of lead
Lead Reanimation
Osiris

12. Sol Niger
Wendell Berry Poem
David White
One does not become enlightened by imagining figures of light, but by making the darkness conscious. Carl G. Jung

13. The Real Self Wide range of feelings (fixation)
Self-activation and assertion (immobility)
Appropriate entitlements (hubris)
Self-Esteem (depression)
Soothing (neglect)
Commitments (disloyal)
Creativity (unimaginative)
Intimacy (distant)
Alone (isolation)
Continuity of Self (fragmentation)
James Masterson

14. The Albedo The way of the heart (ibu) Nile fish, Osiris/Christ
Grapes-fermentation

15. Aphrodite, Born from the Sea
The Feminine qualities – birth, process, body, affects, relatedness, timelessness
Aphrodite being lifted out of the Unconscious, out of darkness
Beauty and Grace
Copper

16. Isis, Goddess of Life, Magic and Mystery
Incredible strength and power, retrieve Osiris (Nature) corpse and body parts, reanimates him, couples with him to produce Horus, the ego, protects both
Virgin and Child (Horkathi)
"I, Isis, am all that has been, that is or shall be; no mortal man hath ever me unveiled."

17. The Blessed Virgin Mary Purity, Trinity, Wholeness
Jung – adding the Feminine element to the Trinity, Wholeness
Sophia
Real Self- relationship with oneself
Individuated Self- relationship with others
Divine Self- relationship with God
Purity, Trinity, Wholeness
Bringing the fourth element of the Feminine

18. The Coniunctio of Mercury and Venus
Union of Mercury and Venus providing heat to the vas
Hermaphrodite to Androgyne

19. Luna
Full Moon
The Feminine – reflective (rather than generative) energy, mirroring, power over all fluids, dew (grace)
Qualities of Silver
Silver

20. The Individuated Self Anima Duality Relationship Object Love
“Silver lining”, medicinal properties
Eloquence, quicksilver
“Tears of the Moon” – gleam, mirror
Relationship with Others
Anima within, Anima Mundi
Mirroring – self-reflective awareness – empathy, compassion, love

21. Rubedo
Soul is in the Blood
Descent of the Spirit, Ascent of the Soul

22. Active Imagination - “Opening of the Mouth”
"Ascend above any height, descend further than any depth; receive all sensory impressions of the created: water, fire, dryness and wetness. Think that you are present everywhere: in the sea, on earth and in heaven; think that you were never born and that you are still in the embryonic state: young and old, dead and in the hereafter. Understand everything at the same time: time, place, things: quality and quantity." Corpus Hermeticum,
Imagination – a psychic tool of Meditation and Active Imagination

23. Standing Steady in the Field of Opposites
Equanimity
Qualities of the Divine Self
Desire and Edinger
Standing Steady in the Field of Opposites

24. High Indifference “I am awake”
Buddha, Egypt – dream liminal space awaking encountering a god
Detachment, “In this World, but not of it.”
“I am awake”

25. Caudas Pavonis Conuncitio of Above and Below, psyche and soma
Vas is hermetically sealed
Roscrusian - Psyche trapped in Soma –conflict, complementary, conjunction
The Royal Marriage of Opposites

26. Marriage of Mind and Matter
Newton to Einstein to Quantum Consciousness
The New Age of Alchemy
Current research:
Direct Programming changes the structure of non-insulin producing cells, changing your PC into a MAC!
String theory and the Theory of Everything – insufficient dimensions
Quantum theory – consciousness affects the behavior of physical matter
Neuropsychology – cortical consolidation – dream process and memory formation

27. Quicksilver Copper Silver Gold Lead Tin Iron Jupiter Moon Venus Mars
Mercury
Silver
Gold
Venus
Lead
Mars
Sun
Tin
Iron
Saturn
Jupiter
Jupiter

28. Metal Operation Body Function
Lead Calcinatio Anus Elimination, Instincts
Tin Dissolution Genitals Sexuality, Creativity
Iron Separatio Solar Plexus, Will power, Intellect
Navel
Copper Coniunctio Heart Feelings, Emotions
Mercury Fermentation Throat Language
Silver Distillation Third Eye Intuition
Gold Coagulatio Crown, Wisdom, Connection with
Brain Spirit

29. The Emerald Tablet
Tabula Smaragdina

30. The Royal Marriage Psyche and Soma Myth of Amor and Psyche
Marriage – creation of me/you/us
Psyche and Soma

31. For the Making of the One Thing
As Above, So Below
Earth Rise – no purpose other than seeing the One Thing
Emerald Tablet
Reversal – gazing at the Moon to gazing at the Earth
For the Making of the One Thing

32. The lapis Philosophorum
For Making
Om, the vibratory sound of the Universe
Creation
J. Cambell
The lapis Philosophorum

33. Gold
For Making
Gold-God poem
Qualities of Gold

34. What I have said about the operation of the Sun is finished.
Divine Self
Alchemy
What I have said about the operation of the Sun is finished.