Archetypal Maps, Alchemy

[jivatman]

Consider three different maps of the archetypal mind. Kabbalah, Astrology, Tarot.

The essential characteristic that they share, is regular relationships between each the different symbols that compose them.

There are 12 Astrological signs, which can be placed into groups of 1, 2, 3, 4, 6. It seems to me that the reason why there are 12 is because 12 has many divisors which allow this easy grouping.

Tarot has a similarly regular mathematical simplicity, three groups of 7 concepts, plus the choice.

Kabbalah a rather cool looking map, each Sephirot can be be organized by pillar or by level, and in fact each path represents a relationship between them.

The essential characteristic of an archetypal map is that there are a multitude of relationships between each station, with regular patterns and groupings.

Now, it is important to realize that each concept is a thing-in-itself. This is important to consider if you use if for meditation, because if you only consider it in terms of relationships, the tendency might be to consider each station finite, rather than allowing for infinite exploration and expansion.

Anyway, I will add one more thing I consider to be an archetypal map. The Periodic Table of Elements. The very term "Periodic" means that there are regular patterns, with Groups, Blocks, etc. Yet I believe that in other archetypal systems, each element is a thing in itself.

I am not sure if it is a grouping of the Archetypal Mind, because it may actually be a map of Red Ray, representing all of the elements that compose that density.

Still, its consideration may be useful for those who have difficulty reconciling themselves with space/time existence, as Ra says, Red Ray should not be disregarded as less important or spiritual than other aspects of reality.

I believe that chemical processes such as Distillation, Dissolution, provide excellent analogies to spiritual processes, and already exist in Alchemy.

The divorce between Alchemy and Chemistry happened, but I think it may be time for a revival.

Astrology and Astronomy also divorced, but Astrology adapted and became the psychological astrology that we know (making it in some ways the most modern archetypal system) while still largely using traditional associations. Why can't we do this with Alchemy?

We now have the advantage of an archetypal map, the Periodic Table, which didn't exist before. We also have the advantage that one can get reasonably complete sets of common elements for 200 or so, and essentially complete ones for 800 or so. There are other advantages.

TheEternal, you seem to have some knowledge of alchemy, and referenced it in the post on patience. Do can you point to some of your sources?

[Unbound]

Ehe, I only happened to check out this thread and here I see it's because I've been invoked!

I suppose I could be said to have some knowledge of alchemy, let me see here.

I would first share my favourite alchemical mandala, which I find as a basic tool is indispensable for anyone who wishes to learn about the art of transformation, which is what alchemy is. Internal Alchemy as I have used it is more or less a connection to the natural refining tools of the body and mind which allow us to combine, break down, and restructure energies. In another way, it is the larger process of the development of the consciousness as it goes through its many ego deaths and awakens to its true self. In short, the alchemical process is a Microcosm, to the processes of the Macrocosm.

http://www.azothalchemy.org/azoth_ritual.htm - This is the Azoth Ritual, a good starting point. Azoth is the "First Matter", or raw material of the cosmos. Note the relationships between each of the stages of the process, and also what they fundamentally express as an energetic interaction.

For those who wish a deeper understanding of the roots of alchemy, one has to look at two things, Hermeticism, and Gnosticism. Alchemy as we know it is in many ways a survival of these two schools of thought (although Hermeticism has survived in other ways through secret societies and individuals). A good book to get a basic overview of this is The Elixer and the Stone by Michael Baigent, for an excellent introduction to Hermetic Alchemy.

On that note, it is highly recommended one reads the Hermetica which is a foundation of Hermetic thought.

http://www.gnosis.org/library/hermet.htm - This will give one a good idea of the ancient approach to expressing the Hermetic principles.

