Soul, the

Introduction The alchemists credo ... And now for the money Alchemical riddles The elixir of the soul The secret art of alchemy Alchemy and psychology Chinese elixir addicts The end of the quest Select bibliography Index... 

Fisher, Len. Weighing the soul the evolution of scientific beliefs., 2004. 200p. Includes alchemy... 

In Alchemy, Isis is the World Soul, the universal subconscious reservoir. She also represents the deepest stratum of the personal unconscious of the individual that holds all the subconscious memories and karmic traces from all previous incarnations. As mentioned, subconsciousness is the magical agent. So, when alchemists refer to our Isis, ... 

In the course of time these three unite, and are changed through the action of fire into a palpable substance, viz., quicksilver, sulphur, and salt. If these three substances be mixed, they are hardened and coagulated into a perfect body, which represents the seed chosen and appointed by the Creator. This is a most important and certain truth. If the metallic soul, the metallic spirit, and the metallic form of body be present, there will also be metallic quicksilver, metallic sulphur, and metallic salt, which together make up the perfect metallic body. 

The world is a living being To the Hermeticists, all of the world, including rocks and streams, is alive and possesses a soul. The physical world was believed to be made of four physical elements earth, air, fire, and water. The elements would scatter, however, and the entire world would fall apart if they were not held together by the mysterious fifth element, the world soul, or Anima Mundi. This is in contrast with the modern scientific, materialist philosophy, which views the world as composed of nonliving matter. 

For some brave souls, the answer to that question was a resounding "No " We accept the production and release of hazardous chemicals, they said, only because chemists have lacked imagination and motivation to find alternative methods for the commercial production of chemical products. Chemists need to set for themselves a new goal for the 21st century, a goal of finding new processes for the manufacture of chemicals that will (1) make better use of existing raw materials and (2) reduce the amount of hazardous materials released to the environment. 

But if men quit the body, the process is reversed. The soul ascends to its own place, and it is separated from the vital spirit and the body is separated from the soul.. . . The living creatures do not die, my son, but they are composite bodies, and as such they undergo dissolution. Dissolution is not death it is only the separation of things which were combined and they undergo dissolution, not to perish, but to be made new. ... 

Blood is one of the principal substances of the body. It circulates smoothly and constantly in the body, nourishes and supports the internal organs, and maintains the functions and structures of the body. The Heart, Liver and Spleen directly influence the generation of blood. The Heart governs the blood and promotes the blood circulation it also generates the Heart-Qi and directly supports the activities of the Heart-shen. The Liver stores the blood and regulates the volume of blood in the circulation it directly supports the activities of the Hun (soul). The Spleen is able to transform food into Qi and blood, and is considered the main source of Heart-blood and Liver-blood. The Kidney stores the essence, which can also transform into Liver-blood, so is another source of blood. 

Questing for the muse s spring, up some cold canyon, stormdrain, up bloodvessels, canyonwalls of flesh, rhythms surging in the darkness-the home of the leaves, their nest within the soul even consciousness needs a soul. The plants have consciousness, but no souls. For some of them, that isn t enough. 

What happens to the i-nyi-ma-no (the soul, the heart, or life, all three concepts are... 

Speculations as to the cause of this phenomenon are Various and numerous in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Thus Cardanus (1553) notices the increase in the weight of lead on calcinatiou and attributes it to the loss of celestial fire. By the departure of this life giving principle or soul the metal becomes heavier, and the notion seems to be that the metal is buoyed up by the fire... 

One of the central claims of practically all religions is that we each have some kind of soul, a nonphysical center of being and consciousness that may or does survive physical death. Although the majority of people in America and in the world today believe they have a soul, the idea has been totally dismissed by science as something certainly not fit for scientific inquiry. 

I hope these few indications might help us to see how the philosophy and symbolism of the ancient alchemists can still be effectively used today, as a vital living force for the inner spiritual transformation of our souls. The open secret of alchemy is that we must, like the alchemists of old, experience our inner world as these alchemical vessels. Then our inner life will be tinged and transformed with a new richness of spiritual experience. 

One sees clearly in this chapter the distinction between mind and soul. The former is an igneous vapour, a spark, a fire, which gives animal life and movement to bodies, and vanishes in the air when the organs are destroyed. The Soul is the principle of the actions of the will and of reason, and survives the destmction of the body and the dissolution of the mind. 

Animals have, above minerals and vegetables, a sensitive soul, the principle of their life and movement. They are, one may say, the complement of Nature as far as sublunary beings are concerned. God has distinguished and separated the two sexes in this kingdom, so that from two there should come a third. Thus in the most perfect things is manifested more perfectly the image of the Trinity. 

Thus far the Bardo Thodol is, as Dr. Evans-Wentz also feels, an initiation process whose purpose it is to restore to the soul the divinity it lost at birth. 

The Salt represents the Body, or vehicle, which allows expression of the other two essentials. It is a principle of fixity, consolidation, and focus—The Material Basis, or matrix. The Sulfur, represents the Soul, the Consciousness. It is a fiery principle, brightness. The Spiritualized Male aspect of the One. Kundalini. The character of a thing. The True Colors. The Intelligence. The Divine Spark. 

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