The Emerald Tablets of Thoth are also very alchemical in their nature and approach, and the "Men of Khem" seem to refer to alchemists. This is also worth reading. http://www.crystalinks.com/emerald.html

That being said, there have also been physical aspects of alchemy attempted to be expounded, and while I have not tried any of these processes, for lack of interest, I have so far found this one to be the most in line with my fundamental thoughts.
http://www.thebookofaquarius.com/

Alchemy is also very alive and active in many asian thought patterns, and is actually quite apparent in martial arts. In particular there is the Taoist Neidan (Internal Alchemy) which uses primarily the practices of Qi Gong and other internal martials to practice alchemy. This is a method I am very fond of and have been engaging the most myself.

http://www.kheper.net/topics/Taoism/Nei_Tan.htm

I have also been combining the Taoist practice with Buddhist alchemy as it comes through Dzogchen, and have been in the process of reading a great book called The Crystal and the Way of Light by Namkhai Norbu.

http://www.tealchemy.org/what/alchemists/index.html

And of course, there are myriads of other forms of alchemy, as the principle which is alchemy is universal. However the processes of alchemy can be applied to more or less any pantheon and any tradition, for all energetic interaction is alchemical.

TO supplement the ideas of alchemy, I would heavily recommend reading The Secret Teachings of All Ages by Manly P. Hall, which is a book filled to the brim with various traditions and their fundamental details and you will begin to see how more or less every spiritual path is ultimately alchemical.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/eso/sta/

Also, to relate this to astrology and tarot, and as such, the Disciplines of the Personality, one may see themselves as the Fool, the raw alchemist, and with each archetype you blend in to your consciousness and explore, the more you explore and expand your alchemical self. The Creation of the Self is the ultimate work of the Alchemist, and this is done through the exploration of archetypes within the self and the gradual blending, distilling and marrying of all the archetypes to produce One, the individual who has now become a God, one of the Archetypes themselves that is unlike any other Archetype.

For the greatest experiment of the Alchemist is Himself, he is his own Great Work, and the transmutation of his own soul from lead in to gold, from vulgar matter in to the pure first matter, is the work of all sages.

Hope that helped.

---

Oh, I will mention, that Gnostic Alchemy is what the common idea of the Alchemist has come from. If one looks through this tradition they will see it is absolutely laced with Christian concepts, of which Gnostic is the esoteric underside. Were it not for the push towards material concepts, the principles of Alchemy from the Gnostic tradition would all have been lost. Whereas the principles of Kabbalah only surfaced in the 17th century with the revealing of The Zohar, gnostic transformation survived through the dark ages by virtue of being hidden within other traditions and other concepts, all reduced to symbolism.

Agrippa's work is also very much worth looking at: http://www.esotericarchives.com/agrippa/agrippa1.htm

---

Oh, we would also like to mention that the numbers applied in these systems have less to do with their groupings and more to do with numerological harmonics. 12 and 7 are both powerful numbers which are tied to this system of reality which we are perceiving and there is a deeper mystery in numbers for those who seek.

---

We also recently posted a bit on Archetypes in our thread of questioning: http://www.bring4th.org/forums/showthrea...069&page=5

Any more direct questions to us should likely be taken there if they are outside of the realms of the alchemical understanding of archetypes.

We would also mention that to our understanding Ra rarely uses the term alchemy or alchemical, but the processes of unfoldment described are very much so.

[zenmaster]

We now have the advantage of an archetypal map, the Periodic Table, which didn't exist before. We also have the advantage that one can get reasonably complete sets of common elements for 200 or so, and essentially complete ones for 800 or so. There are other advantages.

Not sure what you mean here. Do these archetypal mapped elements correspond in any way to known elements?

[jivatman]

"Not sure what you mean here. Do these archetypal mapped elements correspond in any way to known elements?"

The periodic table is an archetypal map of the known elements. I'm not sure what the question is.

You can buy gets with small samples of elements from, for example, eBay.

[zenmaster]

The periodic table is an archetypal map of the known elements. I'm not sure what the question is.

I thought you were suggesting that you had discovered a more natural derivation, using more fundamental principles from the archetypal mind in red-ray.